The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1921-06-04

lu0 ldulOuS MIS- &AXCA VIC . oNA@NAAANS'
And then the bubble broke. Merdle
committed suicide. The Dorrits'
money was gone. Arthur's firm was
ruined and Arthur himself was thrown
into prison-the same poor debtors
prison that had, for so long, been the
home of Little Dorrit.
The days dragged YEARLY on.
At last Arthur, respondent and
crushed. haggard from brooding and
stricken with. fever, one day saw, as
in a vision, kneeling before him the
figure of dear Little Dorrit. She had
fastened to make happier the lot of
the man who had helped her family
in the same gloomy surroundings and
whom she loved. She nursed him in
his sickness. She offered him all her
money to help him overcome his dis
tress. And then, as he refused the
money, he realized, for the first time
that she loved him-and that he. too,
loved her.
A feeling of peace comes over his
mind.
The clouds begin to break.
And strange to say it Is rascally
adventurer, Rigaud, a murderous jail.
bird with dropping nose and ascending
lnustache, who opens the rift still fur
Their for the sunshine. He has discov-
cred Mrs. CIennam's secret, having
stolen the strong box that Flintwinch
had smuggled into Holland and in
which lay a page Of the will Of Ar
thurs uncle, a page which Mrs. Glen
nam had concealed for years.
Rigaud visited the strange old lady.
Leaning over the sofa, poised on two
legs of his chair and his left elbow
coarse, insolent, rapacious. cruel. he
reveals to her his knowledge.
Then, torn by the explosion OF hel
passion, the old lady vehemently tells
her own story.
She had learned, after Mr.. Glen
mans marriage to her "a marriage
commanded by his overbearing uncle)
that her husband had loved and gone
Through a sort Of ceremony with
beautiful young singer whom Fred
eric Dorrit, a kind-hearted musician
1.-THE uncle of Little Dorrit), was be
frfending and giving an education. Shit
had obtained the first clue from thos'
initials in her husbands watch which
she found years ago, signifying "D'
Not Forget" She accused both ne
husband and the woman, who put tn
initials there.
Instantly Rigaud, seeking to black
mail the old lady, declared he had de
posted with the niece, Little Am!
Dorrit. then at the prison with Al
thur. a packet containing the sup
pressed section Of the will with IN
structions to open 1t at certain hou
unless reclaimed by him. What woul'
Mrs. Clennam pay him to reclaim 1t
To the establishment Of all, the par
alytic old lady rises to her feet ant
rushes from the house to the prison
seeks Little Dorrit calls for the PACK
ct. and then bids Amy read 1t. at tn
same time begging her to forgive tn
past.
Il forgive you freely" cried the ger
erous girl.
"God bless you!" was the ferven
and broken response.
And then came the good news tina
Arthur's firm had re-established itsel
and that he would be able now t
leave the debtors prison.
So they were married-but not b.
fore Little Dorrit had handed to A
thur a folded bit Of legal paper ash
) | ing him not to open 1t but to burn
in her presence.
sis 1t a charmT he asked, smi
; ingly. "And does the charm want an
words to be said?" he added as b
held the paper over the flames.
"You can say (if you don't mind)
I llove you r" answered Little Dorrit.
So he said it and the paper burne
away.
III With It died the secret Of Arthur
birth, never to be known to him
with It, also, Little Dorrit had volu
tarily destroyed the evidence OF b
own legacy.
Ill And they were married with the 81
shining on them through the paintt
figure Of Our Savior on the window.
III Then they went quietly down In
the roaring streets, inseparable al
] blessed; and, as they passed alor
in the sunshine and shade, the noi'
and the eager and the arrogant al
the froward and the vain frette
and chafed, aad made their usual q
roar.
: Copyright, 1913. by the Post Publishi
Co. (The Boston Post). Copyright In {
|. United Kingdom. the Dominions. its G.
r onies and dependencies, under the COP
!. right act. by the Post Publishing c
!, Boston. Mass, U. 8. A. All rights,
II served.