Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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I The i | Shadow | | of the I if Sheltering Ji I Pines | A New Romance of the & Storm Country >2 I By I | GRACE MILLER WHITE | y/ VV Copyright by the H. K. Fly Company. SYNOPSIS. CHAPTER I.?Lonely and almost friendless, Tonnibel Devon, living on a canal boat, child of a brutal father and a wornout, discouraged mother, wanders into a Salvation army hall at Ithaca, N. Y. There she meets a young Salvation army AO T\toin O K ; 1 5 TN VI-1 f'( 'dill cv CHAPTER IJ.?Uriah Devon, Tony's father, returns to the boat from a protracted "spree," and announces he has arranged for Tony to marry a worthless companion of his, Reginald Brown, Mrs. Devon objects, and Uriah beats her. She intimates there is a secret connected with Tonnibel. CHAPTER III.?In clothes that Uriah has brought Tony finds a baby's picture with a notification of a reward for its return to a Doctor Pendlehaven. She goes to return the picture. CHAPTER IV.?With the Pendlehavens, a family of wealth, live Mrs. Curtis, a cousin, her son and daughter, Katherine Curtis and Reginald Brown. Katherine is deeply in love with Philip MacCauley. CHAPTER V.?Tonnibel returns the picture to Doctor John, and learns it belongs to his brother,' Dr. Paul Pendlehaven. It is a portrait of Doctor Paul's child, who had been stolen in her infancy, and her loss has wrecked Doctor Paul's life. Doctor John goes with Tony to the canal boat and ministers to Mrs. Devon while she is unconscious. CHAPTER VI.?Returning to consciousness, Mrs. Devon is informed by Tony of her visitor. She is deeply agitated, ? - __ i.-n makes Tony swear sne win never ten wi Devon's brutality, and disappears CHAPTER VII.?Tony's personality and her loneliness appeal to Doctor John and he arranges to take her into his house as a companion to his invalid brother. CHAPTER VIII.?Tony's presence in the house has a good effect on Doctor Paul. He begins to take a new interest in life. Visiting the canal boat, Tony finds Reginald Brown there. He attempts to kiss her. Captain MacCauley appears and throws the man into the lake. Uriah Devon orders MacCauley off his boat CHAPTER IX.?With the girl a captive Devon insists that she shall marry Brown. On her persistent refusal he beats her brutally, throws her into the cabin, unl moors the boat, and starts to leave Ithaca. MacCauley follows in his canoe. He takes the girl into the canoe through the cabin window. The men believe Tony has committed suicide. MacCauley declares his love, and Tony acknowledges she returns it. The girl returns to the Pendlehaven home. CHAPTER X.?At dinner in the Pendlehaven home MacCauley, not knowing of her presence in the house, meets Tony, and his affectionate greeting alarms Katherine and her mother. CHAPTER XI.?MacCauley calls at the Pon/llo'hQ von VmmA in his car. iemorea Katherine, and takes Tony for a drive. Katherine is heartbroken. CHAPTER XII.?Determined to bring about the death of Doctor Paul and so secure money he believes he would inherit, Reginald procures a deadly poison from Dr. John's laboratory and places it in the sick man's medicine. Tony discovers him in the act. Devon visit! the Pendlehaven house and with Mrs. Curtis' assistance endeavors to carry off Tony. Doctor John thwarts the plan. Devon is arrested and jailed for theft. CHAPTER XIII. - Tonnibel discover! that Reginald is Mrs. Curtis' son, and denounces him for the attempted murder of Doctor Paul. She agrees to say nothing if he will leave the town at once. CHAPTER XIV.?Doctor Paul formally adopts Tonnibel as his daughter, and the cup of bitterness is overflowing for Mrs. Curtis and Katherine. CHAPTER XV.?Devon serves his sentence and is released from prison. He and Reginald plot to kidnap Tony and force her to marry Reginald. Devon agrees to the deal for five thousand dollars, which Mrs. Curtis is to furnish. CHAPTER XVI.?Devon informs his wife he has confessed to Doctor Pendlehaven that she stole Tonnibel from him as an act of revenge, and that the Pendlehavens in their joy at the girl's recovery have condoned the crime. The two of them visit the Pendlehaven