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Show t CONDENSED f I CLASSICS I I LITTLE DORRIT I 1 By CHARLES DICKEN3 X Condensation by $ y Charles E. L. Wlngato ., LL ik FI'KIIY, what girl was Hint f In my mother's room Just now?" "Oh, she? Little Dorrit7 She's nothing; she's a whim of hers." And thus Mrs. Fllntwlnch, wlfo of the crafty, crabllkc walking footman of tho household, Introduced to Arthur Clennnra tho name of the poor little seamstress of tho paralytic Mrs. Clen-nam. Clen-nam. He had noted her pnle, transparent face, quick In expression though not bcnutlful In feature, except for Its soft hazel eyes. A delicately bent head, a tiny form, n shnbby dress It must needs hnve been very shabby to look at all so, being so neat wcro Little Lit-tle Dorrlt as she sat at work. A strange presentiment came Into Arthur's mind that. In some way, this gentle maiden was connected -with his history. For 20 years young Clennntn had lived In China with his father, only to return now, puzzled over n mysterious watch which that father, In tho vcry last moments of his life, had given to his son, murmuring faintly and Indistinctly In-distinctly at tho time: "Your mother." Naturally Arthur had assumed that it was Intended for Mrs. Clennam, whom he nnd tho world supposed to bo his mother. Inside the watch casing was an old silk paper with the Initials D N F worked Into It In beads. It was n messagebut mes-sagebut tho young man could not fathom It nnd the old woman would not enlighten him. Was Little Dorrlt, to whom tho stony Mrs. Clennam paid such strange, unusual kindness, connected con-nected with the mystery? They grow to seo moro of each other oth-er tho girl mid tho young man and Arthur learned that tho generous little lit-tle Amy Dorrlt was supporting not only her poor old father, who had been condemned to a debtor's prison, but also her pretty, frivolous sister, Fanny, nnd her wild, lazy brother, Tip. Under tho then existing English laws they wero nil allowed to llvo with their father In that dreary prison. Llttlo wonder that Clennam often spoke kindly to her nnd Hint he helped tho family. But love had not yet omo to him though it had to Llttlo Dorrlt He heard tire thrill In her voice, he saw tho quickening bosom, nnd yet the remotest suspicion of the truth never dnwned upon his n.iud. It must bo added hero that Llttlo Dorrlt had Innocently won the lovo of another man, the sentiment' I son of the prison turnkey, small of stature, stat-ure, with rather weak legs and very weak eyes, gentlo but great of soul, poetical, faithful. If ono wero to doubt his devotion ho need only rend tiro Inscription for his own tombstone, which tho romantic youth had composed com-posed when Llttlo Dorrlt said "No" to him. It ran thus: Hero LIo tho Mortal Remains of JOHN CniVEItY Never Anything Worth Mentioning Who Died of n Broker! Heart Requesting Re-questing With Ills Last Breath That tho Word AMY Might Bo Inscribed Over His Ashes Which Was Dono by His Aflllcted I Tarents. I But, at Inst, tho tables turned for our llttlo heroine. A queer, kind-hearted kind-hearted rent collector, Pnncks n panting llttlo steam-tug of n man, with his putting nnd his pauses had learned to yaluo tho friendship of tho motherless girl, nnd bo, having nccl-dentally nccl-dentally discovered that her father was tho probablo heir to on enormous c-tnte, had run down tho clues until Anally tho great wealth was turned over to old Mr. Dorrlt. Then nwny from the dreary prison hurried tho entlro family. Yet riches brought slight pleasure' to Llttlo Dorrlt. Tho much-changed father became ashamed of Itls debtor life, und with tho now richly dressed Bister nnd tho gambling brother, put on many nlrs. Tho father even employed em-ployed a chnperon named Mrs. Genera! Gen-era! to teach Llttlo Dorrlt society mnnnore. "Don't sny 'father,'" declared this lady, "papa is n preernblo word; It gives n pretty form to tho lips. 