THE NOVELIST.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 6414, 26 March 1892, Page 5 (Supplement)

THE NOVELIST.

THE DRAMA of a LIFE.

[BY JEAN KATE LUDLUM.]

CHAPTER XXIV

ONMASKING

Where i> the thread now ? Off egain ! The old trick ! Only I discern Infinite toaeaiou and the pain Of finite he«Uthat_y^n r . tßrowning • Perhaps you are blaming me lot Mr Price's illness !' said the girl, her eyes as level as the flasaing eyes of doctor Graham upon her 'I am sorry if you or he believe that ; but 1 c»n clear myself if you do. Conyers, in a swift glance, once more became aware of her presence ; but she tare no sign of her knowledge of this. • I may have been in the masters service but a short time compared with the length of the service of hie other servants, but I have been faithful in spite of any suspicion, as Mrs Leonard can tell you. . She glanced toward the housekeeper, but waited for nocorroboration of her words. ' I was comm.ssioned to be faithful, and I have kept my promise to do my best. I knew that the master was often ill in the night, and that Conyers was with him. I think that he has been true as well as I Anyway, I have watched him constantly, and nothing has gone wrong,! know* » j j The valet once more glanced down upon her, surprised at the earnestness ° • VerTwell, , said Doctor Graham, quietly. '1 am S lild you can speak so positiyely, Emma. Please go girl courtesied ; she forgot to finseVher apron in her eagerness to prove lit* truth. Mrs Carmichae s eves were 'upon her, and she knew it ; bX was Even Mrs Leonard at her BS Tkno e w that you suspected Conyers and me of harming Mr Price. *on said »3 much and looked it. Conyers suspected me. And yet I could not explain, for I had promised to be silent until given leave to speak.' 'You talk in riddles,' said Doctor Graham, coldly. 'This is no childs play, Emma. Be kind enough to hurry your explanation.' . The girl showed no sign of irritation or discomfiture at his sternness. • I learned that there was danger threatening Mr Price,' she enid, in her pretty, shy manner. 'He is too kind .to every one, sir, to be harmed I was Bent to see that nothing should prove fatal to him. The cream that was poisoned a few weeks ago I threw away £t soon as I discovered that it made Mr Price ill, even though Mrs Leonard told me to save it for you, because l had my own suspicions and feared that Ik would be used still for harm. You will understand presently, Doctor Graham At the time you were angry, believing that Idisoybeyed you from a Wish to harm him. ou called Con,ers and me up here. I knew that you Land Conyers—believed that I was actuated by an evil motive. Mrs Carmiehael was the only one who knew better. , ~ • I am glad that you and Mrs Larmichael understand each other so well, Emma,' said Price, kindly, with a smile that lightened the girl's face and that was not lost upon Mrs Carmiehael. A peculiar smile crossed the girl 8

• She sent me here,' she said, quietly, ] with a glance toward the nurse, ans- • W ered by a flashing glance from the grey eyes meeting hers ; ' and she can better ; tell you the rest than I. _ «Of whom are you speaking 7 de- . jnanded Graham, sternly. •MrsCarmichael,' answered Emma, ■ In a low tone. Price turned toward her as the doctor said, in half-displeased surprise : < i 1 thought that I understood and | could trust Mrs Carmichael, but it | eeems that one of your .servants is better informed than I, Price. What has Mrs Carmichael to answer to tins C The eentle, white-haired nurse stepped forward in a sweetly dignified manner, as though she would force back any rash speech and utter only quiet words. Mrs Leonard was listening to tins etrange scene in extreme surprise. , • When I called upon Doctor Graham, said Mrs Carmichael, addressing Price more than the physician • I possessed such personal proofs of the attempt upon your life, that I considered it a criminal iSence not to do what I could to protect you from harm. I hesitated about miking it known to the proper authorities because the knowledge came to me under peculiar circumstances, and my statement might not be believed, besides the unpleasant notoriety that would undoubtedly follow such a revelation. Doctor Graham knows this part of the matter. The rest of the story is that, after some time of indecision, I went to « detective bureau and made known enough of the plot against Mr Prices life to secure the services of a woman detective to tmter service here. Ibis was gained without trouble— _ ' And this is the woman ? interrupted Doctor Graham, in a tone of Ohajmnethisown blunder, indicating the girl Emma with a motion of his

Ijtnd. . Mrs Carmichae' bowed. «This is the woman, , she said, softly. • Through her I was kept constantly informed Sf what passed here,bat knowing moreof the circumstances relating to the case than I wished to make known, and S«? IWs letter m> B».»ed on j tot it m> S»i ned T P reseDW g

fies. Doctor Oldham as well as I knew more of this matter than he cared to make known.

