The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1902-11-12
CHAPTER XXI.
ANNIE voIsEY POUND.


Though Constance Marsh had not
promised to be my wife Indeed that
could hardly have been. for ! had not
asked her for any such promise). her
undertaking to accept me for her bus-
band should she marry filed me with
satisfaction. Her professed indispo-
sition for marriage I regarded as q pro-
fession and nothing more-the banter
ing playfulness Of q high.spirited.
noble minded girl. had not lacked
opportunities to observe that the am
bition Of every woman is marriage;
and that the few, the very, few wom-
en- who deny this assertion with words,
illustrate its truth in the failure Of
their lives. The girl Of my choice was
intensely feminine. her nature un'
warped by any Of the pernicious hum.
bug Of woman's so-called rights, con-
cernIng which q shrieking sisterhood
OF the malfermed, the neglected, and
the deluded spoil much good paper
and rend the air in many lecture halls;
and did not at all doubt that ! had
now merely to raise my fortune to
the level of hers to enable me to claim
her hand and find my claim allowed.
Love will lightly attempt tasks from
which reason would shirk. and the
difficulty Of efecting the necessary
change In my condition had no terrors
for me, or ! was too dazzled by the
prospective prize to perceive them.
With an unquestioaing faith In my
uncle's perceptive powers, I was now
more than eyer disposed to unreserv-
edly accept his theory Of the robbery
Of the sequIns. and resolved to neg
lect nothing that might tend toward
their recovery. Filled with this idea.
I arose early the next morning. re-
solved to discuss with aim ways and
means expedient for me, and was sur
prised to learn that he had arisen be-
fore me and was engaged in his study.
My mental condition was such that
1t appeared to me impossible that an
other man could have affairs con-
parable for importance with the mat
ter upon y lich the possession Of my
dear Constance more or less depended.
and ! did not In the least scruple to
interrupt my uncle. I found him
seated at his desk. writing with mar
vellous rapidity. you come early"
he sid. looking up. but without for n
moment ceasing to write. Take a
chair. will talk to you presently"
Seeing that he was busy, I did not
answer. but sat down as requested
and listened to the industrious scratch.
Ing of my uncle's pen. Presently the
writer ceased. folded his papers,
placed them in an envelope. on which
he bestowed a vigorous blow ut the
sealing place. then threw himself back
In his chair and folded his arms. He
appeared to know perfectly why ! had
disturbed him ut that early hour.
though had not yet spoken to him;
and with his accustomed bluntness he
at once grappled with the business
he conceived / had come upon.
With regard to those sequins." said
uncle Sam. II find no cause to revise
the remark I made about them last
night. Adams. the butler, or what
ever you call him, stole them; Of that
don't entertain the smallest doubt.
He may have been assisted by another
Of the Holdenhurst servants, or by one
Of Knight & Faulkper's men; but II
Is Improbable. I have never heard 1t
suggested that the old man was thief:
but well remember his miserly habits
Of more than twenty years ago. Miser.
illness once acquired Is never shaken
Oh, but Intensifies with time. What
can be more reasonable than to sup
pose that when knight & Faulkner
were making the alterations In the
Hall, the treasure was accidentally
revealed to Adams?-who would be
quite safe. he would think. In conclud.
Ing that Its existence was unknown to
your father or any other member OF
| our family from the mere fact Of II
being where 1t was. Many people who
can look with eQuanimity on piles Of
bank notes are strangely moved nj
sight Of heap Of gold coins. and find
the Internal stun quite irresistible
This I believe was the case with
Adams; and / base my opinion on his
going so much in and out Of the crypt
about the time the robbery Is sup
posed to have taken place. his strange
finding of You there. his illness imme
diatolu affaricards his lies tn inccimi