Willmar tribune., 1908-10-07

was one of the organizers of the Uni
ted States Zinc Corporation, but be-
fore his death he had converted all of
his stock into bonds. was an only
child and suddenly found myself in
the possession of the bonds which
you have now. That was two years
ago. l was young and foolish and my
ideas of life had been gained from
reading fiction, not the best, l be-
lieve. When a real lord in the person
of Lord Snively met me and asked my
hand in marriage was innocent
enough to believe l was making a
great match.
I'VE went first to London. The
world and the future looked lovely for
a time, but the dream was soon dis
PEELED. Suspicion began to gnaw upon
my happiness when, instead of pro-
ceedfng at once to his ancestral castle
in Surrey as he had promised, we sud-
denly packed in an hour and made a
hurried return to the United States.
On the passage home l found in his
me thinking all the harder. It was
the story of some villain in England
who, under various names, was sus-
pected of marrying number of wom-
en-, securing possession of their
wealth and then numbering Them"
'J. Frederick Bannister was it not?"
interrupted Clarke. DO you know,
Sexton, l rather suspected from the
first it was him. He was sort of
English Johann Hoch and went under
number of aliases"
Eyes, Bannister was one of the
names used and the description in the
paper fitted him so perfectly that
struggle as might against the awful
thought I could not get it out Of my
mind. He knew of my wealth and
knew the safe deposit company with
which it was kept. l determined to
draw it out secretly and place it else.
where. had secured the papers when.
with the suddenness that marked all
his movements, he told me we were
going to the Yellowstone. l had no
opportunity to place the bonds any.
where, so closely did he watch me.
am now convinced he knew had
them on my person for our journey
was a constant series of quarrels over
the question of my placing all my for.
tune in his hands that he might re-
deem from mortgage his ancestral es
tates.
During one of these quarrels, about
the time we reached Chicago,
charged him directly with the clipping
I had found in his luggage. His first
look of terror and anger told me the
shaft had struck and then he became
the same inscrutable, oily villain as
before. But l knew the truth and
knew that upon my wits alone rested
the safety of my fortune and my life
when you gentlemen entered the
train l studied you closely. Then
learned Mr.. Clarke's name and it was
at once familiar to me because Mrs
Richard King, whom l know quite
we'll, had told me of your wonderful
work and how you had rescued hel
and her husband from the wiles of q
worker of black magic. l knew could
trust you.
"You received the note l slipped
through the crack in the wall, Mr.
Clarke, directing the disposition of my
fortune in case Of my death?"
"Yes, I received it all right" an
swered Clarke. But now I have the
happiness to be able to restore it to
it's rightful owner living"
We found the commandant at Nam
mouth most reasonable man. He
was fully satisfied with our story, ex
acting only the promise, readily given
assure you, that we would keep him
advised of our whereabouts in case
powers above him should wish to in
quire more closely into the matter
The stage company also treated III
with marked consideration in insisting
that we should resume our interrupted
tour as their honored guests. Lady
Snively, or Miss Hathaway, as we now
called her, we saw safely on the train
at Granger bound for the east, her fel
low passengers no doubt little suspect
ing that she carried with her almost a
kings ransom.
DO you know" remarked Clarke
after we had resumed our sightseeing
| women are always unreasonable. II
she really wanted to make away with
herself why did she wander over al
most three.quarters of a mile of forma
ton with certain death on either side
of her to do it with pistol?"
AS the question involved a problem
that dates from Adams loss of rib II
necessarily remained unanswered.
We never saw Miss Hathaway again
but twice each year Clarke and re-
ceive each the interest upon $4,000
worth of bonds of the United States
Zinc Corporation. suppose the bonds
stand in our names, else why shoI2d
they send us the interest? But | am
sure neither Of us is conscious of nav
ing earned any such reward.
Copyright, by w. q. ChaE1ahn4