The Minneapolis journal., 1904-06-04

gone. Heaven forgive mel But we
shall find her, never fear! And who |
on earth would do any harm to that |
poor baby? Think of it! Think OF it!
She's safe, wherever she is. Oh, trust
the little soul; she'll be in your arms
safe and sound, before many hours
have passed. There, there, there's a
dear! Cry your heart outl It will do
you good!"
And good Mrs. Bream, down whose
face the tears were raining, took the
head Of the poor mother in her kind
arms, and careSsed her as if she had
been the lost babe herself.
For something in her words, in the
tones which came from her heart, had
touched the right chord, had 1oosened
the foodgates, and Beatrice was cry
ing as If her very soul had broken and
melted into tears.
When she had wept herself into
few moments absolute, stolid, numb
torpidity, Mrs. Bream's voice whis-
pered in her ears again:
Now, If you've any notion where
the mans gone, or where his home Is,
tell me quietly, and TIL see that some
one is sent there straight
IT don't know! I've no idea! Ask
L-L-Lady Cathertngton," cried Bea-
trice, springing up.
one uoSSu L huOW 0lLHGT, OF SI10
says she doesn't" said Mrs. Bream.
"Ask her yourself, II you like. But
it'll do no good. If I'd thought the
child was hers before, should have
known it wasn't by the way she took
the news that 1t was gone. She
looked frightened for herself, but not
for the child!''
Beatrice was pacing up and down
the room. trying to devise some plan
Of action. One terrible thought was
in her mind. 1t was that the cry she
had family heard was that Of her
baby, and that the little boat she had
seen on the moonlit sea was bearing
Ermyn away. Away! Where to? In
| the power Of a madman, Of a poor,
crazy wretch who might be seized at
any moent by a paroxysm of fury in
which he might turn his jealous anger
upon the helpless mite.
| Little by little, within q few min
utes, she got from Mrs. Bream and the
| trembling Harvey the story of what
had happened.
| When first the alarm was given in
the household that the stranger who
had been disputing loudly with Lady
Catherington in the drawing-room had
thrown her down and got away, the
| men servants had all gone in pursuit.
But Burnet had been too swift or too
artful for them, and Beatrice herself
knew that, while they had pursued
him IN one direction, he had lost
himself to their view in another by
taking at once to the plantation and
going straight to the chalet, where he
knew Lord Catherington to be.
| While the men were in pursuit, the
women hung about the hall door, and
Rosa came out Of the drawing-room
and stood with them, waiting for news
Of the fugitive.
When they had stood there some
time, full Of nervous fears. one Of the
younger maids gave q little scream
and when questioned, said she fancied
she had seen some one come out OF
the drawing-room and disappear ir
the direction Of the servants stair
case.
fright among them all, and in body
, they had flocked to the foot Of the
back staircase, without taking the pre-
caution to shut the front door.
, In the meantime Mrs. Bream ant
Harvey, hearing the comnotion, hat
come out upon the landing and hung
over the front staircase, demanding
what was the matter. On being tolt
what had caused their fright, Mrs
, BreAm and Harvey both ran to the
head of the servants staircase t,
i guard the top, while the other wome1
were in possession at the bottom.
Seeing nothing there, however, t.
cause them to put any faith in th'
} rumor of an intruder, they had pres
emily returned to the nursery, onl,
3, to find the child gone, and to hear
, a moment later, the closing Of tn,
,, front door down stairs.
| From that moment all had beer
confusion. The women had searched
the house, the bolder Of them had ru1
: out and alarmed the men at the sta
:, bles; Mrs Bream, distracted will
grief, had strictly enjoined them all t
delay by every possible means tn
. return Of Mrs. Froyle to the nurser,
= = when she should come back to tn
house. This was done in the will,
. hope that the child's whereabout
; might meanwhile be discovered, s.
= that the poor creature might know O
= = her loss only when the treasure ha,
- been recovered.
= This was why Rosa, the maid, tn
r butler, had all combined to keep Bea
, trice, on her returnsto the house, from
going upstairs, and why, when sh
j had gone out again, they had kept he
out in clumsy, but well-meant, en-
s misery Of finding that the child Q
t whom she was in charge had bee
q stolen. Tho only two members of tn
s household, Rosa and Mrs. Brean
e knew Of the real relationship in whic
e she stood to Er1nyn all knew that sh
: was devoted to the child; and, as Bea
o trice was as popuar as Rosa was un
e popular, they all Joined eagerly in tn
h conspiracy for her supposed benefit.
BY the time that her frenzie
q shrieks had made it impossible to re
d fuse her .adnittance any longer, how
ever, their hopes of finding the litt1
a one about the premises had disaI
# peared; and there was no need fc
# further effort to conceal the terribl
h loss.
a When she had gathered these fact
D pacing up and down the room an
It still trying to decide what course st
I. had better take, she suddenly mad
h up her mind, and, breaking ava
+ from the housekeeper, who tried
~ detain her, ran downstairs again, an
~ once more left the house.
y She meant to appeal to Lord Cat1
~ ~ erington, feeling that he would be tt
IL best judge Of what ought to be don
At that moment of the peril of h,
l. child, the thought Of her guilt was a
le together swallowed up in her grie
r. and no thought of confession can
Ia back to her-only that of enlisting
aid in recovering her darling.
He, who believed the child to be hi
would exert himself with might az
main, she knew.
She had no need to go far. Scare
ly a dozen steps from the house 81
- met him, and the first glance at h
IL -, face in the dim moonlight showed h
iss ,s that he knew the truth. His head w
ly bound up, too, and by this she sa
81 that he had been attended by a mo