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Show sVAaaaaaaVlaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaVlT' I 1 THE MAID af MAIDEN liANE 1 I Sequel to " Hie Dow of Orange Ribbon." WL A LOVE STORY BY AMEIilA E. BARR HJ (Copjtlihl, 1100. tay A-oelia K. llrt) H CHAPTER XII (Continued.) k "Poor Utile fish!" answered Annie. Jf "They could not cry out. or plead with H-j ou, or beg for the r lives, becauso HjB they were dumb and opened not their H mouths, they wero wounded and I strangled to death." Hn "Don't ay such things, Annie. How HcS can I enjoy mj siiort II you do?" H'll "I don't think you ought to enjoy Hi 'P01"1 wh,ch ls murder. You have your HJtfy wherry to sail, la not that sport f j enough? 1 hnvo heard )ou say noth- H j Inn that floats on fresh water, can beat H a Norfolk wherry" Bkj Then Hyde and Mary had n came of Mbv, battledore, and she watched them loss- f 7 ,nB the gayly pnlntod corlts, until amid K ' ' their light laughter and merry talk she H fell asleep. And when sho awakened HF It was sunset, and thero was no one In Hj her room but her maid. Sho had slept Hj long, but In spite of Its refreshment, HL she had a sense of something uneasy. Vjr" r"""- Then aba recalled the story Mary HM Damer had told her, and because she BY comprehended the truth, she was In- HP. stantly at rest. The whole secret was HH- clear as daylight to her She was pos HJf Itlvo Item Van Arlens was himself the H' thief of her cousin's lote and happl HJ ness, and the brlnger of grief almoit of death to Cornelia Hlio said to v herself, "I shall not bo long here, and before I go away I mutt put right HJ lore's wrong" HJ 8he -would write to Cornelia. Her HJ word would bo Indisputable. Then HJ she would dismiss the subject from HJ her conversations with Mary, until HJ' Cornelia's answer arrived, nor until HJ that time would she say a word of her HJ suspicions to Hyde. In pursuance of I) these resolutions the following letter Hi to Cornelia loft Hyde Manor for New HJ York the next mall: "To Miss Cornelia Moran: HJ "Because you are very dear to ono HJ of my dear kindred, and bocause 1 feel HJ that you aro worthy of his great love, HJ t also love you. Will you trust mo HJ now? There has been a sad mistake. Hj I bellove I can put It right. You must HJ recollect the day on which Gcorgo HJ1 Hyde wrote asking you to fix an hour HJ i when be could call on Doctor Moran HJL about your marriage. Did any other 7 lover ask you on that day to marry HJ him? Was that other lover Mr. Van HJ Arlens? Did you write to both about HJ the same ttmo? If so, you misdirected HJ your letters, and the one Intended, for HJ Lord Hyde went to Mr. Van Arlens, HJ and the ono Intended for Mr. Van HJ Arlens went to Lord Hyde. Now you HJ 'will understand many things. HJ "Can you send to me, for Lord Hyde, HJ a copy of the letter you Intended for HJ htm. When I receive It, you may con- HJ tent your heart. Delay not to answer HJ this; why should you dolay your hap. HT ita-KV Pinets? I send you as love gifts my JrSMt.tttftpBfcdeslres, prayers, all that Is HTT best TWrie, all that I give to ono high Hj' In my esteem, and whom I wish to H place high In my affection. This to your hand and heart, with all slncer- tty. Annie Hydo." Hj Bhe calculated her letter would Hj reach Cornelia about the end of Sep-HJ Sep-HJ tember, and she thought how pleasant' HJ ly tho hopo It brought would brighten Hj her life. And without permitting Hydo B.v,1 to suspect any change In his love at H fair, she very often led the convert-HJ convert-HJ tlon to Cornelia, and to the clrcum-HM clrcum-HM stances ol her, life. Hyde was always HW' willing to talk on this subject, iid Hi thus ike learned so much about Aren-HJ Aren-HJ . ta, and Madame Jacobus, and Item Hfj Van Arlens, thai the pooplo becamo HLt her familiars. Kf Certainly the letter sent to Cornelia Hi' sped on Its way all the moro rapidly HJ and Joyfully for the good wishes and Hi nnselflsh prayers accompanying IL Tho HV very ship might have known It was the Hi bearer of good tidings, for If there HI bad been one of the mighty angels HJ whose ohargo la on the great deop at Hi tho helm of tho Good Intent sho could Hj V not have gono more