The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1913-01-16


to accept it. Indeed. he is SO con-
! WINGED of its falsehood, that he stands
ready to Go anything, pay anything,
suffer anything, to have this distress
ing blight removed from his daugh-
ter's good name. Mr.. Brotherson was
her dearest friend, and as such may
have the clew to this mystery, but
Mr.. Brotherson. may not be in a con-
dition to speak for several weeks.
Meanwhile, Mr.. Challoner must suf-
fer from great Suspense unless" a
pause during which he searched the
doctors face with perfectly frank
and inquiring expression-"unless
) some one else. can help us out DR..
/ Fenton, can your"
The doctor did not need to speak;
his expression conveyed his answer.
! mo more than another" said he.
Except for what Doris felt compelled
/; to tell me, / know as little as your
self. Mr.. Brotherson's delirium took
the form Of calling continually upon
, one name. ! did not know this name,
but Doris did, also the danger lurking
.
| the tragedy which had robbed him
of this woman to whom he was so
deeply attached. So she told me just
this much. That the Edith whose
name rung so continuously in our ears
was no other than the Miss Challoner
+, Of New York Of whose death and it's
tragic circumstances the papers have
been full; that their engagement was
| a secret one unshared SO far as she
knew by any one but herself. That
she begged me to preserve this secret
and to give her all the help / could
when the time can.a for him to ask
/ questions. Especially did she entreat
me to be with her at the crisis. / was.
! but his waking was quite natural He
did not ask for Miss Challoncr; he
only inquired how long he had been
! Ill and whether Doris had received a
letter during that time. She had not
! received one. fact which seemed to
disappoint him; but she carried it off
so gaily (she is a wonderful girl, Mr.
Sweetwater-the darling of all our
fearts), saying that he must not be
SO egotistical as to think that the
news OF his illness had gone beyond
Derby, that he soon /. recovered his
spirits and became a very promising
convalescent. That is ALL know about
the matter: little more; take it, than
! you know yourself" !.
Sweetwater nodded: he had en-
! pected nothing from the doctor, and
was not disappointed at his failure
There were two strings to his bow,
ind the one proving 'valueless, he pro-
ceeded to test the other.
| "You have mentioned Miss Scott,
as the confidante and only confdante
Of this unhappy pair" said he. Would
1t be possible-can you make it pos
sible for me to see herr"
1t was-a daring proposition: he un-
derstood this at once from the doc
tors expression: and, fearing a hasty
rebuff, he proceeded to supplement
his request with few added argu-
ments, urged with such unexpected
address and show of reason that Dr.
Fenton's aspect visibly softened and
in the end he found himself ready to
promise that he would do what he
could to secure his visitor the inter.
view he desired II he would come to
the house the next day at the time
Of his own morning visit.
This was as much as the young
detective could expect, and having ex-
pressed his thanks, he took his leave
In anything but disconnected frame
Of mind. In the time which must
elapse between that happy hour and
the present, he would circulate and
learn what he could about the pros
pective manager. But he soon found
that he could not enter the, Works
without a permit, and this he. was
hardly in position to demand; so
{ he strolied about the village instead,
and later wandered away into, the for
est. ss
Struck by the inviting aspect Of q
narrow and little used road opening
from the highway shortly above the
house where his interests were just
then centered. he strolled into the
heart of the spring woods till he came
to a depression where a surprise
awaited him, in the shape of pc
culiar structure rising from it's midst
where it just fitted, or so nearly fit-
ted that one could hardly walk about
1t withouts brushing the. surrounding
tree trunks. OF an oval shape. with
its door facing the approach. it nestled
there. d wonder to the eye and the
occasion of considerable speculation
to his inquiring mind. It had not been
long built, as was shown very plainly
by the fresh. appearance of the I'M
| painted boards of which it was con-
structed; and while 1t boasted of q
door, as I've already said, there were
no evidences visible of any other
break in the, smooth. neatly finished
| walls. A wooden~ellipse with roof
| but no windows; such it appeared and
such 1t proved to be. A mystery to
Sweetwater's eyes, and like all mys-
teries, interesting. For what purpose
had it been built and why this iso1a-
ton? 1t was too fiimsy for a reser-
voir and too expensive for the wild
I freak of a crank.
A nearer view increased his curios-