The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1928-07-13

trace of shame. forced to obey his
orders:
ut was your mother who drew that
bookplate, julia"
"My mother!''
"She was a gifted artist"
"She must have been-oh. far be-
yond what ] am! Why have | never
known thisf Why haven't l seen any
of her other work. all my life?"
GRANDFATHER destroyed H."
"How did he dare?" famed the girl.
Then she quieted down "Well, what
does II matter after all? She left this
bookplate: it was by that that she
saved my birth certificate for mel Why
are you startled, Charles? OF course
know thatl How? Simply because
she was my mother, and no one else
would have done it for me. You may
tell me how she did itw
Charles had indeed been startled by
the unerring diyination, and began
nervously:
81 was here visiting grandfather q
couple of months after you were born,
Julia. ] vas nearly nine years old
old enough to notice lots of things.
sensed there was some kind of trouble
about Aunt Mary. your mother. She
was very sick, for one thing; she
hardly ever went out. Then grand
father seldom spoke TO her. Some
4 xxyhn oh fol ha
would draw a little liked to watch
her. One of a number of sketches
saw her working on was that book
plate. OF course didn't know then
what 1t was.
Zone day she asked me to mail
letter for her. 1t was addressed to a
Mr.. Edward Case, whom remembered
having seen at the house more than
once, during previous visit | made.
had liked him; he was friendly, and
had shown me some little attentions
such as a small boy enjoys. In fact,
he had made some impression on me.
and as you know now, | recognized
him last Thursday night. 1t certainly
was shock, especially as he seemed
to have changed scarcely at all. And
the most amazing thing was that, in
minute, he appeared to recognize
me-"
Charles had not known then. of
course. what Mr.. Case had told Julia
an hour or so ago-that he had seen
him off and on, in the neighborhood,
undoubtedly, during the course of the
years which had passed since his boy
hood. Nor did he realize, probably,
that his boldly formed features, his
dark complexion, were of the type
which changes least during growth.
But he did suggest the immediate
cause of the recognition, as he went
on:
81 suppose the presence of the book,
in the desk which l was apparently
engaged in searching, stimulated Mr..
Cases recollections violently. Well, to
continue: The night after | had mailed
my aunt's letter. woke up suddenly.
was sleeping in that little room right
alongside here; that's now the recep-
tion room; the noise that woke me
came from this room. peeped in,
and saw my aunt opening that French
window, which had creaked. She went
out OIL the balcony. Full of curiosity.
/ followed her.
Leaning over the railing, she spoke
to some one down in the street:
You'll give it to RoyallT recognized
Mr.. Cases voice in answer: I prom
ise.' | saw her drop small book over
the rail. Then had just time to get
back into my room and shut the door
before she came back into the house.
"Six weeks later, she died. After
few days, of course, got used to her
absence, and took interest mainly In
what happened around me from day
to day. noticed especially that
grandfather kept searching, apparent
ly in vain. through her papers for
something he wanted very much. Then
one day he missed something of his
own, an old medical book that had be-
longed to his father the doctor. He
accused me of having taken or mis-
laid it.
II knew absolutely nothing about it,
and disclaimed all knowledge of it, but
he wouldn't believe me- He was very
stern, and frightened me. Finally 1t
came back to me that | had seen my
aunt drop book over the balcony that
night. l had never told anyone Of
that experience; liked knowing a Sc
and, though | can't claim much credit,
l was fond of Aunt Mary, and would
never have done anything to hurt her.
Still, now she was gone; and grand
father persistently accused me of hav-
ing taken that book, so finally, in the
hope of placating him, or at least dis
tracing his attention from me, told
him what | had seen that night. Not
one word did he say as told my tale;
but at least he never asked me for
the book again.
swell, years afterward grandfather
told me what the story revealed to
him. The paper he had been search
ing for was your birth certificate, and
when he couldn't find it, he knew your
mother had hidden II somewhere, for
she would not have destroyed 1t. He
realized, therefore, that she had hid
den 1t most cunningly. She had chosen
one of his most valued books for its
hiding place. The boOkplate would
easily conceal the certificate. the book
gave a convenient means for ham
ding 1t, and if she had died before she
could dispose of the book, the certif1-
cate would probably never have been
disturbed.
(To BE CoNTINUED.)