The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1902-12-31

20 soon to bear to that unspeakabIe
humbug. The fault II my own Tor
having, in the exercise Of my natural
generosity. foolishly suffered myseif
to befriend one Of his canting. hypo'
critical caste. When picked that un-
beggar out Of the suffoik
mud he was not ten cents ahead OF his
debts, and the utmost racking OF MS
wits produced him an income about
one-fifth as much as I pay my cook"
Uncle Sam paused moment. puffec
forth q cloud Of smoke In q way sug'
gest.ve Of inefable contempt. and re.
sumed:
"As you know. I brought him here
and gave him the management OF q
I own, paying him largely
for his inefficient discharge Of duties
which I had to teach him. He at
tached himself to Connie, and did his
best to win her. but Connie. with pru.
dence worthy of her father. would
have none Of him. When you appeared
upon the scene and gained almost with.
out effort the prize for which he had
in vain, he made the girl
for whom he used to profess the most
regard the victim OF hio
revenge. His inability to injure her
without injuring Mrs. Truman and me
in a greater degree did not deter the
villain. His method was this. Know
ing that Constance was devoted to her
sister, and that anything which would
trouble one must needs disquiet the
other. he showed her ln your presence,
I understand) letter he had received
from another pestilent Suffolk parson,
exposing Annie Wolsey-the writer. q
eraven.hearted windbag named Fuller,
having got his Information from Old
wolsey or your father. Connie, wiser
than most women, kept her knowledge
to herself. and Price, suspecting this
from the fact that there was no upset
In my house. forwarded Fuller's letter
to my wife"
The malicious leer upon Mr. Prices
face ut the moment when I last looked
Upon him was pictured In my memory
and not likely to be forgotten. That
It was the outward and visible sign Of
q diabolical nature I had never doubt
ed. and his structures upon my family
on that occasion helped to confirm the
opinion. but meme the less was aston
ished to learn in what circuitous
ways this man had worked to injure
people who, 90 fur from giving him
any cause for enmity. had done much
to earn his gratitude. AS my uncle
again paused I ventured to congratu.
late him on the futility Of Mr.. Prices
act. seeing that Mr Fuller's letter con.
tanned nothing which aunt Gertrude
did not already know.
my Affairs are hardly as smooth as
that" continued uncle Sam, forgetful
of, or automatically ignoring, pre-.
vious declaration he had made. MY
VIE has left me, and cannot induce
her te return home except by substan.
tial assurances that I have finally
ceased to correspond with Annie VOL.
sey."
"Good heavensv' exclaimed, In
great alright. "Do you know where
she has gone? Is Constance with
herw
Don't talk 50 loud. ! am not deaf.
and there is no necessity for informing
everybody; the affair is sufficiently
known already. You have no cause
for alarm. I shall give my wife the
assurances she demands, and In day
or two at farthest she will reassume
her rightful position. It is pity you
forwarded that old lady's letter to
him"
"where ID my aunt and Connic?' !
asked bluntly.
In Orange. at q house where their
father used to live!"
"Is that far from here"
"Only q few miles. Orange Is in New
Jersey. the other side Of the North
River"
A sigh Of relief escaped me when !
heard these words. To know that ]
was 80 near to my dear Constance was
rs one faint streak Of light In a dark
sky. lit the cigar which I had been
nervously twirling between my fingers
during the progress Of this converse.
tion, and took q seat by the open win.
dow. Uncle Sam. too. became some
what calmer and seated himself oppo-
site to me. A long pause ensued. which
was at last broken by uncle Sam sud.
denly breaking out into loud laugh,
quite in his old style. I looked up at
him In surprise.
To be continued.
London'e Undermined Houses.
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