Evening star., 1920-02-22
m ER. TREDWAYs. this Is
MI why l have come 10 you.
have returned from a


against MY fance Of having spent the
&Ast three years in a convict prison
This terrible accusation he protests
against in the strongest possible man
per. OF course. I am bound to accept
bic word; but
The lady stopped and the incom-
pleteness Of her sentence was fun Of
meaning.
Miss Janet Caseldy had entered my
friend Hogg Tredways' sitting room
one minute before she committed
herself to that surprising outburst
1t was not the headlong plunge OF
nervousness or mental pain. She
wanted to nail Tredways attention
to abruptly chain up his interest be-
fore 1t even wanted to escape. You
viii see that Janet Caseldy was prac-
tical. prosaic; but heaven had tenn
pered those austere gifts by face of
much beauty and the warmth and COL
oring Of twenty-seven years.
Trsdways shot at me an amused
glance. But you are not bowed down
with the weight Of his contradiction"
lie finished.
The lady was no whit abashed. ut
Is far from being a matter for a
SMILE" was her earnest rebuke. And
because cannot but feel that there
~ something very mysterious in the
matter l have come to you"
Il am honored, Miss Caseldy, but
suppose you let me have the facts?"
They are soon told. My fance's
name 10 John Bartle. We were en-
LACED to be married when went TO
America. He had position of en-
Eineer In an electric power station in
s.lefield. I went to America because
my parents are there, and we were In
no haste to be married, as ! wished
John to be quite unfettered while
opening up his prospects He was
much opposed to my journey, although
my parents were old and needed my
attention. T. fear we quarreled at
the last. He wrote me afterward,
though not very often. Then his let
trs ceased altogether. That was
ttree years ago. Suddenly I received
one from him. He acknowledged his
fault, tmplored me to forgive 1t.
was not disposed to do so. but my
parents dying at that time l came to
EhglAnd, where l met John and our
engagement was renewed A few
weeks later most extraordinary
thing occurred. which has greatly in
t.rfered with our happiness
John was IN q L, M t,> n,,,,.,.
Theater. and to save time We had
a:reed to meet at st. Paurs Church,
''ovent Garden. 1t turned out a dark
".td wet night, and took shelter un-
Ger the porch. lie was there, although
at irst did not see him. 1t was his
voice, speaking to some one which told
me he was before me. / heard him say:
1f you come to me again do you know
what I'll do? III thrash you until you
are the sickest sort of dog that ever
stood on two legs"
While 1 stood half paralyzed bv
-his remark. heard the reply come
from the blackness under the heavy
portico where the speakers were
standing behind one of the stone pill
ars. Not you was this answer. Not
~ jugful! 1t 'ud only mean the
raising Of my price. And what is it?
lust moldy couple Of sovereisns
or me to drink the health of a fellow
thum who was in quod alongside O.
ne? I'm fair ashamed of yer Is this
the way Of a prison pail
Il heard the sound of a blow that
made me feel faint. i ran to the spot
~ time to see q man pick himself up
with1f0pd upon his face. John leaped
toward him. then caught sight of me
and stopped. The other went off with
out speaking a word.
The scene asked for an explanation.
told John what 1 had heard He in
stantly denied the charge, and l
should not have doubted but for the
extreme agitation which at first made
his words almost unintelligible. The
theater was out Of the question, and |
returned home feeling very unhappy.
Ten minutes later / received a visit
or. had been followed from the
church by the man whom my hance
had knocked down. He had shadowed
us, had surmised that we were lovers.
Did l do wrong to listen to this crea-
ture? At any rate let him speak, for