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diff --git a/old/69224-0.txt b/old/69224-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 9ae3df6..0000000 --- a/old/69224-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5096 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The shadows of a great city, by Grace -Miller White - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: The shadows of a great city - A romantic story - -Author: Grace Miller White - -Contributor: L. R. Shewell - -Release Date: October 24, 2022 [eBook #69224] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Demian Katz, Craig Kirkwood, and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (Images courtesy - of the Digital Library@Villanova University.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SHADOWS OF A GREAT -CITY *** - - -Transcriber’s Notes: - -Text enclosed by equal signs is in bold (=bold=). - -Additional Transcriber’s Notes are at the end. - - * * * * * - -Price 25 Cents - -SHADOWS OF A GREAT CITY - -A ROMANTIC STORY FOUNDED UPON L. R. SHEWELL’S PLAY OF THE SAME NAME - -BY GRACE MILLER WHITE - -[Illustration: “SAVED”] - - * * * * * - -[Illustration: “SHE MUST NEVER LEAVE THIS PLACE ALIVE!”] - - * * * * * - - - - -The Shadows of a Great City. - - - A ROMANTIC STORY - Founded Upon L. R. Shewell’s Famous Play of - the Same Name. - - BY - GRACE MILLER WHITE, - - Author of “Driven From Home,” “Joe Welch the Peddler,” - “No Wedding Bells for Her,” “Sky Farm,” “A Midnight - Marriage,” “Souvenir Book of ‘Way Down East’,” - “Why Women Sin,” “Human Hearts,” “A - Ragged Hero,” “From Rags to Riches,” - Etc., Etc. - - COPYRIGHT, 1904, BY - J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING COMPANY. - - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED BY C. B. JEFFERSON. - - NEW YORK: - J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING COMPANY, - 57 ROSE STREET. - - * * * * * - -SHADOWS OF A GREAT CITY - - - - -CHAPTER I. - - -Three children were hopping among the daisies in a beautiful grove near -a stone mansion covered with ivy. Their happy shouts and merry laughter -filled the air until the birds in the branches twittered back from very -happiness. - -Two boys and one little girl made up the number, and the girl was -clapping her hands wildly, watching the boys as they wrestled in the -grass. - -The larger of them brought the other down upon his face and made him -admit that the match was over. - -“I had you foul when I wound my leg about yours,” explained he. “You -cannot expect to down a big fellow like me,” and the boy straightened -himself with a chuckle. - -The girl ceased her laughing and came forward. - -“Well, I don’t care, George Benson; Tom’s as good as you are any day. -That’s what he is.” - -“Nobody said he wasn’t,” contemptuously replied the lad, “but he can’t -fight.” - -Tom was watching George out of the corner of his eye, trying to -determine whether it would be well to go at it again, when the girl -spoke: - -“Never you mind, Tommy; you come with me, and I’ll ask papa for -twenty-five cents, and then we will go to the candy store.” - -The boy addressed as George Benson followed Tom and the girl. - -“You needn’t be a tight-wad,” exclaimed he; “stingy, stingy, stingy.” - -“She ain’t stingy, George,” snapped Tom, “and if you say she is stingy -again, I’ll knuckle your pate.” - -“Stingy cat Annie, stingy cat Annie,” shouted George loudly. “There -now, here’s my head, you knuckle it if you dare!” - -With a bound Tom was up on the back of George and was rubbing the curly -head with a vengeance. Back and forth they tottered upon the lawn until -the girl shouted: - -“There, that’s enough now, Tom; just you show him that you can lick -him. Now, Mr. George, if you’ll be good, you can go to the candy store -with us.” - -“Don’t want none of your old candy,” sulkily replied the other. “I -wouldn’t eat it fer nothing, and I’ll get even with you, Mr. Tom, for -knuckling my pate.” - -“Come on now and get even,” exclaimed Tom; “you ain’t the only plug in -the world.” - -But George did not seem anxious to get even, and he sent a stone flying -after Annie Benson and Tom Cooper. - -“George can be so mean when he wants to be,” sighed the girl. - -“So he can. Now, why didn’t he come to the store after the fight? He -had no right to call you stingy.” - -“No, for I always give him half of what I have, after he spends his -allowance that father gives him.” - -They were silent for a few moments, and then the girl continued: - -“I sometimes think that George is jealous of you and me, and he ought -not to be, for father does as much for him as for any one else, and I -am papa’s own child.” - -“Of course you are, Annie, while I am only a little boy Mr. Benson was -so good to. Never mind, when I get big I’m going to marry you.” - -“Oh, you can’t, Tom,” replied Annie, “for I am four years older than -you are. You would not want to have your wife boss you, would you, Tom, -and I would have to if I was older than you.” - -“Oh, not always. I read in a book once,” proceeded Tom earnestly, -“about a man and a woman, and she was ten years older than her husband, -and they were very happy.” - -“Were they, really? I never heard of such a thing. I thought the -husbands had to be at least twenty years older than the wife.” - -“Pshaw, no, and I’m going to have you for my wife.” - -Again there was silence. The girl was about twelve, while the boy, -although large for his age, was but eight. - -“George said he was going to marry me,” said Annie after a while. “He -said that my father was very rich and that he being my cousin ought to -have the right to look after my money.” - -“George ain’t good enough for you, Annie,” hesitated Tom. “If you won’t -tell I’ll tell you something.” - -“I promise, and cross my heart,” replied Annie. - -“I saw Tom take money from your father’s safe.” - -“Oh, Tom, you really didn’t?” - -“I really did,” answered the boy, hanging his head. - -“How could George be so wicked when papa is so good to him. Why, he has -had no father or mother for many years. He and I are the same age. My -father and his are brothers.” - -The girl’s mouth drooped at the corners and her little face worked -painfully, for as much as she scolded her big cousin she loved him. - -She never had had a brother, and now to find this young lad whom she -had taken into her heart like one should be found wanting was hard to -bear. - -“You are sure, Tommy dear?” asked she plaintively. - -“More than sure, for he offered me five dollars and I wouldn’t take it.” - -“Good for you, Tom,” replied the girl, “and for that I’ll marry you -when you get to be a man. You are a good fellow, Tommy.” - -Annie Benson was the only child of her father, her mother having died -long ago. - -The millionaire had taken under his control his nephew, who had been -left an orphan, also another boy called Tom Cooper, the son of an -old friend. These three children had grown up together and were like -brothers and sister. - -There was much love between them, with the exception of George, who -hated Tom Cooper and wanted his cousin to himself. - -“I’ll get even with him for knuckling my nut,” grumbled the lad as he -watched the other two run away. “I suppose he thinks he’s smart because -Annie’s going to buy candy. She ain’t the only one; just look at that -coin,” and he took out a handful of money and pretended to show it to -some one. “’Taint every fellow that can show a hand like that,” and he -ran and jumped over a large gatepost, evidently satisfied with himself. - -Annie and Tom in the meantime climbed the mansion steps, and the girl -ran ahead, shaking her golden curls in the wind. - -She rapped lightly upon the library door and stood patiently until she -heard a kind voice call out: - -“Come in, little one, come in,” and the gentleman put out his arms and -the child sprang into them. - -“What does father’s baby want now?” asked he lovingly. - -“Some money to go to the store for bon-bons with Tommy. I don’t like -Cousin George as much as I do Tom and father,” and here the child -hesitated. “I have promised to marry Tom.” - -This astounding statement caused the man to throw back his head and -give a great laugh. - -“You needn’t laugh, father,” said the child, wriggling from his arms -and pouting a little; “if Tommy and I want to get married, can’t we?” - -Again the rich man chuckled, drawing the child closely and looking into -her eyes, and then saying solemnly: - -“Do you want to leave your father all alone, without any one to love -him?” - -How many times in the future did the girl remember these words! How -many tears had she shed over the remembrance of the loving embrace he -had given her when he told her that she could not give away his baby, -that she did not belong to herself and was his own sweet child! - -Annie Benson leaned confidently against her father’s breast. - -“I’m so glad that you want me, father,” sighed she. “I love you very -much indeed, and I’ll tell Tom that I can’t marry him.” - -With two coins in her hand and tender kisses upon her lips, the girl -scampered out to join the waiting youngster upon the porch. - -“Can’t marry you, Tom,” she shouted, “for father says I belong to him -and have no right to give myself away.” - -“Oh, pshaw, why did you tell him yet? Of course we are too little. Did -he laugh?” - -“Not only did he laugh,” replied Annie, “but he shouted.” - -“Mean of him,” muttered the lad, tears rising in his eyes. “I suppose -he thinks because I’m but eight years old that I never will be a man, -but, never mind, I’ll show him.” - -After that the children got their candy, but neither the boy nor girl -seemed to relish it much, and when they reached home Annie’s father was -talking with George in the library. - -“The master wants to see Master Tom for a few moments,” said the -butler. - -The little lad tremblingly went to his benefactor. - -“You wanted me, sir?” asked he softly. - -“Yes. Come here, lad. Would you like to go away to a good school for -boys?” - -“And leave Annie?” faltered the boy. - -“Of course,” replied Benson; “but you don’t always want to be around -with girls, do you?” - -“Is George going?” - -“Yes.” - -“Then I suppose I’ll have to go,” sobbed Tommy; “but I don’t want to -leave Annie.” - -“Annie will go to school herself very soon,” said the millionaire, “and -then you would be left alone.” - -Gloom seemed to settle over the childish hearts in the home as both -boys vied with each other for most of Annie’s attention, and Tom won -out, for the little girl could not forget that George had taken money -from her dear father, and the lad pondered long over his cousin’s -changed attitude. - - * * * * * - -The children all went away to school, the millionaire thinking it best -to keep his girl from the two boys, who might captivate her childish -heart, but little he thought that his ambitions for her would be dashed -to the ground by one wave of the tiny white hand. - -For four years the children met only in summer, when the girl went -traveling with a chaperone and the boys stayed at home upon the estate. -Scarcely ever did they go to New York city to live in the mansion -excepting at Christmas, when the family were in the city. - -One holiday Annie came home in a different mood than ever before, and -her face would color up when spoken to sharply or when surprised. - -Her father and the boys noticed the difference, but not one could -understand the cause. - -She had very little to say to any one, and one afternoon her father -called her to his study. - -“Little maid,” said he tenderly, “is there anything your father can -say to you that will make you any happier than you now are? Even Tommy -noticed that you were not your usual self.” - -“Tommy is only a child, father,” said the girl impetuously, “and he -does not know what it means to think.” - -“Neither should you, child,” replied Mr. Benson; “you are but sixteen. -What have you in your life to make you so thoughtful, or I might say -unhappy?” - -“Not unhappy, father, not that,” cried the girl. - -“Then, what?” - -“Why--why--nothing. I am worried over my studies.” - -Mr. Benson sighed. He would have given much to have had his child give -him her confidence. Her little heart was completely locked and would -not open for his knocking. - -“You are positive that you are quite happy?” - -“Quite positive.” - -“And that you do not want for money?” - -“Oh, father dear, all the girls say how generous you are with me.” - -“Then there is nothing more I can say, is there?” - -He said this pleadingly, because his heart was filled with sorrow for -his darling. Suddenly she burst into tears, and the curly head dropped -upon his arm and the child wept heartily. - -After that there was more sympathy between them. - -Annie went back to school with a heavy heart. She knew that she was -keeping a weighty secret from her father. - -With her hands to her face and tears in her eyes, she stepped from the -train. - -A young man, handsome, clever and spirited-looking came to meet her. - -“Why, darling, have you been crying, and why? Did you not know that you -were coming to your sweetheart, and that he would care for you?” - -“Aye, dear heart, I know,” sobbed the girl, “but I had to lie to my -father, and I love him so dearly, Victor.” - -“I know that, dearest, but we are going to tell him just as soon as we -are married. I cannot wait any longer.” - -Oh, Annie Benson, beloved of your father, had you only told your -handsome lover that you would rather wait until your parent had -given his consent, how much better your life would have been, but, -woman-like, you could not refuse the man you love. - -“I wanted to wait,” murmured she softly. - -“Then you do not love me,” said the lad sadly; “you could not stay away -from me for years if you did care for me.” - -“But, Victor, I do love you, indeed I do, but I love father, too.” - -“Then you will never be my wife, Annie.” - -For a moment the girl stood thinking, and even the angels in heaven -wondered if she were going to do what was right. - -She simply turned with the love light shining in her eyes, and laid her -hand in his. - -“My darling, I am yours when you are ready.” - -“Then let it be to-day. Do not go back to school, but come with me, and -you will never regret it.” - -Regret it? Is there ever a sin in the world committed that the sinner -does not regret it? - -No sooner had the marriage vow been taken, no sooner had Annie Benson -promised to love, honor and obey Victor Standish, than she began to -regret. - -“Oh, Victor, I wish father knew,” said she, “and that I was with Martha -at school. The girls will all be expecting me.” - -“And you love the girls better than you do me, your own husband?” - -“No, no, I love you, Victor, and I will show you what a good wife I can -make.” - -“And we will write to your father and tell him all about it,” said the -lad, “and he will forgive, and maybe I can get something to work at in -New York. Would you not like to live with him?” - -“Oh, indeed I would. That is all I am worrying about, for my father -loves me devotedly, and I would not wound his feelings for the world.” - -So a penitent letter, filled with sobbing appeals to forgive her, -arrived at the Benson mansion, on Fifth avenue, at the appointed time. - -The rich man was sitting alone when the butler brought it. He read it -and re-read it, and then sat down to think. - -This child, whom he loved better than his life, had without his consent -married some no-account. - -“Victor, Victor Standish; and who is he, pray?” - -Then his anger arose, and this is the letter he wrote in reply: - - “MY DEAR ANNIE: - - “To say I was surprised and grieved would not tell my emotion when - I read your letter. I have but this to say: When you feel ready to - leave this vagabond, and come back to your father, he is ready to - receive you. But with him you can never come. I hope I shall hear - from you in a sensible way soon. Do not apply to me for money while - you are this man’s wife. Until that time comes that you are free from - him, I will simply sign myself, - - “YOUR FATHER.” - - - - -CHAPTER II. - - -When Annie Standish read this letter she swooned at her husband’s feet, -for she had been so sure that her father would forgive her and tell her -to come home immediately, that he would take them both into his heart -and home. - -Victor Standish took the letter in his hands as he supported his wife’s -tottering steps and swore that he would make this father-in-law retract -his words and welcome his daughter Annie home again. - -As he sat watching her a load of pain seemed to rest upon his heart, -for he had brought her to this great agony, and by insisting that she -marry him he had separated her from home kindred, and nothing was left -to her but him, and he must make up for all, and bring into her life -every bit of pleasure in his power. - -Annie stirred and opened her eyes. - -“It isn’t true, is it, Victor?” cried she. “Oh, I had such a dreadful -dream, and I thought that papa wouldn’t forgive me, and the thought was -more than I could bear.” - -The tears started into the young husband’s eyes. The pale face leaning -against his arm was so inexpressibly dear to him. - -“Sweetheart,” murmured he, “would you feel that you could not live for -your husband, if----” - -“Then it is true, it is true. Oh, papa, papa, how could you do so to -your little girl,” and the cry that went up from the slender throat was -never forgotten by the young husband. - -“Don’t, don’t, Annie, you will break my heart.” - -After that they were silent, each suffering for the sin committed. - -They heard no more from the rich father, and his pride would not bend. -When the summer came, and the fall ushered in the red leaves Annie rose -from a bed of sickness and brought a little child with her, and with -tears in her eyes she whispered to her husband: - -“Sweetheart, I shall name her Helen after my mother. I am sure that it -will please my father.” - -So the wee bit of humanity was christened, and Annie Standish began to -be happier. - -Still the news of the little child’s birth did not soften the banker’s -heart, as he had said that he would not forgive, and forgive he would -not. - -So the days went by until one afternoon Victor came in with the news -that his regiment had been ordered out for active service. - -“It will be a chance for me to make a name for you and the baby,” -said he lovingly. “Oh, Annie, that is all I want to do, for I have an -ambition to make your father change his mind.” - -“But, but,” faltered Annie, “you might get killed, Victor, and then -what would Helen and I do? There would be no one left to us then.” - -The soldier husband kissed away the bright tears which flowed down her -cheeks. - -“There, there, Annie, we are going to pray that I may come back to you -very soon, when the war is over, and, think of it, little wife, I may -bring back some stripes upon my sleeve, and you know that will mean -honor for us all.” - -“And reconciliation with my father,” sighed the girl. - -The days seemed to fly between the time he was ordered away and the day -that her husband started. Annie’s heart felt now that she had nothing -to live for but the dear baby, which had filled up such a large gap -in her life. Helen was now nearly two years old, and her mother over -eighteen. She looked like a little girl herself, and few would believe -that the large rosy baby was the offspring of the childish woman. - -For two whole years the wife patiently waited, waited for the -home-coming of the soldier. Twice she had written her father, and once -had visited his home. She had been told by her cousin George that it -was by the command of her father that she was sent from his door almost -starving. - -Again she waited, but as a reward for her patience there came a message -from one of Victor’s companions that he had died after receiving a -bullet in his body, and the only thing she had from that foreign -country was a little package of her own letters and one partly finished -by him to her. - -The night she received the package she sat up long after Helen had -retired, for the child was too young to understand the mother’s grief. - -“If father would only let us come home,” whispered she after re-reading -the letter. “I must do something, and my health is growing poorer every -day.” - -With this thought in her mind all the time, she one morning took her -baby and went to her father’s home. - -He surely would not send her away when he knew that her husband was -dead, and that she and Helen were starving. - -[Illustration: “MAMA I AM SO HUNGRY.”] - -She carried the tottering child part of the way. - -“Ah, little girl,” pleaded she when they were in sight of the mansion, -“won’t you be a good girl and walk now? Mother’s arms are so tired.” - -“Helen will walk, mother dear,” answered the child, “but I’se so -tired.” - -The tears sprang into the mother’s eyes as she heard this plaintive -wail. - -“Never mind, sweety, there is grandpa’s home, and he will let us come -in, and you shall see him.” - -The great mansion loomed up mysteriously before them, and the woman -shuddered as she looked, for she wondered if the hard-hearted old man -would turn his own child from his door again starving. - -She slowly crawled up the steps and rang the bell. A strange butler -answered and partly closed the door when he saw the rags. - -“I want to see Mr. Benson,” faltered Annie. - -“Mr. Benson, senior or junior?” - -“Oh, senior. He is my father. I must see him to-day.” - -The man did not ask her to come in, but shut the door in her face. -He went hastily back to the library, and then seeing but an old -grey-haired man sitting there he softly closed the door and ran -upstairs. - -“What do you want?” came the voice from the inside in answer to the -slight knock. - -“The person is at the door you told me never to allow in,” said the -butler. - -It took but a moment for George Benson to get down stairs. - -“Why, Annie,” said the soft voice, “I am very sorry to see you in this -condition, and you shall have money, but do not come in. Your father is -so incensed against you that I would not answer for the consequences if -you should.” - -“Oh, I want to see him, George, so much. Do not turn me away. My child -and I are starving.” - -“Oh, well, as far as money is concerned, I will give you some, but I am -sure your father will refuse you admittance.” - -“Ask him, any way, George,” pleaded she. - -“Then, wait,” and the man swung gracefully along the hallway. - -The wasted