The Cook County herald., 1901-03-16
!.
CHATTER YxXII. fContinued.a

& 4 CHAPTER XxXIT. (Continuedl
e1Tis the drug working now, :" whis-
pered the listening woman to herself.
4 1t can loosen even his proud. still
tongue
LIN a dreamy tone. her master con-
g1ed:
'T was watching at his bedside--I,
his nephew, his heir. Aye, had not
Basil Give always taught me to be-
aieve myself his heir? Had he not tao
Ally accepted me as such, again and
again7 Grasping and greedy to all the
Fest of the world, he had been gener.
GUS and lavish to me alone-to me
&foHe-
&'And, with the sunshine Of fortune
gliding my future, l asked Agnes Deah
90 be nye wife. Her proud family
would have scorned the penniless law
yer, but they smiled on the rich mans
Z aesr- We We're betrothed, and my first
and only dream of happiness begun.
s%E was thinking of her as watched
5y the dying mans pillow-thinking
Of her grace, her sweetness, her bright,
gSadsome beauty. I was planning,
even then, our future-the future col
GEed with every gorgeous hue Of hap
pfness and hope. tr..r y,
"And even while the dream still
ffoated before my enchanted eyes, the
dying man's hoarse whisper called me
close to his bedside, and I heard from
his trembling lips that he was await
ing his son-the son whom he had new
-er recognized or cared for-the son of a
cIantSestine and unhappy marriage
ia, unknown. >on. vho waS tt: sup
plant me, his acknowledged heir:
oh is T ,,cuT6 n h
Justice I must ruin all my life, blight
all MY happiness, darken all my fu-
eure, for the sake Of rude, uncultured
stranger. The old man raved, aye, he
only raved! With the thought Of AS
mes in my heart, could face the pas
Sionate mailman, who forced himself
fnta the dying mans chamber; with
that thought in my heart I could hear
my uncle breathe his last blessing t.
&he son he had never known, and then
with his last breath, bid me do justice
e could listen calmly to the wild up
Bralding of the imposter> who called
&lnlself Basil Give. #~t - -
tsHe @dafed me- over, his fathers
CORPSE; he demanded the justice that
was his fathers dying legacy to him.
with his hand on the dead mans
breast, he sWore fearful oath Of hate
and revenge to me. to mine forever, if
that Justice we're denied. <za
49, = . . @sssIustice--ha, ha!-justice! justice!
The word has been echcing in my ears
ever since. Justice! that would have
gobhed me Of my fortune, of my bride.
Justice. to an unknown, beggarly out
cast, who could not even get a lawyer
TO take UP his claim. Justice! Justice!
'when''-the4 speakers eyes flashed with
81 sse ssa g.
from his chair-"when the proof, the
only proof Of my uncle's marriage
wheR the certificate he gave me on his
dying bed, the paper that, armed with
a scorpions sting, has been hidden in
THy breast for five-and- twenty years
when old Basil Gives marriage certif-
'2cate was here"a
And, striking his hand on his breast,
as if he would have crushed some
monster clinging there, the master of
Give Towers, with a moan of pain,
fell forward, senseless, on his own
hearthstone. u -. t..>... r.
And Mrs. Wyllis, stilling the cry of
terrier that rose to, her lips, stopped
down and, slipping her slender hand
into the bosom of Robert Give, drew
forth the thin oil-slzin packet concealed
there and thrust it into her own
Then, ringing, with deadly-pale
seountenance, trembling limbs and
sgfeaming eyes, she shrieked loudly for
help.