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Show IvEALED UNDERTHE MISTLETOE IL McCarthy. Author of -Made for Each Other," "His Ideal Chri.tma., "Mistletoe and Orange Bios-I Bios-I tom A Christmas Wager," etc. SBrTo( Christmas In the vll-WAlK vll-WAlK region of al- Jmra.leJ thl Um hy the local excltem. nt. r Bthe s"cludfd dwellers In m Av, ict v ii' ''' ""8 a iVir- -iao in one Gf Mi , tes, ad was sheltered ran of low-lying hill. MZ fo picture. Mt of IK' "T m int bo owned, con-SpMW-Ji 'Jut lltilr "br.nt the within troubling them-IggWt them-IggWt to the vlaims the K at. n mo In V.-l. .- LS some relatives or In-;i;Jm In-;i;Jm , other of the few h"d property m that L, had ancestral hom a Kver there had been a grange on the hills V and some of the old. si begun to declare jm ii ') know what a5 ; Btbe place! There had Rivalling I" the vll-?.ntrv vll-?.ntrv nil round w is 11b-EWneJ 11b-EWneJ only any-rould any-rould take the trouble to Z subterranean treasure- Now all of a sudden 'abroad that the Be ret red and dlvulgefl to the l mi the new VteltOM to 'the pioneers of a -spee-residents of the t or the most part, well larding to the traditions ETarTd regarded '11 aa ? to" have their Ordinary turbed by Intrusive even S lnvadra. They did nol gy was to com. to tlm "CV mines or selling ol t fce Mr the moat part, 6 fearsome Idea that th" jronri- tors and th ir fam-jared fam-jared out of the plac al-bcurslons al-bcurslons of noisy lo-en lo-en min-rs-i.T 'i w..s i their minds could form MCtbsagi s who wen - n -metals beneath the sur-ftntp. sur-ftntp. however, took a MtO matter, even when m lt- nc ?f waiter Claremont, who wife and hi unmarried JiaKjJsome, old-iaOd.-.n -I i ncestors had oceupl. d Snya Sir Walter and had one mu rn d daugh-rham. daugh-rham. th you in?, hana-Swdded hana-Swdded wlf of Gen. Bel-rgest Bel-rgest landowner In Hint hy man. who hnd retired srvicc and had bee Annas of the eld. r Miss far as year? w re i on-ireunont on-ireunont mlTlu h vt been fa daughter; hut she was lly described an n sensible no chance of finding a K0er In Valleydene an I dvantages which money jrwpect of freo.ue.ntly vls-i vls-i P;.rl far too Wi 11 to r-if r-if marriage which was, f pr"-srd upon h-r by Etita Sir Waller, lt should Ut n poor landlord, with me nnd a fast-dlaappear-ad he had of late set his i on the finding of :i rich i younger daughter. The lef was becoming more w of dissatisfaction to la Claremont was a very 1 graceful tie. ire, and. tall or ?o striking In ap-r ap-r t)0er eisb r hod more ef fain y In hr deep pray dnatiiiK' smUOi :' nfl n r'x ;rt sincerity which made ling" to all who had the 0 met her. Sir Walter r anxious that his daugh-ret daugh-ret any romantic Ideas and he thereby led Into rlth fome attractive young i not properly provide for net add In any waj to the Claremont family Some I ideas can be thoroughly in th conversation which mn Sir WaJter and Lady the lait newe " said Sir ibis wife were conversing nail library of th" house millionaire" Is rcI.h; to buj that can be bought In and nt. and he Intends to pay htre at Chrls'ma and to JWTJ'r hlrn5c,f Ths sa' SKtc, v,."11 h;iv to build one- If WKth?0 thal aiuono of us KLl0 Prt with hl' horn.. fui- 1 can1 . " ljta Claremont 'r ySBK. jo' 'Lysine why anyr.no iafeSh'-r,- whrj could bu a Lvl iniS'r?' n1" Hrrn"of oit'--SatKnu o.1''' ls ,J"n here I a naft of assistants S to v.or); , ..i,,. ' it' - ;-nalr.-t is not I,., "iH .UI .m"os'j' ff"' mi- r-asou 3fcl olrtv r,nu,'lon at" -.it her .j(B ti3 v',;' fon f romances 1 & .' : -j41 '" .".,. iro suro to be rtfioBf,- Ma ; ' ' -' J' heiv. K . ' '"n'"" sks. ,u,d VKncan t'1. gno1 match jM" til ar,s'oorars . .1n, 'O-'Bfc '" lk' good SlBStOUnr ,a" ,ikr '", Kt U?1" ,hoi Cornea r tt l iLwii!? on 'later sho (0a not 'i:' r'hC , y- :lnrI ahe knows I 0 on aomi thing Phere. there! 'ion ftrp alwaya backing wteh she ,)ld not hav ;i.t v..ung Wlow -that ydung Rupert V h , . s.;,!,. , an , - - why dS28S8 f"1 Wr Who ls h n, , v V H" lonK own h,-- at n r ,h ,i(,""vvV1"3r' shA hlm flr!t 1 K.'...n , m P r" !''