The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-01-07
CHAPTER XXIII.
A B9SfGOVEpV

A DISCOVERY.
MRS. Mackenzie though a regular was
hot precisely what one would term an
interesting correspondent. letter being
to her q serious matter, requiring q CON
siderable amount Of time and thought.
II was her CUSTOM to take great pains
10th as regarded writing and compost
ton
Though the mental exercise involved in
the perusal Of such epistles might not
have been Improbable MoIly was nm
grateful enough to find them the reverse
OF satisfactory. !. AS a rule, her aunt
never told her anything she wanted to
Know; but occasionally, mixed up with
the pot-pourri Of general information at
the finish, would appear the fag-end of
something really interesting. of which
Mrs. Mackenzie. in some inscrutable way.
SSppeaIeo &c, 10 THINK she was already in
formed. mus perusing an unusually
lengthy letter one morning she was SIR.
prised to find the following, which was
preceded as usual by cursory survey
OF the political arena:
MI Burke has not vet returned from
castle O'NeiH. He told me before he
left that 1 might shortly expect to hear
something which would astonish me-
ried; I hear he has quite relfnuuisbed
the idea of letting the castle, but is
more than ever determined on going
away 0s
Letting the castle! This idea at frsr
superseded all others. How dared he
think for a moment of such a thing II
was madness. it was dissertation! It was
her grave. After a time, however she
cooled down, and re-perused her aunt'S
letter with more calmness. What as
tonishing event might they shortly ex-
pect to hear of? It certainly would he
rather surprising if Hugh found anV one
willing to marry him; but then. as she
unused. some girls were different and If
Such union did come about it would
not net be anything positively startling.
What could it be, and why was Hugh
more than ever determined to 60
away?' 81
have forgotten all about it, thought
Molly, and her curiosity being too thor
oughly aroused to submit to this she
wrote off then andathere to impress on
Mrs. Mackenzie herr desire for some ev-
PLANTATION.
But before her aunt's expected reply
Gould arrive Nelly received a letter from
Mr.. Burke, and, another from her cousin
himself; both containing intelligence
which was certainlyAsufffcfently astonish-
ing gia onanaa u.o.. g..
MY Dear Cousin:
I write to announce to you a discov-
cry which 1 have recently made, and
which. I assure Dyou, fills me with the
an 1mposter, an6rthat have absolutely
no right to the pO'Nein estates-'
The, letter huttered in Molly's hand
but she read on eagerly:
1T seems my grandfather. previous to
his union with the flady whose memory enS ~
1 have always revered as that of nv
grandmother had contracted an alliance
with very humble person, house.
maid, or a cook.l L think, it does not
matter which: ladies being at a discount
in the little Western colony which he
Joined on first emigrating, 1 daresay he
had not much choice. Well, my father
was the offspring of this marriage, and
not Of that contracted shortly after nv
grandmother's death, with Miss Margaret
10 H1l
but my father invariably passed for her
son; for my respected grandsire, having
made his pile and married into good
family, was not proud of his former