Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1899-01-20

dow tor relief hut sther,s5 stood Mabel.
wit The Snewspape held imec hanically'
before her She had nos stirred hail. 8
breadth and tho Oh the wall paper
still kept tween the lines iight il
The center held my breath. Il dared
not break the silence. If *s .'=
Suddenly the paper dropped. Gould
That be Mabel 3 voice, so hard and cold,
that I. NJ seemed 70 speak in come Tar dis
itance y stS # II : @ e Y e
Duncan, was it George ". -: i.
s=5.s The ~ had gone to the left after all
u knew it would I did not dare to re-
ply nor even look at her. Y e :
z:fHs Duncan, = came the voice a9a{p, lit:
49, George you saw there ~ &
s gT Is was. . &c., s. I. i f
*5' s And you believe him to BE- tho Anrr-.
derer?" She drew herself up to har full
regal height, her eyes flashing and .hilearr
hands olinohing and unclinching in sup
pressed indignation, while: her whole
frame seemed to CULVER with excite
ment. - You believe him to be tho mur-
derer" she repeated .'%t:s, :; > -; =
n what else could Think found
him there bending over her with the
broken dagger in his hands-his own
Venetian dagger which used to hang
over the mantelpiece in his room. Look
for yourself. The dagger is not there
now.'' '.' &c.,: 49,.
You found MIN there! Were you
not found there. too, with her watch in
your hands? Did I take you to be a
thief? You found him there indeed!'
II think you must admit began
Admit, Duncan! l admit nothing.
I leave that to you.
Suddenly a thought seemed to fash
across her
$50, Duncan, it is ewing to your ad-
missions that George is now being hunt
ed. To free yourself you have cast sus-
picion upon him-upon my brother !
This is the way you show your love for
me? Love! Do you call this loye?''
The fly still crawled on the wall, but
it had hopelessly lost it's track.
was quite calm now. The worst
bad come, and more than the worst {;
but, at any rate, could speak quite
openly.
Mabel said, will you listen to
me for one moment? | am absolutely
innocent of casting any suspicion upon
George His name has never passed my
lips in connection with the case. said
nothing about the murderer at the DO
lice station, save that I should know
him again if l saw him. You must see
from that paper that George has brought
all the Suspicion upon himself by run
ming: away and by trying to get rid of
the dagger. Even now none but you
and have the faintest suspicion who
the man described is. He may still
escape
Escape! What do you mean? OF
course he will come forward and ex-
plain why he was there, You were ar
rested for the crime and released, and
George will have as good a reason as
you had for being there"
As she said this Mabel grew calmer,
for she saw her cruel suspicious of me
were unjust and unfounded.
Mabel, I" / continued, "can't you i'm
agine my feelings and understand the
agony I have suffered since saw George
there and my desire not to be the
bearer of this horrible news to you?
Why. just now your father has left me
with suspicion because l would not
speak openly of the man. I could not
have believed you ever could have
doubted me SO or said such cruel
things
Duncan, forgive me- said Mabel,
now white and trembling from the ter
ribie tension Of the past few minutes.
l knelt at her side and kissed her cold
hands, calling her by every endearing
name.
Forgive me, oar]ing,'' she said
again, for a moment touching my FORE
head with her lips Il must have been
mad for the moment to suspect yop->
you Of all men-of such. madness. But
it was all SO horrible-so horrible!''
And at the recollection tremor after
trenlor passed over her frame
lsdrew her gently to me, and in my
arms tried to make her forget all but
our love-.
''Oh, Duncan, where do you think
George is now? Cannot you find out:''
Together we read the account which
traced him to Manchester.
Manchester she reflected. 1--WE
know no one there. He could have had
no motive in going there. Why did he
60, do you think?' ..
ITO get them off the scent, l sup.
pose. Poor chap, he'll have fearful
task to keep cut Of their hands,
Duncan, you must go and find him
out. Tell him to come back and answer
this dreadful oharge-this calumny. - -. 4
SIT would be madness, Mabel. His
only chance is to get ont of the country !
as fast as be can; ~. - = i r. !.
: " Leave the country without clearing
=. - S = ~ Is: 81
e. To clear himself I'm afraid would
be impossible y ~, X &}=@ A.: :" i
h.. - What Dare You still believe him
guilty-be believe that George murdered