The Irish standard., 1901-09-07

y
uttered no sound. Dr. Brodnar alone
understood that her petition was no
prayer. but pledge that would never
be forgotten. The widow stood oppo-
site. yelled in deepest black, the apothe-
| osis of grief
1t was Il matter of general comment
that Raymond Hoibn was not present
at the funeral. 1t was given out that
A sudden indispoSition had detained
him at home. But the indisposition of
J Raymond Hoih:n was fiction pure
and simple. There would have been
no more discreet and well-behaved
mourner by the grave than he: but
there WAS nothing to be gained in at
fencing the funeral. and there was Il
mater of vital Importance which must
lie settled in the deserted residence
of the deceased.
For Holbn was a bewildered and
| unhappy man. NOT that he feared Lou
| Sc. The Brook;n will and the death
of the testator apparently secured his
interests. even Should Louise be rash
enough to carry cut her threats of eN-
posture. This, hcwever. he felt assured
She would never attempt. Terror of
the law. had already proved itself po-
tent to control her. In his hurried and
frequent visits to TIE hotel he had as
cert aimed the fact that she WAS for the
time being completely in his power.
Reaction from her fierce excitement
had set in; she ciEna to him. helpless
md penilcnt. That she had seen man
1T midnight in TIL" winy-rocm of the
'irookin house and had shot him, he
lid not doubt that she believed. AS
FOR himself. there were times when
he had thought her simply insane
The victim Of an Illusion: and yet the
acts seemed to support her statement
hat she had visited the premises.
'iear!y his best course lay in the sup
port Of the illusion.
This. then. was the invention which
| lloibu carried to the ears of the mis-
arabte woman: The man she had slain
was indeed he lover of the woman in
that room; he had been killed instant-
y. and a friend had carried away the
oody. TO save the famlys name q
suicide had been declareG rejected
over and over. it was said the young
man had come into the garden and had
shot himself All the evidence and the
surrounding circumstances pointed
plainly to This theory. The man who
| discovered him. it WAS said. had found
a ncte fram The suicide upon his table,
directing him where to look for his
body: but. added IIolbin. while the
coroner had by Il sEillful selection of Il
jury from among The tamiIy's friends
secured a haSty verdict in accordance
with the theory of suicide. it was APP
parent that The police were suspicious.
and it was said that some of them were
quietly searching for he woman who
had left the imrrints of number two
shoes under he window of the wing
room. Such was the story.
Louise believed it implicitly. The
horror of her crime deprived her for
lie time Of her mental powers and
good Judgment. She suffered herself
10 be guided and directed by Holbin.
She WAS consigned to the care of an
elderly negro woman. and readily ac-
ceptad her room as her prison. i was
not long before she was physically
powerless to leave it.
Raymond IIolbin's most serious APP
prehension during the day which wit
messed the death of John Rrookin
grew out Of he fact that by infer
rnce at least he had been charged with
crime in connection with Louise. His
common sense told him that something
said by Frances in her last interview
with her father had provoked the sud-
den accusation. What did Frances
know of Louise and who was her in
formant. Gradually during the day
his suspicious nature secured ascend
ancy over his common sense. A Sc
cret visit out side the window of the
wing-room betrayed the still distinct
tracks made by Louise and the fact
that the ivy had been disturbed.
From the moment of these discov-
cries IIolbn was miserable man. It
is a peculiar, but a well-known lido
syncrasy Of the masculine nature that
whatever the man himself may bring
to the marriage altar he demands that
he shall meet there only immaculate
purity. The realization by Holbin
that fortune could be secured only by
linking himself for life to Frances,
who was thus proven to have com
promised herself, was alone sufficient
to fill him with bitterness and hatred,
though it did not for a moment deter
him: but by Il not unnatural operation
of the processes which were molding
his future he had found himself
strangely Influenced from the hour
of their first meeting by this young
girl whose future was to be linked to
his. Fresh from school, her mind un-
formed, and with but vague ideas Of
real life, Frances Brookin presented
that charming combination of knowl-
edge and righteousness which makes
the girlwoman forever irresistible to
men of experience. Himself accom-
plished and versatile, he set about the
pleasant task of winning her conf
dence. and he might perhaps have
succeeded bh for over-assiduousness
and the wonderful intuition of the
feminine mind. The unwelcome re-
suits of his efforts were that within
two weeks he had fatally alarmed her
and as fatally involved himself For
the first time in his life he was genu-
inely in love.
1t was at this time that Dir. Hrod-
nau, lowering around his aged patient,
discovered the drift of affairs, and, be-
coming aware of the infamy planned
| throurh the will 'nrivoteIv tnnl: rop