'My plan of coming personally was approved by Miss Rockwood — Miss Rockwool, formerly the girl 'Emma' —and I found that it was well that I chose this character of nurse, for only in this way was I enabled to be continually in the sick-room. I have accomplished the errand for which I came. The person who planned this scheme is known to us all, but I shall not name her. It is a woman—yes. Her accomplice in the plotting we have also discovered, as well as the cowardly inmate of this house who was bribed and frightened into administering the poison.' Conyers instinctively felt that the eyes of all were upon him, but his eyes did not falter from meeting squarely those of his master.

' And now,' added Mrs Carmiehael, in her sweet, quiet voice, with a pretty gesture of appeal toward Mr Price,' in order to finish this scene, may I summon one of your servants, Mr Price ? For there is one more actor.'

Price smiled. Lee Price's smile was good to see. ' Anything that Mrs Oarmichael desires is at her disposal always,' he said, gently. ' You are at liberty to summon whom you will of my household, Mrs Carmiehael. I will agree to anything to restore the old even tenor of our life and remove suspicion from all but him who is guilty.' Mrs Carmiehael smiled upon this kindly-spirited man, but the slight gesture of her hands was still more effective in its betrayal that justice and not revenge demanded the unmasking of him who was guilty. She was a woman and pitiful, but the innocent should not suffer.

' I have positive proof of what I assert, Mr Price ; otherwise I should not dare to make the accusation.'

'We have no doubt of it, , said Price, positively ; even though you came here in an assumed character, Mrs Carmiehael.'

Graham bowed. Graham felt decidedly nonplussed, for so far his keen perception amounted to nothing, and he prided himself upon his perception. Hastings, with his back against the door, to prevent the possible escape of one they should wi3h to detain, only stared, dumfounded, at this strangest scene of all. ' Emma,' or Miss Rockwood, now in her true character, was standing back near Mrs Leonard, but Conyers remained standing respectfully before his master.

Once more Mrs Carmiehael smiled

' The person whom I shall presently summon,' she said, ' you do not in the least suspect, and it is necessary, to prevent suspicion in the mind of the person summoned, for all, save Mr Price, the doctor and myself, to leave the room. The others can wait in the inner room and hear without being seen.' ' By Jove!' murmured Tom Hastings to himself, still staring, amazed at the woman's calmness, as he turned with the others from the room. Then Mrs Carmichael and Miss Rockwood, in her old character of a housemaid, summoned the servant whom Mrs Carmichael named to her, and presently the two returned. • Good heavens —Gordon ,1 exclaimed. Price, in grieved surprise. ' Gordon /' ' Gordon !' said Graham, now fully aware of the extent of his own blunder. ' Gordon !' said Mrs Carmichael, but in a different tone than that used by the others. Hers was sternly authoritative, not sad,and her eyes blazed into the butler's astonished eyes. 'I summoned you, she continued, swiftly, yet very distinctly, ' to answer a charge against you. Gordon, your master has been very ill from the effect of poison. You administered this poison!' The man, aghast, utterly crushed by the revelation, too completely taken by surprise even to defend or attempt to defend himself, grew pallid with fear.and spread out his hands—slim hands they were, and very much resembling Cony s ' ers —and retreated a couple of feet, his horrified eyes upon the woman who stood so passionately facing him. ' Gordon !' repeated Price, in a low tone, as though the knowledge of this man's guilt wounded him more than it did the man himself. ' Is it possible that it is you who are guilty of this ? You, whom we have trusted ? You, whom we believed so faithful that one word against you would have been indignantly denied ?' ' You !' said Doctor Graham, in a voice of concentrated scorn and anger that this unmasking of villainy was due only to this woman, and merely to a woman—the woman opposite him, with her flashing eyes and flushed cheeks and excited hands. ' You, a serpent in your master's household, betraying bis tmst!' ' But I call heaven to witness —' stammered Gordon, stilltrembling and pallid, but endeavoring to regain his self-con-trol during these few minutes granted him, though his eyes could not meet his master's and shrank from the true eyes of the woman. ' Hush !' said Mrs Carmichael, imperiously. ' Don't perjure yourself by one word, Gordon ! I know your guilt and you—and God ! The heaven you call upon would crush you with the truth ! I saw you enter here last night, at midnight! You poured into the master's drinking water enough of one of the deadliest drugs to kill him instantly, should he have drunk it. But he did not drink of it. I saw you, and removed the pitcher from the room, and a part of tho contents is now in Doctor Graham's possession. He, too, is your accuser.' ♦ Yes, and her accuser !' said braham, bitterly. ' We know the woman who set you to this, Gordon. This is her plot, but you vere to work it for her.' '' For her !" murmured Price, in a suffocated voice, his eyes pathetic in their appeal. ' Whom do you mean, Graham ?' Graham bit hislip and frowned, unable to meet the look, for he knew that his friend was suffering from the crushing truth. ' Why do you speak of hor ?' interposed Mrs Carmichael, gently. ' Is it not enough that no real harm is done r t