old man sitting in the chair looked up as his nephew entered. - -“Want me, uncle?” asked the younger man. - -“No, George,” replied the old man; “I was just thinking of Annie and -wondering if I should ever see her again. Oh, George, do you ever -think that she will forgive me for turning from her?” - -A dark shadow settled over the handsome young face. - -“I’m sure I don’t know, uncle dear. It seems if she were very anxious -she would write to you or in some way answer your letters.” - -“That’s so, that’s so,” was the reply. “I suppose she is satisfied in -her husband’s love.” - -“I suppose so.” - -With this George Benson came back to Annie and said: “Poor little girl, -he absolutely refuses to see you.” - -He slipped some money into the woman’s hand, and she turned away with a -broken heart. - - * * * * * - -Millionaire Benson sat in his library after the departure of his -nephew. He wanted his daughter sorely, was willing to forgive her -all, even her husband, if she would but return, but there was an evil -influence at work about him, and many times George Benson would spend -hours in telling him of Annie’s sin. - -As he sat there this morning and his nephew had gone, another young man -just out of college ran up the stairs and burst into the library. - -“Uncle,” said he lightly, “how are you to-day?” - -“Pretty well, my boy, pretty well. How are you?” - -“Oh, more than well, and I do like my work so much. They say at the -bank that I am going to be able soon to take a better position.” - -“Bravo, Tom,” cried the old man; “you shall have any position in -that bank you can earn; and labor, boy, labor; that is the secret of -success.” - -“So it is, uncle, and you shall be proud of your boy some day.” - -The old gentleman sighed. - -“I believe that, Tom,” replied he, “and I would be satisfied with all -my children if I could only see my girl. One would think so sweet a -character as Annie would forgive her old stubborn father, would they -not?” - -“Yes,” reluctantly replied the young man. - -It is not hard to recognize in this lad the youth who had fallen in -love with Annie when he was but a mere child. He had gone to college -and graduated. It had been a proud day when he was installed in the -bank as one of its employees, and now he was telling his benefactor how -willing he was to work hard and climb to the top. - -“I wish, too, that you could find Annie,” said the lad, after a time -of silence. “It seems as if she would be willing to forgive you, even -if for nothing else, for what you could do for them. Have you ever -thought, uncle, that she might not have gotten your letters?” - -“I have not thought of that, but probably that is it. Could you try and -find out for me now?” - -“Indeed I could and gladly would,” cried Tom, “and maybe I shall bring -her back. Now, where was she when you last heard from her?” - -The address was looked up and the old man said: - -“Now, if you find them, Tom, bring the whole family back with you.” - -Neither the old nor the young man knew that there was a listener at the -door, and that a strangely handsome face was peering in with a look of -scorn upon the graceful, well-moulded lips. - -“So he is going to find her, is he, and make my chances of a fortune -not worth a picayune? Well, his time is short in this mansion.” - -He stole away, and Tom, with an affectionate embrace, left his uncle. - -For a long time the old man sat and dreamed, dreamed of a woman, sweet, -in the long ago days when he was young and she was beautiful, dreamed -of that time when a little child, with light golden hair, had been born -to them, and of their happiness and joy. Then later, when the first -shadow fell upon the home and the gentle spirit of his wife took flight -and left him. - -Then, after that, he had but the little girl, and she had lived and -reigned in his heart for sixteen short years, and had gone like a shade -of night, but it had been a great deal his own fault. Why did he not -overlook the foolish step and try to make something of her husband? As -he sat there he slumbered slightly, and then over his mind came a scene -of the past. A child, with long curls, flitted before him, and he saw -her flying away over the lawn and once in a while she looked back at -him, her eyes smiling sweetly and the tiny hand shaking him a farewell, -and then another dream as sweet as the last one flitted close upon his -brain. - -A dignified girl, in a white dress, sat beside him, and he heard his -own voice say: - -“Tell me, Annie, is there anything I can do to make you happy?” and -before he could stop her he saw her fading away and dissolving into the -shadows upon the wall. - -He lifted his hands and gave a great groan. - -“Annie,” murmured he, “come back to your father.” - -“What is the matter, uncle?” shouted George Benson. “Why do you mutter -in your sleep? There, wake up, a dream is only a dream anyway.” - -The old man sat up thoughtfully, and with tears in his eyes said: - -“I dreamed that Annie was here, George, and, oh, I want my child, I -want my child.” - -Impatiently George Benson sat down, for he had not patience with this -imbecile old man. - -“I would not waste my energy upon the ungrateful girl,” said he, “for -she does not seem to care, or why should she not answer your letters? -It is shameful for a daughter to be so undutiful.” - -There was something in the young man’s tone that caused the millionaire -to look keenly at him. - -Then he closed his lips upon the words that were about to fall. He was -upon the point of confiding how Tom was going after Annie, but the rich -man noticed a glitter in the blue eyes, and he said nothing. - -Then George spoke slowly: - -“Uncle, will you keep to yourself what I am going to tell you?” - -“Of course,” responded the rich man; “I have never betrayed your -confidence.” - -“Never.” - -“Then, I will not begin now.” - -“Did you know that Tom Cooper thinks that you are going to leave him -half your fortune? I saw him just now as he went out, and he said that -you had asked him to help find Annie, and that he was not going to do -anything like it, but to give you the idea that he was working hard to -locate her, and he said that if she kept away from the house that you -would leave him half your fortune.” - -The old man was rising from his chair slowly. - -“Are you telling me the truth?” - -“Surely. He said that you two talked over the matter, and that you -asked him to aid you in finding the girl, and he said he had given you -the idea that he could bring her back to you.” - -“So he did,” ejaculated the old man. - -“And I fear that he intends to do you wrong, as much as I hate to say -it of the fellow whom I have grown up with, but then we could not -expect to have him care as much for Annie as I do, not being related to -her.” - -For a long time the old man sat in his chair muttering to himself. He -had grown to love this boy, this very young boy, who had always sent in -the best reports from college to him, like his own son even. But the -last blow had fallen. - -“Annie,” he whispered as he labored upstairs to his bedroom, “I shall -never see you again. You have had your revenge now, for I shall not be -upon the earth long.” - -Then he sent for his nephew after his valet had put him in bed, and -said: - -“If Tom Cooper comes here, he is to be refused admittance; also notify -the bank that he is to be discharged.” - -After George Benson heard this he went down stairs, and with a -malicious smile upon his face wrote the letter, and as he dropped it in -the mail box, he said to himself: - -“So you will find the girl, will you, Tom Cooper? We will soon see what -your future will amount to.” - - - - -CHAPTER III. - - -The next morning Tom Cooper came whistling into the bank. His future -looked so bright, and did he not have his uncle’s permission to find -the little lost girl? He went behind the glass window and found a -notice upon his desk to call upon the president in his room, and -without delay the lad ran into the rear of the building and tapped -lightly upon a door marked, “T. D. Dalton.” - -“You wished to see me, sir,” and then he stopped, for the grave face -before him gave his heart a chill. - -“Yes, lad; sit down.” - -Tom Cooper slid into the chair, a strange feeling coming over him. - -“Have you done anything to offend Mr. Benson?” - -“No.” - -“Are you sure?” - -“Perfectly.” - -“Something has happened then, for I have this in the morning mail.” - -Tom took the paper mechanically in his fingers, and there before him -was an order to take his position from him, and only yesterday his -benefactor had been so pleasant. While he held the letter in his hand -he could not help but think that George Benson had been instrumental in -his downfall. - -He went from the bank to the mansion, only to find that he was barred -from there, and Mr. Benson refused to see him, and as he left the steps -for the last time in his life a face watched him from an upper window. - -“So you are going to throw over my scheme, are you, Tom Cooper? Well, -I don’t think so. Now go and starve with my pretty cousin, and do not -forget that when you hold a good position it might slip from your -fingers before you are aware of it.” - -From that day on Tom Cooper could find nothing to do, and he haunted -the places of his friends until at last one day he met an old chum upon -the street. - -“Nothing yet, Cooper?” asked the stranger. - -“No, and I am thinking of going to sea for a while. I can take a -position and go around the world, and be gone three months, and maybe -by that time something will open for me.” - -“Sorry,” sympathized the other, “for you had the best prospects of any -of the fellows graduating in your class.” - -“Well, I haven’t now,” bitterly answered Cooper, “and good-bye, old -fellow. When I return I’ll let you know my success.” - -After this it was smooth sailing for George Benson. Tom out of the way, -and his cousin not to be found, and his uncle sick in bed afflicted -with paralysis. - -What more could a man want than a fortune at his fingers’ end, and -nothing in the way but an old man, with one foot in the grave, and the -doctor gave but little hope of his living long. - -One morning George Benson had gone out when the doctor arrived, and -the good man ran up the stairs and looked into the old man’s chamber -without being announced. - -There were tears upon the wrinkled face. - -“Why, Mr. Benson, are you in such pain?” said the doctor in great -sympathy. - -“No.” - -“Then what are you weeping for? Tell me; maybe I can help you.” - -“No one can do that, Johnson,” replied the millionaire; “I am weeping -for my daughter.” - -“Your daughter? I did not know that you had one.” - -“Oh, yes I have, but I do not know where. She was a good little girl, -but married against my will, and for a time I returned all of her -letters, and she has since then refused to forgive me.” - -“Well, well; this is interesting. Tell me all about it.” - -It eased the poor, throbbing heart to tell the painful story. - -“And your child has refused to answer you in any way?” - -“Yes.” - -“You are sure that she got the message?” - -The old man looked into his physician’s eyes, and remembered that Tom -Cooper had asked that same question. - -“As sure as a man can be who has to confide his affairs to a third -party.” - -“And that party your nephew?” - -“Yes.” - -“Would you think me impertinent, my dear Mr. Benson, if I should say -that I believe your daughter has never received your letters, and -another thing I would ask you: How have you made your will?” - -“In my nephew’s favor.” - -“And do you think that right to your daughter? What if she never -received your letters, or if she had died and left a child?” - -“She had a little baby, I know,” sadly replied the old man. - -“Then it seems a shame that while you have an own child that you -should not at least have her provided for. Think of it, she may be in -distress and not know that you have wanted her.” - -The old man started up in bed and held out his feeble hand and said: - -“Doctor, will you help me? Oh, I beg of you to make it possible for my -child to again look into my face, and I shall bless you forever.” - -“Then, one thing,” gravely replied the physician, “is that you should -make another will immediately, and you should keep the fact from your -nephew until after it is over.” - -“Will you send for my lawyer now?” tremblingly asked the rich man. - -“I want you to witness my will, and swear that I am in my right mind.” - -So the telephone was brought into use, and the family lawyer was -hurried into the mansion, and for some hours the three men were -closeted together, and a servant was brought into the room to witness -the will. - -They were still there when George Benson came home. He heard that the -doctor was still with his uncle, but no one said anything about a -lawyer. - -“I’ll wait down here until he comes down,” muttered the young man to -himself. “I hate to hear uncle complain of his aches and pains, and he -is such a bore. I shall be glad when he is dead.” - -But he knew not that in that upper chamber a deed was being enacted -which would place him upon the pauper list as far as money was -concerned. - -“I wish you would stay here with me,” said the rich man to the lawyer, -“until my nephew returns, and tell him of the change in my will, and I -do not think he will mind it much, for he always pretended to care a -great deal for his cousin.” - -The lawyer smiled sarcastically and answered. - -“I shall not leave you, Mr. Benson, and what shall I do with this old -will?” - -“Give it to me,” responded the rich man, and he took the document in -his fingers, and having split it in two asked that it should be burned -before his eyes. - -After accomplishing this the lawyer sat down and waited, and in the -meantime the doctor met the nephew in the hall, and, shaking hands, -replied that the invalid was somewhat better. - -“He wants to be kept quiet, that is all,” replied the doctor. - -“He can have all the quiet he wants, for all of me,” responded the -young man with a shrug of his shoulders; “I am not in love with the air -of a sick chamber.” - -“I have observed that,” dryly replied the doctor. - -“Well--well--would you mind if I were to ask a plain question, doctor?” -and as the medical man inclined his head, he proceeded with little show -of embarrassment: - -“You see, my uncle will always be an invalid, will he not?” - -“Yes.” - -“And can you tell approximately how long this lingering disease will -last?” - -“Then I understand that you want to know how soon your uncle is going -to die?” - -George blushed at the plain words. - -“Well, not exactly that, but when I come to think, yes, doctor, that is -it. Will he live long?” - -“He may live for some years, but not likely. Certainly not if he is -worried in any way.” - -“Then he will live forever if all he needs is quiet and lack of worry, -as I have taken every burden from him.” - -The doctor wondered what this suave young fellow would say when he -heard that the will had been changed and he had been forgotten. - -“He will probably live as long as you want him to, Mr. Benson,” said -the doctor, and then he went down the steps and could but think of the -little daughter married to a soldier, and pondered upon the fact that -she would be worth a fortune when her father should close his eyes in -death. - - * * * * * - -George Benson ran up the stairs to his uncle’s room, but he did not -know that the family lawyer was there. - -“Good afternoon,” said he, holding out his hand, the truth never once -coming across his mind. - -“How are you, uncle?” said he, walking up to the bed. - -“Oh, so, so, boy,” replied the sick man. “I have done something which -I hope you will think is just. I have made a new will leaving Annie my -fortune.” - -“What?” - -The cry in the one word was enough to startle each man. The aged -invalid raised on his elbow, and looked into the contorted face. The -lawyer was thankful that he had stayed, for he believed and told the -doctor afterward that he thought George Benson would have killed his -uncle if he had not been there. - -Without noticing the attorney, he broke out: - -“How dare you tell me that? Do you think that I am going to allow you -to do anything like that? What did I get rid of that young rascal, Tom -Cooper, for, and many others who have stood in my way? You need not -think that I am going to let you cut me off without a penny.” - -“You’ll let me do what I wish with my money, my own money,” muttered -the sick man. “What business is it of yours what I do? You would have -had none of it if I had had my child with me.” - -George Benson’s face took upon it a terrible expression. - -“Oh, you think you are going to see Annie, do you? Well, know the -truth, and if it kills you it serves you right, for Annie was here only -the other day, begging to see you, and I sent her away starving with -her child. She will not see you again, for a thinner girl never applied -for alms to any one before.” - -“Shame, shame,” cried the lawyer, as the old man toppled back in his -bed and covered his face with his hands. “Shame on a man who would -torment a dying father. You are a brute, Benson, and I am glad you have -been foiled.” - -The younger man’s passion had spent itself, and George realized that he -had made a bad break; that he had lost his temper and forgotten that -he might undo the deed done that day. He turned upon his heel and ran -out of the room. - -“I do not want to be left alone,” moaned Mr. Benson. “There is no -telling what he might do to me in that temper, and to think that my -little girl has been here, maybe time and time again, and I did not -know it. Oh, my good friend, you must help me find her.” - -The lawyer, promising and saying that he would leave instructions with -Mr. Benson’s valet and that he would take the new will with him, for -fear it would be tampered with, went away. - -After that everything known to science and law was done to bring the -old man and his daughter together. The doctor gave tonics, and the -lawyer advertised for the girl. - -George Benson bitterly regretted his rash speech, for he had opened -avenues whereby the chance of his regaining his old position was gone. - -One day he stole into the library and looked hastily about. - -“I’ve got to have money, and I might as well take these diamonds,” he -said to himself. “There is no telling how soon I shall be ordered from -the mansion. What tommy rot all this bustle is, for they won’t find the -girl--or, at least, I hope they won’t.” - -Saying this, he slipped his fingers into a private panel in the wall -and pulled out a small box and looked greedily at the contents. - -“Abe Nathans will give me at least a thousand on these, and let me out -of some of the worry he has given me before.” - -Out of the room he went slyly, and hid the box in his pocket. - -“I am not going to be without money,” said he as he was again in his -room safely with the trinkets. “If the old man doesn’t realize that I -am to have a certain amount, then I will take it myself.” - - * * * * * - -Three months had elapsed since Tom Cooper had left the big bank, and -nothing had been heard of him, save that he had gone to sea. There were -many times the old man felt that he had wronged the boy in sending -him away without a word of explanation, but his heart was so full of -finding Annie that he had no place for even Tom, and the doctor and -lawyer had it so arranged that George could not see his uncle at all. -If the old man had only known the truth about his young ward he would -have inserted an advertisement for him in the paper. - -But not knowing, Tom Cooper was allowed to come into the city without a -friend to meet him, and his boat landed one evening just at dusk, and -he had not yet received his month’s pay. - -So, thinking that he needed a little money, he rolled up a suit of -clothes and walked toward the nearest pawn shop. - -Before he had done this another young man had gone in the same -direction. - -He opened the door, the bell sounding through the place. - -“Are you here, Abe?” shouted he. - -“Comin’, comin’,” was the grunted answer. “Oh, so it is you, Mr. -Benson. I hope you don’t want more money.” - -“That’s just what I do want,” went on George Benson, “and I brought you -the family jewels, though I had a darned hard job to get them. If I had -never spied upon the old man I would not have known where they were. -Lucky for me.” - -“Yes, very lucky, my dear Mr. Benson,” answered the Jew, rubbing his -white hands together, “for if you had not had them I should have given -you no more.” - -“Oh, don’t ring those old changes on me,” stuttered George, “for you -know you would give me money if I demanded it.” - -“No, sir, no more; no more.” - -“Well, well, you’ve got the jewels, so don’t grumble; don’t grumble.” - -He held out the box, and the old man took the jewel box greedily in his -hands. - -“Ah, they are beauties. I well remember them. I was the one who got -them for your uncle, and he gave them to his wife Helen, and she was a -beauty. Then his daughter got them in her turn, and I suppose you do -not hear anything of the girl?” - -“No, and I hope to heaven that she is dead. You see in that case I will -get the money anyhow.” - -“Of course you will,” replied the Jew. “Ain’t your uncle given you all -of it before now? You told me he had made a will remembering you and -you only.” - -“That’s true,” bitterly replied the other; “that’s true, but he did not -become paralyzed in his hands, did he? He could change it any time he -wanted to.” - -“So he could,” responded the Jew, thoughtfully; “but the question is, -did he?” - -“Yes, he did.” - -“Then how am I going to get my money?” asked the other. - -“Oh, Abe, for the love of heaven, don’t be so selfish. If I don’t get -it then you won’t, but by putting our heads together, I am sure we can -circumvent this lawyer and doctor who have seen fit to put their noses -in other people’s business, and I’ll show them that it is not safe to -meddle with fire if they don’t want to get burned.” - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - - -“I don’t see how I can help you any,” ventured the pawnbroker, looking -furtively at his companion. - -“Well, you can; the first thing I need is money, and I must have it.” - -“Go on with your scheme,” said the other, “and don’t always be talking -about money. I know that promises don’t amount to much. Now then, what -are you going to do?” - -“I’m going to keep that girl from her