The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1918-10-02

the legend that ascribes vaguely a
mysterious creature to a mysterious
set OF hidden chambers in the old
house at Adderley. Harold does
not worry his head much about
this; he is a fine, manly fellow,
quite worthy OF the love that Miss
Esther VaseI gave him. He VOWS,
indeed, that when Adderley comes
into his possession he will put an
end to the Curse forever.
However, as matters turn out,
Harold learns a good deal about the
secret in his twenty-ninth year. He
finds out that three men-all more
or less mentally deranged. and one
OF them. indeed, a horrible monster
have been for years concealed in
the Grange, which adjoins and com
municates with the manor, and that
these three wretched creatures are
presumably his three elder broth
ers. He learns, too, that attempts
have been made to marry the two
younger of these brothers in a
strangely irregular sort OF manner,
and that they are both dead. BY
the strange working of chance Har-
old falls in love with Miss VasseIl.
who went through this peculiar
ceremony OF marriage with the
y
is dead, and the marriage was. in
any case, illegal, there is no OBJ
stacle to Miss NasSelrs remarriage,
and the pair, accordingly became
engaged"
At this point Swan turned and
apologized to Esther for the fire.
Quent use of her maiden name.
But IL seems to me necessary" he
explained, that we should sum up
our knowledge. 1t will make things
easier for us in the future"
Now there are certain facts"
continued Swan. about these three
mysterious brothers that are worth
considering To begin with, they arc
none OF them acknowledged a. the
sons of the late John Borradale;
Harold. as far as the world knows,
is the only child. The question nat
uralIy arises: Are they legitimate
children The facts seem to point
to their being so. Harold was not
born till six years after his pa
rents marriage. and. as far as one
may judge. Zorska. the elder broth
er. may be about five years older
than Harold. Also John Borradale
and his wife were living abroad
during the first half dozen years or
their married 1ife-We have not
yet discovered where. and Mrs. Bor-
radale, We know, never referred
subsequently to that period OF her
existence. The supposition is that
the three children were born abroad
and sent to Adderley for conceal
ment"
THAT is what I always under
stood at Adderley." said Lillian.
at is the tale that Grimstead told
me-"
ct very much doubt its truth"
said Swan. at seems feasible on
the face OF IT, but there is much to
be said on the other side. To begin
with. is it likely that the mother
should manifest no affection at all
for her children? Even IL we leave
Zorska out of the question, the
other two, though mentally de-
ranged, were not horrible to look
upon, and it is not natural that
mother should so utterly neglect
her afflicted offspring. Mrs. Bor-
radale was kindly by nature"
"She was!" calculated Esther fer
vently.
Gould she then be so inhuman?
When BasiTs death was reported to
her did she mourn as a mother
should mourn for her son, however
stricken"
NO; she did not. She gave all
her love to Harold"
"Her own child-born at Helm.
No; l cannot think that Mrs. Bor-
radale was the mother of the poor
creatures who were confined at Ad-
derIey Grange"
yet" said Esther timidly, you
yourself said that the name OF
Prail--a family name among the
Borradales-was entered in the reg
lister Of my marriage at the old
Adderley church"
ut was; but il is also possible
that some one-whoever IL was ar
ranged that marriage-may have
laid claim on behalf OF Basil to the
property; but that does not prove
that the claim was justified.
Remember that the three broth
ers were generally known by the
name of Clare-a gypsy name"
What do YOU think, them"
II am not theorizing at present,
SO / will not say what ! think
il may be all wrong. l am drift
ing from the subject OF Harold.
Let us go back TO him. He. at any
rate, seems to have accepted the
there refuses as his brothers,
though il must have been a bitter
blow for him to realize that the
real heir to the great estate was
creature whom his father had
Judged incapable of handling It.
This, then. he argued TO himself,
was the secret: terrible as IL was,
he knew the worst. and there was
nothing to prevent his marriage.
But there was something be-
hind this, something OF which /
who, as you know, had by that
time made the discovery OF the
Valenski influence-gave due warn
ing. though l was very conscious
that nv advice would not be taken.
I did not dare to speak openly OF
TaIenski. for fear OF involving
Harold Borradale, innocent as he
was at that time, in an unpleasant
affair. ! spoke only OF the inner
curse and referred especially 20
what Mrs. WillouGhby had already
noticed-the presence OF another
existence. mysterious and malign-
ant, at Adderley.
my advice was ignored"-he
smiled slightly at Esther-"don't
think I blame you, Mrs. Borradale."
he added. 81 know the value OF a
woman's love" He paused a mo-
ment and then continued. THE
wedding took place under the hap
piest of auspices. but that very
night a revelation was made to
Harold Borradale which utterly
overwhelmed him. For while he
gave way to drink. and, when he
recovered from that, he obviously