--' 1,1 I ""don. end In he ib Compani n"l yu know too. that 1 ho Is not an American, bat an English man by birth and famhy.' tnRlsh- h is n"fo rnP'vbu,1 hr' nK llvfd no1! '! PttE a,ul " brauthi 8course was suddenly null i fi-.h 5 i elrl f "'"d soc wlh r,"' .f 5rwa lhat her father HKther had bo,,, ,1I,UB ,bot Ilk. 1 to :1Kreo. and ,1 ov..,, oreurrej to I '"',.;, n"i" lWhJBr 'nipoaslble tl th 1 i " (;"-n i n debat, mlghl have aomethlng ' lo ti, herself. She fa. i the sltua! anjvli&tj! ohjacterIUc sweet tempo, 1 "Come: now. yon two darlings" he : aaid sou have been diputinB aboul some. thing rather exciting. hope f wu QOtthe occasloh of any disagreement?" w.-ll ns a matter of fad vnu ,UA mm into. the question" her father answered, with a resolute effort to be congenial and conciliators The fe, ,s ,,7 vo r mother and I Ho not quiie agree ' as to r'nrtac.T,ra,?,t:inf0s;1,lp vlth tWa young llo i this Tin pen nRur?rt- . wats-h la-name, your father can- mm. Ladv riaremont Interjected I ' You talk as If yon were deeply Interested Inter-ested In this oung fellow," Sir Walter said, rather sternly. i am deepl) Interested In him. 1 think he is the most interesting man l ever met I only wleh 1 knew some more men nie him ' i-oia added mis last remark re-mark rather hurrledh as If it had suddenly sud-denly occurred to h'-r as a necessarj means of extdaining that her whoi.- interest inter-est was not exclusivi iy concentrated n this one man. and thnt she would bf onlJ too glad to meet with other voung men equal I j Interesting. Sir Walter's quickened quick-ened perceptions caught the moaning ot the added observation. Probably he would be a great Heal less dangerous If there wore a few more Ilk him ' Sir Walter paid, with a somewhat s Ltlrlcal slanro at his daughter ' W hat Is this man s name? " Isola remained silent. She f"lt that her attempt to modifj her position had not been very successful. His name le Ruber! Oldcastle Lady Claremont said. iuletl She had still erough of the sentimental in her not to be too hard upon a possible love affair "I should think his name Is the only association he can have with any old casM. " Sir Walter said scornfully "Now look 'here. Isola let u? be open and straight forw at d about this b usiness. 1 do not approve of this onng fellow's attentions atten-tions to you. and I shall make it my business bus-iness to let him know, if lt be necessary. that we want nothing of th Kino n.ie He is not of our class this young fellow. I take It for granted that he Is some poor and strutting artist who lives In ho Leicester square regions of London, and is trlnr to get his drawlnp taken by some of the illustrated London PPrs i dn't ni e the idea of your being aeen w ilklna r.hnut the roads with him. and i live ou fall warning that I do not mean ;0 stand " much longer B. erne rnber , my ear"-turnlng to his wtfa-Olg Oldca stlc oung man is not to be aeked to any of ir Christmas parties " "But. my dear." Lady Claremont quiet-rVmonsttated. quiet-rVmonsttated. "he is sure to be i at the I Mngnams' parties and we know noth-m? noth-m? ot all against him. he has always be- rved like a perfect gentleman, and I think his talk 1 1 most Intenattnc. T rion't want his talk. said BIT W ai- tor Sand I don't want him. I win not allow lnr-ln to become a subject of gossip ill roiird the country. I hear on good S thor v thai a number of Londoners ar coming down to pass Christmas her. this V and that the A-merlcan million tire Wh, ia going to buy up everything : round Ing characteristics of Isoia Claremont from the time of their first meeting at G in BelDngham's Jjandon house and the lirst uncomfortable Impression made on the paternal mind of sir waiter Clare-tnonl Clare-tnonl came from the fan lhat Rupert Oldcastle's visit to Valleydene followed so quickly on hln first meeting with Isola In London What more natural, Sir Walter thought, than thut a struggTmg young artlt should get Into Ins head that It WOUld bo a tine t!inK for him If he could w-ln the affections Of a romantic and Inexperienced In-experienced Klrl. a daughter Ol the British Brit-ish aristocracy. Sir Walter, whose Mni-ited Mni-ited means did not cnabh him lo maintain main-tain with satisfaction to himself that aristocratic aris-tocratic rank which he was sn proud of possessing, had long mad. up Ms mind that th.