father, and then I am one of the -trustees of the money, and if he does not change that part I shall be -all right for ready cash as soon as he shuffles off, but I spoke my -mind the night he made the new will, and there is no telling what he -will do, only that his hands now are useless.” - -“Then you care for the funds?” began the broker. - -“Yes, until this girl puts in an appearance.” - -“Don’t let her appear,” said the other. - -“That’s just what I say,” went on Benson laughingly. “I know that I can -put her somewhere that she won’t bother me. Now, old man, will you help -me, and I’ll see that you are well paid?” - - * * * * * - -Just at this moment a young fellow with the air of a sailor came in. - -“Are you the chump what runs this place?” asked he, going up to the -pawnbroker, “for if you are I want to pawn this suit of clothes. They -are bran’ new, and ought to give me a little ready cash.” - -“I’ll look at them when I get through with this gentleman,” and the -broker turned disdainfully away. - -Then the two, Tom Cooper and Benson, recognized each other. - -“Well, well, Tom, you do look like a typical Jack in earnest. So -you’ve come back to try your luck, have you, again upon land?” - -“Yes, siree, to get even with you, Mr. Benson,” replied the sailor. -“You lied about me; that I know. Now I am going to see just what you -are doing, Mr. George Benson.” - -“Well, don’t you monkey in my affairs,” shouted George, “or I will deal -with you as I did before. You went from New York because I made it too -hot to hold you. Now, be careful.” - -“Oh, I suppose you’d like to hurt me all right. I went to see Mr. -Benson last night, and they said he was too sick to see anyone.” - -“So he is, to see a ragmuffin,” sneered Benson. - -“It’s a wonder he harbors you, if he is so very particular,” retorted -Tom. - -“So you tried to get into the house, did you?” - -“Yes, why not? It was my home, the same as yours.” - -“Not quite. You always were an interloper, so beware.” - -Tom leaned far over and looked keenly at Benson. - -“What have you done with Annie Benson?” - -“What have I done with her?” replied Benson threateningly. “I don’t -know anything about her. She is nothing to me.” - -How George Benson would have liked to have told the young fellow that -he was the beneficiary to his uncle’s will, but he knew that the boy -would find out differently, so he remained silent. - -“What happened?” asked Nathans. “Did the old man give you the grand -bounce, too?” - -“Yes, but not for anything that I did, but because of that villain -standing there. I suppose he thought that I would help find Miss Annie -and bring her back to her home. Well, that’s what I came back for, Mr. -Benson.” - -Tom Cooper saw that he was putting the thorns into the other’s flesh, -and kept on: “I am going to spend the rest of my days finding that -girl.” - -Benson walked close to him and looked into his face. - -“I want to tell you something, Tom Cooper, you had better go back to -sea, for if you don’t I can tell you that there won’t be much show for -you if I once get my hands on you.” - -“I’m not afraid of you, mister,” shouted Tom, snapping his fingers into -George’s face. - -“And, what’s more,” he added, “I have made up my mind that you are not -playing fair with our little playmate of long ago, any more than you -used to play fair when you stole money from her father’s pocket. But I -am going to find her if it takes me all the rest of my life.” - -“What’s that girl to you?” slowly asked George. - -“Nothing, but I cannot forget the times when we were children that she -was with us, and now I am sure that she is having a hard time of it, -and I am going to find out anyhow.” - -Just at this moment a woman came in with a clock in her hand. - -“What will you give for this, Abe?” asked she. “Now, don’t be tight -about it, for the girl I’m a-selling it for is almost starved to death, -and I am going to pay her rent.” - -“Oh, you’re like all the rest, Higgins,” blurted the broker, “always -got some reason why you should have money, more money than any one -else. You would have me in the poorhouse if you had your way.” - -“But I must have two dollars for this,” insisted the woman. “Please, -Abe, it will save a woman from being turned out.” - -“What do I care whether she is turned out or not as long as I don’t -have to take care of her?” sulkily asked the broker. - -The pawnbroker left the woman for a moment to attend to a boy, who came -in with a watch. - -“I want to get money on this,” said he. - -The broker looked suspiciously at him. - -“You stole this?” asked he softly. - -“No, sir, I found it.” - -“Now, look a-here, Jim Farren, I ain’t got no confidence in what you -say. You stole the last thing you brought to me, and I had to give it -up to the detective.” - -“I didn’t steal that nuther,” sulkily replied the boy. - -“Nevertheless, I was out five dollars, and unless you can prove that -you got this all right, then you will have to take it elsewhere, and -give me back that five dollars.” - -“Like fun I will,” replied the boy, and he slouched out. - -In the meantime the woman was listening to the spirited conversation -between the two other men. She could hear Tom stand up firmly for the -girl called “Annie.” - -When she saw the pawnbroker go back to Benson and resume his -conversation with him, she went up to Tom: - -“I heard you a-speaking to the young gentleman about finding a girl by -the name of Annie. I know one a-living near me in the next room, and -her father is rich. He sent her from home because she married against -his will, and she has one little girl named Helen.” - -“Helen,” muttered Tom thoughtfully, looking at the woman as if he were -trying to bring something into his mind; “Helen, that was the name of -her mother. Will you take me to this girl, that I may see her?” - -“Sure I will. Let me get this old stick to give me the money I want, -and then I’ll go with you.” With this she took the two dollars which -the man gave to her begrudgingly, and out of the shop they went, and -Mrs. Higgins led the way to her apartment. - -But she did not notice that a poor woman walked along the street with -her child by the hand. This was one of those cases when it would have -been well for the woman to tell of the charity which she was going to -bestow, for then the tired sick mother would not have left her home. - -She hurried on until she, too, reached the pawnshop and stepped inside, -dragging the frail child with her. - -She walked to the counter with slow steps and said in a weak voice: - -“I should like to pawn this jewel for as much money as you can give me.” - -“I cannot give you much,” said the broker, “for it is plated.” - -The woman raised her eyes pleadingly. - -“You are mistaken,” said she. “My father gave it to me as a pure gem.” - -“Then your father was fooled,” said the broker, “for it is nothing but -the meanest kind of a plate.” - -The woman looked about hastily. - -“What will you give for it?” said she weakly. - -“Two dollars.” - -“Two dollars! Why it cost thousands. I know that you are cheating me. I -shall not leave it.” - -“Then take it somewhere else, and don’t bother me with it. I’ll be with -you in a moment, Benson.” - -The woman again looked about. - -“What, Benson,” whispered she, and then she caught sight of the cousin -who had been the cause of all of her trouble. - -“Oh, so you are here, George Benson? Oh, I am so glad to see you. I -want to see my father, for I saw in the paper that he was very sick.” - -“So he is,” surlily replied Benson, “and he does not want to be -bothered with you. Now, keep away from the house, for the servants have -had instructions to keep you out.” - -“Where is Tom Cooper?” asked the girl. - -“Gone to the devil, for all I know,” said Benson, looking at the little -bundle upon the floor, which by some great stroke of fate Tom Cooper -had left there. - -“Oh, I am sure not so bad as that,” said she wistfully. “It is a shame -to talk that way of him. Why, George, as a boy he was better than you.” - -“Where is your husband?” asked Benson, knowing well enough that he -was dead, for he had opened all the letters that had come in her -handwriting. - -“Dead.” - -“Oh, then, it was not all honey after you married him, was it?” - -“He was good to me, and I believe that you made my father turn from me, -and I will go straight to him and tell him that you have kept us apart.” - -The pawnbroker came up at this moment. - -“Miss, if you have any crying to do, please go out, for I don’t want -you in here,” and, saying this, he gave poor Annie Standish a shove and -sent her into the street. - -“Such people set me crazy,” stormed the old man, “as if my shop was to -be a fountain. I hate them all, that’s what I do.” - -“That woman makes me feel as if I had nothing to live for,” gasped -Benson. “Just you let Tom Cooper see her, and I’ll bet you that my cake -will be dough in five minutes, but give me the money.” - -“Are you sure that your uncle told you that you could have these -diamonds when he was no more? Now, if they should make a search for -them and claim that they were stolen, then I would have no chance but -to give them up. Now then, out with the truth.” - -“Of course he told me that I could have them. Don’t be a fool.” - -As the question was being argued the door opened and a detective -appeared. - -“Nathans,” said he brusquely, “there has been a set of diamonds stolen -from Benson’s mansion, and they will probably be brought here, and if -so you keep them, for they will be wanted.” - -The blood flew into George’s face, and he stepped upon the toe of the -pawnbroker. - -Nathans feared that the box on the desk would be spied by the detective. - -“I’ll watch,” said he after a while, “and if the jewels come in I’ll -tell you.” - -“All right, and another thing, Benson is dying, and he wants his -daughter, and if you should see a poor woman come here to pawn anything -don’t let her go away without asking her name, for it might be worth -your while.” - -“I don’t trouble myself about such people,” said the broker, “but as -long as you want me to I’ll keep on the watch.” - -He had only turned his back for a moment before the pawnbroker was upon -the young man. - -“So you think that I was going to pay you a thousand for stolen goods. -You are as bad as that Farren. I can’t watch you fellows enough.” - -“You’d better give me some money, Nathans. How am I going to do work -with nothing? Now then, keep the jewels.” - -“No, I don’t want them.” - -Suddenly there came into the eyes of the other a light which made -Nathans ask Benson what he was thinking about. - -“Put that box in that bundle of Tom Cooper, and by that way we will get -rid of him.” - -“And make it appear that he stole the jewels?” - -“And why not?” asked George. “Would it not get him out of the way for -at least five years, and if the girl is not found by that time I would -not give much for the fortune she would find in the meantime.” - -“But how are you going to let the police know that he stole that box?” -asked Nathans. - -“I’ll skip out and send the police, and then when he comes back you -pick a quarrel with him, and when that happens cry out and the police -will nab him, and then the searching of his bundle will make it look as -if he stole the jewels when he was at the mansion last night.” - -“Bravo, old fellow; you’re all right. Here goes,” and into the sailor’s -bundle the jewels were slipped, but neither of the men knew that under -the counter was a shaggy little head, and that when they were not -looking a red hand was slipped to get the bundle and to relieve it -of the gems, but the incoming of Tom just at that moment gave him no -opportunity and the sailor ejaculated: “Well, old cove, what are you -going to give me for these clothes? I went all the way to that old -Irish lady’s house, and sure enough the woman wasn’t there. I suppose -that she had lit out to raise the dough for grub for herself and babe.” - -As he spoke he took up the bundle and shook it lightly. - -“Those clothes don’t look like much, for they’ve been wrapped upon the -ship, but they’re new, old sport.” - -“You needn’t call me such names as that, young man,” said the -pawnbroker. - -“That’s nothing,” laughed the sailor jovially, “for when a man gets as -old and shriveled as you are it shows that he’s been something of a -sport in his life.” - -The pawnbroker looked furtively about. - -“What you want on the clothes?” - -“What’ll you give?” - -“I’m afraid you stole them.” - -The sailor drew up his big form slowly and sent his sleeve up to his -elbows. - -“Oh, you do, do you? Well, I’ll smash your face if you talk that way to -me, you dirty old Jew.” - -The pawnbroker had the chance he wanted, for he shouted out loud and -his clerk came running in. - -“Call an officer, call an officer, for pity’s sake. This man is going -to fight me.” - -“I wasn’t going to hurt the old swab,” cried Tom as the policeman laid -his fingers on his strong arm, “but the fool said I stole that bundle, -and it’s my clothes.” - -“Well, you come along with me, my young man, for I think I’ve seen you -before.” - -“Where?” asked Tom. - -“In front of Mr. Benson’s home, on Fifth avenue, last night, and there -was a great robbery committed there a little later.” - - - - -CHAPTER V. - - -“A robbery?” muttered Tom. “Well, old pard, it wasn’t me.” - -While the argument was going on a little fellow slipped like a rat from -his hiding place, and would have scurried away but the pawnbroker held -him tightly. - -“Where were you, you little devil?” whispered he. - -“Under the counter.” - -“And heard all?” - -“Every word.” - -“Then keep your mouth shut, and I’ll help you out of the watch scrape.” - -The officer saw that there was another prisoner for him. - -“Ah, Jimmie Farren,” cried the detective. “You are the youngster that -stole that watch? Now come with me.” - -“I didn’t steal the watch; I just found it.” - -Tom threw back his head and laughed. - -“We are innocent, aren’t we, pard? Well, if we have to go with the -police, come along like a man, but they will soon ship me, for I am as -innocent as a new-born lamb.” - -He played his fingers on the end of his nose to the pawnbroker and left -the shop, following the detective. - -“When I come back, I’ll fix you, you old skate,” said he just as the -door slammed in his face. - -“Ah, ha, so he will come back, will he? Well I guess he won’t. That was -a smart thing that George Benson thought of, and I tell you any one -that gets in that man’s path he will knock out quicker than a wink.” - - * * * * * - -At the station house Tom stood before the captain and gave a history -of himself. He told how he was a former ward of Mr. Benson, how he had -lived there for many years and then of his sudden dismissal. - -“And what are you here for?” asked the sergeant. - -“Because he raised a row in a pawnshop.” - -“And what were you going to pawn?” - -“My clothes in that bundle,” and the sailor pointed to the package in -the officer’s hand. - -“What’s in it?” - -“A new suit of clothes I bought in England, and we landed in town -yesterday, and I haven’t drawn any money yet, so had to pawn my -clothes.” - -“Open the package,” ordered the sergeant. - -The officer obeyed and out rolled a small box of velvet which the man -picked up doubtfully, and all were looking at the box as the policeman -handed it over to the leader. - -“What’s this?” he asked of Tom Cooper. - -The young sailor was looking at the box in mystified silence. - -“I do not know,” said he at last, and there was one in the room who -knew that he did not know, for Jim Farren had seen and heard what -passed between George Benson and the Jew, and knew that this young man -was a victim of their conspiracy, but for his own sake he dared not -speak, for there would be a chance for him if he stood in with the old -Jew, but he knew that there would be nothing done if he should try to -aid the young sailor. - - * * * * * - -A few words would not be amiss about this young man Jim Farren. Brought -up in one of the toughest parts of New York, he had had no influence -to aid him into a better life. He would steal and then lie out of it, -but this time he had been caught in his own trap. What a fool he had -been to go to that shop after pawning a watch which of course would be -identified. - -He was thus thinking when he heard the sailor say stoutly: - -“Well, whether you believe me or not, I did not steal those gems,” and -for the first time in his life Jim Farren had an impulse to say, “He -did not, for I saw the thief.” - - * * * * * - -The next day the papers were full of the robbery and the skilful -catching of the thief. George Benson went and shook hands with the -pawnbroker, and said: “If we had not worked this fellow off of our -hands we would have been in a pickle just now.” - -When George got home he found that his uncle had sent his lawyer to the -inner closet in the library, giving him a design of the room, and the -attorney found that the jewels were gone. - -It was in this way that the detectives took up the case, and they were -located in a pawnshop which belonged to one Nathans. - -It gave the name of Tom Cooper, and old Mr. Benson turned upon his -pillow with a groan when he found that the boy he had loved and taken -care of from a baby had been the serpent that stung him in a most vital -place, for had not his Helen, his wife and beloved, worn these precious -diamonds about her neck, and had not his daughter, whom he loved, -also had them close to her beating heart? For many hours after this -revelation was made to him he said nothing, and then he opened his lips. - -“It is dreadful to be treated thus. I loved this boy, and was on the -eve of sending for him to find out the truth of the matter of a few -months ago, but if these gems were found upon him then there can be no -excuse for him.” - -It was strange that the old invalid did not think it about time to send -his nephew from his home, especially after the terrible confession -George had made about his daughter, but Benson felt that George was his -own flesh and blood, and how could he find it in his heart to turn him -away? He had grown more tender since the leaving of his Annie. He would -put all the worry out of his mind, with the exception of thoughts of -Annie, and for her he would wish until the very air produced vibrations -that would bring her back to him. - -“Do you really believe, George,” said the lawyer one morning after -Tom’s sentence had been passed upon him and he had been sent up for a -number of years, “that this young sailor took these gems?” - -“I only know,” responded the smooth villain, “as much about the case as -you. I do not worry about strangers.” - -“Was this young man not a boy brought up with you?” - -“Yes.” - -“Then, he is not a stranger to you.” - -“Well, he is no blood relation, and I am not being put through the -third degree, am I?” - -The lawyer went out with the firm conviction that this young man, with -his handsome eyes, knew more about this plot of the diamond theft than -he cared to admit. - -George Benson threw himself out of the room with an impatient gesture. - -“I’ll be glad when the old man is dead,” muttered he as he swung off up -the avenue, “for he has such a set of inquisitors about him that they -drive me out of my senses.” - - * * * * * - -When poor Annie staggered out of the pawnshop with her pretty bauble in -her fingers she ran into another woman hurrying along. - -“Why, you poor darling,” said the warm-hearted newcomer; “you ain’t -about this kind of a day, and no warm clothes on? Now, be a good girl -and come back home with me. Where have you bin?” - -“I’ve been trying to pawn this trinket, but he told me that it wasn’t -worth over two dollars. And I know better, for my father gave it to me. -Oh, Biddy Roan, if the time ever comes that I can repay you and Mrs. -Higgins for your kindness to me, then will I come back and make you -comfortable. But now I am going away.” - -She turned and made her way toward the other street swiftly, and would -not listen to the strong Irish voice that commanded her to return. -She walked hastily along until she came to Broadway and took this -thoroughfare down and seemed bent upon making a certain point before -the turning of the night, but fate seemed to have overtaken this -poor woman, and with her heart beating and her lips praying for her -father’s forgiveness she swept on, dragging the whining child through -the now shadowy streets. - -“Oh, mother, I am so tired,” cried the child. - -“I know you are, dear little Helen, but be a good girl. We are going to -see grandpa.” - -“Is he the grandpa that wouldn’t let us in his house?” asked Helen, -this time hugging closer to her mother, for the night’s shades brought -the chill winds from the sea. - -“He did not know, love, how badly we wanted to see him, I am sure, or -he would not have turned us away. Now listen, dearest, and you shall -have enough to eat before long.” - -This was every word true, but, little Helen Standish, it would not be -in your grandfather’s mansion that you would eat, but in the awfulness -of a prison house. The poor exhausted mother, tired and weary, was -swept from the street into the gutter by a heavy truck, and when they -picked her up stunned, the policeman said that she was drunk, and she -was sent to the Island for three months. - -While the papers did not give her name, a small account of the dreadful -woman, with her child at her side, and found drunk in the streets, gave -a slight vision of some of the other half in New York of whom so little -is known by those living in luxury. - -But the description of the child and the woman and especially the -trinket found in the woman’s fingers, which it was supposed she had -stolen, made George seek Nathans. - -“I believe that this woman is that Annie Standish,” cried he, “and you -must find out. I believe the old man is on his last legs. He will have -no opportunity to see his daughter. Now then, if this is she, then we -must get the child, and do away with it, and I think the mother has -consumption. Now then, you can work in that little thief Farren, can’t -you?” - -“How?” - -“Give him a thousand dollars for kidnapping the child. Buy off some of -the guards to allow him to get away by the river, and then impress upon -his mind that if the child is the same he is to see that it falls into -the water. It won’t be missed. He regains his freedom and a thousand, -and future help if he needs it.” - -The pawnbroker thought for a long