Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1897-04-07

whom you want to see!" a sudden light
came into his eyes. He looked at her
eagerly, but did not speak.
~ have sent for her." said Molly. II
know you loved her. Jack: but you love
me a little, too. do you not?" 1t was
n;,eous cry. But she was satisfied with
his answer.
II love her In a different way, Molly. l
never injured her. 1t was all SO different.
Child. forgive me-and say goOd-by.
love you-you, my wife.
But when they had exchanged the last
.ad kiss. and he was left with his nurses.
II vas noticed that he began to watch the
door as he had never watched 1t for
Molly's coming.
She was with him at last. Her face
came ont of the mists and smiled bravery
upon him. She was always courageous,
and she had made up her mind that she
would not distress him by lamentations.
He was vaguely glad that she did not
cry--as Molly did.
"Val," he said. with faint smile OF
welcome, ''the end has come, yon see.
"Not by your own seeking. Jack. she
answered. She had knelt down beside
the bed and was pillowing his head upon
her arm. A sort of instinct told her wnat
Was best TO De OOne Tor nun.
~ would have been q better husband
# had lived, to that poor child. She
loves me. and I could have loved her and
the child, too You will be a friend to
them. will you not, Val? leave them to
you"
"Yes, Jack will do all can"
"She will marry again." said Hanning-
ton. quietly. Rutherford, perhaps. l
hope she will. You can tell her SO. II
ever the occasion comes. Val. And If she
has-other children, and this little one
should be neglected, or II the child was
left motherless. then yo0-Val@
''She should be my child. then" said
Valencia. softly.
Yes. that is what l wanted to hear
you say. Kiss me, Val"
She bent to kiss him. and received his
last breath upon her lips.
CHAPTER XIV.
The way in which John Harrington
came by his death remained for some
time a mystery. Ralph kingscott's flight
was not at first connected with it, eNcep,
by Alan Noucrieff in his own mind: and
the questions that he put to Harrington
and that others also put. had not been
answered by the dying man with sutf-
J cient clearness to insure certainty.
| When Alan Moncrieff looked into his
/ own affairs, much that had been puzzling
| to him was explained. The fraud and
trickery of which he had been the dnpe
for years made him g:aId aghast. Ralph
! had gone on until discovery was immi-
nent, and had then Disappeared; he had
taken with him large sums Of money
enough, indeed, to constitute q nice little
fortune, on which he could subsist very
comfortably in a foreign land. Mon.
crieff, in the first shock Of the discovery.
was inclined 20 prosecute, but the pub.
licity of a prosecution would have been
very painful to the whole family. and II
was decided that the matter had better
sink into oblivion.
About a month after Hannington's
death. however, a letter arrived which
threw considerable light upon several
points. 1t was addressed to Alan Mon.
crieff, and the pOstmark was that of al
obscure town In Spain 1t was from
Ralph Kngscott himself.
Dear Alan," it began, with an audaci.
ty Which almost took away Moncrieff's
breath, Il have just learned from the
newspapers that poor Harrington is dead
suppose he has told you how the affair
secret of the matter in writing to you
but for my own satisfaction wish to tel
you why l shot him as l did. The aci
was not premeditated, but 1t seemed te
me unavoidable. He brought it on his
own head by his utter obstinacy and stu
pidity.
And now to business. i resolved Il
make Il fortune out of you. To this eni
sacrificed all that stood In the way
Your coldness toward your children gave
me a great many chances. You were 81
easily suspicious of them that it was NJ
hard task to throw blame ON them &
thousand times when they were perfectly
innocent. began with wishing to mak'
a competency: before long / wanted YOU
whole fortune. I resolved to make yor
cast off both your children, and leave you
property to me by will. When that vii
was made, thought that you would prob
ably soon give me possession of the es
tate. Because your affections are prett,
strong, although you hide them with s
coating of ice, and when your heart anf
spirit were broken, as l meant them Il
be. by your sons dissipations and you
daughters disgrace. you would not beal
your unhappiness long. You would eithe
have gone out of your mind, under th'
circumstances, Alan Moncrieff, or yol
would have committed suicide. Knowing
you as / do, l feel sure of that. Berthe:
scrapes, too, were partially known Il
Harrington, and l did not quite like thu
idea of your hearing that l had been re
sponsible for most Of them-as he woult
doubtless have informed you. In tn
matter OF the forged check, it is perhap
only fair to say-as l wish to do th
handsome thing by you all In leaving th
country-that Bertie was little to blame
He had had considerable pressure pu
upon him, and he was SO frightened o
yourself that he thought anything pref
erable to telling you the truth.
Il will set your mind at rest on a poin
which once disturbed you more than yoi
would allow--the fate of that stone whicl
went by the name of The Luck of tn
House. 1t was who took 1t away las
by the by, Molly, with unusual acumen
always suspected), and for two reasons
First, l wanted to have the stone tested
as l had notion that it might prov
more valuable than we thought. But il
; this | was wrong: the stone was intrin
sicaliy worthless. Secondly, knew tha
its disappearance would perplex and, per
haps, distress you, for the family super
, stition had never been eradicated fror
your mind. In thi; l was right. l al
quite willing now, however, that yo
should have the stone, if you can find il
, In a hit of unreasonable vexation at it
worthlessness, l flung it out of windo,
, in the tower. into the midst of a thickl
growing bed of bracken. 1t may be ther
yet, for aught l know. Ii you can fin
it, you are welcome to it, and to all tn
luck that it may briD r. K"
Moncrieff read this letter with feelin
, of rage and shame of which he found
difficult TO rid himself. A search wa
made for the stone, but proved unavail
ing. 1t must haze become imbedded Il
the earth and overgrown with vegetation
, and probably. Moncrieff said, rather re