- beal thim," now to happen to him and to his house whx that his seconJ daughter too should marry some man of larg. fortune and the aei the flag of the fumll riving once again. He had of late to far modified his pretensions pre-tensions that he WOUld not now have n-Blsted n-Blsted on ancestral rnnk as one of the ln-dispensable ln-dispensable qualifications in his daughter daugh-ter s husband. He hud scoffed contemptuously contemptu-ously at the name of the poung aitist for the reason that Rupert was not a likely person to have any association With an old castle of the ancestral order, but he was coming more and more Into the mood Of mind which would ha e dls- pensed with the ancient palace on condi tlon that the new candidate for his daughters hand could bring with him abundant shekels of the tested gold Sir 1 She Faced the Situation with Her Cho.iacteri&tic Good Temper and Vivacity not apparently with any desire to pour oil on troubled waters "Well, you know the young man I mean," Sir Walter went on. "I don't see what we want v. Iih him about this house so often Who Is he Who knows him"' "My brother-in-law knows him." Isola answered "1 came to know' him only through my brother-in-law " But what do you see attractive about him?" One does not often meet attractive m. n In this dull old region; and he seems to me a perfect gentleman, and a very Interesting man. He has traveled all over the world and hae seen llf" of all kinds. He has the soul of an artist, and I only wish he would give himself up altogether to art. and not waste his time in mere t ravel here Is to be Wltn in' ni. dim i uw "L these r" Pe to Imagine that our daugh-r,, daugh-r,, ' to lake up with an obscure Stat fellow and to make a fool of her- Beioi Whlll these last words were com-tg com-tg irom her father's angry lips, had left thRuert nid'easne had come down to v5?oydr M In the closing days of the au-tumn au-tumn He had brought son,- Introductions Vn"a g'r..-at London snllclfr. which nnl w , r him as a young man who had tSSeled much and had a teste for and-, and-, tine- and. as acquaintonce ol sBSShfc i" iown ' t !l F'W ; , t., . ted In th, jgd .Vrnaur -'ndjhr many other charm- Wallers mind had just now been freshly disturbed by the n-ws which he had heard from the London solicitor that the gnat American millionaire was likely to paj a visit to Valleydene at Christmas, and that the groat American millionaire WSS as yel an unmarried man This was nil that Mr. Bardley, the London solicitor, solici-tor, could or would tell him about the P-rsorialli of the millionaire, tout Sir Walter uhs given to understand that If th.- expected vlsltoi should like th- place, he would in all probability settle there buy up an th.- available land and build it palace and iiat a park for himself Mr. Bardie; further explained that the American did not wish to have his name known Just yel as ho much disliked to be made a sUDjecl of local gossip and of personal narairra nhs in th- newsnaners .Mr Lardley did not profess to know very much about the manner In which the rich man had acquired his fortune; but. ho understood that his luck had consisted in the sudden good fortune of himself and some few other adventurers in discovering dis-covering diamond mines where no one else had looked for such hidden treasures. Meanwhile the year was drawing toward to-ward Its Christmas --en son The skies were overhung with masses of gray darkness dark-ness There were some heavy falls of enow, and the soft white covering was lying in picturesque slopes on the sides Of the hills overlooking the sea The snow In that region was of a peculiar and delicate deli-cate whitness, ard owing to the softness of tho general temperature, the few remains re-mains of foliage still to be seen over a garden wall or by some frozen pool retained re-tained even yet something of their bewitching be-witching green. Rupert