The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1894-03-31

I that his position was TOO grave ZOE
half-confidences, confessed that his diff
ficulties had led him to contemplate
suicide, and that under such an impulse
he had taken into the cellar the knife
which nov lay on the floor. Investiga-'
| ton showed at once that the knife,
| although it was splashed with a spot
| of blood, could not have been used as a
[ weapon. Then came the more impor-
! tant work of examining the body.
1t was without anxiety that Duke
now watched the doctors movements.
| After all, the result of the examination
might not be conclusive enough to
| clear him from all suspicion. For there
! were blood stains under the body and
on the wall. The doctor asked a few
| questions as to the condition Radstock
had been in on the night of his disap-
pearance. Then he uttered an inter-
lection, as if satisfied.
And what, doctor, was the cause of
death?" asked MI. William Bennington,
who had been getting more and more
| subdued of speech and manner.
"Suffocation, undoubtedly. The I'M
fortunate man entered the cellar in q
| state Of partial intoxication, completed
the process by knocking the necks off
a couple of bottles and drinking the
contents, cut himself badly while try
ing to serve a third the same way,
fell down on his face helplessly drunk,
gashing his face and throat with the
broken glass on the floor, and died of
suffocatiOn."
The only person who did not feel, as
they all emerged from the cellar, in
tensely relieved by the result OF the In
quiry, was Mr.. William Bennington.
Even the salvation of the credit OF the
family did not weigh upon him against
the humiliation of finding that his ex-
ultation over his nephew's downfall
had been premature. His crngratula-
tons so obviously lacked sincerity that
Duke asked him with a touch of his old
character cleared.
"You can comfort yourself, you know
uncle" he went on, glancing uncasily
at his wife, who had heard the result
Of the examination in shuddering ST.
lence, "by the knowledge that we are
ruined. I have forged your name to
bills which will be due before I a
meet them. and"
Cicely rose from her chair, and tot
tered over to her husbands side. But
she would not look at the elder man,
who was taking out his pocket-book
with a flush on his face. The rest Of
the party, on q hint from Minna, had
gone out on the lawn.
IF you can't meet the bills when they
become due, I WILL" said Mr.. Berring-
ton. He did feel some contrition for
the eagerness he had shown in hunting
out the young fellows supposed crime,
and he was anxious to reinstate him.
self in the proud position he liked to
occupy, by an action Of great gener-
osity. He therefore produced from his
pocket-book the very bills ON which
Duke had forged his name. AS a mat
ter Of fact, he had got them into his
own possession with the object Of using
them to ruin his nephew, as Cicely
shrewdly guessed. Duke. however,
more impulsive than his wife, was over
whelmed by this act Of f~orebearance.
It was some minutes before he could
speak, and when he did so, it was in q
subdued and humble voice
He wrung his unce's hand; and the
elder man touched and even abashed
by his evident sincerity, returned the
pressure with real warmth. Then he
turned to his nephew's wife.
II am sorry, madam, If I caused you
pain on my last VISIT" he said. IL
won't intrude upon you any longer, I"
He pulled out his watch and looked
at it with the desperate anxiety Of q
man in search Of an excuse to get away.
1T have an appOintment-at least, I
hour ago, intact. Where Algernon?"
He darted out into the garden. The
two young men were standing at a side
gate, anxious to get away without hav-
ing to intrude upon Duke and his wife
after the trying scene they had just
gone through.
Leonard" said Minna, suddenly,
stake me to see Aunt Marion, and tell
her that Duke has come back and that
you are about to become the happiest
of men, as they used to say in old
fashioned novels. She lives up on the
Heath, it's only ten minutes walk, and
she will give us a cup Of tea. You wont
mind going without dinner for once, it
will prepare you for what you are to
expect with me for a wife,"
II shan't mind it. It will be one way
Of economizing. Shall I wait here
while you run in and tell them where
you are going"
Minna shook her head, smiling rather
archly.
"They won't miss me-" she said, "and
it's a good thing that you have been
kind enough to propose to take me off
their hands. For, If I'm not mistaken,
they've fallen in love with each other
at last"
So they had. Duke, Passionate, i'm
pulsive, weak Of principle, affectionate
adored the wife who had stood by him
worked for him, suffered for him. Ci-
cely, high-mi. ded, reserved, not easily
moved, had had the fire struck out of
her at last. They sat together in the
~drawing-room, lovers for the first time,
while the dusk deepened.
"Cicely," Whispered Duke, as he tried
to look into her pretty eyes in the gath
ering darkness, 'it's a strange thing to
have to ask, but If you had never
thought I had committed a murder,
would you ever have loved me?"
"Oh, Duke, don't say such absurd,
ST CHI wicked things! T have always
loved you, have I not"
"Ye-es," said Duke.
She believed she had, and there was
no need to contradict her.
For the strongest love Of the strong
Is that which has most to give, and to
forgive. Duke felt this dimly as, hum
bled, subdued, penitent, he leaned back
in his wife's arms and just caught the
outline Of her delicate face in the half
light.
! do you understand what it means,
Cicely, that we are ruinedY' That we
must live In a little one-brick- thick villa
at As a year, like a OF my junior
clerks, and manage without . carriage,
and with only two servants? The
N NsYnht ~ t. - Hm~v1vnN 1.>-Hk -