Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1914-05-22

ne HNOte uef 20 ask what would hnp
pen n the girl he was to marry woull
not have him. Her reply was that pro
vision had been made for such a con
tingency. but since Il did not conceri
him she had no Information to impair
on the subject
Travers wondered more than ever
This was going through life In
groove. He might as well have beer
a a travelling on steel rails. Truly
that father OF his must have been
very singular man. And yet might
not Il all be for his gOodh Might moi
his father have taken this means Of
forcing his son TO benefit by his own
experienced Nevertheless Il must have
been n difficult problem, this tying up
OF the fate Of the son by the father,
the heup to be effective after the
fathers death.
Travers bad often wondered who
this Miss Twitchell might be. He
rather expected to 6nd her as peculiar
AZ his father must have been. He
found her an elderly lady, with moth
ing especially queer about her. She
received him kindly and said that his
home was for the present 10 be with
her. She lived 10 a country place, and
Travers reached her In June. At that
season there vas nothing unpleasant
about his remaining with her, at least
temporarily.
As soon al he arrived Miss Twitchell
said to him: ~ have nothing to do
with the plan you father has laid
out for you except to introduce you to
the girl you are to marry. But | am
obliged before doing 90 to- make a
journey. | shall have to be away a
month. You are to remain here while
l am absent. / have servants here
and a hOusekeeper. The ho~usekeeper
Is essentiaFto your being here, for /
am obliged to leave my niece In the
house, and 1t would not be proper to
leave you under the same roof with a
young lady without a chaperon."
els your niece the person l am 10
marryr' Travers asked.
II am glad you spoke Of that" re-
piled Miss Twltchell, "for in doing 30
you have relieved me Of an embarrass-
ment. | should have dlsliked warning
you against n closely related to me-
indeed, whom 1 have brought up. 1
said that / would introduce you to the
girl that 1t has been arranged you shall
marry. after my return. l beg Of you
not to complicate matters by making
love to Lulu. Unless you can assure
me that you will not do so l shall have
to send her away during my absence.
The trouble Is that / have no place to
send her. This Is her home, and It
would pain me to turn her out of 1t.
even for a short period"
II beg OF yOu," said Travers, mot to
put her to this Inconvenience on my
account. / will do my best not to fall
In love with her. 1 have become much
Interested I'm and curious about this
plan that has been laid down for me
and would not for the world do any
thing to interfere with It | shall GER
tainly not become involved with any
oma until ! have met the one pro-
vided. for me. Then. IL I don't like her,
shall break away from my fathers
Intentions and do as l please. OF
course l speak with the proviso that
the girl accepts me-"
Travers asked Miss Twitchell why
she could not make the introduction
before she left, but got no satisfaction.
Neither would she give him any in
formation as to the girls appearance.
age or characteristics. Her action was
In perfect keeping with everything else
pertaining to this singular affair. The
last injunction given him by Miss
Twitchell was that he was to say
nothing to Miss Louise Maryweather
as to why he was there. He promised
anything that was required Of him
since 1t was now only q month be-
fore the mystery would be solved.
The FIRST thing Miss Twitchell did
after her return was to summon TRAY
ers and Miss Maryweather before her
together.
II charged you two before / went
away to keep from falling in love with
each other. have received informa-
tlOn since my departure that you have
given every evidence OF having disre-
garded my warming"
IL am resolved" said TraVers, mot
to be hampered with walking on this
chalk line, drawn almost before ! was
born, any longer. ! shall hereafter do
~ ! like"
"And l." said Miss M~aryweather.
will not be tied down by a lot Of
regulations with the making OF which
had nothing to do"
'"rhis means. ! suppose" said Miss
Twttchsll. that you have fallen in
love with each other and are engagedY"
That's about It." replied Travers.
And you. Lulu-do you admit that7"
Il do" said the girl with a blush.
"Very well. The mystery pertaining
TO both Of you Is solved. You. Ned
Travers. are the son OF the late senior
partner OF the Trayers & Maryweather
manufacturing Arm. and you. Lulu.
are the daughter OF the late junior
partner in the same concern. Slngu-
larry enough. both men were widow
ers. each with one CHILD. They formed
an agreement that you two were to
Ia hroughf s4n % uarrv Zach okhar