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Show I the missing MAN I H Dy MARY R. P. HATCH H Author of "The Bnntc Tragedy" H Copyright. 1803, by J.re nml FOirpitrit M CHAPTER V. Continued. H Have you no photograph of them H of otthrr of Ibem?" H 'No. I ha(cn't. Hut I enn toll you H something simmer tlian you over H heard Jn connection with this very H matter. Whether It will help you In H identifying Ashley I can't nay. Von H know I told you they took a houso on H Main street. Well, shortly nftor they H left It, nnd before n now tenant wns H found, the story got nflont that on ono H of the windows from the outBldc could H Li plainly seen the photograph of n H miin'K head and shoulders and thosu of H a woman Tlio punas are largo and H the outlines nro rnld to tin very (lis- H tlnct They are said to he photographs H of Ashley nnd his wife, nnd the theory H la that they were looking through tho H window at the rher during n storm H and a flash of lightning photographed H them Indelibly on the glnBs. Tho pic- H lures rnnnot he seen from tho lnsldo, H but that they can from tho outsldo is H vouched for by a pood many pcoplo In H town. I don't understand photography H mysolf, and t haven't boon tip to neo H the pictures, but tho cashier of tho H Somerset bank hag, and ho says they H nro excellent llkenocsos of Ashley nnd M his wife." v H "I chould llko to go up," said H Bruce. H "So Bhoald I," said Mr. Hayes, "and H It you will cnll again after business H iours for I must go to my office now H I will tal-H you thero behind my H H Ilruce smaly accepted tho friendly H offer and In a few hours was rapidly H driving through tho principal streets H of Valparaiso after tho handsomest H span of horses In tho city. Calling a H boy to hold them after n short drlvo, H Mr. Druco and Mr. Hayes approached H n handsome houso on Mnln street, and H easily got permission to oxnmlno tho H window which horn the photograph. H It was on the first floor, and lighted H tho dining room. Tho Ashloys dined H late, nnd they, perhaps, nroso from tho table, probably after dark, or It may Hft bo they turned down tho lights tho V tetter to wntch tho slnrm, and stood - looking out at the river. Do this ns It M may. tho outlines of two figures, a M jian s nnd a woman's, woro plainly In- H Heated on tho pane. His arm appeared H to bo about her shoulders, her head H rested lightly on his breast, and a H Klorlous veil of hair rcnchlng down H out of sight covered her right shoul- H dcr. Tlio curves of hor features, the H droop of her form, showed her to bo H" both pretty and grncoful. H "Nora Ashley, na I llvo!" ejaculated H Mr Hayes with great oxcltomont, H "Nora, did you say ?" H "Vcs, that Is what Ashley called her, H nnd that Is Ashley himself." K Ilruco scanned tho flguro with more m Interest oven than ho had tho bcautl- H ful Norn, but never having known H Hamilton personally ho could not tell M whother It closely roscmbled him or H not In a general way ho thought It H looked llko tho photograph ho had. and H which Mr. Hayes bad ulieady declared H to look llko Ashloy. Tho description H given In tho advertisement also ngreed H with what might bo said of Ashloy, ox- H rept that tho latter, when. In Vnl- paralso, woro long whiskers. B Soon after tho two men separated H with mutual good words, and Ilruco. H going straight to bis room at tho Wll- H lougbby House, wroto a detailed ao- H count of what ho had learned at Vol H paralso regarding Ashloy, the bank do- K! laultiTi who he was Inclined to bollovo Hj rould bo no other than Hamilton him- H self. Indeed, tho presence of tlio H woman, called Nora by Ashloy, nnd H having emerald colored hair, seemed B almost proof positive. B After detailing tho account, Druco M went on to say, or rather to ask. M whether Mr. Hartwoll would tako H pains to learn without n doubt what HH beard Hamilton woro two years ago M during his customary May Journey if IB he had long whiskers In addition to a HK niustaclif, Also, Ilruce deRlred to HB know tho oxact dato when Hamilton HB left Grnvcdale, whether It was na catty BH as tho 10th, for It now appeared