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THE BRUSSELS POST "
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28, 1228,
Love, T
Tyrant
1
Kate shook her head,
"No. She—she came and told no
you had gone," She blushed as aho
recalled the interview, "That is
all."
"A pleasant young lady!" said
Jack, still in the same casual man-
lier.
Kate made a slight gesture of ae-
sent.
"Yes," she said, with a sigh. "She
has everything, beauty and riches
and Vancourt Towers; and every-
body admires her and pays court to
her, I suppose she will marry Mr.
Selby Layton—they all say et)."
"Oh, do they?" said Jack, grimly,
his face suddenly growing dark and
gloomy. "I think it's about time we
got back. He's a pleasant sort of
fellow, I believe."
Kate's lips came together.
"I don't know—I don't like him."
"No? Why not?"
"I—I don't know. Here is Miss
Woods and Mordy Jane." ,
"You come and see the ducks,
Kate," exclaimed Mordy Jane—she
said "Kite." "There's a lot of little
'uns, just the very same as in the
country. Here! you go with Miss
Woods. Pm a bit tired and erocky
on my pins."
When the other two had gone,
Mordy Janenodded her head at Jack
and winked.
"Well, 'afe you gorn and clone it?"
she asked.
Jack stared at her.
"Gone and done it?—What, liforcly
Jane?" he asked.
She gave a snort of impatience
and womanly contempt for a man's
obtuseness.
"Well, you beat everything!" she
exclaimed under her breath. "Talk
about father; why, you could give
him seventy up! What do you think
I'm talking about?"
"Hang me if I know!" said Jack,
laughing good-humoredly.
"Why. you and Kite!" she retort-
ed, impatiently. "Why don't you up
and speak to her like eeenan: you're
big enough."
"Big enough not to make quite a
fool of nlYself," said Zack, rather
grimly. "Look here, Mordy Jane,
you're not a bad sort and I rather
like you, but you are talking of some
thing you knew nothing about, mak-
ing guesses that have no fonnda-
Von."
"Oh, garn with you!" she broke
in:: "Why, if you wasn't one of the
biggest juggins on earth you'd see
that she's simply dying— Well,
there! I'm not going to give one of
my own sect away— But of all the
blind, chuckle -headed you men!
Here, they're coming back. Oh,
don't stare at me as if I was a side-
show or a freak, you stoopid !—
Come on; here's the fly, Kite Are
you tired?—Here, we can 'elp 'er in;
don't you trouble. And you'd better
sit on the box," she added, contemp-
tuously. "Sit there and try and get
your eyes open," she added, in a
fierce undertone.
Jack very meekly andobediently
climbed on the box. It was
not a pleasant drive home for him.
If Moray Jane were right— oh, but
she couldn't be! Her Coelcney cute-
ness and readiness to discover a rom-
ance where none existed, had misled
her. But if it were true? A wave
Of bitterness was passing over him.
Esther, he had just been told, would
marry Selby Layton: if Kate really
—cared foe him, jack, why shouldn't
he marry her and— The sweat stood
out on his brow. Marry another
woman while he was in love with
Esther! It was just shnply hives -
The fly turned into Chase Street,
and he was roused from his gloomy
reverie by a poke from Mordy Jane's
sunshade: of the fashion of the early
Victorian era.
"Now, Mr. Gordon, if you'd make'
a heffort to wake yourself."
He looked round with a nod and
a rather grave smile, the fly stopped
at the door, and, as the sinall crowd
titnI•egistelft•••119a,
awasymommoll
Letterheads
Envelopes
Billheads
And all kinds of Business
Stationery printed at The
Post Pliblielting House,
We will do a job that will
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Look over your stock of
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The Post PUblisblog Noose
of chillren pelted up to see the re-
turn of the party, a hansom cab went
slowly past.
A N11160711 cab was so rare a veil-
' tele in that quarter that Jack, as he
, olumed the flY door, looked after It.
At that moment it stopped, turned
!round, and rather slowly came hack.
jack was busy with Kate, and just
caught a glimpse of a gentleman
leaning forward over the apron; but
he was startled, as the cab passed the
by a sharp and sudden cry front
Miss Woods. She had sprung from
her seat and was standing upright,
clutching the side of the fly, and star-
ing with white face and startled eyes
after the hansom.
