The morning times., 1895-07-28

| absolutely. He had no power to discredit
/ IL, no will to resist it, He did not even
| shake himself and say, What fanciful
fool / ami" He simply Tooned away
those lentbening spring days in dreamy
speculation, while he awaited the outcome.
One afternoon about O'Clock, when he
came in from walk, Reginald, with
some surprise, found the landlady's daugh-
! ter in his room. She was standing with
! her back 10 the door, resting her elbows
on the mantelpiece, and, so far as he could
see in the half light, surveying her face in
the glass. The moment she heard him enter
! She turned herhead. She elasped her hands;
| she looked at him imploringly, as If about
! to speak to him, then, changing her pur-
! pose, hurried past him with averted face
| and left the room. For some while after
! she was gone Reginald remained where
he was, in q state OF unaccountable excite
| ment. Why had she looked at him so ap-
! pealingly? He threw himself upon the
! horsehair couch. He covered his eyes with
! his hand His brain was in whirl His
| heart was beating fast. He felt he knew,
| now, that crisis-the crisis of disclosure
was near.
/ BY and by he rose, pulled down the
blinds and lighted the gas. Then he no
| ticed something which made his beating
heart almost stop. At the left side of the
! mantepiece, where the girl had been
standing, was small photograph screen
of Reginald's, containing likencsses of
! some OF his relations. One was now miss
ing. 1t was that Of his father
While he was still regarding the empty
| frame in state of great perturbation he
| heard a sound in his bedroom adjoining
! He Immediately opened the door and looked
| i'll. There again was the landlady's IS daugh-
| ter She knelt upon the floor near the
| hearthstone. Reginald saw that she had
| one OF the boards slightly raised and that
| She appeared to be secreting something
ham IA 81.
| to him. She smiled-a brighter smile than
| he had hitherto seen upon the girls melan-
| choly face. Then she rose to her feet She
smiledat- him once again, but did not
| speak, and moment later she was gone.
Reginald locked both doors or the room.
He fell upon his knees near the hearth
stone. He soon found and raised the
| loosened board. Lying there before him he
| saw the missing Photograph; and not only
| that hut a dusty little packet beside It,
| folded in paper and tied with string. He
caught them both up. He replaced the
| board securely lie sat upon his bed and
opened the packet, though his fingers trem-
bled so with excitement that b ecould hardly
unite the string
| This is whatth found inside: A mans
sig at ring, engraved with crest and
motto of his own family; small lOcket
with some hair on one side and a miniature
on the otAer-the portrait of his own father;
a pencil note, scrawled in a tremulous
and unknown hand; and letter. The paper
ofthe letter wdS yellow. The ink W as brown
and faded. But.it wa slegible throughout
and was in his fathers haudw wEiting Ii
was dated nearly tw euty-three years back.
| Reginald peruSed both the penciled note
and bis fathers letter, sitting as motiOnless
as statue on his bed. His color came and
went. He breathed quickly like man who
had been running; otherwise he did not
stir. In this attitude ne remained for haif
an hour, before ne reused himself suffi-
Ciently TO move TO the adjoining room and
steady his nerves with a glass OF wine.
Forgive me, sir, forgive Ine 1 ought
to have told you at first, as soon as ever
guessed who you were 1t was 2eSinald's
landlady that spoke. Your BanIc-your
| appearance and-and-other things soon
led me 10 discover that. But I--I--did not
/ like to tell you sir I-I-.tid not see the use
OF raAng up painful story, which 1 had
| thought would DOW always ieInain buried
in the oblivion OF The past. Iod p;is willed
| otherwise. These two letters reveal go
much, SIT, that / need not conceal The rest.
Listen to me, sir. and Iwill tell you the W hole
sad story. Did your speak 20 you
ofyour mother, ,sir?''
"Neyer-eXcept just to tell me that she
died when / was boTn,'' replied Reginald
in hollow voice.
Il do not wonder. Tt was a painful, a
reproachful subject for him to recall. Your
mother, sir, was my own sister You were
born III this house-in that very room. We
| lived together, my sister and /, not here, but
at Chatham Your father was then sta
toned there with his regiment My
sister was beautIful-too beautiful and
far, far too trusting. She left me sud
denly one day-to run away with your
| father"
Go on" said Reginald, huskily His
chin hung upon his breast; he was shading e
his eyes with his band. All the energy
and spirit OF his twenty-five years had
vanished.
Il did not know where they had fled. 1
could not find them-fOr nearly year.
Then, at last, L discovered Iny poor sister
in this house-two days dead, and you, a
tiny babe, nearly dying from neglect by
the cruelty of u wicked nurse. Your
father had left her several months before,
called away on foreign service. No one
but this nurse. grasping, heartless woman,
had been with her in her time of trial.
That explains my poor sisters note, which
you have found, and makes it abundantly
clear why, in her last hours, she hid away
her few precious treasures, wishing TO save
them from the clutches OF rapaciOuS
thief.
Il sent the woman away once be-
Ieve that she had stolen many OF my poor
sisters things, and much OF the money
with which your father had supplied her.
/ hinted my suspicious to her. l threat
ened to set the police upon her track unless
she left Immediately. She was frightened
and left without demur My God! II only
1 had found my poor sister a few weeks
earlier.
''Iu time your father came to take you.
There had been a time when ! could have
have killed him for his conduct to my
sister. Now l nearly forgave him. His
grief, his sorrow, his remorse were pitiable
to see. He had loved your mother with
all his heart. Twas not till suddenly
called away, he told ME, that he realized
how much. She was all in the world 10
him. He wrote TO her from Plymouth
that letter which you have found-telling
her of his alteration, of his shame for hav-
ing so treated her, OF his desire, his long
ing, his firm intention TO marry her upon
his return.
He told ME about this letter at the
time. believed him., But We could find
| it nowhere among your mothers things
And knew how she would have treasured
! tiny loving little Jessie We supposed
that it had been stolen by the nurse. But,
! you see, We were mistaken
But, but" questioned Reginald, "thiS
girl, this relation of yours, who lives with
you, whose strange behavior has led ME to
this discovery-how is she connected with
my mothers story"
The old lady clasped her hands. A
strange light came into her dreamy eyes
a dreamy smile settled upon her thin face.
II have taken many lodgers into this
house intwenty two years Not one OF them
has seen her but you. 'Tis to you and me
alone dear nephew, that our long lost one
has shown herself. I thank God that you
have seen her-Seen your sweet and Low
Oh TIT CON nl.afI In afrNc