The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1906-01-09

to 30 next. J nope 10 b'H you II u
able TO tell me
He spoke in little. sharp. jerky out
bursts. and IL seemed To me that t.
speak at an was very paiHtui to him,
and tina his will all through was over
riding his incIinations.
It's q very delicate thing said he.
"One does not like 10 sneak Of ones
domestic affairs to strangers. 1t seems
dreadful to discuss tho conduct Of
ones wif@ with TWO men whom | have
never seen before. It's horrible -
have 10 do it,. But I've got To the end
Of my tetner. ana / must have advice.
My dear Mr.. Grant Munro began
Holmes.
our visitor sprane from his chair.
"W~hat,' ne cried, "you know nay
Nance
IF you wish TO preserve your incog-
nito." said Holmes. smiling, Il would
suggest that you cease TO write your
name upon the lining Of your hat, OF
else that YOU turn the crown towards
the person whom you are addressing.
| was about to say that my friend and
! have listened to a good many strange
secrets in this room, and that we have
had the good fortune to bring peace to
many troubled souls. / trust that We
may do as much for you. Might ! beg
you. as time may prove to De Of I'M
portance, to furnish me with the facts
Of Jour case without further delay
our visitor again passed his hand
over his forehead. as if he found It
bitterly hard. From every gesture and
expression / could see that he was a
reserved. sc~if-Contained man, With a
dash Of pride in his nature, more
likely to hide his Woun than to eX-
pose them. Then suddenly, With 4
fierce gesture of his closed hand like
one WHO throws reserve to he winds,
he began.
The facts are these. Mr.. Holmes"
said h. Il am . married man. and
have been so for three years. During
hat time my wife ana | have loved
each other as fondly and lived as
happily as any two that ever We're
joined. We have no. had a difference,
not one. in thought OF WOr or deed.
And now, since last Monday. there has
suddenly sprung uD q barrier between
us, and"I find that there is something
in her life and in her thoughts of
which [ know as little as if she were
the woman who brushes by me in the
street. We are eStranged. and l want
to know Why.
New, there is one thing that I want
20 impress upon o before | go any
further, Mr.. Holmes. Eftie loves me.
Don't let there be any mistake about
that. She loves me with her whole
heart and soul, and never more than
now. l know it. l feel it. | don't
want to argue about that. a man can
tell easily enough When q woman loves
him. But there's this secret between
us, and We can never be the same until
it is cleared
'Kindly let me have the facts, Mr..
Munro" said Holmes, with some I'M
patience.
I'll tell you what l know about Eff
fe's history. She was a widow when I
mot hey. f:,ct fhn11ofo anita o.
My Twenty-Five. Her name then was
Mrs. Hebron. She went out to Amer
lea when she was young and LIVED in
the town of Atlanta where she mar
ried this Hebron, who was a lawyer
with Il good practice. They q one
child, but the yellow fever broke out
badly in the place, and both husband
and child died of it. | have seen his
death certificate. This sickened her Of
America, and she came back to live
With q maiden aunt at Pinner, III
1iddleseX. | may mention that her hus-
band had left her comfortably off, and
that she had a capital of about our
thousand five hundred pounds, which
had been so well invested by him that
it returned an average of sever per
cent. She had only been six months
at Primer when | met her; we fell in
love With each other, and we married
Il few weeks afterwards.
Il am n hop merchant myself, and
as | have an income of seven or eight
hundred, We found ourselves comfort
ably off, and took a nice eighty-pOunI-
a-year villa at Norbury. Our liltle
place was very countrified, considering
that it IS SO close to town. We had an
inn and two houses a little above us,
and a single cottage at the other side
Of the field which faces US. and except
those there were no houses until you
oat h91 IF wa v tn tho station Nv nc
mess took mefntO town at certain sea-
sons, but in summer | had less to do,
and then in our country home my wife
and | were just as happy as could be
wished. l tell YOU that there never
was a shadow between us unit his
accused affair began.
There's II thing l ought to tell
you before l go further. When we
married my wife mad over all her
p to me-rather against my
Will, for | saw how awkward it would
be if my business affairs Went wrong.
However, she would have it so. and it
was done. Wei. about six weeks ago
she came to me.
"'Jack,' said she, when You took
my money You said that if ever /
wanted any I was To ask YOU for it
"'Certainly,' said 1, It's all your
own
"WelI,' said she. I want a hundred
IpOtIlGS.
Il was a bit staggered at this. for 1
had imagined it was simply Il new
dress or something Of the kind that
she was after.
VIVA on earth for?' I asked.
Oh said she. in her playful way,
you said that YOU We're only my bank
er. and bankers never ask questions.
you know
If you really mean it. of course
you shall have the money! said l.
"'Oh yes; l really mean it
And you won't tell me what you
want it for?'
Some day, perhaps: but not just
at present.. Jack
SO | had to be content with that,
though it was the first time that there
had ever been any secret between us.
| gave her Il check, and never thought
any more of the matter. 1t NAV have
nothing to do with what came after
wards, but | thought it only right to
mention it.
We'll. | told o just now that there
IS 2 cottage not far from our house.
There is Just 4 field between us. but to
reach 1t you have to go along the road