Oldcastlo felt more and more drawn toward the place ac- he saw It In Its Christmas aspect. With all his wanderings through the world in so many climates, he thought he had never seen anything which seemed to touch him an LnRilshman born, with a sweeter and more tender sense of home and kinship than that limited extent of hill and valley and sea upon which ho had been looking elnce his coming to this place Just now he was going to pay an afternoon call at Mrs Beiiingham's, and 1 had been especially invited to pa that visit In order that he might make tor the benefit of the hostess .some artistic suggestions for the appropriate orna-' orna-' mentation of her house during the r h 1st-'mas 1st-'mas festivities with which she Intended J to celebrate the season Now, Rupert was a very kindly-hearted young man hut It Is possible that he might not have been quite so ready to devote de-vote any part of his time to the Christmas Christ-mas decoration of Mrs. Bellingham s I house If he had not come to know that sola 1 laremont w-as expected to take p hading part In the appropriate beautifying beautify-ing of the mansion. The house was a very , stately building, with B park or pleas-nnce pleas-nnce about lt. and It had on its drawing-room drawing-room floor Bome 1ouk and very handsome I galleries stretching from side to side and across the back and front of the building 1 and thus plcturesqueh sheltering the large drawing-room while vet leaving it I quit" ample and spacious enough for the reception of Its Christmas guests Ru-pert Ru-pert found that his hOStesa and her sister I w-ero already busily engaged In adorning the walls of the drawing-room and th J galleries with l.ilsh displays of holly and Ivy, giving to old family pictures an as-j as-j sociatlon with the berries of their adorn-I adorn-I ments. Rupert took much pleasure In concerning himself with the preparations and In giving sucn suggestions as nia artistic ar-tistic taste might offer for their disposal and their multiplication. Under his guidance gui-dance some of tho ancestral portraits seemed to look out on the galleries not from their mechanically-constructed frames but from boughs and branches and leaves sacred to tho Christmas tlim Rupert had In his mind, however, one thought all the tlme-the thought that he must not lose that opportunity of open-In? open-In? his whole heart to I.soln It was not that he had an doubt as to his knowledge knowl-edge of his love for her. or that ho did not f el sure h'-r heart was turning toward to-ward him l,nng before this riveting he had felt aura thai they two were drawing olosei and closer every day in that sympathy 1 which Is the fountain of lov. But he had ! a purpose In his mind which it wab his earn os t resolve to carry out at once and f. r which hS felt that he could not find a h Iter opportunity than that now afforded af-forded him bj the shelter of the Belling-him Belling-him mansion The heavy snows whioh were ushering in Christmas rendered their walks and drives Impossible for the present evn If Sir Walter had not forbidden for-bidden hie daughter to be seen abroad In such" companionship; and his fond d. sre was to declare hlR loVS fully and dellber-nte'iv dellber-nte'iv to Isola that day. and to put her to that love-test the result of which if it nroved favorable to him would ensure his happiness, and then leave It to him to do ll in his power toward ensuring hers. The chances of the day proved favorable tn his wishes. Some other friends of Mrs. Bellinaham'a-men as wall aa women- came In from the c ountry houses around : Wands who were to make part Of the approaching festivity and Mrs BelllnK-ham BelllnK-ham had to take the newcomers into other parts of the galleries to show them Whal had been already don in the work of ornament Rupert drew Isola aside to explain to her some alteration which, ns lie said, could still he Improved, and they presently found themselves alone In one of the smaller galleries. Then ho began: "I have loved you from the first. ' Rupert Ru-pert said "I had seen a great deal of the world, and done or tried to do many things, but I had never fallen in lovs b -fore And do you know Isola, that tin one dream of my life from my very boj hood has been that I might he loved h some woman for my own sake alone, by some woman who could love me as I loved her merely for my own sake, and nut because of any worldly advantages that I could bring to her " "Then your dream. Rupert. Is a reality a living reality Isola murmur, d. and sic gently laid her hand upon his rm "1 know it, I know it'" Rup.