This man can answer all that is necessary.' Price's impatient gesture silenced her. Gordon was utterly humiliated, but even he felt his heart stir with pity at this man's wounded pride. ' I must hear the truth,' he said, sternly. ' Who is the woman, Jack ?' Graham flushed confusedly. He had not intended to speak so openly of the woman behind this plot—not yet. ' The woman ?' he. repeated, aimlessly. ' You know her, Lee. She is— your sister !' Price rose unsteadily to his feet, and his white face, in its sudden surge of pity and humiliation and suffering, moved them all. There were tears in Mrs Carmichael's eyes, though she was unconscious of it in her sympathy fof his sorrow. 4 It is what I feared !' he said ; and his voice was hoarse, though perfectly steady, and his brown eyes searched their faces successively for any trace of doubt of this accusation. ' But you must not believe that this was done intentionally—not as any of us might do it—not even as Gordon entered into it —for he is responsible and she is not! She has always been peculiar—my sister Olive—' what sorrowful regret was in his voice—' and her strangely active mind and intensely fine sensibilities were dangerous in her, and her equally remarkable physcial stcngth was but food for her highly strung nerves as that was never properly developed or given enough exercise for health. In conse-, quence of this her mental power far exceeds her physical strength, and as a natural outcome.as her physician warned her many times, her mental power having almost exhausted her physical strength, feeds upon itself. Her mind is diseased, I have known this for five years, but have kept the knowledge to myself, believing that she was dead and beyond harming any one. I tell you now only because it is just to you and every one, even herself, and I must find her at once, if she is living ! ' Do not tell me more of this now ! I could not endure it ! Do not even tell me of Gordon ! Let him go. I refuse to appear against him, for lie has been faithful, and I know better than any of you the terrible power my sister possesses over weaker wills ! There was one time when she influenced me to a degree that terrified me, but that helps me now to understand how this man was turned from me ! ' And now, Jack, old fellow, send every one way, please, and leave me with Conyers ! He was faithful, in spite of | any suspicion others held toward him ! You said very little, but I knew ! And I also knew how much Conyers had I done to bring me back to life—he and Mrs Carmiehael. And with a faint smile, that he tried to make very brave, his eyes turned for an instant from the immovable face and scintillating eyes of his valet to the quiet face of the nurse. Price sank back in his chair and turned his face from them to the peaceful outer world, oblivious for a long time to all that passed around him, even to the eager attempt of Gordon to exonerate himself in his kindly master's eyes 1

CHAPTER XXV,

MERELY A WOMAN.

When a soul hae seen By the means of Evil that Good is best, And, through earth and its noise, what is heaven's .serene, When our faith in the came hae stood the test; Why, the child-grown man, you burn the rod, 1 he uses of lubor ore surely done. —Kobert Browning.

