The Cairo bulletin., 1904-03-28

SOMETHING DREADFUL HAS HAPPENED J.
way which l was able to point out and
even in part to trace by actual markings,
thus taking the place Of his double, who
then crept out as Btters had come in, re-
turned to town. packed up his belongings
in the hotel and ted
The resemblance OF the double to Btters
had been strong enough to permit Of this
deception at the distance of the arbor
from the veranda, but would not have
sutiiced for the fraud at the bank.
When Mr. Brandon had heard my story
and had hastily verified a part Of 1t his
natural impulse was to give Coewyn a
chance to defend himself. but as we were
about to summon him Mrs. Brandon
broke in upon us. having overheard SO
much that the remainder could not be
concealed,
Mrs Brandon Mt first supposed that |
was attacking the validity Of Lord Cole
wyn'S titlcthat | was trying TO prove
him a bogus lord Such had been her
own first fear in regard TO him; he had
seemed "too good to be true"
SO she had taken shrewd measures to
assure herself OF Lord Colewyn's genuine
ness, and in this crisis she overwhelmed
me with proofs of It,
In vain / protested that his title and
my accusation had nothing to do with
each other Mrs. Brandon seemed inca.
pable OF perceiving the possibility that q
real lord could do wrong The scene was
fast becoming hysterical. and Mr.. Bran
don wisely broke ii off and went in search
Of Colewyn Tom ana | led Mrs Bran
don to the darkest and quictest spot on
the veranda and IN @ few minutes Ethel
came flying around mn angle Of the house,
"Mcthor," she cried Something dread
ful has happened. Rather has taken Lord
Colewyn up to the sewing room"
THE sewing room" echoed Mrs Bran-
don.
1.-The house is overrun." said the girl.
1T was the only place where they could
be alone. Tell me
But her mother bad sunk into a chair
and seemed incapable of speech Ethel
turned to Tom. but | couldn't stand by
and see that happen. Telling that story
would not help Tom In his lovcmaking
afterward, for girls have an Indians
memory OF those that hurt thom. II seem
ed much better that she should have n
dsagreeable recollection Of me, ana SO |
deftly got in Toms way and began my
painful task.
] was interrupted by dull, heavy
sound that seemed to be directly over my
head. paused, looking upward
They're up there" said the girl, point
ing.
"Tom," cried, do you know the
way?'
Before he could reply there was a sound
Of shnllllng feet, aud then figure swung
into view from the edge Of the vcranda
roof and dropped to the ground.
"Colewynl" ! exclaimed "He didn't
take that plunge for nothing
Both Tom ana I sprang to the veranda
rail- but all was IN deep shadow on that
side. and we could not tell which way
Colewyn had gone, In an instant we both
were over the rail The fugitive had TAX
en- no harm from his fall Of fully twenty
feet and had made eff
For perhaps a seconds space we stood
bafled, and then a great fare Of light
struck sharply across the darkness. The
whole space between us and the arbor
with Its background Of trees and bushes
was brilliantly illumined and in the midst
Of this expause was Colewyn running an
II for his life.
A mighty chorus Of yells from beyond
the house told us the cause of the well
come light. The fireworks display had
begun with an enormous "set piece" show
ing the American eagle sketched in white
fire. and in the light Of this glorious bird
of freedom ] ran down the fleeing British
or without difficulty. 1t IS no gront feat
for a trained runner to overtakc man
who has never given special study to that
exercise A nice easy tackle brought
Colcwyn's noec and the soil Of my native
land into close touch with each other. and
then Tom came up and helped me lead the
captive back TO the house
There we learned that the interview he.
tween the noble lord and his prospective
father-in-law had ended with "a threat Of
criminal prosecution. whereupon Colewyn
had struck down the white haired old man
with a somewhat remarkable wcapon-one
Of those long round needle cushions stuff-
cd with emery powder an ideal sand club.
The blow stunned him. but Inflicted no
lasting injury that is. It inflicted no
lasting injury upon Mr.. Brandon. but Il
smashed Miss Ethel's ideal Of an English
lord into ten thousand pieces. Mrs Bran
don's fear II scandal saved Colewyn from
a JAN. and he departed from that houss
forever that evening