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Show feUMrV fiYA.CONAN DOYLC INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION. CHAITF.R XVIt.-fCn-crlKl-aol "Well, ma -mm. since you know so much, you probably know also that I tiv (old my pension. How am I lo ttva If I do not turn my hand to work?" lln. Westmacott produced a lint ragletered envelop, from beneath the heete and toased It over to the old teaman. 'That excuse won't do. There are trour pension papera. Just see If they re riant." j He broke tha seal, and nut tumbled the very papera which he had made over lo MoAdstn two dnys before. "Hut what am I to do with theae How?" he cried In bewilderment. "You will put them In a safe plaoe or BCt a friend to do ao, and. If you do your duty, you will go to your wife and bee her pardon for havlnr even for an Instant thought of leaving her." i The Admiral passed hie hand over Ma fugged forehead. "Thla la very good of rou. ma'am." eald he, "very Rood and kind, and I know that you are a staunch friend, but for all that theae papers mean money, and though wa may have teen In broken water lately, wa are not tulte In such atralts as to have to signal to our friends. When we do, me em. there's no one wa would look to aooner than to you." "Don't be ridiculous?" asld the widow. Tou know nothing whatever about It, and yet you aland there laying down tha law. I'll have my way In thla mat' tar, and you shall take the papera, for It fa no favor that I am doing, you, but elmply a restoration of stolen property." I. "How that, ma'am?" I "1 am Just going to explain, though rou might take a lady's word for It without asking any queatlons. Now. What 1 am going to aay Is Just between . - you four, and must go no farther. I have my own reasons for wishing It kept from the police. Who do you think It was who atruck ma laat night, Ad-Wire Ad-Wire IV Home villain, ma'am. I don't know tila name." "Hut I do. Jt waa tha aama man who Vulned or tried to ruin your eon. It waa any only brother, Jeremiah." r"Ahl" I "I will tell you about Mm or a llttlt about him. tor he haa dona much which f ' - I would not cart to talk of. nor you to I listen to. He waa alwaya a villain, I . smooth-spoken and plausible, but a dan-. 1 parous, subtle villain all the aame. If I Jt have aom hard tboughta about man p, kind I can trace Ihem back to the child- 1 tvood which I apent with my brother. !He la my only living relative, for my 1 other brother.Charlea' father, waa killed In the Indian mutiny, i "Our father waa rich, and when he died he made a good provision both for (Jeremiah and for me. He knew Jere-. Jere-. anlah and he mistrusted him, however; ao Instead of giving him all that ha meant him to have ha handed ma over part of It, telling me, with what waa almost his dying breath, to hold It In trust for my brother, and to use II In tile behalf when he ahould have squandered squan-dered or Inst all that he had. Thla arrangement ar-rangement waa meant to be secret between my father and myself, but unfortunately un-fortunately hla worda were overheard y tha nurss, and she repeated them afterwards to my brother, ao that he came to know that I held tome money , n trust for him. I suppose tobacco will not harm my head. Doctor? Thank you. then I ahall trouble you for the snatches. Ida." Hhe lit a cigarette, and leaned back upon the pillow, with the blue wreathe curling from her lips. 'I oannot tell you how often he haa attempted to get that money from me. Ha haa bullli-d, cajoled, threatened, ooaxrd. done all that a man could do. I atlll held It with the preeenttment that a need of It would come. When I heard ef thla vtllalnoue business, hla night, and his leaving hla partner to face the torm, above all that my old friend had been driven to surrender his Income in order tr make up for my brother's de- kaatl' n". I felt that now Indeed I had a need fot It. I aent In Charles yesterday yester-day to Mr. McAdam. and hla client, upon hearing the facts of tha caae, very jgracloualy coneented to give back the gaipora, and to take the money whleh he bad advanced. Not word of thanka to sne. Admiral. I tell you that It waa very cheap benevolence, for It waa all done with hla own monry, and bow could I iae It better? "I thought that I ahould probably hear from him aoon, and I did. Laoi venlng there waa handed In a note of the usual whining, cringing tone. He bad oome back from abroad at tha rlek es . at ktsj life and liberty, Just In order that be might aay good-bye to tba only ale-iter ale-iter that he ever had. and to entreat my gorglveneea for any pain which he had bauaed ma. Ha would never trouble me again, and he begged only that I would (hand over to him the sum which I held n trust for him. That, with what he bad already, would be enough to atari him aa an honest man In the new world, when he would ever remember and pray for the dear alater who had been a hla aavlor. That waa the atyle of the w letter, and It ended by Imploring me to L leave tha window-latch open, and to be fc In the front room at three In the morn-K morn-K Ing, when he would oome to receive my R laat kiss and to bid ms fsrswell. j "Had ae he waa, I oould not, when he fr: fruated me, betray him. I aald nothing, fj mt I waa there at tha hour. He en-lared en-lared through the window, and Implored is We to give him the money. He waa terj ' fvh'y changed; gaunt, wolfish and apoke . Ilea a madman. 