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I? 7.. .5. 41‘s“ :4 v,‘ ’3: :Vl’ __ 4-} .22: -,. ’chwwww ., .1 . â€" 11¢.- " 2 $15!; ,- ~. ’. ’11"; a” .1; ’7 r5“ r‘ “ “*4. .L ._ ._ ,. w; _‘M~«imuu~.uâ€"i;g ' apartment. CHAPTER VIII. The moment Ellen found herself free she darted across the hall and sprang inside Lady Bromley’s Her face was pale, and she was so nervously excited that her teeth actually chattered audi- bly. Her mistress followed her more leisurely, quietly closing the door after her. Then, turning to the still quivering girl, she in- ‘ quired : “Who was that woman, Ellen ?” “Aunt Lu,’ ’ gasped the girl by- sterically. Lady Bromley looked slightly startled at the information. “Can that be possible? What a singular coincidence!” she exclaun ed. “Where did you meet. her?” “I had just come up the stairs, and had got as far as the elevator, when she came out of it, and ran square into each other,” Ellen ex plained. “What reason did she give for do taining you? Why did you scream?” “I’m sorry I made such a noise," said Ellen hum-ny, “but she fright ened me so I cried out before I thought. The minute she saw me she pounced upon and grabbed me as a cat would a mouse, and shook me until I could hardly breathe.” Lady Bromley looked both indig- nant and disgusted at this account. “What reason did she give for doing so?” she inquired. “She didn’t stop to give any reasonâ€"she just snapped out: ‘Oh, you tricky minx; so I’ve got' on your track at last!’ Then she asked me what I was doing here. I told her I was living here with a lady. At that she grew madder than ever, and pinched me so I had to scream. She was going to drag me into her rooms when you opened the door.” “Her rooms!” repeated her lady- ship, surprised. “Yes; she says she lives here, too. Oh, Lady Bromley, I can’t stay here!” Ellen interposed in great distress. “She has found me out, and now I must go away, or she will do something dreadful to me. I’m more afraid of her than ever, now that he has got all that money.” “What was it she whispered to you just as she let you go?” ques- tioned her ladyship gravely. “She said if I dared tell anybody about her, who she was, or where she’d lived before, she’d ‘settle’ me. You see, she means to find some scheme to get me out of the -way,” the girl continued timorous- “Do not allow yourself to be _at all disturbed, Ellen,” said her mis- tress reassuringly. “As soon as Mr. Winchester returns, we Wlll have a talk with him, and I am sure we shall be able to make some arrangements so that you Wlll feel perfectly safe. That woman cer- tainly cannot harm you while you are here under my protection, and I will not send you out again until we can decide how best to prov1-de for you. Now, do not spend an- other moment worrying about 1t, but come and hold my worsteds while I wind them,” she concluded in a cheerful tone. And the girl, apparently greatly comforted and reassured by her words, removed her hat and wrap, and then contentedly sat down to comply with her request. When Gerald returned that even- ing he was astonished beyond mea- sure by the wonderful develop- ments of the day, as related to him by his friend. He was, of course, also greatly delighted to have the evidence already in his possession so strongly re-enforced, and felt confident that the victory in the coming lawsuit_would be his. ' He was deeply touched by the ac- count of Allison’s kindness to the ‘unhappy waif, whom she had found such a sufferer on Broadway on that .last day that they had spent so hap- pily together in Central Park, and also with the girl’s almost unex- ampled reverence for her benefrac- tress. He called Ellen into the room af- «ler Lady Bromley had concluded her recital, and, after asking her some searching questions, had not a doubt that justice would soon overtake that arch-plotter, John ple who are sporting so gaily upon Hubbard, and reward. . _ He smiled, though rather bItter- omng. 1y, as he opened the little locket bring him his proper _Tllll MYSTERIOUS KEY OR, PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE. M which he always wore, and gazed fondly but sadly upon the faded leaves and petals of the rosebud that Allison had so playfully thrown at him in her father’s office so long ago. “What changes even a little time will bring forth!” he sighed. “I shall never forget how lovely she was in that pretty dress and that dainty hat, with those raceful plumes nodding at me wit) every movement she made; how frank and sweet and lovable she was; how her eyes glcnmcd with roguishness as she throw this bud at me. Ah, me! “Neither shall I ever forget how that wretch appeared a little later â€"-what an evil look he were when be brushed it upon the floor and set his heel upon it,” Gerald continu- ed, with compressed lips, his whole face darkening. “He did it pur- posely, because she had given it to me. He was jealous of me be- cause he saw that she was fond of