The times., 1898-05-30
A CASE OF BLACKMAIL.

ew and articled clerk. who had brought
1t to him; '.but she will only see you
Then. I suppose / must said Mr..
Biest; show her up He took a piece
of paper that looked like theatrical pro-
gram and seemed to give an air of friv-
olity to the papers on his table, and drop
ped it into the waste-paper basket; his
nephew saw him do 1t, and said in tone
of remonstrance:
"Uncle, can't you Gomez?
Cant you see I'm busy?" said Mr..
Blest. "Show the woman up, and tell her
to be quick, IL she can
A minute later a young lady came in
smiling. with very small hand held out.
incased apparently in a still smaller
glove.
"You have forgotten me-" she laughed,
as he bowed stiffiy Mrs. Smythe-Maude
Ut.ersen."
Dear me-" said Mr.. Biest, 80 II is
The small hand. rose and hoyered some
where above his shoulder as he caught
Its finger-tips In his bony old claw
We'll" she exclaimed. ITS three years
since you've seen me, and then l had just
come of age. and you only saw me when
you gave me away: OF course. no one
looks on her wedding day like she does
afterward''
you are looking very WELL
Thank you; was afraid 1 was grow
ing thin." she said pinching her arm
critically. 81 am very unhappy; that is
why l came to see you
Indeed" said Mr.. Biest- you pain
me extremely-your husband
ITS not quite come to that: but 1t will
soon, If you can't help me. Look here,
Mr.. Blest. feel have known you since
I was a little girl. because you used TO
| send me postoffice orders for pocket mon
| ey, with typewritten letters 20 ask if they
were kind to me at school, just as If
should have dared to say they were notn'
"Ah. | never thought of thai" said Mr..
| Blest
| And then you tied up my wretched lit
| tie 25.00o in a marriage settlement. so
that I get nothing a year and have to
| buy all my clothes out of it-and now IL
| you Will only not interrupt me l think
l can tell you everything"
| He bowed silently as she settled herself
in the battered easy chair. extending
pair of pointed little patent leather boots
to the gas fire In the CRATE.
| mot bad for country parsons wife.
eh?" she said, following the direction of
| his eyes. ITS my hats though, that
they talk about most down there; you
can't show your boots very well in a
pew
/ AS he had been asked not TO interrupt
| he said nothing. while she arranged her
| left sleeve and pulled down the right
hand corner of her veil
1T IS hard on me- she went on, with
| a sigh, because I truly don't deserve it;
| but 1t is like this. Years ago before
married | knew a captain-his name does
not matter. call him.
| Doe suggested Mr.. BEST.
Sounds rather like a baker; well, never
mind. Captain Dough and l were great
pals: friends, you know, nothing more:
and he went away to India, and l wrote
/ him Extraordinarily"
Mr.. Blest bowed.
'T thought myself rather more than just
| a pal, then, you know; | was only eigh-
teen. and my letters said good deal,
| fancy. I should not write like that now
to anyone. However, I suppose he liked
them. and kept them. Never keep a let
ter from woman, Mr. Blest: perhaps YOU
never did lawyers are so careful. Well,
he is dead now, poor fellow He died in
| India. and his servant or somebody must
have stolen all my poor little scrawls.
and just listen to the letter I received a
| fortnight ago: I'll read 1t to you:
' Madam: We are instructed by ell
| ent to offer you for sale certain letters
written by you to Captain dough.
| late of the-never mind the regimenO.
| Kindly let US know If you would care to
purchase them for a thousand pounds
cash, or whether your husband would pos
| sibly be likely to desire them. II seems
a pity that documents so interesting
to your family should fall into other
| hands. Faithfully yours,
JAMES HEDGETER'
''He calls himself an autograph dealer.
| There!-a thousand pounds
Dear me-" said Mr.. Blest. How
| many letters are there?"
only four that matter. I wrote one
| afterward to say that I was engaged. and
! anOthaT after 7 arria Fcr
NAL; there was nothing in either OF
! them"
Then" said Mr.. Blest, eff what YOU
tell me IS correct Che eoughed apologet-
| icalIy as the phrase slipped from his
lips. Il cannot see how your husband
can reasonably be made Jealous"
| ''Of course; just what l thought" ;" said
| Mrs. Smythe. tapping her foot on the fen
der impauently; 'and 1 wrote and said
| so; and they wrote back to say that if
| wanted particulars of the letters, they
| were undated-just as If one went poking
| about in almanacs before writing letters
| and that If 1 wanted extracts they
would inclose some. They did So and 1
| burned them, and l haven't slept since -
But they are undated" =" said Mr. Blest.
| still cheerfully and consolatory.
She shook her head. They also said
that two were in envelopes with post
| marks. They told me the dates-one just
before. one just after. I was married"
Dear me- said the old solicitor, look
ing grave. Then they have put two
early letters in,o envelopes that contain
ed harmless ones, merely saying good
| by"
81 thought you would begin to under
stand soon," said his client.
You must tell your husband every
thing, of course" began Mr.. BIest.
She stood up, looking sorrowful but
| firm. Mr.. Blest | cannot. positively.
| Dear William is a good husband, and
love him very much: but he is clergy
man. and he does not understand. I'm
afraid he has been rather cross with me
once or twice when other men have lik-
ed to come and see me and-that sort OF
thing. This will be the last straw: you
see, / have never said a word about
| Capt.
Doe said the old solicitor quickly.
That seems a pity, and the letters, are
they very"--- Mr.. Blest coughed be-
hind his hand.
NO she said, shortly, getting little
| pink about the cheeks. ''They are not
very-anything. In the extract they state
I-I-well, he used to kiss me sometimes
her cheeks got pinker still for a moment
land 1 reminded him of it,
| Mr.. Biest shook his head. IF we only
confront the scoundrel with you both, and
| tell him you are determined to fight him
to prosecute him If necessary.
| .''Rut we can't" she said ''and you must
| think of something else
4 4, e-n.-l &-y-