Twilight was over the quiet autumn woods, where the soft stir of vividly colored leaves was like the far echo of the waves lifting and falling along the beach under the sea-wall at Bachelor's Beatitude. Twilight and peace were soft upon the water and lawn ; a late sail on the horizon was purpling with the purpling night. Deep shadow lay along the piazza under the rustling vines, save the bright-red glow of cigars, where Price was sitting with his friends and guests. Walker Paling also was there at Price's earnest request. It was the evening following the disclosure of the plot and plotters. ' Well, by George !' said Ned Newton, after a long silence. ' It seems to me that some lives run along pretty smoothly and others, somehow, get all tangled up with jarring wheels of fortune and fate ! I never saw such a fellow as you, Price, with your good fortune and bad !' ' It's the way the world runs,' said Morgan, laughing quietly ; 'but it's not half bad, Neddie !' ' And you couldn't have a good telling light without shadows, you know,' suggested Curtis, in his soft voice, always fearful of ridicule. 'The two, carefully used, make the best canvases.' ' You arc an artist ?' queried Paling, courteously. He had never before met his young fellow with the soft voico and good-natured face, but he honored him as being one of Lee Price's friends—Lee Price, the man whoforgotand forgave so much ! For still he scarcely knew whether he required great forgiveness or groat pity. ' I have a friend who is a promising young artist, Mr Curtis. You would be pleased to meet her, I am sure.' ' I should be pleased to meet any of your friends," said Curtis, wflfc«*siderable enthusiasm, for art was everything to 'little Phil,' as his friends called him. ' But lam really not much of an artist. Mr Paling. Ido it for amusement more than from any exalted hopes of fame.'

« Yes?' said Paling, still kindly courteous, though his thoughts were far from these iriends or the present scene. ' My friend works hard and studies hard because she has strong hopes, Mr Curtis. Do you not think that hope always brightens and heightens life's possibilities ?' ' Always,' Price affirmed, gently. ' Hope and determination, Mr Paling. The two are sure to succeed.'

' Determination is only another word for patience,' said Doctor Graham, leaning forward to carefully remove the ashes from his cigar against the piazzarailing ; ' and patience never tires.'

4 No,' said Paling, in a low voice, knowing of what his friend was thinking. And then they fell into silence, thinking that that was best. 'To think,' said Mayhew, presently, in an undertone to Hastings, as they sat a little removed from the host, 'that this plot went on under our very noses. It is no more astonishing, I suppose, than that Gordon should turnout the villnin instead of Conyers, but it is rather alarming to me. Can one trust one's nearest friends? Now,l shouldn't have been surprised at anything Conyers took it into his head to do, for I never did like him, but for Gordon, the faithful, the irreproachable—' ' And to think,' said Hastings, as his friend paused,' that in spite of Graham's keenness, the real villain should have been discovered by this woman, this Mrs Carmiehael. It must be mighty bitter for him to remember ! It would be for me, at least. To be outdone by any one is gall enough, but when it comes to merely a woman—' • Even pretty Miss Polly, I suppose,' retorted Mayhew, laughing, knowing very well that this same pretty Miss Polly had jilted Mr Tom Hastings for young Doctor Graham. 4 Don't carry! this prejudice too far, Tom; you will get the worst of it if you do.'

' I fail to see what Miss Ballard has to do with this, , said Hastings, haughtily.; ' /thought that we were speakingof Mrs Carmiehael, Mayhew ?' 4 So we were,' said Mayhew, goodnaturedly. ' And ' Emma,' another of the new-style detectives, Tom ! I shall be afraid to trust my own mother, next.' ' Humph !' ejaculated Hastings, contemptuously—Hastings was very bitter because he had had so little to do with this unmasking of plot. ' Don't carrj it to extremes, Mayhew. I was speaking of facts, and not conjecture. There's this Olive Price—or Paling's wife, as I just learn she is, a raging lunatic, cheating people with the idea that she was such a spiritual being as to soar among dead spirits and learn their will whenever she would, and now accused of having hypnotised poor Gordon ! Fine woman, she 1*

4 But she is altogether different from Mrs Carmiehael, Tom,' said Mayhew, reprovingly. ' Mrs Carmiehael saved Price's life and we should not forget it. Re doesn't!'

' No,' said Tom, reflectively. ' That wouldn't be like Price, Mayhew. He never forgets a kindness, if he does forget an injury. Why, lie offered her the position of companion to his aunt, Mrs Estabrook—she desires a companion, he said—with a salary that would make you open your eyes. He learned, you know, that she is too independent to be dependent. She has plenty of rich relations, I understand, but is too proud to take their charity. Give her credit for that, of course you will say. Well, she hasn't yet accepted the position, and I don't know that she will, but the offer was like Price. Mrs Estabrook took a fancy to her during her stay here, and made the suggestion to her nephew. .

