The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1910-09-01

exclaimed Stennis; her name was
Meleen before she was married She
was from Cardiff, too, now | come to
think OF it,
The devil you say calculated
Stanley Matthews, dropping a pair OF
paiama clad eXtremities over the edge
of the bed Read it out loud, will
you?'
Wilfrid complied.
Seems as if you were the descend
ants right enough; guess you're the
fellow they're after, Wifi When are
you going to surrender yoursef?'
Nonsense" exclaimed Stennis
testify. What does it mean, any
how"
Doesn't say anything about return
and all will be forgiven does ito in.
quired the incorrigible Matthews.
You go To the devil" said the
badgered Wilfrd as he flung out OF
the room. banging the door,
"Ill take it around and show it tq
Eunice," he said to himself; its just
about time to catch her coming home
from church; she'll be able to guess
what il means" Which was a very
sanguine estimate of the girls powers
at divining the hidden significance in
a purposely blind advertisement such
as that which Messrs. Carboy, Passa-
want & Cozine had cautiously inserted.
Naturally, Eunice was no wiser
than wifi at solving the temporary
mystery. but his excitement proved
contagious, and with an unwonted
flush in her pretty cheeks she scanned
the lines over and over again.
oh, we can't tell what it signifes"
she at length exclaimed. You will
see these people in the morning, WIZ.
It's OF no use worrying or exciting
ourselves in the meantime
This was such an eminently sen,
si5le view of the matter that Wilfrid
was iain to acquiesce. Yet this tenn
porary shelving of the difficulty did
not prevent them from recurring again
and again to the fascinating topic all
through the remaining hours of that
momentous Sabbath.
Under the rather skilful question,
ing Of Eunice Wilfrid recalled many
half-forgotten fragments of his moth
er's history, but nothing that seemed
to shed any light on the possible or
probable motive behind the newspa
per notice.
Bright and early on the ensuing
Monday morning, on his way to the
store, Wilfrid called at Temple court.
or course, he was hours too early, a
sulky and stupid boy was the sole rep
resentatiye Of the majesty OF the law
in the quarters occupied by that emf.
nent trio, Carboy, Passayant & Cozine
Of New York, Chicago and San Fran
cisco.
SO there was nothing for it but to
curb his Impotence and wait for the
noon hour, when he would be at lib
erty for a brief spell
At the second attempt he was more
fortunate and had the satisfaction Of
sending in his name on a slip OF paper
to the resident member of the firm
Mr. Ioratio Passayant, with the state.
ment that he had called in answer to
the advertisement in the paper of the
day before. He was Immediately
ushered into an inner Office.
This is a quicker nibble than We
dared expect, Mr., - ah - Stennis,
quoth the great man, putting ponder,
ously, and waving him to seat May
! inquire in what way you are inter,
ested?'
Il am the son of the late Martha
Meleen," said Wilfrid simply
An, yes, very pertinent, of course.
Glad to know you, Mr.-er-Stennis,
But the proofs now In such a case
rs this, you see, with colossal inter
csts at stake, we have to proceed with
the utmost circumspection You fol
low me, do doubt
If by proofs you mean to question
that am what | say" began Wilirid,
getting hot under the collar, why
Mr. IIoratio Passavant deprecating-
y waved a fat hand literally studded
with rings. in the law, young sir,
every statement must be substantiated
by proofs-unless it be automatic.
You assert that you are the son OF
Martha-cr-Ste born Meleen. ]
ask you for prOOlS-suCh as the GER
ttiCate of your mothers marriage, the
register OF your own birth and par
entage, the official evidence of your
mothers death-all very simple mat
ters in these days of carefully kept
statistics, but vital, my dear sir, es-
vital
This old fellow likes to hear him
self talk" was Wifrd's irreverent
inward comment as he listened TO the
wellmeasured periods, de
livered with due oratorical effect, as
though the speaker were addressing a
jury But aloud he said, with a
smile
II haven't brought them with me,
not knowing what might be required,
your advertisement; but all the things
you speak OF ought to be easily OBJ
tanned My mother was married in
this city, | was born here, and here
she and my father died
Very scnsibly put--could not have
presented it better myself" said Mr.
Passayant soOthingly, nodding his
bald head like a mandarin image,
thereby bringing into prominence no
less than three separate and distinct
double chins.
Now, as to your mothers place of
nativity: You say she was born in
New York
81 didn't COW On " \Ni1frid imDuIsiye-