"Wotever is the matter?" demand-
ed Mordy Jane. "Are you taken
queer, Miss Woods? You look as if
you'd seen a hose."
She seemed for a moment quite
unconscious of their presence as she
stood, still staring after the cab, her
bosom heaving, her face white and
red by turns, and then she sank into
her seat, and, biting her lip, forced a
smile, and sighed. ,
"It—it was a sudden shock," she
said, with a vain attempt to speak in
a tone of indifference. "It was a
kind of spasm. I think my heart
must be wrong; but I'm all right
now,"
"Yer 'eart wrong!" retorted Mer-
ely Jane. "Not hit! It's yer nerves;
and mineill soon beas erocky as
yours if you 'ave any more of them
fits while I'm near yer!"
CHAPTER XXXIII.
"I really think, my dear Esther,
that you need a change. I have not-
iced for some daye past—indeed, for
more than a week—that you have
been pale, and seemed listless and
out of sorts. .Do you feel ill?"
The two ladies were on the terrace
after breakfast, Miss Worcester was
seated placidly knitting, but Esther
had risen from her seat and was mov-
ing up and down so slowly that it
could scarcely be called walking.; her
hands hung by 'her side, her head
drooped, and her eyes were down-
cast. She was pale but not with her
usual healthy pallor, but with the
paleness that indicates weakness or
worry. A fine line had appeared be-
tween her eyes, and there was a
delicate droop to the lips which,
while it meant that happiness had
fled, lent a peculiar charm to them.
All the old lightness had vanished,
her girlish laugh, which had echoed
not loudly but sweetly through the
old place, had not been heard for
some time, and she no longer found
amusement in chaffing the old lady
who loved her, and was always so
easy to shock, so ready to rise to
the fly.
"You seem quite changed, my dear
Esther," 'continued Miss Worcester,
alter she had counted her stitches.
"I really don't think you are a bit
bettor. than you used to be in Isling-
ton." She spoke the last words in a
low voice for Miss Worcester in these
days of their prosperity was rather
reluctant to refer to their poorer
clays, and always mentioned them
With bated breath. "And in this
beautiful air, with everything the
heart could desire, you surely ought
to be in the best of health and spir-
its."
Esther laughed mirthlessly, The
old life had been hard enough in all
conscience; but if she had not ex-
perienced any keen joy in it she had
not, at any rate, suffered such pain
of infinite longing, infinite disappoint-
ment, as she had endured during the
last week.
"Yes, I really think you should
take a change, my clear. What
would you say to—to Cromer, now?"
"It all depends on what Cromer
said to me," replied Esther, with a
poor attempt at her old spontaneous
gaiety. "I mean— Oh, Cromer? I
don't know it, aunt. I don't care
,where we go; but—unless you want
a change, I'd infinitely rather stay
here. I can't think why you should
suppose that I am unwell—"
"My dear Esther, your appearance
is sufficiently indicative—"
"Not of ill -health, but of the dis-
satisfaction which comes :from too
much money, too many things to eat
and drink—"
"Really, Esther, to heat you talk
one would think we were ancient
Romans living in a state of gluttony.
I am sure you do net eat enough'; I
have net seen you eat a sufficient and
proper meal foe some days, Yester-
day you sent your plate away each
time almost untouched; and Marie
tells me that she hears you walking
up and down in your room at night."
"IVIsele should mind her ownii busi-
ness," said Etsher, catering; slightly.
"It is her busiaess, n1,r dear Es-
ther—"
"Pardon tee, aunt; Marie's bust..
hose et night is to o to sleep, ead
to wait upon me, in the intervals in
which she is not keeping company
with Giles, in the daytime. Aunt,
there is nothing the matter with me
but the laziness which is caused by,
having nothing to do. I am like Ham-
let, waxing fat and short of
breath—"
"Pat! My dear Esther, Maria told
ma that site had, to take in some of
your skirts—"
'Nether bit her lip softly, and be-
gan to look a little annoyed at the
old lady's persistence; for she herself
knew that she was thinner, that she
had lost her appetite; and not only
her appetite for food, but for the
hundred and one innocent pleasures
which had gone to make up ner gfe
before—before Jack Gordon went.