' I wonder often that he has never married—never even fallen in love,' said Mayhew, after a moment, gazing intently at the glowing end of his cigar, held lightly between his finger and thumb. ' He is such a noble fellow, any woman might feel proud of his love.' ' I should,' said Hastings, with a short laugh, ' if I were a woman, Dick —which, thank heaven, I am not."

' Hold on, Tom!' said Mayhew, leaning forward and laying his hand heavily on the arm of his friend's chair, speaking in a low but impressive voice. ' It's treason for you to utter such a sentiment as that in the presence of Lee Price. He honors women, ac any man should, and I refuse to hear another word even from you.'

Hastings rose, shrugging his shoulders, tossing the end of his cigar out upon the lawn. • There's no use in our quarrelling over this, Dick,' he said, carelessly. 4 You know my opinion of women. They're lovely creatures, and I wouldn't want the world to be without them ; but when there's anything special— -like this—to be done,. I think that it generally takes more than merely a woman to accomplish it. , ' Because you have never proved a woman's power,' said a quiet voice beside them. A slow, softly modulated voice, but not Mrs Carmichael's, as they had first believed. Lights had been set in the parlors, and a soft radiance sifted out between the lace drapery upon the piazza. Iv this half-revealing light stood the woman. She hud come upon the piazza from the side steps, and passed Hastings and Mayhew with only these quiet words, pausing just withdrawn from Lee Price and those grouped about him. A magnificently physiqucd woman, with a commanding manner, and snow-white hair lying softly against her pallid face, lighted by the flaming midnight eyes. Paling recognised her instantly, and rose like one who had received a blow as though to defend his host. His face matched her own in pallor and his eyes flashed into hers. Silence fell upon the others, for instinctively they knew who this woman was.

• And so you have followed me even here, Olive !' said Paling, in a gentle voice, reaching out his hand to her. He could be very tender with her, knowing the evil that had fallen upon She spread out her hands as though to push him from her memory, lifting her proud head haughtily. ' I have followed you hero—yes, , she said, and there was a quiver of fury in her voice ; ' but not because I love you, Walker Paling. No ! I hate you I I hate you and despise you ! Coward ! You dared not keep your promise to me ! You dared not live up to the preaching of your novel—your novel and mine! You feared to be your own hero—my hero —a world's greot avenger ! I have come to tell you how I scorn you ! I still refuse to be called your wife ! Fool that I w*s to take that oath upon me! ' And I have come to tell you —she turned swiftly upon Price, who had alas risen in repressed excitement, and was

leaning toward her—they all were instinctively drawing closer around her I —' I have come to tell you how I hate you—how I have always hated you— how faithfully I tried to inflict upon you the vengeance of Heaven for your weakness, your cowardice, your lack of spirituality ! How I hate you !' She brought her hands up, clasped, before his face, leaning toward him at he leaned toward her, their eyes irresistibly drawn to each other. Then, with a vacant laugh, she was turning away, when Price detained her.

' Olive !' lie said

She turned upon him in concentrated fury, as though she would tear him limb from limb like a wild tigress, and her hands were clenched now at her side. But as she would have spoken her physical strength gave way before this mad tide of passion, and throwing up her arms she fell upon the floor at their feet in conyulsions.

From these this woman never re* covered. She died that night in the guest chamber at Bachelors' Beautitude with the murmur of the beach waves drifting in with the breeze, her husband and brother beside her in tenderost pity, utterly forgetting the sorrow that they had endured because of her ; Doctor Graham doing all in his powe? to relieve her, and the minister, hastily summoned, offering such consolation as he could to a mind diseased. She fell asleep and died quietly, the change from life to death scarcely perceptible save to the physician's eyes, and for her and for them the tumult and passion of drama were at an end. « How beautiful she is !' said Mrs Carmiehael, softly, as she stood beside the coffin, with Mrs Leonard, looking upon all that was left of Olive Price. 'No matter what one's life has been, there is a sweetness of peace upon all dead faces, Mrs Leonard!' 'Yes, , said Mrs Leonard, sorrowfully. ' Poor lamb ! Poor lamb! But what was her suffering, Mrs Carmiehael —ever —compared with his ! There's no man living like young Mr Price, Mrs Carmiehael—not one !' ' And few women like this !' said Mrs Carmiehael, very sweetly, as she turned away. And after the drama a new scene across the theatre of life. A pleasant scene, with soft lights and new actors with happier hearts and stronger courage to meet the whirls of fortune's wheels.