home. Devon gets the five thousand dollars from Mrs. Curtis. Left alone in the library Devon robs a safe of considerable money and jewelry. Unknown to him Reginald is in the room in a drunken stupor. When the girl appears Devon, overpowered by her beauty, acknowledges he is not her father and makes love to h*?r. He is interrupted by Mrs. Devon. Reginald, awakened by the disturbance, learns of Devon's treachery and shoots him. escaping from the room. Tonv believes Mrs. Devon shot her husband, and hurries her from the house To save her. she insists she shot Devon and also robbed the safe. Reginald appearing, the girl declares she loves him and not MacCauley. \ CHAPTER XVI. I ^ iL. i in trie oaiance. Reginald Brown and Uriah Devon were seated in close conference along the path that led to the Dirty Mary. Reginald had rehearsed all he had learned from his mother. "Unless we do it tonight, Ry," said he, "it's all tip. What do you say?" Uriah broke off a blade of grass and drew it with a squeak through his crooked teeth. "We'll get the kid," he snarled. "Mother's awful worried, though," Reggie continued, "but I told her, 'No risk no gain,' and I'd go a long ways on the road of risk to get Tonnifel ' Devon." "Well, _weTll _get 'er" monotoned Uriah, 'with a far-away look in his bloodshot eyes. "After I'm married to her." took up the boy, "you'll tell me who she is, eh?" "Yep," replied Uriah, "I'm goin' I down to the scow now. Good-by, and j he sure to tell your mother to put up i the sign we spoke of if everything's j clear for me to butt in." Edith Devon looked up from the ' boat deck as her husband approached, j lie sat down on the bench beside her, j a grizzly smile on his face. "Ede," he asked, "seen any change : in me lately?" | "Y'es, I have," she returned. "You j ain't boozin' haf so much, and you've ; been kinder and better-hearted to me." "Mebbe it's because I've got religion," Uriah explained. . "Religion makes a man repent of all his cussed acts. I'm sorry now, Ede, for the way Uve treated you and the kid." He couldn't have uttered words more welcome to Edith Devon. For the first time in years, she leaned her It Took Some Effort on the. Man's Part ' Not to Shove Her Away. head against him. It took some effort on the man's part not to shove her away. "And matters have took a mighty big change in the last two days," he continued. "Ede, I know, for years you been worry in' your life out about Tony. I fixed it up." Mrs. Devon was on her feet almost before the last words fell from her husband's lips. "How fixed it up, Riah?" she gasped. "Now don't get panicky if I tell you something," Uriah cautioned her, slyly, "but I went to Pendlehaven and told him I copped the kid, and nor you, and I says: 'Mr. Pendlehaven. you've had 'er for two years, and she's your brat. Now keep 'er!" Edith fell back on the bench as if i the man had dealt her a blow. "The kid's awful fond of you," he continued impressively, "and I up and told 'er you was livin', and tonight you're goin' to see 'er. "She's goin' to get married to a rich young feller," he went on. "Ain't you glad. Ede?" Wasn'I she glad! No words could express Edith's feelings at that mo ? ^ ~ f1. niAO KAT ho(4l*t lUtHI. UUt J LUCiil.r 'A '. v* uvu?> Had ached for a sight of the pretty child she'd had so many years. "Didn't Pendlehaven say nothin' about sending us up for it?" she asked timidly. "Not a thing," retorted Uriah. "Not1 by a d?d sight, he didn't! He was too glad to know Tony was his, to make any fuss. Anyhow, she wouldn't [ let 'iin. Why, my God! That little [ kid kissed me!" I Edith exclaimed in delight. ; "I've told you more'n once, Uriah," she said, leaning against him again, "Tony'd like you if you'd let 'er. When we goin' to see 'er, Ry?" "Oh, after a while," said he. "After supper! She's awful busy gettin' ready for a swell blowout. Lord, but she's I J A *? prerry: i "She always was that," answered Edith, and she fell into a deep revery. Unobserved by his wife, Uriah DeI von made ready to leave the Dftty Mary for some weeks. So absorbed was Edith in her thoughts that she paid no heed to her husband's sly actions. He knew they would not dare to return to