The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1895-01-24

:
Dupont nor the child was il Baltimore
at the time of Hamilton Dupol1ts death,
although the Published accounts OF the
| affair gave the impression that they
were there.
.:As you yourself told me, Mrs. May
nard. the poor. young wife died soon
/ after of broken heart; and little An
ME, thus cast upon the cold charities OF
the world. found refuge and loving care
in an orphan asylum in that city. She
was received ana registered there In
her own name, as discovered a few
days since on searching the records OF
the institution. The date of this regis
try do not recall it at the moment,
but have a memorandum Of it some
where-corresponds exactly with the
date furnished me through another
source; and thus it affords most salts
! factory confederation of my chief dOcr-
mentary evidence. .=.y., z-
ssNow, before the child had been in
the asylum three weeks, lady who
was then a transient visitor in Charles
ton presented herself at the institution,
inquiring for Annie Dupont She soon be-
| came convinced that the child who was
entered by that name upon the books
was the Annie Dupont whom she was
seeking; and, that question settled, she
| proceeded to declare her reasons for max
ing this inquiry. She had known iaInll-
ton Dupont and his wife intimately. and
! was greatly attached TO them both: and
for their sal1es she felt an unusual in
terest in their infant daughter, who
was. am told. at that time remarka-
bly, beautiful cllild-which ! can very
| easily believe, having seen for myself
what a charming woman she has be-
! come .s - ~. ~ s.. r.
As he spoke these last words with the
same air of simple good faith that had
characterized all his previous state
ments. Mr.. Maynard glanced involun-
| tarily at Miss Hilary. as if putting his
verdict to the critical test of her own
dispassionate judgment. Miss Hilary.
with eyes downcast, was unconscious OF
the swift scrutiny, Smiling a little as
he observed it, North continued:
This lady furthermore stated that
she was slightly acquainted with Mrs.
Dunkirl, Hamilton Dupont's sister.
| sNow'-this is in effect what She said
to the authorities at the asylum -
| Mrs, DurkirlS is wealthy widow,
and Annie. as her only living relative.
! has a claim upon her which no one
| can dispute. But Mrs. Dunllirll is a
cold, stern woman, utterly unfit to be
the guardian Of a tender child like
Annie. Let me adopt this little one and
rear her lovingly for her own and her.
parents salzes. Lest Mrs. Dnnl,irll
should discover her and try to take her
from me. I will conceal her real name
and call her by my own: not even the
child herself shall ever know that | am
not her own true mother until I shall
deem that the proper time has come to
disclose the secret. l will have all
necessary proofs of her identity at hand.
so that if her aunt should die leaving
her fortune to the next of kin. Armies
claim can easily be established. All this
I promise and will fulfill: only let me
have the child to care for and love as
my own rs$. 2r r.
swell. to be brief about it. the lady
carried her point. The adoption papers
were duly made ont, and before an
other day had elapsed Annie Dupont
had left the orphan asylum, never to
enter it again. She was taken to the
home of her new mother and given the
name of that lady-the name by which
she was ever after called: and she has
never known to this day, though I shall
marvel very greatly if she doesn't be-
gin to suspect it soon, that she ever was
Annie Dupont. +"
Again Mrs. Maynard's glance sought
Miss Hilary, this time to encounter
Myra's eyes, full of eager speculation.
If each had spoken the thought in her
own mind in that instant, the denoue-
ment of North's story would have been
materially fastened. But they both
held their peace and waited for him to
unfold the mystery in his own way.
:.Beyond this point" he went on,
catching up the narrative again after {;
meditative little pause, Il cannot in TINS
necessarily brief outline follow her his
tory step by step for the next fifteen or
twenty wears. 1t is essential however,
to note that the lady soon after en-
Abarked fof Europe, where her husband
held some official position under our
government-consul in some remote
foreign part may as we'll add IN
this connection that he died a year
later, and his widow. now more than
ever. devoted to her, adopted daughter
and dreading {; separation from her
more than anything in the world, re
manned abroad for several years, drift
ing from one point of interest to an n
other: thus Annie was nearly grown
to womanhood before she revisited her
native land. Owing to this fact, as
well as to the entire lack of any definite
information to work on. and the multi
plicity Of false clews that. We're given
from time to time, the detectives when
Mrs. Dunllirl< at different periods en-
gagged in her search for her niece We're
baf1ied in all their attempts to find her.
Swallowed up in anothe;. name and
identity. Annie Dupont had practically
ceased to exist. =.
"And now / must digress just for
moment in order to bring to your
notice yet another person who plays
an important part in the sequel
4 =