that Hj Ashloy tumo to Valparaiso tho 13th. HH Mr. Hastings, on tho receipt of this HJ letter from tho detecttvo, was much HB perplexed. How could ho gain tho do- HJ tired knowledge without going to Mrs. DBl Hamilton herself? Mr. Hastings was HHJ a stralthtforward man. To approach her with suhterfugo or coneenlmonts wnR ko repugnatit that lit) would not untertnin tho Idon for a moment. Ho made varlou futile Inquiries and finally final-ly decided to call upon Mrs Hamilton nnd plainly slate tho case to her, asking ask-ing at the same tlmo for tho Information, Informa-tion, If she chosn to give It. Up did so, though not without ox-tremo ox-tremo reluct mice Mrs. Hamilton received re-ceived him in a iollto, It somowhat illstnnt, manner, nnd after a few com-monplacen, com-monplacen, Mr. Hastings broached tho object of his cnll. "lint plcnso do not consider my ro-qtiPMt ro-qtiPMt to bo In the lenst Imperative There Is no coercion about II." "You aro very kind, Mr. Hnstlngs," returned Constanco, bending hor fair face, upon which the shndow of a grtat grief plainly Iny. "Hut I will answer you truly nnd readily, for tho truth can hurt no ono. Vuno never wore whiskers, nnd I can tell jou, by consulting my dlnry for 1887, tho very dny ho went nwny." Hho nroso from her seat, approached tho writing desk, which stood In tho Panic room, and took from n till n pllo of old diaries. Choosing the right one, she sat'down again and turned to tho records of May. "Vano nnd I took a long drlvo to day. Tho weather was perfect, and Vnno complimented me, or rnthcr my now hot: snld It was 'most becoming,' "was tho record for May 1st; Only a commonplaco entry, but It gnvo Constanco a start to read It, for sho remembered tho dny woll, how happy they were. Hut sho turned another an-other loaf resolutely, then still another and hnndod tho book to Mr. Hastings, rolntlng to tho sentence, "Vnno went nwny earlier this year than usual. I tried to coax him not to go until next week, but to no purpose" Tho dalo was tho 9th of May. "Titanic you, Mrs. Hamilton," said Mr. Hastings, handing hor tho book; but his hand was qulto unsteady as ho did so. "Is that what you wished to know?" sho asked. "No yes," ho said, greatly depressed. de-pressed. Mr, Hastings had refrained from making known to Mrs. Hamilton the contents of Urucc's letter relating to HH The outlines of two figures. Ashley, nnd ho said nothing now. Sho evidently hoped ho would toll her more, but could not bring herself to ask him, for, sho thought, "if thero wcro any good nows ho would tell mo, nnd If thoro Is nothing but bad I could not bear It now, I huve had so much. O Vano! Vano!" This was hor heart's cry, but outwardly out-wardly sho was calm until Mr. Hnst Ings wont away. Thon alio snt down overwhelmed with a namoloss drond. What misery, what misery was hers! If the nowspnpors Bpoko truo, what was sho but a deserted wlfo, tho wlfo of a bank defaulter, who had forsaken for-saken hor for another woman! If It was not as was believed, then Vano wna detained somewlioro ugalnst his will, oil hor by force or by sovere Illness, Ill-ness, or ho was dead. Dead I with tho clods of opprobrium on his conllncd form! Thoy might novor bo lifted, novor whllo sho lived, while her children chil-dren lived, nnd thoy would liavo to suffer tho shnme, unmorltod of having had a father who abused tho confidence confi-dence of a trusting community. Could sho bear It to know this wero really true of him? Could sho bear It (o know ho wero dend?' CHAPTER VI. Tony's Discovery, Mr. Druco was nearly convinced of tho truth of his theory when ho ro-cclvcd ro-cclvcd Mr. Hustings' loiter. "Something "Some-thing moro than a coincidence," ho mutterod, on reading that Mr, Hamilton Hamil-ton left Grovodnlo on tho 9th Instant. Druco, as a last resort, again went to Canada himself, got detectives thero to aid him, and as thorough a search through tho provlnco was mado as could bo effected In tho tlmo ho gnvo hlmsnlf for It. Several tlmo ho fancied himself to bo on tho right trail, but subsequent Investigations proved tho fallacy of first suppositions. Still