The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1896-01-16
IMPERIhL MILLIONS
By JULIAN HAWTHORNE.

t1On.I
'Sallie certainly did not LOOK so at rnat
moment There was something, not an
gelically, but superhumanly attractive
in her eyes and aspect. To see her now
was to understand how some women rise
to the highest points of social or politi-
cal eminence with nothing but them
selves to help them-themselves or the
devil. Beauty, brains and utter un-
scrupulousness in combination make
dangerous power, before which the
strongest men have weakened.
The count looked at Sallie, and as he
did SO he removed his gold trimmed eye
glasses. This altered his appearance not
little. His eyes were powerful, and it
seemed to Sallie that she had met their
glance before somewhere-but when or
where she could not determine. The
count looked at her keen, handsome
face, at her white neck and arms, at her
graceful figure in its golden hued dress;
and he saw that she was fair. But, in
stead of softening, his countenance grew
stern.
"You say you are willing to make
reparation for any harm that you have
done?" said he.
She nodded her head slightly.
''Will you come back to the ballroom
with me-" he continued, "and tell the
people there who you are-and who you
are not?'
"Why should I tell them what they
already known
"Do they know that you were never
Cd oifharr in, Frarro o1Soxrboro
to Harry Trent; that he refused, in spite
of all your threats and entreaties, to
make you his wife; that after his death
you caused bundle of papers, among
which was will purporting to be his,
to be discovered in a drawer of piece
of furniture in Philadelphia hotel?
And will you tell them that this will was
q forgery, copied from genuine will
written by Trent himself, but deciding
his fortune, not to you, but to another
woman, whom he designed to marry?
For that woman's name you substituted
your own; and you yourself hid it in the
room at the hotel which, as you hap
pened to know, Trent had once occupied.
By means of that will. and of the
certificate of marriage, also forgery,
but written on printed form which you
had procured while travelling in France,
you made good your claim to the estate
Will you tell them this?"
II will repeat no such foolish tale" re-
piled Sallie steadily. "How could have
forged copy of the genuine will unless
had had the genuine will to copy from?
And how could have become possessed
of that?"
81 will tell you, since you have forgot
ten" said the count. "You found the
genuine will among Harry Trent's papers
on the night that he was murdered"
"Indeedi Twas with him on that night,
then, it appears?"
"You were. You were the last to see
him alive. He was alive when you took
the japanese knife from the table and
passed behind him and drove it into his
heart. It was you who murdered Harry
Trent, Mrs. Matchinr'
She laughed. 'sYou amuse me-" she
said. "You seem not to be aware that
there was a trial for that murder, and
the evidence showed that but one person
was admitted to the house that night,
and that was mantle man who was
found guilty and condemned"
eyes, l know the story" re]o1ned the
count quietly. "But it was not told in
the evidence that when that man left
the house, neglecting to latch the door
behind him, another person, who had
been hiding in the shadow of the porch,
slipped in unseen and went up stairs to
the library where Harry Trent sat. One
of the witnesses, think, testified that
she had seen a short man with a dark
beard speaking with Trent late that
night"
"That evidence was not believed. But
suppose it were true, how would it affect
me? fear your imagination will get
you into trouble, Count de Lisle!"
'Men's clothes are sometimes worn by
women, and false beard is easily come
by" said he, with a slow, inquisitorial
smile. "With means and a will one
solves harder riddles than that in three
years, Mrs. Matchin."
-''Take care, sirr' she exclaimed, her
eyes flashing in her white face. "You
are saying what you can never prove! I
can only suppose" she went on, con-
trolling her emotion by a desperate ef
yOu AdtO DCCA I4ouC GAO VIZ
tim of cock-and-bull story by man
who is believed to be dead, but whom
now know to be alive-Keppel Darke.
He is here under your protection, and is
rash enough to play ghostly pranks On
me-with what purpose I won't attempt
to guess. But he is an escaped convict.
Let him look to himself! I will de-
nounce him."
81 give you full leave to do so," the
count answered unconcernedly. "But l
must tell you that there is only one es-
capped convict in this house, and that is
myself. Is it possible you have not rec
ognized me2 I am Keppel Darke."
Sallie stood motionless, many thoughts
whirling in her brain.
"My claim to be Count de Lisle is also
however, as such things CO."
he went on. 'But a woman like you
should have better memory. 1t seems
you have likewise forgotten your friend
Alonzo Garcia, though you must have
known that he lived many years in In
dia, and became an adept in Indian
magic. But the denunciation!
Let me call an audience"