me, and so he meant to crush me as effectually as he crushed my rose. I wonder how he will feel when he finds that the tables are turnedâ€"when he comes to be ar- rested for forgery and conspiracy, and learns that I am the rightful heir to the Brewster estate!” Gerald would not have been huâ€" man not to have experienced a cer- tain degree of triumph in view of the dismay and mortification that his enemy Would experience when he should learn how all his plot- ting and scheming had been over- thrown, and by whom, and who was to reap the rich harvest which he had so coveted. That same evening he made some inquiries about the new occupant of the suite at the end of the hall, and learned that “the lady was a widow, Mrs. Adam Brewster by name, and had engaged the apart~ ment for a year.” - The next morning Lady Broml-ey told her little maid that she was going out, but that she need have no fear over being left alone, for if the bell rang she need not an- swer it, and thus she would run no risk of a visit from her aunt if she should be impelled to seek an- other interview with her. Her ladyship was absentall the forenoon, but found everything quiet and serene upon her return â€"Ellen being contentedly engaged ,with'some sewing which she had left her to do. That afternoon all her trunks and belongings were ,‘ quietly packed, and at an early hour the next day they were removed to another apartment-house farther uptown, where, before night, the small fam- ily of three were cozily settled, and better satisfied in every way with their new home. Ellen was especially delighted and deeply grateful to the kind wo- man who was proving herself such a devoted friend to her. When Mrs. Adam Brewster disâ€" covered, later in the day, that the occupants of No. 7 had removed, leaving no clue to their where- abouts, she was excessively dis- turbed, and for days afterward haunted. the street cars and elevat- ed trains, with the hope of run- ning across either Ellen or her mis- tress, and so be able to trace them. But she was doomed to be disap- pointed, for she never met them until some months later, when she was unexpectedly brought face ,to face with them. “Mr. Lyttleton,” said Gerald, one morning, shortly after this change, as that gentleman enter- ed his office, “what do you say to sending Mr. Plum to New Haven, to take a look at those records?” “I think it would be a very wise proceeding,” heartily returned the llawyer. “I haven’t a doubt that there has been some very clever for- gery don-e there, and he will be just the one to ferret it out. Go ahead my boy; got him started as soon as possible. I want to get all our evi- dence together with as little delay as practicable, for it will take some time to arrange it properly. I am gelling very impatient for the ar- ‘rival of the hour when I can place In warrant in the hands of some trustworthy official, and send him across the water, to cut short the brilliant career of that happy cou- other people’s money, and have them brought home to a final reck- )) “How eager ____.___â€"â€"-â€"â€"-â€"â€"â€"-â€"-â€"-â€"â€""“’. . . fight!” said Gerald, smiling. “You are right. I am like an old warâ€"horse, ‘scenting the battle from afar, and eager for the fray.‘ I shall await Mr. Plum’s report with a good deal of interest and impatience.” . So Mr. Plum, the chrigraphlc ex- pert, who had figured so success- fully in Gerald’s trial the prev10us winter, was at once consulted reâ€" garding the wisdom of going to see what he could discover 1n connecâ€" tion with those mysterious records in the office of the city clerk at New Haven. He was now at liberty when Gerâ€" ald .went to interview him, but af- ter listening to the facts which the young man presented, said he would attend to the matter in a few days, and then report at once. Accordingly, one morning, five days later, the queer little man ap- peared before his young patron, with a very scornful and disgust Cd expression on his small round face. “Well, what news have you for us?” Gerald questioned, and reâ€" garding him curiously, but wantâ€" ing to laugh at his comical appear- ance. “Humph! If there Were ever a daring piece of rascality undertak- en, you’ll find it on those books at New Haven, and it’s a bungling piece of botch-work, too! Ban contemptuously asserted Mr. Plum, as he plunged his hands into his trousers pockets, and began to pace up and down the room, to walk off his disgust. “How'so?” eagerly inquired Mr. Lyttleton, shoving aside the work upon which he had been engaged, and swinging around in his chair to face the expert. “See here!” said the man, com- ing to his desk, and seizing a sheet- of paper and a pencil. “I’ll give you the whole plot in a minute, so to speak. Adam Brewster is the name that is on the certificate in your possession, eh?” cocking his eye up at Gerald inquiringly. “Yes,” he assented. “And Alan Brown is the name of the man the girl, Ellen Carson, told was