The Saint Paul globe., 1899-04-02

st don't know-I suppose So" said Sir an
thony, gravely I'VE can do nothing here
he is quite cold'-and he offered his arm to
Miss Joel, who was trembling in silence be-
fore the awful presence of DEATH AS he
turned from the room, the butler stepped up
to him.
There's some letters he has left, SIR he
said, handing them to him; addressed to the
Home Secretary and one 20 you. The poor
gentleman! It's Mr.. Jasper's misfortune
that's crazed him"
tore it open Then his face changed, and he
opened his lips to speak, but thought better
of it, and went with Miss Joel to the library,
where he handed her the note.
Il don't know what to think-whether tine
poor man was crazed or not" he said.
please read this and tell what you
think. 1t seems so improbable, and yet"
She read it excitedly. It ran
"They have arrested him, and there is no
escape for me. I cannot let him take my
punishment cannot suffer it myself. 1t is
l who murdered her. She was my wife; l
married her ten years ago. She was always
tcrturing me, maddening me with jealousy,
and at last She left me because [ had not
enough money. had forgotten my notes the
night of the lecture, and when I went for
them l saw her accost Jasper. l knew at
once, though had not seen her for so long.
Some devil possessed me and 1 hid. When he
left her 1 darted cut on her and snatched the
dagger from her side and sheathed it in her
breast, and she fell down the stairs No one
saw me, and felt no remorse until the night
they came to arrest Jasper. 1 have had no
peace since-I must de-nothing can save me
-nothing 1 have told the Home Secretary
everything. Jasper will be free, but II shall
be dead
Miss Joel took deep breath and then she
sat down in one of the library chairs, for a
sudden faintnesS overpowered her
Il believe it is true she said. 'She was
his wife, know, for I saw them together at
Carlsbad years ago. Poor Dangerfeld! he
has solved his difficulty in the only way pos
sible. He must have suffered horribly before
he came to this pass''-and somehow, for all
she was so strongminded, her nerves broke
down, and she sobbed piteously or
dlnary woman even as she had done in hear
ing of JaSper'S arrest.
Jasper was released in due course but it
was long time before he recovered from the
dependency which his forced hiding and
melancholy circumstances had brought upon
him. But youth and freedom from the pain
full bond Of his marriage, dreadful as the re-
lease had been, were his side, and when
Veronica and Sir Anthony returned from their
honeymoon for they were married in the
spring of the following year, it to find
him more like his old self, the bright, high
hearted boy he had been before he met the
woman who had nearly made his fate so
tragic, and who had overshadowed his life
for so many years.
Miss Joel is always a welcome guest at the
Hall, and occasionally brings down Cockleton
for the week end, much to his delight, though
the fact that she used his personal appear
ance, in which he takes so much pride as a
cat's-paw to aid Jaspers escape form the
Manor was never revealed to him, though, of
course, in common with most people, he was
intensely interested in the romance of the
Mannering-Dangerfeld murder case But
those who know the most of it, and who are
able to survey it impartially-Miss Joel, for
inStance-are the more interested in it, as the
strange working of the great human tragedy
and comedy-the ENHANCEMENT and disentan-
clement Of so many lives in THE WEB OF
FATE.