Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1901-01-12

found it open. Greatly astonished, at
once passed in and, seeing my way
perfectly In the moonlight, entered the
room on the LETT. the door of which also
stood open. 1t was the second house I
had entered unannounced that night,
and in this. as In the other, | encoun-
tered man sitting asleep by the table.
"Going up to him, 1 saw it to be the
elder Of the two, John label, and, per.
ceiying that he was suffering for food
and in condition Of extreme misery, |
took out the first bill my hand encouls.
tered in my overfull pockets and laid it
on the table by his side. AS did so he
gave a sigh, but did not wake; and, sat
lsfied that l had done all that was wise
and all that even my mother would eX-
pect of me under the circumstances,
and fearing to encounter the other
brother if l fingered, I FASTENED away
and took the shortest path home. Had
been more Of man, or If my visit to
Mrs. Webb had been actuated by q
more communicable motive, l would
have gone at once to the good man
who believed me to be of his own flesh
and blood and told him of the strange
and heartrending adventure which had
changed the whole tenor of my
thoughts and life and begged his ad
vice as to what I had better do under
the difficult circumstances in which |
found myself placed. But the memory
Of a thousand past ingratitudes, to-
gether with the knowledge Of the shock
which he could not fail to receive on
learning at this late day and under con-
ditions at once so tragic and full Of
menace that the child which his long
buried wife had once placed In his
arms as his own was neither Of her
blood or his, rose up between us and
caused me not only to attempt silence.
but to secrete in the adjoining woods
the money l had received in the vain
hope that all visible connection be-
tween myself and my mothers tragic
death would thus be lost. You see, |
had not calculated on Miss Amabel
Page"
The fash be here received from that
lady's eyes startled the crowd and gave
Sweetwater. already suffering under
shock after shock Of mingled surprise
and wonder, his first definite idea that
he had never rightly understood the re-
lations between these two and that
something besides justice had actuated
Amabel In her treatment Of this young
man. This feeling was shared by 9th
ers, and a reaction set In In his favor
which even affected the officials who
were conducting the inquiry. This was
shown by the difference Of manner now
assumed by the coroner and by the
more easily impressed Sweetwater,
who had not yet learned the indispen-
sable art of hiding his feelings. Fred
erick himself felt the change and show
ed it by the look Of relief and growing
confidence he cast at Agnes.
OF the questions and answers which
now passed between him and the vari-
GUS members Of the jury need give no
account. They but emphasized facts
already known and produced but little
change in the general feeling, which
was one now Of suppressed pity for all
who had been drawn into the meshes
Of this tragic mystery. When he was
allowed to resume his seat, the name
Of Miss Amabel Page was again called.
She rose with bound. Naught that
she had anticipated had occurred; facts
of which she could know nothing had
changed the aspect Of affairs and made
the position Of Frederick something so
remote from any she could have imag-
ined that she was still in the maze Of
the numberless conflicting emotions
which these revelations were calculat-
ed to call out In one who had risked all
on the hazard Of die and lost. She
did not even know at this moment
whether she was glad or sorry he could
explain so cleverly his anomalous posi-
tion. She had caught the look he had
cast at Agnes. and, while this angered
her, 1t did not greatly modify her opin-
ion that he was destined for herself,
for, however other people might feel,
she did not for moment believe his
story. She had not apure enough heart
to do so. To her all self sacrifice was
an anomaly.
No woman Of the mental or physical
strength Of Agatha Webb would plant
dagger in her own breast just to pre-
vent another person from committing
a crime, were he lover husband or son.
So she believed and so would these
others also when once relieved Of his
magnetic personality. Yet how thrill
ing 1t had been to hear him plead his
cause SO well, so thrilling it was al
most worth the loss OF her revenge to
meet his look Of hate and dream Of the
possibility Of turning 1t later into the
old look Of love. Yes yes, she loved
him now, not for his position. for that
was gone; not even for his money, for
she could contemplate Its loss, but for
himself who had so boldly shown that
he was stronger than she and could
triumph over her by the sheer force Of
his masculine daring.
With such feelings, what should she
say to these men? How conduct her
self under questions which would be
much more searching now than before?
She could not even decide in her own
mind. She must let impulse have its
way.
Happily she took the hight stand at
first She did not ende,vor to make
any corrections In her former testi-
mony. only acknowledged that the
flower whose presence on the scene Of
death had been such mystery had
fallen from her hair at the ball and