her uncle?” “That is right,” said Mr. Lyt- tleton. Mr. Plum wrote both names on the piece of paper; then, with a careful use of a sharp ink-eraser and a few strokes of his pen, he changed Adam Brewster into Alden ‘Br‘onstern, and Alan Brown into Adam Brewster. “By Jove! you’ve hit the right nail on the head this time, if you never did it before!” exclaimed the lawyer, seizing the sheet of paper and examining the names criticalâ€" ly. “How do you solve the puz- 51.ch I’m sure this doesn’t look bungled, if that work in New Haven does.” He passed it up to Gerald as he concluded. “No, I should say not,” the young man observed, wvith an amazed look; “one would almost be willing Lo swear that the names had never been tampered with.” “Well, I flatter myself that I have made a fairly good job of it,” 'Mr. Plum observed, as he gave a satis- fied squint at his work. “All the same, a man is a bungler who un- dertakes to alter another person’s letters and figures without first making a careful study of their curves, angles, and other charac- teristics. There is a wonderful amount of individuality in chiro- graphyâ€"it’s a very interesting study, very. _Mr. Winchester, did you take a. magnifying-glass with you when you went to examine those records?” “No; I never thought of it,” Ger» ald replied; “but Mr. Lyttleton as- serted at once, upon my return, that forgery had been attempted in connection with those names.” “Humph! It’s as plain as the nose on your face,” returned Mr. Plum scntentiously. “To you, perhaps, Mr. Plum; but really, I do not believe that one person in a thousand would think of such a thing while reading those names. Truly, if John Hubbard tampered with them, it has been very__cleverly done,” the young man thoughtfully replied. “I’d like to be as sure of my life and health for the next year as I am that those letters have been changed just as I’ve shown you," said the expert. “I’m not often fooled with such jobs.” - “I haven’t a- doubt that you are right.” said Mr. Lyttleton, “ah though I should never have thought those names could have been made over like that. You have a natural aptitude in discerning such things; then,‘you have made a study of such tricks for so many years, you have a right to feel confidence in your judgment; buttons, who are in- experienced in such matters, those records would, ’doubtlcs, appear genuine. They must have appear- ed so in that justice who witnessed the copy’which was produced in Sinai l MCKINNON BUIL tity of the pseudo Mrs. Adam Brew- ster.” “Yes; of course it does take a certain amount of ‘know how’ to detect these flaws in chirography,” Mr. Plum admitted. “I’d just like .4. glimpse of that woman’s certifi- cate, and compare it with what I’ve seen today.” “We’ll give you a chance, sir, very soon,” replied Mr. Lyttleton, with a confident nod. He was more than pleased with the result of the expert’s trip to New Haven, and felt that, with the discovery of that day, he now had all the evidence that was neces- sary to win the battle for his cli- out. “I think, Gerald, we are now prepa.ed to rush matters as rapid~ ‘ly as we choose,” he remarked, after Mr. Plum had taken his leave. “Did you succeed in securing the address I desired you to get?” “Yes, sir; the lady at present figuring as Mrs. Adam Brewster mailed a letter this morning to ‘Mrs. John Hubbard, No. 4 Avenue de la Opera, Paris,’” the young man responded, with a significant smile. “Aha! That is well. It wasn’t such a misfortune, after all, hav- ing the woman take that suite in the Normandie, eh?” said the law- yer, with a chuckle. ~ “No; I think it was a very good thing for us, on the whole, even if we were driven to take ‘French leave,"” Gerald returned. “Every- thing seems to be coming our way just now,” he added, but he sighed deeply as he spoke. He was thinkâ€" ing of how little real benefit would accrue to him from all this battling for a fortune. He had not much doubt about winning, and justice would probab- ly be done. He would be acknow- lodged as the rightful heir of Adam Brewster’s property, and the scheme-r, who had overreachcd him- self, would doubtless bccome the inmate of a felon’s cell; but what happiness would it bring him? He could feel no enjoyment in the downfall of another, even though the man might merit the most rig- orous punishment, while the wealth which would come into his posses- sion would almost seem to mock him, coming so late, when there was no one with whom to share it. “I am not very sure about the woman remaining there; she, too, may be taking French leave,” Mr. Lyttleton remarked, after considâ€" ering the situation for a moment or two. “Your flight from the house will be likely to alarm her; she will probably reason that Elâ€" len has betrayed her identity, and that her own safety will depend on concealment.” “I had not thought of that,” said Gerald, looking a trifle annoyed. “It might be rather awkward if she should skip and we COULG not find her when she is wanted.” “Yes.