The St. Charles herald., 1922-07-15

wrote:
HIi blue uenR Rapids. wd.,'p; Kansas. .as
Dear Mr.. Welton:
1T is possible that Alan Conrad
has mentioned me-Or at least told
you of my father-in connection with
his stay In Chicago. After Alan left
Chicago, my father wrote twice to his
Blue Rapids address, but evidently ne
had instructed the postmaster there
to forward his mail and mad not made
any change in those instructions, for
the letters were returned to Alan's ad-
dress anG in that way came back to
us. We did not like to press Inquiries
| further than that, as OF course ne
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
it Is necessary for us to get word TO
him at once. If you can tell me any
address at which he can be reached
| by telegraph or mail-or where 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:
| 81 trust you know that we have
| Alans 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 a
wire from Henry that he was coming
up" 1t did not surprise her. as she
had expected him the end Of 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 Henry's 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 1t ran in close,
stopped and instantly dropped a
dingey from the davits. She saw
Henry In the stern Of the little boat
it 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, Conniel"
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 pas'
and into the house.
When she saw his face In the light
there were signs Of strain in 1t.
you're tired. Henry!"
He shook his head. "It's been rot
. ten hot in Chicago; then l guess
! was mentally stoking all the way ur
here, Connie. But first, where are
the things you wanted me to see?
She ran upstairs and brought then
down to him. Her hands were shak
ing now as she gave them to him; She
could not exactly understand why; bu
her tremor increased as she saw MI
big hands fumbling as he unwrappet
! the muffler and shook out the things
! It inclosed. He took them uD one b!
one and looked at them, as she hat
done. His fingers were steady now
but only by mastering Of control. th'
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 ant
read, with him, the words engraved
). within.
"sAs master Of - What ship wa
he master Of then, Henry, and hov
did he rescue the Winnebago's peo
ple7"
"He never talked to me about thing
e like that, Constance. This II allr'
EYES,"
l. Henry put the things back in tn
Z box. 'Of course, this is the end o
I Benjamin Corvet."
t .Of course" Constance said. Sh
a was shaking again and, without will
d ing 1t, she withdrew little from Her
d ry. He caught her hand again an
y drew her back toward him. His han
$ was quite steady.
n "You know why I came to you a