the boat with Tony until after she had been forced to marry Reginald Brown. Uriah would gladly have abandoned his wife forever, but in making his plans, had foreseen that, if they met with much opposition from Tonnibel, the woman, under his threats, could handle her. At nine o'clock they started for Ithaca, Uriah carrying a small black bag, and in his pocket his revolver. They entered Pendlehaven place through the service gate, and, when they passed the garage, the man noHrmri with ri start ion that Reginald's automobile was standing ready for use. Close to the mansion, he placed his wife out of sight under a rose bush. "I'm go in' in and get Tony, Ede," lie explained. "'Twas a promise I give the kid. she could see you alone first. .Tust sit here, 'til I come back. You j don't want to see Pondlehaven, eh?" Edith shuddered and shrank back. I "No. I don't," she whispered. "I j just want to talk to the baby a min- ; ute. I want her to forgive me before we go away. We been cussed mean I to that kid, Uriah." Devon made a granting assent, left Edith sitting behind the rose bush and slipped up the steps of the | house. ' i A little while before, Reggie Brown, j well filled up on brandy, had descend- ' ed to the library to wait f?*r Devon. If he hadn't had this thin? on. and the importance of it hadn't weighed on him all the Ions: day, he'd have gone to hod, his head ached so, bwi his desire to capture Tony Devon kept the fumes of alcohol from completely befuddling his brains. Inside the library, he stood swaying near the door, tapping his pocket from time to time to make sure he was armed. Then he stumbled across the room, threw him- j self on the divan and in another mo- ' nient had forgotten in a drunken sleep that there was any such person in the world as Tonnibe! Devon. Meanwhile, Mrs. Curtis was walking the floor upstairs, half mad with anxiety, and Katherine, in a state of nerves, was smoking one cigarette af- i ter another. "God! When she's gone," broke forth the girl, "I'll know what happi- , ness means!" "So will I," echoed Mrs. Curtis. "TfV olnmcf Htna for ma to rlowri ! HO aiuivct A.' w -WW.-?, | | isn't it? I hope that man won't dis- i appoint us." "Don't fear about that," sneered Katherine. "He's even more anxious than we are. So's Reverie, hut I don't envy you telling Tony her mother's alive." "I think you might do it." complained Mrs. Curtis with a sniffle. "All the anxiety and worry of this thing has fallen on me." "That's because you're so clever, my sweet," retorted Katherine, sarcastically. "Oh, go on down and don't act as if you were afraid of your own shadow. Say, Roge was drunk as anything at dinner." "Disgustingly so." sighed the mother as she went out. "I hope to the high heavens he'll straighten up some day." First Mrs. Curtis stole down to the library. There she found Uriah Devon, standing with his hat in his hand, and. as he saw her, he made a grinning bow. "Where's Rege?" he asked eagerly. "Upstairs, I think," replied Mrs. Curtis in a low voice, "He's had too much to drink. Did you bring your I wife?" "Yep; she's outside," was the man's I answer. "And the kid? Does she know Ede's still in the land of the livin'?" "No, but I'll tell her now," returned Mrs. Curtis desperately, "Here's the five thousand dollars." She thrust a roll of bank notes into his hand. "I'll send Tony right down," ended the woman and she went swiftly out. Uriah glanced about the room in anticipation. He intended not only to take Tony with him, but everything else of value he could lay his I bands on. Edith had often described the valuables kept in a wall-safe in this very room. Mrs. Curtis had no more than closed the door before, revolver in hand, he began his search. An exclamation of delight almost eseaped his lips when he discovered the safe-door was unlocked. He grinned at the carelessness of the rich as he flung into the black bag the boxes of jewelry, completely stripping the cafe of its contents. He didn't take rime to icok over his haul! That vould fome later. All through the day Tonnibei Devon hoo fold her joyover and over to herse-f. Now, almost ready to retire, she wr.s sittmg reading the Bible. It <!"" >d tiiost appropriate that on this nur?o should sing with the Poet rh:> i^- --..s; of Thanksgiving. \ A ttnock at the door caused her 10 close the book and put it on the table before she called: "Come in.'