Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1897-10-28

then far on your journey to the East.
Ny communication was not such IN
as could properly be made by let
ter, or trusted Il the uncertainty of
the Eastern mails. Thus l was unwill-
ingly compelled to defer il to this long
wished for personal interview. This.
madam. is the explanation | had to
make to you. Lady! in all the years
| of our intimate friendship, you have
never known me to vary in h least
degree from truth. The statement that
| made you when a boy, | repeat to
you now that | am n man. Do you be-
iieve meE'
Mrs. Greville had listened in perfect
silence to this explanation, and as,
gradually, the conviction of It's truth
forced Itself upon her mind, she grew
paler and paler, until mt last. at its
close. she sank back in her chair. upon
the very verge OF %swooning. Her lips
were mute, her eyes closed, her face as
white as death.
On seeing her condition, Welby's
feelings entirely overcame him. Throw
ing himself at her feet. he seized n
covered her hands with kisses, ex-
claiming. in a broken voice:
Lady. Mrs. Greville! oh, my more
than mother, look at ne, speak to
me-! ! was no willing imposter!'
oh! my son! my son. my lost son."
walled the lady. in n voice so broken
by anguish as to be almost inaudible.
"He is rot lost. dear lady he is not
lost, Whatever becomes of the poor
fellow at your feet. your son Is safe.
ne is fcand! And, If ry resolution TO
E.ake the disclosure l have made had
required a spnr, it would have gained
i from the moment that / had certain
intelligence of the real Fulke Gre
, villc's existence! Lady, listen, and be
Happy. When he ran away from
school he cast himself upon the protec-
, ton Of his uncle, Captain William Full
joy-of Fuljoy's Isle-an old retired
sea captain. living on a remote island
upon the coast of Maryland. But / be-
lieve you know who Captain .Fuljoy
was. Well, the captain brought him
up as his son sent him to the Univer-
sity of Virginia. and afterwards to
West Point, and finally procured him
a commission in the regular army. He
now holds the rank Of colonel. and
though under a temporary cloud. he is
universally esteemed as a gentleman
of high moral and intellectual excel
lence. oh, lady! look up! and while
you rejoice in the recovery of your
rightful step-son. speak a word of for
g~iveness-a word of kindness to the
poor fellow who has SO long and so I'M
willingly held his rank in society and
his place III your atfecti0nsw
And do you fancy 1t is Of him I
Think? of him, the froward, the per-
verse. the stiff -necked boy who fed
from my charge and has held himself
aloof from my knowledge all these
many years? No, no, mol thought
not of him, but of you-of you. my
good! my loving! my true hearted
one! And to think that. after all, you
are not my SOM exclaimed the lady,
throwing her arms around Welby.
dropping her head upon his shoulder,
and bursting into n passion of tears.
Neither spoke for q time; but AT
length the lady lifted her head, and,
laying both her hands upon the shout
ders Of Welby, gazed sadly in his face,
as she said:
ooh! / might have known that sou
were not Fulke Greville. Bearing his
perfect form and features as you do,
yet your mind is SO much higher, and
your heart so much te1derer, and your
spirit 80 much more refined than ever
his were! o, my dear boy! It is scarce
ly half IN hour since | told you that,
before Fulke Greville ran away from
school, l had cherished him from n
sense of duty. and as my late hus-
bands son: but that since you came
back you had SO changed that / grew
to love you for your w personal mer-
It's! ALI, Welby! little did / think that
the boy who ran away and the boy
who was brought back, so exact in per-
s0nal appearance, so different In char
acter. were different in identity, too.
And to think that you, so good. so true,
SO loving. are not my son. Oh. what
shall l tiv: Oh. sorrow! sorrOw.' cried
Mrs. Greville. bursting anew into tears.
Lady, dear lady! my mother, my
saviour, almost my creator, listen to
me. You have been a mother to me;
you have saved me from utter indi-
cehce; you have made me what | ami
But for you, l might still have been an
oyster-carrier: or, worse than that. in
the despair of uncultivated talent and
unsatisfied ambition. l might have
been a drunkard or q felon! You
saved me from all that! You rescued
me almost from the gutter, You gave
me a home int a mother! You gave
me an education and a profession.
You have made me a man, And now,
oh, lady, let me ask you-is not the
boy that you have thus loved, thus
reared and thus established, as near to
you. by all that you have done for him,
as any step-son could beY'
YES. yes, my own dear boy, yes:
but still l wish you were my son-I
wisl, you bore my name! 1t is hard,
1t is distressing. 10 find thar you are
not what for so many years l held you
to BET
"Mrs. Greville! dear Mrs. Greville,
l hore you do not hold me to have been
a willing imposter during all these
yearsY inquired Welby, sadly.
"Imposter. No, my dear. How should
you have been? You protested against
the position in which we placed you,
until you were silenced by authority.
You resisted until you We're con luered
by irresistible force. What, then, could
you do but what you have done?-
wait for your legal majority, when you
should be free to act for yourself? My
boy, you have acted well throughout,
md NTH an 80, go xx-tclan. fnInnl ~ ,.o