The Holly chieftain., 1898-09-16

~ ~oAAAc ASAc. wan III tue cell0r E6&a
he came down. but it was MS dark ms
pitch. and thought it vas one Of the
robbers and that was trapped. did
not discover the truth until too late"
An. that explains !. ais..- NJ. NJ Perry
said. when had finished. THAT was
Morley. truly. He was always tha,
kind OF man. and would never de-
pend upon another to accomplish
things when he could do it himself"
] could not help glancing furtively
at the two detectives, and received
from each nod Of approval.
In one room-once the dining>room
of the old house. bright young feI-
low is working, planning. thinking, ex-
perimenting all day long. and at times
all night long, too. on the problem of
voice-transmission without the aid of
receiver or transmitter. He has made
some progress, and. as he is a patient
young man of brilliant parts, / make
bold to prophesy that the world will
soon be startled by lightning stroke
OF genius which will blnzon the little
hamlet Of Nelsonville in characters of
fire on the present generation.
My wife and are spending the sum-
mer at her residence on Sunset hill,
and we drive over to the old house
every day to talk and to encourage
the young genius.
A year has passed since Mr.. Morley's
death; six months after that tragic
event Florence became my wife.
The first evening of our arrival at
Sunset hill I was sitting on the porch.
watching the violet tints down In the
valley. My wife was slowly pacing up
and down the walk.
She had been very quiet and sober all
that day, and attributed her mood to
the sorrowful recollections which the
place would naturally call up.
Presently she came and knelt down
beside me. Resting her head on my
shoulder, she spoke.
II have something to tell you. my
Notwithstanding which have
kept hidden from you. But 1 have been
punished sufficiently; for there has not
been that absolute trust and confidence
between us that / wished. 1t is all my
fault. Promise to forgive me, and 1
will tell you my secret"
laughed ut her, and placed my arm
around her. 1T must be something
terrible indeed" l exclaimed, in pre-
tended alarm. ''But us you are my wife.
Of course there is no other way but to
forgive the wrong"
III believe-papa was concerned
in the bank-roboery," she finally mur-
INJURED. in broken tones.
Good heavens, Florencel What can
you be dreaming Off" I exclaimed, in
great surprise.
1T is no dream; how wish it was!"
she answered, the tenrs falling fast.
mo dream, my husband. 1t is the
truth"
| ''How do you know it?' asked.
-When heard that jackson was the
guilty one, and that papa had been
killed by him, 1 suspected then that
papa had something to do with the af-
fair. I knew there was some business
relation between them that could not
understand; and then papa's secret
trouble during the six weeks before
he died was significant"
"But, after all, this is only surmise, y
l said, in an attempt to comfort her
think Of your fathers position. Think
how he loved you"
"Oh. Nelson, will never forget that;
I will always remember him by that
strong affection he had for me. But
what I have told you is not surmise.
Just before we were married sent fol
my detective, and insisted on knowing
the truth"
"Why, thought Wilson and Skin
ner knew nothing about Mr.. Morley's
connection with the affair."" ex.
claimed.
"Oh, yes. they knew it, but out of re-
gard for you and me they had deter
mined to keep it secret, seeing thnt
papa was dead and revelation OF II
would do no good. II papa had lived
they would have been compelled to
bring him to justice. l assigned nll
the property to the bank, all except this
place, which was bought with money
left me by my mother. Papa was not
nearly SO wealthy as most people sup
posed. but / believe what he had, along
with what was obtained out of jack
sons estate, and what still remained OF
the stolen property, fully reimbursed
the bank. That is why came to you
a poor girl instead of the heiress you
had reason to expect. So you see, my
husband. you married not only q COM
paratively penniless girl, but a-a-oh,
Nelson!-a great criminals daughter!"
she faltered.
Icaught her closer to me.
II married an angel. God help me to
he worthy Of you." 1 said, huskily.
Now. dear heart" I added, after
awhile, do not distress yourself for
nothing. knew Of your fathers con-
nection with the affair long before you
did"
Before you married me?" she asked,
looking up eagerly.
"Yes. long before"
And you wished me to be your wife,
even when you knew? Then you really
did love me. What noble old boy you
are! And am so happy!"
We sat there long time In silence.
What need Of words! The calm and
peacafuf night seemed 'benediction.
The stars above twinkled, but not one
of them shone with the resplendency
which beamed from the eyes of my be.
loved wife.
look forward to the future with