Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-05-27

we're 1t partook Of harshness; then resum-
ing his testimony, he said:
1T is of the label brothers I must now
speak, and of how one of them. James by
name, came 10 be involved in this affair.
When l left my mother l was in such a
state of mind that l passed the room in
which my neW-found father sat sleeping.
with scarcely SO much as a glance. But as
! FASTENED on toward the quarter where
the labels lived some compunctiOns Of
pity for his desOlate state caused me- to
faiter in my rapid flight, so that l did not
reach the house quite as quickly as l might
otherwise have done. When l did, l found
it dark. as ] might reasonably have ex-
pected, but remembering the extreme anxiety
which my mother had shown in their regard,
even in her dying moments, ! approached
The front door and was about to knock
when l found il open. Greatly astonlshed,
. l at once passed in, and, seeing my way
perfectly in the moonlight, entered the
room on the left the door Of which also
stood open. II was the second house / mad
entered Unannounced that night, and IN this
in the other l {. countared a man sitting
asleep by the table.
Going up 70 him. 7 saw il to be the elder
Of the TWO, John label, and, percelvlng
that n was suffering foC food ana in Il
condition Of extreme misery, ! took out the
first bill my hand encountered in my over
full pockets and laid ii on the table by his
side. As l did so he gave q sigh but Cid
NOT wake: and satisfied that | had done all
that wise and all that even my mother
would Expect Of ne under the circum-
stances. and fearing 10 encounter the Jtner
brother if l fingered, l fastened away and
took the shortest pain home. Had been
more Of a man, or if my visit 10 Mrs, Webb
had been actUated by a more communicable
motive, l would have gone al once 10 the
good man who believed NE 10 be Of his own
flesh and blood and told him of the strange
and hcartTending adventure which had
changed th5 whole tenor of my thoughts
and life. and begged his advice as to what
/ had better do under the dif1cult cream
stances in which / found myself placed.
But the memory of a thousand past in
gratitudes, together with the knowledge Of
the shock which he could not fail to re-
celve on learning at this late day, and un-
der conditions at once so tragic and fuII OF
menace. that the child which his long
buried wife had once placed in mis- arms as
{ his own was neither Of her blood or his,
rose up between US ard caused me not only
to attempt silence, but to secrete IN the ad-
joining woods the mon y l had received, in
the vain hope that all visible connection
between myself and my mothers tragic
death would thus he lost. You see, l had
not calculated on Miss Ama.bel Page
The flash he here received from that
Iady's eyes startled the crowd and gave
Sweetwdter, already suffering under shock
/ after shock Of mingled surprise and wonder,
/ his first definite idea that he had never
! rightly understood the relations between
/ these TWO. and that something besides JUS
/ tiCe had aCtuated Anabel in her treatment
/ by others. and Il reaction set in In Freder-
( icks favor, which even affected the officials
{ who were conducting the inquiry. This was
| shown by the difference of manner now as
/ surned by the coroner and 10y the more
! easily impressed Sweetwater, who had not
yet learned the Indispensable art of hiding
! his feelings. Frederick himself felt the
l change and showed il by the look Of relief
! and growing confidence he cast at Agnes.
of the questions and answers which now
| passed between him and the various mem
bers Of the jury I need give no account
/ They but emphasized facts already known,
| and produced but little change in the gen
| eral feeling, which one now Of sup
| pressed pity for all who had been drawn
| into the meshes Of this tragic mystery
/ When he was allowed to resume his sea I
} the name OF Miss Amabel Page was again
| called.
She rose with a bound. Naught that she
/ had anticipated had occurred. Facts OF
| which she could know nothing had changed
| the aspect Of affairs and made the position
| OF Frederick something remote from any
I she could have imagined that she was sim
| in the maze of the mumberess conflicting
| emotions which these revelations were cal
| culated to call out in one who had risked
| all on the hazard Of die and lost She
! did not even know a this moment whether
| she was glad or sorry he could explain so
| cleVerly his anoma lous position She had
| caught the look he had cast a Agnes. ana
! while this angered her, 1t did not sreatIv
| modify her opinion that he was destined
| for herself For. however other peopIe
| might reel she did not for a moment be-
| lieve his story. She had not a pure enough
heart to do so. To her all self-sacritica
! was an anomaly. No woman of the mental
| or physical strength of Agatha Webb wou,d
| plant dagger in her own breast lust To
| prevent another person from commiftfno q
| crime, were he lover. husband or son Go
she believed, and so would these Others he
1 heVe also When once relieved Of the mag