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Show A GREAT MYSTERY STOronM BycJwncs Oliver Curwood. ' x V CHAPTER XVH. Continued. "It la Pierre ThonaH," he aald. "eldest brother to Melcti-. It la he who should ssy what I am about to tall you, m'scur. But he Is too full of siief to epesk. You wonder at that? And yet 1 tell you tnvt - a man with a better soul thsu Pierre Thoreau never lived, thourh three times he has tried to kill you. On you remember remem-ber what you asked nie a abort time uo, m'aeur If 1 thouaht that you were the John Howland who murdered the lather of Meleese sixteen years snoT Ood'a aalnta, and I did until hardly more than half an hour ago. when some one came from the south and exploded a mine under un-der our feet. It was the youngest of the three brothcre. M'aeur, we have made a areat mistake, and we ask your forgive ness." "In the silence the eves of the two men sV mt arruss the tahle. To Howland It waa not the thought that hfa life was saved Ihst came with the grcateat force, but the thought of Meleese. tile knowledge that In that hour when sll seemed to be "i she waa nearer tojilm than ever. He lennrd half over the tabic, hla " hands clenched, his eyes biasing. Jesn did nut understand, for lie went on quickly. . . "I know It Is hsrd. m'scur. Perhaps It will be impossible for you to forgive a tiling like this. We have tried to kill you ' kill yon by a slow torture, aa we thought you deaerved. But think for a moment, m'aeur. of what happened up and Meleese, healtatinc. framed In the opening. .It waa Howland who apoke first. "I thank Clod that all these things have happened, Jean." he aald earnestly. earnest-ly. "I am glad that for a time you took die for that other John Howland. and that Pierre Thoreau and hla brothers schemed to kill me at Prince Albert and Wekuako. for If tlrese things had not occurred oc-curred as they hsve I wouid never have eeen Meleese. And, now. Jean " Hla eara caught aound of movement. and.be turned In time to aea Meleese slipptnr-ooletly out. "Meleeee!" he called softly. "Meleese!" "Me-leese!" In sn Instant he had darted after her. leaving Jean beside lite table.. Heyond the door there waa only the breaking gloom of the gray morning, but It waa enough for him to see falnlly the figure fig-ure of tlte girl he loved, half turned, half walling for him. With a cry of Joy he sprang forward and gathered her close In his arms. "Meleese my Meleese " he whispered. whis-pered. -- After that llieiw taure no euumt fiom the dswn lit room beyond, but -.Jesn Croissct, still standing- by the table, murmured mur-mured eoftly to himeelf: "Our blessed Isdy be prslsed, for It Is all aa Jean Croisset would have ltand now I can go to my Marian!'' (The end ) here sixteen years ago thia winter. - I have tolJ you how I choked life from the man fiend- So I would have choked life - from you If It had not been for Meleese. I, too. am guilty. On ly si x yea rs ago e knew that the right John Howland tUe son of the man 1 alew was In Mn- . treat, and we sent to seek him this youngest brother, for he had been a long time at achool with Meleese and knew the ways of the south better than the otbera. But he failed to find him at that - time, and It was only a short while ago that this brut Iter located you. "As our blessed lady la my witneaa, m'aeur. it la not, strange that h ahould have taken you for the man we sought, for It la singular that you bear him out like a brother in looks, ax I remember tlie hoy . Hist rue that Francois made a great error when he sent word to his brothers suggesting thst If either Greg-son Greg-son or Thome waa put out of tha way you would probably be sent Into tlw north. I awear by the virgin that Meleese Me-leese knew nothing of this, m'aeur. Hhe knew nothing of Uie schemea by whirl. her brother drove Oregaon and Thome hark Into the south. They dd not wish to kill them, and yet It waa necessary' in do e.methlng that you might replace one of them, m'seur. Tiy did not make a move h In ne but- thst something happened. hap-pened. Tregson lost a finger. Thome was badly hurt aa vou know. Bullets came through their window at night. With .larkpine in their employ it was easy to work on them, and it waa not long before be-fore they wni down asking for another man to replace them.' For the first time a surge of anger swept through Howland. '"The Toward!" he exrlalmed. "A pretty pair. Croisset to trawl out from under a trap to let another In at the i op." ."I'erhans