The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1902-12-31

You press me unreaSonaDly, an
swered Donald, with annoyance. 81 do
it by means of power Of which l pos
scss little, but there is some one in
Tunbridge who possesses a thousand
times more"
You mean your father" said Bum
quickly.
'No, don't mean my father" an
swcred Donald, "and unless Uncle John
commands me shall not say whom /
mean"
81 shall not command you, my boy"
said 1. Indeed, it is not necessary.
And won't have you cross questioned
any MORE" added, seeing how deeply
he was irritated. 81 thank heaven that
you possess this power, and I verify be-
lieve that it will be the salvation Of
US ALL"
When Donald had gone, Bum asked
me whether I could bring myself to be-
lieve that Mrs. Donaldson was the
source of all these mysteries.
81 never doubted that she had the
power" said I, "but I am skeptical
about her having more Of it than her
son."
At this Carl Archer arose and waved
his arms around his head in q protest
that transcended speech.
1--WE have all gone crazy!' he cried
at last. There is no such power.
There is not an atom Of evidence in all
the worlds history that any human
being ever exercised it. Donald is
merely travelling the way Of all i'm
posters, and ! think we ought to stop
him."
what do you think about it, Jim?"
said I.
Bum had his hand upon the open
door.
81 think that nobody will stop him" ,"
he replied. "He will go on to the end"
And the old man went away mutter-
ing.
On the following day Donald came to
me with a remarkable request, and l
despair of making clear the reason why
l granted it. I can say no more than
that the boy had begun to exercise an
influence over me that was nearly IT.
resistible.
"You have noticed" said he, 'that
my father is not very we'll. That is
why ] come to you with this matter
and why ask you not to bother him
about it. He has enough upon his mind
without being worried By my foolish
ness"
asked him what the matter might be.
"My father has the papers in the old
Strobel correspondence" said be. "a
few weeks ago he got them together
and put them in his box in the vault
at the bank"
1t is not necessary here to explain
what the Strobel correspondence was
nor why Donaldson had taken charge
of it, as these things have no bearing
upon the case. l replied that the facts
were as the boy had stated them.
81 want you to ask my father for
these papers," said Donald. when
YOU so up to the house this noon, you
can stop at the bank with him and get
them. Don't let anybody else see you
take them, don't tell anybody that you
have them, and ask my father not to
mention the circumstance at all. Will
you do thls?"
saw no objection, and told him so.
Then I asked what should do with
the documents.
"Put them into that little handbag"
said he, pointing to one which was be-
side my desk. Don't take them out
while you're at the house. Afterward
bring them down here and put them in
this safe. When you have done So,
change the combination"
Evidently he wanted me to have
them in a place where could get them
handily and at any hour of the day, not
in a bank, which closed at 4 in the aft
ernoon, and in a box which nobody
but his father, then seemingly threat
ened with an illness, could open.
But what was the value Of the pa
pers? AS now knew that it was moth
ing, l will not enlarge upon the ques-
ton, though it bothered me at the time.
The only indication 1 could get was
that Isaac Thorndyke had been con-
cerned in the correspondence in Ques-
ton, though how the fact could be
used to influence his vote in the COM
ing stockholders meeting I was unable
to understand. However, l did pre-
cisely as Donald had asked me to do,
and by 2 in the afternoon the papers
in my safe, the door Of which
would answer only to violence or to
my own hand.
That evening Donald asked me very
particularly whether I had followed
his instructions. He seemed to regard
the matter as extremely important,
and he took me into the library to
speak the more privately, though there
was no one about, for Donaldson had
gone to his room and Dorothy and
Carl to a neighbor's house.
We sat together in window looking
out at the moonlight which was food
ing over the roof Of the long, low
house and pouring down the slope Of the
lawn beyond in great white stream.
Suddenly I heard steps upon the
path that ran in the shadows below
the window, and a voice cried, "Doro-
thyw The tone was strange, and some
how it went to my heart.
carl and my little mother" said
Donald; they're coming back"
He left the window and walked out
of the room. I was vaguely glad that
he should so and was, indeed, prompt.
ed to follow him, but somehow I could
not do so.
Carl and Dorothy had stopped below
the window. AS the room was dark.
they could not have suspected that any
one was within hearing Of their voices.
After the single word which I had
overheard there was silence for nearly