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Show I ..tl . 2jfl FW RPtRT LOUIS STEVI&itoOM. AJ-S ! INTERNATIONAL PnESS ASSOCIATION. i CHAPTER X fCoNTiNUita.! ' Thoro, In his fnllier'B room, at mid- night, tlio llro wns ro.irliiK and tho Ks blazing; tho papeis, the sacred papers j to lay n hand on which wns criminal I had nil boon tnkon off and piled atong tho lloor; n cloth was Bprcad, and a supper laid, upon the huslncirt table; and In his father's chair a woman,. 1 habited like a nun, sat eating. As ho appeared In tho door-way, the nun roso, gnvo a low cry, and stood staring. Sho was a large woman, strong, calm, a little masculine, her features marked with couragu and good fciisc; and na John blinked back at her, a faint resemblance re-semblance dodged nbout his memory, as when a tune haunts ue, and yet will not bo recalled. "Why, It's John!" cried tho nun, "I daro siy I'm mad," said John, unconsciously un-consciously following King Lear; "but, upon my word. I don't hollo o you're Flora." "Of courso I am," replied she. And yet It Is not Flora at nil, thought John; Flora wnB slender, nnd timid, and of changing color, and j dowy-cyed; nnd had Flora such an Ed- f ; Inburg nccont? Hut ho said nono of '? theso things, which was perhaps as iff1 well. What ho said was, "Then why S aro you a nun?" ! "Such nonsenre!" said Flora, "I'm a sick-nurse; and I'm hero nursing your I sister, with whom, between you and mo, thoro Is precious littlo tho matter. Hut that Is not the question. Tho f point Is: How do you como hero? aro you not nshamed to show yoursolf?" J "Flora," said John, flcpulchrally, "I haven't eaten anything for threo days. i, Or, nt least, I don't know what day It Is; but I guess I'm starving." "You unhappy man!" sho cried. "Hero, olt down nnd eat my supper; mt 'JT ' am' '" JU8t r,,n tpstatre and sco my Bp t. patient, not but what I doubt she's faut P ' asleep; tor Maria Is a malado lmngln- CHAPTER XI, TF1 np ITH this specimen ? l ITJ 111 of tho French, not J IVl HI of Stratford-atto- t MWkSl ,8hlnB cstabllsh- kj wfiLWlh ment ln Morey - - '&Swfe I'lace, sho left iW-wf, John alono In his , !i5CT(wV!J'' father's sanctum. K. ' jpm',)''i& Ho fel1 at onco un j iZywJ'- on tho food; and It t la to bo supposed J that Flora had found her patient wnko- j ful, and been detained with somo do- tails of nursing, for ho had tlmo to ' mako a full end of all there was to eat, u and not only to ompty tho teapot, but to fill It ngaln from n kettle that wns i fitfully Hinging on his father's fire. b Thon he sat torpid, and pleased, nnd " bewildered; his misfortunes wero then jjf half forgotten; his mind considering, R!v not without regret, this unsentimental We- return to his old love. H" Ho wns thus engaged, when that I j bustling woman noiselessly re-entered. ., "Have you eaten?" said she. "Then K tell mo all about It." f' It was a long and (as tho reader WK, knows) a pitiful story; but Flora heard -, It with compressed lips. Sho was lost I'n In nono of thoso questionings of human ljj dostlny that have, from time to tlmo, Jig' arrested tho lllght of my own pen; for Ij 'women, such ns she, are no phlloso- It!- pliers, and behold tho concrete only. Kf ' And women, such ns she, aro very hard jl' on tho Imperfect man. K" "Very well," she Bald, when ho bad IK dono; "then down upon your knees at Ifc ' onco, and beg God's forgiveness," l And tho great baby plumped upon jl his knees, and did as ho was bid; and W" nono tho worso for that! But whllo ho R was heartily enough requesting for- f w Klvcsess on general principles, tho ra- I i tlonal side of him distinguished, and BE' wondered If, perhaps, tho apology were H1K not duo upon the other part. And K , when he rose again from that becom- Ik Ing exercise, he first eyed the face ot BE ' his old love doubtfully, and then, tak- JB3 , ing heart, uttered his protest. Bn" "I must say, Flora," said ho, "In all Hit this business, I can sco very little fault V of mine." Hw . "If you had written liomo," replied Hjy tho lady, "there would havo been nono K, of It. If you had oven gone to Mur- Wt rayfiold reasonably sobor, you would HL"' never havo r'-pt thero, nnd tho wort jf would not havo happened. Besides, H tho wholo thing began