-rt exclaimed, ex-claimed, passionately "Many a time, sola in m wanderings i have congratulated congratu-lated msolf on nol having been born to rank or fortune, because that very fact gave me all the better c hance of finding the woman who could love me for my s--1 f : and If I could not find her. 3 wished l ci live alone. You see Isola." he i-ald. with a bright smile. "I was always set down as a romantic sort of fellow, but In that I have got rrn own way In the end I have found tho woman who can love iii" f'-r myself, have I not"" ITOn have Indeed found her Rupert-and Rupert-and you will tlnd her ever true to you 'But your people 1 he asked anxiously ' Mow will lho take up with our roniun-tlc roniun-tlc Ideas? am sure dear girl, that T should be able to keep you In tolerable Comfort; but that Is not exact Iv- the sort -of thing that members of the British aristocracy claim for their daughters, and 1 am nfrnld Sir Walter will not be disposed dis-posed to give much of a hearing to the 'love-ln-acottage t heory " ' My father has spoken lo me about It already." Isola said, timidly, and with her eyes cast down. "He spoke very Strongly; he said I must not be peep Walking with you anv more My mother ( 'hlnk. I could Win over more easily, hot I am afraid my father will be hard to move." "Would not even move I suppose. If T S re to b- another i laudi M lnotte. and BUddenly produce some enormous purse containing twice the sum which had been Hpul'ii.-d for as the purchase-money of my bride'' No, that would not suit him for the Claude Melnotte would still be nl; one of the lower orders and could have no claim whatever by his men-wealth men-wealth to wed with a daughter of the aristocracy." ' Rupert. Rupert' You must nol speak of my father In that contemptuous way; n makes m angry with myself, for I feel that I ought not to have told you anything; any-thing; to his disadvantage. Ho loves me dearly." "Loves you dearl. and yet would not regard your happlnesr. us the first thing lo be thought of In arranging for your ma Tied life' But b'lleve me Isola, 1 would not, for an;, thing In the world, suy a word that could hurt your feelings; I only love you all the more because of your devotion to your father But now I must press vou for an answer, solal you do love me'" The enswer to that question Is Indeed easy," she replied, lifting her eyes to his and smiling a tiustful smile. 'I have ien my answer and my heart to you man) tlm"s already, I love you, Rupert with all my heart and all my soul. 1 think I must always have dreamt of such a love, I think from our first meeting at my slMi r's house In London 1 felt that W. were destined for each other." "Then ou will marry me If only 1 can get jour father's consent''" "Rupert, vou know- that that is the highesi iiop- of mv heart and my life." And she- hold out both h r hands to him. and when ho clasped them In his she laid h r head upon his shoulder H looked down upon her with a gaze of Infinite tenderness. "But If I cannot succeed In getting that consent''" he asked, In a low and tremulous tremu-lous voice "Then." she said, raising herself nearer towards him so lhat their Hps might have touched as Indeed thev were soon to touch"! will trust myself absolutely to you and to your loe, and will becontye your wife If I ha-, to sacrifice everything else for your ?ake I have told ou. Rupert, Ru-pert, that 1 have lust come of age. and there is. at all events, no legal difficulty in our way 1 heard mv father sav that to mv mother only the other day, and he gave It as another reason for his dislike to mj making the acquaintance