The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-04-09
I'M Halle E1,rei,si;e Fives

I every one had looked up to and respected
| killed himself, and then to every ones
establishment, 1t was found that his
| money was all gomez and that his schemes
were all exploded, and that the famous
man who had dined and wined with tue.
great, was simply the greater forger
and the greatest thief that had ever
cheated the gallows., n.
But It was too late then. Arthur's firm
was utterly ruined with all the rest.
| What hurt him most was the knowledge
that by using the firms money he had
ruined his honest partner, Doyce. In ore
| der to set the latter as near right as he
| could, he turned in every cent OF his own
| personal fortune to pay as much of the
firms debt as it would, keeping nothing
of value but his clothes and his books.
Besides doing this, no wrote out state
ment, declaring that he, Arthur Clennam,
had Of his own act and against his part
ner's express caution used the firms
money FOR this purpose, and that he.
alone and not Doyce, was to blame; hs3
declared also that his own share III any
should remain out OF the wreok) Should
go to his partner, and that he himself
would work MS a mere clerk, ut as small
a. salary as he could 1.-Two on. n Y
III He published this statement Mt once,
8unwisely no doubt, when all London was
so {enraged against ,Merdle and glad to
have some one on whom to vent'i Its mad
ness. In the public anger and excitement
the generosity Of his act was lost sight
off, A few hours later q man who had
Invested some Of his money in Arthur'sl
firm and thus lost it, had him arrested
for debt. and that night ho entered the
dismal iron gates Of the Marshalsea
| prison, not now as q visitor, but as one
whom the 4pItiless bars locked in from.
liberty
The turkey took MIN UP the old ia,
miiar staircase and into the old familiar
room in which he had SO often been.
And as he sat down Vim Its loneliness
thinking Of the fair, slight form that had
dwelt in It 50 long, he turned his face
to the wall and sobbed aloud, @ h., my
Little Dorrit!'' S 33 q i.5$ s5 q
$a Wherever he looked he seemed to see
her, and Just as she herself ina foreign
country found herself looking and listen
/ ing for his step and voice, 50, too, It was
with him. 5fs3 " 53Ff IA Il 35$s s$
j In the days that followed he thought OF
her all le9while lie was too depressed
and too retiring and unhappy to minsle
with the other prisoners, so he kept This
own room and made no friends The rest
dlsllked him., and said he wa proud or
suilen. "A burning, reckless mood soon.
added its sufferiilgs to his dread and
! hatred Of the place. Tho thought grew
on him that he would in#tho end break
his heart and die there. He felt that he
was being stifled, and at timesEthe long
in.i TO be free made him believe he must
go mad, A week Of this suffering found
him in his bed In the grasp Of a slow
wasting fever. He felt llght-headed and
deMrious, and heard tunes playing that
/ he knew were only in his brain.
One dayGwhen he had dragged himself
\ to his chair by the window. the door OF
bis room seemed to open to a quiet figure,
which dropped n mantle IS t. wore /; fand
i then 1t seemed to be Little Dorrit sin5her
old dress, and 1t seemed first to smile and
| then to burst into tears,
/ He reused himself, and all at once he
i saw that 1t was no dream. She wa real
| jly$ there, now kneeling by him with her
i tears falling on his hands and her voice
crying "Ol, my best friend Don't let
me sec You weep I am your own poor.
1 child come back ~ ; Is
No one had told her he was III, for she
had just returned from Italy. She made
/ the room fresh and neat, sewcd a white
curtain for it's window, and sent out for
grapes, roast chicken and jellies. and
i every good thing So sho sat by him all
| day, smoothing his hot pillow or giving
4 him a cooling drink. 5s
Though no had heen strangely blind all
i along, no knew at last that she must
havo loved him all along, And to find her
great heart turned to him thus In his
misfortune made him realize that during
i all those months In the lonely prison he
had been loving her, too, though he had
/ not known It.. a5,j. Il
A feeling Of peace caine to him. When
1 ever no opened his eyes he saw her8at
4 his side-the same trusting Little Dorrit
1 that lie had always known.
5.-"All's Well That Ends Well"
All the while these things were hap
penlng Mrs. Clennam and I7intwnch
continued their grim partnership.
l There had come IN time when Mrs.
i Clennam, still hard and unforgving, de-
termined to burn the part OF the will
which she had hidden. so that her own
/ share In tho wicked plan could never he
discovered Flintwinch, however, for his.
own purpose. had deceived herr he sun-
stituted for it n worthless piece OF paper,
| which she burned, and then putting the
real fragment. with lot of private let
| tiers from Arthur's father, into an Iron
| box, he gave the box to his brother who
| took 1t with him out Of the country for
| SD fekeeping. 8
But Flintwinch, in this deception, over
| reached himself, There was an adven-
! t,lrer named Rigaud, who usen to drink
and smoke with this brother, and Rigaud
saw. he box and concluded It held some
4 thing Of value, He was an oily villain,
who had been in jail in France OH sls-
| picion of having murdered his Wife. He
had q black mustache With red ends. and
when he smiled his eyes went close TO-.
getler his mustache went MP under his
hook nose, and his nose came down over
his mustache. The brother Of Flint
| winch died suddenly one day. and Rigaud
! lost no time In making away with the
4 iron box.
Iie had soon possessed himself of the
secret which Mrs. Clennam had been for
so many years at such pains to conceal.
and, deciding that by means of the secret
| he could squeeze money out OF Mrs Glen
! nam, lie came 10 London to ind and
il threaten her.
But che believing she had burned the
mart of the will which Rigaud claimed to-
possess. refused to listen to him. until
I nj last, maddened by her refusals no
searched out the Dorrlts, He found that
| the man who had educated the singer re-
ferred to In the letters (Arthuf's real