Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1909-08-31

CHAPTER xxvII-Continued)
u am about to discover that" re.
piled. and he was quiet at once. It
was not difficult to divine that he fear
ed Nina Darlington good deal more
than he did the devil. Our leave.tak.
ing was brief: in fact, we merely star.
ed at each other over the waiting
room table, with it's litter of year old
magazines. Then l turned and went
out.
ITO Richfield," told Warner, and
on the way thought, and thought
hard
Nina Darlington, Nina Darlington, >
the roar and rush of the wheels seem.
ed to sing the words Nina Caring.
ton, N c. And ] then knew, knew
as surely as if I had seen the whole
thing There had been an N. C. on
the suit case belonging to the woman
with the pitted face. How simple it
all seemed. Matte Bliss had been
Nina Darlington. 1t was she Warner
had heard in the library. 1t was
something she had told Halsey that
had taken him frantically to Doctor
Walkers Office. and from there per
liaps to his DEATH # we could find
the woman, we might find what had
become of Halsey.
We were almost at Richfield now
80 kept on. My mind was not on my
errand there now. 1t was back with
Halsey on that memorable night. What
was it he had said to Louise, that had
sent her up to Sunnyside, half wild
with fear for him? I made up my
mind, as the car drew up before the
Tate cottage, that i would see Louise
If had to break into the house at
wight
Almost exactly the same scene as
before greeted my eyes at the cottage
Mrs. Tate. the baby carriage in The
rath, the children at the swing-all
were the same.
She came forward to meet me. and
noticed that some of the anxious
lines had gone out of her face. She
looked young, almost pretty.
Il am glad you have come back,
she said. II think will have to be
honest and give you back your money
"Why?" | asked. Has the mother
gomez
No, but some one came and paid
the boys board for month. She
talked to him for a long time, but
when asked him afterward he didn't
know her name
A young woman
Not very young. About forty. sup
pose She was small and fair haired
just little bit gray, and very sad
She was in deep mourning. and,
think, when she came. she expected
= to go at once. But the child, Lucien
interested her. She talked to him fol
long time, and, indeed, she looked
much happier when she left
"You are sure this was not the rea
mother?'
o mercy, no! Why, she didn't know
which of the three was Lucien.
thought perhaps she was a friend o
yours, but. of course, I didn't ask"
"She was not-pock-marked?
asked at a venture.
NO, indeed A skin like baby
But perhaps you will know the initials
She gave Lucien a handkerchief an,
forgot it. 1t was very fine, blacl
bordered, and it had three hand work
ed letters in the corner-F. B. A."
No." / said with truth enough, Ssh
is not a friend of mine f. B. A. wa
Fanny Armstrong, without chanc
OF doubt
With another warning to Mrs. Tat
as to silence, we started back to Sur
nyside. So Fanny Armstrong kneN
of Lucien Wallace, and was sufficient
iy interested to visit him and pay TO
his support, Who was the child
mother and where was she. Who wa
Nine Darlington? Did either of ther
know where Halsey was, or what ha
happened to him?
On the way home We passed the lii
lie cemetery where Thomas had bee
laid to rest I wondered If Thoma
could have helped us to find Halsey
had he lived. Father along was tn
more imposing burial ground, wher
Arnold Armstrong and his father la
In the shadow of tall granite shat
Of the three, think Thomas was tn
only one sincerely mourned.
CHAPTER XVIII.
a Tramp and the Toothache.
The bitterness toward the dea
president of the Traders bank SCENE
to grow with time Never populai
his memory was egecrated by peopl
who had lost nothing, but who wer
filed with digust by constantly hea
Ing new stories of the mans graspin
avarice. The Traders had been
favorite bank for small tradespeopl
and in it's savings department it ha
solicited the smallest deposits. Pc
pie who had thought to be self-su
porting to the last found themselve
confronting the poorhouse, their tw
or three hundred dollar savings wipe
away. All bank failures have this Ell
p9ent, however, and the directors wei
trying to promise twenty per cent G
deposits,
But, like everything else those nay
the bank failure was utmost forgottc