* At the sight of Mrs. Curtis she rose to her feet, startled. "I've good news for you, child," choked the woman, and Tony went forward eagerly. - .. "What?" she demanded. "Is Philip?" "Now, don't get nervous, my dear," came in quivering interruption. "But ?but you were not correctly informed about your mother. She's?slie's downstairs." * A violent emotion overtook the girl. She knew then she had never really believed what Uriah told her. "My mother!" she breathed, her eyes deepening in color. "My dear little mother! Oh. let me go to her!" "She's in the library. This is a* happy day for you, my dear?for?all of us. You'd better dress, hadn't you?" Tonnibel hadn't even heard the last words. She fled down the stairs and into the library, panting for breath. Her cup of happiness was fuil to the brim, now that Edith had come back to he*. She halted, closed the door and ran into the room. "Edie, mummy dear!" she called softly, so overcome she could not raise her voice. Then Uriah Devon stepped from behind the grate-screen and came toward her. "Daddy," r?ried the girl, "where's mummy? Whore's my mother?" Uriah dropped the bag and laid the i revolver on a chair. He had never seen such a vision of loveliness. The masses of dark curls flung over the flimsy dressing-gown, the small, bare ankles peeping from the soft blue slippers sent an unholy desire for posi session over him. What a fool he had I been to promise her to a fellow like j Reginald Brown! "Tony," he faltered hoarsely. "I've been a dog to you all these years. I've come to tell you I love you, kid, more'n anybody in all the world." Tonnibel dodged his outstretched arms and flames of anger leapt into her eyes at his words. | "But my mother," she exclaimed,1 trying not to cry out , "Never mind her, Tony, never mind j any one," commanded Uriah. "The I fact is, I ain't your daddy at alt I'm j not any relation to you?" Then he snatched at her and, as she tried to tlee from him, caught her f in his arms. One long cry left her j lips and Edith Devon heard it plainly1 out there under the rose hush. IIow! many times she had fled to an appeal j like that from the same lips! In an-1 other moment she was in the room before Uriah's red mouth had touched; Tony's face. The girl saw her and! screamed: "Mummy! Mummy darling! Moth- j er dearest! Take me away?" The words were strangled in her i throat, for Devon was forcing her; head backward with his strong fin- j gers. Edith's eyes caught sight of the re-1 volver where her husband had placed j it. In a twinkling she had it in her. hands. Lifting it, she ran toward the i struggling pair. "Take your hands offen Tonnibel, Uriah," she hissed. "You dirty, lying dog. You fooled me good, you whelp! tlrnn 'or T cn v TTrin>i T)ovnn " At the other end of the room a tall; hoy arose out of the shadows; Tony's \ screams had aroused Reginald Brown, j lie stood swaying, rubbing his head, j trying to remember where he was. "I'm done with you. Ede," he heard j Devon utter. "I'm done with you for-1 | ever. Tony's mine. I've just told 'er I wasn't her daddy. I was a fool to! say Reggie Brown could have 'er. lie | can't; I'll have 'er myself." "Put 'er down," gritted Edith under her breath. Almost lifeless, Tony was hanging i from Uriah's arm when suddenly j through the room a pistol shot sounded. The moment his gun barked, Reg! inald, now sober, saw Uriah Devon! | throw up his arms and crumple in a I heap on the floor. He saw, too, the, I girl stagger forward and sink down, j ' He had committed murder, perhaps, I I and, for an awful moment, he imagined j | he was going mad. A scream rose j | to his lips as a pain shot through his! head, but lie bit savagely on his tongue j and held it back. If he was discov 1 1 1.1 I- ^ - 1 ~ .1 1 Z4 ereu lie wouxu uf iirniMcii, unii u f/ ^y "Mufomy," Said the Girl, "Oh, God! You've Killed Him!" I Devon died? He dared picture the future no further. Shuddering, ht slunk back, crouched at the head ot rhp