Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1901-11-28

crcpt down into the passage he b,s
and found her way to M
door that led into his house; tina, sho
beat upon it with her hands. and erica
to HIM, in old, endearing terms tha, ion
years Of neglect and silence had mt
driven out Of her-for Gods sake IN
speak to her, for PHYS sake to Let her
look upon his face again and hear hi,
voice.
He may have heard, or he may NOT
Be that as 1t may. the door remained
locked, and in the morning they found
her, with her, face pressed clos.
against it. cold and dead. Even then
he gave no sign. and the servants who
followed her 10, the grave were appar.
emily the only mourners. The boy he
took into his house. with mental vow
to bring him up to his own stern creed
of life.
The boy had been given the name o,
Gilbert, and the name ranked. 1t had
been the name of friend of hers 1.-THE
husband swore he was her lovcr>-a
man something near her own age. Per-
haps the giving OF the name had been
the first cause of their quarrel Suf
flee it that he showed the boy no ten
derness: that he merely tolerated him
and let him come and go as he would,
without interference. And when the
boy was nearly sixteen years of age a
strange thing happened.
There came a girl to the house-a
mere child, some five years younger
than the boy. She was ward Of the
old man, the daughter Of dead friend
who had left her as a charge to Jonas
Rickerby. She made whatever of sum
shine there was in the boys life; there
sprang up between them youthful at
tachment-growing, even in that at
mosphere, beautifully.
Then the blight that was upon the
house fell upon the boy. also; some
quarrel arose between him and his
father, and he left at moments no.
tice. But he came back-secretly and
a: night-for the most part, to sec the
girl, and she crept out to meet him.
When he was twenty-five and she but
seventeen, they met one night in the
wilderness of a garden. and Solemny
p!ighted their troth. They We're never
to he parted, in spirit, at least; they
were to look forward to brighter time
when Rickerby's Folly was a thing
left behind in the hateful past-and the
world and Heaven should smile upon
their love. On that very night old Jo-
mas Rickerby surprised them together
in the garden; ordered his son away:
and packed off the girl next day to a
dreary school in the. country, where she
occupied the position Of a parlor board
or and was strictly watched.
Then, with that little romance nipped
in the bud, Jonas Rickerby took to his
HEARTH he may be said to have pos
sessed such thing, one Nugent Leath-
wood, nephew of about the same age
fellow, who flattered and pitied him,
and made the most of his chances. But
when, within a year after his son had
finally disappeared, old Jonas Rickerby
was dying, he happened to hear, in a
roundabout fashion, where his son was,
and wrote to him, and implored his for
giveress, and died without receiving it.
Then, for a time, Nugent Leathwood
settled down, to. wait and see what
would happen; cfose companions to
suit his needs, and laid his schemes for
the future. This was the position Of
affairs as regards Rickerby's Folly at
the time Gilbert Rickerby came home.
This, too, was the position of affairs
a few days later, when Gilbert Kicker
by stood outside the house one night
and gazed up at the windows. Truth
to tell he was placed in an awkward
situation. He was keenly anxious to
find out what had happened, yet he
scarcely dared to make inquiries. All
his thoughts came back to that scene
in the hospital; forever there rang in
his ears the Shrek of the man who had
coupled the name of Gilbert Rickerby
with murder. Over and over again in
ureasy dreams he fled through the
streets after that man; over and over
again he followed him to the grave.
side by side with Nugent Leathwood;
over and over again he saw him COM
mitted to the earth as Gilbert Kicker
by. For he had really carried out that
amazing part Of the business; had
stood beside the grave, and had con-
scented to see this mysterious man bur
led as himself.
But in doing that he realized, when it
was too late, that he had spoiled his
chance of making direct inquiry into
the mystery which surrounded his
name. Gilbert Rickerby had been adj
vertised for in the public press. The
extraordinary case Of the man who had
come from abroad, after so many
years. back to his fathers house, only
to die in the streets on the very night
of his arrival, had been commented up
on freely in the press; enterprising re-
porters had raked up the story of Rick
erby's Folly, and had told it, with addi-
lions. For that reason, because he
had, in sense, forfeited his name, he
dare not go back to his lodgings, was
obliged to be contented with sending
messages to his servant, James Hol-
den, and had no real opportunity for
discovering the reason of that mans
silence. His ill-fortune, begun in his
boyhood and continued through his
manhood, seemed to be logging him
even here. For he stood, on this night,
homeless, and nameless; knowing that
his cousin, Nugent Leathwood, had
claimed some dead stranger for rea-
sons Of fiss own. as the man from
abroad, knowing that, with the disap-
pearance 81 his own messenger and the