swiftly and surely me to her haven One morning, nearly a Br week In advance of Annie's calcula. f , j , HE' With clothing of every description, H tlon, the wonderful letter was put Into i Cornelia's band. The handwriting was strange, It was an English letter, what ' could It mean? i HmjL Let any one who has loved and been . ft. parted from the beloved by some mis. i understanding try to reallzo what It B meant to Cornelia She read It through HHf In an Indue, i able hurry and cino- H tion, and then In tho most natmal and H,' womanly way, began to crj There Hlj! was only one wonderful thought she HH could entertain It was not the fault HH of Jorls This was the assurance that LVsWv turned her Joyful tears Into gladder pVO smiles, and that made her step light Hbfl an bird on the wing, as she ran down HHJFF the stairs to find her mothor, for her HHfr-'I happiness wa. not perfect till she HT shared It w a the heart that had PHI borne her rrow, and rarrled her IgH grief through many w eary months with PH In the first hours of her recovered PP gladness the did not even eraembor Real's grt laUlt. nor yet her own MB arelesiness.. These things were only mM' aecUnUf not worthy to be taken BseSM f KMJJJJJJJJJjajjL. LVsVsVsVsVaBst'.! ' Into account while the ureal sweet hope that had como to her, flooded like a springtide every nook and corner cor-ner of her heart. In such a mood how easy It was to answer Annie's letter. Hlip lerollected eery word sho had written to IIdo that fateful day. and she wrote them again with a tenfold Joy. CHAPTER XIII. i The Return of Joy. Now It Is very tiotlccnblc that when unusual merits begin to happi n in any life, there is a succession of such oontB, and not unfreriuently they ur rive in similar ways. At any rate, about ten days after the receipt of Annle'a letter, Cornelia was almost equally amazed by the receipt of another an-other letter a piece of paper twisted carelessly but containing theso few pregnant words "Cornelia, dear, como to mo. Drlng me something to wear I have Just arrived, sated by the skin of my teeth, and I hate not a decent gar ment of any kind to put on. Arcnta." A thunderbolt from a clear sky could hsrdly hate caused such surprise, sur-prise, but Cornelia did not wait to talk about tho wonder Hhe louduil a maid with clothing of utery description, uml ran across tho street to her friend Arcnta saw her coming, and met her with a cry of Joy and as Van Aricns was sick and trembling with tho sight of his daughter uml the Inlo of her sufferings, Cornelia persuaded htm to go to sleep, and leave Arenta to her caro, Poor Arenta, she was 111 with tho privations sbo had suffered, she was half-starved, and nearly without clothing, but she did not complain much until she had been fed, and bathed, and "dressed " as she said, "like a New York woman ought to be." "You know what trunks and trunks full of beautiful things I took away with me, Cornelia," sho complatnod; "well, I have not a rag left. I have nothing left at all." "Your husband, Arenta?" "He was guillotined " "Oh, my dear Arcnta!" "Guillotined. I told htm to bo quiet I begged him to go oer to Marat, but not his nobility obliged him to stand ' by bis order and his king. Bo for them he died. I'oor Athanasel Ho expected mo to follow him, but I could not mako up my mind to tho knlfo. Oh, how terrlblo It was!" Thon she began to sob bitterly, and Cornelia let her talk of her sufferings until she fell Into a sleep a sleep, easy to see, still hunted by the furies nnd terrors through which she had passed. For a week Cornelia remained with her friend and Madame Jaoobus Joined them as ofton as possible, and gradually gradu-ally tho half-dlatraught woman recovered recov-ered something of her natural spirits and resolution. Of courso with many differences. Sho could not bo tho same Arcnta, she had outlived many of her Illusions. She took but little Interest for a white In the life around her. Hem she did talk about, but chiefly becauso bo was going to marry an Ung-Hah Ung-Hah girl, an Intention sho angrily deplored. de-plored. "1 am sure," she said, "Mem might have learned a lesson from my sad fortune. What does he want to marry a foreigner for? He