The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

‘the night of\ the masquerade, and she has consented. He departed for _ Cornwall early next morning. It was Lord â€" Ruysland ~who told us, and, somehow, Redmond, D don‘t think she is very much happier than the rest of 5 us, after all. He is very wealthy, and it is the desire of her father‘s ‘heart, _ but yet I thinkâ€"" @ Her brother arose abruptly. s ‘"A great deal . of nonsense, no doubt, Rose. You women never quite ; outgrow your sentimentality. â€" Sir Arâ€" _ thur Treganna is a mate for a prinâ€" ‘Yes," she. answered wearily, "I think so.. It is more a mind diseased than anythin§ else. It is such an unâ€" utterable relief to have told you, and obtairied your forgiveness and help, thac I feel stronger alveady.) You are right, we must go at once. Poor Lady Dangerfield. Oh, _ Redmond, brother, what a wretched, wrongâ€"doâ€" ing world it is!" a ‘"Wrongâ€"doing, indeed," and the chasseur‘s mouth grew stronger; "I have little compassion for Lady Danâ€" gerfield or any of her class, _ Place Miss Herncastle, the outcast, and Lady Dangerfield, the injured wife, in the balance, and let us see who will kick the beam.. Can you pack toâ€"morrow, Rose? I shall take you to France at once.. Then, when you are safe with Madame Landeau, I shall return, beâ€" gin my search for Dantree, and move heaven and earth until I find him." She stooped and kissed his hand. "I can be ready. I shall have only ene farewell to make, and that is to Lady Cecil. I wonder if she is happy â€"â€"you have heard her news, I supâ€" He knew in an instant what it was â€"knew before the words were quite uttered. ‘His voiceâ€"his grave, steady tonesâ€"had changed when he spoke. "I have heard no news of â€" Lady "*You pity her," she repeated, "beâ€" sause she has been turned out of Searswood ?" \ "Hardly. Never mind, Rose; you will hear it all soon enough, and when you do, I think you will look upâ€" on this designing governess, as I do, ‘more in sorrow than in anger.‘ Let us drop Miss Herncastle and Gaston Dantree, too, for the present, and talk of yourself. You must understand, of eourse, that in the present state of domestic affairs at Scarswood, | the sooner all guests leave the better. Lord Ruysland and his daughter are Lady Dangerfield‘s relatives, and privileged to stay. For youâ€"you must leave at once. Are you able to travel? You look wretchedly ill." pose ?" "A‘mystery, her brother said. ‘"Well, perhaps so, and yet not a mystery. I think, L can understand.. A dangerâ€" eus woman. Well, perhaps so again, and yet a woman almost more sinned against than sinning.â€"I pity you, Rose, but I pity Miss Herncastle more." "I have heard no news of Lady Cecil. What is it you mean?" "I mean her engagement to Sir Arâ€" thur.. He asked her to be his wife on the night of\ the masquerade, and "She knew all, that I am Gaston Pantree‘s wifeâ€"how she knows it, she won‘t tell. She knows, too, whethâ€" er he is living or dead, but she keeps Rker knowledge to herself, She told me she had c‘]itle reason to, love: or serve my brother‘s sisterâ€"what did she mean by it? That you were very clever in the amateur detective line, and that here was opening for your genius. I couldn‘t understand herâ€" I implored her to tell me the truth, but it was all in vainâ€"she bade me go to you and tell you one good turn deserved another. Redmond, she is a mystery, a strange, desperate, dangerâ€" ous woman." / His sister looked up at him in won der, but the darkness hid his face. "If you only could. Oh, Redmond, kow good you areâ€"how goodâ€" how good! If you only knew what a relief it is to have told you thisâ€"to know that you do not hate me for what I kave done. I dreaded your knowing more than anything else on earthâ€" «readed the loss of your love and trust. Even now, but for Miss Hernâ€" eastle, I might still be dumb." "Ah, Miss Herncastle. And she knows, of course she deos. Pray what has this very remarkable Miss Hernâ€" eastle to say on the subject?" "I pity you, I forgive you. Tt is easy to do both. And this is why you eame to Castelford? If you had only told meâ€"but it may not be too late yet. Trust me, Rose; I shall discover, and speedily, whether Dantree be livâ€" ing or dead." ‘"Redmond, I wonder I did not die. I wanted to die. I had such a horror ef myselfâ€"of