Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1901-07-04
IRISTRAM OF BLENT &C
,s ;;By;. " Being an Episode in the Story
HOPE of an Ancient House
Copyright 1900 by A. H. Hawlsinso
CHAPTER Viii.
DUTY and Mr., Neeld.

When Nina Zabriska brought back
the news from Fairholme and an.
nounced it with an intensity of sig
n1flcance which the sudden aggreva-
ton of an illness long known to be
mortal hardly accounted for, Major
Duplay grew very solemn. The mo-
ment for action approached, and the
nearer it came the-less was the ma
Jor satisfied with his position and re-
sources; the scene by the pool had
taught him that he would have stiff
fight. He had been hard hit by Har-
rvs shrewd suggestion that he must
ask liver himself for the means of
proving what he meant to tell liver.
The only alternative, however, was
to procure, money for the necessary
Investigations from his niece and his
niece, though comfortably well off,
was not rich. Nor was she any long
er Jealous in the cause. The Imp was
sulky and sullen with him, sorry she
had ever touched the affair at all,
ready, he suspected, to grasp at any
excuse for letting it drop. This tenn
per of hers foreboded a refusal to
open her purse. 1t was serious in an
other way. OF himself Duplay knew
nothing; Nina was his only witness;
her evidence, though really second
hand, was undoubtedly weighty; it
would, at least make inquiries nee
essary But would she give it? Du-
play was conscious that she was ca
pable of turning round on him and
declaring that she had made blum
der. II she did that, what would hap
pen?
Harry's attitude would be simple
He would at the proper time produce
his certificates, testifying to the death
of Sir Randolph, the marriage of his
parents, his own birth The copies
were in perfect order, and duly au-
thenticated they were evidence in
themselves; the originals could be
had and would bear out the copies.
All this had been well looked after,
and Duplay did not doubt it. What
had he to set up against it? Only
that the third certificate was false
and that somewhere, neither he, nor
even Nina knew what, there must be
two other certificates, one fatal to
Harry's case as fixing his birth at an
earlier date, the other throwing at
least grave suspicion on it by record
But where were these certificates?
Conceivably they had been destroyed,
that was not likely, but it was posi-
bic. At any rate, to find them would
need much time and some money. On
reflection the major could not blame
Harry for defying him by the pool.
1t will be seen that the Information
which Nina cleaned from her mother
and filled in from her own childish
recollection. was not so minute in the
matter Of date as that which Madam
de Kries had given at the time of the
events to Mr.. Cholderton and which
was now locked away in the drawer
at Mr.. Jenkinson Neeld's chambers.
The major would have been materi-
ally assisted by sight of that docu-
ment. 1t would have narrowed the
necessary area OF inquiry and given
definiteness to his assertions, which
must have carried added weight with
Mr.. liver.
d Nina being sulky, would not talk to
her uncle; she could not talk to
jamie liver; she did not see Harry
and would not have dared to talk to
him if she he'd. But it need hardly
be said that she was dying to talk to
somebody. With such matters on
hand she struggled against silence
like soda water against the cork.
Merely to stare down at Blent and
wondering what was happening there
whetted a curiosity it could not salts
fy. She felt out of the game, and the
feeling was intolerable. AS a last re-
sort, in last effort to keep in touch
with it, although she had been warn
ed that she would find nothing of in
terest to her in the volume she tele-
graphed to library bookseller in
London to send her Mr.. Cholderton's
Journal. 1t came the day after it
was published, four days after she
had made Mr.. Neeld's acquaintance
and while Lady Tristram, contrary to
expectation, still held death at arm IS
length and lay looking at her own
picture. The next morning Neeld re-
ceived pressing invitation to go to
tea at Merton Lodge. Without a
moments hesitation he went; with
him, too, all resolutions to know and
to care nothing further about the
matter vanished before the first
chance of seeing more of it. And Mi
no had been Mile. de Kries.
She received him in the library.
The Journal lay on the table Some
thing had restored animation to her
manner and malice to her eyes. She
began by fiattering her visitor out
rageorSly, and indulging in number
of false statements regarding her de-
light with the Journal, and the
amusement and instruction she had
gained from it. She even professed
to have mastered the hygroxeric
method, observing that a note by the
editor put the whole thing in a nut
shell. Much pleased, yet vaguely dis
appointed, Mr.. Neeld concluded that
she had no more to say about the
visit to Heidelberg.
The Imp turned over the pages
leisnrely while Neeld slipped his tea.
II see you put little asterisk things
where you leave out anything" she
observed. That's convenient, isn't
it?"
Il think it's usual" said he.
"And another thing you do-O, you
really are splendid editor-you put
the date at the top of every page, even
where Mr. Cnolderton'S entry rms