time. - -“What do I get out of all this?” he asked, squinting his eye at his -companion. “I must know this.” - -“Oh, you’ll have enough. Don’t fear.” - -“Then, tell me now,” said Nathans. - -“Five thousand.” - -“Five thousand?” ejaculated the broker. “Do all the dirty work for you -and get a paltry five thousand out of a clean two million? You must -think that I am a fool. I’ve loaned you more than that in clean cold -cash.” - -“Of course, I understand that I should return that also.” The broker -walked away. - -“I want nothing to do with your scheme.” - -“Then, tell me what you do want,” said George almost pleadingly. - -“Half.” - -“Half! My heavens, man, that is a fortune.” - -“I know, and you will have one, too. I don’t intend you to get the -cream and leave me the skim milk.” - -“Then, if you will drive such a hard bargain, come back, and half is -agreed.” - -The broker chuckled softly. - -“That is more like it,” said he. - -“Then you will see the boy,” asked George as he pulled his collar up -tightly about his neck. - -“Yes,” and true to his promise the Jew crossed the river and presented -himself at the prison door. - -“May I see a young man in whom I am interested by the name of Farren? -He was put in for theft.” - -“And a bird he is, too,” said the officer in charge. - -“Let me see, do I know you?” hesitated the Jew, looking into the -officer’s face. - -“I guess you do, Mr. Nathans, for I am the man that took the sailor and -Jim from your shop. My partner is here, too, Arkwright, only he is too -darn nice to live. I wouldn’t want to ask him to do a job for me if I -wanted one done.” - -And the officer winked his eye laughingly. - -After the thick-headed Jew had gotten it through his brains what it -meant, he was glad that the man had given him this hint, for had he not -come to try to bribe Arkwright, but this timely hint was enough, so he -said: - -“If you wanted something done in this burg, who would you go to?” - -“Not to Arkwright,” was the answer, and he made a very wry face. - -“To whom, then?” - -“To me.” - -“And is it possible for you to allow a prisoner to escape?” - -“If you should buy up my partner also,” said the man. - -“And which one is he?” asked the Jew eagerly. - -“I’ll show you. There now, don’t be in a hurry. Let me make the -proposition to him while you see the boy. Is it Jim that you want to -get out?” - -The Jew nodded slightly just as the boy jumped into the room. - -“Well, Jim,” said the Jew, holding out his hand; “how are you doing?” - -“Pretty much as I please,” replied the lad. - -“Then you don’t want to leave this place?” and the Jew looked closely -at him. - -“Oh, wouldn’t I like to get back to New York!” cried he sharply. “Just -you give me the chance,” sighed he. - -“Well, the chance is yours.” - -“How?” gasped the youngster. - -“By doin’ exactly as I tell you. Now, don’t get mixed up with any one -else in this game, or they might mix you up. Understand?” - -“I should tink I did, mister. Now, tell me about it, and no kiddin’.” - -A whispered conversation went on while the bribed guard kept his ears -shut, waiting for the time that money should open them. - -“The same day that you were placed in here a woman was brought here -with a child. I want you to escape and take the kid with you and -accidentally drop it off the boat. Understand?” - -“Oh, I am to kill the kid, is that it?” - -“No, it will kill itself, if you leave it in the water long enough.” - -“Just let it slip off the bark, is that it?” asked Jim. - -“Yes, that’s it.” - -“But, where’s the boat to come from?” asked Jim, interested in his own -safety, “and how much dough am I to get for this?” - -“One thousand dollars and your freedom.” - -“Hully Gee, but that would set me up in business. I guess I’ll take it, -mister.” - -“Then you are to wait until I send you a chart. Do you see that man -sleeping there? He will aid you. He says that you have been trying to -escape.” - -“Yes, I dug my way out t’other night, but found that I was in another -cove’s cell. He just lay there and let me dig and then laughed at me -fer my pains.” - -“Never mind, Jim; now you can laugh at him for his pains,” said the Jew. - -Inside a little book which the Jew handed, with a show of reverence, -to the convict were some fine files and the like to aid him to escape. - -“The warden thinks it’s a prayer book that I brought you,” said the -Jew. “Now hide the things away, and don’t let any one into your secret.” - -Just as they were talking in a low tone the warden ushered in a woman. - -“If it ain’t Biddy Roan, me cousin,” said Jim, trying to hide his -head. “I don’t want her to see me,” but see him she did, and the good -Irishwoman had to go over the whole death scene of the poor mother of -Jim, who had died since he came to the prison. - -“Now then, Jim,” said she, “if you ever get out and want to be a good -fellow, you just come to my place of business. I’ve got a house on the -river side, and you’re welcome for your poor mother’s sake, and you -may take care of my boats for the payment of your board,” and Biddy -Roan, who had been visiting the sick woman upstairs, hurried out of the -prison with tears in her eyes. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - - -Arkwright and his fellow detective, Hammond, for their clever piece of -work in bringing the sailor to trial for the theft of the jewels, and -the Farren fellow for the pawning of a stolen watch, were both given -higher positions in the prison at the Island. They were much pleased -with the work, knowing that a higher prestige was carried with the job. -Hammond was a fellow who could not be trusted, but Arkwright was the -soul of honor, and he had a position next to that of the warden. In -fact, there were strong talks of making him warden if anything should -happen to the man now in charge. - -He was coming down just as Nathans was finishing his talk with Jim. The -Jew heard Arkwright calling from the stairs. - -“You give Mrs. Standish anything she wants. I do not believe she will -last long, and if anything should happen to her suddenly you call me. -Do not let anyone have the little tot until I have been notified.” - -The Jew started as he heard these words. - -It meant so much to him, and so much to the man for whom he was -working, as well as the little mite of a child who was waiting for the -death of its mother in the upper ward. - -Little did Annie Standish know that in the mansion on Fifth avenue that -day a great funeral had been held, and that the father she had hoped -to see had given up his fight, and that George Benson followed him to -his grave as the only mourner. Little did she realize that a gigantic -scheme was afloat to ruin her child and to make her life of no value. -She was too sick to realize, even if it had been told her, and could -only now and then open her eyes and look at the good Mrs. Higgins, who -had followed her over, and to squeeze the red hand of her friend, Biddy -Roan. - -As Mr. Arkwright left her the good man felt that she was not long for -this world, and that she would leave her child soon, but his heart -beat happily when he thought that for the little one there were happier -days, as there was lots of money for her, but little Helen was too -young to know what money meant. - -As the good Arkwright called out his commands to the attendants he -spied the Jew. - -“You here yet?” said he slowly. - -“Yes, I’ve been talking to Jim. I hope you don’t mind. I brought him -the prayer book his mother sent him.” - -“Oh, no, I don’t mind, but it’s a new business for you, that’s all, -Nathans.” - -“Not so new,” growled the other, a guilty flush rising to his forehead. -“I have always felt for these poor fellows over here, but have never -known of one before. - -“But have you ever heard anything of the woman you were looking for, -the poor one with a wealthy father?” - -“We have,” said Arkwright, rubbing his hands, “but the mother is ill -unto death, and the child will live to make the best of the money.” - -“Then, its people were rich?” asked the Jew, his eye shining, as he -wanted to be very sure that the child upstairs was the little heiress. -He wanted to know that he was not paying out a thousand for nothing. He -cared not a picayune if Jim stayed in prison all the rest of his days, -but he wanted to get the child whose mother was the daughter of the -millionaire Benson, and there must be no mistake. - -“Rich,” replied Arkwright, as he held the large gate open for the Jew -to pass through; “I should think so. They have more money than they -know what to do with,” and as the Jew walked away he waggled his beard -after the manner of his race. - -“I have you right where I want you, Arkwright,” said he to himself. -“You think that the child’s life is worth a great deal, and I will show -you that there is no one who can balk me and George Benson without -failing in their plans.” - - * * * * * - -When Biddy Roan was with Annie Standish upstairs there was a pathetic -scene. The sick woman had heard the news of her father’s death. -“Biddy,” she said plaintively, “I know that I shall not live until the -morrow. Now, there are none of my people who care a cent for me or -the child, and I want you to promise me that you will take my Helen, -remember her name is Helen Standish, and take her with you.” - -“Now, now, honey,” soothed the Irishwoman, “you need not be so worrit -over this child, nor over yourself, for I am a-thinking that you’se is -a-going to get well. But if you’se shouldn’t I will take your darling -to my house, and there will be no better mother in the world than I -will be to the likes of her.” - -Annie Standish smiled faintly, for she knew this, and had she not had -evidence of the goodness of the woman’s heart? - -“Listen, Biddy, until I charge you with something. My father is dead, -and he has left his fortune to my cousin, so I think. Now then, don’t -you let him know of my child’s existence, for if he does he may do her -some terrible harm.” - -“Then he shan’t know of it, honey. Now you just take a good look at -the darling and go to sleep.” - -Biddy went to the child’s crib and picked the little one up in her arms. - -“Come and give a kiss to you’se poor mother, me darlint,” said she -softly, “and then you’se can snooze again to sleep. Now then, be a good -girl.” - -The little one whined, for sleep had closed her eyelids and the tired -child was worn out with her prison play. - -“Mother’s precious baby,” said the mother sleepily; “I will hold her, -Biddy, for a little while, for she is so sweet.” - -“But it will tire you to death,” cried the Irishwoman. “Now then, you -let me put her back on her own little bed, and you both try and sleep.” - -Biddy crept out and left the mother and child alone, and as she passed -out she muttered a prayer for the sick woman and for the welfare of her -little child. - - * * * * * - -Darkness had settled over the prison, and not a sound was heard but -the whispering of two men. - -“I got to get this chart of the prison in to Farren on my beat,” said -one, “and then I’m going to turn in.” - -“You had better be careful that you don’t take his place. It’s worth -more than a hundred to do such a job as this.” - -“I know, but when you can’t get no more, what youse going to do? I -tried to raise yours and mine. Now then, a hundred goes a long ways -filling up seven hungry mouths like I have home.” - -“Just so,” retorted the other, and they subsided into silence. - -In a cell a young man was lying as quiet as a mouse, and his breath was -coming in short pants, as if excitement was overcoming him. - -He heard the tramp of feet, and soon a hand was shoved through his cell -bars and a paper was extended to him. - -“Here is the chart. Be careful, and don’t forget about the baby.” - -The long fingers covered over the paper, and the youth lay down again, -this time breathing easier, and he realized that there was much to do -before the morning should dawn. Many a man had escaped from this place, -only to again be taken by the guards before they could get into New -York. - -For a long time he lay thinking, and he could hear the guards talking -in a low tone nearby, but his heart was even then quickening in its -beating, for another thought had come into his mind. - -Once he remembered doing a mean thing to a fellow being. Stealing from -the rich was just in the sight of Jim, but to do a trick unjust and -unkind was not his way. He knew that this baby killing was to be the -meanest thing of his life. If it were not for blessed freedom he would -back out in a moment. - -Suddenly he sat up and whispered loudly: - -“Tom Cooper.” - -All was silent. - -“Tom Cooper,” he said, this time a little louder. - -Another voice came from the other cell. - -“Yes, what is it?” - -“Listen, for I cannot speak too loudly. I want to take you out of this -place to-night. Do you want to go?” - -There was an evident stir in the opposite cell. - -“How can you take me out?” said the voice. - -“Here, I will throw you a file, and you cut through your cell door, and -I will do the same, and I have friends who are going to help me. Now, -don’t wait too long.” - -If any one had been listening they would have heard the distinct -buzzing of two tiny files making their way through the steel bars in -the cells of two convicts. - -When the task was over Tom Cooper stood a free man in the corridor. - -“How are we going to leave this place?” asked Tom in a low voice. - -“By a boat. I don’t know how to manage one, but you do, and the river -is high. Now then, we’ve got to run for it. You are not to say a word, -for there is to be but one missing, and I’m letting you into my good -luck, for I’m thinking that you were put in here unjustly, and some -day I’ll tell you all about it.” - -Tom was too interested to listen to more, and he hastily asked the way -to the boat. - -“Oh, it’s all right, but, listen, somebody is coming.” - -Saying this, both jumped into their berths, and Arkwright ran again -through the corridor. - -“I could have sworn that I heard voices,” said he in a whisper. “I -suppose I am worried, seeing that boat, but I think some fisherman has -left it there.” - -Tom and Jim had hardly taken a breath until they heard the re-echoing -of the officer’s heavy boots upon the floor. - -“Come now,” he said in a low tone, “let’s get out of here.” - -“All right.” - -“I’ve got to go upstairs,” said Jim slowly, looking at Tom to see what -he would say as to the revelation he was going to make. “I have a kid -up there, and I’m not going to leave it behind.” - -“Your own?” - -“You bet, ’taint no right in the world,” said Jim; “but long as ’tis -here, and I’m to blame for it, I’m going to take it along.” - -Tom Cooper put out his hand and grasped the other’s hand in his. - -“You’re a dandy,” cried he; “I’m glad to know you. Hurry and get the -kid, or we may be seen.” - -“Don’t utter a whisper, and I’ll be down in a minute. The babe is just -above us here. Lucky I got it to-night, or there would be no chance -to-morrow. I heard they were going to move it to another building.” - -“Hurry then, Jim,” again said the sailor. - -Jim could not but wonder how he was going to explain the drowning of -the child, and if the sailor would take it like he did and think that -as long as his freedom depended upon it it was all right. Jim hated to -do it, but he had promised, and then, too, the kid was so little. - -He hurried up the steps, and looked cautiously about. - -There was the mother lying as if dead upon the bed, and opposite her -was the child. - -With a sly motion of his hand he slipped a saturated handkerchief under -the child’s nose, and she slumbered on peacefully. - -The mother murmured once, “Helen,” in her sleep and the convict heard -and went on. He could see the death damp upon the brow of the mother. -He knew that it would not be long before she would be outside the gates -of the immortal and demanding admittance. - -Jim was superstitious and he ran down the steps as if the devil were in -his trail. - -The boys thought their troubles were all over, when they heard a great -voice calling them: - -“Wait a moment, there are two of you.” - -“Shut up, Hammond,” snarled Jim, “I’m taking the father of the kid. Get -some more money from Nathans; he’s good for it.” - -Again there was silence. - -“Hist, there is another.” - -“Who?” called Jim. - -“Arkwright.” - -“Then we are lost,” cried Jim, lying flat down upon the baby, and Tom -following suit. - -“Have you seen anyone?” they heard the deep voice of the guard from the -south gate. - -“No,” growled Hammond. - -“Then I suppose all my worry was for nothing, but I thought that this -boat meant something; but I think it must belong to some fisherman.” - -“Of course it does, for heaven’s sakes go and let a fellow snooze.” - -Arkwright muttered something about not snoozing on duty and said out -loud: - -“If I thought that boat meant anything I’d turn it adrift.” - -“And keep some poor fellow upon the Island all night?” said Hammond, -the bribed guard, who with his mate was watching for fear their little -plan might be noticed. - -“Well, that would be mean. I don’t think it amounts to shucks, so I’ll -go along and let you boys attend to your business.” - -As soon as he was gone the convicts were up and off again and down to -the river like two shadows, and the great gates were closed again. - -Into the boat tumbled Tom, and he took the child from his companion’s -arms. - -“It’s a girl, ain’t it, Jim?” he asked as he placed it upon the seat -still sleeping. - -“Yep.” - -“How old?” - -“I’ll be blest if I know. My memory ain’t no good, even as far as my -kid goes. But I wasn’t going to leave it behind.” - -“I admire you for taking her,” said Tom as he whirled the boat into the -dark night, and the shadows of the prison walls dropped into the longer -one of the night, and the boys were well upon their way to freedom. - -In the shadow Jim took a card from his pocket. - -“Can you read that, pard?” said he just as a great whistle blew from -the prison. But Tom had been able to see Biddy Roan’s address, and -heard Jim say that she was a good woman and wanted him to come to her -place. But the terrible thundering of the whistle and the bright lights -upon the shore made the boys put to the oars with greater grip than -ever. - -When they were out of danger Jim commenced to play about the baby’s -neck, mumbling to himself. - -“I’m going to take this off,” murmured he. - -“What?” asked Tom, stopping a moment. - -“Going to take this trinket from the child. I am going to give her a -bath.” - -“Oh, not to drown her?” said Tom in a terrified tone. - -“Yes, unless she can make her tracks in the water.” - -“Why, no child that age can swim,” said Tom, again putting his hand -upon his companion’s arm. - -“Then her chance isn’t worth what ours is,” replied Jim brutally. - -“You would murder your own child? Oh, man, I implore you do not do this -thing.” - -Tom had a tight hold of Jim. - -“Nevertheless, I am going to do it,” cried Jim, “and you listen here, -the price of our freedom is that we should shut this kid’s wizen, and I -promised, and now that I let you in on the game I don’t expect you to -balk me.” - -The two were staring at each other through the awful darkness. - -“I swear you shall not kill it,” cried Tom, and with that the two -struggled fiercely together. Every time Jim came near the baby he tried -to kick it off in the water. But Tom would effectually keep him far -enough away from it. - -But Jim gave a peculiar wrench to Tom’s arm, and the poor fellow was -suffering with a dislocated shoulder. He saw the convict pick up the -baby, and throw it into the water, and then grasp the oars and row -away. From the depths Tom thought he saw a sweet childish face, and for -a moment he hesitated and then cast himself into the water. - -In an instant he had the child by the arms and had swung her up onto -his back sailor-like and was making for the shore. - -The last that Jim saw of the sailor he was pulling with great strokes -for land with the child clinging to his back. - -“Let him go,” muttered the convict, “and may the black devil go with -him, but I’m darned glad that the kid didn’t die, although I did my -prettiest.” - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - - -When Tom realized that he had the child safely in his arms and was -climbing up the rocks upon the East River his heart beat with delight. -He felt that his freedom was given him that he might save the little -maiden from a death which she did not merit. - -He was repeating over to himself the name of the widow, Biddy, whom we -have met before. - -The woman had given the card to Jim, not knowing that it would fall -into the hands of another convict. - -She was sitting, just getting ready for bed, and muttering to herself: -“It does seem strange that the poor mother has to die in the prison. I -suppose, as she ain’t got no friends, there ain’t no use sending her -into the world. But that’s a pretty baby. - -“She ought to be a queen,” Biddy added as she turned out the light and -jumped into bed. - -This woman kept a small boathouse, with some half-dozen boats to rent, -and took in small washings from the sailors upon the tugs in the -river, and from this she made a good living and had managed to put -by a little. She had but one friend, and that was the venerable Mrs. -Higgins, and it was through the woman on the Island that these two -women had met. - -This night Biddy had come late from the prison, leaving poor Annie -Standish nearer the grave than the good woman thought it possible to be. - -“I will go in the morning again,” said she, “and I hope the bairn will -be in better spirits.” - -Then she tumbled over in the bed. Suddenly she raised her head. She -heard a light tapping upon the window pane, and it seemed almost like -the ticking of a clock. - -Biddy listened again. It certainly was a signal of distress. She went -cautiously to the window and looked out. - -There was the shadow of a very tall man, and he was tapping upon her -window. - -“What do you want?” cried she loudly, knowing that no one could hear -but the man. - -“I want help for a poor wet child,” was the answer, and Biddy Roan’s -door was thrown open, despite the fact that she stood in her night gown. - -Tom Cooper staggered into the room under the weight of the -heavily-breathing child. - -“Where did you get it?” asked Biddy suspiciously, looking at the prison -stripes. - -“I will tell you the truth,” and Tom began at the beginning and told -the story from the time he