The state republican. (Jefferson City, Mo.) 1871-1896, 1895-01-24

vaughan himself, since he looked at
his watch as he walked down the
City Road and the inmates of the
house well knew the hour at which
Mrs. Ellis died.
Tie inmates all felt certain that
she was going to take possession OF
them and of the house, and several
of them resolved to give notice, they
would not stay under her director
ship.
The place was in a condition of
positive munity, the only person
ignorant of what was going on,
was as usual the person most con-
cerned, Lisbeth, herself.
She looked too as innocent as she
was ignorant, which provoked those
who were taking sides against her
not a little.
Only wait until the funeral was
over, it would not be decent to speak
while that poor dead woman was in
the house-and then they would let
this Lisbeth know what they thought
of her and her ways.
AS was expected no relations put
in an appearance for the very good
reason that there we're none in Eng
land, and Lisbeth quietly aud humbly
played the part of chief mourner.
She spoke very little to those in-
mates of the house who, having
donned such mourning as they could
scrape together, had elected to
follow Mrs. Ellis to her last resting
place; and on her return Lisbeth shut
herself into the front parlor "to have
a quiet cup of tea," as she said.
"'To make her plans" as the
gossips upstairs decided, and in this
they we're right, only Lisbeth's plans
were scarcely in accordance with
their preconceived ideas.
They would give her an hour, quite
long enough for tea and rest, and
then they would have it out with her
about the future.
1t almost seemed as if Lisbeth knew
she was in a hornets nest, for no
sooner was the parlor door closed
on her, than she dressed little Lisa ;
her modest wardrobe and the
child's had already been packed in a
bundle unknown to the dodgers,
keenly though they had watched her,
and long before the hour they had
given her, was up, like Hagar of old,
Lisbeth and her child had gone
forth to seek their fortune.
Lisbeth had not been idle in the
few days that had passed since Mrs.
Ellis death. She had written to
Clement telling him what had oc-
Cured and assuring him that she
would obey him in all things.
In reply to this he had sent her a
remittance so that she was no longer
crippled as to her actions.
Meanwhile she found in a healthy
cottage of Hampshire a motherly
woman with whom she thought she
might safely place little Lisa for q
time, and, her bundle on one arm
and the baby on the other she walked
quietly away without informing any
one of her intentions or leaving any
address behind.
Nor was it likely that she would be
easily traced, since the name of
G~lendinning had never been men
toned while she was under Mrs.
Ellis roof. On enquiries being made
as to who she was, the old lady had
invariably replied that she was a
cousin of her late husband, the real
,ity being that she was her own niece.
The inference then was that her name
was Ellis but no one had known this
for certain, while the wedding ring
she always wore and old Mrs. Ellis
we'll established character for re-
spectability prevented any suspicion
being thrown on that part of Lisbeth's
life which would in reality have
touched her the nearest.
Even when the gossips found she
was gone they could not dispossess
themselves of the idea that she
would return to establish herself as
mistress of the City Road lodging
house, so imbued were they with the
notion that for this she had been
working ever since she came there.
But when several days passed and
no sign was received from the absent
Lisbeth and no one came to claim
such property as Mrs. Ellis had left,
the dodgers were altogether bewil-
dered.
Very true is it that those present
in the flesh are often accounted sin
ners who when absent become
saints. Thus it was with Lisbeth.
Chow much more comfortable it
would be to have a mistress to the
house, and she was a tidy, decent,
young woman, everything would
have worked 80 we'll under her
guidance. OF course some chatter
box had told her what they had been
saying and that vas why she went
away. How strange it was that
people could not keep their tongues
between their teeth"
This and much more of a like ma
ture was being repeated over and