ought to have prevented mo (rum doing so, instead of following my foolish example." "No ono could have prevented you, Arcnta You would not listen oven to your father." "Oh, Indeed, It was my fate. We must all submit to fate. Why did you refuso Item?" "He was not my fato, Arenta." "Well, then, neither Is George Hyde your fato. Aunt Jarouua has told mo some things about him. She saya he Is to marry his cousin. You ought to marry Item." As she said theso words Van Arlens, accompanied by Jorls Van Heemsklrk, entered tho room, and Cornelia was , glad to escape," She knew that Arenta Aren-ta would again relate all her experiences, experi-ences, and sho disliked to mingle them with her renewed dreams of lova and , her lover, "Sho will talk ntid talk." said Cor 1 nella to her mother, "and then thero i will be tea and chocolato and more I talk, and I havo heard all 1 wish to 1 hear nbout that dreadful city, and the 1 demons who walk In blood. Senator Van Heemsklrk camo In with her rather as I left." "I hope ho treated jou moro civilly ' than mndaroe did." "Ho was delightful, I courtesled to him, and ho lifted my hand and kissed It nnd said, 'I grew loteller every day,' and I kissed his cheok and said, I wished ulwa to be lutely In b?s , sight ' Then I camo homo, because ' I would not. Just yet, speak of George I to him." "Arcnta would hardly havo given I jou any opportunity I wonder at what I hour she will relcaso Jorls Van Hetuiaklrkl' ' It will Jiu later than it ought to bo" I Indeed It was to late that Madame I Van Heemsklrk had locked up her . house for the night, and was troubled at her husband's dolay even a little cross. ! "An old man like you, Jorls," she . said In a tone of voxalion "titling till nine o'clock with the last runaway 1 from I'urls; a cold jou havo already, and all for a girl that threw her senses ' behind hor, to marry a Frenchman." J "Much sho has suffered, Lysbet." I "Much sho ought to suffer. And I i believe not In Arenta Van Arlens' suffering" suf-fering" "I will sit i Ittlo by the flro. Lys-bet Lys-bet Sit dowp y mo. My mind Is full of her story. I)!tte- fears and suffer Ing sho has como through. Her husband hus-band was guillotined last May, and from her home she was taken no tlmo to write to a friend no time to tate anything alio had, except a string of pcsrli, which round hor waist for many weeks she bid worn. Hungry and sick, upon the floor of bar prison the waa sitting, when her nana was , .'I' ' ' l called) for bead after bead of her pearl necklace had gono to her Jailor, only for a little black bread and a cup of milk twice n day; and this morning for twenty-four hours she had been without food or milk" "The poor little ono' What did she do?" "When In that terrible Iron armchair arm-chair before thoto bloody Judges, the sajs she forgot then to be afraid, Sho had no dress to help her beauty, hut the declares sho neter felt moro beautiful, beau-tiful, and well I can believe It They atked her name, and my I.jsbct, think of this child's answer! 'I nm called Arenta Jeffrrfon de Tournnerre," sho said, nnd at the name of 'Jefferson' there were exclamations, nnd ono of tho Jurymi n rose to his feet nnd asked excitedly, 'What Is It jou mi an? Jefferson! Jef-ferson! Tho great Jefferson' The great Thomas Jefferson' The great American who loves Franco and Mb crty?' 'It Is tho same," sho answered, nod then she snt silent asking no fator. so wlso was she, and Foutiulcr-Tlnvllle Foutiulcr-Tlnvllle looked at tho President nnd said. 'Among my friends I count this great American!' and a Jurymnn ndded, 'When I was poor and hungry he fed and helped me. nnd ho bowed to Arenta as he spoke. When questioned ques-tioned further she answered, 'I ndoro Liberty, I believe In France, ( married a Ficncbmsn, for Thomas Jefferson told mn I was coming to a great nation end might trust both Its government "Arenta Jefferson do Tournnerre." and Its goneroslty They wero all extremely ex-tremely polite to her, and gave hor at once the papers which permitted her to leave France. Tho next day a llttlo money she got from Minister Morris, but a very hard passago sho had homo." "After all, It was a He sho told, Jorls." (To be continued.) |