divan and remained absolutely quiet.. ' Ton.v struggled to hen feet, stared If vild amazement at her father, then at ner motner, wno was standing r'gi idly speechless, the revolver hanging : from her fingers. I "Mummy," cried the girl. "Oh, God! i You've killed him, Edie darling!" Still the woman didn't say a word. : She only gazed at the speaker un- i I seeingly. Tony snatched the gun | from her hand. j "Edie," she groaned. "Mummy. ! sweet, go right away, before any one i 1 comes. You've killed Uriah. Go j away, go away, I say." i 1 She grasped Mrs. Devon's arm and | hurried her toward the porch door. i "Run," hissed the girl. "Get back to the boat quick. Don't ever say a ; word to any one." t Then Tony spied j the little black bag she'd seen so of- i ten on the Dirty Mary. Picking, it ! up she thrust it into her mother's | hands. "Here! Take this, too. Oh, j mummy; kiss me, kiss me!" She flung herself upon the woman i frantically, kissed the pallid, impas- j ' sive face again and again and then shoved Edith out upon the dark porch. It was while Tony's whole attention j was -centered on her beloved that Reg- t inald Brown seized the opportunity 1 to sneak stealthily from the room. i The nervous women In the upper ! part of the house had not expected ! to hear the piercing scream that came to their ears, and, as it was repeated j more than once with such terrible in- j sistence, Mrs. Curtis, followed by . Katherine, fled down the stairs. 1 Tony heard them coming, and a -i * t?? Kr?rwn <tVi t surging love lor uei muuici wi a resolution full-born from the loyal young heart. She was standing over the prostrate Uriah when Sarah Curtis and her daughter rushed madly in. j "I shot my father," gasped Tonnibel, ' looking at Mrs. Curtis, her fingers locked tightly over the handle of* the revolver. i "Where's your mother?" came from I Mrs. Curtis' lips. Tonnibel didn't answer for a minute. then she shook her head. "She hasn't been here!" stie swallowed hard and continued: " 'Twas . my father, and?and I shot him." Katherine took a long breath of ex- ; citement. "Don't you know you'll be arrested, i you wicked girl?" she ejaculated. "And executed!" interposed Mrs. i Curtis. "Katherine, call the police." j As Katherine made for the tele- ! phone, a motor car driving up to the i house stayed her action. Her hand dropped from the receiver when Phil- ! ip MacCauley came in. For a moment , he didn't see Devon. With a quick, j flashing glance, he noticed how pallid and deathlike his Tony was. "What have you two been saying to her?" he demanded in deadening : tones. "I suspected something like this, and?and trot away as soon as I could. . . . Darling girl, don't look | at me like that." Mrs. Curtis was fully herself now. "The wicked girl has shot her own father," she told Captain MacCauley, making an effort to keep the satisfaction out of her voice. "There he is, dead on the floor!" Then Philip saw Devon. In horri fied amazement and disbelief his gaze came back to Tonnibel. "Darling," he said, and he went swiftly to her. "I don't believe a word of it. It's all a lie!" Tony flung out her hand. "Don't touch me, please don't!" she mumbled. "I told her I did it, and I?I?I?did." She backed away from the outstretched arms. "But you -couldn't have," groaned the hoy. "What happened"/ on, ooai Won't someone tell me what happened?" "Mother has told you quite plainly, Philip," gulped Katherine, noticing with a thrill that Captain MacCauley had not covered the few steps Tony had retreated. "She said she killed her father, and no girl admits such a thing as that unless it's true. Heavens, there's Cousin John and?" "Cousin Paul," fell from Mrs. Curtis, who looked as if she had turned to stone. Not another word was uttered by that silent group of people until after the two doctors entered the library. For a moment everything was confusion. Doctor John forced Mrs. Curtis into a chair when she tried to fling herself into his arms. With every one hut Tony talking at once, neither he nor his brother could understand the meaning of the seemingly dead man on the floor. "Will you all keep still, all of you?" shouted Doctor John, in his bombastic