‘ I believe I will attend to having a warrant made out, and have her arrested at once. A bird in the hand, you know,” his friend responded. The next morning at ten o’clock Mrs. Adama Brewster was waited upon at her rooms in the Norman- 'd‘ie by a gentlemanly official, by whom she was arrested, and, be- ing unable to obtain bond, she was committed to await her trial,- or until she could communicate with her sonâ€"inâ€"law, Mr. John Hubbard, who, she excitedly declared, ‘would attend to the matter of bail for her.” The next day the same officer, armed with a similar warrant, and all other necessary authority, sailed in 'the Aurania, to cut short the luxurious career of the said Mr. Hubbard, and the present posses- sor of the Brewster estate. (To be continued.) ‘ 5“ A PROVISO. Bride-“H‘ere is a telegram from papa.” Bridegroom --does he say 1’” Bride (reads)~--â€"-“Do not {and all will be forgiven.” _.____â€"â€"â€"-JI*.~ _â€" NOT GUILTY. Magistrateâ€"~80 you are a memâ€" ber of the lightâ€"fingered fraterni- ty. eh? I’i'ismlerrâ€"No. your honor, I sol- dom get my hand in until after (eagerly) ~~ “What return you are for this leourt last year, to prove the iden-‘rlark. â€"~- LWMIWM’S’EL’FWTZE’W.ELERQWJ.W€~E¢L‘LT& .. Can Obtain an Excellent Flrst mortgage Investment to Yield Them 52‘: PER GENT. Full Particulars Forwarded on Request. EMILIUS JARVIS 8s 00., - V65 GE’S INTEREST. BAN KERS DINO, TORONTO. NGTES OF INTEREST FROM HER BANKS AND BRAES. "â€" What is Going On in the Highlands and Lowlands of Auld Scotia. Two good~sized whales were ob. served some miles north of the May Island. There are 200 licensed houses to each 1,000 of the population in Stevenston. There are prospects that a zoo will be started by a private com- pany in Glasgow. Last year the Abstainers’ Union in Glasgow sent 1,152 patients to the Kilmun Seaside Home. A guillemot has been found in the salmon nets at Berwick with a ‘large mussel gripping its wing. ’l'en young men left Hawick lately en route for British Columbia, and they had a hearty send-off. Mr. Sheriffs, Altnaclunie, drop- ped dead in Braemar Parish church when about to open Sunday school. Mr. Bowmont Weddell has been appointed headmaster of all the schools under the Selkirk School Board. The employees of Wm. Hamilton &. Co., ship builders, Port Glasgow, have this year allocated to charities $490. ‘ Fairlie, like other coast places, is suffering from a supply of unfurng- ished houses, which exceeds the de- mand. ' Kilbirnie and Glengarnock Water Sub-committee have granted a sup- ply of water from their works to Barkip. - The prevalence of fever and measles is seriously affecting the at- tendance at schools in the Parish of Lesmahagow. In Glasgow the Court recently licensed 16 theatrical places, 10 dancing halls, 4 music halls and 73 billiard rooms. Greenock seems to be picking up in the sugar industry. The imports will be 20,000 tons in the course of this month. Margaret Blain (31/; years), Tar- brax, near Carnwath, was fatally burned on the 10th inst. by some dry grass she set on fire. Bothwell School Board are'equal- ly divided as to opening their meet- ings with prayer, and the chairman refuses to give a casting vote. The Outlook Tow-er Open Spaces Committee have inaugurated a movement for gardens in waste areas in slum districts 'in Edin- burgh. Mr. and Mrs. John McLean, Stranraevr, recently celebrated their golden wedding. They reside in the house in which they were married. In a population of some 40,000 there was not a single complaint lodged in any of the four police offices on the 8th inst. in Clyde- bank. The demolition of the house in Douglas street, Kilmarnock, in which Alex. Smith, the poet and essayist, was born, is about to be commenced. A tragic affair occurred at Aber- deen recently, a quarrel between a fish vendor and an ex-inili‘tia- man ending in the death of the latter, stabbed through the heart. Rev. S. J. Ramsay Sibbald, D.D., chaplainâ€"in-ordinary to the King, representh his Majesty at the fun- eral of the Rev. John .Marshall Lang, D.D., at Aberdeen. .,F____ WORK FOR UANNIBALS “Almost idyllic happiness pre- vail-ed in many of the eastern Paciâ€" fic islands a hundred years ago,” said Sir Edward im Thurn, Gover- nor of Fiji. “Among the feroci- ous inhabitants of Fiji, however, cannibalism was practised to an ex- tent never at any time equalled elsewhere. The custom appears to have been shared by white rene- gades who had settled among them. A problem of employment in the remote Gilbert and Ellice islands, lformcrly equally barbarous, was {caused by the prohibition of in- |l‘ernecine warfareâ€"~formerly the natives’ chief occupation. It was gdiffimilt, in view of the character of ith-e islands to find them fresh pur- suits " war» . «LEM‘». l . J 5-‘1‘ gar-mks. 11km»; is Jgi/v { " 14;. M of.» = .4- w a" a»; “”â€"FÂ¥~*‘ir‘34.~'.‘tv<‘7 r -.. . a ._ ., saw *1