New-York tribune., 1903-07-17

come on, SneuSy- It's to 1T. HlIdd s, ana
they have singing, playing and dancing"
"A b-ballet, quotha? Certainly. I'll CO."
What drew Bradford to ST. Hlda's? One
might call it the fascination Of the snake for
the bird There man he liked less, and
none he thought of more than the rector OF
that fashionable congregation He was sure
that Charges and he were opposed to each other,
and he feared that Charges had the superiority
at least he feared that Charges knew some
thing to his discredit He wondered whether
the minister had read Of his speech at the mass
meeting the night before; and what he thought
of it-whether he fathomed the motives that
lay behind it. Bradford was not at all certain.
he tried to consider the matter in cold blood.
what those motives had been. Bradford never
wished to deceive himself. and he had q habit
of questioning himself before alter ego which
generally revealed the truth. But In this case
he was honestly in doubt. How much did he
for the ethics OF sport? Little he might
have contemptuously acknowledged to himself
twenty-four hours previously; but last night the
ring in Shedsy's congratulations had walked
some echo in his heart at the strength Of which
he was now astonished. The more he reflected
the surer he grew that his speech had been the
outgrowth of a sordid conviction; that Bradford
One had been, in attributing to Charges justi-
fable contempt of his honesty, unjust to Brad
ford Two. So reassuring himself. Bradford grew
at once more amiably inclined to the minister,
though no less sensitive to his judgment At
this point in his musings he made up his mind
to go to church and see the man again
by the way, Frank Shedsy interpolated.
"g-give me stamp. will you?'
Ever since I knew you, Shedsy." said Brad
ford, lazily, you've written one letter-just one
on Sunday, and borrowed stamp to send it
You'll find some In my coat, which you'll be
They're in a g-good cause" laughed Barnes
Its to my mother. Which pocket2''
Inside"
Nothing here but letter." reported Shedsy,
from the next room 1T hasn't any stamp,
either. Do you want it. AS he read the adj
dress on that letter his voice died off suddenly,
and Bradford Jumped Up and took step tow
ard the ROOM Then he stopped hi-nself
THE other pocket" he said. with effort.
There was answer from Shedsy; but in a
moment he came out, with self-consciousness
reddening his face. and handed Bradford the
coat When they were on their way he said.
stumblingly:
IT didn't mean to p-pry. Frank
You saw the letter addressed tony
mother?'
Yes" He stopped. At length he added:
Does she still seem so near as-that-to you.
Frank2 F-forglve me if I'm clumsy. but-of
course. I remember when she died. and all. and
it brought it UP so to that address,
couldn't help speaking of it,
That's all right. 1t was-just a whim Of
mine one night; the night came back. She
was so near me. somehow. thought perhaps
she would know what had written"
believe she odd" shedsy found himself
wondering what Bradford had written; he put
the wonder away shamefacedly. but it returned
home, still wrote dutifully. Bradford had
said. once a week to his mother; there was a
kind of heroism in his regularity. for there was
a perfunctorness in it, too very far removed
from the sentiment expressed in this letters
address-"To My Mother in Heaven" And
shedsy felt very tenderly toward Frank Brad
ford in that moment. For this reason. and be-
cause he felt sure that Bradford was embar-
rassed. Shedsy began to ask him about the
office.
How are you g-getting onF
IT haven't done much yet still"-
What then?'
We'll I have done one pretty fair Dit OF
work"
What's that"
Bradford hesitated He knew he had no
business TO speak of office cases. but he had
a double temptation He feared that shedsy
might be thinking him foolish and sentimental
and. more than that he was especially anxious
these davs to convince himself as well as 9th
ers that he was worth while
You're sure you'll let this go no turther?"
Shedsv desired unhappy death If he did and so
Bradford told him. The was that Of which
Barrett had feS hours before hinted to Muir
doch
We have a matter UP for action in which a
deed is offered in evidence. We think the deed
is forged; in fact, must prove that IL is
forged or false in some way. There's a big lot
of money involved-half million. in fact"
shedsy opened his eyes. It's the Barton
easel!
Yes. But you needn't advertise It, Well.
as I was saying. the question is. Did Mrs Bar
ton sign this deed? She's dead now. and so
can't testify. But the notary whose name is
signed to the acknowledgement is alive. and
ready to swear himself blue in the face that
she signed as the instrument purports."
Haven't you called in Handwriting ex-
perts?"
'Oh. yes Our men that she probably
didn't sign 1t; their u swear she probably
did For cautious but diplomatic liar. give me
a handwriting expert Now. what are we TO
do?"
That's very s-simple." piled Shedsy. 'Ini-
tate the cat again and climb a t-tree-"
Bradford laughed. She6sy's confession was
wine to him The firm looking for tree,
think. when made suggestion"
''What?"
Swear you'll never peep?"
"On honor
''One dav when / looking at q deed
form / happened to notice that not all the let
.ers were printed clean A capital T had a nat
top and a little = minus tail: and so on j
II occurred 10 me right away that 1 had MT 1
upon method Identifying a deed. after