Waterbury evening Democrat., 1893-02-24
A Little Comedy of EHots'
BY s. S. MORTON.

he would be able to accomplish tho mission on which, as the representative of Hunter & kCtchum, he had come to N. But did he now honestly wish for this consummation? He had per sonal interests that were trembling in the balance; how would these be cf- fcctCd by the discovery and identification of Annie Dupont and the establishment of her legal position as her aunts heir? Would she make an effort to discover and pursue with all the penalties of thc>law tho authors of that forgery by which it had been at- tempted to wrcSt her inheritance from her? should he, who held q brothers good namc in his hand, place it within her power to seek this rctributiOn? He was no longer the champion of Annie Dupont. For ono moment of passionate feeling, of desperate temptation, it seemed to him that he could ruthlcssly sweep her from his path, upon which she had so suddenly risen with an in dcfnablc menace, and shroud in deeper mystery than ever before the fate of one whose truthful history the world should never know.
 But with the next moment came a
 
 feeling of amazcmcnt that he should have entertained such thought Ollin must be shielded if possible, but not at such a cost as that. Rather, for Ollin's sake, to undo as far as possible the ter rible wrong that he had attempted. This unknown. fricudlcSs orphan, heir to proud namc and wealth, though now living perhaps in humble obscuri- t,- | II. ,,I. l .. possession of her rightful inheritance.
 North had been slowly pacing the floor while thCSc thoughts were pass ing through his mind. Seating himself now beside Dennis, he continued his in- quirics.
 "IIow long have you known these facts about Annie Dupont, Drnnis?"
 "IvCr since mo cousin Patrick tould mo, at Teddy O'CorriTan's wake, sorr," returned Dennis, after a pausc of rccol- lection.
 "Dut when was that? know noth- ing about Teddy O'Corrigan's wake. Can you not tell me moro definitely than that?"
 Dennis reflected again with his face contortcd as if the effort of memory wcrc painful one.
 "Indadc, thin" hc exclaimed, sudden ly radiant with triumph, "it was soon after St. Patricll's day, for remember that poor Teddy died of n bricll-bat in tho hands of ono of the bycs, which samo was nivir mint for Teddy at all, at nll, but for tho blathcrin' pcrliccman that was mallin' himsif troublesome to the bycs in the purndc."
 'St. patricll's dny?" repeated North. "Thcn 1t is nearly year since Patrick told you. Have you talked to anyone about the matter during this timc9''
 "Nivir bit, SOFT, till tho day whln yer honor heard mo tclliu' Jim Nolan about It."
 Was that before or after you had | written to Hunter and Krtchum, of | New York, offering to give them this | infor:nation?"
 The question was asked stcrnly, and North's face was equally stern as he spoke.
 Dennis started as if hH had been shot, and his eyes grew more round than | ever in his uAtuniShmrnt and diSmCy. | He was beginning to stammcr out some | answer, when North COolly added:
 Don't lose your senses, now, nor at tempt to cvadc my question. I happen | to know all about that little affair, and wish to know whom you comnuni- cated with first: for it is pretty evident | that you have been accommodating | enough to offer yourself to both parties. Come, now, to my question again. Was it before or after you had written to l Hunter and Kctchum?'
 Dennis had not yet recovered from the confusion into which he had been thrown on being thus suddenly con. fronted with his doublc-dealing; but he answered, humbly:
 Ut was after, yer honor.''
 First claim!'' reflected North, con. scious of q slight satisfaction in tho thought; then he nddcd. addressing Dennis sharply:
 "Don't you know that, having com municatcd with Hunter and Kctchuu as you did, you had no right to enter in to any similar negotiations with anyone else? However, as events have (lcvcl opcd, you will not get into any serious difficulty in consequence of this double dealing, if you faithfully perform al that you have undertaken; for, let mC give you to understand that my inter cSts arc identical with Hunter anC | NcCchull S' hnO you cauuOC serve On' without equally serving the other Now, what have you been doing sine that day of which you speak, when yo, were overheard discussing this story O Annie Dupont with Jim Nolan? Wha have you been doing toward fulfllin! the agreement then and there cnterel into?"
 Faith. SOFT, nm it's to IvansburI that I've been, to sec Ann O'Gorman ar coax her to give mo thim paphcrs."
 "Wouldn't she do it?" asked Nortl quickly, pcrcciving at oncc the possibl obstacle to the success of his plans. "Nivcr q bit, SOFT. Shc sworc by nl the blissid saints that she'd howld on t thim as long as shc lived, bad cess t her! An mo n-coaXin' an bcsaychiI her, an mo cousin Patrick hilpin' m loilso q ginthlcman, for it's n part of tn money I'd promised him if he'd b afther a-usin' his influence wid Ann. a1 shwarin' he'd break her head if sh didn't give in paycablc!"
 "pntriclI is valuable condjutOl
 though cannot say that wholly aI
 provo of his methods of persuasion,