The inner office at The Universal Information Bureau on Forty-second street in New York city. The same pretty occupant of the huge chair, before the slow-burning grate fire, on the late autumn day. Nothing apparently changed, unless it were a more tender light in the bright gray eyes and an added gravity upon the red lips of little Lida Campbell, the independent proprietor of the offices.

Miss Randall was once more peeping around the handsome screen at the occupant of the chair, in addressing her in her bright girlish fashion.

• A lady and gentleman who desire to see you privately, Miss Campbell. Shall I bring them in ?' 'Certainly,' said Miss Campbell, smiling. 'I am still on the lookout for my fortune, Miss Randall, and every new visitor may bring it to me, you

know.' But it was remarkable what beautiful color suddenly surged into Miss Campbell's cheeks, and how shy her pretty dark eyes grew before the astonished brown eyes of the gentleman just entering the room. 'This is Miss Campbell?' queried the gentleman, hesitatingly. 'It can scarcely be, madam. I have met Miss Campbell, and—pardon me—but she was older than you—and quite different!'

A mischievous smile deepened upon the pretty lips ; the gray eyes, under their shy white lids, sparkled with laughter.

'But I am Miss Campbell—Lida Campbell, Mr Price,' she answered, softly. ' You and Mrs Estabrook find it difficult to believe ; but if you will kindly be seated I will explain to you.' ' But we thought—' began Mr Price, bewilderedly. ' That Miss Campbell was a nice old nurse.' A very pretty voice Miss Campbell had, and occasionally she emphasised her words with gestures of her hands, and the story she told was intensely interesting if very sad, shadowing as it did more lives than one. She told them of her strange visitor and her errand and her fear for his safety, and the plan she decided upon to save him and her own quiet life.

' I knew if the world found out my

part in the affair, people would be constantly running here to see—it is the way oil the world, you know—and I could not have endured that; so I

masqueraded a little, and didn't think it so very unwomanly under the circumstances, do you, Mrs Estabrook ? At first I hesitated, but I knew that something must be done. "When this new novel of Mr Paling's came out, I was sorry, for I believed that he wrote it under her influence —and I never saw her power equalled in ray life—and still I did not believe hitn guilty of wilful wrong. When they—Doctor Graham and his friend, you remember —brought him to your house, after charging him with complicity in the attempted crime, I was sorry still, but I could not speak until the right time should come. And then—the right time came!' ' And we owe it to you—not to Mrs Carmichael,' said Lee Price, with quiet laughter in his eyes and a deeper kindness around his mouth.

«And, although 1 was remarkably attracted to Mrs Carmichael, I prefer you as you are,' said Mrs Estabrook, sweetly, with her hand upon the woman's shoulder, as they stood together at the door. 'And I shall not be satisfied until I have you in my home.' If Mrs Estabrook considered Miss Campbell's conduct unwomanly, it is remarkable that she treated her more as her daughter than as merely an inmate of her household. If Mr Lee Price, with his fine appreciation of

womanhood, considered her unwomanly,

it is strange that he became so interested in his aunt's companion. If Price's friends had any disparaging remarks to make regarding this pretty woman, they uttered them beyond his hearing or hers !

And so—

If Doctor Graham could marry wicked little Polly Ballard, with every prospect of happiness, was it impossible for Mr Lee Price to marry little Lida Campbell with the like prospect, to leave the business on Forty-second street to the little assistant, Miss Randall !

'If people will talk—' said little Miss Campbell, one day just before her wedding. 4 Why, they can only say good of you !' her lover finished, laughingly, his brown eyes upon hers. ' Even if Mr Hastings does call me

4 Being 4 merely a woman ' is above a man at his best!' retorted Price with a lover's belief in the lady of his heart. 4 And anyway Tom's going to marry Kittie Florence so he may as well quit talking in this strain —he and the rest of the fellows !'

' But I am glad,' said Miss Lida by-and-by; very reflectively, with a charming shyness about her eyes, ' that Mr Paling is to many that pretty Miss Fitzgerald, the artist! She is so sweet, Lee, dear ! Women can do things if they try.' 'As you have proved !' said Price with an eloquent after silence. And so the parting curtain behind the drama of a life was drawn aside to brightness and not the blackness of a soiled conscience or the haunting ghost of crime ! # # * # # But Doctor Oldham held firmly to his conviction of his friend's sanity. THE END.