himâ€"a horror, too, of ever being found out. But there was little danger of that; no one knew; my secret was safe enough. I wrote to you, but you had gone to Algiers. There was no hope but to remain, and «rag out life. at Menadarva. I still read the English papers for further rews of him, and at last I read the eruel storyâ€"the horrible tragedy en« acted in this houseâ€"the story of Katherine . Dangerfield‘s weddingâ€"day and what came after. She was happier than I. She died, and I could only live on and bear my trouble alone. I wrote to you again and again. A «esperate longing to know whether Gaston were alive filled me. I didn‘t eare for himâ€"I abhorred him now, but I wanted to know. If he were «ead, I though, and I were free, I would enter a convent, and find peace for the rest of my days. But I was years waiting before you came. You did come at lastâ€"you brought me hereâ€"here where he disappeared, and where I hoped to discover something mreore, But this man Otis, in whose eare he was, has gone. I know no more toâ€"day than the day we came. This is my story, Redmond. Pity me, forgive me, if you can." He had listened in grave silenceâ€" he had never interrupted her once. is hand rested still on her soft, dark hair. & a She clasped her hands impassionâ€" ately. & ‘ waper again, determnied, if possible, to ve Miss Kathgrine Dangerfield, and ropped it in despair. Theé weddingâ€" ay was fixed for the first of January; t was the twentieth then, It was too late. How was I to tell, that in New Â¥ork or elsewhere, he might not have still a third wife, whose claim was wrior to mine? I turned sick and cold with the thought. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7th, 1920 (Continued From Last Week) THE LAST LINK <re es e e es e es o. The man bowed obsequisously again and went. Lord Ruysland turned to his companion. ‘"That‘s my detective; past master of his business, keen as a.ferret. I must go and hcar his reportâ€"it will not detain me long. Then I‘ll tell you all and I think you‘ll acknowledge Miss Herrcastle is worth the watchâ€" ing. Wait for me in the drawingâ€" roomâ€"â€"(lecil‘s ihere, and will amuse you." $ ; ‘"Very oldâ€"affairâ€"oh, yes, veryâ€" ever since his father‘s deathâ€"in fact, it has been tacitlyâ€"erâ€"understoodâ€" nothing definiteâ€"awâ€"too young, of course, and all that sort of thing. It was the desire of the late Sir John, as well as myself, andâ€"erâ€"the young people were by no means averse to carrying out our wishes. All is hapâ€" pily settled nowâ€"the wedding will take place without any unnecessary delay. Are you gcing to Castleford at once? I should like half an hour‘s conversation . with you â€" about‘"â€"he lowered his voiceâ€"‘"about Miss Heirnâ€" castle; I have placed a detective on her ftrack." canâ€"I‘ll find out who she is and what brought her here, before I am many weeks older. have already discoverâ€" edâ€"" He paused â€"the figure of a man was approaching thein trrongh the darkness. ‘"Davis," the earl said interrogatively, ‘"is that you?"‘ "All right, my lord." The man pullâ€" ed off his cap, halted and looked keenly at O‘Donnell. "Go into the libraty, Davisâ€"I‘ll folâ€" low and hear your report." ‘*Yes, 1 hope so," the eatl answered coolly; "but I doubt it. \It is hard on Lady Dangerfieldâ€"she may have her faults and her folliesâ€" who has not? But with them all, Ginevra was as jolly a little soul as ever lived. And it‘s a confounded bore for me, now that everything is settledâ€"‘" and he stopped suddenly and looked askance at his companion. ‘"*You allude to Lady Cecil‘s engageâ€" ment, I presume," O‘Donnell suppleâ€" mented, quite calmly. "Rose has old me. My only surprise is, that it should be announced at this late day as news. I believe I am correct in thinking it a very old affair, indeedâ€" of six years‘ standing; or more." "My lord!" there was an unmistakâ€" «ble shock in the words. "A detective on her track," repceatâ€" ced the earl. "Take my word, O‘Donâ€" mell, that woman means misch#ef, and will do it yet. I‘ll forestall her if I Very few people ever had the good fortune to see Raoul, Earl of Ruysâ€" land, at a loss, but for one brief momâ€" ent he was at a loss now. "ILâ€"am hardly likely to see him. My sister leaves Scarswood toâ€"morrowâ€"â€" Castleford the day after. I will, take her to France