The Red Cloud chief., 1899-08-18
n RED CLOUD CHIEF.
Never mind, man." he said, kindly.

Wluurington is as sharp as q weasel,
he will unearth the mystery in no
time. never knew that fellow to fail
In all my experience OF him. We shall
soon hear that he is on the scent"
Heaven forbid!" | calculated, men
tally.
1T Is to be hoped that rascal Of a
nephew won't turn up to compllcate
matters. i wonder where the fellow
is? His last scrape was more serious
than all the rest, and his uncle sent
him abroad. But he would be likely
to hear Of the Colonels illness, I
should be afraid; and the death was
announced in the papers, unfortunate
ly. That was a false step-I thought
so at the time"
Miss Elmslie is responsible for that
mistake, sir"
"Yes2 I thought as much. Trust a
woman for mischief" responded my
partner, irritably. We'll, well, there's
no use In thinking about 1t. Well look
over those leases, Fort: and Spence
and Brown must be seen today"
So, to my great relief, the subject
OF Forest Lea was for the time dis
missed.
For the next fortnight I lived as a
mar might live over a s%lumbering VOL
cano, in hourly dread OF an explosion.
For that space all was silent as the
grave. Widdrlngton made no sign.
Then two events OF almost equal i'm
portance to me broke up the monot-
ony OF legal work in which I had
buried myself. A distant relative died
and left me q fortune, and Mr.. Heath
cote telegraphed to Messrs. Rovton
and Fort: Come as soon as possible.
c. B. taken possession"
Old Rowton was laid up again with
a return Of bronchitis, and for the
second time it fell to my lot to obey
the summons intended for him. What
wild hopes and daring aspirations
thrilled my heart and filled all my
thoughts during that journey over the
well-remembered road! My love and
l were standing OF equal ground now
AS the owner of a landed estate ]
might without presumption ask ever
the heiress OF Forest Lea to be my
wife. And as events were tending, with
the secret knowledge l possessed, I fell
sure that Mona would be no heiress
Doubtless 1t was she who summoned
Charlie Branscombe, in pursuance o
her scheme OF restitution; and-hov
joyfully my heart beat at the thought
it was in my power now to restore I,
her all she had given up.
The Rector was waiting for me II
his d~og-cart, the smartest OF groom!
at the horses head, in place OF thu
somewhat loutish fellow whom I re
membered in the summer.
London Bred" I said to myself, az
touching his hat to me, he sprang Il
' his place behind us.
You have a new groom" re
marked to Mr.. Heathcote. "A smart
fellow, he looks"
Yes" answered the Rector, absent
~, then plunged at once into the sub
ject OF my journey. Here's a pretty
mess! Mr.. Charlie Branscombe hal
installed himself at Forest Lea, and
! want your help to turn him out. Nc
news of that unlucky will, / supposeg-
l glanced around at the groom before
replying; the rector spoke in a loud
tone-louder than was prudent,it seem.
ed to me, with d listener SO near.
"Oh, 1t doesn't matter" he said
you may speak out"
There was a twinkle in the clergy
mans eyes which made me turn once
more to the man. He was sitting will
folded arms, his immaculate top boot
stretched out in orthodox fashion, hi
heels resting on the footboard, his fea
lures composed into the respectful va
Guilty OF expression peculiar to a thor
oughbred servant. Was the fellow
deaf? Was that the meaning of tn,
rectoris lack of caution? decides
that 1t was, and hesitated no longer.
ITO be continued.)