years ago. You HP got Into trouble, nnd when your father, Ml- honest man, was disappointed, you ifflfe, took tho pet, or got nfrald, and ran Bh away from punishment. Well, you've jjy had your own way of It, John, and I Bf?. don't suppose you llko It." H "I sometimes fancy I'm not much ' better than a fool," sighed John. K "My dear John, said she, "not Wjf much." Kk Ho looked at her, and his eyo fell. HJ" A certain nnger rco within him; hero & was a Flora ho disowned; sho was HE hard; sho wax of a set color; a settled IKj mature, undccoratlve manner; plain of K speoch, plain of habit ho had como f; near eaylng, plain of face. And this kIm) changeling called htrsolf by tho samo flip namo as tho many-colored, clinging lfjr inald of yoro; sho of the frequent 1 1- laughter, and the many slshs, and tho I'll Mad, stolon glnucrs. And to mako all il I worao, sho took tho upper hand with bjl him, which (n John well know) was 'MA' not tho truo relation of tho soxoa. Ho BhW stcolod bis heart against this sick PR uurso. "And how do you como to bri hero?" ho asked. Sho told him how sho had nursed her father In hla long Illnes3, nnd when ho died, and she was left alone, had taken to nurao others, partly from habit, partly to be of eonio service In the world; partly, It might be, for amuso-mont. amuso-mont. "There's no accounting for taste," said she. And she told him how sho went Inrgely to tho houses of old frlcndo, as the need arose; and how she wns thus doubly welcomo, ns an old friend first, and then as nn cxpcrlencod nurse, to whom doctors would confide tho gravest cases. "And, Indeed, It Is n raro farco my being hero for poor Maria," eho con-Inuul; con-Inuul; "but your father takes her ailments ail-ments to heart, and I ennnot always bo refusing him. Wo aro great friends, your father nnd I; ho was ery kind to mo long ago ten ycara ago." A strange stir came In John's heart. All this whllo had ho been thinking only of himself? All this whllo, why had ho not written to Flora? In penitential peni-tential tenderness ho took her hand, and, to his awo nnd trouble, it remained re-mained In hie, compliant. A voice told him this was Flora, after all told him. so quietly, yet with a thrill of singing. "And you novor married?" said he. "No, John; I never married," she replied. Tho hall clock striking two recalled them to tho senso of tlmo. "And now," said she, "you havo been fed and warmed, nnd I havo heard your story, now It's high tlmo to call your hi other." "Oh!" cried John, chnp-fallcn; "do you think that absolutoly necessary." "I can't keep you hero; I nm a stranger," stran-ger," enld she. "Do you want to run away again? I thought you had enough of that." Ho bowed his head under tho reproof. re-proof. Sho despised him, ho reflected, us ho sat onco more nlone; a monstrous thing for a woman to despise a man; nnd strangest of all, sho seemed to Lko him. Would his brother desplso him, too? And would his brother like him? And presently tho brother appeared, under Flora's escort; and, standing afar off beside tho door-way, eyed tho hero of this tale: "So this Is you? ho Bald, at length. "Yes, Allck, It's me it's John," replied re-plied tho elder hi other, feobly. "And how did you got ln hero?" Inquired tho younger. "Oh, I had my pass-keys," says John. "Tho deuco you had!" said Alexander. Alexan-der. "Ah, you lived ln n better world! Thero aro no pass-kcyo going now." "Well, father was always averse to thorn," sighed John. And tho conversation conver-sation then broke down, nnd the brothers broth-ers looked askance at ono another in Bilence. "Well, and what tho devil nro wo to do?" said Alexander. "I Biippose If the authorities got wind of you, you would be taken up?" "It depends on whether they've found tho body or not," returned John. "And then there's that cabman, to bo sure!" "Oh, bother tho body!" said Alexander. Alexan-der. "I moan about tho other thing. That'o serious." "Is that what my father spoko nbout?" asked John. "I don't even know what It Is." "About your robbing your bank ln California, of course," replied Alexander. Alexan-der. It was plain, from Flora's face, that this was tho first sho had heard of It; it was plainer still, from John's, that he was Innocent. "II" ho