1 told him that I had J (ipant tha monry. He gnashed his testh n ma, and swore It was his money. I jg MM htm 1 had spent It on hliu. Hi Ikaked me how. I said In trying to make him aa koneat man. and In repairing the Ireaults of hie villainy. He shrieked out a eurse. and pulling (jmethlng out s y..- -A r- the breast nf hla ooat loaded Mick, t think he atruck me with it, and I remembered re-membered nothing more." "The blackguard!" cried tha Dootor. ."hut the police muat be hot upon bis track." "I fancy not, Mre. Westmacott answered an-swered celmly. "Aa my brother la a particularly tall, thin man, and aa the police are looking for a short, fat one. I do not think that It la very probable that they will ralrh him. It la beet, t think, that theae little family matters should be adjusted In private." "My dear ma'am." said tha Admiral, "If It la Indeed thla man's money that haa brought back my pension, then 1 can have no scruples about taking It. Tnu have brought aunshlne upon us. ma'am, whsn ths clouds wsre at their darkest, for hers la my boy who Insists upon returning the money which I got. He can keep It now to pay his debts. , For what you have done I can only aak Ood to bleea you, ma'am, and aa to thanking you I oan't even" "Then pray don't try," aald the wld-Viw. wld-Viw. "Now run away. Admiral, and ?r.ake your peace with Mre. Denver. I iam aura If I were aha II would be a I long time before I ahould forgive you. I lAs for me, I am going to America when I Charles goee. You II taka me to far, I won't you. Ida? There la a college j t'Clng built In Denver which Is to equil I the woman of the future for the strua' :e or me. and especially for her battle against man. Kome mnnlha ago tha tommlttee offered me a responsible position po-sition upon the etsir, and I have da-ilded da-ilded to accept It, for Charlea' marriage removes the last lis which binds me to Kngland. You will write to me some times, my friends, and you will address your letters to Professor Westmacott, Emancipation College, Denver. From there I ahall watch how the glorious struggls goes on in conservative old Fngiand. and !' t am needed you will find me here a- n righting In the forefront fore-front of the fi iy. Cood-bye-but not you. girls; I havs still a word I wish to say to you. "Olve me your hand, Ida. and yours, Clara," said she when they were alone, "Oh. you naughty little pusses, aren't you ashamed to look me In the faost Did you think did you really think thai I waa eo very blind, and could not sea your little plot? You did It very well) I must say that, and really I think thai t like you better aa you are. Hut you Sad all your palna fur nothing, you little, conspirators, for I give you my word that I had quite made up my mind nol to have him." And so within a few weeks our tlttla ladles from their observatory aaw a mighty bustle In tha Wilderness, when two-horse carriages came, and coachmen coach-men with favor, to bear away ths twos who were destined to coma back one. And they themeelvea In their crackling illk dresses went aero we. as InvlUd, to the big double wedding breakfast which waa held In tha house of Doctor Walker. Then there waa health-drlnklng, and laughter, and changing of dreeaea, and rice-throwing when the carriages drova up again, and two more couples started1 on that Journey which enda only with life Iteelf. Charlea Westmacott la now a flourishing flourish-ing ranchman In tha western part of Texaa. where he and hla awaet little wire are the two moet popular persona In all that county. Of their aunt they aea little, but from time to time they aee notleea In ths papera that there la a focua of light In Denver, where mighty thunderbolta are being forged which will one day bring the dominant aez upon their knees. Ths Admiral and hla wire atlll live at number one, while Harold and Clara have taken number two. where Doctor Walker continues to realde. Aa to tha business. It had besn reconetructed. and tha energy and ability abil-ity of the Junior partner had aoon made up for all the III that had been dona by hla aenlor. Yet with hla aweet and refined re-fined home atmosphere ha la able to realise re-alise hla wish, and to keep hlmaelf free from the sordid alma and baaa ambitions ambi-tions which drag down the man whose buslnesa Ilea too Exclusively In tha money market of the vast Babylon. Aa ha goea back every evening from the crowda of Throgmorton fltreet to tha tree-lined peacerul avenues of Norwood, ao ha haa found It poaslble In spirit alao to do one s duties amidst ths battel of tha City, and yet to live beyond IU TUB END. |