The pioneer press. (Miller, Hand County, S.D.) 1893-190?, 1902-09-18

| by Henson night or Two ago, ana IL
| tell into the hands of 50 me one who Is
Interested, like myself. in the exposure
and disgrace Of Reginald Henson
Littimer examined the ring carefully.
at is wonderfully good imitation,
he said, presently.
so am told" said Chris. SO good
that II must have actually been copied
from the original. Now, how could
! Henson have a copy made unless he
possessed the original?? viii you be
good enough to answer me that ques-
ton. Lord Littimer?"
Littimer coul1 90 no more than gaze
at the ring in his hand for some time.
II could have sworn-Indeed. I am
! ready to swear-that the real ring was
never i'm anybo iy's possession but mine
! from the day Frank was year old un-
iii It disappeared. OF course, scores Of
| eople have looked at il. Henson among
the rest. Bat how did Claire Carfax-'
Easily enough. Henson had a first
| copy made from a description; | don't
! know why; probably we shall never
! know why. Probably he had Il done
| when he saw your son and Miss CarfdX
had struck up Irritation. II was he
who forged letter from Frank TO Miss
| CaTfax, inclosirg the ring. BY that
means he hoped to create mischief
Which, If 1t had been nipped in the bud,
could never have been traced to him.
| As matters turned out, ne succeeded De-
! yond his widest expectations He got
! the real ring TOO. which was likely TO
| prove a very useful thing in case he
| ever wanted TO make terms. A second
and faithful copy was made-the copy
| you hold in your hands--to hold tempt
! ingly owe: Lady Littimer's head when
| he wanted large sums of money from
her"
THE scoundrel! He gets the money,
of course"
He does. To my certain knowledge
he has had nearly G7O,OO0. But the case
is in good hands. You have only to
wait a few days longer and the man
will be exposed. Already, as you see,
l have wound his aCcomplice. the Rev.
James Merritt, around my finger. OF
course. the idea of my getting up a ba-
Ear has all been nonsense. | am only
waiting for a little further information,
and then Merritt will feel the iron hand
under the velvet glove. Unless | am
greatly mistaken. Merritt can tell US
where Rupert's ring is. Already Van
Sneck is in our grasp"
Van Sneck! Is he In England"
He is. Did you read that strange
case of man being found. half-mur-
dered, in the conservatory Of Mr.. Steel
the novelist, in Brighton? Well, that
was Van Sneck. But l can't tell you
any more at present. You must wait
and be content"
Tell me one thing, and / will wait as
long as you like. Who are you?"
Chris shook her head merrily. A
great relief had been taken off her mind.
She had approached a delicate and diff
ficult matter and she had succeeded be-
yond her expectations. That she had
shaken the man opposite her sorely was
evident from his face. The hardness
was gone from his eyes. his lips were no
longer bitter and cynical
II may have been guilty of a great
wrong" he murmured. ''All these years
have been living under a misappre-
hension. And you have told me what I
should never have suspected, although
j never had nigh opinion of my dear
Reginald. Where is my wife now?''
she is still &C Longdean Grange.
a great and sorrowful change. But it is
| not too late to-"
Littimer rose and went swiftly to-
wards the house. At any other time the
| action would have been rude. but Chris
| fully understood. She had touched the,
man to the bottom of his soul, and he
was anxious to hide his emotion.
Poor mani" Chris murmured. His
I u ar
| ing. But the suffering is past; we have
! only to wait patiently for daylight
! now
Chris rose, re5tlessly. in her turn, and
| strolled along the terrace to her favorite
| spot looking over the cliffs. There was
nobody about t was very hot there.
/ rhe girl removed her glasses and
! pushed back the banded hair from her
! forehead. She had drawn a photograph
from her pocket, which she was regard
! ing intently. She was quite needless of
| the fact that somebody was coming
along the cliffs towards her. She raised
! the photograph TO her lips and kissed
! it tenderly.
/ Poor Frank she murmured. Poor
! fellow. so weak and amiable. And yet,
| with all your faults"
! Chris paused, and a little eager cry
escaped her lips. Frank Littimer, look
| ing very wild and haggard, stood be-
! fore her.
Il beg your pardon he began. Il
| came TO see you because
The words died away, He staggered
back pale as the foam beating on the
rocks below. his hands clutching at his
left side, as though there was some
mortal pain there.
Chris" he murmured. Chris, Chris
Christ And they told me
He could say no more, he could only
stand there trembling from head 10
foot, fearful lest his hooking senses
were making sport OF him. Surely Il
was some beautiful vision he had come
upon. With one unsteady hand he
touched the girls sleeve: he pressed
her warm red cheeks with his fingers,
and with that touch his manhood came
| back to him.
Darling" he whispered. eagerly
| Dearest, what does 1t mean?"
Chris stood there. smiling rosIly She
had not meant to betray herself: fate
had done that for her. and she was not
sorry. 1t was cruel trick they had
played upon Frank. but IL had been
necessary, Chris held out her hand with
| a loving little gesture.