Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1899-01-22

/ your place. What you can do is to
make clean breast of your story from
! beginning to end. I'm willing to pay
! you more for confessing than Wildred
did for plotting. Then you must go
back to England with me, and stand by
while the thing is made public"
| As l spoke he did not once take his
eyes from me. 1t was remarkable even
yet, now that he was out of his dis
guise, how strong his likeness was to
! Farnham. He might have been a
younger brother.
When | had finished he sighed and
dropped his head. His own hair, which
was very closely cut, was of a beautiful
reddish-golden color, much the shade
of Karine Cunningham as she light
fell on it from above. | thought of her
with a great wave of passionate love,
and more of hope than | had dared to
feel for many a long day.
Perhaps it was the recollection of her
lovely face and the wonderful halo Of
her hair which caused me for an in
slant to relax my grasp. | only became
conscious of having done SO when the
fellow twisted himself from under my
hand, and springing lithely- to his feet
would have darted through the swing
door had l not sprung after him like a
tiger.
We fought together as the car sway
ed and bounded along the track. Once
he dived under my arm and was al
most out of my clutches, but l caught
him by the collar with so fierce a grip
that the linen of his shirt tore, and the
garment ripped open to the waistcoat
Something which he wore beneath
snapped as he still struggled to escape
me, and a bright object flashed under
my eyes as it fell, and dropped with
a slight metallic noise to the floor.
Evidently it was to him an article
of value. Impulsively he stopped, for
getful for a second of the object which
had animated him, and thus the advant-
age became all mine again. / had him
pinioned fast.
At our feet, I now had time to OBJ
serve, lay a broken gold chain and a
| locket.
Twisting my hand firmly in his col
lar, l bent over and picked up the or
naments. ALLOW me" | said, smiling.
| And as | was about to put the locket
in his hand l could not avoid seeing the
portrait that it framed. 1t was an
open faced, old-fashioned thing, set
! round with a rim Of pearls. The crys-
| tai had been cracked across in the
! fall, but the delicately painted ivory
miniature within was intact, and | gave
a slight exclamation as | saw that it
! represented Karine Cunningham.
| If | had been surprised to see her
picture in the studio at the House by
| the Lock, l was doubly surprised to
i see it in locket worn by young des-
perado on the other side of the
world Impulsively l withdrew my
j hand which held the ornament, with
| the feeling that the man had no right
| to it-that l could not return it to him
again.
Give it back to me-" he calculated
| forgetting his evident fear of me for
| the first time, and speaking with a
certain manly fierceness that thawed
| the chill of my contempt for him. III
I've got a right to nothing else on
earth, I've got right to that It's a
| portrait of my sister
Your sister, You swear that?"
"Of course l swear it. l don't see
why you shouldn't know it-though
| haven't done much credit to the name
| of Cunningham.
! I could not doubt him. Not that
I had not every reason to believe that he
would be willing to lie as fast as ne
| could speak it il happened to suit his
/ purpose, but the ring of sincerity in
his voice was unmistakable.
+! | let go my hold upon him. Such
was his surprise at the Manoeuvre that
he made no attempt to take advantage
of his freedom, but simply stood still
and stared at me.
Here is the Iocket." 7 said. 81 came
from England to California to serve
| Miss Cunningham interests, and
will not lay my hand upon her broth
err"
Il don't know what you mean" he
said sullenly
'I'll tell you" / returned, "if you'll
sit down here and listen to me for a
few minutes longer. After that. as faI
as | am concerned, you are free to ID
as you choose. You look surprised
but, whatever may have been your
faults and your offences, / would stake
my life you love your sister,"
She is the only being on earth | dc
| love" he replied, still half dazedly.
Then he sat down, his eyes furtively
on me. and remarked: Il think | be-
gin dimly to understand now who thai
some one may be. | think, too. that cir
c9mstances have given me the right Il
be inquisitive, as | can still further
| explain to you later on. Is Miss Gun
| bingham going TO marry Carson Will
| dred to save you from any unpleasant
| consequences of the past, for instance p
| He started almost as though he had
been struck
She is not going to marry Carson
/ Wildred," he exclaimed
"Oh. yes, she is, unless it can be pre-
| vented l see havd even more TO tel
you than thought Is it long. may