The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-05-12

1 Annie, much frightened. left the
 dairy and Sir Counselor took his de- | parture from Plover's Barrows. Need- | less to say that with the Counselor went also the diamond necklace; and | there was a great to-do at the farm when the loss was discovered and Annie confessed her foolish share in it. But Lorna was indignant that any one
 should grieve for such a loss. and asked John if 1t was for her diamond
 necklace that he loved her.
 When Jeremy Stickles came home
 that night he laughed heartily first and then looked grave over the affair of the necklace. Taking John aside he told him something of great im- portance which he had that day learned. Jeremy's story was long. but the gist
 of 1t was that, in his prowlngs. he had
 discovered that Lorna Doone was no Doone at all, but the daughter of a
 widowed lady of rank, whom the
 Doones had killed.
 | She was, in fact, the Lady Lorna
 Dugal and great heiress. The Doones
 had stolen her from her mothers arms
 before they brought the unhappy lady | to her death, and with Lorna had carried away the diamond necklace.
 They had bred her up to marry one of
 their tribe. so that they might get her | property ana use IL to purchase d par | don for their many crimes.
 l To find out that Lorna was not of | the race which had killed his father,
 and that his father had not. as Sir Counselor had falsely :tated. killed | the father of Lorna, was a great re-
 lief to John, though it did not add to his love.
 Mistress Ridd now made a point that
 Lorna having been brought up a Catholic, in fact. having been born in
 that faith, should forthwith be con
 verted to Professionalism. But nothing
 was further from Lorna's thoughts
 than to convert John to her own way | of thinking or to be converted to his.
 and as the lovers were perfectly agreed to go their separate ways to heaven.
 so long as they could live together side
 by side on this earth, Mistress Ridd
 was fain to be contented.
 But before John and Lorna could be
 married there came to Plovers Bar
 raws two officers of the High Court
 of Chancery and carried the little | heiress up to London to the care of her legal guardian, the Earl Brandir l Jeremy Stickles having informed his
 employers, of course, of his discoveries
 regarding the queen of the Doones. ' There was a great fear fin Johns
 heart that now that Lorna had become
 A great lady and rich withal, he would | lose her, and his mother, who was of
 rather despairinG turn. and his
 sister. Eliza. who was of bitter wit,
 aroused him to a fury by their manner 1 of taking it for granted that they
 would hear no more of "her lady | ship" But Annie, who was now hap niIy married to Tom Faggus-after | John had given Tom a solemn warning,
 "Tom. ye should not mix your felony
 and your farming; ye cannot main | tain them both"-Annie comforted | him. And though no letter came from
 Lady Lorna, John Ridd could not for i get her, and would not believe her
 false
 The robber Doones became more and
 more outrageous after the death of sir
 F,nsor. and Jeremy Stickles gathered
 together a few troopers and in the | name of the King summoned the militia
 of Devon and Somerset to attack the
 stronrhold of Glen DoOne.
 John. now that he knew that Lorna
 was none of the outlaw race. entered
 into the enterprise with spirit; but at 1 once a quarrel arose between the men
 of the two shires. each body of militia declaring that they ought to fight only
 In their own shire. So 1t was arrang- | nd that as the boundary between the 1 shires ran directly through the Doone | Valley the Devonshire men should l attack from the cliffs on their side and the Somerset men from the op- posing cliffs, while a combined force ] of farmers and the troopers should