The record-union., 1897-05-09

unseeing eyes till her uncle's voice re-
called her to time and place.
We'll, and what do you think of
Master Eustace now?" he asked. Il
know too much of him already not to
feel sure that he is quite capable OF
acting in the way he is here charged
with. You must know that it was his
forgery of my name to a bill for a
considerable amount which brought
matters to a climax with me. Twice
already had 1 paid his gambling debts.
while sundry other disagreeable trans
actions on his part, of which he imag-
ined L knew nothing, had not failed to
reach my ears. But it was the forgery
that crowned the edifice of his mis-
deeds. l met the bill,. saying no word
to any one; but from that day he and
/ have never met" Then, after mo-
mentary pause, he added: How | loved
that boy no one but myself can ever
know"
And this is the man-Heaven help
me!-to whom l have given my heart
and promised my hand" said Mary to
herself. And he-what must he have
thought of the gift? How he must
have laughed at my folly! How light
ly he must hold me for allowing my
heart to be so easily stolen away" 1t
had, indeed, needed but a handsome
face and a. persuasive tongue to fool
her to the top of her bent. oh, how
she despised herself! And, to crown all,
he was married.
Mr.. Armishaws voice broke her re-
verie. by the way, dear, 1 suppose
II o6 will hi N o.
Yes uncle; it never left my haIds
till l had given it into charge of the
official at the postoffice, who weighed
and stamped it,
In the course of the Sunday follow
ing, the MonteZuma, one of fleet of
well-known liners running between
Liverpool and New York, having left
the former port on the preceding day,
called as usual at Queenstown to take
on board her final complement of pas
sengers and mails before crossing the
Atlantic. Among other passengers
who joined the Montezuma at the Irish
seaport was Eustace Dare. 1t was as
result of the knowledge acquired by
him in the course of three previous
voyages that he had conceived the au
daciOuS design which he was now bent
on carrying into effect.
AT the period to which our narrative
refers it was the practice of the postal
authorities to send a coupleof officials
one of them being an officer of superior
grade, and the other an ordinary sorter
in charge of the mails between Liv-
erpool and New York and vice versa
1t was the duty of these officials, in the
of rn fn ny-f no
tents of the late mails which had been
put on board at Queenstown, and make
them up into, different bags in accord
ance with their varying destinations on
the great cdptinent. The bulk of the
mails, which were put on board at
Liverpool, had already been sorted
prior to leaving England. On the re-
turn voyage a similar process was gone
through with that portion of the
American mail which had been taken
on board at the last moment. 1t will
be enough to record that the process of
sorting the late mails on board ship
was discontinued in the year 1868,
from which date other arrangements
came into operation.
The sorting office was a special struc-
ture, placed well forward on the main
deck, just large enough for the two
officials to work comfortably in, and
fitted up much after the style of the
travelling postoftices, into which most
of us have taken q surreptitious peep
in the course of our night journeyings.
The chief official, who wore a dark
blue uniform with single gold stripe
on each sleeve of his coat, ranked as
a firCt-ol1GS a
spects was treated as such.
The name of this official on the voy-
age was Mr.. Jevons, a gentlemanly
man verging toward middle age, who
had been many years in the service,
and had travelled in the same capacity
on other lines besides that between
England and the United States. He
was a bachelor and somewhat of a
lady's man, was fond of cards as a
pleasant means of dissipating the ennui
which is too apt to make it's presence
felt on board ship, and could generally
hold his own of an evening in the Sa-
loon when whist, euchre, cribbage or
what not was to the fore. On one
point Mr. Jevons was in1exft'o he
would never play for more tn rri-
fling stakes, just enough, as he put it,
ito give an interest to the game"
whatever it might be.
Eustace Dare seized the first oppor-
tunity that offered itself to enter into
conversation with Mr.. Jevons. which
was on the Sunday evening about three
hours after they had left Queenstown,
While that officer was taking a "consti-
tutionaP on deck. There was rather
a heavy swell on, and the majority of
the passengers had found it convenient
to remain below. Mr.. Jevons, who was
of a sociable disposition, made no diff
Guilty about responding to Dare's ad-
vances. neither did he refuse one of the
very superior cigars, with a stock of
which the young gentleman had seen
fit to furnish himself before leaving
town. From that time forward Dare
stuck close to Mr.. Jevons and culti-
waited his society assiduously.
On the fourth day out Dare said to
the mail officer as they got up from
luncheon together: by the way, what
sort of a den is that in which, day after
day, you and your man shut yourselves
up from the sight of everybody? I
confess that I have a great curiosity
to see it,
Come with me, then, and you shall
have peep at it. More than that I
can't promise you. 1t is against the
rules to allow anyone not a Postoffice
official to set foot inside it."
Dare followed Mr.. Jevons, his heart
beating considerably faster than usual.
The officer unlocked the door with
the patent key which was never let
out of the possession of himself or his
subordinate, and having fling it wide,
he paused with Dare on the threshold