voice. "First, ?aul, let's see about this fe!lowr here." i "Tony shot him, if you want to know," Mrs. Curtis dared to fling out. Doctor Paul gave her such an awful look that she quailed beneath it. "He's not dead," he said after a hasty examination of Uriah, and one dry, tearless sob burst from Tony Devon. "You might as well own up the whole thing now, miss." cried Mrs. Curtis, after the wounded man had been carried out by the doctors and Philip. "It'll be better for you in the end." Tony didn't reply, nor did she look at the speaker. Her mind was following her mother along the boulevard, yes, even down the lonely forest path to the Dirty Mary. Through her tangled thoughts went the question, if Uriah wasn't her father, tvho was? How she dreaded to face Doctor Paul with his infinite kindness, and the appeal she knew he would make. Never before had he seemed so dear; never had Philip MacCauley~ been so far away as at this minute! i At length she lifted her head and rested her troubled eyes on Mrs. Curtis. "Please- don't tell my father, I mean Doctor Paul, about your saying my mother was here," she moaned. Mrs. Curtis considered the request Quickly, "Periaps that would be best," she answered. "I really thought she was, or I wouldn't have told you so. It might bring trouble to her, and that would be dreadful for an innocent person." I Doctor Paul went directly to Tony, ! when, followed by his brother and i Philip, he came back into the room. He tried to draw her to her feet "I'd rather stay here, please," she said, without looking up. "Who was in the room when the man was shot?" asked Doctor John, staring at Mrs. Curtis and her daughter. "Just Tonnibel, as far as I can find out," Sarah answered. "Heaven knows 1 that Kathie and I don't want to be mixed up in such a thing as this. It's perfectly disgraceful." "Then go upstairs," shot back Doctor John. Loath not to witness the vanquishing of their enemy, the two women trailed out reluctantly. In spite of Tony's resistance, DocVitr. r.'mvt ohrvnf hPT*. lur JTc.HI pinwu in.-? cxuxj c?.wv.w - ? "Can't yon tell your father about it, dear?" he pleaded. "How did you happen to have the gun in your hands, and what did he do?" "I just shot him," sighed Tony, dully. She was too exhausted to say anything more. What was there to explain, after all? The only sure way to save Edith was to insist she, herself, had fired the shot. ; A strange, strangling sound came from Captain MacCauley. Then he blurted out: "Tony, darling, please don't sit there that way. Tell us about it. Do, dear. ' Oh, don't you know how much we all love you ?" Did she know? Ah. yes and more! Her own devotion to him was almost forcing the truth from between her chattering teeth. She glanced at him. and then, Edith, pale beseeching and wan, came between her face and his. . "There isn't anything more to tell, Philip," she choked hopelessly. "I suppose I'll be arrested. If he dies?" She burst into broken sobs and crouched lower. "He's not going to die," Paul. told her softly. "He only has a slight scalp wound. So put that worry out of your head. . . . Tony, don't you love me any more?" Love himj The agony in his voice made her fling her arms around him, I and she clung to him shivering, en- I treating him to forgive her, not to M cease loving her, for she'd die if he V did. I "Child dear," he murmured, run- -S ning his fingers over her curls, "you're i going to steady yourself now and tell J your father just what happened! Now, | l in a uegm : | He had not finished when his eyes 1 caught sicrht of the safe. Pie stared I at its open door, and Doctor John's I gaze followed his. Then the latter i strode across the room, and for a long A moment peered into the opening. M "It's empty! Everything's gone," he muttered, turning slowly, and Philip exclaimed: "That's why she shot him, Jack. He was stealing! Tony darling," and.the speaker went down beside the girl, "Tony, did you find your father here?" , "I didn't see him take anything, . Philip," she sobbed bitterly. Her eyes 1 were looking at him, but their expres- I sion tcld him thev didn't see him at A all. Another problem was tormenting JE her. Her misery was being