of of of any cine whom h did not look upon as a lilting husband for me." Isola ga'-o half-melanoholj laugh as sho uttered these words "Then vou are mine for ever?" Rupert said. "Yours forever" she replied. In low. firm tone, and then the kiss of the lovers I . sled the contract. It was. perhaps, fortunate for th. lovers that the heard some sounds outside the nearer door of the gallery, which warned thi m that they were not likely to be Isola Studies the Plan for tho Decorations. longer alone Junt then The Interchanged one clasp of the hands and drew apart, and Isola went on with her work of arranging ar-ranging the ornamental preparations for the Christmas festival. Mrs Bellingham n.nd two ladles came Into the gallor, and joined In the ten. -ml study of the arrangements and decorations decora-tions Mrs. Bellingham. It may be said, had taken a favorable view of Rupert's personal appearance, of his intelligence', hia conversation, and his bearing generally gener-ally and she could not help seeing that he had won distinct favor In the eyes of her sister Sh. did not so. how It was possible that a love affair with the young man who had to make a prortirious and probably a noor living by artistic work of sonv kind cmld : In- brought abo it ejtcept at the cost of a downright quarrel with Isola's father .in knew very well what were ths only conditions on which Su Walter could he induced to hit-consent hit-consent to the marriage of his younger noughter, but she did not think it quite hk'.l that a suitor could be readily found .,! young, us handsome, as Intellectual and attractive us Runert, and who ajjio possessed a lare fortune with whn h 10 ndow his brldi Moreover, h.-r own experience ex-perience of her father's match-making capacity ca-pacity had not altogether poasessed her heart w-lth an enthusiasm for a marriage In which the bride had been prevailed upon to give herself away In order that sho might have a fine house In town and another In the country, and plenty of money to Spend on the enjoyments of fashionable life Mrs. Bellingham, therefore, did not put hi rself to any trouble when the visitor began to disperse with the object '' preventing pre-venting her sister and Rupert from having hav-ing a few partlnK words together. The lovers mads the b.-.st nae of their opportunity oppor-tunity In a remote corner of one of tn-now tn-now empty galleries "I shall not wee ou. 1 Rupert seldj until un-til the Christmas gathering here Dq not If you can avoid it aa) anything about me to anv one until that time " "Will vou speak to my father In the meanwhile?" ahe asked "Not In the meanwhile, dearest. I shall make my meaning Clear tO him. here In this house, on Christmas das " "Jf he shoild refuse his consent" "if he should refuse bis consent, then. sola) we take our own course, do we riot?" We do indeed. she answered, firmly, r nd their hands were clasped again "1 fcnt he win not consenl "1 shall give him hi.' full chance," Rupert Ru-pert said cheerily, "on Christmas dav." Then. aft. r a f. v. n. a vv mim" n v-oidv and other v' ssionc ot affectlo i, the lov.rs parted -!' Rupert passed out r gain into the Christmas snow He left sola still gazing at his departing form and turned many a backward glance to her. The Christmas festival night In the home of the Belilnghama was at the height of it success riu guests had aeen the appropriate dormm-nt of the galleries, gal-leries, and were now crowding the drawing-room, and mam remarks had been made on th- mlstlcto. bOugn, which was graoefnljv and convenlentlj hung In one remol i orner where- Intelligent eyes could easily discover it. but whore it did not obtrude its invitation on the assemblj In general. All the neighboring families who had inv fair c laim on the social welcome wel-come of the house, and among them many of the tenants of the accepted ordi i were gathered in the rooms. Isola and her father and mother were there, and IsOlS w . i looking, now anxious, now bright and hopeful, and always beautiful. There was much curiosity felt' as to thi coming of the millionaire, who was - pected to settle In that region, and to make Vallevdene an attractive place In the eyes of the oufler world. No one yet kn.