Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1901-05-17


-;:-s---.s
or premedi tation
NY uncle had not vet come Ia. SO I
had mo one Ia whom i could confide..
but the possession of this horrible
doubt robbed me of all reason and sent
me into q maddening maze Of conjec-
ture. Surely, surely this man. this Mr..
Wentworth, gentleman without
doubt, and one Of the numerous class to
be found In the West End, could have
no connection, with Wooching and the
Society Of the Hidden Meaning? 1t
was monstrous thought. unworthy Of
me. unworthy Of any honest man, and.
as J have said. i sought to stife it.
but up 1t leaped like a, fame which will
not be suppressed. And yet: would
give 1t no welcome which in any way
might be construed as an encoura ge-
ment. for as yet had still some faith
in man. ~. = 81. t5., Y i { :sst :; -:t =
"A few minutes later my Uncle Jim
came in. and after listening to an apol-
ogy for his absence Che had been pay
Ing. visit in the neighborhood Of Pal.
meira square) he inquired the news.
accordingly told him of my second
meeting With Mr.. Wentworth and of
the incident which had taken place in
that gentleman's room. ''G H.
" There was no manner Of doubt as to
the direction his thoughts Immediately
few. The old suspicious look leaped
to his eyes; anxiety clouded his face in
the most pronounced manner. He saw
In this, as was beginning rapidly to
see. the hand Of the society, and yet l
hoped against hope. Heavens! 1t
amounted to this-in every stranger
was to see possible enemy! could
neither eat, drink nor sleep In safety.
The thought turned me sick-sick to
death Of life and the world. And yet,
detected and hopeless as l was, there
was an undercurrent of despair which
made me cling madly to that which l
felt assured was worthless.
"Were the circumstances at all sus.
picious?" queried he. did he, by word
or act, lead you to believe that he was
in any way connected with the socie.
tyr" @.->~ 49,.
Neither by word or act. True, at
times did imagine things just as I
fear dark street, man with an east
ern face, but then am always fmagin-
ing things. The difficulty with me is
to forget"
you must not forget" said he grave.
ly-"not for moment. If you do, that
moment will be the opportunity for
which our enemy has waited. Poor
lad. it's terrible heritage, this. but it
Is ours,Sand we are men. 1t is fright
ful. this having to suspect every one
with whom we come in contact, and
heaven knows it is the very antithesis
of my nature, as Of yours. But what
are we to do? confess l do not like
the look of things, and | did not like
the look Of Mr.. Wentworth, but one
would need to be q god to read the
minds of men,"
Wishing to believe that had still
some faith in man, suggested that
such accidents were not uncommon
and that were we not so peculiarly
circumstanced we should never dream
OF connecting with the incident a sin
lister design. ..s 4 .:..>.,s... 80.
''True." be replied, land that's where
the curse of our position touches us
acutely-we must suspect everything
and everybody" T.
"And yet, if he is what we dread,
how cam you reconcile this incident
with the warning he gave me in the
Empire last night:" -:
That too,"' said my uncle slowly
his eyes fixing me with a serious
steady look. has caused me an infinite
amount Of speculation. In these times
Davie. our own shadow may conceal
the assassin. What If your liquor had
not been tempered with at ALP
"But that seems incredible. 1 rec
ollect distinctly the man with the beard
stumbling over my toes and apologize
Ing profusely. Oh. no; 1 fear there car
be no doubt of the attempt" !. !
"Well am not so certain. In the
first place, it would be an infinitely
risky thing to attempt at a crowded
bar-this deliberate pouring of the con
tents of bottle or vial into stran
gers glass;. Some one was sure to SEE
the act. Some one, as it happened
did. But what if the man with thu
beard had been an accomplish? VIVA
If the whole story had been but rus,
to gain your confidence?" r%l...: !.
l began to see things clearer, or a
least thought so. But it robbed mi
of the last vestige Of hope. would
like to have combated my uncle's argu
ment, but somehow l couldn't. %Ther,
was terrible force and reality in hi!
Indictment. I felt instinctively that {
would have been waste Of powder Il
reply. = = I: " :; :s5s5s< !. IL
As we prepared to go down to dinner
my uncle suggested that we should cal
on Mr.. Wentworth, examine his curio.
aid Investigate the affair still further
But the knock at his door received nj
response. Jim knocked again, this
time more loudly. A querulous query
came: ~ -, = +. =. %,yx 4
\ Who's there p 81 s!sS M5
ST." &4@ -: 3: - -,
'sWho are your s,,.s #: 90:
= II q :" s,ts :