The Chesterfield advertiser. [volume] (Chesterfield C.H., S.C.) 1884-1978, 1922-05-18

which Constance's own mother had
been so ready to cast. Constance could
not vet begin to place Uncle Benny
IN relation to that ring; but she was
beginning to be able to think of Alan
and his mother. She held the little
band of gold very tenderly in her
hand; she was glad that, as the ac-
cusation against his mother had come
through her people. she could tell him
sooE 0t this. She could not send the
ring TO him. not knowing where he
was; that was too much risk. But ah.
eould AK him to come to her; this
gave,i!'- right.
Shfa asa' thoughtful for several min.
utes. the ring claDped warmly In her
hand then she went to her desk and
wrote:
Mr.. John Welton,
blue Rapids. Kansas.
Dear Mr.. WeltOn:
1T Is possible that Alan Conrad
has mentioned me-or ut least told
you Of my father-in connection with
his stay In Chicago. After Alan left
Chicago, my father wrote twice to his
Rue Rapids address, but evidently he
hHd instructed the postmaster there
to forward his mail and had not made
any change In those instructions, for
the letters were returned to Alan's ad-
dress anu In that way came back te
us. We did not like to press inquiries
further than that, as of course he
could have communicated with us II
he had not felt that there was some
reason for not doing so. Now, how
ever. something Of such supreme i'm
portance to him has come to us that
1t is necessary for us to get word to
him Mt once. If you can tell me any
address at which he can be reached
by telegraph or mail-Or where a mes
senger can find hint will oblige us
very much and will be to his interest"
She hesitated, about to sign it then,
impulsively, she added:
II trust you know that we have
Alan's interest at heart and that YOU
can safely tell us anything you may
know as to where he is or what he
may be doing. We all liked him here
so very much. :"
She signed her name. There were
still two other letters to write. Only
the handwriting Of the address upon
the package, the Manitowoc postmark
and the shoe box furnished clues to
the sender Of the ring and the watch
and the other things. Constance her
self could not trace those clues, but
Henry or her father could. She wrote
to both Of them, therefore, describing
the articles which had come and re-
lating what she had done.
The next noon she received
wire from Henry that he was Coming
up 1t did not surprise her, as she
had expected him the end oe the week.
Late that evening, she sat with her
mother on the wide, screened veranda.
The lights of some boat turning in
between the points and moving swift
ly caught her attention. AS 1t entered
the path of the moonlight, its look was
SO like that Of Henrys power yacht
that she arose. 1t was his way, as
soon as he had decided to leave busi-
ness again and so to her, to arrive
as soon as possible; that had been his
way recently, particularly. So the
sight Of the yacht stirred her warmly
and she watched while it ran in close,
stopped and Instantly dropped
dingey from the davits. She saw
Henry In the stern cf the little boat;
1t disappeared In the shadow Of a
pier she heard, presently, the
gravel of the walk crunch under his
quick steps, and then she saw him in
the moonlight among the trees. She
went down on the path to meet him.
How quickly you camel"
"You let yourself think you needed
me, Connie!"
II did. :"
He had caught her hand In his and
he held it while he brought her to the
porch and exchanged greetings with
her mother. Then he led her on past
and into the house.
When she saw his face in the light
there were signs Of strain in 1t.
you're tired, Henryv'
He shook his head. Its been rot
ten hot in Chicago; then I guess I
was mentally stoking all the way up
here, Connie. But first, where are
the things you wanted me to seeT
She ran upstairs and brought them
down to him. Her hands were shak-
ing now as she gave them to him she
could not exactly understand why; but
her tremor increased as she saw his
big hands fumbling as he unwrapped
the muller and shook out the things
1t inclosed. He took them up one by
one and looked at them, as she had
done. His fingers were steady now,
but only by mastering of control, the
effort for which amazed her.
He had the watch In his hands.
"The inscription Is inside the 'front.'"
she said.
She pried the cover open again and
read. with him, the words engraved
within.
GAS master OF - What ship was
he master of then, Henry, and how
did he rescue the WinnebAgo's peO-
pler
"He never talked to me about things
like that, Constance. This Is ali7"
"Yes."