The Republican. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1903-1909, 1906-01-02

| care? No, | don't know "hat 'A-"
10. have thought OF plan, anu
I Believe | know the man to go tef-
some one I've heard Of and VINO VIII
help to put me on the right track
They turned to leave the room TO-
1 gether. He gave another last loon
round before closing the door. lheh'
turning to his sister, as he put the
key in his pocket, you will have 10
break this to mother"
"Oh, must |! How dreadful
couldn't you?"
"Of course not" hastily. Its
your place to do SO, and couldh
think of taking it upon myself,
every we'll" she answered, meekly,
'if | must, | must" How she did II
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 ut 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
acquaintance that assembled round
the grave, the son of the dead man
wondered, for an instant, whether it
were possible for that one false friend
to be among them?
But the idea was rejected as soon as
formed. He looked in vain for one
who correspondent with the descrip
ton of the tall, thin, elderly man,
with a dried-up look and grey nous
tache, and who walked with limp
when last seen by the guard.
1t was exactly nine o'clock on the
night of the funeral when Ted Bur
rift put the key in the door and ad
mitted himself into the room which
had been his fathers study.
He carried a lamp in his hand
which he placed upon the writing ia
ble Everything remained as it had
been on that former visit; the only
difference lay in the fact that the
film of dust was little thicker upon
the various contents of the room.
He was about to seat himself in the
old leather chair in which his father
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. 1t was sealed up
in sheet of blue paper and in
dorsed-
Papers found by me, after the &C.
cident, on the person of the late Silas
Burritt, Esq, and preserved intact
Jeremiah Cartwright, M. 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
table, 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 If 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 finder.
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 a paper only partially singed, so
that an idea of its contents might be
arrived at after careful inspection.
From a few words that met his eye,
he made it out to be bill of lading,
and put 1t aside with the others The
rest he spread out before him on the
table.