The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-12-11

opening of the door. Ellen found pro- jectfng point. which she pressed. There was a cracking sound, and a secret panel flew open. Out tumbled an en- yelope. She found herself-she knew not how-standing in the middle of the room with this in her hand. Then the figure appeared to fade into nothing. She was alone-alone in that ghostly room in the darkness and silence
 An outburst of carol-singing aroused her from her trance. On the desk stood a candle in a tarnf shed candle stick. Beside 1t was box of matches matches let lately by some house. maid who had been cleaning the room sacred to the dead. Ellen lighted the candle and opened the envelope. Sev eral sheets in her brothers hand
 writing fell out. With beating heart she read them. by that dim light. and when she finished the last sheet the papers fluttered to the ground. "Oh, great Heavens, Will Is innocent after allr
 And he was, as the confession proved Frank had forged the cheque and had induced Will, irnorant of his friends wickedness. to present it at the bank. For the sake of the motherheart. which would have broken had the truth come to light, VIII, her noble, brave lover. had borne the sin and
 shame of another. sobbing with min- gled sorrow and joy, Ellen Manners sank on her knees. And again rose the verse of the carol she had heard. But
 this time 1t sounded like the fulflment of promise. The Child Christ had in- deed given her the gift of peaca.
 
 Angels in the skies are singing, Peace and goodwill unto men Hark! the glorious message ringing. Sweeter now than it was then. Anguish files and sorrows cease. Peace comes with the Prince of Peace"
 On the day before Christmas Will Hanbury was writing in his London garret. It was a bare, bleak room on the top of a Soho house, containine not thing but a bed, a table, and two
 chairs. Tn one corner was an ill-fur-
 nished cupboard. and a small fire
 smoulded in the rusty grate. Hanbury
 once no doubt, had been good looking But sorrow and illness and want had aged him before his time
 The man was not without talents At one time he had done fairly we'll as
 a writer on the Press. Owing to the rumor of his supposed crime he had been unable to obtain employment fin the City, and SO had taken to Journal
 Ism. For time he prospered. but bad luck followed him. and he fell i'll. Now he was rarely out of the hospital. and
 only managed to keep the bread in hIs mouth by incessant work. His body
 being starved, his brain suffered, and
 the tales and articles he produced were lacking in originality. whereby he made but a small income. But he worked bravely on. knowing his inno- cence and feeling sure that in His own
 good time God would give him a happy issue out of all his troubles
 On this day he was asking himself
 whether the time had come Before
 him lay letter which he had that
 morning received from Mrs, Trial. She
 mentioned that with Dorothy she was stopping at Laybourne Hall in Essex. and asking him to come down that Christmas Eve on a visit. With con- siderable astutenness Mrs Trail did not mention that Ellen Manners was the mistress of the house to which sfie in = vited Dorothy's father. thinking that Hanbury would not come did he know the woman he loved was there. But 1t was proabble, as Mrs. Trail thought, that Hanbury had forgotten all about the Hall. In this she was wrong VIII remembered the scene of his disgrace only too we'll. although twenty years had passed since he had left 1t ruined man. At the present moment he was wondering if he should obey the conn mand, which, so unexpected 1t was, seemed to be A call of Providence. Af- ter ponderfng over the letter for half an hour he went to the window and
 looked out into the street and across the housetops.
 The roofs of the houses were white with snow, and below the narrow street was filled with cheerful people engaged in marketing for Christmas. The shops were decked with. holly and mis- tletoe. Tn the windows were displayed turkeys. huge rounds of beef. dried fruits. large plum buildings. and all the