The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-04-12

| imam III nauntS where your pure magma
ton cannot follow them. The life lived
| under your eye is not the one really led
by the melancholy being you have watched
with such sympathetic interest"
She did not seem to follow me-
! What do you mean? Her indignation
was so strong that she leaped to her feet
| and eyed me with manifest sense of OUT
rage. You speak as If you meant some
thing l should not hear. He Claire's
| father-'
1t was difficult task. Surely my lines
had fallen in untoward places. But there
was no doubt about my duty. If her
fresh, unspoiled heart had made its home
| In nest of serpents, 1t was we'll she
Should know her mistake before the
shame OF the discovery should overwhelm
| her.
Turning aside, SO that should not seem
to spy upon her agitation. l answered
her as such questions should be answered,
| with the truth
! Miss Meredith said I, "when I UNI
dertook to sift tkis matter, and If possible
| bring to light some fact capable of settling
the doubt that Is wearing away your life,
l hoped to relieve your heart and restore
your faith in the one cousin most con-
genial to you. That have failed in this
and find myself called upon to inflict SUI
rer1ng rather than to bring peace to your
agitated heart is source of regret to
myself which you can never measure But
1t cannot be helped. j dare not keep back
the truth. Leighton Gillespie is unworthy
your regard, Miss Meredith, not only be-
cause he lies under suspicion Of having
Icommitted the worst sin in the calendar,
but because he has deceived you as to the
state, OF his own affections. He
Waltz Her voice was peremptory; her
manner noble. 81 wish to say right here,
Mr., Cultivate, that Leighton Gillespie
has never deceived me in this regard.
have cared for him Observation-Disclosures ]
could not help 1t. But he has never led
me into doing so by any show of peculiar
interest in myself. George has courted
me and Alfred nearly has, but not Leigh
ton; yet to him my whole heart went out,
and If it is shame to own it 1 must en-
dure that shame rather than injure his
cause by leaving you under the influence
OF prejudice which has no foundation In
fact" 4. t'.r. ia
Before the generosity Of this self-be-
trayal | bowed my head Her beauty
warm and glowing as it was at this mo-
ment or self-abandonment, did not i'm
press me so much as the mingled candor
and pride with which she exorenated this
man from the one fault of which she knew
him to be innocent. 1t gave me a new re-
spect for her and shade more Of forbear-
ance for him, so that my voice softened
as l replied: -.
'Well, we'll, We will not charge him
| with deliberate falsehood towards you
only with the madness which leads a man
TO sacrlhc honor and reputation to the
fancled charms Of an irresponsible
woman. He is under SPELL Miss Mere
dlth, which will not attempt to name
The object of 1t l have myself seen, and
1t was from her hand POSSIBLY without
her understanding the purpose for which
he wanted 1T, as she has no appearance OF
being really wicked woman) that he OBJ
tanned the poison which did such deadly
work IN your uncles house."
The worst was said; and the silence
that followed was one never to be for
broken, 1t was by Hope, and in words
which came in such starts and with such
,pauses, l could only guess their meaning
through my own Identification with her
shame and grief.
"Calumny!-it cannot be!-so good-so
thoughtful in his bringing up of Claire
that day Re pulled her aside lest she
should stumble against the little boy with
the broken arm. 1t is a dream! hor-
rible dream! He depraved? he a buyer
of poison?-no. no, not he, but the evi
spirit that sometimes possesses him
Leighton Gillespie in his true hours is /
man to confide in, to regard with honor
to-to-to-"
no longer made an effort at listening
She was not addressing me- but her owl
soul. with which for the moment she
, stood apart in the great loneliness which
an overwhelming catastrophe creates
, She did not even remember my presence
, and i did not dare recall it to her.
simply let her lose herself In her owl
I grief, while fought my own battle, and
} as l hope, won my own victory. But thi.
could not last; she suddenly awoke to thu
nearness Of listening ears, and, flushing
| deeply, ceased the broken flow of word.
which had so worn upon my heart, and
, regainfng some Of her lost composure
forcibly declared:
You are an honest man, Mr.. Outh
waite, and. I am told, reliable lawyer
You have too much feeling and judgmen
to mallgn man already laboring unde
the accusation which unites this who'll
| family in one cloud Of suspicion. Tel
) noe, then, do you positively know Leigh
5 ton to have done what you saw"
r "Alas!" was my short but suggestive
t reply.
5 Instantly she ceased to struggle an
) with a calmness hardly to be expecte
$ from her after such display of feeling
t she surveyed me earnestly for moment
8 then said: -''
Tell me the whole story. I have
reason for hearing it, reason which yo
l would approve. Let me hear what yo
= learned what you saw. 1t Is not to b
4 found in the papers. I have only fOun
e | there a general allusion to him calculate
g to prepare the mind for some great dis
closure tomorrow" And her han
!, | frightened upon the sheet which i now dis
}. covered to be the one morning journal
= had failed to see. You will pay no at
, tcntion to my feelings have none-w
+ are sitting In court-let me hear"
e Respecting her emotion, respecting tn
= attitude in which she had placed me,
d did as she requested. With all the sue
cinctness possible, I told her how I ha
r been led to go to Mother Merry's an
e what I had discovered there. The
l related what we had learned from Re
t seminal. The narrative was long, an
e gave me ample opportunity for studyin
e it's effect upon her. -
But she made no betrayal Of he
S feelings; perhaps, as she said, sh
: had none Mt this moment. Wit
y her hand clenched on her knee, she Sc
n listening So intently that az her othe
e faculties seemed to have been suspende
: for this purpose; only, as l approache
= the end, | noticed that the grey shade
h which had hung over her from the frs
n had deepened to a pail beneath which tn
Y last vestige of her Astounding youth he
a vanished. ~
}, My own heart grew heavy as the GLAD
: ness left hers. and / was nearly as desc
: late as she when made this final re
s mark:
~ '.That is all, Miss Meredith. as trul
9 believe that Leighton Gillespie bought tt
n bottle of poison from the girl he Gale
# Mile feurs as II had seen him layir
q the money down before her. But Rose1
n thal's admissions you must take at 20,