Custer County Republican. (Broken Bow, Neb.) 1882-1921, 1902-04-24
N.Y. T%
NoRA,s Jest
From
Darkness
To Light
BY MARY CECIL HAY

fully; and he spoke Of Il at last with {
little amusement While his companion
paused before answering, with a ncrvoui
hesitation which seemed habitual to him
Mark walked to the window and looked
down into the street. He had not stooc
there many minutes before II man came
sanntering from shop opposite ant
crossed directly to the hotel.
I'VE may just as well avoid all fuss
and publicity" observed Mark, coolly, AZ
he turned from the window, land hasten
through this unpleasant affair. by this
time my telegram will have reached
Doyle at the Inns of Court Hotel. Ar
thur, my dear fellow" he added, earn
estly, laying his hand for moment or
the shoulder of hig friend. "don't look 90
down-hearted. Remember yon have moth
Ing to fear as M eventual barrier to your
return to the old home and life. to the
| restoration OF your daughter. and the
I>public acknowledgment Of your limo
cence. You have not. indeed; and no
man would shrink al going thrOHgh a
7ittle temporary hsrass and delay To in
sure such y result"
Tell me Of"
mo-" interposed Mark, with that reso-
lutte frmness Of his which was so quiet;
II will tell you nothing of Nora. What
a persistent fellow You are, to return to
that request again, In spite of me! No,
| you would only say | exaggerate every
| thing. If there IL one subject dare not
| trust myself to talk OF just now" he
| added, both his eyes and voice earnest,
''it Is that which fills my thoughts as
well as yours. Come, you, who have so
bravely spent three wears of exile and
denial. would never show the white feath-
err at the very last, when such differ
| ent life Is opening, just because we must
needs stumble over the threshold. I'm
afraid that adroit and patient officer Is
very tired of keeping his eye upon me.
He so thoroughly deserves his reward at
last, that l will go and anticipate 1t for
| him."
So when, ten minutes nfterward, the
man who had waited until this hour TO
| arrest Arthur Poynz, came up to the
room to act upon his information, Mark
came with him: and the departure of the
three seemed quite simple and natural,
and altogether unlike legal arrest.
Doyle" whispered Mark, In his leis-
urely way-the Irish lawyer sat anxiously
scrutinizing the faces in the police court
while Lord Keston spoke to him-"Dr.
Armstrong looks pretty confident Of hold
ing the winning cards, eh?"
The lawyer nodded, without a word, his
attention thoughtfully fixed upon Nuel
Armstrong when he was sworn. Then
he followed every word, as DR.. Arm
| strong testified to the fact that Arthur
Poynz had been suspected OF administer
ing poison in the year 1858, to one Cath
crime Say, at Heaton Place, in the Coun-
ty Of Surrey, and had escaped before the
| conclusion OF the inquest, throwing his
hat and cloak into a certain lake of deep
water, with intent to elude the law by a
suppostitious death.
All this Nuel Armstrong was slowly
and distinctly making evident in his an
swers, when the presiding magistrate
broke the thread of information with a
question which-as far as the listeners
could tell-had at that moment struck
him.
/ Were you sworn upon the GospelsT"
II was sworn" returned Nuel, with
the air of scornfully dismssing an irrel-
evant subject, lin the usual way"
DO you,' continued the magistra te,
unmoved, believe in the Gospels?"
With the calm and supercilous smile
which so often stirred his thin lips, DR.
Armstrong glanced into one or two OF
the faces around him, and answered:
II believe in them, of course--as men
generally believe In them-as detached
portions of the history OF certain
epoch"
"Do you believe in themT' persisted
the magistrate, without the slightes
change in the expression either of hi,
face or voice.
IL acknowledge" Nuel answered, still
with the smile upon his lips, Just wha
all sensible and thoughtful men acknowl
edge--that they are trustworthy records
of a particular age. And beyond that.
consider myself bound in honor to speal
the truth, and the whole truth after be
!, ing sworn upon them"
! "There is no need Al all for you TO en-
large upon the subject" returned tn
magistrate, briefly, Your answer ca,
only be word. DO you believe in tn
Scriptures--yes or nor
In n general way, and for this pur
) pose. /"
ATTEND to my question, n you please,
interrupted the magistrate, with empha
, sis on the reiterated query. "Do yo
} believe in the inspiration of those Cos
! pels on which you have been sworn? |
1 you do not, your oath cannot be taken.
= mo man believes in the whole" as
D serted Nuel, his plausible smile CROWN
an effort to him, as his fury was reused
but | consider myself bound on M
4 oath to utter only what is the truth"
! Then" observed the magistrate, In
| rather raised, quick voice, you do nc
e believe in a Godi"
81 do not understand such a questio
: here returned DR., Armstrong, his liz
= tightening more and more as his eye
r fell upon the bent head, aud easy, appal
o emily inRttentive expression OF Mar
. POynz.
a ut is a simple question, Have tn
!, kindness to answer 1t simply, too"
s Il do not understand the term"
Il IL think | may safely say, then" r,
S marked the magistrate. pointedly, 9TH,
O YOU are the only man present who do,