The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1910-06-24
THa!" he said, thoughtfulIy. "werr

"Ha!" he said, thoughtfully. "werr,
I must confess that 1 have judged al
together from appearances. My in
timacy with my uncle is of recent
date; yours is probably much earlier"
81 Judge from facts that have come
to my knowledge" said Arthur, qui-
etly. your uncle has enough, at
all events, for Mademoiselle Rigaud's
comfort. If l might venture to sug-
gest that you, as her nearest relation,
should endeavor to insist upon her
having at least the ordinary comforts
of life"
Paul interrupted. Against these
supposed facts, Monsieur, he said,
"I have the word of my uncle. Ex-
cuse me, you have only the evidence
of hearsay to offer; for the moment
| see no reason to doubt my uncle's
veracity. But, come" ne added, with
a frank movement of his hands, Il
give you my word that no sooner
shall I have finished transacting my
business in Paris, than [ will at once
return anu use dll illS
possess with my uncle, to arrange
matters here on footing more suita-
BILE for the abode of a charming
young lady My salary is excellent;
I have no ties. We need not inquire
into the question as to whether my
uncle's poverty is real or imaginary;
Antoinette shall have enough.
Arthur only bowed. 1t was intol-
erable to him to think that she would
be dependent on the charity of this
man; but his dislike to it he knew to
be entirely unreasonable. Another
vague, uncomfortable feeling that he
had seen those white, smooth hands
before, rushed into his mind.
"Monsieur Leduc," he said, sud-
denly, "were you ever in England?"
"Never," he answered., carelessly;
and looking up, he let his eyes meet
Arthur's with peculiarly frank,
open look.
cit is only coincidence" Arthur
thought to himself. "It can be moth
ing else"
Paul now changed the subject to
one of more general interest, and
Arthur began to find him decidedly
agreeable companion.
Presently the door opened and An
toinette came in Her eyes were red; !;
she had evidently been crying much.
Monsieur Paul sprang up to meet her
with empressement.
"Alas!" he said, II am afraid it is
as 1 anticipated; you have not had
the happiness of embracing your
father"
"You were right, and I was in the
wrong" she said, quickly. Il am
sorry, perhaps even absurdly disap-
pointed" and she tried in vain to
check two large tears from running
down her cheeks.
my uncle had doubtless closed the
outer door as WE'LL" said Paul.
"Yes, it is very STANCE" said An
toinette. "Why should he thus bar
ricade himself behind two huge oak
doors? What can be the reason?"
"He has a very strong, peculiar
dislike to being disturbed" said her
cousin. Indeed, he complained to
me repeatedly that Battiste used to
annoy him by poking about and an
noying him at his studies"
Arthur from his own recollection
of what had taken place IN MS bed
room at Liverpool, had a better idea
of what the real occupation of the old
miser was; but he said nothing.
MY father never used to be much
of a student" said Antoinette, alb
sently.
"Perhaps not an n-zJered Paul.
But from what [ gath r., his habits
must have changed very much of
late; indeed, from things have
heard him say, l have imagined it
to be possible that he was engaged in
literary work, and that some day we
should be surprised at the production
of the result in complete form. I
suppose" he added, lowering his
voice to almost whisper, that you
! have every reason to believe that old
| Battiste is safe and honest"
"Monsieur, exclaimed Antoinette,
suddenly She stopped herself and
looked at him with a strange, dis
| trustful look, which somehow startled
| Arthur. Paul seemed to vince under
! it, for he shifted little uneasily and
! then said:
you wish to ask? Heavens!" he
| exclaimed, so naturally that a quick
suspicion that this was consummate
acting flashed into Arthur's mind.
"Heavens! how like you are to my
poor mother! Forgive me if, for a
moment, the recollection the likeness
recalls overpoWers me-"
"It is quite NATURAL" said Antoin-
cite, kindly. The look of distrust
passed away; it was succeeded by a
kind, plying expression. as it long
since you lost your mother?"
To be Continued.