Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1897-08-05
"And Won believe this to be trueg.
~ ann very sorry to admit that | do

II am very sorry 10 auinil 'n" : w
sir" 80. 49,
facts that lead you to this conclusion
"Yes, sir. Gentlemen SAID MISS III,
wiping her red eyes and looking arounn
dimly upon the magistrate anu ms as
sistants, what | am gcing 10 tcii YOU
/ have never yet breathed TO any NJ,
man ear! / should not breathe a word
of it now but that l am on oatn' =
compelled to speak the Whole TRUTH
that the ends of justice Il be salts
fed. / know, then. that the poor, de-
ceased lady was forced upon the ac-
Of Colonel Greville by these
circumstances. They were botn tne
adopted children Of Captain Ful5oy. II
was the dearest wish Of the old mans
heart to have the two married, so tuat
he could leave property undivided 10
them both-sO- !.
"a moment. Miss Powers! DO not
let us get on too fast. How do you know
that 1t was the dearest wish OF Captain
Fuljoy that his two wards should inter
marry?" inquired Major Burns.
Because. sir, the captain has ex-
pressed such a wish TO me, often ana
often. and because l overheard a con-
yersation between the captain aad Soio.
mel Greville upon the subject, which l
was about to report to you Ii you
interrupted me-"
Il beg your pardon, Miss Powers!
Pray go OIL now.
swell. sir. as I remarked before, l
have never breathed a word OF this con-
versation TO human ear. No n has the
least suspicion that / know anything
about it. Nor should / now, only
ITO the point, Miss Powers, to tho
point, il you please" said Major Burns,
impatiently interrupting the old lady's
garrulity.
Yes, sir; we'll, then. 1t was last
Christmas was three years ago, that the
captain first preached the subject OF the
proposed marriage to Colonel Greville.
then Mr.. Fulke. 1t was night, and l
was III the large china closet adjoining
the dining room, where Captain FulJoy
and Mr.. Fulke were still. lingering over
their wine, for dinner had been late
that afternoon"
Eyes, well?"
II was busy arranging the china and
glass upon shelveS-fOr L can eve
trust Mandy TO do 1t, she Is so careless,
she would break her weight in
Never mind Mandy's carelessness,
Miss Powers; pray keep to the point"
"Well, then. l was still busy, when
the captain began to talk Of what was
not intended for my ears, or anybody
else's but Fulke's. Now. | am not nat
urally an e~avesdropper. l scorn all such
meanness, for l think 1t is the basest-"
Miss Powers! Miss Powers. you ar,
not here to defend yourself against any
such charge! Therefore, will you be
good enough to keep to the pointy' ex-
claimed the irascible little Irishman.
II am keeping to the point, il you
please, sir; but am not going to let
anyone believe that / remained there
listening to conversation that was not
intended for My ears If I could help it.
SO, as i was about to say, that l could
not prevent myself from hearing what
followed, because the china closet had
but outlet, and that was through
the dining room; and as / did not like
to break in upon the gentlemen over
their wine, / was forced to remain
where / was and hear everything"
what did you hear?"
"What I never repeated before. and
would not repeat now. II ! were o
upon my oath to speak the whole
truth"
Ugh, ugh, ugh.' groaned Major
Burns, wiping his red face In an ex-
cited manner-"shall we ever get TO the
gist of this woman's evidenced What
was it you heard? Will you tell us or
not?'
Miss Hit, for a moment, looked as IL
h would not; for anger begets anger.
And she was very much offended at the
majors impatient Interruptions. How
ever, she thought better of it, and re-
piled:
4 heard the captain propose to Mr..
Tulke that he-Mr. F~ulke-should mar
ry Daney. You remember, major. that
the late Mrs. Greyille was called Da-
ney?'
Yes. yes! Do go onr'
"At first Mr.. Fulke laughed at the
proposal, as If it had been a mere Jest
of the old mans. But when the can
tain seriously pressed ii upon him. he
resented it as an affront. But the cap-
tain p~ersevered. telling him that. as he
had won Daney's affection, he was
bound in honor to marry her. But MIR.
Fulke did not see nto see that. and
"ii+ tldt nv lidu newer SOtlGn TO
win her affections. and hat If he had
done so 1t was rot his fault, and tina the
was not TO be held responsible for the
consequences, or words to that effect.
The captain did not yield a point; he
pleaded little Daney's cause with much
more warmth than delicacy, and the
more earnest the captain became. the
frmer grew Mr.. Fulke. He seemed to
harden into rock. and he told his uncle
plainly that nothing on Garth would ey-
er induce him to marry Daney. That
her social position vas beneath him,
and her personal appearance was disa-
greeable to him: or, as / said before,
words to the very same effect. Then
the captain, mistaken old man, tried TO
bribe him, promising TO adopt Daney
legally. and to give her his own name
and leave her half his fortune. and Mr..
Iulke the other half If he would marry
her: but Mr.. Fulke only more emphat-
!cally reiterated what he had said be-
fore. that nothing on earth would ever
Induce him to marry Daney, for that he
could not tolerate her as a wife. Then
the captain grew very angry. threat
ened to disinherit him and ordered him
OFT of the hOnSa While tho o..-