Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1896-08-19


! tionship."
"WhyT'
"Why.y Because will not the fact that
held a position which belonged to him.
and was the heir to all his money-of
| which / never thought till this moment
give the world cause for suspectinS-
"What?"
| THAT l am his murderer"
Nonsense! / suppose you could prove
! where you were at the time of his deathT
NO, l could not. l entered the hotel
\ at two, but there was not creature in
! the house awake l could hear the pOr-
| ter's snores on the floor above, and there
| is not a living soul to prove whether
| was in at three or not. But this secret
| must be told by me, and l am going to
Belmont to-day to tell it to Ida
You must be mad, l think! Smerdon
| said, speaking almost angrily to him.
| This secret, which only came to light
| week ago. is now buried forever. and.
| since he is dead. can never be brought up
| again. For what earthly reason should
| you tell Miss Raughton anything about
p, it?'
Because she ought to know" the other
f, answered weakly 1T is only right that
she should know"
THAT you were not Lord Penlyn when
you became engaged to her. but that you
| are now. And that Cundall being your
| brother, you must mourn him as a broth
! er, and consequently your marriage must
| be postponed for at least year. Is that
| what you meanT
| Lord Penlyn started.
! This had never entered into his head,
| and was certainly not what he would
| have meant or desired. Postponed for n
year! when he was dying to make her his
wife, when the very thought that his
| brother might step in and interrupt his
marriage had been the cause Of his bru-
tality OF speech 10 him.
Smerdon was right, his quick mind had
] grasped what he would never have
| thought of-quite right! he would do well
to say nothing about his relationship TO
1 the dead man.
| 1t is remarkable how easily we agree
| with those who show US the way TO fur
| ther our own ends!
! Il never thought of that" he said, 'and
| | could not bear it. After all" he went
| on weakly, ..you are right! l do not see
| any necessity to say anything about it,
! and he himself forbade me to do So
And for Ida's sake you will not do
! so?'
For Ida's sake, and for the reason that
! do not wish his money. | shall not; and
| more especially tOr the reason that you
| have shown me our marriage would be
! postponed if / did So"
Then when you go to Belmont, be
| careful to hold your tongue"
Lord Penlyn did go to Belmont, having
| previously sent telegram saying he was
| coming, and he travelled down in one of
| the special trains that was conveying a
| contingent of fashionable racing people
/ 10 the second day at Ascot.
But their joyousness. and the interest
| that they all took in the one absorbing
subject, What would win the CupT"
| only made him feel deubly miserable.
And then, when they were tired of dis
! cussing the racing, they turned to the
| other great subject that was now agitat-
| ing peoples minds, the murder in St.
| James Park.
HE stood in some oneS S&ht," one
| gentleman said, whom, from M .ss--sar-
snce. Lord Penlyn took to be barrsser,
| "and that person has either removed him
! from this earth, or caused him TO be re-
| moved. l should not like to be his heir
| for on that man suspicion will undoubt-
| edly fall. unless he can prove very clearly
! that he was miles away from London on
| Monday night"
Penlyn started as he heard these words
| His heir!
Then it would be on him that suspicion
| would fall if it was ever known that he
was the heir; and, as he thought that,
among his brothers papers. there might
be something to prove that he was in such
A position, cold sweat broke out upon
his forehead.
When he saw the girl he loved SO much
rise wan and pale from the couch on
which she had been seated, waiting for his
coming, his heart sank within him.
How she must have suffered. he
thought What an awful blow Cundalrs
death must have been to her to make her
look as she looked now, as she rose and
stood before him!
MY darling Ida!' he said, as he went
toward her and took her in his arms and
kissed her. show i'll and sad you lookp'
She yielded to his embrace and returned
his kiss. but it seemed to him if her lips
were cold and lifeless.
"Oh. Gervase.' she said, as she sank
| back to the couch wearily, "oh. Gervase!
| you do not know the horror that is upon
| me. And it is a double horror, because at
! the time of his death knew of it!'
"Whatv' he said, springing to his feet
! from the chair he had taken beside her.
What"
Il saw it ALL" she said, looking at him
with large, distended eyes. eyes made
,ioubly large by the hollows round them.
Il saw it all, only
"Only what, Ida:'
Only it was in dream! o dream that
| | had, almost at the very hour he was
| treacherously stabbed to DEATH
As she spoke she leant forward a little
Il, l,.1.
| leant forward, gazing into his face; and as
| she did So he felt the blood curdling in his
| veins!
| This" he said. trying to speak calmly.
''is madness, a frenzy begotten of youi
! state of mind at hearing-
] 1T is no frenzy, no madness" she said,
! speaking In "A strange, monotoDouS tone,
| and still with the intent gaze in her haze
| eyes. NO. ii is the fact On that night
| that night of death-he stood before me
| once again and bade me farewell forever
| In this world, and then l saw his muir
| derer spring upon him, and
"And that murderer was!" her lovep
! Interrupted, Quivering with excitement.
| "Unhappily, do not know-not yet, at
| least, but 1 shall do SO some day" She
| had risen now, and was standing before
| him pale and erect. The long white peig-
noir that she wore clung to her delicate
supple figure, making her look unusually
tall; and she appeared to her lover like
| some ancient classic figure vowing VEN
| geance on the guilty. As she stood thus,
with a fixed look OF. certainty on her face,
| and prophesied that some day she should
| know the man who had done this deed,
| she might have been Cassandra come
back to the world again.
l "His face was shrouded" ahe went on,