The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-08-13

alone. At last the day came when Mme. Dor went to sleep over her knitting and, the dragon being off guard, George said what he had been waiting so long to say.
 Suffice it that when madame woke up with start George knew that Margue- rite returned his love. Now he made visit of form upon Obenrelzer. What" posal to my niece without first asking my authority to pay your addresses to her? How can you justify this?' He struck his hand against the table and lost his hold of himself for the first time in Ven dale's experience of him. '1 can only jus tify it as one of our English institutions you admire the English institutions' The result of a long talk, beginning acrimoniously and ending sauvely. was that the Swiss merchants gave George written agreement that when Ven dale's income should amount to f3O0O year all objections on Obenreizer' s part to the proposed marriage would be withdrawn. In the meantime, George
 was to see Marguerite-guarded by l Mime. Dor-upon certain days
 1 When George took hold of his busi- ness the next morning it had differ ent face for him-Marguerite had a place in 1t now. He sat the wheels of commerce spinning and saw his way clear-as he thought. Then came a letter from Defresner & Co.,, the Neu- chatel wine people, in which it was made apparent that they had not been | paid for their last consignment. George 1 looked up his receipts and found that he held one from that firm for the said consignment. The result of some fur ther correspondence was that the Neu- chatel firm wrote George that the money sent by him had unquestionably been stolen in transit and the receipt had been forged. The matter, they said, was one of vital importance to both houses, though. apparently of trihing importance. They begged that George would tell no one but send
 by trusted messenger, the receipt in question--not even trusting it to the post.
 1 In the meantime George had inca au- tiously--being in love-let escape from him to Obenreizer the fact that there
 was some. trouble about receipted bill due to the Neuchatel firm. Sure | ly," thought George, they cannot mean that I should conceal entirely from Obenrezer their trusted agent the fact that something is wrong. Still he managed to prevent himself from being 'pumped' further by his l tp- II able to decide upon really trustworthy messenger. Vendale decided to go him. self to Neuchatel.
 What. going to Switzerland" cried
 Obenreizer, how fortunate. l am on a tourney there myself. We will trave 1 topether." It was a sacrifice for yen- dale to leave his business and greater sacrifice to leave Marguerite. But a matter of f5O0 was involved, and did
 he not want to get rich quickly as he
 cou,d? When vendale took leave ot
 Marguerite her last words to him were | Don't Go ."
 | or course 1t is one of those obvious things of really good fiction, which does lnot entirely depend upon unforeseen de- lnouements, that Obenreizer himself was the man who had forged the receipt. That
 the foolish boasting of young vendal
 when he had met him in Switzerland had -Iaroused in Obenreizer a hatred for George And, more than that, Obenreixer loved only one person in the world except himself. and that was his niece. When he saw that George had come between lhim and his niece-that she no lonee, looked to her uncle with that implicit lfatfh and confidence with which she ha 1 heretofore, his rage against vendsle was tredoubed He hated the young man any
 way, and, in addition, held that resent
 ment which every parent--for Obenreizel looked upon Marguerite as his daughter
 feels when somebody comes to claim
 them for their own, dividing affections