added to by the minute. So impatient was Philip to have the matter cleared that he spoke harshly to her. "Tony, you know where those jewels are," said ho. "Tell us instantly!" Then he ejaculated: "That man has J them upstairs." He was out of the room in a flash, and an awful silence settled over the three until he was with them again. \ "He hasn't got them," he faltered. "I searched every pocket in his clothes. But I found this wad of money. There must be thousands in it!" He passed the money to Doctor John. "It wasn't in the safe," said the latter, thoughtfully, slipping it into the table drawer. , His words struck a new terror to Tonnibel. Edith had robbed the safe, then, Edith who never stole unless she was forced to it. The shudders that ran over her brought a feeling of rebellion to Paul Pendlehaven. Philip groaned and began to speak, but the doctor waved him to silence. "HPrvnT' " Vin cnir? cfornlv "thorft'a JL VUJ y liV VJHvwv* u y cmv> V v gu sometlvng beneath all this, something 8 you must tell me. Do you know where 8 the things went that were in the 8 safe?" > | To deny it would be the same as tell- 1 ing that a third person had been there. fl To aamit it would forever place her beyond the pale of his love. Yet there was Edith?and Uriah, whom she had sworn to protect. "Yes, I know," she whispered. "Of course, I know," she repeated louder. ! "You'll tell me," begged Philip, hoarsely. "Great Heavens, child, can't you see how awful it looks for you?" "Yes," was all she said, miserably. Doctor John was wandering aimlessly about the room. The mysetry that had hung over Tony Devon ever since she had been with them was deeper than ever. He felt like shaking the truth from her, for tho 'jight of his horror-stricken brother tilled him with rage which did for the moment obliterate the past two years in which the ] girl had been the one bright spot in their home. "Tiien if you know, Tony," Doctor John ejaculated, "just out with it Your father evidently didn't take then, "I did," interrupted Tony. "What for?" was his bitter retort J "My brother gave you permission to wear them whenever you wanted to!" Tony couldn't answer. She was becoming hopelessly entangled, more so with every word she uttered. "God, I'd rather have given them all to you," mourned Doctor Paul. "I Intended to, anyhow." "If your father dies, Tonnibel," said Doctor John, sternly, "you'll be arrested. Oh, Lord! What a mess!* "It's awful," muttered Tony. Simultaneous with her assertion, Reginald Brown opened the door and minced over the threshold. Perfectly certain now that Uriah had but a temporary wound, and that for the love they bore Tonnibel Devon, his cousins would hush the matter up, he had determined to make his plea openly to the girl. "Tony," he said, coming forward with a magnanimous swagger, "I'm the only one in this house who loves you?" "You lie," flashed Philip, as Doctor John took a step toward his young cousin, but the girl's expression ~ brought him to a halt. She was looking at Reginald with eyes that seemed to him to burn holes through him. "I've never told any one here you cared for me, Reggie," she faltered, drawing herself forcibly from Doctor Paul, "and?and I took the things out of the safe to help us along when? when?" Reggie stared at her, amazement spreading over his countenance; he felt a swelling in his chest, an overwhelming awe and respect for her. "I didn't tell you to steal," he blurted. "I know you didn't," responded Tonnibel, amid the terrible silence that had fallen on her friends, "but we couldn't get along without money, so I took the?the?Cousin Paul's?" During the broken statement Philip MacCauley had dropped into a chair and covered his face with his hands. Doctor John was gaping at her as if she had struck him, but Doctor Paul? well, . he simply reached out and grasped her hands. AU'WA 1 wi > ^TAntT w V* n fnf'OT JLUuitr J.jraai^, a^uiu, -LUUY, nu *"<->-mpted her grimly. "I don't know why, but I'm positive all you've said is a fearful lie. Reginald, have you ever asked Tony to marry you?" The boy smiled broadly. Everything was working out splendidly for him. "Yesl and her father promised her 4 ' f :