The record-union., 1898-08-14
chair close up beside it. and broke the


girl" Fe was right as to the character
o. the letters, but they were not from
a sentimental school girl, neither were
they the ordinary love letters of a hap
py woman to the man she loves. These
were love letters to be sure, but they
were written to man eluding the VEN
geance Of the law There We're six IN
all, and they told more pathetically
than any spoken words Of mans
temptation and fall and of womans S
noble devotion and self-sacrifice. They
all began My dear Eugene" and were
simply signed "Dosie." They told the
old, old story of a poor mans love for
his rich employers daughter; of his
desperate struggle to conquer his love
and of its final mastery over him; they
told, too, of how. maddened by his pow
erty, he had forged the name of the
father of the girl he loved, and, lastly,
Of his detection and flight to this cabin,
where for months he had lived under
an assumed name. The last letter Of
all had evidently been written under
great stress of excitement, and was the
apparent cause of the former occupant S
hasty departure. Like the others it was
not dated, and began abruptly.
Your hiding place has been discov-
cred, how, l cannot tell you now. Yod
must leave a once. Go to Canada.
Do not be discouraged Remember. in
your darkest moments that | love you.
Rouse yourself from the dependency
that has laid hold of YOU Do not al
low this, your first offense to wreck the
whole Of your future life. In a new
country under another name you can
begin life anew. When you send for me
L Will come to you. Do not delay a mo-
ment in leaving your present hiding
place. Dosie."
The letters slipped from his hands to
the floor and long low whistle Of sur
prise escaped him. For q long while
he sat there pondering over the human
tragedy thus unexpectedly revealed TO
him. He aroused himself with an eff
fort and once more perused them
Then, with one exception. he tied them
together again, and blowing out the
candies, threw himself fully dressed
on the bed. But he could not sleep,
and lay with wide open eyes, listening
to the storm without, thinking of Dosie.
and with his mind still upon her, he fell
asleep and dreamed of her
Upon awakening in the morning and
looking through one of the small win
doWs he saw that the storm of the night
before had passed away. After a hastv
toilet he opened the cabin door and
looked out. The house was built in the
midst of wilderness, a veritable re-
treat, indeed, thought Darlington, with
a shudder for fugitive. and having
no inclination to linger longer than was
in y-ini,
took one last look around then whist
ling 10 Roger he made his way eau
tiously down the steep hillside. This
time he had no difficulty in finding the
right trail, and in a short space Of time
found himself once more at the farm
house, much to the joy and relief Of
the farmer and his wife, who had given
him up for lost, and We're on the point
or lnsututing search for him.
Although Darlington remained at the
farmhouse several weeks after his ad
venture. he was unable to solve the
mystery of the cabins former occu-
pant He questioned Mrs. Brown on
the matter one day, but could not gain
any satisfaction. All she could remem-
Der was that late one Saturday night
when she was at the village store max
ing some purchases she noticed a tail.
dark stranger who hastily left after
receiving his mail. She remembered.
too, that the shopkeeper. who was also
the postmaster, told her that the stran-
ger came in at that time every night
for his mail, but where he came from
or where he went after he received il
the shopkeeper did not know: so with
this meager information Carrington
was forced to content himself He Of
ten passed the cabin after this on his
rambles. but the place looked so gloomy
and forbidding that he never again felt
like re-entering its door,
After his return to the city, the press
OF business cares almost drove the ad
venture from his mind. but there were
times when the memory Of it pressed
SO heavily upon him that he could not
shake it off. He read the letter he had
taken with him again and again. with
each perusal trying afresh to find some
solution of the mystery.
The girls name haunted him. Scarcely
day passed that he did not draw a
mental picture of her. He puzzled him
self with useless questionings Day by
day an unreasoning dislike grew within
him for the man, and in proportion his
sympathy went out to the girl Pity
they say is akin to love; if that is SO.
then he was in love with a girl he had
never seen and in all proba bility never
would see
Eric Darlington was not a society
man, in fact he was noticeably i'll at
ease in ladies' society. His only amuse-
ments were an evening now and then
at the theater, or an occasional hour or
two at the club where he would some
times be inveigled into taking a hand
at billiards, or bowling but he frankly
admitted he was much too lazy to go in
with any particular enthusiasm for
athletics, preferring the readng-room
and the daily papers.
Having in mind his oft repeated as
surances that he cared nothing for So
ciety his friends seldom troubled him
with invitations, until, one day. his most
intimate friend. Ted Foster, burst i'm
petuously into his room.
Il say, old fellow" exclaimed Foster.
dropping himself into Carrington's ia
vorite chair. and proceeding to make
himself at home with his cigars, Il
want you to do me favor
Yes, how much is it this time?''
asked Darlington, remembering this
was Teds way Of asking a loan when
he got into debt.
"Oh, il isn't anything of that sort
this time" explained Ted with a de-
pricatory wave of his hand. the truth
of the matter is, that I want you to go
10 the Blauvault's tea with me to-mor-
row afternoon
Darlington opened his mouth to give