ho could never Quito rid himself of tho belief that ho saw Hamilton, or Arh-loy, Arh-loy, on ono of the streets In Montreal a flay or two after bo reached tho city. Dut the man vanished so quickly that Druco was amazed. In full view, on a not too crowded street, thon gonol It was like manic. Tho man could not havo entered n storo nor vanished In a collnr Thero wns no reason why ho need think hlmstdf under surveillance. Ilruco spent the dn) in tho immediate neighborhood of the mysterious dlsap pcarance, but to no purposo, nnd at last ho reluctantly owned to himself that he might have been mistaken. Anxious as he was to succeed In his undertaking, nnd earn the reward offered for finding Hamilton, or rather being the iiipriih of returning him to Oiovodale. Ilruce wn's at Inst compelled com-pelled to (lenlut from his task. Much tlmo and monej had already boon spent, and other business was pressing. press-ing. Constance sllll continued to llvo In hor own home with her undo and two children. The latter went to school, and their mother put on their hats nnd kissed them good-hy, sometimes with a smile on her face, to sparo their young hearts too much knowlodgo of sorrow. Mr. Carter, who was really a man of excellent bumnoss qualities, though somewhat obveured by middle-age middle-age Inertia, attended woll to tho business busi-ness nt the mill with tho help of Mr. lit nderson nnd a clerk recently nddcA to tho office. At the hnnk nn excellent cashier lllled Hamilton's place for the present, but it was uncertain how long ho could he retained, as his health was dellcnto and his means such ns placed him above the nccosslty of do-, lng any business. Tony was still there, but his position seimcd at times most Irksome. Tho strain on IiIr nerves nnd temper during dur-ing tho Investigations left nn u n pleas-ant pleas-ant Impression, for ho was sensible-that sensible-that for several days ho had been looked upon with suspicion. This fact placed 111 ni in sympathy with Hamilton, Hamil-ton, and ho had moro than onco been heard to say that ho believed tho missing cashier to bo an innocent man. Ho had been Informed by President HastlngR of Uruco's discoveries In tho West. He had not called to seo Mrs. Hamilton since lie carried her the ominous statement of her husband's return to tho bank. Somehow ho shrank from going there, but when ho chanced to meet her ho bowed with scrupulous gravity nnd respect. Tho summer was wearing away. August had come with its wilting' days, nnd bathers often sought tho shaded river for a plunge In, its cooling wat cru. On the other side a now railroad hud recently boon built. Tho hilly portions por-tions had been leveled, hollows tilled up. and Immense rocks blasted. Hundreds Hun-dreds of men weto employed, and tho different gnngs were located about five, mites apart. Many of them wcro Itnllans, and four of them wero drowned In crossing It in quest of Intoxicants, In-toxicants, and It U Raid thoy wero burled in tho dump, uucofflned, nnd without service of any Rort, by their companions. I-ow and degraded they must havo been, nnd It Is no wundor the peopV wcro gladwhen they ltfTV All tlilR occurred to Osborn ono day in August, when, changing his bathing suit for his ordinary clothes, ho saw In tho bushed, not two feet from the plnco wlmro he had deposited his own suit, n Hllk cap with n weather-stained satin lining nnd nn embroidered monogram. mono-gram. Tho letters certainly wcro V. C. H., however they might stand In color. Tho C. or tho H. wns as likely to stand first, porhnps, but Tony felt convinced con-vinced that tho cap ho held In his hand was onco tho property of Vano Hamilton. It was Just such a ono as wives, sweethearts and daughters mako for their mnscullno dependents to travel In, nnd Tony thought ho recollected that Mr. Hnmlltn carried ono In his overcoat pocket. His wlfo would know nnd whether ho took It on his last trip. If' so, It proved his presence 'nfterwards In Orovodnle us conclusive ly ns tho gold shlrtstud had. It was a pecnllnr coincidence that In both In-stances In-stances ho should bo tlio finder. (To bo continued.) |