The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-12-08

shield him from disgrace and ruin. He $
/ bringing il on himself now, and alas per
] haps deserves il. Dearest Robert. if you
I Will but be patient you shall know all
I Get up. Lucy" said Dartrel, rising
I himself and assisting her. God knows il
you can eNculpate yourself you shall
/ shall be only too thankful. but 1 tell you
| 1t cannot be easy. But that love you as
/ DO, would not listen, and VIII not
now do so here, for / see by this man $
face that he would yet prevent you from
| speaking II he could. I know not what
I influence he has over you, therefore YOU
I shall have a fairer chance than you can
I whilst in his presence"
Luttridge had edged partly behind Dart
/ rel ana was endeaYorng TO sign Lucy 10
| be silent by holding a finger 70 his lips
You both know" went on Dartren,
'as well as i do that this is the ring, and
| even when its discovery here is accounted
| for, much viii remain-aye, very much
! but come away. Lucy. Come with me at
once 10 your aunt. She must be told how
matters stand. and unless she and YOU
together can give me better reasons than
seem likely, 1 tell yOu-well, God knows
what i shall do and once more he hic
his face in his hand.
Abruptly, then. he took her by the hand,
and drawing her towards the door by
which they had entered, opened it, ana
the two went out, whilst Luttridge with
lll-assumed GOODNESS, began a clustering
TRADE about the insults which had been
put upon him.
Some little distance lay between The
studio and the house to which this now
most unhappy couple We're repairing.
partrell said not a word, but he d'a not
resist the gentle pressure with which his
wife chung TO him, or command her 81
lCnce as with broken voice she f. ably
strove to eXOnerate Horace.
1t is all due to his weak and shiitiess
nature. she said. 1t was his debt-l.bt
his debts, Bobby. which took me to mis-
studio the day before We were married.
He pulled up abruptly in the now quiet.
gas-lit, suburban road, and looked as If
he We're about to speak, but in a moment
he went forward again, and she proceed
ed:
You know from time to time I have
helped him out of money scrapes. lie a.
ways turned to me, therefore 7 guessed
what he meant, when | received "A note
from him entreating me to come 10 him
that morning-the day before We were
married He was in the greatest trouble.
he wrote. Now, it so happened that my
pin money had run very short, conse-
quently | went almost empty-hauded. 1t
| seemed he wanted $50 by > O'Clock that
day, otherwise, he said, he should be ut
| tcrly ruined, and worse. Nothing less
could be Of any use. He might as VOL
have asked me for a thousand. He grew
angry. told him he must get out o. it
as best he could, and was going to leave.
Lucy he cried, forgive me. : an
brute. Let me tell you, for l tell you
most things. and you will see my neces-
''The truth is. Bobby" continued Lucy.
| clinging tighter hold of her husband, and
swaying a little in her walk, for they
were moving on slowly, 1.-The truth is l
| found out by degrees that ne had apDro-
| priated $50 which did not belong to him,
| but to which he had access, to meet = ne
| Stockholders claim on account OF spec
ulation which had turned out nadiy. lie
| was bound to pay Il that afternoon, and
| he was also bound to hand over by 2
| o'clock the $50 he had appropriated"
"Ah! that he had embeZzled," interrupt
| ed Dartrell, "call things by their proper
names"
We'll. then that he had embezzled. He
| implored me to save him, but how could
l give him ESQ. Then he said:
" Lend me something's piece of jew
/ N
| ey within an hour
ut was nearly 1 o'clock, and he must
| have it by ?. There was no time to lose
/ offered to go and see what / could find
!" NO. he said, there is no time. There
| give me that ring. That's the very thing
/ can raise ESQ on that at once.
| Il declared / would do nothing of the
kind: He grew furious and tried to take
| II off my finger. | would not let him.
| ! said you would be sure to miss it, and
besides it would be such a bad omen
| He seized my wrist and tried to force
IL off. l resisted all could. There was
/ quite struggle. He became more and
more violent, until he seemed half mad,
! and hurt my hand. l cried out. He per-
| sisted, and had nearly torn the ring off
| by main force, when in striving to wrench
my hand away, the ring slipped out of
| his fingers, flew off up into the air, and
must have fallen-well heaven knows
! where, for we did not even hear it fall
| vanish"
Again Lucy paused. and this time swav-
ed as If she would have fallen. As Oar
trell held her, he saw she was CHASTITY
| pale.
Are you faint, Lucy?" he asked, speak
| ing more tenderly now.
Very" she replied.
Here he said. "hold on to MEAN
other yard and you will be at your aunt's
/ door,.
They managed to reach it and knock.
and for the moment she slightly recov-
| ered-recoVered enough to say family:
well, we lost tive lost the ring. Bob
| by. For two mortal hours we searched
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS and could not
find it. do.all-we-could..
The door opened. and as she turned to
step in, she fell forward heavily on tile
floor.
There. keep her perfectly quiet. The
injury is not serious, l hope. She was
only severely stunned, and she is doing
very well now. l will be here the first
thing in the morning"
Thus said the doctor who had been
sent for when Lucy was carried into
Miss Habgood's house, perfectly sense
less.
"Oh, no, you mustn't think Of taxing
her home tonight continued the doc
tor, in answer to DartrelPs inquiry. |
would not answer for the conseGIiences :
So this settled it. The husband watched
by his wife's bedside until she slept Very
quietly them he sought Miss Habgood
and after some conversation, told her, in
explanation of their visit, all that had
happened.
The old lady appeared greatly concerned
naturally, but being a woman of consid-
cradle nerve. had not lost her composure
for an instant
well, Mr.. Dartrell." she said. sit was
very foolish affair, and arises entirely
from people not being perfectly straight
forward. l am always straightforward
at least when m allowed to be So
She seemed to think this ended it. but
as Robert DartreHs face bore signs OF
great anxiety, not unmixed with anger
she went on
Il don't know that anything more is to
be said. 1 don't think you need be anxious
after what the doctor told you. Lucy will
get better in few days, and it will be
all over
Il am sorry l can't agree with YOU. my
dear Miss Habgood. 1t appears to me to
be far from over. The explanation of the
ring may be true enough, but you cannot
expect me to condone my wife's intimacy
with Mr.. Luttridge when il goes to the
length of her visiting him clandestineIv i'm
his own room. as she did by her own con-
fession. / have always objected to the in
timacy, and she knew it..
But, my dear sir broke in Miss Hab-
good, you don't suppose
Excuse me; / may suppose anything.
You know well as l do that he is in no