This was the trouble, and try as
she would, she could not blind her-
self to the fact that his absence, and
the common belief that he had been
joined by Kate Transom, were the
ettl1506 of the change which had come
over her. She fought hard, but her
heart was too weak—or too strong—
for her, and onljr now—and again
could' she still the aching longing to
see him—which filled all her days
and nights.
"No, I don't think we'll go to Gre-
iner, or anywhere else just yet,
aunt," she said, telling herself that
she would not run away like a love-
sick girl; that she'would go on in the
usual tenor of her life as if nothing
had happened, "I don't care about
going just now, and, besides, I want
to see the corn harvest got in. I am
now going down te Martin to speak
to him about it. Is there anything
I can do for you in the village?"
"No, thank you, my dear—oh, yes;
if you would not mind calling at the
shop and getting me a piece of tape,
this width."
"Certainly," said Esther, suppres-
sing a smile, which rose at this in-
stance of force of habit; for in the
old clays of poverty and struggle, it
was generally a piece of tape which
her aunt required; and Esther used
to wonder, as she wondered' this
morning, what on earth her aunt
wanted it for.
She went into the hall for her hat,
and crossing,the lawn went to the
stable -yard and opening one of the
stable doors, called "Bob!"
He was chained up in the empty
stall, and was lying asleep; but as he
heard her voice he raised his head
quickly, looked at her with his great
solemn eyes, then beyond her as if
he expected to see someone else. But
as he saw that she was alone he
dropped hie head and drew a long
breath. Esthee knelt beside him and
took his head in her -hands and kissed
him on his long nose.
"Would you like to come for a
walk with me, Bob?" she whispered.
"Will it cheer you up a little? Why
can't you forget like some other dogs
and eat and stuff and sleep and be
merry like Rags arid Fanny and the
rest. Why are you—and I—cursed
with. such inconvenient memories,
Bob? Never mind! Come with me,
and we'll both try and forget him
for a little while."
She loosed him, but Bob did not
jump up and rave and bark as the
other dogs would have. done, but
stretched himself and walked 'beside
her with a slow and stately trot, and
a grave and thoughtful expression in
his eyes which he turned up to her
every now and then as if he were
asking: "Are you going to take me
to him." All the way to the farm
he glanced from right to left as if
he expected to see his beloved' mas-
ter, and he ran up to Nettie who was
standing at the door of the lodge and
who threw her arms round his neck
and hugged him, burying her face lei
the soft thick ruff of fur round his
neck.
"Oh, good-inerning, Mrs. Martin,"
said Esther. "Nettie, do you think
you could spare one kin from Bob
for me? I'm not usually moved to
jealousy, but really—"
"You see, it's Jack's dog: poor
Bob!" said Nettie, simply, as she
hold up her face to meet the sweet
lips which Jack had s) wickedly kiss-
ed. "How thin he has dot, hasn't lie
Miss Vancourt? And so have 'do.
Are you fretting after Sack? Ypu
bettern't, or you'll be ill! Mother
said that if I went on fretting I•
should be, didn't you, mother?"
Esther managed to keep the color
from her face and the even smile on
her lips.
' "Fretting is bad for anybody, Net -
she said. "I came to ask, Mrs.
Martin, it the harvest was going to
begin soon; because Miss 'Worcester
and I think of going away, and 1 de
not want to do so until It is over."
"Martin was speaking about it this
morning," said Mrs. Martin, "and I
think he means to eut next week.
He's just gone up to the cottage. The
new foreman's wife was over to look
at it yesterday, and she wanted one
or two things done, so Martin has
gone to see about it. Of course, Mr.
Gordon, being a bachelor and taking
his meals here, didn't need*"
"Alt, yes; just se," said Esther,
breaking in gently. "I think go
and Aral Mr. Martini then. Will you
dome. Nettle?"
!, "Oh, Yes," said Nettie, 4'1 often go
DO YOU THINK
You Could Do Better
Than—
THE PROFESSOR,
THE YOUNG LAWYER,
THE DETECTIVES—
And All the Others
Who Are Trying To
Solve the lYlystery;
THE
ed La
TRY IT AND SEE I
By
Mry
Roberts
Rinehart
STUMM 115
"THE POST"
IN THE NEAR
FUTURE
there; it was poor Jack's cottage,
you know."
"Why do you say `poor' Jack, Net-
tie?" Esther asked, half sorry, yet
half glad, that the child should talk
of him.
