The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1907-12-11
CHAPTER TX.
Continued.

your father and Mr.. Glynn l nave
one or two matters to speak Of" She
paused.
Certainly said Elsie, rising;
"you will send for me when you want
me-" and with a smiling, wondering
look at Glynn she left the room.
The door being closed, Lady Geth-
in, turning to Lambert, said, AT the
risk of awakening painful memories,
l must ask you q rev questions!
Your daughter SO closely resembles
a dear friend, or rather one who was
a dear friend of mine long ago, that
1 cannot refrain. Pray, has she any
relations named Acton?"
NO" said Lambert, cycling her
s~uspiciously; "she has no relation in
the world but myself
She must have some others, Cap
tain Lambert" persisted Lady Geth-
in. Strange ideas rise in my mind,
coupling the likeness with behring's
efforts to find her. The friend Miss
Lambert resembles, and whose
daughter she might be, was Isabel
Acton, who married Gilbert Deering
against the will of her. people, and
went away with him abroad, where
she died"
MY Cod" cried Lambert, turning
CHASTITY white, this is incredible!'
He remained silent for a minute, his
hands clasping and unclasping the
arms of his chair, his mouth witch
ing. Ring the bell!" he said at
length to Glynn. Get me some
brandy and water. I will tell you my
whole story. You look like a good
woman, Lady Gethin. You will not
turn against my girl, though her
father has been a bit of a BLACKBOARD
in his time
Il will not" said Lady Gethin,
stoutly.
DO you wish me to leave you?"
asked Glynn.
No; my confession is as much for
you as for my lady here. l must go
a long way back. 1t vas about fifteen
years ago when, after knocking about
in Texas and California, I found my
self at Chile in a very low condition,
both as to money and prospects. Just
at that time a railway had been be-
gun by a clever adventurer who had
been kicked out of Frisco, but per-
suaded the Government of Chile to
take up his scheme. This railway
was to a village up in the mountains,
in the middle of a rich mineral dis
trict, teeming with wealth. The diff
ficulty was to find ready money to
pay current expenses; they were
never more than a week ahead of the
mems wages. To provide for this
outlay, %Jeafferson, the Yankee pro-
moter, got together three or four
gamblers to meet the men at the vii
lage where they were paid, and win
back the cash just given out, and
have it ready for the next payday. l
was n Of these fine gentlemen
bitterly. We had a percentage on
our winnings, and lots Of food and
drink at the bars, kept by the COM
pany-that is, .~Jeafferson. Among
the employees there was a certain
Deering, a cold, stern Englishman, an
engineer. He was a silent, self-pos-
sessed fellow, proud and plucky as
the devil. He had had a wife with
him, but she was dead. I never saw
her" He paused. Both Lady Gethin
and Glynn drew a little nearer with
breathless interest.
We'll" resumed Lambert, lone
night l met Deering in a hotel in
Lima with a tall Englishman not un-
like himself, only fair, with whom
lie was talking over a bottle of wine;
and they had papers and money lying
On the table between them. They
seemed greatly occupied with their
conversation. I had had a hard ride
and a hard drink, and l couldn't re-
sist trying to get up a quarrel with
Deering, so l broke in on him and his
friend and offered to stake as much
as lay there and play him for the
whole at poker, euchre, anything he
liked. He answered me contemptu-
ously, and rising, left the room. !
was in an awful fury, and wore that
I'd have his life, and a deal more.
The tall friend who remained laughed
and tainted me, and gave me more
drink, SO we grew a bit familiar. The
upshot was, I went to see him in his
private room; there we got abusing
Deering to dirt, and I swore I'd have
his life. When this man had listened
awhile, says he: If you are in
earnest, I know a party as would give
a bigger pile than that (meaning
the money that had been on the
table, to know that he was safe I'M
der the sod, and not only the serpent
but the spawn, too, for says he, he
has a child who may prove worse
than the father This sobered ms.
Ay, you may look hard; it had an
ugly sound, and BLACKBOARD as I had
been, I was no cowardly assassin.
Il parleyed with him a bit. How
ever, I could get little out of him, ex-
cept that there was a good sum to be
mine if I would shoot my enemy.
Next day I mounted my horse, and
rode away to find Deering to warn
him against the tr%eacherous devil
that was thirsting fer his life. It's
truth I I'm telling You. Do you be-
lieve me?" ~interruptirs himself fever
ishly.
Il do" said Glynn, earnestly.
pray, go on" urged Lady Gethin.
"Deering lived away at 6ne of the
stations in the mountains with a lot
of Indians and ~half-breeds around
him. The railway was pushed so
far, and the next payments were to