The Holly chieftain., 1904-03-04

care? No, ! don't know what | shall
do. have thought of a plan, and
| believe | know tie man to go to
some one I've heard OF, and who VIII
help to put me On the right track"
They turned to leave the room to-
sether. He gave another last look
round before closing the door Then
| turning to his sister, as he put the
key in his pocket. You viii have to
break this to mother"
oh, must L, How dreadful
couldn't you?"
'.Of course not" hastily. Its
your place to do SO. and | couldn't
thirk of takirg it upon myself"
Very well" she answered. meekly.
''if | must, | must How she did it
she never knew: but. somehow, the
words were spoken and the dreadful
truth revealed
Mrs. Burritt. partly to her daugh-
ter's relief seemed hardly capable of
realizing it, He's dead,-dead,"'
she cried. Historically. 1t doesn't
make any difference to me how he
died. What does it matter SO long as
| he is dead--dead-dead
The next was the day Of the fune-
raj.
1t was numerously attended either
out OF respect or curiosity. and, as he
reviewed the troops OF friends and
acquaintances that assembled round
the grave, the son of the dead man
wondered for an instant whether it
|
to be among them?
But the idea was rejected as soon as
formed. He. looked in vain for one
who corresponded with the descrip-
tion Of the tall. thin. elderly man,
with dried-up look and grey nous
tache, and who walked with a limp
when last seen by the guard.
1t was exactly nine o'clock on the
right of the funeral when Ted Bur
ritt put the key in the door and ad-
mitted himself into the room which
had been his fathers study.
He carried lamp in his hand.
/ which he placed upon the writing ta-
BILE. Everything remained as it had
been on that former visit; the only
difference lay in the fact that the
film of dust was a little thicker upon
the various contents of the room.
He was about to seat himself in the
old leather chair in which his father
l had always sat. when, apparently
changing his mind, he pushed it back
against the wall and looked round
for another which he dragged for.
ward.
He took the sealed packet from his
breast pocket and placed it on the
table before him. Itgwas sealed up
in sheet of blue paper and in.
dorsed-
Papers found by me, after the ac.
cdent. on the person of the late Silas
Burritt, Esq, and preserved intact.
Jeremiah Cartwright, NJ D., etc"
1t was of considerable bulk, but
Ted knew that his father was in the
habit of carrying about him a mis-
| cellaneous assortment of documents
of no particular Importance. For some
time he hesitated to break the seal
There might be, after all, something
there that the dead man would wish
no other eyes but his own to look
upon; something, not exactly discred-
liable. he would not acknowledge that
even to himself, but something which
he might have wished. kept private,
and which no one else should seek
to pry into. II that were the case
| He cast his scruples on one side,
broke the seal and tore open the
wrapper. At the first sight of the
| contents thus revealed to view. the
young man uttered an exclamation of
| dismay for the first document which
met his eye was burnt and brown, and
reduced almost to tinder.
| Were they all alike? If SO. the doc
tor would hardly have taken the pains
to preserve them so carefully
With delicate. manipulation he re-
| moved the topmost paper and placed
it on one side. But, with all his care,
the edge crumbled and broke away in
his hands
Beneath this one was another
equally injured but, below this again
was paper only partially singed so
that an idea of its contents might be
arrived at after careful inspection.
From few words that met his eve.
he made it out to be a bill of ladiny.
and put it aside with the others. The
rest he spread out before him on the
table.
Ito be continued