and place her in charge of a friend of ours there. Of course, it is quite impossible now for her to remain here an hour longer than necâ€" essary. I am sorry for Lady Dangerâ€" fieldâ€"she has been most kind to Rose â€"most hospitable to me. I seriously trust this disagreeable affair may end amicably, after all." "I don‘t doubt it," the earl respondâ€" ed dryly; "begood enough not to say so to Sir Peter, however, should you see him. He is sufficiently bitter without aiding or abétting." erleigh‘s in male altireâ€"defyiig his threats and the consequences. She is no child to be led b§\;‘\£ss Herncastle or any one ‘elseâ€"she @yent with her eyes open, knowing her danger, and I must sayâ€"think what you pleascâ€" that in Sir Peter‘s place I would do precisely what Sixr Peter is doing.‘" "But it has not been proven that it really was Miss Herncastle," O‘Donâ€" nell said; "you all appear to have taken that for granted. She has not pleaded guilty, has she? and,.your eviâ€" denceâ€"onclusive though it may be, is purely circumstantial,. She owns to nothing but having torn up the note." t ‘"What a cqntrast to the brilliantly lit, brilliantly filled rooms of a week ago. ‘"Sic transit," he said, as his masculine tread echoed along the vaulted hall; "life‘s a seesawâ€"up and down,. And Lord Ruysland‘s daughâ€" ter‘s engagement to Sir Arthur Treâ€" genna is not a week old, after all! What of" that little romance Lord Ruysland told me six years ago in Torryglen ?" (‘Ah, O‘Donnell" It was the debonâ€" air voice of Lord Ruysland himself that spoke. "Glad to see you againâ€" glad to see any human being in this miserable house. I suppose you have heard allâ€"deyil of an affair altogethâ€" er.. May Old Nick fly away with Miss Herncastle! Who ever heard of such a proceeding before? Dressing herâ€" self up in Frankland‘s clothes, and deceiving even Ginevra! Gad! she‘s a wonderful woman! And what the dickens did She do it for? Out of pure, inmate, malevolence, and nothing else, I believe in my soul." It grows late, Rose, and you are not strong. Y.ou had better retire at once, and, by a good night‘s rest, preâ€" pare yurself ofor toâ€"morrow‘s flitting. Good night, my little sisterâ€"Ilet . us hope even your clouds may have their silver lining." 1 The house was very still .as passed outâ€"a sort of awed hush, though it were a bhouse of death mourning, reigned. He stooped and touched \his musâ€" tached lips to ner pale cheekâ€"then he was gone. o e e e e e en e n e e e e n e e n ie e n e n es m o o i o i t e e e e e ie e e e e e o+ he OT ‘"Well, the morrow came..And what do you think my friend found? A. deserted houseâ€"an empty cageâ€"the birds flown.. Two notes were placed in his hand by a servant, who sneered at him as he gave themâ€"two brief, cold,, hard notes of â€"farewellâ€"that struck him more brutally than blows â€"one from her, one from her father, }t was the old hagkneyed, stereotyped formâ€"she was sorryâ€"did not dream that he cared for herâ€"was engaged to anotherâ€"it was better she would go, and she was always his friend, et cetera. It was written in her handâ€" writing and signed with her nameâ€" her father‘s endorsed it. ‘"‘Need I not? Yours! And what letâ€" ter is this you talk of, written by my hand and signed with my name? I don‘feunderstana tss D L2nul n 2e o "Captain O‘Donnell, what story is this? Is itâ€"is itâ€"" f "My own, Lady Cecil. Yes; you hardly need ask the question, I hardly think." "It was only what he richly deâ€" servedâ€"you and I can see thatâ€" for his presumption, his madnessâ€" the only answer that could be given; but Lady Cecil, men have gone mad or died for less." He paused. His voice had not risen â€"in the low, grave tone she knew so well, he had told his story; an unâ€" dertone of sadness and synicism runâ€" ning through all. There was a halfâ€" smile on his face as he looked at her and warted for his answer. She started to her feetâ€"the angry {lush had long since left her faceâ€" she stood before him, pale to the lipsâ€"her brown eyes met his full. Poor. fool! He fell in love, with her. (He didn‘t tell her, but confessed his passion to her father. The nobleâ€" man received him graciously, said he would speak to his daughter and askâ€" ed him to call on the morrow. ‘"One stormy autumn evening the romance of his life began. An Engâ€" lish