La Junta tribune., 1907-03-23

her income In this way. He was Z
writer and had made some successes
of late. as happened 10 know. but II
had been ns.,riy two years since ! had
seen him.
MFR. Duriand is still hercf' said l.
Indeed he is. for good and all. the
woman answered Didn't you know
that Miss Amy WAS engaged TO him 2
shook my head.
YES" said she. They're 10 be mar.
ried next month. Hes getting along
fine now. He's writing plays
'Pinys:- repeated. scarce knowing
that | spoke.
She came to my side and pointed
through an open window.
-'IIe writes 'cin Ia there" said she
There's his Table and his typewriter" :"
''Do you suppose" said I. that Mr..
Duriand would object to my using his
Typewriter for about two minutes.
while I'm waiiineE / would Ike 10
write 81 little note"
She made haste TO show me Into the
authors study. and presently had
written upon sheet OF henS'y type
writer paper the words. lin payment
of the debt which you may not remen-
ber."
The result was even more conclusive
than I had hoped The Irregularities
that had appeared In the original were
faithfully reduced In my copy. Be
yond doubt the line accompanying
the money which had been sent 90 me
had been written with this instrument.
returned to the veranda. and pres
emily Mrs. Colyiu came. She greeted
me with sincere good VIII and without
a trace OF embarrassment
Mrs. colvin.' said /. There is
small after Of business between us-
have recently been bed to review the
old accounts. aud find that there has
been an error. l owe you something
like a hundred dollars
She regarded me shrcwdly, with an
interest which ! would venture 10 call
afrectionaie.
How did you learn thai WAS press
ed for money" She asked, aud then,
after pause: But you needn't tell
me. II is very kind of you TO offer me
this help. but | do not need IL. l had
10 make an unexpected payment
And by n singular coincidence"
interrupted. II received an unexpected
payment The sum WAS $.ssg."
And you don't know who sent It,"
she said. How odd, This seems like
some romantic restitution. Have you
ever been robbed: Why. yes. surely
when you lived here. How much was
II that WAS taxenT'
Eight hundred and ffty dollars" I
replied.
And this sum-
WAS $500
There was a moments silence. Then
she said, hesitating. Gould - could
there be-interest. perhapsT'
Mental arithmetic has been my forte
since childhood. but this WAS the quick
est calculation that ever l made;
Eight hundred and fifty dollars. with 6
per cent interest for twenty eight
months, 1.lisSJO@,69. l saw 1t In q
fash and II fairly stunned me.
Remember that my experiment with
the typewriter Ind completely satisfied
me. Perhaps my decision had been
hasty, but IL was unniNed with any
element OF doubt. was sure that the
line accompanying the mysterious pay
ment had been written on Durland's
machine ! was equally sure thar Mrs.
Colvin had not sent the money and
that II had nothing 10 do with her debt
TO me. Aside from that debt there was
no explanation Of the payment except
that which a freak OF destiny had led
her to suggest. and the exact agree
ment OF the figures set the seal OF Ger
tainty upon this conclusion. sydney
Durland, accepted suiior of the wom-
an ! loved. had siriyen 10 ease his con
science on the eve OF marriage by max
Ing this restitution. and In SO doing ne
had put his liberty aud perhaps his life
into my hands,
Well" said Mrs CoIvIn. smiling.
what do you think OF my eNplana-
tom
made jest of it and turned her
mind away,
Mrs. coivin insisted that ] should
stay to dinner aud as IL had now be-
come necessary that | should see Dur
land accepted the invitation. SO we
passed 10 Indifferent topics OF con
: l-jStST$TE EH - ~