had had a part in it. - -“You see, if I had not saved her, the child would have been drowned.” - -“And Jim Farren was the boy who started to do this trick. Let me see -him again, and I’ll pull his claws for him.” - -“You won’t be bothered with him, I have a notion,” said Tom, “for he -wouldn’t dare to stay about here.” - -Biddy was undressing the wet child. - -“And I was but telling her dying mother this day that I would care for -her and see that her cousin did not harm her.” - -“Yes, I have an idea,” said Tom, as he was shivering with the cold, -“that it was this same cousin who found out about the child and wanted -her out of the way.” - -“That’s it, and now, lad,” and here Biddy looked at the sailor with -pity in her eyes, “what are you going to do, go back to the Island?” - -“Not if I can help it. I was put in on a false charge, for a crime I -never committed. Now then, what can you do for me?” - -“I can fix you up so that you won’t be known by your own mother if you -had one a-living, but now you get into this old dress of mine and climb -to the loft and sleep as long as you want to, and I will see to the -child. I’ll throw these old clothes of yours into the river and let the -stripes sink in the presence of the stars.” - -Biddy laughed and Tom re-echoed it, for indeed he had found a friend. -He did as he was bidden, and the warm feathers felt sweet to the cold -body, and the sun had been shining a long time before Tom Cooper opened -his eyes to the light of day. - -When he did come down in the morning he found a large-eyed child -looking into his face. - -She was fingering a little locket which Tom had seen Jim trying to -wrench from the baby’s neck when he went after him, and he picked it up -in his fingers and read: - -“To my darling Annie, from her father.” - -Then Tom Cooper knew that he stood in the presence of his benefactor’s -grandchild. He took a solemn oath that he would watch over and care for -her until some one had a better right. - -Biddy went to the city that day, leaving the boathouse closed, and -purchased a suit, hat, shoes and other things needed by a man, and with -the outfit she bought a wig and a set of whiskers. - -“You’ll wear these for a long time,” said she slowly, “for then you -won’t give away your identity, for if you should do that you would be -taken back to the Island.” - - * * * * * - -So they lived on and on for many a year. The little Standish child was -no more than a baby when she was first brought to the boathouse, but -upon this beautiful summer morning when this story again opens she is -sitting upon a porch swinging in the hammock. - -Biddy had arranged the house so that now it comfortably held three, -and Tom had a good position and came home every night. Often after the -child went to bed the man and woman would gravely talk over the future -of the little girl, whom they had both grown to love. - -She was humming softly to herself, when Biddy came out and spoke to her. - -“I suppose you are thinking about to-morrow, ain’t you, little one?” -began she. “Just think, you are twenty years old--quite a young lady, I -vow.” - -“Of course, I’m a young lady, auntie,” said the girl, “but I want -Cousin Tom to treat me just the same. You know if he thought I was too -big he might not take me on his lap.” - -Biddy laughed softly. - -“Oh, arrah,” said she with a sigh, “if the girl ain’t in love with that -Tom, false whiskers and all. I wish she could see the beauty of his -face without them, and she would fall in love with him all over again. -Biddy Roan, if you weren’t everything that’s homely in the world you -might take a turn at love yourself.” - -She ironed vigorously, and then went to the porch again in answer to -Helen’s call. - -“I say, auntie,” said the girl, “how is Tom my cousin, on my mother’s -side or my father’s?” - -“Your mother’s,” said the woman shortly. - -“And what----” - -“Now don’t you try to pump any secrets out of me, you sly little fox; -you wait until your cousin comes home; then you ask him. He’s more able -to tell you about yourself than I am.” - -“Then I’ll wait, Aunt Biddy,” said the girl. “Then, if you are my aunt, -and Tom is my cousin, you must be the same relation to him as you are -to me.” - -The Irishwoman stared with a love-light shining in her eyes. - -“I told you not to worry your little head,” said she, “for when Tom -comes home you can ask him everything you want to.” - -So the girl had to be silent. She swayed softly to and fro, and after a -while she sank into a sleep. - - * * * * * - -It might be well while the girl is sleeping and the quiet summer sun is -shining upon a peaceful river, to go back a while to that night fifteen -years ago when Tom Cooper had saved the child in the river. - -Jim Farren sailed down the stormy river toward Hell Gate. He was no -sailor, but he steered his boat as best he could. Then for a long time -after he was in the sea, he knew not what to do. He had not dared to go -toward the city, for fear of being tracked, although he knew that Biddy -would take him in. - -But Biddy’s welcome must wait until there was a better chance of not -being detected. - -He watched every light, fearing that one might be a boat to pick up the -escaped convicts, who had long ago been missed. - -It was the puffing of a great steamer that made him rise high in his -boat and give screams that rang over the water. Soon he saw the great -searchlight turn in his direction and then drop. He hastily skinned off -his clothes and dropped them into the sea. He knew that his head looked -badly, for it had been only so lately shaved. But this had been his day -for a hair cut, so that there was a little growth upon his head. - -Soon he saw a boat lowered, and before time had elapsed long enough to -tell the story, the convict was in the steamer and nestling in a warm -sailor’s bed, and steaming out for a foreign country. - -There was nothing that could have suited Jim better. When he arose -after a few days’ illness there was no sign of New York and not a -shadow of the walls that had covered him so long. - -He did not try to come back to his native city for fifteen years, and -then one day Jim Farren, not much changed in appearance, turned his -face homeward and landed in New York, just one day before the twentieth -birthday of sweet Helen Standish. - -“I’m going to see Biddy Roan to-morrow,” said he to himself as he went -along and picked out the familiar landmarks. “She will be glad to see -me for my mother’s sake. Poor mother, you never knew that your boy -would make his way about the world like that. I wonder whatever became -of the kid and the cove that saved her. That was a plucky piece of -business on his part. I’d like to shake hands again just for the sake -of old times.” - -Saying this, the man entered some of the Bowery saloons which he had -long ago visited and sat for some hours pouring the whiskey into his -stomach. - - * * * * * - -Now Tom Cooper had come home. His heart was singing in his breast, for -had he not a great deal to live for? He was sure that his little ward -loved him in a way. Of course she could not care for him in the way he -did for her, but then, it was something to feel her smooth white hands -upon his face, and feel her innocent kisses showered there. He did -not find the girl in when he reached the boathouse. Biddy was making -biscuits and singing. - -“You are as happy as I am, Biddy,” said the man as he put down his oars -upon the dock, and came into the house. - -“Of course I’m happy,” replied the woman, “and why should I not be? -Why, Tom, have any two people any more reason to be happier than we -are? Think of it, Nellie loves us both, and we are saving money by the -quart, and our darling is a lady.” - -“I don’t want her too much of a lady,” said the man gravely. - -“Well, you can’t help her being a lady,” stormed Biddy, “for she is -born and bred in the bone a lady, and that’s all there is to it.” - -“Ah, yes, Biddy, that way, I know, but don’t get into her head notions -that she must marry a rich man, will you?” - -Then the woman laughed. - -“Why don’t you come out with it, man?” said she, “and tell me all about -it? I know that you love this girl, and it’s all right.” - -Tom’s dark head dropped down upon his hands. He loved this good -Irishwoman, and also the little girl, just as Biddy had said. - -But he was years older than Nellie, and there were so many -finer-looking fellows in the city. Then, too, there was that stain upon -his name which he could not erase unless he could find the man who -stole the jewels and placed them in his bundle, and that was so long -ago that there was no possible chance. - -Just as they were talking they heard a girlish laugh. Nellie had -gone out in her own little boat, which Biddy had given her, and was -returning for supper. - -[Illustration: NELLIE] - -Her happy laughter could always be heard before the girl came in sight. - -“Now you tell her, Tom, all about herself,” argued Biddy, “for if you -don’t there is no way for you to ask her to marry you.” - -Again the man shuddered. - -“I cannot tell her I found her in prison,” said he, with a very white -face, “for then she would ask me how I came there.” - -“Tell her anything, but to-night, if you want her, is your chance. She -has more lovers stringing here after boats than you can count upon your -fingers and toes.” - -Tom stood up with a great resolution. - -“I’ll tell her now,” said he slowly. - -He went out of the house and stood in the sunlit porch. Just behind the -great hill beyond he could see the last of the sun sinking to rest. His -heart beat with foolish excitement, for he feared this girl could not -love him as he did her. - -“Halloa, Tom,” shouted she. “Oh, I’m so glad you are home. What makes -you look so grave? Oh,” and the girl did not wait for the man’s answer, -“I have had such a daring time. Where do you think I’ve been, way down -to Hell Gate, and almost went into the rapids.” - -By this time she had placed her oars into the boat and clasped the -chain firmly in its staple. - -The man’s face grew white as he heard these words. - -“My heavens, Nellie, you must not go to such dangerous parts of the -river. You might have been killed.” - -“Would you have cared very much, Tom?” said Nellie, stopping and -holding her hands out; “I want my dear ones to care very much.” - -The man’s answer for an instant was to crush the white hands in his and -draw the girl close to him. - -“Would I care, Helen Standish?” cried he, leading her into the house. -“More than I can tell you. Let’s have our supper, and then I’ve got a -story to tell you.” - -“One of your fairy stories, Tom?” laughed the girl. “I always liked -them when I was a little girl, and what a wilful child I was, wasn’t I?” - -“You were a sweet child, Nellie,” said Tom, “and now Biddy is calling -saying that her biscuits will be cold if we don’t go to supper.” - -The meal was hardly over before Nellie broke out: “What makes you -people so awfully quiet to-night? Is it your fairy story, Cousin Tom?” - -“Yes, it’s the story he’s got to tell you, Nellie,” commented Biddy. - -“Tom is one of those chaps who wants to think a long time before he -leaps.” - -“But I’m ready to leap now, Biddy,” replied Tom appealingly, “and I -cannot have more than----” - -“Oh, all right, I’ll go,” replied Biddy, with her head up very high, -“but I’m coming in when you takes the leap. It’ll take you an hour to -get ready.” - -But Tom was not listening to Biddy’s chatter. He was looking deep -into Nellie’s eyes, and the girl felt in her heart that something was -coming, that there would be a change in her life after to-day. - -She bowed her head upon Tom’s hands as she saw the color creep into his -face and mount high to his forehead. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - - -For a long time there could be nothing heard but the ticking of the -clock, and the loud breathing of Nellie’s pet cat, in whose soft fur -the girl had entwined her fingers. The other hand was enclosed in Tom’s. - -“I am not your cousin, Nellie,” he said deliberately after a while. - -“Not my cousin? Then who are you, and who am I?” This startled -exclamation brought the tears to the man’s eyes. - -“Oh, dear,” Nellie added as she saw that Tom was not answering, “I’ve -treated you just like my cousin, kissed you many times, and----” - -“I hope you will kiss me many times again,” said Tom, his tones having -taken on a deepness which caused the tender face of the girl to flood -with color. - -“But I want to be a relation to you, Tom, dear,” cried the girl sharply. - -“And so you shall, darling,” said Tom. - -“I’m glad of that,” was the satisfied reply. “Now go on with -the--the--fairy story, Tom.” - -“Then once upon a time----” - -And here Tom stopped. How was he going to describe that dreadful prison -without telling her all about it? His pride forbade that. - -“Well, once upon a time,” answered Nellie impatiently. - -“There was once a beautiful island----” - -And again Tom paused. - -“Oh, I remember it,” cried Nellie. “It was all ivy windows, with -shutters, iron shutters, and--and----” Here she rubbed her forehead and -added: “A great stone wall all about it; is that what the castle was, -Tom?” - -Biddy had ventured back. By the terrible expression upon Tom’s face she -feared he would tell the whole story. - -“That’s it, darling, that’s it. I remember the castle myself.” - -Tom drew a long sigh as he had passed the only breaker safely thus far. - -“It was a very hard castle to get into,” ventured Nellie as if -struggling for a better memory. - -“But a worse place to get out of,” said Biddy with a poke at Tom’s ribs. - -He gave her a dreadful look and he went on hastily. - -“There was a beautiful little girl brought to this island, and that -child was you, my Helen.” - -Tom was leaning over the table and looking into Helen’s eyes. - -The startled expression hurt him much, for he feared the girl would -call to her mind what kind of a castle they were living in, but without -a word she put out her slender arms and drew the dark head down to her -lips. - -“There’s a sweet kiss, Tom.” - -Biddy smacked her lips suspiciously, as she always had to do something. -She did not want to cry, and Tom did look so solemn. - -“Then I lived there in that island?” asked Helen. - -“Yes.” - -“Was there anybody living there beside us?” - -The question was so innocent and sweet that Tom thought his heart would -break, and Biddy again came to his rescue. - -“Anybody else? Well, I should think so. I was there half the time -myself. And there were more people on that beautiful island than you’d -ever expect to see in such a small island again.” - -Tom looked reproachfully at Biddy. - -“Yes,” said he slowly, “I lived there myself.” - -“Oh, did you now?” laughed Nellie, “and I did, too. Wasn’t it romantic?” - -“Very,” replied Tom, giving a dreadful look at Biddy. - -“What did you do there, Tom?” asked the girl. - -This was hard to get over, but Biddy, with her Irish wit, was not to be -stumped in such a matter. - -“Sure, me darlint, he worked for the government.” - -“Oh, I’m sure that was a lovely position, for I often see the soldiers -go by, and they work for the government, don’t they, Tom?” - -This was too much. Tom groaned in spirit, but again Biddy came to the -rescue. - -“Tom always groans when he thinks of how near you got killed over -there, don’t you, Tom?” - -The man bowed his head. Biddy was a darling anyway. - -“Then do hurry and tell me how I came with you, and who my father is -and my mother, for I will know, Tom.” - -“And so you shall, my darling Helen, you shall know.” - -“One dark night I left the island with another fellow----” - -Tom could not go on, and Biddy took up the thread. - -“And the bold, bad boy had you in his arms, and our Tom saw him trying -to throw you in the water, and when he did it Tom jumped in after----” - -Nellie stood up with a cry. - -“I remember it all,” said she slowly, “all about the island, a sick -woman, and you taking me from the water. That was nice, Tom, the way -you crawled up the rock with me clinging to your back.” - -The man made no answer, and Nellie went around and took his hands in -hers. - -“I’m your girl forever, ain’t I, Tom? I want to always be with you. -Are you telling me this story so as to send me away from you to my -relatives?” - -There was a pathos in the girl’s voice that wrung the tears from her -listeners. Tom did not reply for a moment. - -Nellie turned quickly to Biddy. - -“Oh, Biddy, who is going to have me? I want to stay with you and Tom.” - -She dropped upon a chair, and Tom Cooper regained his voice. - -“God forbid, my darling,” cried he, “that you should ever be with any -one in the world but your own Tom and Biddy. No, little Helen Standish, -you have no relatives to whom Biddy and I will ever give you. You -belong alone to us.” - -“Oh, I am so glad--oh, so happy,” and the girl rubbed her face against -the whiskers without which she had never known her Tom. - -“And now I am going to place something about your neck which was yours -many years ago, this little locket which was your mother’s.” - -Helen Standish took the trinket, and lifted it tenderly to her lips. - -“I’ve never known another mother but you, Biddy, and no other friend -but Tom, but pardon me if I weep for my dead mother.” - -She rose to her feet, and walked away toward the window, where the -night shadows were falling. Her heart beat gratefully for these two -good people who had taken her into their lives and home. - -“Tom,” she began without looking at him, “I can remember many times I -have been naughty and seemed ungrateful to you, but will you believe -that all my life I have loved you better than any one else?” - -There was the big Irishwoman waiting for her turn, and her little sob -drew Nellie’s attention. - -“And you, too, my own Biddy. I do not deserve all you have done for -me. I have always meant to be a good girl, but have failed miserably.” - -“Now, now, my pretty darlint,” sobbed Biddy, “don’t you go and make -your hearties cry. We both loves you, and there ain’t nothing to -forgive, is there, Tom?” - -“No, indeed,” and then such a longing came over him that his heart -seemed suffocated, and he wanted to take the girl in his arms and press -her to his bosom, and something in his face seemed to tell the girl of -his wish. - -“Say it, Tom,” whispered she, oblivious of Biddy’s presence. - -“I love, I love you, my own darling, and I want you to be my own little -wife.” - -They looked into each other’s eyes solemnly, and Biddy crept to a chair -and sat down. - -Nellie walked to her lover and laid her hands in his. - -“I shall count it one of the greatest honors of my life to be your -wife,” said she, “and I love you, Tom Cooper.” - -Then they talked, Biddy leaving them alone, and Tom explained -everything save that the island was a prison. Her mother was given the -highest of eulogies. - -“I knew her when she was a little girl, although she was older than I. -I loved her very dearly. Now then, you have one second cousin living, -but your mother did not want to have him ever see you, or to let him -know of your existence. He has the fortune which you ought to have.” - -“My fortune?” asked Nellie wonderingly. - -“Yes,” and slowly the girl understood why this same cousin should want -to get her out of the way and should want to kill the little child who -had never done him any harm. - -As they were finishing their love-making Biddy came in with a great -noise. - -“If you children won’t mind,” said she, giving Tom a wink, “I’m going -to bed; I’m so tired.” - -“We won’t mind, will we, Tom?” put in Nellie; “I’ve a great deal to say -to Tom before I go to bed.” - -Biddy, with a yawn, went to her room, saying, as she closed the door: -“Now, don’t sit up all night, my children.” - -It amused Nellie to hear Biddy call Tom a child, for he was many years -her own senior, and there could not be over a few years between her -lover and Biddy. - -“We’ll go to bed as soon as the sun goes down,” laughed Tom. - -In fact it was dark, but Biddy had always had the habit of going to bed -so early and getting up at an unusual hour that Tom was always making -sport of her. - -“I wanted to ask you something, Tom,” said Nellie, after Biddy’s door -was tightly closed. “What makes you wear those long whiskers? Most men -shave them off, don’t they?” - -Tom thought a moment. - -“Well, I guess it’s habit,” said he slowly. He wished he could take -them off and show her the handsome face beneath, but he could not, for -it would require an explanation about wearing the grizzly hair upon his -face. - -“Oh, you know I do not care,” replied Nellie, “for I love you just the -same, but I just wondered; that’s all.” - -For a long time they were silent. They were each whispering to their -own heart what a happiness had been found. - - * * * * * - -A man slouched along close to the river. His hat was on one side, and -his hands were in his pockets. - -Every boathouse he came to he read the name upon the top, as evidently -he was looking for some one. - -Suddenly he stopped before an unusually pretty house, with the -boathouse below. - -“Biddy Roan,” he read on the sign. - -“The old dear lives here,” said he out loud. “Oh, I know she will be -glad to see me again after all these years for my mother’s sake, if not -for my own.” - -Then he knocked at the door. - -“Who is there, do you suppose, Tom?” asked Nellie softly; “it is late -for any one to come for boats.” - -“Yes, but we will soon find out.” - -He went to the door, and opened it, when a man stepped in, but halted -as he saw a beautiful girl standing there. - -“Does Biddy Roan live here?” asked the stranger. - -“Yes.” - -“Well, may I see her? Tell her an old friend has come back from abroad -and wants to see her. Will you tell her, cove?” - -“Let me,” whispered Nellie, and she went to the bedroom door. But -before she opened it she heard an ejaculation from Tom’s lips. - -The stranger was staring at her lover with a crafty expression in his -eyes, while Tom was looking like death. - -She did not say a word to Biddy, but ran back to Tom. - -“What is it? Do you know this man, dear Tom?” - -“I once knew him, Nellie,” said Tom, eyeing his former companion with -an expression of hatred. - -Had not this same sneaky fellow almost killed his darling? Had he not -taken the dainty child fresh from its mother’s bosom and thrown it into -the water? - -“Tom Cooper!” he was heard to mutter. - -“Yes, I am Tom Cooper, and you are----” - -“Jim