peer and his only daughter came to his neighborhood to reside for a time, and it chanced that his good fortune enabled him to do the peer‘s daughterâ€"a service. They were very gracious, very grateful, and showed it in many kindly ways. They overlookâ€" ed the peasant‘s dress, the stupid bashfulness of my young friend and invited him to their house, to their tableâ€"he became the English girl‘s daily companion and friend.. And his brain was turned. "Let me tell you a story, Lady Ceâ€" eil," he said, abruptly. ‘"‘The story of, let us say, a friend of mineâ€"an Irishman, tooâ€"now an Algerian solâ€" dier like myself.. Will it bore you very much to listen, Lady Cecil?" "Go on," she said faintly. "It wasâ€"well, a number of years agoâ€"when my friend was little better than a hobbledehoy of two or threeâ€" andâ€"twenty, with a head full of roâ€" mance and chivalry, an inflammable heart, and an empty purse. He had a long lineage, an old name, a ruined homestead, a suit of peasant‘s clothâ€" es, and nothing else, He lived alone â€"a dreamer‘s life, full of vague, splendid hopes for the future, and troubled with very little of that useâ€" ful commodityâ€"common sense, "‘The beau chasseur under a spell! Impossible to imagaine such a thing Who is the sorceress? Some diamond of the desert?â€"some pearl of the plains?â€"some lovely Araby‘s daughâ€" ter? Who? "Miss Herncastle has something of the enchantress about her," he said musingly. ‘"I suppose I have not been affected because I have lain for years under another spell equally fatal, and the one has counteracted the other.‘ She laughed satirically, and began playing a waltz. ‘"And I can congratulate you,‘"‘ the grave, deep tones of the soldier of fortune went on. ‘"No truer gentleâ€" man, no more loyal friend exists, nor, in the future, I believe no more deâ€" voted husband than Sir Arthur Treâ€" genna." She hated herself for the passionâ€" ate words the moment they were spoken, for the bitfe.rness of the tone, for the intolerate/pain and jealousy that forced them from her. She turned suddenly away â€" from him, her head drooped, a deep, painâ€" ful, burning flush rose up to the very roots of her hair. As she sang the old song, as he stood beside her in the old way, the old, glad days had come back, the golden days of her first youth. Sir Arthur Tregenna and the present had faded for a moment as a dream, and Torryglen and her love, the only love she had ever known, had come back. And the spell was brokenâ€"thus. "Lateâ€"Miss, Herncastle‘s slave and worshipper! Pray add that before you finish your panegyric, Captain O‘Donâ€" nell." He might have thought it deserted but for the low sound of singing that came forth. The lights were downâ€" there was no one to be seen, but far off in the recess where the piano stood he caught a glimpse of a white dress and the gleam of a diamond star. Very softly, very sweetly she sang. an old ballad, that he had been wont to sing,long ago in the little cottage parâ€" lor at Torryglen while her white fingâ€" ers struck the accompaniment,. He crossed. over and leaned with folded arms against the instrument. She stopped and glanced up at him again. His eyes were fixed upon her, a steady, thoughtful, almost stern gaze. Again she smiled. The dark gravity of his face broke into an answering smile, still a grave one. " ‘The treasured wrongs of six years back are in my heart toâ€"day.‘" Lady Cecil, my sister and your father have told me all. Toâ€"morrow I leave Scarsâ€" wood, the day after Castleford, in all likelihood forever. Before I go let me present my congratulations to the future Lady Cecil Tregenna." She could not speak; the keenest pain, the sharpest pang she had ever felt caught at her heart like a hand. For that first instant even her pride forsook her. The chasseur stood irresolute for a momentâ€"then, as if, his deter:mination was taken, turned and walked irto the drawingâ€"room. "How fierce the look this exile wears who‘s wont to be so gay. Capâ€" tain O‘Donnell, what is it?" "I suppose you‘re nearly out of paâ€" tience by this\ time," his lordship beâ€" gan, "but Davis‘ report was unusually lengthy and interesting this evening. Davis‘ inclination for port wine wa\? even more marked than usual. The lower orders, as a rule, if you. observe, have a weakness for port wine, the thicker