Charlevoix county herald., 1907-10-12

L
light. They had brought suffering to
her as well as to myself; for had |;
not gone to Lucerne. and told her the
story OF my cowardice. perhaps she
would have been spared the knowi-
edge of her brothers disgrace.
Dear" l said gently, do you re-
member the little beacon that shone
long after the lights on Pilatus and
| Rigi had fiickered out? That little
| light put heart into me then. 1t tells
you to hope now"
There is no light on the mountains
over there tonight"
1T may burn thuogh you do not see
1t. The packet l took from the safe,
have you destroyed it,"
II was about to do so as you en-
tered. Here 1t Is"
Capt. Forbes has just given me the
second packet-the one that Madame
de WARMER took from me forcibly. It
is possible that its contents concern
your brother. May l open it?"
Yes" she said listlessly.
l tore open the packet with DELHI
Grafton, though heavens knows my
fingers trembled. l spread the paper
on the piano where I had shown
Madame de WARMER the death-mask
the evening before. l read them one
after the other. The proof was alb
solute. Sir Mortimer's honor could
no longer be questioned. Fools we
had been and blind
Helena" l said, mastering my emo
ton with an effort 1T is as
thought; these papers throw a flood
of light on the letters and notes of
your brother that we have so harshly
misunderstood.
She came swiftly to my side.
"Harshly misunderstood" she repeat
ed with blanched lips.
l was sorting carefully the papers
Helena had just given me, the letters
supposed to have been written by the
committee of freedom, and to which
Sir Mortimers comments were pin
ned. l laughed aloud when l saw
that these letters, supposed to be the
originals were typewriter, as were
the copies.
Now l understood why Madame de
WARMER had refused to let me see
what she called the original papers.
1t was not so much that she feared 1
should destroy them she knew that
the fact of their being typewriter
would at once awaken my suspicion.
did it not occur to you as being
rather suspicious that these letters
were written on a typewriter"
AT first it did," replied Helena,
searching my face wonderingly.
But she quoted my doubts by ex-
planning to me that the letters were
typed to prevent the possibility of
their being traced"
1.-THE ingenious Madame de Var
nier!"
Helena did not speak; her agitation
was too great for words. She watch
ed me, at once bewildered and eager
while l read the contents Of both
packets carefully once more. When
| had read them, l sorted them no
less carefully. For ten minutes there
was silence between us.
when l had finished my task, "once
tonight l said this was a Castle of
Lies, but l did not realize until now
how surely l spoke the truth. These
letters are forgeries."
Impossible" she murmured, wiring
ing her hands in anguish. Il know
my brothers writing too we'll"
Follow me carefully, and you will
see that 1 speak the truth. l do not
question your brothers handwriting.
But listen first of all to this dispatch
which was taken from Capt Forbes
when he was trapped in the tower.
Tell me If any of the expressions in
it are familiar to you"
yes, yes" she cried eagerly, when
I had finished. Lofty principles actu.
ate Bulgaria, but lofty principles are
not sufficient to insure success You
need have no anxiety that your own
interests will run counter to those Of
the references to the loan,
to my brothers indiscretion, to his
ambitions-all these appear in my
brothers notes in connection with the
letters or the committee OF freedom"
Now read these letters-the con-
tents of the second packet They
were written to your brother by
Prince Ferdinand himself, and deal
with the loan to be floated by the
banker to finance Ferdinand's inva-
sion Of Macedonia. The notes and
of your brother have refer
ence, not to these typewriter letters.
which were never written by any COM
mittee of freedom, which were never
received by Sir Mortimer, but are
the cunning fabrications of that WON
an-but to these letters of Ferdinand.
Look, you can see the pins pierced
each of Ferdinand's letters. AS l
place your brothers notes on the re-
spective letters to which they have
reference tho min marks Ar nracica