'Father' 'Fa-ther' Is rather vulgar, my doar. You will And it serviceable In tho formation forma-tion of n demeanor If you say to yourself, your-self, on entering a room filled with company, 'Pnpn, potntoes, poultry, prunes nnd prism.' " At this Juncture tho wealthy Mrs. Mordlo took nn nctlvo part in tho Dorrlts' llvos. Tho chuckle-headed son of tho Merdles fell In lovo with Pnnny, and after their nmrrliige Mr. Dorrlt put nil his wealth Into Mrs. Merdles schemes for had not tlOfl wonderful Mcrdle, through vnrlnuS mysterious movements, mndo tromen-dous tromen-dous fortunes for himself nnd others? By n strnngo fatality Arthur, too, wns led to Invest his nrmVrnnTT I ! tho famous Mrs. Mcrdle's 8chem7 n 1 And then the buhblo broke iSL ! ; .committed suicide. The b ?' ; money wns gone. Arthur's i!r,n , ruined and Arthur himself wastiiJr' '1 ; Into prlson-tlic same poor 'S , prison that hnd, for so lunu hWn ,, ; home of Llttlo Dorrlt. " ! The days dragged wcnrlly on ; At last Arthur, despondent' m ' , crushed, haggard from broodln. S ; stricken with fever, one day sow , - In a vision, kneeling before hlm'ih! ! figure of denr Little Dorrlt. She III ; hastened to mnko happier the lot t ' , tho man who had helped her fomiw J ; In the same gloomy surrounding, J j whom she loved. Sho nursed him I his sickness. She offered him all W ' money to help him overcome hi, ol. tress. And then. 1. he refused the ' money, ho realized, for the first tlnw ' that she loved hltn nnd thnt he too 1 1 loved her. ' wo' A feeling of peace comes over his ' mind. j The clouds begin to break. j And strange to say It Is n rascally adventurer, Itlgnud, n murderous jalt- bird with drooping nose nnd nscendlne ) mustache, who opens the rift still fur- thcr for the sunshine. He has (n,cor. 1 ered Mrs. Clcnnnm's secret, having 1 stolen tho strong box thnt Fllntwlnch :' had smuggled into Holland nnd D I which lay a page of the will of Ar. -1 Hair's uncle, n page which Mrs. Clon. nam hnd conccnlcd for years. j Itlgnud visited tho strange old lady, J 1 Leaning over tho sofn, poised on two j 1 legs of his chair and his left elbow, ! conrse, Insolent, rapacious, cruel, he reveals to her his knowledge. v I Then, torn by tho explosion of her 1 passion, tho old lady vehemently tell 1 her own story. Sho hnd learned, after Mr. Clen- 1 nam's marriage to her (a marriage ' commanded by his overbearing uncle), 1 that her husband had loved and gone : through a sort of ceremony with a , beautiful young singer whom Fred-1 Fred-1 eric Dorrlt, n kind-hearted musician (the uncle of Llttlo Dorrlt), wns bi I friending nnd giving nn education. She ' had obtained tho tlrst cluo from those Initials In her husband's watch which : sho found years ago, signifying "Do I Not Forget." She accused both her , husbnnd and the woman, who put the I Initials there. Instantly Rlgaud, seeking to black- mall tho old lady, declared lie had de- . posited with tho niece, Little Amy I Dorrlt, then at the prison with At- . thur, n packet containing the sup- ; pressed section of the will with la- I structlons to open It at n ccrtnln hour ' B unless reclaimed by him. A'hat would H Mrs. Clcnnnm pay him to reclaim It) 'W To the astonishment of all, the pai ,H j alytlc old lady rises to her feet and ! rushes from tho house to the prison; !H seeks Llttlo Dorrlt; calls for tho pack- : , et, and then bids Amy rend It, at the H I samo tlmo begging her to forglvo the H . past. B J ''I forglvo you freely," cried the gen- . erous girl. H, "Cod bless you I" wns tho fervent ' J and broken response. W, And then came tho good news that V Arthur's firm had re-established Itself Bj ' and thnt ho would bo nble now to 'H, ' lenvo the debtor's prison. H So they were married but not be- -, ' foro Little Dorrlt had handed to Ar- iR thur n folded bit of legnl pnper ask- H ' Ing him not to open It but to burn It K, . In her presence. 'K "Is It n charm?" ho asked, smll- ' Ingly. "And does tho charm want an; ' " words to bo said?" ho ndded as be Uf held the paper over the Homes. H "You can say (If you don't mind) 1 H love you 1' " nnswered Little Dorrlt Kj So ho said It and tho paper burned K nwny. W With it died tho secret of Arthur! M( birth, never to be known to him; with It, nlso, Llttlo Dorrlt hnd volua- ,, larlly destroyed tho evidence of her , own legncy. H(l And they wero married with the sun ?H ( shining on them through the painted , figure of Our Savior on tho window. X, Then thoy went quietly down Into :H0, tho roaring streets, Inseparable and ,Bci I blessed; and, as they passed along Her in tho sunshine and shade, tho nolu nl nnd tho eager nnd tho arrogant and 0 tho froward nnd tho vnln fretted. ; ( and chafed, nnd mado their usual op- BVl roar. B 1 -opyrlftht, 1910, by tho Post PublWilj Mut- Co. (Tho Boston Post). Copyright In tM ,H (, United Kingdom, the Dominions, lt Col- onlea and dependencies, under the copr H rluht act. by tho Post Publlshlnc Co ';MI1 Hoston, Mass., U. S. A All rights rf Ki 1 served. tK 1 |