Farren. Don’t bother to wake Biddy to-night, but tell her her -cousin called to see her, a cousin on our mother’s side.” - -With this he gave a horrid laugh and sped out of the door, and Tom sank -down upon a seat, and his heart felt in his bosom like a lump of lead. - -“Who is that man?” asked Nellie pointedly. - -“He is the man who threw you from the boat, and, Nellie, if he should -come to-morrow while I am away and they ask you to go with them, would -you go? I knew he recognized you, for he looked hard at the locket on -your neck. He tried to steal it from you that night in the river.” - -Helen Standish showed her force of character as she took Tom’s large -head in her hands and kissed him. - -“I would no more think of leaving you, Tom, than I would to leave -Biddy, nor half as quick, for you are going to be my husband, are you -not?” - -“Oh, Nellie, those words make me so happy, but what if they should -offer you a great fortune?” - -“Without you, my darling, I would not take it, for I want only this -little family circle. Don’t worry about that, you cannot get rid of -your sweetheart so easy.” - -“God forbid that anything like that should ever happen.” - -Then they left each other, and little Nellie, with a happy, singing -heart, crawled in beside Biddy. - -But not so with Tom Cooper. He could see close to him a great shadow -rising before him, and could feel the shiver of the cold bracelets -about his hands. - -Of course, this fiend would tell George Benson where he was, and what -would there be left for him but to finish out a term in prison, but -there was a possibility that Biddy would know some way out of the -trouble. - -He opened his bedroom door cautiously at the first peep of day, and -there stood Biddy in her night clothes. - -“Biddy,” whispered Tom, “did Nellie tell you about the man that came -here last night?” - -“No, sure she didn’t, I was asleep when she came to bed.” - -“Jim Farren was here.” - -“Bad cess to him,” cried Biddy, “what in the devil’s name did he want -now? I thought he was dead.” - -“So did I,” commented Tom. - -“But you needn’t be afraid of him,” said Biddy consolingly. “He won’t -dare peach on you, for that would bring him into trouble, too.” - -“Oh, yes, he will,” replied the man, “for he did not get the reward -which was to have been his at the death of the child. Now if he can get -her into the villain’s hands he will get the amount which was coming to -him.” - -“Now you are worrying over nothing, Tom. Be cheerful, and we will go to -some other place, for this ain’t the only home in the world.” - -“But, Biddy,” argued Tom, “you cannot give up your home for my sake, -and you have spent the best of your days here.” - -He had come near the woman then, and they were looking into each -other’s eyes. - -“I don’t care fer that,” said she, “and if you think you and Nellie’s -a-going away and leave this poor Biddy Roan, then youse is mistaken.” - -“God bless you, my own Biddy,” ejaculated Tom. “Then this morning we -three will pack our things and we’ll go away, and if Nellie has to know -the truth then will I tell her.” - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - - -The night before, when Jim Farren recognized the man and the girl, he -was delighted, and he argued to himself that no harm could come to him -while he had such influential friends as Nathans and Benson, and that -if he got into trouble they would extricate him. He hurried along with -his hands still in his pockets. - -“It’ll be me chance to get even wit’ this cove for cheating me out of -the money, only that I’m glad that der goil ain’t dead, and she is a -sweet-looking piece of humanity.” - -But there was no compunction in his heart as he said this. He had no -scruples in breaking up a beautiful home now, taking a warm-hearted -lover from his sweetheart. Especially should this man have been anxious -for Tom to escape, knowing that he was innocent, but Tom had taken -away his chances of a fortune and a business. - -He made his way to the fashionable quarter of the city, and rang the -bell at the Benson mansion. It was a long time before there was an -answer, and then the butler put his head outside. - -“Is Mr. Benson in?” asked Jim. - -“No,” and before he could ask when he would be in, the door was slammed -and locked in his face. - -Then he pondered what he would do. Of course Tom Cooper would try and -get away, and he would take the girl with him, and there was a fortune -for her in the will of her grandfather. - -Thinking this, Jim thought there was no time to lose, so he went to the -telephone. - -“Is this the police headquarters?” - -“Yes.” - -“Is there a man there by the name of Arkwright?” - -“Yes; do you want to talk with him?” - -“Yes.” - -“All right, go ahead, there’s his wire.” - -“Hello.” - -“Arkwright, is this you?” - -“Yes.” - -“Well, this a fellow that knows where there is an escaped convict.” - -“Who? And who are you?” - -“Never mind who I am, but you just watch the boathouse of Biddy Roan, -on the river. Tom Cooper is there with the Standish girl, whose mother -died in prison.” - -“You don’t say so,” cried the detective. “Have you been to see Mr. -George Benson?” - -“Yes, but the cove ain’t in. Now then, what are you going to do?” - -“Ask you to come here and go with me to Mr. Benson’s.” - -“Well, you must promise not to ask me any questions about myself,” said -Jim, “or else I won’t come.” - -“Don’t worry. You put me on the track of that girl, and I’ll make you -all right.” - -So Jim went to police headquarters, thinking he was doing a great -stroke of business, and it was late in the night when Arkwright called -up the Benson mansion. - -“I want to speak with Mr. Benson.” - -“He has retired.” - -“Never mind, call him to the wire. I want to speak with him. This is -the police headquarters.” - -George Benson responded immediately to the call. - -“This is Arkwright. May I call upon you at your home immediately? I -have found trace of your cousin, Helen Standish.” - -When the detective did come in answer to Benson’s reply in the -affirmative, he found the rich man pale with fright. The fifteen years -that had passed had whitened the locks about his forehead, and his eyes -had taken upon them a crafty expression, and no one could ever hold -their attention long at a time. - -“Maybe you are mistaken,” said he when Jim Farren gave the history of -his call upon his Cousin Biddy. - -“I’d know that girl by the jewel about her neck,” said the thief. - -“I don’t believe it,” stubbornly replied Benson. - -“Nevertheless I am going to investigate this matter,” said Arkwright, -“and if she is there you will be relieved of your burden in taking care -of her fortune.” - -Benson’s face darkened, as he was just beginning to think it time to -apply to the court to make the money over to him as the next heir, but -now there would be another delay. If this little fool of a convict had -only come to him before going to the police there would have been a -chance to silence the girl forever if it proved that she was living, -but with Arkwright on the trail Benson would dare to do nothing. - -“What are you going to do?” he asked tremblingly. - -“Be there at the peep of day and arrest this Tom Cooper and place Helen -Standish in your hands, as the law left you her guardian.” - -Benson drew a long breath. What could he want more? His conscience -troubled him so that he thought everybody knew of his evil intentions. -He breathed again peacefully and said with a genial smile: - -“You could not please me more than to bring my cousin to me, and I -shall be glad to make a statement of her fortune to her.” - -“We all know you have done your best, Mr. Benson,” said the detective, -“and I hope that you will have many a happy day with your relation. You -will go with me in the morning?” - -“Yes, and I think I will have Mr. Nathans there to identify the sailor, -as you know the goods were taken to his place to pawn.” - -“All right, I’ll leave that with you.” - -There was after that a long conversation over the ’phone between Benson -and Nathans. - -The Jew agreed to come in the morning and meet the trio, and he would -swear away the freedom of Tom Cooper. - - * * * * * - -Nellie turned uneasily upon her bed. It had been her custom for many -years to sleep late in the morning, Biddy refusing to break the -slumber of “the sweet young thing,” and telling Tom when he argued that -it was for the girl’s good that she should be made to work, that it was -the place of an Irish Biddy to do hard work, and that Nellie should -sleep. - -But this morning she could not rest. She heard the whispering and -talking between her two friends outside, so she got up and dressed just -as Tom was taking a lot of papers from an old trunk. - -“What are you doing, Tom?” asked she curiously. - -Tom raised his head and the girl hardly recognized her lover. - -“Something has happened to you,” she ejaculated. “I know, Tom; don’t -shake your head at me.” - -“We are going away from here, Nellie,” said he hoarsely, “you, Biddy -and I.” - -“Why?” - -“Because we have enemies who are going to take you from us. There, -don’t look frightened, but we are afraid of your cousin.” - -“How can he take me if I do not want to go?” asked Nellie. - -“The law might say that you should go,” answered Tom. - -“I’d like to hear them say that I was to leave you and Biddy.” - -“Tom, now don’t scare that child. You’re not going from us; get on your -things, for you and Tom are to go before me.” - -Hardly had these words escaped from Biddy’s lips before there was a -knock at the door, and the Irishwoman saw the red face of her cousin -peeping in at the door. - -“You nasty spalpeen,” cried she, trying to make a grab for his head, -“what are youse doing here? Get out wid youse.” - -“I have some friends with me, Biddy, calling upon Mr. Cooper, and the -pretty young lady.” - -“Nellie, will you go in the bedroom, dear?” asked Tom, but the -detective raised his hand. - -“I want the young lady to remain. What I have to say is of great -importance to her.” - -Nellie looked mystified, and Benson was gazing with his soul in his -eyes at the pretty face. There was a sweetness about her that made -him think of her mother, and there was also something that made him -acknowledge to himself that he should some time love this girl. - -“What have you to say to Miss Standish?” began Tom Cooper, with a -sickening feeling at his heart. - -“She is the granddaughter of the dead millionaire Benson, and this -gentleman here is her cousin. You are one of the greatest heiresses in -New York, my dear young lady.” - -The detective bowed low before Nellie, but still the mystified -expression remained in the deep blue eyes. - -“And this gentleman,” said Arkwright sarcastically, coming nearer Tom, -“is an escaped convict, whom I shall have to ask to accompany me to the -station house.” - -Light seemed to break upon Nellie’s mind, but she strenuously denied -the charge, keeping a tight hold of her lover. - -“You have made a mistake,” cried she. “Tom never did a wrong thing in -his life, and I am going to be his wife.” - -“But you cannot, my dear Miss Standish; you are a minor, and cannot -have your own way for a whole year yet.” - -“Nevertheless I am going to be his wife, am I not, Tom? Tell me that -they have made a mistake, and that you are not what they are trying to -prove you.” - -The man did not speak. - -“Tell me, Tom, was that island in the fairy story--was that Blackwell’s -Island?” - -“Yes.” - -This one word fell from the man’s lips as if all hope had left him, and -he knew that they would tear from him his darling, and that he would -spend the rest of his days in prison. - -Benson now came forward, trying to take Nellie’s hand in his. - -“My dear little cousin, you cannot again be taken from me. I have -searched the city for you, and now you shall take your position in -life, and be the rich girl you ought to be.” - -“I do not want to go with you,” said she mournfully. - -“But you must.” - -“I will not.” - -The more she contemplated the step the more she shuddered, and she did -not intend that Tom should be taken from her. - -“Miss Standish, listen to me,” and Arkwright went close to her; “now -the law has left you in the charge of your cousin. Mr. George Benson -was left by the terms of your grandfather’s will, the one trustee -who should look after you personally. I suppose if he had known that -you did not want to be with him your relative would have changed his -wishes, but now that he is dead you will have to be satisfied with the -arrangements, and as far as this man is concerned,” pointing to Tom, -“I know him to be an escaped convict, and I shall have to ask him to -accompany me.” - -“I am this young lady’s guardian,” put in Tom obstinately. - -“Self-appointed,” sneered Arkwright, “but that will not hold. Then, -too, you will be in a cell before night.” - -“Oh, no, no, Tom, tell me all about it, sweetheart.” - -“I will, Nellie, and remember what I am telling you is as true as my -love for you. I was arrested for a crime which I did not commit. I did -not steal your grandfather’s jewels, and that man knows it.” - -He brought out the last words with a jerk, and pointed his finger at -Benson. - -George started toward him, but Arkwright detained him. - -“I believe you, Tom,” said Nellie simply, “and as long as I live I -shall believe you are innocent.” - -“But that will not prevent your going with your cousin.” The detective -said this as he fastened the bracelets upon Tom’s wrists. - -“I won’t go unless Biddy can go, too.” - -“Well, she cannot,” said Benson, looking crossly at the Irishwoman. - -“Then, I stay right here. Do you understand? And I would like to see -any law drag a girl twenty years old to a place that she simply won’t -go. Now, gentlemen, what are you going to do?” - -This was a sticker, and George Benson and the detective talked in low -tones, while Nellie placed her arms about her lover’s neck. - -“Don’t you worry, Tom, about going, for you won’t be there long. Now -then, when you go away you are to write to me every day, and I will to -you, and just as soon as I find a good lawyer you shall be free.” - -“We have decided to allow you to take your friend Biddy with you for a -while,” said the detective affably, “if, when Mr. Benson finds a lady -of your own rank, you will be satisfied to allow this woman to go.” - -Nellie plumped herself down again in her chair. - -“I won’t agree to any such thing. Biddy’s been my mother for years, and -if Mr. Benson doesn’t want her in his house, then I won’t go. I don’t -want a lady of any different rank than myself, and Biddy is my choice. -So there.” - -Tom smiled at her from his corner, and the sight made Benson furious. - -Again the two gentlemen conferred, while Nathans took it upon himself -to argue with the girl. - -“Look a-here, Mr. Jew,” cried Nellie, “you just mind your business. No -one has asked you to live with my Biddy, and Mr. Benson needn’t live -with us either. If I have all the money you say I have then I can make -a home for Biddy and me until I can get my Tom out.” - -Again George ground his teeth. He would soon make this girl realize -that he was her guardian, and he would commence right then. - -“Helen, there will be a time in your life when you won’t want to -associate with these people, and then you will be glad that I insisted -that you come unencumbered into your beautiful home. You may bring -Biddy with you for a while, but please do not think of that man again.” - -He pointed at Tom with his white index finger, and the girl’s eyes -followed in that direction. - -The expression of pain that crossed her lover’s face hurt the girl’s -heart. She slipped down at his feet, and placed her arms about him. - -“Tom, I love you; don’t you let those beasts of men make you believe -otherwise. What are you doing?” - -“Taking off this,” and saying these words, the young fellow pulled his -false whiskers and mustache from his face. - -“Well, my soul, Tom, how very handsome you are!” cried Nellie. “If I -had known this before I would have taken several peeps at you as you -are now.” - -“We have heard enough rot,” ejaculated Benson. “Now, young lady, when -will you come to my home?” - -“To her home, you mean, Benson,” corrected the detective. - -“Well, what’s the difference? I shall stay with her until she is -married, and maybe she will be satisfied to----” - -The rest of the words were lost to Tom, but he imagined what they were, -and his cheek flushed and the blood seemed to burn his life away. - -As Arkwright was placing the hat upon the rearrested convict, Tom -turned to Jim: - -“I suppose you did not tell your aunt about this affair?” - -“Yes, I did, sir, and because I told on you and the girl, I got scot -free, sir.” - -“Scat,” cried Bridget, “or I’ll pull your scraggy hair out of your -little impudent head, you dirty spalpeen.” - -“Well,” said Nellie, taking Tom’s hand in hers as he was being taken -away, “I wish you all to understand that here stands a girl whom you -say is worth a million dollars. There stands a man whom I love. I shall -spend every one of those millions of dollars to prove him innocent, and -then we can come back here to live with Biddy after he is out of prison -and we are married.” - - - - -CHAPTER X. - - -It seemed to take all the life out of poor Tom when he found himself -being taken back to prison. While he had perfect faith in Nellie, still -he hated the evil influence of her cousin. But he did not yet know the -girl who loved him, and did not realize that no influence in the world -could make her untrue to him. - -He went moodily into the same cell that he was placed in before, this -time hoping that his darling would be true to him. - -The morning at last arrived when Nellie should leave the boathouse that -had sheltered her so long. - -She was arranging her hair slowly when Biddy said: “Are you very sure, -me darlint, that you want your old Biddy with you in youse elegant -home?” - -Nellie dropped the hair which had twined about her fingers, and looked -at her foster mother. - -“Well, if you don’t go with me, then I won’t go either,” and Nellie sat -down and commenced to cry. - -“There, there, honey,” soothed the woman. “Don’t you take on so; your -Biddy would follow you to the ends of the earth. But I don’t want you -to be ashamed of me.” - -“That I could never be,” said Nellie, “and when Tom gets out of prison, -then we’ll all go abroad, for I shall have enough money for all of us.” - -“Oh, I’m delighted to be with me darlint,” replied Biddy. “I only hope -you can find a lawyer who will help you get poor Tom out.” - -“I meant what I said,” averred Nellie later, while thinking deeply, -“that I would spend my last cent to get him free.” - -“And may your efforts be blessed by heaven,” sighed Biddy. - -“I am constantly praying,” said Nellie, “that I will be shown some way -to aid him. Don’t you see the poor fellow is so helpless shut there in -that cell, and although I am going to see him, I know that I shall be -broken-hearted to come away without him.” - -As they were speaking, a beautiful span of horses and a liveried driver -drove to the boathouse. - -“Is this Miss Standish?” asked the servant. “I was sent for you and -Miss Biddy.” - -The haughty nose of the coachman turned up slightly as he said this, -and Nellie noticed it, and she vowed inwardly that the man’s place -should be filled by another more worthy before long. Already the -determined Nellie had taken the reins in her own hands. - -“I must take my cat,” said she at the last minute, and when Biddy -demurred, saying that the man driving the carriage might not be pleased -with a cat in the beautiful carriage, she broke out and said: - -“Then let him lump it if he don’t like it. I’ll take my cat if I want -to and not ask my servant.” - -“Oh, Nellie,” gasped Biddy, “don’t call that lovely man a servant. He -really looks so handsome and dignified.” - -“He won’t long if I sic Tabby on him. Would you like to see her scratch -at that wool?” - -“Hush, Nellie,” begged Biddy; “there, come now, and we’ll climb in.” - -The old boathouse was closed until Biddy should have a chance to rent -it, and she turned the key in the lock with a sigh, as for years she -had made this place her home. - -The carriage bowled gently down through the streets, and Helen Standish -tripped up the steps from which, when a child, she and her mother were -turned away, but the beautiful girl now going to take up her own, -remembered nothing of the starvation her poor little mother had gone -through with. All of her days had been spent in bliss and happiness, -with this same old Irishwoman sitting sedately beside her, with the -Tabby in her arms. - -“I am here to greet you,” said George Benson as he led the girl into -her future home. “I am so pleased that you are where you belong.” - -But this girl would not have believed this story had she seen this man -when he was alone in his room. His face was pale and shadowed with care. - -“If I can only make her understand that she must not consult any -lawyer, but allow me to manipulate her affairs it will be all right, -but the moment she demands a settlement I’ll do away with her, for it -will be my only salvation. I wonder if she would marry me.” - - * * * * * - -“Well, how do you like this room?” asked Nellie of Biddy in an upper -bed-chamber, ushering her foster mother through half a dozen rooms -and halting at the last one. “I suppose they think I’m going to sleep -alone, but I’ll give them to understand that I won’t. What’s the use of -being rich if one cannot do as they wish to?” - -“And you don’t love your old Biddy less for all the money you have, me -darlint?” cried the woman. - -“Indeed I do not,” said Nellie; “the only thing concerns me now is my -dear Tom.” - -“Oh, you’ll get him out all safe,” said the woman; “don’t you worry -about that.” - -“Well, how can I help it,” asked Nellie, “when I know that dear fellow -is languishing over on that Island for something he did not do? Now -then, Biddy, did you ever see any man look as handsome as he did when -he took off those whiskers? The horrid things; I never knew how they -disfigured him until I had seen him without them.” - -“Aye, he is a beauty,” added Biddy. “I knew that you would admire him. -Now, darlint, tell me where I shall hang my bonnet. I don’t know what -to do in these big rooms.” - -“Oh, put it anywhere, Biddy,” cried the girl, looking about. “So this -used to be my mother’s room. I am going to see if there is anything -that ever