The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1921-04-22

We may talk. In TACT, L rather think
it has-if you feel strong enough"
Meaning, / presume" she said with
a quiet smile, you've something to
tell me-"
1t was no good our talking till I had.
But now :" He drew from a
pocket handful of old letters: 1.-The
solution of the mystery" he an
nOunced-"at last !"
Don't tease me, Philip"
II won't, but first / must explain.
Has it ever occurred to you to wonder
how Andrews and 1 happened to be
with Mario that morning when we
found you in the cabin with Carne-
han?"
'Tve wondered = yes = wondered
whether it was true or not. All that
time seems so unreal as / recall it,
I've wondered often if perhaps it were
nothing but another kind of dream,
" something l thought l lived through
while / was actually in bed. delirious."
mo; it was all true enough. But
let me tell you Inc afternoon
you disappeared / had spent out of
town, trying to interview an inmate
of home for the aged, up near Paw
ling-an old, old woman, registered
on the records of the institution as
Mrs. Leonora O'More."
Mother O'More!''
'The same. On the clue you gave
me of that name Andrews traced her
to the home. She refused to talk to
him. She refused to talk to me.
tried bribery, but money wouldn't
tempt her. She had enough for her
small needs, and took malicious
pleasure, / fancy, in watching me
struggle with my temper when she
wouldn't talk. However, her very tao
iturnity told me she must have some
thing to tell, and l hoped that you,
posing to her as LeOnora on the
strength of the resemblance, might
worm the secret out of her. At all
events, we were ON the right trail. So
/ hurried back to town-and found
you missing, Mrs. Trowbridge in hys-
terics, the lock broken on the studio
door. the devil to pay all round i.
Meanwhile Andrews had run up to
Kingston to hunt for MARION the
strength of your dream in which you
heard him tell Leonora he must hurry
to catch his train there. When / got
home, between three. and four in the
morning, after a night of fruitless
searching for you, l found a long dis
lance call from Kingston waiting for
me. Andrews reported that he had
Located the camp which Mario had
rented for his honeymoon. On the off
chance that he might have been con-
cerned in your disappearance l
couldn't rest, of course, and it was
something to dol jumped into my
car and arrived at Kingston about
nine o'clock in the morning. Andrews
had a road map, with the location of
the bungalow clearly marked. We
struck Immediately back through the
hills.
"About five miles from our destina-
ton we met Mario afoot. You know
what he had to tell us. While we
were talking-it took some time to
make him understand you weren't
Leonora and that we had any right to
butt in-Carnehan boiled up the road
in a high-pOwered roadster, making
about forty miles an hour on a stiff
grade-didn't see us, because we'd
stopped just around a bend in the
road, until he was almost on top of us.
He got his brakes on in time to stop
just short of my car, which of course
was blocking the road. Andrews and
Mario recognized him instantly, and
he knew Mario. After as interesting
three-cornered pistol fight as ever
care to see again in the role of inno-
cent bystander, Carnehan took cover
in the woods. We pursued.
"Unquestionably Carnehan took you
for the ghost Of Leonora, and was
convinced when he failed to hit you
once in five shots at close range"
eyes," Priscilla said, "the last thing
before he killed himself he shrieked
her name"
"Well," Fosdick resumed, "you were
physical and mental wreck l had
to wait till you were strong enough to
confront Mother O'More and cheat the
truth out of her. Before you were
out of bed she had a paralytic stroke
that put her vocal cords out of COM
mission. She couldn't have talked if
she'd wanted to. l did everything that
could be done for her, and she chung
to life with amazing tenacity In one
so aged; but the second stroke came
yesterday, and finished her. / had
made the manager of the home per-
sonal friend. He telephoned at once,
and / ran out to Pawling this morn
ing. Among the old woman's few eff
. fects we found these letters"
Fosdick didn't offer to give them to
Priscilla. I'D rather you didn't read
them yet" he said. They're rather
affecting letters; I'm afraid they'd up
set you. Later, when you're quite
strong, some time.
"They were written by your father
to your mother. She was Mother
O'More's niece. She met your father
through posing for him. Their mar
riage was an affair of sudden impulse.
They loved each other devotedly, but
they were never, after the first few
months, happy Your mother had a
strongly independent spirit. She was
out of place in the society of your
fathers friends, knew it, saw how she
!. handicapped him. and resented it bit
terly. She refused absolutely to try