Okolona messenger., 1922-01-26

''Who copied that1' cried my lad
impulsively. as she caught sight o
some handwriting on q legal dOcumen
before her. why do you ask =
Queried the keen lawyer, struck by he
animation and unusual tone. "Any
thing to vary this detestable monOt
ony," she returned, then tainted.
With Mr.. TulkinghOrn to wonder a
anything was to investigate It. sWhJ
had my lady asked about that hand
writingf Why had she falntedf Per
haps Snagsby, the law stationer, who
had had these papers copied, could en-
tighten him. Yes, Snagsby knew. II
was the work of gloomy, poverty.
stricken recluse calling himself Memo
ana lodging over one villainOus
Krooks' rag and bottle shop. ThltheV
they go and up into the squalId cham
Der. Memo is lying on his wretched
bed. his eyes staring, his body motion
less. "GOd save us, he ls deadi" ex-
claimed Mr.. TulkinghOrn.
heard Of the inquest through Mr..
Guppy, shrewd young law clerk who
had made hopeless calflove to me.
The only witness who seemed to have
known the dead man was 10. forlOrn
boy crosslng-sweeper, and he knew lit
tie except "'E wOs good to me, e
wOS." But Mr.. Tulkinghorn d0cketed
10 for further use-meantime: II
have seen the man whose handwriting
attracted your attention" he wrote
Lady DedlOck. And soon after, on a
visit to Chesney Void: II found him
dead" he tells my lady face to face.
And whether each evermOre watches
and suspects the other; what each
would give to know how much the 9TH
er knows-all this is hidden for a time
In their own hearts.
The faithful Mr.. Guppy, whom l
could never encourage use-well,
because there was DR.. Allan Wood
court, for one thing-gave me the news
Of JOS arrest for lettering, and Of the
strange story he told In explanation
of money found on him. They took
him to Snagsby's, and this was JOS
tale: They're wot's left, Mr.. SnagF
by, out of sov'ring as wOs give me
by lady In vale as said she was
servant, and as come to my crossin'
one night and asked to be showed this
ere 'ouse and the 'ouse wot him as
you give the writln' to died at, and
the berrin' ground wOt he's berried
In. And done it,
And now why did Snagsby hurry off
to grim old Tulkinghorn with this odd
tale? And why did Mr.. TulkinghOrn
at once call in Bucket, a great Lon
don detective, to go and fetch 10? And
was there any dark import to the bit
Of melodrama In the lawyers Office
where the waif was shown yelled
woman dressed as a servant7 "It's
'er, an it amt 'er," he had said, gaz-
ing raptly at the figure. II know the
vale an the bunnit an the gownd;
but 1t amt 'er 'aRd, nor yet 'er rings,
nor yet 'er voice. It's 'er, an it ain't
'er." 'There amt a. doubt" Bucket
had whispered to Mr.. Tulkinghorn,
"that 1t was the other one with this
ones dress on"
Meantime l had had my first glimpse
of the celebrated Lady Dedlock. My
guardian had taken us all down to
Lincolnshire to visit friend, and It
was In the. little parish church saw
her. Shall I ever forget the rapid
beating at my heart occasiOned by the
look / met as I stood up? Shall ]
ever forget the manner in which those
proud eyes seemed to
spring out Of their languOr and to hold
mine? And, very strangely, there was
something quickened within me, assO-
ciated with the lonely days at my god
/ was soon to know what
this meant and. curiously enough,
through Mr.. Guppy.
My impossible suitor, 1t seemed, had
noted a resemblance between myself
and Lady DedlOck. He had learned
by chance that my name was not Es-
ther SummersOn, but Esther HawdOn. |
Hoping to help me, straight to Lady |
CedlOck he went with his news.
She received him haughtily, but when !
he informed her that he had found
that his cherished Esther. was Esther
my God" had burst through |
her Icy reserve.
Life went on for a while with
grace and pleasantness at
Bleak House. Then the darkness Of |
terrible disease encoinpassed me, and
when had recovered my face was so
sadly changed that hardly knew my.
self. To recuperate my guardian took
me down to Lincolnshire. near Ches-
ney Wold. And there met Lady Ded- |
lock again.
was resting on q bench In the
beautiful wood near the great mansion |
one day when she came and sat down
on the seat beside me. Suddenly she |
caught me to her breast, kissed me-
fell down on her knees and cried to
me: "Oh, my child. my child; am
your unhappy and wicked mother.
Oh, try to forgive me. / had thought |
You dead In infancy. Ny cruel sister |