The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1896-12-19
TlG Evil Genius.
A STORY.
by wILKrE COLLINS.
BEFORE THE STORY.

erty to make her arrangements for the de-
sertion OF poor little sgd.
The person on whose assistance she could
rely was an unmarried ciricT sister, a!s.!n-
guished as proprietreSs of Il cheap girls
school III one of the suburbs of London. This
lady-known to local fame as Miss Wigger-
had already proposed TO take sgd into train
ing as a pupil teacher. "Itn force the child
on Miss Wigger promised, 'till she can
earn her board and lodging by taking my
lowest class. When she gets older She will
replace my regular %governess ard l shall save
! the salary"
With this proposal waiting for a reply Mrs.
Westertield had only to inform her sister that
it was accepted. Come here" she wrote,
ION Friday next at any time before two
o'clock and sgd shall be ready for yor. p.
ST. am to be married again OH Thursday
and start for America witt. my husband and
my boy by next Saturdays steamer"
TIL letter was posted, and the mothers
anxious mind was, to Use her phrase, re-
lieved of another worry.
AS the hour of S drew near Oh "Wednesday
evening Mrs. Westcriield's anxiety forced
her to find relief in action of some kind. She
opened the door of her sitting-room, and list
ened on the stairs. 1t still wanted a few
minutes TO s o'clock when there was a ring
at the household. She ran down To open the
door. The servant happened to be in the
hall and answered the bell. The next mo-
ment the door was suddenly closed again.
"Anybody thcra?." Mrs. Westerlield asked.
mo, ma'am.'
This seemed strange. Had the old wretch
deceived her, after ALL. Look in the letter
box" she called out. The servant obeyed
and found a letter. Mrs. Westcrlield tore it
open, standing on the stairs. 1t contained
half a sheet of common note paper. The i'll
depreciation of the cipher was written on 1t
in these words:
'Remember No. 12 Purbeck road. st.
Johns Wood. Go to the summer house in
the back garden. Count 10 the fourth plank
in the floor reckoning from the side wall on
the right as you enter the summer house.
Prize up the plank. Look under The mold
and rubbish. Fine the diamonds
Not a word of explanation accompanied
these lines. Neither had the original cipher
been returned. The strange old man had
earned his money and had not attended TO
receive it-llad not even sent word where or
how it might be paid! Had he delivered his
letter himself? He Cor his messcnger) had
gone before the house door could be opened.
A sudden suspicion of him turned her cold.
Had he stolen the diamonds? She was on
the point of sending for a cab, and driving to
his lodgings, when James came in, eager to
know if the Interpretation had arrived.
Keeping her suspicious to herself, she
merely informed linn that the Interpretation
was in her hands He at once asked to see
ii. She refused TO show it to him until he
had made her his wife. Put IL chisel in
your pocket when we go to church to-mor-
row morning. was the one hint she gave
him. AS thoroughly worthy of each other as
ever, the betrothed lovers distlusted each
other to the last.
At IL o'clock next morning they were
united in the bonds of wedlock; the land
lord and landlady OF the public house i'll
which they had both served being the only
witnesses present. The children We're not
permitted to see the ceremony. On leaving
the church door the married pair began their
honeymoon by driving to st. Johns Wood.
A dirty printed notice, in a broken window,
announced that the house was to let; and q
sOul-tempored woman informed them that
the, were free to look at the rooms.
Tie bride was in the best of humOrs. She
set the bridegroom the example of keeping
up appearances by examining the dilapidated
house first. This done, she said Sweetly tC
the person in charge: May we look at the
garden"
The M made Il strange answer to this
request. That's curious" She said.
James interfered for the first time. whats
curious?' he asked, roughly.
Among all the idle people who have come
here, at one time or another, to see this
house." the woman said, only two have
wanted to look at the garden.'
James turned on his heel, and made fol
the summer-house; leaving his wife to pur
,.r tI1 r,Ii.. rr. r,-t n.r1 ,NtNn-r.l "
did pursue the subject.
II am one of the persons, of course" sh,
said. .NVho is the other?:'
A old man came on Monday
The brides pleasant smile vanished.
What sort of person was he".' She asked
The sour-tempered woman became SQUIRE
than ever. "Oh, how can | tell? a brute
Therev'
"a brute?!" The very words which tn,
new Mrs. Bellbridge had herself used wlel
, the expert had irritated her. Witt: seriou
misgivings, she too turned her steps in In
direction of the garden.
, James had already followed her instruc
tons and used his chiseI. The plank la,
loose on the floor. With both his hands h
rapidly cleared away the mold and the rut
Dish. In a few minutes the hiding place wa
laid bare.
They looked into it. They looked at eaci
other. There was the empty hole, telling it
| own story. The diamonds We're gon
4.-Ihe Mother.
Mrs. Rellbridgc eyed her husband, pre-
pared for a furious outbreak of rage. II
stood silent, staring stupidity straight befor
him. The shock that had fallen on his dul
, brain had TUNED it. For the time he WI
8 big IDIOT; speechless, harmless, helpless.
l She put back the rubbish, AMI replaced tn,
), plank, and picked up the chiscl. Come
l James," she said, pull yourself together.
1t was useless to speak to him. She took lii
arm,a and led him out to the cab that wa.
l waiting at the door.
The driver, helping him to get in, noticed
a piece of paper lying on the front seat. Ad
8 vertisements, seeking publicity under al
possible circumstances, are occasionally sen
flying into the open windows of vehicles
The driver wa about to throw the pape
away, when Mrs. Bellbridge Seeing it OF
4 the other side took it out of his hand. 81
isn't print" she said; ''its writing.'
closer examination showed that the writin.
was addressed to herself. Her correspor
:. dent must have followed her to the clurcl
: as well as to the house in ST. Johns Wood
: He distinguished her by the name which sh
. had changed that morning, under the sanC
ton of the clergy and the law
This is what she read: "Don't troubl
yourself, madam, about the diamonds. Yo
y have made a mistake-you have employe,
the wrong man.
Those words-ald no more. Enough
: surely, to justify the conclusion that he la
> stolen the diamonds, Was it worth while t
drive to his lodgings? They tried the eyper
> ment. The expert had gone away on bus