and sweeter the better. Davis is a clever fellow, and a skilled detective but no exception to this rule. O‘Donâ€" nell," he leaned forward and asked the question with _ most startling abruptness, ::what do you know of "Because I could notâ€"hard, cool, immovable as you think meâ€"I could not part with you againâ€"this time foreverâ€"without knowing whether or no you really wrote my deathâ€"warâ€" rant six yvears ago. It was so unlike youâ€"it has rankled . so bitterly all "'bhose years and of late the truth beâ€" gan to dawn upon me. Perhaps beâ€" cause the old, sweet madness has nevâ€" er left me; and when we have parted â€"when you are a happy wife and I am back in Algiers, the happiness of knowing Queenie was all I thought her â€". my â€"little; love, my . true friend, and not. even at, sixteen a "coquette, a trifler with men‘s hearts â€"will repay me for all L have lost." "Come in, O‘Donnell," the earl said, in answer to â€"his tap and the chasseur entered the library, closed the door, and threw himself into a seat. His lordship was aloneâ€"the lamps burned brightly, but even in their brilliances shadows lurked in the corâ€" ners of the long stately room. The curtains were drawn over the open windows, shutting out the dark, sultry summer night. On a table at the earl‘s elbow, wineâ€"glasses and cigars stood. "My jord‘s â€" compliments, Captain O‘Donnell," Mr. Soames said, bewing. "His lordship‘s in the library, captain, and requests you to wait upon him. there." O‘Donnell nodded and walked forâ€" ward to the libraryâ€"his dark, somber face betraying no more ‘,’what had just passed than a handsome â€" mask of bronze. He held out his hand; she laid hers in itâ€"the other hid her face. *"‘Their hands clasped and the spirit kissed." "Goodâ€"by!" she heard him say again, holding her hand hard. Then he let it go, walked to the door, looked back onee at the drooping figure and was sone. CHAPTER XIIL A CHAPTER OF WONDERS As he crossed the threshold of the drawingâ€"room he encuntered Soames, the tall footman. "Let this be our farewell," he said gently; "let our real parting be now. When we say it again it will be before the world.. We will both be the hapâ€" pier, I hope, for understanding each other at last; you will think me no more a eynic and a scofferâ€"I will know you no more for a heartless coquette. Goodâ€"by, Queenie; may God bless you and make you happy!" Forgive! He asked no more. And in that instant, if he had said, “Com,é,” she would have left rank and wealth, father and friends, and gone with him to beggary.. But mot for the crown of the world would he have said it, He loved herâ€"but honor more., "Sir Arthur Tergenna is my friend," he said, his own voice broken. ‘"‘Heavâ€" en knows I have no wish to say one word he may not hear, but, Queenie. I must speak toâ€"night for the first â€"the last time. I have loved youâ€" I do love youâ€"I will love you while life lasts. If fate had willed it otherâ€" wiseâ€"if rank and fortune had been mine years ago, they would have been laid at your feet, where my heart has been all these years. Free or plightâ€" ed, I know well how utterly, wildly impossible it would be for you to lisâ€" ten to me. It may be a . dastardly deed to speak at all, but I must. You pity me, at least. Ah! Queenie, I would not have the past changed, with all its suffering, its loss, its misery, if I could. The thought of you is the sweetest thought of my life. If I have distressed you by speaking, I am sorry. Forgive me, Queeni¢, for this and all the rest." utes ago you accused me of a defective memory.. But I suppose a matter of sugh trifling import could not be exâ€" pected to remain in your memory. I mean the letter you wrote me, rejectâ€" ing my presumptuous suitâ€"telling me of your engagement to Sir Arthur Tregenna, the night before you left Torryglen.", "I never wrote any such letter," "Lady Cecil!" "I never wrote any suchâ€"" She.paused suddenly. Over her face there rose a flush, her hands clasped togetherâ€"she looked at him, a sudden light breaking upon her. "The note papa dictated, and which he made me write," she said, in a sort of whisper. ‘"Redmond, I see it all!