Morris tribune., 1896-05-20
you were alive2. she demanded.

| thought OF coming home; then /
thought that since had been reported
dead it was better to let it be believed so
/ for time, until the truth about the rob-
1 berry should be discovered Besides, |
knew that detectives would be after me,
and feared that letter addressed to
| you or to the judge might betray me-
/ At last when found something to do l
! decided to wait until was certain of
success before communicating with you.
And finally, circumstances led to my
coming back here unexpectedly myself :"
but Valentine might have written. if
you could not.
''Valentinel Why, Pauline. don't you
know-don't you sect was Valentine
who was drownedr
Valentine! Oh. Godsforgive mel how,
! have wronged himv" She turned aside
4 and rested her face against the side of
the carriage and sobbed for "a few mo-
4 ments passionately But she was never
one to be long mastered by emotion. She
| forced back her tears. and said: Tell
me, tell me all"
1.-THE whole affair came about by an
! accident, without any Encouragement
at ALL When went down to the pier
1 of the steamship, Val had suggested my
making one or two alterations in my.
dress and appearance. SO that if any one
were on the lookout for me | should pass
for Valentine Afterwards. on the
steamer, we found that people were Civ.
ing us each others names, and we let it
be so. We occupied the same state room.
and used his things-l had brought
very little of my own with me,
''On the voyage he told me all his pri-
vate history; | afterwards thought that
if he had been consciously training me
to personate him he could not have done
it more effectually Then came the day
of the hurricane We were close to-
gether all the time until within a few
minutes of the time the wind changed
We were in the cabin; there was a lam
tern buring, but it was almost quite
dark. Val left me and went to our room
could see him there: he seemed to be
writing on something that he held up
before him. Afterwards he went towards
the stewards room, holding on by the
iron pillars of the cabin as he went. That
was the last saw of him. He must
have gone on deck-for what / can't i'm
agine-and been swept overheard. No
one knew anything of it until the next
morning"
Nov l know-now known muir
INJURED Pauline, pressing her hands over
her heart. st was he-he did not for
get-I might have known it,
what might you have known?" asked
her brother.
Nothing; go on. When you found
that he was dead what them
''We had agreed before to go to Mex
leo. He had letters and papers. l took
them and went travelling as Valentine
Martin. | saw that in that way should
get standing in the place W hich Icould
not have obtained for myself, and that
the report of my death would throw off
the police was cordially received in
Mexico, and put in the way of doing
some valuable business. Everything
prospered with me. as it had never done
before. The story is too long to tell fully
now; but in the midst of my success an
extraordinary thing occurred. an Eng
lish agent of the Martin estate came over
and told me-supposing Inc to be Valen-
tine-that by my brothers death was
the heir did not wish to enter into
explanations, So | simply told him that
l did not want the estate, and that it
might go to the next Of kin. | had for
gotten that Val had wife, though, of
I oil Oh H. 4
ruined his life in more ways than one,
and was no better than she should be;
but if his death were known she would
be entitled to share of the estate 1t
seems she had got wind of the English
agents business and had followed him
from New Zealand | had curious in
terview with her; she charged me fin
ally with having made away with her
husband in order by personating him to
get his property. and treating my asser-
ton that was not going to touch the
property as mere buncombe But the
next day got letter from her in which
she actually offered, in case would
make common cause with her, to 90 to
England, prove her marriage to Valen-
tine, get the estate and then divide with
mei'
Poor Valentine!'' murmured Pauline.
with "a trembling lip.
When refused she declared war,
and said she would expose me as an inn
poster and probable murderer. She
learned that was manager and part |
owner of valuable mine that had dis
covered near Pachuca. The other owners
were two high officers of the govern
ment. She went to them with her story.
They told me what she had said. l had
already made up my mind what to do; /
gave them the whole history of what had
happened since Valentine and had left |
New York; told them what he had told |
me about his wife. and then | showed |
them the letter she had just written me-
l knew was risking everything in max
ing clean breast of it. but the fact was
was tired Of living under name that
did not belong to me, and | wanted to
put an end to it at all hazards.
81 am clad of that said Pauline
TO BE CONTINUED.