-w who the coming visitor wa, and the eccrct of his Identity had been well ki pt bi Mi Bardley, who up to this time had. It would appear alone been Intrusted In-trusted with the key which had thus far locked and was expected soon 'to unlock. the mySterj Whatever Other subjects maj hav been talked about nmone the general company this was the one Which we rriay be sure was uppermost in every mind Isola herself had but a vague curiosity curi-osity about It, and was nol wlthoul 1 hope that the newcntvei minht prove to be some very unattractive and even vulgar vul-gar and repulsive personage upon whom Sir Walter Claremont must be unable to lcok with any possibl. thought of bringing bring-ing about a marriage with his daUghti But. for the most p..rt Isold's mind was occupied with a growing nnxleiv about the coming of Rupert He had promised to come, and she wejl knew that ho WOUld keep his promise Unless some Insurmountable In-surmountable obstacle should Interpose, and he dreaded even to think of what Such an obstacle might be She had been for some time seated at the piano, and Was giving forth even now and then passages of a melody suitable to the Christmas season Suddenly the news went round the room that th millionaire had actually arrived with Mr Bardie) as his guide; that the, had found a quiet entrance, unobserved, Into the house and were now In Gen. Beiiingham's stuclv with Bellingham himself him-self and Sir Walter Claremont Then all of a sudden Mrs Belllnirham and Lads Claremont were seat for bv den Bellingham Belling-ham and the went to J ln the visitors In th- study, Something Important and mysterious mys-terious was evidently going on, and I sola's so-la's heart beat with perplexed and tr U-bled U-bled emotions. Some time yet passed, leaving the company in delightful curiosity curi-osity and expectation. Then at laet th" doors of the dra wlnn-ronm. which hnd latclj been closed were suddenlv thrown or en. and there entered Con Bellingham and Sir Walter Claremont leading In Mr Bardley, and whom ? whom? not the expected ex-pected millionaire, but onlv Rupert Old-cattle' Old-cattle' Then Isola's heart revealed to her for the first time the whole nv -t ry. and she felt perfectly happy She had sruessed the secret even before she had time to ex-chants ex-chants with Rupert that glance of mutual revelation and mutual contS it. Then Mr Bardie) nd Ireaslng the coin-pans coin-pans generally, said in hs clear voice: T think you will all admit that we have kept our secret well. Mr. Oldcadtle and myself, Mr Oldcastle Is the man who Ir; about to settle In Yallfydcne and to spend some of his fortune in Improving and beautifying the nlnce. It was h's especial wish that his secret should be k'-pt and It had been kent until within the last hour Perhaps Sir Walter Claremont Clare-mont mnv have- lomethldg e:se to tell vou all before this Christmas night comes to a i end." The whole ntor la now told. In Gen. Beiiingham's stud) Rur-' rt had revealed his mysterv to sp- Walter Cl in mont cod had offered himself as a claimant 'or the hand of his daughter, and had told h'm that be had Kept his secret on'v 1n ord. r to feel sure thai h had won the love of sola for his own sake alone. Sir Walter had nobly consented to raise no obstacle on the ground thrt Rupert ha.l not been born a m-mher of the aristocracy, and Lady claremont avowed he sett dellg1led with the match. A little later In the evenlne Rupert led Isoli discreetly ard Ingeniously to that corner of the room where the Christmas mistletoe nunc and ihere. Indlfferert to the irlnces of any spectators who mixiit be n ar. he ns"d I her 11ns and thev opre npraln pie-Iced the Ir filth 'or t r We have onlv to wlah them Joy and to express our full trust that the happiness I thev so well deserved will :ir5lne upon I !l er niairWl life, and brighten many a I romlnn Christinas them an.l fur all whose cotnoanlonship Ihey held dear. Copyright. 190. hv the N'Ltlur.il Prea Acncv. |