Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1903-02-19

younger man not attempting to speaI
until DR.. Peele made a sign that he
was ready to listen. Then, as simply
and succinctiy as he could, Armath
waite related the strange manner IL
which he had been drawn aside On his
journey, the revelations which had
been conveyed to him so marvelously
on the night he passed at Ned eros
mont's house, Lady Kildonan's fever
ish excitement during the interview
in which she had tried to persuade him
to prescribe change of air for her
the incidents of the stolen money, and
of Alma Crosmont's so-called delu.
sions. To all this DIR. Peele listened
/ in silence, except that when Frank
| attempted to describe the means by
which he had heard the nocturnal
conversation between husband and
wife, he nodded and said: Eyes, yes.
room-I thought they had been de-
stroyed long ago." When the recital
was over, Armathwaite, who had made
no attempt to conceal the direction in
which his own sympathies tended,
waited patiently for the comments of
the elder man.
you are at any rate spared one of
the difficulties which harassed me-
said the latter at last. You have
been able to choose a side as it were
in this matter instead of being haunt
ed by the paralyzing conviction that
whatever movement you made on be-
half OF one person in whom you took
a deep interest, must necessarily harm
another whom you were equally bound
by ties of honour and affection to
protect" He glanced at a pile of
papers which lay on the table at his
left hand; some of them were neatly
tied together, some unfolded, as if he
had recently been handling them.
These papers, at whatever time of the
day Armathwaite saw him, were sell
dom absent from the old doctors side
and it was easy to guess that they had
reference to the subject which so deep
ly preyed upon his mind. "Aphra,
Kildonan's father" continued DR..
Peele, gave me the start in life that
am giving you; and it was my sense
of the weight, upon a man of honour,
Of such an obligation, which made me
so DESTROYS Of fastening my own re-
sponsibility upon man whom | could
trust. Are you anxious knowing so
much as you do, TO draw back from the
post?"
con the contrary" answered Armath-
waite fervently. Il have conceived |
rightly or wrongly, that l was brought |
here for the express purpose Of releas-
ing Alma Cosmont from the unhappy
in which she is placed, |
and | can honestly say it is the object
| have at present more at heart than |
anything in the world. DR.. Peele, you
must surely agree with me that her
mind is in danger. You have influence
with Crosmont; he is anxious to retain
your good opinion. Can you not in
duce him to send his wife away for a
timer"
DR.. Peele looked at the young man
with solemn, plaintive earnestness,
and shook his head
NO." said he; ito save her would
be to put Aphra in danger, and l am
bound by oath to her father to stand
by her at all costs"
ITO stand by Lady Kildonan?"
Yes"
'And the danger for her-what is
that?"
"Ah! 1t is a secret which nobody in
the world knows except herself and
me-"
''Her husband Doesn't he know
doesn't he suspect it,"
No You shall learn it in good
time; but we will take the other story
frst-Alma's." He paused, arranging
the materials of his narrative in his
mind. Then ne began in a low
voice. twenty-five years
ago and the house where Ned Cros-
mont and his wife live was, as you
know, private lunatic asylum, where
only few patients were kept, who
paid very well, and were. | can answer
for it, treated very kindly. The house
belonged to a relation of mine, doe
ltt VI iSpulhlluu anu WIZ
given up practice in London to estab-
lish this place in which to try new
system of his own. One result of his
system certainly was that very few
of the people in the neighborhocd had
any suspicion what the malady was
from which his patients suffered. l
had already been established some
years in Branksom when he bought
this house and started this thing: |
and as we had always been very good |
friends, l now spent much of my time
with him, and heard the history of each |
one of the patients, about whose cases
we had frequent consultations. Onel
man in particular reused a deep inter.
est in me. He was a musician and
composer, a Withholding person. with
wide-open blue eyes and madden man.
ners than any lunatic l ever saw. In
spite of this, however, l conceived the
idea, very early in our acquaintance
that he was at least as sane as |. He
fascinated me and | Spent hour after