belonged to her about.” - -For hours the young girl searched among the several rooms which her -cousin had told her belonged to her mother, when suddenly she came -upon a little closet tightly locked. - -With a set of keys which she had found she opened it, and before her -glistening eyes were a number of things which evidently belonged to a -little girl. - -A broken French doll, with one eye gone, grinned at Nellie from the -corner. In a chair in the middle of the small room was another doll -made of rags, and it still showed signs of childish teeth. - -The long stringy hair which hung over the dirty face brought the tears -to Helen’s eyes. She sat down upon the floor and began to cry. - -“Why, darlint,” cried Biddy, “and you are a-crying. I wouldn’t look at -them little things if they make your heart ache. Come to your Biddy’s -heart.” - -“Oh, Biddy, Biddy, I can’t help but cry over my mother. I wish she had -lived and been with us. Oh, how hard fate was to her when she had such -a home as this to die in a dreadful prison.” - -“Well, well, it must have been the Good Father’s wish,” cried the -woman, “or it would not have happened. Now, cheer up, dear, and be -happy.” - -“But, look at this little doll,” said the girl sorrowfully; “she must -have loved this one, for she has used it so much.” - -“So she has, sweet, but she did not want her own little girl to cry -over it.” - -“But she didn’t have any nice mother like you, dear,” said Nellie. - -“Just in this great house all alone with her father. A girl needs a -mother, Biddy.” - -“Aye, so they do, and I thank heaven it was given to me to be one to -you, my sweety.” - -“And you have been more than that to me,” whispered the girl. - -“Oh, Biddy, if I only had my Tom now, I would be the happiest girl in -the world.” - -“Then why don’t you go and see a good lawyer, and maybe he will help -you to get him out?” - -“I don’t know who to go to.” - -“And I wouldn’t ask Mr. Benson either,” said Biddy with a curious wink -of her eye. “You remember what Mr. Tom said, don’t you?” - -“Blaming my cousin for his arrest?” - -“That’s it; he was to blame for the lad’s trouble.” - -“You need not fear, Biddy, that I shall go to him, for he has done -enough harm.” - -At this moment the servant came to the door, and said: “Mr. Benson -would like to see Miss Standish in the library.” - -Nellie found her cousin sitting, looking very glum, at the side of the -writing table. - -“You sent for me?” asked she with dignity. - -“I did. Be seated.” - -She waited, before speaking again, for him to proceed. - -“You are a very young girl to have the responsibility of so much money.” - -“I know,” replied Nellie quickly, “and that is the reason why I miss -Tom so much. He never has allowed me to have any responsibility.” - -Her companion bit his lip ferociously, and the sight gave Nellie -intense delight. - -“He will be of no service to you, my dear, for many years to come.” - -It was Nellie’s turn to bite her lip, for she knew the truth of his -statement. - -“I cannot reconcile myself to the thought that Tom Cooper ever did such -a thing.” - -“Nevertheless he did, and you may take my word for it, for I saw the -bundle he had the diamonds hidden away in.” - -“I would have to have his word for it,” said the girl with flaming -cheeks and rising from her chair. - -“Be seated,” ordered Benson, “and we will avoid unpleasant subjects.” - -She sank again into her chair and listened. - -“I wanted to know if you wish me to manage your business for you for -a while yet, for it will be some time before you are of age, and I am -your trustee.” - -“Of course, you are to do as you have done. I desire it. Is that all -you wish me to say?” - -“Yes,” he replied with a gratified smile. - -He walked to the door with her and impulsively took her hand in his. - -“Child,” said he, “I want you to grow fond of your cousin. I have your -welfare at heart.” - -The tears sprang into her eyes as she heard this. - -But, saying nothing, she ran quickly upstairs and threw herself into -Biddy’s arms. - -“Oh, my, Biddy, that man drives me crazy. He is always bringing to my -mind that I cannot have Tom for so many years; grow fond of him, never, -even if he is my own cousin.” - -The decision that she would see a lawyer on her own account made her -restless until one afternoon she ordered the carriage and drove down -Broadway. - -“I want to stop at Wanamaker’s,” said she to the coachman, “and you -wait for me. I have much shopping to do.” - -Without waiting to purchase one article, she went through the store -into the rear street and took a car. - -There was something always in the attitude of the servants that made -her think that she was being spied upon, and certainly if the man -thought she was buying girlish trash she would be free to do as she had -planned. - -She stopped in front of a tall building and disappeared inside. - -“I want to see Mr. Campbell,” said she at a law office. - -A young man bowed before her, and she thought by the expression of -his face that she could trust him. Starting from the beginning of her -mother’s life as far back as she knew, she told the story. Then, coming -down to the present, she related her fears about her lover. - -“He is innocent,” declared the girl, “and you may name your own price -if you will help me to get him out of prison.” - -The young lawyer could not but admire the girl. She could give him but -meagre knowledge of Tom’s trouble, but names were added, so that he -could get his own evidence. - -“And I do not want you to ever write me. I am suspicious of my cousin -and those pretending to be my friends, and as long as they think that -I am doing nothing for Tom I am safe, but I fear the consequences -otherwise.” - -The lawyer promised and soon the eagle-eyed coachman, who was being -paid by Benson to keep his eye upon his young mistress, saw the girl -emerge from Wanamaker’s, and wave her finger at him from the distance. -She had been gone just two hours. - -“Home,” was all she said. - -“Biddy,” whispered Nellie, after she and the woman were in bed, “you -told me to look up a lawyer, and I did it to-day. I did not buy any of -those things I said I did.” - -“No?” inquired the woman. - -“Indeed not, I simply went into a store and out the back door, and let -the carriage wait for me in front. Why, do you know I fear even the -eyes of Brown. When he drives me anywhere, he always looks as if he -were memorizing the number of the place. But how contentedly he waited -until I came out of the store, and he was nearly asleep upon the box.” - -Biddy shook the bed with hearty laughter. - -“You’ve got the brain,” said she softly, and then they fell asleep. - - * * * * * - -Old Nathans was so angry about the coming of Nellie upon the scene that -he stormed every time he came to the Benson home. - -“You are a fool,” raved he, “a perfect fool. Long ago you ought to have -settled this affair, instead of calling upon me for such large amounts. -Now then, unless you get some of that girl’s money or get her out of -the way, we will both be ruined. She is a crafty witch.” - -“Yes, but does not take a step that she is not watched.” - -“Maybe she fools you.” - -“Not much; I am paying the servants well.” - -“Women are not to be trusted,” commented Nathans, “for when you think -you know just what they are doing that is the time you get fooled.” - -Benson made no reply to this. - -“The only thing I want,” went on the Jew angrily, “is some of the -money I’ve let you have the past fifteen years and before that time. -Now, get a hustle on yourself, and don’t keep me waiting any longer. I -should think with that Tom out of the way it would be easy enough to -put her out of our path.” - -“You tried it once,” said Benson, “and utterly failed.” - -“Yes, but you remember that Tom Cooper was not then in jail.” - -“Oh, yes, he was,” tantalized Benson. - -“Well, I mean that he was with her. Now he is not.” - -“There is some truth in that,” replied the other, “but I have my own -opinion that we have gone to the length of our tether, and she may -outwit us after all.” - -“Oh, that little Bowery tough was at the shop the other day, and asked -for his reward for finding the girl and the man. I just laughed at him, -and told him to scoot.” - -“That’s right,” answered Benson. “We won’t give him any thousand; it is -too hard to get.” - -“So ’tis, but aren’t you afraid he’ll squeal on us?” - -“His word wouldn’t be much,” scoffed Benson. “If he comes to me I shall -soon give him a piece of my mind.” - -Just at that moment there came a rap at the door, and the servant -announced: - -“Mr. Jim Farren.” - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - - -“Halloa, Jim,” said Nathans, “have you come to worry the good -gentleman?” - -“I’ve come for what’s due me!” growled the boy. - -“Due you? Nothing is due you. Don’t think you can demand a sum of money -and then get it. What have you done for us?” - -“Got you the girl, and pointed out Cooper. You and Benson wouldn’t have -known about them if it hadn’t been for me.” - -Nathans shrugged his shoulders. - -“Heap you did for us. Look, the girl’s saddled upon her cousin for no -telling how long, and Cooper is only serving a term which does us no -good.” - -Jim cackled a funny little laugh. - -“Pooh,” said he. “I wouldn’t give five cents for that girl’s chance of -life if you two got your hands upon her. Poor little thing, she is too -pretty to be with men like you.” - -He crossed his legs and puffed out smoke from a vile-smelling cigar. - -“Don’t get too personal, young fellow,” said the Jew, “but there, -there, Benson, I’ll leave you with this young degenerate. Young fellow, -if you had made a finish of the job you began fifteen years ago, you -would not be in the position you are in now, and we would be able to -hold our heads up with the best of them.” - -“Well, now all you have to do is to twist the girl’s neck like this,” -and the villain screwed his fingers deftly around, “and then we three -could be rich.” - -He squinted his eye to one side as he said this, and the Jew gave a -great gasp. - -“You’ve got a nerve, young fellow, that exceeds anything I have ever -seen. Now then, I’ll leave you to settle with Benson.” - -All this time George Benson said nothing, but was looking curiously at -the miniature man. Jim Farren was of under size, with a brutal-looking -face. After the Jew had gone the escaped convict looked his question -and Benson said suddenly: - -“Don’t you think you’ve a good nerve to come here and ask to get a -certain sum of money you did not earn? If you had not interfered with -our arrangements fifteen years ago and helped that sailor to escape -you would have been all right now. He would still have been serving a -sentence and the girl would be dead. You had better go away.” - -“I’ve been seeing my Cousin Biddy,” said the man, thinking to gain time. - -“Well, you had better leave this house, and don’t come around whining -to me. If you had had any sense you would have kept that Arkwright from -my heels. I dare not take a step for fear he will hound me.” - -The man looked again sharply at Benson. - -“I suppose you mean that you cannot kill the girl without it being -found out?” - -“Hush, wretch, you talk too loud.” - -“I am thinking my voice will be heard outside this wall if something -isn’t done soon,” replied Jim. - -“Oh, you do, do you? You are trying to threaten me, are you? Well, -don’t do that, for it won’t work.” - -“Oh, won’t it? Well, we will see. Now then, are youse going to give me -that money?” - -“No.” - -“Not one cent?” - -“No, not even a half a cent, and if you try anything we will send you -up for the rest of your term.” - -“Listen, Mr. Benson. Some folks situated like I am ain’t any too -particular how they live when they don’t have no money. I don’t know -but as I’d lief be at Blackwell’s as here in the city, but maybe I -rather be there if I could get even with men what has done me an -injustice.” - -Benson’s face had grown white to his ears, and he had no hold upon his -temper. He rose suddenly to his feet, and Jim, thinking it best to get -out, ran into the hall. - -There he met Biddy sailing down the stairs. This woman had improved -herself a great deal since coming in a mansion to live, and she eyed -her cousin with great scorn. - -“Jim, why are youse about here with that dirty face? Seems to me youse -might have some thought for me. Now, get out of here and don’t come -again until it can be clean.” - -“He’s gone back on me,” said Jim, pointing his finger to the library -door. - -“Glad of it,” said the woman; “you are both as bad as you can be. I -hope you will find your way to jail for being so mean to our little -girl when she was small. If she were not an angel she would not let any -of you people in the house.” - -“Oh, wouldn’t she?” cried he. “Well, she’d better not get too flip, for -Mr. Benson runs this house.” - -“Who said he did?” asked the Irishwoman, her blue eyes fastening upon -the man keenly. - -“He did,” replied Jim, looking toward Benson’s door. - -Biddy muttered something about things going topsy turvy and that she -would tell Nellie her mind, and Jim walked out. - -He slouched along the street with his hands in his pockets. His idea -was to think of some way he could get even with Benson without running -any risk himself. - - * * * * * - -One afternoon Nellie was sitting writing her daily letter to Tom. Her -mind had left the sheet before her, and with her eyes fixed upon the -ivy-covered church opposite she tried to weave a day dream which would -bring her happiness. How many weary months had passed since her Tom had -gone to prison, and each day her cousin became more insufferable and -she hated him more and more. He had constantly persecuted her with his -attentions. - -It would be well to cite a little episode which had happened only a few -days before. Benson had gotten it into his mind that Biddy interfered -with Nellie as far as he was concerned; that is, influenced her -against him, so he determined to banish the woman from the house, and -with this intention he set about finding a woman who would take Biddy’s -place. - -One morning he sent a peremptory message to Nellie to come to him in -the library, which was his favorite place to meet her. - -“Helen,” said he, rising at her entrance, “you will listen to what I am -going to say to you, and know, please, before I begin, that it is for -your own good that I speak.” - -“Then do not hesitate,” replied the girl with so much sarcasm in her -voice that the man’s face flooded with color. - -“Please do not use that tone to me,” said he sternly. - -“Very well,” and Helen sank gracefully back into her seat. - -“Helen,” and Benson commenced in low, measured tones, “you are much -younger than I am, but that is no reason why I should not care for you -or you for me. I am only your second cousin.” - -The man paused a moment, and Nellie, thinking it incumbent upon her to -speak, said: - -“I do not see what you mean.” - -“This,” replied Benson. “Nellie, I love you. I want you to be my wife, -and because I do love you I desire that you should come under good -influence, and I require that you should allow Biddy to leave this -house. It is a shame to keep her here.” - -The girl’s face changed color. She did not speak and allowed him to go -on. - -“I believe this woman exerts a bad influence over you, for she is not a -lady and could not be made into one, no matter how hard she would try, -nor whatever was done for her. I have hired you a good woman to take -her place, and have notified Biddy to leave to-night. I allowed you to -bring her with you because you were coming into a strange house. Will -you be good enough to say something, and not sit there looking at me -like that?” - -Still the girl was silent, while a mixture of emotions were arising in -her breast. This man had taken such a hold upon her, had constituted -himself her husband without her consent, and would send away her -beloved Biddy, and---- - -Here her thoughts changed their current, and she thought of the man in -the prison cell. Marry George Benson--never. Let Biddy go out of her -life, delightful, droll old Biddy, whom she loved? No, she would go, -too, then. - -Seeing that she was not going to speak, and hoping that she had taken -his words as they were meant, the man arose and opened the door which -opened into his private office. - -“Miss Wallace, will you please come in?” - -An angular-looking woman, with an evil eye, and who looked fixedly at -Nellie, glided into the room. - -“This is your new companion, Nellie,” said Benson genially, “and I know -you will like each other. Now you will take her to your suite of rooms, -Helen, and show her where she is to sleep.” - -It was now time for Nellie to speak. She rose like a young empress and -faced her guardian. - -“You have gone a little too far,” said she, throwing back her head -haughtily; “just a little too far----” - -But before she could say anything more the woman had taken her by the -arm and whispered: - -“We shall be the best of friends. There is nothing Miss Standish can -ask me to do that I will be unwilling to try.” - -Nellie shook off the white fingers. - -“Don’t touch me,” shivered the girl; “I will not have you near me, do -you understand? I won’t have you in my Biddy’s place. I will bid you -good-night, Mr. Benson, and say that when I am twenty-one, I shall come -back and you shall leave this house, but now, to-night, do you hear,” -and the girl bent far forward and looked into the man’s eyes, “do you -understand, I am going back to the boathouse with my Biddy.” - -With this sweeping statement, she flung herself out of the room, and -fled upstairs, and she no sooner came near the door but she heard the -sound of sobs. Opening it, she saw Biddy down upon her knees beside a -trunk throwing her things in promiscuously. - -“What are you doing, Biddy?” asked the girl sternly. - -“Mr. Benson has told me to leave, and, darlint, it is better for you. I -am not a lady, he says, but I loved you, child; I loved you.” - -“Biddy, listen to me. Are you going back to the boathouse?” - -“Yes.” - -“Then I am going with you. I just told Mr. Benson, too, and also said -to that vixen in a black dress, who he said was to be my companion, -that I would have nothing to do with her.” - -“Did you tell him that?” and Biddy sat down upon the floor and ceased -her sobbing and looked at her darling. - -“I did, and I’m going with you, Biddy. I told him I would come back -when I was twenty-one and take charge of the house, and until that time -he could reign here with the companion he had chosen for me.” - -Saying this, she had commenced to tear the things out of the closet. -But a knock caused her to cease. - -Benson was standing looking at her with a pleading expression in his -eyes. He hated to admit that he could not tame this very young girl, -and that she would take no wish of his into consideration, much less an -order. - -“What are you doing, Helen?” asked he, looking about the room. - -“Getting ready to go with Biddy. I suppose the new companion will need -these rooms.” - -“Don’t be foolish, Nellie,” commenced the man. “You are to stay in your -home, for it is not to be thought of, your leaving it.” - -“Then if I stay, Biddy shall stay, too.” - -Benson hesitated. The dark eyes under the shock of golden hair were -flashing at him their challenge. - -“Then,” said the man slowly, “let Biddy stay. I did not think you would -take any such drastic measures. I hope you won’t regret it.” - -“But she will,” he muttered as he made his way downstairs and dismissed -the new woman, who, with a very dark smile upon her face, laughed him -to scorn for his indecision. - -“I should like the managing of that young girl for a little while,” -said she slowly, “and I think I could bring her to time.” - -“Leave your address. I may need you,” replied Benson, as he showed her -the door. - - * * * * * - -And now this day Nellie was writing her experience to Tom. - -“As if I could live here without Biddy, Tom,” wrote she. “And with the -woman he hired for my companion. You have no idea how repugnant she -was to me. Oh, Tom, is this misery never to cease? Now I have but a -little money to do as I want to with, but, my beloved, it won’t be long -before I can spend all the money I wish. Then for freedom for you and -happiness for me.” - - * * * * * - -This letter was received at the prison and the warden congratulated Tom -upon having such a constant little sweetheart, but the tone of the -missive was anything but satisfactory to Tom. He believed that Biddy -would be sent away and Nellie would be left alone with Benson. - -He thought of this so long that the idea seemed to set his brain on -fire, and he could see his darling going through all sorts of things -and tortures to make her give over the money to Nathans and her cousin. -He pictured in his mind this woman, who had been brought to take the -place of the faithful Irishwoman, who had been his and Nellie’s friend -since their terrible experience in the river fifteen years before. He -suddenly made up his mind to escape that night from the prison. - -And escape he did. He slipped out of his place in the line of men and -hid behind a large pile of lumber where some carpenters were at work. -One man had taken off his suit of blue overalls, and thrown it down -upon the boards, and instantly Tom had put this on, and had calmly -walked out of the gate with the set of carpenters. - -When he once was in the open air his thoughts immediately went to -Helen. He would change his clothes, and then satisfy himself how his -sweetheart was getting along. - - * * * * * - -Helen Standish was growing impatient, and her twenty-first birthday was -fast crowding upon her--that time when she would be her own mistress. - -This thought often haunted both Benson and Nathans. The Jew had -tormented Benson with his fears and worryings. - -“You’ve got to marry that girl or put her out of the way,” commanded -the Jew, and Benson knew this to be a fact, for was he not involved to -such an amount that he could not stand under the strain much longer? - -So this evening he sent for his ward, and said to her: - -“My dear Helen, I am going to ask you a question. Will you marry me? I -love you, and I beg you to be my wife.” - -The girl rose to her feet. Her eyes narrowed into just a squint, -for she seemed to be measuring his strength against hers. There was -something so strong in her feelings to-night. Was she not twenty-one -to-morrow and mistress