Ellsworth American., 1915-02-03

momeptous had happened. was he
zone for short time or forever? The
uncertainty was agonfzing. Returning
to the desk. she looked among the pa
pefs spread out upon II for some writ.
ten word from him. There was moth
ing but. the documents pertaining to
her little fortune. and none of those
was missing.
The day passed and Howard did not
appear. The next morning brought the
postman. but no letter from her lover.
A week. a month>Nent by and the mys-
terry was unsolyed.
Meanwhile Geneyieve's mother had
made Hypothetical explanation In the
hone of drawing her daughter's mind
from her trouble by ending the sus-
pense. She said that Howard had en-
tered upon the match loving another
sweetheart and had disappeared with
out an explanation because he had not
the courage 20 make one. Genevieve
was not In the least moved by this
theory. She believed that there was
some mystery connected with her low
er's disappearance which when ex-
planned would show that he had not
acted unworthily.
A year passed. during which Gene
We've hoped either for Howard's return
or At least a solution OF the mystery
OF his desertion OF her. The postm1n
never left letter at the house that
she did not receive II with rapidly
beating heart. The doorbell never rang
but that she hoped Howard was about
to enter. There was never mans
footstep on the tioor above or below
her but what she said TO herself. is II
her
Genevieve was not satisfied that
Howard bad not left some word or
token for her that she had failed either
tn find or to recognize. Again and
again she went through the desk. prfed
into every crack. hoping to find n slip
Of paper that had With the predisrosi-
ton OF inanimate things to hide fallen
under cover. Nothing was discovered
by these searches. But Genevieve In
her hunt did something she had never
done. before-sh exam vned those pa
pers which had come to her after her
auDt's death that did not pertain TO the
legacy.
BY this she made startling discov-
ery-her aunt had been secretly mar
ried. There was an envelope contain
ing several letters beginning Dearest
Genevieve' and ending Your loving
husband" Then suddenly there rush
ed In upon the girls brain an explana-
ton Of the mystery Howard had hap
pened upon these letters u
What was more natural than that be
should suppose he had discovered a sc.
cret implicating the girl he loveds She
had sent him TO look upon the evidence
OF her little fortune without being
aware that this evidence OF n marriage
of one whose name she bore was among
the papers What was TO be expected
at such a discovery Either that be
would return TO upbraid her or fee
from her The latter course was what
she believed. from her knowledge OF
him. be would be the more likely to
take.
And now what should she do? She
did not believe that this secret mar
rage had ever been impaired to her
mother. and she determined not to i'm
part 1t now. But Howard. How could
she find him to disabuse him Of the
mistake he had made! Alas. he might
have gone to the other side of the
globe: he might have succeeded In ban
ishing her from his mind: he might
have another iove-a wife.
1t did not require a long while for
Genevieve to make up her mind that
she was poweriess to reach him.
Another year and still another anoth-
er passed. neither Of which was any
more comfortable than the first. Indeed.
when the desertion occurred there were
occasional flashes Of anger. which
helped Genevieve temporarily 10 change
from grief to anger; now there was the
sensation that she stood In
a false position. yet was poweriess to
explain.
One morning she received an envel-
ope addressed In Howard's handwrit-
Ing. She tore 1t open and withdrew a
check payable TO her order for $500
But there was nothing more.
Hope sprang within her Howard.
despite his fancied discovery. still loved
her. Why he had sent this money she
did not know. She made every effort
to discover his location from the bank
on which tM. check was drawn. but
failed Then she asked the bank to re
turn 1t to the maker. This II agreed
to do. and another six months passed
with no further news from the missing
man.
One day telegram came from How
ard: II am i'll. Come TO me-
He had broken down at last. Fol-
lowing the address at the bead Of the
telegram she took train and the next
day reached the city wherein she was
nd (h<,r l.. u n. a