not sd had aa that," aald lean. "They were given to. understand that thv and they alone were no' w tinted in the country. It mav be thai they did not think harm would coma to vou. and ao 'kepk nuiet about what lud happened. It may' be. too. that they did not like to have It known that thev were running away from danger. Is not that human, m'aeur? Anyway, you were detailed de-tailed to come, and not until then did Melese know of all that had oururred."i The Frenchman stopped for a moment. The glare had faded from Howland's eyes. The tense lines In hla face relsed. "I T believe I understand everything now. Jean," he aald. Yii traced tlte wrong John Howland. that's all. 1 love Meleeae. Jean. 1 would kill John Mnw laud for her. I want to meet her brothers and shake their hands. I don't blame them. They're men. Bui, somehow. It ' hurts to think of her of Meleese as aa almost a murderer' Me-n Dieii. ii.'aeiir, haa she not saved oir.ffe? l.tKten t thia! It was then when Hlie knew what had happened that Meleese ra ute to me whom she had made the happlertt man n the world be-.aiiewe be-.aiiewe It wm she whi brought tnv Marl-aoe Marl-aoe over front Chtirthlll on rlslt eape. t-ially that 1 might sea her and fall In love with her. to rtur which I did. Meleese Me-leese erne to n.e-.to Jah Crelai-et and instead f planning' your mupler. m'seur. nle ftr-hemed to save vowr life with ine who would have rut you Into bits no , - larger than ray finger and fe-d you to t he rarrion ravens, who would have choked t'e Ufa out of you until your even milard In death, as I choked that one up on the Ore at Slave! po you understand, un-derstand, m'seur? It was Meleeae ho t-snf and pleaded with me to aava your ire.aberore ymi had left Chk-aao. before he had heard more of you t han your name, before" Crnlsaet healtated. and stopped. rVf..re -what. Jean?" pfra- a he Jiad learned to love you, in'aeur." .ihI hi eat her!" evclalmed Howland "Yon hc.eve this, m'seur?" "as I believe in a Ood.' "Tlien I will tell vou whst she did. m'seur.' he continued In a low vo.- "The plan of the brothers waa to make JW vou a prisoner near Prl nee A Inert a nd -s l-rlnr yot north. I knew what waa to a happen then. It waa- to be beautiful " venaatve. m'setir-- a slow torturing death on the snot where the crime was ommitted sixteen years Bin. Rut Me-leeiie Me-leeiie knw nothina of thlp. Fhe was made lo believe that up here, where th mother and father dl-d, you would h given over to the proper law lo the mounted police who come thia way now and then. She la only a erlrl, m'aeur. easily mad to believe strange thlnas in sttch matters a these, eta she would have wondered whv yon were not given lo the officers In Prince Albert. It was ' the rldcat brother who thouaht of her as a lure to brine vmi out of the town Into their hands, and nM until the laat moment mo-ment when thev were readv to leave for the fMith. did she overhear words that aroused her suspicions that they were about to kill you. It wan then, m'seur. that she came to me." "And vou. Jen?' "On the day that Maria ne promised to become my wife, m'aeur, I promised In our blessed lady's name to repay my dent to Meleese. and the manner of payment pay-ment came In thia fashion. Jackpfne too. was her ilave. and so we worked to--aether. Two hours .after Meleese and her brothers had left for the south t wssi following them, shaven of beard and ao changed that I was not rervrnlaed In the Ma-ht on the (rent north trail. Meleese thought that her brothers would make you a prisoner that niiriit without harm-In harm-In a you. Iter brother told her how to brine; you-to their camp, fthe knew nothing: noth-ing: of the ambush until thev leaped on rou from trover. Not until after the fight. wlen In their rajre at your eerape ihe bpthere told her that thev had Intended In-tended to kin vou. did she realise fully hat she had done. That la all, m'seur. Tou know what happened after that Fhe dared, not tell you at Wekuako who your enemies were, for those enemies ene-mies were? of her own flesh and Mood, and dearer to her than life, hhe waa - between two great toj, m'seur the love for her brothers and " , Again Jean hesitated. "And .her love for me," finished How-Uod How-Uod "Yea. her lore for yi. m'aeur." TJ7 The two men rose from tle table, and r for a moment atood with rJasped hand In the smoky liaht of lamo and dean. Tn that moment neither heard a tap at the dorr leadlnc to the room heyond. nor saw the door more centij la ward. |