"Why, 'cos he's dorn away and
father says the people are all against
him, 'cos he's done something—I
don't/ know sackly what, Do your
"Not exactly; indeed, I'm not sure
Mr. Gordon has clone anything to set
the people against him—not sure,
mind, Nettie."
"Well, I shouldn't tare if he did,"
said the child, calmly. "I shouldn't
tare what he did; 'cos you see, I love
him."
"I understand," said Esther; and,
oh, did she not understand fully! It
seemed to her that she could have
echoed the child's humiliating confes-
sion.
The cottage door was open, and
Esther looked in.
"Your father is not there," she
said. "No one seems to be there."
• Nettie went in, and Esther follow-
ed her. Soineone had been making
some repairs; there was the usual
pail of whitewash and brush, the
usual splodge of mortar dabbed
down on the floor. In the cracks be-
tween the hearthstone and the
boards was the point of a crowbar
as if the workman had heard his lun-
cheon hour strike at the moment of
inserting the bar, and, true to the
traditions of his class, had instantly
droppedthe tool as if it were red
hot.
The place looked very desolate,
and Esther, as she glanced round
dreamily and sadly, thought of the
evening she had entered it with Jack
and waited to see if he would offer
her any of the wild hyacinths. Net-
tie, meanwhile, amused herself by
sticking her toe in the mortar and
handling the tools, but presently she
came, in a course of whitewash,
brush, and trowel, to the crowbar.
"What's this, Miss Vancourt?" she
asked. "It's like an iron stick, isn't
it? What's it stuck in this crack
tor?"
"The man is going to lift the stone
with it," replied Esther.
Nettie looked at her solemnly.
"When 'oo don't know the answer
to a question, 'oo should say 'oo
don't, not tell a story," she remark-
ed, severely. "That's what the teach
er told me last Sunday. You're very
wicked, Miss Vancourt."
"No, I'm. not—,not in this case,"
said Esther, laughingly. ."The stone
can he lifted quite easily if you press
on this bar. Why, 9 can do it, you
see!"
She put seine pressure on the
crowbar, and presently the stone be-
gan to vise. Nettie clapped her
heeds, too delighted to be penitent.
"Oh, let me—let me!" she cried; but
Esther, was afeaid.
• "No, no!" she said. "See, I'll lift
the stone right up—here it comes!"
"So it does. How clover 'oo are
—least it's the bar, isn't it, not 'oo?
Oh, look, Miss Vancourt, here's some-
thing underneath; it's a tin."
Esther bent down and saw the tin
Jack had so carefully placed there.
"Being me that brick, quickly, Net-
tie!" the said.
The child got the beick, and Es-
ther pushed it with ha foot under
the edge of the stone so as to sup-
port it, then she took up the tin
"What a funny place to keep it
in," remarked Nettie. "What's in it,
does 'oo tink, Miss Vaneourt?"
"I shouldn't be surprised if there
was money," replied 'Esther.
"What I real moncy—pennies ?"
cried Nettie, with eyes like saucers.
tether nodded, hold the tin in her
hand or a tionkoot or tie° looking
tit it thoughtfully, thert opened it,
With the child'e eyes upon her, it was
dilliculi for her to conceal her agita-
tion at the sight of the contents.
A marriage certificate, and a bun-
dle of banit-notes!
She stood, flushing; girl -like, feel-
ing half frightened by her discovery;
and Nettle's exclamation of:
"Is there many pennies; is it full
of them?" aimed startled her.
"No; there are no pennies, Net-
tie," he said, "But never mind; I
think I can find some in my pocket."
As she walked homewards with
the tin in her hand, she asked hereelf
what she should do with it, whether,
indeed, she had any right to take it
from the cottage; and though she
argued on the latter point that the
cottage was her own property, and,
prima facie, everything in it, the
first question worried her. To whom
could it belong, and why had the
owner hidden it under the hearth-
stone? When ehe got to•her room
she examined the tin and the notes.
The tin was still bright, and had
recently been placed beneath the
stone. Could it belong to Mr. Gor-
don? The color rushed to her face,
then left it whin. If it were his, the
certificate—
She rose, trembling in every limb,
fearfully moved by the suspicion
which swooped down upon her. Was
this the certificate of her marriage?