* The old name, the thrill his heart gave as he heard it, In the days that were gone it had been "Redmond" and "Queenie" always. He stopped abruptly. She had covâ€" ered her face with both hands and he could see the tears that fall thick an‘d fast. "And Captain O‘Donnell, who might have been taken at his word by a girl of sixteen, as silly as himself, is only too thankful for his hairbreadth esâ€" cape. I understand, sirâ€"you don‘t know what good reasomr you have to thank Lord Ruysland‘s common sense, I only wonder the matter having endâ€" ed so wellâ€"for youâ€"you care to alâ€" lude to the subject at all." "Only too thankful for my hearâ€" breadth escape!" he repeated. "Queenâ€" ie, if I had spokenâ€"if you had known!" "But you did not," she interrupted coldly, "so we will not discuss the question. You have escaped, that is enough for you.. I am Sir Arthur Tregennna‘s affianced wife, that is enough for me. I ask again, why have you spoken at all?" dy Cecil!" never wrote any s .paused suddenly. there rose a flush d togsetherâ€"she lo« For Real Comfort! S A V ED Phone 279 MAIN STREET AND EAGLE AVE Department of Finance ul U \ /i//////?/ ‘g“"!:{}/% / ;‘.,fi/dzz,éff/‘% ,ji;&-/ ~ Efpfat Dominion of Canada Do not forget to file your Any person, whether taxable, or otherwise, who fails to make a return or provide informaâ€" tion duly required according to the provision of the Act, shall be liable on summary conviction to a penalty of $100 for each day during which the default, continues. Also any person making a false statement in any return or in any information required by the Minister, shall be lHable, on summary conviction, to a penalty not exceeding $10,000, or to six months‘imprison â€" ment or to both fine and imprisonment. Does This Interest You ? Every person required to make a return, who fails to do so within the time limit, shall be subject to a penalty of Twentyâ€"five per centum of the amount of ge tax payable. Penalty FARMERS AND RANCHERS must use Form T 1A. CORPORATIONS and joint stock companies must use Form ALL INBTYviIbUArS$ other than farmers and ranchers must use Form T 1. the 30th of April. 1920. BEorms * Have you noted the room and space that the car gives." It sives comfort for those who ride in the Chevrolet. _ Géet yours while they can be had. * You have noted the lines of the Chevrolet car. _ They have the class and finish of the high priced ear. â€" You Jiave seen how the Chevrolet engine has the power to pull. Note how she takes the hills and the road. You have seen the finish and upholstering of the car. It is good. THE BRAN that you gset is also something that you can‘t overlook. It is not dust, but is real food. You can buy our Flour in Weston at â€" HERB WARD‘S GROCERY STORE ’ Bring your Wheat here for satisfaction, and save money. . _ . Weston Flour Mills $2.00 to $3.00 to be used in filing returns on or before Income Tax Return on or before the 30th of April, 1920. Wiell, it is a fact that you should become quainted with at onee. Everyone who has take milling to our mill has proven that they save doll IMILLIWS 1O Our mil Nhas proven that they save dollars. ~ # â€" THE FLOUR is of the highest quality and the sinkerage is much lower than in the big mills. : We also will buy all the Flour that you do not want, We buy it from you. t YOUR SHORTS from your own wheat is much better than that which you purchase from the big mills. Shorts from our mill and your own wlheat gives results. 3. Every corporation and joint stock company whose profits exceeded $2,000 during the fiscal year ended in 1919. 1. Every unmarried person, or widow, or widower, without dependants as defined by the Act, who during the calendar year 1919 received or earned $1,000 or more. 2. ‘All other individuals who during the calendar year 1919 received or earned $2,000 or more. ALL persons residing in Canada, emâ€" ployed in Canada, or carrying on business in Canada, are liable to a tax on income, as follows:â€" DEALER FOR THE CHEVROLET CARS Service Station Main Street, Phone 382 or 170 R. W. BREADNER, Make your returns promptly and avoid penalties. / ments forwarded by mail to Inspectors of Taxation. Form before filling it in. Assistant Inspectors of Taxation or from Postmasters. General Instructions. Address INSPECTOR OF TAXATION YORK (TORONTO, ONT.) Prepay postage on letters and docuâ€" Read carefully all instructions Obtain Forms from the Inspectors or Commissioner of Taxation. JOHN CHAPMAN _ ; WESTON PAGE THREE Len a ac N : y3