Arizona republican., 1898-11-25
A Gittle Comedy
 of Errors
(Continued From Yesterday.)

| manner first suggested tO my mind. and then tacitly, but unmistakably. con iirmed. It yras difficult for me to real izc what 1 was nevertheless forced to believe And then blamed myself far more than him, for 1 feared that it was my cagcrnrSS to secure that fortune that had led him on to take thls fatal and desperate step. You know what reason 1 have to wish for all indCpen- dent fortune: you have seen with your own eyes the unhappInrss of my life here, under the same roof with the man who has hated me with q cLusclcSs, in- sane hatred from the day of my mar riagc to his brother, and wEo, during the four years of my vidowhood, when the conditions of my husbands will made my Inheritance of the plttance that he allowed mo dependent upon my continued residence here. has abused to the utmost his invalid'a privilege to ! make existence burden to in~. Can you wonder that I saw d welcome re- lease in the chance of possessing that childless old woman's; wealth, which she had conditionally promised me over and over again shoull be mine? And it was for this. thought to secure tu me the prize that coveted so eagerly, that he had committed this deed. You can perhaps imagine the agony of self reproach that this thought brought to me. Then by degrees the scope and poSsI Ibilltics of his motives were re- vealcd to nc; my perception of his char actc:' and his capabilities widencd. By ! . wonderful and unexpected turn of the wheel of fortune, the missing niece and heir-at-law was discovcrcd the proofs of her identity and Whcrc2 bouts fell into his hands. Instantly his active symp athics were all transferred from my interests to Annie Dupont-s The desire to ingratiate himself with the successful heircss would be perhaps q natural and sufficient motive for this change in him; but that another and still stronger motive exists, l have be- come reasonably convinced And this, my dear Myra, is the keynote of my warming to YOu.'
 ''To me?'' Miss Hilary repeated the words incredulOusly wi tn little start of amazcment. ''To mo? Why, Mrs. Maynard. what have I to do with this matter?'
 Perhaps I can satisfy you that you have q very important part to play in this interesting little drama" returned Mrs. Maynard, with . rather forced smile. T date Mir. North's sudden in- tercst in you. which you yourself no- ticed for the first time. to 2 certain day this week when we drove by the Clement house and saw him about to step into t carriage that was waiting there. With him was q man who had called here an hour before, and left the house in com pany with Mr. North: the mysterious man through whom all the recent dis
 
 made. MT. North had just had pri- vate interview with this man, and doubtless had heard his story. And. as we drove slowly past, it was you that absorbed his whole attention: you at whom he gazed with such rapt interest that he did not see nc at all. I bowed to him as usual: he paid no heed; his eyes were fixed upon your face, while a strange excitement and agitation were apparent in his whole manner. l did not see him again un- til he called this morning. During the few moments that we were alone in the conservatory he told me that An nic Dupont had been discovered, and that he should soon be in possession of all the evidence necessary to estab- fish her leral position and rights; told me cxultingly. as if he took a cruel pleasure in taunting me with my de feat. He little knew that I had di- vined the truth, the secret that he was so jealously guarding, that he had dis covered Annie Dupont under my own roOf.''
 Again Myra started with visible amazement. There was no clearly de- fined perception of Mrs. Maynard's meaning in her mind, yet the words had been spoken with too much sig nifcance to fail utterly i'll impressing her with their suggestive trend. She repeated them mechanically, with vague speculation in her tones:
 Under your own roof?'
 In you, my dear Myra, continued Mrs. Maynard, her white lips smiling faintly as she returned the girls in- quiring gaze. Don't ask me for proof know it; partly by intuition and partly by an endless chain of trifies that would vanish into thin air if l were to attempt to put them into words, but which are nevertheless as convincing to my mind as the most pal pablo evidence could be. 1 cannot be mistaken; l feel, I know. that it is SOL
 T will not ask for proofs, Mrs. May nard,' said Miss Hilary, still be wildcred and incrcdnlous. T will simply ask you how this can be true Oh, it seems utterly impossible! I can not believe it." she added quickly. waving her hands toward the fire with a resolutc gesture of rejection.
 My dear Myra, it shows a very limited knowledge of life to say that anything is impossiblc,' returned Mrs. Maynard, with a slow shake of her head. Hut for my familiarity with your early history, I might have considered my present theory improbable, to say the least; as it is, I sec no reason to doubt it. YOu were very young when Mrs. Hilary adopted you, were you not?''