The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-07-04


/ the servant, certain it is that she ceased
| to bar the entrance and. civilly asking
I them to wait in the hall, departed up
wards. As they stood. trepidating in the
| squeezy entrance, Eric and his little
| brother convulsively clutching their
! sDokesman's hand, a door near them
opened and pair of young people, evil
| IDENTIFY on their way out, and as evidently
! unaware OF any strangers neighborhood,
| issued tenderly interlaced from il. Clan
| bally had just time to note that the girl
was pretty, slight, slip of a thing and
| that the young man wore the features.
| enlarged and love-illum.ned, Of Marietta,
when they sprang back abashed into their
covert, and moment later the servant
| reappeared with a request to the visitors
| TO please to walk up
In compliance their legs walked up but
not their hearts.
LORD Clanbally and the masters
Stalner"
very slender. upright lady stood in
the middle of the room, and without
speaking or asking them to sit down, bow
ed ici.E; so Jelly that the little boys, who
had given one timorous squint upwards
to see whether mercy or judgment were
likely to predominant in their sentence,
dropped their eyes at once again to the
carpet and glued them there. To Clan
bally, on the other hand, the very mark
ed frost Of the ladys manner inspired a
nope that she had actually been made
aware of the extent of their iniuuities
and that he might be spared its recaptu-
lation. Her face gave no hint of any such
! compassionate intention. and he had to
clear his dry throat and begin.
I'VE must ask you to pardon our intru-
sion, as / am sorry to say that we have
come to apologize-to apologize most hum
bly, and penitently for having unnten-
uonally made you the victim of an obi
Gus practical joke"
SIN rigid silence. Was she in ignorance
of what was coming, or was this determin-
ed dumbness a calculated part of the pun
ishment she meant to infict?
He looked full at her for the first time.
and his heart smote him. Was all this
suffering written on that small, worn face
due to this Internal Jest of which he had
been the accomplice? The thought was
intolerable. Some CT 1t must have been of
an older date. He was just thinking that
If it were not dressed in such austerity it
would be dear little face-rehned and
strong and tender-when a glance Of iced
expectation from her eyes told him he
must proceed.
81 hope I may induce you to pardon
these boys-you see they are only little
fellows" with a deprecating hand travel
Ing to the top of each abased curly skull.
But as to myself. have no palliation to
offer for my share in the transaction,
which was absolutely inexcusable; it,
when l first heard of the project, I had
thrown cold water upon It, they would
have given it up at once, would you not
boys?'
The boys acknowledged this generous at
tempt to bear their burden only by re-
newed and more convulsive grip of the
hands they had never willingly loosed;
and If he had hoped to be aided In his con-
fession by any sign of relenJing on the
Of biC anAftp1- ha GvNaad{lxr dis-
abled. She still stood, a slender, silent.
ice spear. over against him.
Ten days or a fortnight ago, / was
walking down this street. when I met
these young friends of mine leaving this
door. I thought I saw them drop some
thing into the postboX."
AS the words passed his lips 1t flashed
too late upon him what a refutation they
contained of his own attempt to white
wash his protege, at his own expense,
proving him as they did. to have been
only an accomplice after the fact. He
could but weakly hope that she would not
perceive the discrepancy; and once again
clearing is throat drove desperately on.
81 asked them who their friend in Ebury
street was, who lived at the house l had
just seen them leave? They assured that
they did not know; then requested them
to explain, which-they didp'
He had to pause; an unspeakable desire
confession of what he had eonnived at
bombarding him. With the sense that If
he did not rush at 1t it would rush him out
of the house, he went on with alternate
galiops and halts.
ut was practical joke. They are al
ways idiotic things. but, you see, they are
almost babies; and it was their idea of
fun"
So far he galloped. Then came a halt;
the final one.
1T seems they had got hold of their
cards that had been left upon her during
the past few weeks; and the idea occurred
to them that ii would be very amusing
to leave them one or two at a time, hig-
gledy -piggledy, at any house in the neigh
borhood that occurred to them, irerspec-
tive of having any acquaintance with the
occupier. They generally dropped them
into the post box, and it was thus that you
got Lady Thoms'."
The murder was out: and at last he
heard the sound of her voice
"And you encouraged them?"
He had thought that any form of speech
must be preferable TO her silence, yet now
he wished it back.
And you encouraged them?"
Il gave them half-a-crown apiece to go
on doing IL. / thought IL such good Joke"
His head sank wretchedly on his breast
as he ended. How horribly point,ess, and
even p.dckSudIu hOW appeared the piece
of mischief, that in conception had looked
so innocently humorous. Again silence.
Il hardly dare ask you to forgive us: of
course, it must seem impossible to you
at this first moment OF hearing"
Il had heard of IL already"
The thought flashed across him that she
had haif-avenged herself by not saving
him the wriggling ignomy of his confess
sion. as this acknowledgment showed him
she might have done.
you had?'
Lady Betty Stamer thought II better
to communicate 1t to Lady Thoms, who
told it to me-"
This. then. was the explanation OF the
tear-blurred apparition Of Marietta, seen
through the hrougham window.
Been here?" cried Clanbally, with Gel
tic effusiveness. II felt sure that she
would come. After all, / knew that her
heart was in the right place."
Mrs. Baddeley made no reply, but look
on her delicate, austere face, a tighter
compression OF her pale lips told him
more eloquently that any river OF objuga-
tory words could how little due 20 any
excellence Of the organ he referred 70,
how entirely under filial compuision had
been the amends offered by his ex-love.