The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1897-11-29
GALL RIGHTS REsERvED.l

through these years that the teeth of
which Mascall seemed pardonabIv vain
were the gift of the dentist. MascalI was
even fond of commenting on neonle;s
teeth, the last thing in the world one
would have supposed that vain man.
proud of his own personal appearance
would have been likely TO do If he had
been conscious that he was setting I'M as
the owner Of an attraction which he did
not possess But Identification in fine
end became certain beyond all manner
OF doubt. The dead man was MascaII
and he had worn false teeth as he had
put on an invented Christian name.
More decisions and falsehoods came
out. Sir Joseph found on examining his
accounts that more than ten thousand
pounds had disappeared. Large sums of
money supposed to be banked by Mascall
to meet certain contingencies of business
had never been put in the bank. One of
the very greatest OF these payments would
have had to be made within two or three
days. he man had clearly lived double
life and a false life. His vision had been
lying vision: his later life had been
wholly lie
His later life? Yes But what about
his deathp Had he fallen a victim to the
mysterious Red Rovers? He had in some
way. which no one now could understand
or conjecture, baked them OF their prey
and their money; such was the natural
assumption from the known and actual
facts-and they had in revenge dealt him
his death. This was what might be called
the obvious explanation. But was 1t af-
ter all the true explanat1onp
Lawrence Tryon at least thought not
Lawrence read the sad story in a differ
ent way. To him it seemed clear that the
unfortunate man, allured by the "lying
vision" and leading the double life, had
found Mt last that troubles were closing
round him, and had staked everything on
one desperate gamblers throw. Perhaps
there may have been some band of scoun-
drels leagued together to entrap and
"hocus' men of known responsibility
and position, and frighten them into
paying q ransom to avoid publicity and
exposure-so much Lawrence would ad-
NIT to be possible, and Mascall in his two
lives may have come across them, and
turned them to his purpose. But in the
organ Zed murder gang Lawrence had no
belief. Mascan had probably counted on
frightening Sir Joseph into payment
large enough to enable him to refund the
embezzled money; and counted also on
playing the heroic part of Sir Joseph s
resouer and thus commencing himself to
the gratitude of Clarissa Fooled in all
his purpose, he preferred to die by his
own hand-suoh was Lawrence's theory
in such a manner as should leave it still
to be believed by her that he had fallen a
victim to his determination to save her
father Such was Lawrence's theory, and
everything she had known combined to
make it the theory of Clarissa also. The
two lovers did not press it on the accept
ance of Sir Joseph.
Sir Joseph, however, recognized quite
clearly that Lawrenne's game of bluff"
had saved the house from discredit. and
had EhaftQrQd 10 TlIn To
seph therefore consented to the marriage
of his daughter with Lawrence Tryon.
Sir Joseph's inclination was in
deed to exaggerare to the uttermost his
obligations to Lawrence. He oontended
that Lawrenoe's quick intuitions, and
his own undaunted courage, had alone
saved him from becoming in one way or
the other, in purse or in person, the vic
tim of murder plot as terrible as ever
was planned by the genius of crime in
the Middle Ages.
(The End.)