of her own fortune? And did it not mean freedom -for her Tom? - -“I thank you, my cousin,” said she, bowing low, “but I will have to -decline the honor. What is more, to-morrow I will want my home to -myself, as I am thinking of making several changes among the servants. -And then, my lawyer says that you should hand me a statement of all -the moneys spent since my grandfather died, and then please turn my -property over to me.” - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - - -Then this slip of a girl had outwitted him after all, and had hired a -lawyer without his knowledge or consent. - -“You cannot mean what you say, Helen,” he said presently. - -“Every word,” was her short answer. - -“Then I shall have to make arrangements to-night. You will have to -excuse me.” - -While he was saying this, Nathans was ushered into the room as the girl -went out by another door. - -“I was just wanting you, Nathans. The girl has stepped over the traces, -and has asked me to leave here to-morrow, when she becomes of age, and -asks for control of her property.” - -“Then she dies to-night,” decided the Jew. “You cannot give her any -statement or I will be without the money you have borrowed of me. Now -is the time to get rid of her.” - -“I don’t know how.” - -“I do. You send for her, and let me teach you a thing or two.” - -As Nellie went out she heard the bell give a long ring, and waited in -the hall to see who it might be. Arkwright, the detective, walked in. - -“Miss Standish, Miss Helen, wait, I want to speak with you -particularly. Is Tom Cooper here?” - -Nellie staggered back against the wall. - -“He has escaped from the prison, and is being traced toward here. He -went as far as the sailor’s boathouse, and then further track of him -was lost. Now then, little girl, if he is here tell me, for it will be -better for him. I have been working upon his case for a long time; in -fact, ever since you became fond of him, and it may be that he will be -released. Don’t keep him hidden, Miss Standish.” - -“He is not here; honestly he is not,” answered the girl. - -“I believe you, child,” replied the detective, “and will say this much: -Lately I have had reason to believe that the Jew who keeps the pawnshop -in which your lover was arrested is a fraud, and he was the one who -lodged a complaint against Cooper. But I cannot buy him over. Now my -idea was that you were to listen and hear anything that might be said -between your cousin and the Jew which would lead to the discovery of -the man who stole the jewels.” - -“I shall be too glad,” breathed the girl. “I believe that my lover is -suffering for another’s crime. What you can do for me I will gladly pay -for.” - -“Then help yourself by listening.” - -“Oh, won’t you stay here to-night, Mr. Arkwright? I think something is -going to happen, and if it does I shall need you.” - -“Then I shall stay,” said he, for what man could withstand such eyes -and such pleading? - -“I shall hide in here, then,” said he, “and if Tom Cooper comes here -will you trust me with his future?” - -And the girl promised. - -It was Biddy’s business to put the family silver away in the vault -every night, and this evening Benson could not get her out soon enough. - -“Will you hurry, Irish?” said he insultingly, as he and the Jew laughed. - -“I am hurrying,” said she, “as fast as I can.” - -“And I want to tell you another thing, Biddy,” commanded Benson, “I saw -your cousin Jim about here this evening, and if I see him again I shall -hand him over to the police.” - -The woman started visibly. - -“It isn’t my fault that he comes,” said she, shoving one after another -of the heavy plates inside. “Here, I will get the rest.” - -“No,” replied Benson, “not now; I am in a hurry to finish with Mr. -Nathans. You can come in later.” - -As the woman went into the dining-room she came upon her cousin. - -“Jim,” commenced she, “you’d better not let Mr. Benson see you about -here, for he said he would give you over to the police if he did.” - -“I’d like to see him,” replied the man sneeringly. - -“Well, youse know that he can, for he is strong and mighty. Now, for -the sake of your mother, straighten up and be a good man.” - -“Too much trouble, Biddy,” was the answer. - -Then his eyes fell upon the heavy silver upon the table. - -“Plated?” asked he, lifting one up. - -“No, and you put it down,” commanded Biddy, “your fingers are light -enough to even let that heavy dish stick to ’em.” - -With this she went out with another load and deposited it near the -library, grumbling that a woman was not allowed to do her work in any -season at all. - -Jim, with a sudden thought, hid in the pantry. - -“I’ll get into the safe to-night,” whispered he to himself, “and get -even with that cove by lugging away the best of the plates.” - -Saying this, he subsided like a thief while waiting until the lights -were turned out, and then to set about his work. - -In the meantime Nellie was listening to the murmured conversation in -the library. - -The voice of her cousin came clear to the girl’s ear. - -“I say we are ruined, and there’s no use sending for her and arguing -the matter, and she simply hates me, and you can’t take a girl like her -and marry her against her will.” - -“I will not listen to such a thing as giving her a statement of her -account,” said the Jew. - -“We will have to,” said Benson again. - -“Another thing,” and by close peeking Nellie could see Nathans lean -over toward her cousin to see the effect of his words, “they have -gotten onto the fact that there was something crooked about that jewel -story which we trumped up against Tom Cooper, and that little minx had -all the police force upon the trail. Even Arkwright came to me about -it.” - -“Then she must die,” said Benson, standing up. - -“That’s what I have said,” repeated the Jew. - -“But how to manage it,” cried the other; “how to manage it.” - -“Send for her,” laughed the Jew, “and I will try again to get her life -like I did that time fifteen years ago.” - -“Yes, and now Tom Cooper is in jail that is some consolation, and if we -could fix her that is all we would want.” - -Just then there came a sound, and both men turned. - -A girl with flashing eyes stood before them. - -Nellie Standish, too brave for her own good, was ready to make a strike -for her lover. - -“You have confessed your crime, and here goes for calling the police.” - -She pressed the electric button, but instantly the Jew had her in his -arms and had crushed her into the vault and shut the door upon her. Her -stifled cry did not reach the ear of anyone. - -“Now,” said Nathans, “there is but one thing left. Go to the top of -the house. Get the girl’s jewels, and then burn the house about her -ears, and no one will ever discover her loss, but will think that she -perished in the flames.” - -With trembling steps the men went out together, but they did not see a -sly figure watching them. Jim ran into the library and tried to open -the vault. He succeeded in pulling the heavy door open and a figure -panting for breath dropped out upon the floor. - -“Oh, somebody give me breath to breathe,” gasped she. “Please, please.” - -The two men were running down the steps making their way to the street -when they heard Helen’s voice. - -“She is not dead, Benson,” cried Nathans; “come, we will finish her -with this,” and he waved a revolver over his head. - -But when they turned into the library they came face to face with Tom -Cooper. - -He wrenched the revolver from the Jew’s hand, but Benson drew another. - -“You think that you can save her, fool; you shall both go to the -Kingdom Come. Now then----” - -But Arkwright was there. He put out his hand and drew the weapon from -Benson. - -“I am here,” said he quietly. - -“Oh, Tom, they tried to kill me,” cried the girl, clinging to her -lover, “and I heard them say that they put the jewels in your bundle -the night you were arrested.” - -“It’s a lie,” growled the Jew. - -“A deuced lie,” repeated Benson. - -“No, ’taint, mister,” said a voice, and Jim Farren wriggled out from -behind a large rack where he had crawled when he saw the white figure -fall out upon him. He thought that a ghost was in the house. - -“’Taint no lie,” he went on leeringly, “I saw them do it that night, -cove, in the pawnshop, and ’cause I knowed you was innocent I helped -you to get out.” - -“What will you do, Mr. Detective, if I turn State’s evidence?” said the -cringing Nathans; “I do not want to go to jail.” - -“We have enough evidence without yours, my fine Jew,” said Arkwright, -“and you will go where you belong.” - -Nellie was languishing in her lover’s arms. She looked into his face -and whispered: - -“Oh, my sweetheart, think of one year ago to-day; what terrible things -have happened since then.” - -“I know, beloved, but now that the troubles are past, we will be happy.” - -Biddy insisted that she be allowed to return to her boathouse, and -after many arguings Nellie consented, only stipulating that she should -have the house nicely fixed up and a lot of new boats, and that Biddy -should take in no more washing. - -“Nellie, darlint,” said Biddy the day she was making ready to leave the -mansion home, “would you care if I should take Jim to live with me? He -promises to be a good man and will give up drinking and being a tough.” - -“I have no objections, Biddy, unless he fills your old days with worry. -You tell him that I said that if he were a good fellow both Tom and I -would help him along.” - - * * * * * - -There was a quiet marriage between a man and a very pretty woman. The -minister kissed the charming little bride and wished her many happy -years. But Nellie noticed that he looked curiously at the bridegroom’s -closely-shaven head. Of course, Tom would not wait for his happiness. -He persuaded Nellie that the sooner they were married the better. All -that the girl wanted before her marriage was to see the two men who -had tried to ruin her life, dealt with according to law and then she -consented to get married. - -[Illustration: BIDDY ROAN “LOOK AT ME NOW.”] - -As they were driving home through the cool night air, Nellie was -resting in the arms of her lover and husband, and he whispered softly: -“Beloved, if it had not been for you, I should still have been in -prison. But, thanks to my dear sweetheart, I have her now for a dear -little wife.” - -Slowly they drove along toward home, and suddenly Helen looked up with -a shudder, which was immediately followed by a smile. - -“Tom, dear,” murmured she, “if there ever was a man who deserved a good -home and wife, it is you, for all your life you have been shrouded by -‘THE SHADOWS OF A GREAT CITY.’” - -THE END. - - * * * * * - -$1.50 WORTH FOR 25 CENTS! - -Old Secrets and New Discoveries - -CONTAINS INFORMATION OF RARE VALUE FOR ALL CLASSES, IN ALL CONDITIONS -OF SOCIETY. - -[Illustration] - -This book is a combination of six books, each complete in itself, and -which were formerly published at 25 cents per copy. Following are the -titles of the six books contained in =OLD SECRETS AND NEW DISCOVERIES=: - - (=1=) =Old Secrets=; - (=2=) =Secrets for Farmers=; - (=3=) =Preserving Secrets=; - (=4=) =Manufacturing Secrets=; - (=5=) =Secrets for the Housewife=; and - (=6=) =The Secret of Money Getting=, by P. T. Barnum. - -=This Book Tells= how to make persons at a distance think of -you--Something all lovers should know. - -=It Tells= how you can charm those you meet and make them love you. - -=It Tells= how Spiritualists and others can make writing appear on the -arm in blood characters, as performed by Foster and all noted magicians. - -=It Tells= how to make a cheap Galvanic Battery; how to plate and gild -without a battery; how to make a candle burn all night; how to make -a clock for 25 cents; how to detect counterfeit money; how to banish -and prevent mosquitoes from biting; how to make yellow butter in -winter; Circassian curling fluid; Sympathetic or Secret Writing Ink; -Cologne Water; Artificial Honey; Stammering; how to make large noses -small; to cure drunkenness; to copy letters without a press; to obtain -fresh-blown flowers in winter; to make good burning candles from lard. - -=It Tells= how to make a horse appear as though he was badly foundered; -to make a horse temporarily lame; how to make him stand by his food -and not eat it; how to cure a horse from the crib or sucking wind; how -to put a young countenance on the horse; how to cover up the heaves; -how to make him appear as if he had the glanders; how to make a -true-pulling horse balk; how to nerve a horse that is lame, etc. These -horse secrets are being continually sold at one dollar each. - -=It Tells= how to make the Eggs of Pharo’s Serpents, from which, when -lighted, though but the size of a pea, there issues from it a coiling, -hissing serpent, wonderful in length and similarity to a genuine -serpent. - -=It Tells= of a simple and ingenious method for copying any kind of -drawing or picture. And more wonderful still, how to print pictures -from the print itself. - -=It Tells= how to perform the Davenport Brothers’ “Spirit Mysteries,” -so that any person can astonish an audience, as has been done. Also -scores of other wonderful things which we have no room to mention. - -=OLD SECRETS AND NEW DISCOVERIES= contains over 250 solid pages of -reading matter, and is worth $1.50 to any person; but it will be mailed -to any address on receipt of only 25 cents. Postage stamps taken in -payment for it the same as cash. Your money back if book is not as -advertised. Address all orders to - - J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING COMPANY, - P. O. Box 767. 57 ROSE STREET, NEW YORK. - - * * * * * - -OUR ENDEAVOR - -[Illustration] - -in selling books to you, is to have you feel that you are getting =your -money’s worth=. We therefore desire to call your special attention to -the following - -Four Books in ONE, - -which =If= - - You are Courting, - You want to Court, or - You want to be Courted, - -you should obtain at the earliest possible moment: - -=HOW TO WOO: WHEN AND WHOM=, which gives full and interesting rules for -the etiquette of courtship, the time and place for conducting the same, -and some good advice as to the selection of your partner for life. - -=COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE=, which tells how to win the favor of -the ladies, how to begin and end a courtship, and how to “Pop -the Question;” and also gives full information in regard to the -invitations, gifts, ushers, bridesmaids, conduct of the wedding -ceremony, etc., etc. - -=THE LOVER’S GUIDE=, which gives the flirtations of the handkerchief, -parasol, glove, fan and napkin; also, the language of flowers; how to -kiss deliciously; and a cure for bashfulness. - -=THE POPULAR LETTER WRITER=, which tells how to write business, social, -and love letters, giving numerous examples of all. - -This valuable work, containing the =four books above mentioned=, is -issued in one volume under the title =HOW TO WOO=, and it will be sent -to any address, postpaid, upon receipt of 25 cents in U. S. postage -stamps or money. Address all orders to - - J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING COMPANY, - P. O. Box 767. 57 ROSE STREET, NEW YORK. - - * * * * * - -COMIC POST CARDS. - -[Illustration] - -DO YOU KNOW - -[Illustration] - -That the Fad of To-day is Collecting Post Cards? - -We want to call your attention to Ogilvie’s Packet No. 1 of Comic -Post Cards, and Peerless Packet No. 1, each Packet containing 25 of -the best collection ever made. They are =printed in four colors=, and -we guarantee entire satisfaction or the money will be refunded. No -collection of cards will be complete without this set, and the price is -very low. We will send any five cards for ten cents, or any 15 cards -for 25 cents, or either Packet containing 25 cards for 35 cents, by -mail, post-paid, to any address. In order to give you a little idea -of the fun and humor on these cards we give herewith a list of the -subjects: - -List of Subjects in Ogilvie’s Packet No. 1. - - 1 Am having a swell time. - 2 Am having a corking good time. - 3 Am on a flying trip. - 4 Arrived safe. - 5 Am too busy to write. - 6 Am having a large time. - 7 Am expecting to have my hands full. - 8 Can you come over soon? - 9 Coming in with the tide (tied). - 10 I would be better off. - 11 I expect to make a hit soon. - 12 I am being detained. - 13 I’m having a rousing time. - 14 I’m all to the Mary. - 15 I’m taking a month off. - 16 I’m feeling down in the mouth. - 17 I am on the jump. - 18 I may not see you again. - 19 I am living The Simple Life. - 20 Just between you and me. - 21 Things are humming. - 22 Things are very quiet here. - 23 We are stopping here. - 24 We can’t get over it. - 25 We are stirring things up. - -List of Subjects in Ogilvie’s Peerless Packet No. 1. - - 26 Am still on the mend. - 27 Am leading a dog’s life in-- - 28 Am taking things easy. - 29 Going for a drive. - 30 Have stepped down to-- - 31 Have not had time to write. - 32 Have a great deal on my mind. - 33 Have been working over-time. - 34 Have been seeing the sights. - 35 Hope you did not take offence. - 36 “It” stands to reason. - 37 I made several purchases. - 38 I nearly had a fit. - 39 I am under the weather. - 40 I was very much disturbed. - 41 If the hotel bill was only all. - 42 I just slipped down to-- - 43 Just a few words to let you know-- - 44 The family circle. - 45 You can imagine my surprise. - 46 We are having barrels of fun. - 47 We are creating quite a sensation. - 48 We are living high. - 49 Will be gone for some time. - 50 Will take the train for-- - -Order Cards by the Number, and Address all Orders to - - J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING COMPANY, - P. O. Box 767. 57 ROSE STREET, NEW YORK. - - * * * * * - -A Hundred Ways of Kissing Girls; Or, HISTORY OF THE KISS. - -[Illustration] - -When we write an advertisement and tell you we have something extra -good--=a real LIVE novelty=--we mean what we say. The fact that we sell -our goods to the same people all the year around is proof positive -that we please our customers. This new book “A Hundred Ways of Kissing -Girls,” is a novelty and entirely unique in every way. To give you some -idea of this book we herewith give a =complete list= of the many titles -into which this subject has been divided: What to Expect; L’Envoi; -History of the Kiss; How to Kiss a Girl; Origin of the Kiss Under the -Mistletoe; Who Kissed First, Adam or Eve; They Kiss Even in England; -Revelations of a Newly Wed; A Kissing Soup Party; Asking for a Kiss; -How the Widow was Consoled; Lackawanna Jack’s Ideal Kiss; Value of a -Kiss; The Stage Kiss; The Kiss Analyzed, by Ella Wheeler Wilcox; How -Kisses may be sent by mail; Way to Kiss a Girl; Kisses a la Gibson; -Kissing Games; Kisses that Brought Good and Bad Luck; Mouth to Kiss; An -Unwilling Kiss; Kissing Jokes; A Black Kiss; Kisses Have Been Called; -Kissing Don’ts; Kissing by Telephone; Lip Culture; Kissing Trees; -Evolution of Kissing, etc. - -☞ This book is fully illustrated with 16 handsome half-tone -reproductions from photographs taken from life, illustrating different -ways of kissing, and posed especially for this book. We will send this -book by mail, postpaid, to any address upon receipt of =25 cents= in -stamps or silver. - -=SPECIAL.= With every order is included a phototype of THE GIRL WHO’S -NEVER BEEN KISSED--alone worth ten times the price of all. - -ADDRESS ALL ORDERS TO - - J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING COMPANY, - P. O. Box 767. 57 ROSE STREET, NEW YORK. - - * * * * * - -POPULAR NOVELS WRITTEN FROM PLAYS. - -We desire to call your attention to the following list of novels, -written from the Popular Plays which are being presented in various -parts of the country. They contain about 200 pages each, with -illustrations from the Play, and are bound in handsome paper cover -printed in five colors. - -PRICE, 25 CENTS EACH. - - MONTANA By Grace Evelyn Thorne - THE DEVIL By Ferenc Molnar - THE GIRL AND THE DETECTIVE Blaney and Dawley - TENNESSEE TESS By Charles E. Blaney - THE GOVERNOR AND THE BOSS Bragdon and Postance - THE SHERIFF OF ANGEL GULCH By Charles E. Blaney - LUCKY JIM By Arda LaCroix - THE MILLIONAIRE AND THE POLICEMAN’S WIFE By Olive Harper - A CREOLE SLAVE’S REVENGE By Olive Harper - THE OPIUM SMUGGLERS OF ’FRISCO By Olive Harper - THE PRINCE OF SWINDLERS By Abi S. Jackman - JACK SHEPPARD, THE BANDIT KING By Olive Harper - ON TRIAL FOR HIS LIFE By Olive Harper - THE NEW MAYOR; or G. Broadhurst’s =MAN OF THE HOUR= - TONY THE BOOTBLACK By Olive Harper - THE SHADOW BEHIND THE THRONE By Olive Harper - THROUGH DEATH VALLEY By Olive Harper - IT’S NEVER TOO LATE TO MEND By Olive Harper - DION O’DARE By Charles E. Blaney - THE BOY DETECTIVE By Charles E. Blaney - BILLY THE KID By Arda LaCroix - JOSIE, THE LITTLE MADCAP By Charles E. Blaney - FIGHTING BILL, Sheriff of Silver Creek By Olive Harper - BROADWAY AFTER DARK By Grace Miller White - CONVICT 999 By Grace Miller White - EDNA, THE PRETTY TYPEWRITER By Grace M. White - SINCE NELLIE WENT AWAY By Grace Miller White - FALLEN BY THE WAYSIDE By Grace Miller White - THE KING AND QUEEN OF GAMBLERS By Grace M. White - THE GREAT EXPRESS ROBBERY By Grace M. White - A RACE ACROSS THE CONTINENT By Grace M. White - LOTTIE, THE POOR SALESLADY By Charles E. Blaney - HIS TERRIBLE SECRET By Charles E. Blaney - THE HIRED GIRL’S MILLIONS By Charles E. Blaney - FROM SING SING TO LIBERTY By Harry Clay Blaney - THE DANCER AND THE KING By Charles E. Blaney - A MARKED WOMAN By Grace Miller White - -The above books are for sale by Newsdealers and Booksellers everywhere, -or they will be sent by mail, postpaid, to any address for 25 cents -each, or any five books for $1.00. Address all orders to - -J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING CO., 57 Rose Street, New York. - - * * * * * - -Transcriber’s Notes: - -Illustrations have been moved to paragraph breaks near where they are -mentioned. - -Punctuation has been made consistent. - -Variations in spelling and hyphenation were retained as they appear in -the original publication, except that obvious typographical errors have -been corrected. - -The following change was made: - -p. 187: Biddie Roonan changed to Biddy Roan in the illustration caption. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SHADOWS OF A GREAT -CITY *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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