If not, Why Should he desire to hide
it, why should he have considered it
too valuable to carry about with
hire?
She flung her hands before her
face and fought against the idea.
After all, there was no evidence that
the tin and its contents had been
placed in their place of concealment
by him, or that they belonged to
him. Was she going to be as hard
as those others who had been so
ready to believe hint guilty of entic-
ing Kate Transom to leave her home?
What should she do with the tin?
She looked at it with a repugnance
which increased at each moment,
then she picked it up with the tips
of her fingers and locked it in the
small safe in which she kept her jew-
els..
"I'll give it to Mr. Floss and tell
him where I found it," she said to
herself. She bathed her face, and
went downstairs and into the library,
and was writing a note to Mr. Floss
asking hen to come to the Towers,
when the door opened and in walked
Selby Layton.
Esther started; the finding of the
tin box and the questions it had call-
ed up had, rather unnerved her,
are you Wyk!" Then feel-
ing that this was scarcely a sufficient-
ly warm greeting to a—friend, she
added: "How do you do?"
"May I come in?" he maid. "9
heard you were here; and I know you
aro anxious to hear the result of my
mission."
She nodded slightly, and the line
between her eyes grew deeper. It
seemed that every hour, every min-
ute, she Was fated to be reminded
of Jack Gordon.
"Have you—have you been suc-
cessful?" she said. "You have been
very quick -1 mean"—as his face
Id ll and he stole a tender, reproach-
ful glance at her—"that I did not ex-
pect that you would have discovered
.anything so soon."
"I have [men Very fortunate," he
said. "Indeed, I owe my success to
a sheer piece of luck. I had been
hunting for days, in quite the amat-
eur detective fashion, without any re-
sults; but one day I chanced to go
down to the docks, and while driv-
ing through one of the streets --poor
people! how one pities them this
veeather!—I saw them."
Esther sat, her head resting on her
hancl, mechanically making formless
figures on the paper.
"Them?" she said in a low voice.
"Yes," he said; then he chose the
proper tone, one of grave regret. "I
am very sorry to say that poor Tran-
som's fears were only too web
grounded. His daughter had gone to
Mr. Gordon. I saw the fellow help-
ing her out of a fly and into one of
the houses—"
Esther rose and went to one of
the windows, so that he might not
see the deathly pallor of her face,
the quivering lips.
"I saw them quite distinctly, and I
am not sure that they did not see
me. They were of a party, just re-
turned from some outing, an outing
of the usual loud and vulgar kind."
Esther tapped softly with her fin-
gers on the colored glass which sent
its patches of color on her face.
, "You saw them distinctly?" she
said. "There—there is 110 mistake?"
"Oh, quite; I am quite certain! It
is not possible for me to have been
mistaken. I made some inquiries
afterwards and I found that they
werc—I trust they are man and
wife," he murmured,
Esther started: the marriage cer-
cate
"Now the question is," he went
on, approaching her slowly, "shall I
tell her father—that hot-tempered
young man, Dick Reeve? It is for
you to decide."
Esther frowned.
"I—I don't know," she said. "I
will think of it, Poor girl—poor
girl!"
(To Be Continued).
BUSINESS CARUS
.T.HE Industrial Niortgage and
I Savings Company, ofSarnia
Ontario, are prepared to advance money on
Mortgages on good lands. Parties desiring
mQn'Y 0nfnitg1"wiiLPieaPPIit:JainesCowSeao1,Ontwhr il1 n.
uish rates and other partioulers.
Tho Industrial Mortgage
and Saving. Company
azzax g.kaffenvir
AGENT FOR
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COMPANIES
For Brussels and vicinity Phone 647
JAMES M'PADZEAN
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A190
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Phone 45 Boxl Tarnberry StFeet, Brussels
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For references consult any person whose sales
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T. T. NI°RAE
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OR. WAIVOLAW
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LECKIE BLOCK - BRUSSELS
513tiKENtOW61)10,
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You ,ds
imtt e
Have you, Mr. usiness Man, the
time to get out and call on all of your
customers and prospective customers
each week ? If you could do so, it
would be a fine thing for you and for
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The nextThest thing to a personal
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business message each week in THE
POST, which covers the local com-
munity and will carry your message
to old friends and new friends, alike.
Advertising in THE POST is an
economical, efficient way to reach the
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