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Show HisSecretWasDisoovered BY WM. TROWBRIDGE LABNED. Tho vast hall was packed from pit to domo with a great concourse representing repre-senting the elltovot the metropolis Tho hour and the man had arrived The time nnd place seemed propitious. Taking her hand In both his own strong palms, rough with honest toll yet fashioned for caressing, he began with tho earnestness born of conviction: convic-tion: "Tho tlmo has come when you must know nil. Listen, and I will tell you the story of my life. How true It is tlult half the world does not know how the other half lives. I was born of poor but honest parents" "Stay!" she Interrupted. "No, no I mean, go! Lot us leave this sea of upturned faces, nnd repair to whore we aro not the cynosure of nil oyes-tho oyes-tho observed of all observers." "Listen," ho begnn again, when they wore safo from pursuit. "Foi years I havo hugged my awful secret to my breast. I havo passed many sleepless nights; It hns hnuntcd my waking hours. Torn with contending emotion a prey to tho most cruel anxiety that words fall to describe, and which tlmo nlono can heal, I have waited till tho eleventh hour, hoping against hopo for tho turn of fortune's wheel. Often In tho watches of the night time hns seemed to Btnnd still, nnd I have waited tho coming of the morn with batod breath, remembering remember-ing that" "Tho darkest hour is Just beforo dawn" sho lntorjectod with true womanly intuition. "Even bo," he acquiesced, flattered that she should rend his Inmost thought In a hoarse whisper, sounding n noto of warning. "I am frco to confess con-fess thnt I hnve known tho sting of poverty, and drained tho cup of sorrow sor-row to its dregs. Sometlmos my stnr as seemed to bo In tho ascendant. Notwithstanding tho soclnl gulf that separates us, my spirits rose by leaps nnd bounds whon you camo Into out midst, filling a long-felt want in tho nchlng void of my affections. You drew mo to you ns the ncedlo Is drawn to the polo. 'Behold, ' I said, 'tho lodestar lode-star of my destiny.' For, nfter nil Is said and done, It Is tho unexpected thnt happens, nnd, In the Inst analysis, an-alysis, tho right man In tho right place may drlvo tho thin eilgos ot tho wedge Into tho oak of opposition. opposi-tion. "Realizing thnt my enrly education had been neglected, I burnec tho midnight mid-night oil to tho wee, sma' hours. Lot us give credit whero credit is due. It wns In tho libraries established by that grand old mnn, Andrew Carncgla whero tho world's best llteraturo Is put within tho rench ot nil that I acquired ac-quired a liberal education In less time than It takes to tell. If I could but apply It. I knew that I would soon be rich beyond tho dream of avarice, and that my fondest hopes would bo realized. "At this crltlcnl Juncturo In my ca-rcor ca-rcor the palladium of our liberties were endangered, nnd a tldnl wave of reform swept tho country from center to clrcumrerenco, carrying nil boforo It. I rose to tho occasion nnd entered tho political aronn, determining tc sink or swim. I turnod orator, and tho peoplo hung on my words, nnd chcored mo to tho echo. Tho news ol my coming would sprend llko wild fire. Whero other spenkors woro Hb-toned Hb-toned to with respectful nttcntlon by a small but select audlenco, I was Invariably In-variably given nn ovation. My speeches mny havo lackod distinction of stylo, and, prepared ns they wore on tho spur of tho moment, I somo times neglected to round my periods; yet thoy were always punctuated with npplnuso and carried conviction to the minds ot my hearers. "Uut n fall follows prldo. I hao thought to llvo down my past, nnd carry my Bccrot to tho gravo. Dili In nn evil hour" Ho paused, shaken with emotion unnblo to nroceed further. It was n scone never to bo forgotten. Foi though It wns now high flood, nnd, within tho memory of tho oldest Inhabitant, In-habitant, old Sol hnd novor mulcted perspiring humnnity with such pernicious per-nicious nctlvlty; yot tho speaker's fnco took on nn Icy pallor, nnd his hnnds clutched convulsively nt his breatt. In tho denthllko sllonco thnt onsuod, you could honr a pin drop. As ho trembled llko n lenf, n book feu from his norveless flngors nnd lny open at tho tltlo pago. Tho lady picked It up, nnd with unerring un-erring lltornry Instinct her trained oyo took In tho contents nt a glanco. Sho said nothing, keeping hor own counsel with n flno restraint. Dut hor fnco spoko volumes, nnd It wns ensy to sco thnt his hour hnd Indeod como, nnd that his fato was scaled. "Loavo mo, I would bo alono," ho managod to stammer, brokonly, seeing that concenlmont wns no longer possible pos-sible "Tompor Justice with mercy. Go, nnd may licnven forglvo you ns I do." For It was ldlo to wasto words. Tho secret was out. In her hand sho held the koynoto of his succoss his "nook of Itendy-mado Phrases for Orator and Wrltor," a compilation mndo only nftor many years of painstaking ro-search, ro-search, and Invnlunblo nllko to tho business and professional man. It had been his vndo mocum tho slno qua non 1 1 his meteoric enreor. Tho matchlosb eloquence thnt hold his auditors spellbound, thnt had mado his nnmo n nousehold word whorovor tho English language Is spoken, waa only borrowod plumage. And sho sho who had worshiped the vory ground ho trod on hnd, In the Innocence of hor heart, thought htm nothing It not original. Cleveland Cleve-land Loader. |