Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1895-06-04
- Co0NRt6HT 8a5 :

niece three years ago come next Au-
gust. Oh, you needn't stare so disbe-
lievingly. Here It all is in black and
white irmingham's registrars GER
tifcate and letters by the dozen"
Save for a slight quivering of the lip,
one would think that the old man was
stricken with death.
"Do you realize, he murmured, with
difficulty, that this means that my boy
has committed bigamy?"
''Of course do, and sure as my name
Is Jacob Gregson he shall suffer for 1t. :"
"And why, If these papers are authen.
tic, have you been silent these three
years?"
because l never knew the rights
about it till one week ago. You see my
niece never let on who YVES the father
of her child-and ever since its birth
she has been siclzly and weak-minded,
SO that she takes.no notice of anything,
not even Of her little girl"
"And you mean to tell me, man, that
my son deserted her in such condi-
tion?"
"oh, well, Sir Gordon, he's not quite
so bad as all that. There were two
Catherine Conroys in Newton-cousins
One was killed in railroad accident,
and Mr.. Richard might have seen her
name in the papers and thought it was
his wife, who, suppose, like the fool
she was, had promised to keep the mar
riage a secret. But 1t wasn't-worse
luck for him."
THANK God for that slight satisfac-
ton; but at the best it is a terrible
story"
"a terrible story, with only one end
ruin! Unless l play Providence and
pull the fat out of the fire."
"You!"
Eyes, mel found those papers hid
den away in the girls trunk. I've kept
'em close. The doctors say that she
will never come to her right senses; so
that there's nothing but money and me
standing between you-the salvation
of your family pride"
And your plans?"
"I have cousin down in Derbyshire,
a motherly woman as ever you saw,
married to a man who was once cor
poral in the royal marines-John Whit
ford his name Stumble folks, but
honest as the day. If you and can
make a deal, they'll take out Mrs.
Richard Number One and her child, an
you'll never hear of 'em again, no more
than If they'd never existed"
And your price for this piece of ras-
cality?"
give hundred pounds down, and an
annuity of five hundred year on my
life. After I'm gone, will leave you or
your son to look after, your grand
daughters interests"
MY sonl" the baronet cried, In
startled tones. HE must never know
the price paid for his immunity, and
not for him only is the sacrifice made,
but for the poor, sweet girl who thinks
herself his wife"
Now Mr.. Jacob Gregson had not adj
hered strictly to the truth in his COM
munication to Sir Gordon Hillborough.
There were those who knew him who
said that it was physical impossibility
for him to make an accurate statemant
on any subject, and in this case he had
done justice to his reputation. There
had been no dual Catherine Conroy in
the parish of Newton, and the verita-
BILE Richard Hillborough's
legitimate wife, had really been the
victim of the railroad accident after, not
before, the birth of her little one.
Poor girl, hers had been brief and
career-the only child of inn
pecunious tenant farmers, who had
died when she was fourteen years of
age, leaving her to the tender mercies
of the world, lowered only with
sweet disposition and face of rustic
loneliness. She had found refuge in the
home Of her mothers brother, Jacob
Gregson, bankrupt householder, who
had managed to keep a roof over his
head by acting as sporting agent" for
the neighborhood, profession whose
tides of profit ebbed and flowed with
constant contrast, now leaving HIM with
full pockets and wild spirits, and again
plnnging him into the depths OF desti-
tuition and misery; but through good
and evil fortune he had been, accord
ing to his lights, kind to his niece, and,
after her death, had managed to scrape
together each week the few shillings
laborer's wife charged for the care of
the motherless babe.
Now he had his reward.