exclaimed. "I rob my bank! My God! Flora, this Is too much; even )ou must allow that." "Meaning you didn't?" asked Alexander. Alex-ander. "I never robbed n soul In all ray days," cried John; "except my father, If you call that robbery; nnd I brought him back tho money In this room, and ho wouldn't oven tako It!" "Look hero, John," said his brother, "let us havo no misunderstanding upon up-on this. Macowon b.iw my father; ho told him a bank you had worked for ln Ban Francisco wns wiring over tho habitable globo to havo you collared that It was supposed you had nailed thousands; and It wan dead certain you had nailed three hundred. So Macewen Raid, and I wish you would bo careful how you answer. I may tell you, also, that your father paid tho threo hundred hun-dred on tho spot." "Threo hundred?" repeated John, "Threo hundred pounds, you mean? That's fifteen hundred dollars. Why, then, it's Klrkmnnl" ho broko out. "Thank heaven! I can explain all that. I gavo thorn to Klrkman to pay It for mo tho night beforo I left flfteon hundred hun-dred dollars, and a letter to tho manager. man-ager. What do they suppose I would steal fifteen hundred dollnrs for? I'm rich; I struck It rich in stocks. It's tho sllllCBt stuff I ever heard of. All Unit's ueeded is to cablo to the manager: Klrkman has tho fifteen hundred find Klrkman He was a fellow-clerk of mlno, nnd a hard caso; but to do him Justice, I didn't think ho was as hard as this." "And what do you say to that, Allck?" asked Flora. "I eay tho cablegram shall go tonight!-' cried Alexander, with energy. "Anawor prepaid, too If this can bo cleared away and upon my word I do bollovo It can wo shall all bo able to hold up our heads again. Hero, you John, you stick down tho nddreBs of your bank manager. You, Flora, you can pack John into my bed, for which I havo no furthfr u-o tonight. As for me, I am off to the postofilca, nnd thence to th" Hlr'i street nbout tho dead body. The police ought to know, you see, and they ought to know through John; nnd I can tell them somo rlnamarnlo nlutit my brother being be-ing a man of highly nervous organization, organiza-tion, nnd the rest of It. And then, I'll tell you what, John did you notlco tho namo upon the cub?" John gsvo tho irtnc of th driver, which, as I have not teen abl to command com-mand tho vrh'cle, I hero supprces. "Well," resumed Alexander, "I'll call round nt tholr place beforo I como back, and pay your shot for you. In Unit wny, beforo breakfast-time, you'll bo ns good n3 now." John murmured inarticulate thanks. To eeo his brother thus energetic In his Btrvlco move.1 him beyond expression; If ho could not uttor whnt ho felt, ho showed it leg'.blly ln his face; nnd Alexander Al-exander read It there, nnd liked It tho belter In that dumb dellvory. "Ilut there's ono thing," said tho latter, lat-ter, "cablegram, nro dear; and I daro ray you remember enough of tho governor gov-ernor to gut S3 the s'n c of my finances." "Tho troublo Is," raid John, "thnt all my Ftamps aro In that beastly house." "All your what?" asked Alexander. "Stamps money," explained John. "It's nn American expression. I'm nfrald I contracted ono or two." "I havo somo," said Flora. "I havo a pound note upstn'.rs." "My dear Flora," returned Alexander, Alexan-der, "a pound note won't seo us very far; and besides, this Is my father's business, nnd I shnll be very much surprised sur-prised If It Isn't my father who paya for It." "1 would not apply to him yet; I do not think that can bo wise," objected Flora. "You havo a very Imperfect idea of my resources, nnd nono at all of my effrontery," replied Alexander. "PleaBo observe." Ho put John from his way, choso a stout knlfo among the BUppcr things, and with surprising quickness broko Into his father's drawer. "There's nothing encler when you como to try," he observod, pocketing tho money. "I wish you had not dono that," said Flora, "You will never hear th& last of it." "Oh, I don't know," returned tho young man; "tho governor Is human after nil. And now, John, let me seo your famous pass-key. Get Into bed, and don't move for any one till I come back. They won't mind you not answering an-swering when they knock; I generally don't myself. (TO III CnfTINUBD.I |