The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1901-04-18

that room; he had been killed instant
ly, and friend had carried away the
body. To save the family's name a
suicide had been declared; 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
note from the suicide upon his table,
directing him where to look for his
body; but. added Holbin, while the
coroner had by skillful selection of
jury from among the fa1nily's friends
secured hasty verdict in accordance
with the theory Of suicide, it was ap-
parent that the police were suspicious.
and it was said that some of them were
quietly searching for the woman who
had left the imprints of number two
shoes under the window of the wing
room. Such was the story.
Louise believed it implicitly. The
horror of her crime deprived her for
the time of her mental powers and
good judgment. She suffered herself
to be guided and directed by Holbin
She was consigned to the care of an
elderly negro woman, and readily &C.
cepted her room as her prison. 1t was
not long before she was physically
powerless to leave it.
Raymond Holbin's most serious ap-
prehension during the day which wit
messed the death of John Brookin
grew out of the fact that by infer
ence 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 outside 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 discoy-.
cries Holbin 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 fer 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 moment deter
him; but by a 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 ingenuousness which makes
the girl-woman 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 but 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.
Tt was at this time that DR.. Brod-
mar, lowering around his aged patient,
discovered the drift of affairs, and, be-
coming aware Of the infamy planned
through the will, privately took con-
troll Of Frances and revealed to her
the plot of which she was to be the
victim. From that moment frances
turned from Holbin as from Grim
inal, and Holbin was piqusd to court
her with lercer jealousy.