The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1915-02-05
THE TWO

By LOUISE 3. CUMMINGS

These Young men, having compared
notes, learned that they came from
eminent British families, Proven was
a younger son Of Il nublen!an, and Can
nin9ham clnlmed to !te Il graduate of
Oxford Besides the fact of thcii be-
ing FELLOW cuuutryimuI. there WAS a
strong resemblance between thrni.
They were nearly the same height and
build and 9th light cOlnp!eNioned.
There was one difference between
them. though it was scarcely uoticpa
Bile. Prowcr's right eye WIS of a
slightly different shade OF blue from
his left eye.
But there M, a great difference in
the character of the two men, How
ard Proven was {" Kind hearted. noble
man; Cunningham was IL devil. They
proSpected together for Il time, agree
ing that il on" struck paying dirt he
would share it with the other Finally
Cunningham dug Il Ilo!r IN the ground
for which he was offered Il hundred
thousand dollars. He had no Intention
of sharing it with Proven and was de
libcratiMg how he could beat him out
Of his portion When Il lrtt"r came I'D,
dressed 10 Howard Proven, earl OF
BrOkelicld.
Proven was away on a prospecting
tour when the letter cIil!c. E"th men
bad been away from England Tor ten
years. If Proven were out OF the Way
Cunningham might return. pass him
self off for the new earl ANA thus APP
prOpriatc the title and estates. While
he WAS dclihagntin@ OF this plan word
was received tiEt Proven had been ut
tackled by claim jumpers and mur
dcred.
Cunningham went TO the place where
the fight had occurred and tried TO find
his friends body He WAS told that
a number of persons had been Killed
in the fight and they had all been bur
led side by side. lie was shown the
graves, but Saw no reason why he
should cXhumn his friends body, Re
turning to his cabin, he opened tie let
ter tina; had been received and learned
that lrowcr's father and TWO older
brothers had been taken i'll and I'll had
died within :: peI.iod of Il few weeks.
\, month from that time Cunning
ham appeared in !.nriapI AND claimed
to be Howard proweIr. now Earl OF
Brokefielt. There was no one of the
family to receive him except a SISTER
of the late cart: who :,!i1:'not d"l!lit
that he was her nephew
No one disputed the identity OF the
claimant except. Lady GLADYS Penn
broke. the daughter Of IL nei@ilboring
nobleman who would have been How,
ard Prower's wife except fer his power
ty. SHE had not married and when
the heir returned expected ii happy
meeting To play the part of her lover
was more than Cunningham could ar
compIish, and she ut once pronounced
him an ilupOStnr.
But Notwithstanding this assertion.
which WAS not very largely accepted,
Cunningham established himself as the
Earl OF Hroketield- He had played the
part of Il peer some -four months. when
who should appear but the real carl.
Proven had been left for dead by
those who had attacked him and those
who had Joined in his defense, Before
they had returned to bury the dead he
had crawiel away. When he had re
covered he looked for his cll1m. hut
did not find him. Later he had heard
of his fnther's and brothers death and
at once started for England.
When one day Howard Proven walk
ed into his home and met his Old
friend face TO face the latter turned
pale. There waS one OF two courses
which he might chonSe-step down and
out or claim that the newcomer was
an impostor. He chose the latter
course. He ignored his visitor, saying
that he had come to rerSoilltc the real
Howard Proven. but that he would be
unable to substantive his claim.
Proven. aghast at such treatment,
withdrew and entered suit against the
man who bad usulpcd his title and his
property. His INT unfortunately ad
hered to the opinion that Cunningham
was her nephew. This left Lady
Gladys Pembroke the only witness in
Prower's favor, and her evidence was
not counted so valuable as tina of Il
member of the claimants family. Nev.
%ertheIess, Lady Gladys warmly es-
poused Towards cause. and the rela
lions of lovers that had existed before
he left for America We're resumed.
One witness was found in an Ole
woman who had nursed Howard wher
he was IL baby. But she had never
seen him since that time, and her evi'
dence was not considered of much val.
ue, especially since in her old age she
had lost her eyesight. However, at
the trial she. was called to the witness
stand and testified as follows:
81 have not seen Howard Proven
since he was Il baby, when | used
to give him his bath and wheel him in
his p~erambulator. but ii | could see
plainly now as then 1 would know him.
for l noticed on him a defect | have
never seen in any n else. His eyes
were of a different shade of blue"
The two claimants were at once ex-
amined carefully. Nearly all the ex.
aminers pronounced that the blue of
Towards right eye was Slightly light
vi or than that of his left.