Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1911-11-09

permitted the courtship to go on? Per-
haps she had not known-only at the
last moment. after her daughters dis
appearance, a she suspected. No
doubt, 1t was that sudden revelation,
confirmed, perhaps, by Lucy Kingdom.
in the library, which had struck her
white and tremulous. which had urged
her to tell me hat the search must
cease. Yet. even then, she had spoken
as though the marriage might be ar
i nansssi IS sh h had It s MsIe th nat
What had she meant by that? Was
there some depth which we had not
yet touched. some turn to the tragedy
which We did not suspect? Had we
really found h solution. after all?
My mind flew back to the Kingdom
women, with a sort OF fascination.
What had Harriet Kingdom meant by
that wild outburst of hers?
There are Others" she had said,
who have waived their rights md torn
their hearts and withered in silence
what had she meant by that? What
secret was 1t had torn her heart? Were
the words merely a meaningless out
burst. an ~tncoherent cry, the result Of
a mind disordered? I could not bring
myself to think 80. but cudgel my brain
as 1 might, I could read no meaning
into them. Yet it was for her. that
mrs. Lawrence had sent at tina SUI
preme moment when I revealed to her
the secret OF the letter; it was of her
she q spoken when she cried. II
1t was that woman!" Harriet
kingdom had known the secret. then.
and had kept silence.
Then. suddenly. it burst upon me
wnat a h,deous thing 1T was that she
had done by keeping silent. 1t was the
letter. arriving at that last desperate
moment. which had snatched Marcia
Lawrence and Burr Curtiss from the
horrible pit which yawned before them.
me writing of that letter was not an
act OF enmity, but of mercy. Harriet
Kingdom had stood by and uttered mo-
word OF warning-I shuddered at the
utter nendishness of it! But who had
written the letter? Then. in a flash
I knew!
What is it. Lester?" demanded Mr..
Royce, wheeling suddenly around. l
suppose some exclamation must have
burst from me. though 1 was not con-
scfous OF uttering any sound. What
is 1t? I car guess what you're think
ing of can't think of anything else
II believe" / answered, that / know
who 1t was wrote that letter to Miss
! Lawrence"
"You do" he cried. who was to-
Watt" I said. n closed my eyes
ny p1SSseo my IlanQS tight against
my temples i'll the effort at recollection.
1T was Mrs. Lawrence's aunt-her
ather' sister. 1t was to her house
she came when She ran away. 1t was
there. no doubt, that the child was
| born "1S
And who is .fe?" asked our ,,,n,or
Where does she live?"
i made another desperate effort of
memory. At last I had it.
Her am Is Hemfnway," 1 said. ST
don't know her address, except that it's
somewhere In New York. She was
married to a banker"
On. 1 knew him-Martin Hemin-
way" and Mr.. Royce jerked down a
directory and ran feverishly through
Its pages. Here It is-East four
street,
He closed the book with a bang and
took down his hat.
Where are you going?" I asked.
I'm going to see her." he said.
You're coming, too. Wen get to the
bottom of this. for Curtiss's sake,
Either We'll prove it a mistake, or we'll
prove beyond doubt that it's true"
Neither Of us spoke during that long
drive uptown. We were too depressed,
too. anxious. Nor did we speak as we
mounted the steps Of the old fashioned
brownstone and rang the bell. We
We're admitted. We were shown into
q room on the second floor. after some
delay. where. in a great padded chair,
an old. old woma sat, thin and
wrinkled, but with eyes preternaturallv
bright.
Mrs. Heminway." MI. Royce began
directly. we're representing Mr.. Burr
Curtiss. We feel that some explana-
ton Is due him of the sudden fii0ht.
three days ago, Of Marcia Lawrence
whom he was to marry: and we believe
that you're h one best lifted to tell us
the whole story"
She did not answer for a moment
but sat peering up at us. pluckinR al
the arms of her chair with nervous
skinny hands.
course he has q right to know"
she cried. in a high, thin voice. like
the note Of a flute. II thought the girl
would tell him."
But since she hasn't" said u 1u.
Nor. :! hope you will. I know It won'
be g pleasant task
She stopped him with q quick, claw.
like gesture.
J Il have meyer shrunk from any duty.
eh said. however unpleasant. ST
story"
/ am sure there was no evil In eithe,
OF them-Boyd Endicott or Mary Jarvis
they were rather another Mildred ant
Mertoun. caught In the grip OF circum.
stance n whirled asunder, by one q
! those !ronical tricks which fate some
Of 3 elopement. while Boyd Endicott
! leaving Princeton on the eve OF III
CHRISTMAS vacation, was waiting 70
|. h1s bride ct Trenton. with every pren
{ aratton made to whirl her away to
new home In the west. she wa speed
Ing away from him toward New Yorl
{ She had taken the train 1t Fhnwoo.