L JL/ Jt> x\ A JiXx v J* K!^ i
 
 HEf'f
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 THE NAKED TRUTH," " His FOSTER SISTER," 
 "A NEW SENSATION," " WHY I'M SINGLE," 
 " His PRIVATE CHARACTER," ETC. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 eoprmaHT, im, er 
 
 G. W. Dillingham Co., Publishers.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER PACE 
 
 I. Victor Loses his Temper . . 9 
 
 II. " She wears a ring I gave her " . 19 
 
 III. Father and Daughter . . .27 
 
 IV. Tramping in California . . .36 
 V. " You'll be like Marian " . 44 
 
 VI. Jakey and the " Cirkis " . . .55 
 
 VII. " It was Elsie at the gate " . . 5 
 
 VIII. A New Comer to the Ranch . t 75 
 
 IX. " You jest let Else alone !'' . . 84 
 
 X. A Business Matter . . . .92 
 
 XI. ** There was another, I think, a son ?" loo 
 
 XII. Mr Sewall Talks to Marian . .109 
 
 XIII. A Face at the Window . . .117 
 
 XIV. " He killed the guards!" . . .126 
 XV. Brother and Sister . . . .134 
 
 XVI. "Shall I go?" he asked . . .144 
 
 XVII. A Startling Superscription . . 153 
 
 XVIII. "You can't stop folks talking . . 163 
 
 XIX. Miss Felton Begins her Task . . 173 
 
 XX. " Escaped ! Thank God !" . . 181 
 
 XXI. Mr. Gardner Goes too Far . . 191 
 
 XXII. Oscar Felton Takes Back Water . 200
 
 6 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER tAGM 
 
 XXIII. " I refuse to be driven!" . . .209 
 
 XXIV. Uncontrollable Impulse? . . 217 
 XXV. Victor Makes a Proposition . . 226 
 
 XXVI. " My wife needs no defense *' . . 236 
 
 XXVII. The Bird Takes Flight . . .245 
 
 XXVIII. " Dat's a gal, de worl' over 1" . .255 
 
 XXIX. An Assault on the Old Barn . . 264 
 
 XXX. Some Newspaper " Scoops " . . 274 
 
 XXXI. " Kindly examine these papers " . 284 
 
 XXXII. An Elaborate Confession . . 294 
 
 XXXIII. An Austrian Baroness . . .301 
 
 XXXIV. " May I speak, your honor ?" . . 309 
 XXXV. A Change of Venue . . . 319
 
 TO MY READERS. 
 
 Doubtless it is due to the fact that my first novel had 
 such an extraordinary success that I have confined my 
 subsequent writings so largely to the same stupendous 
 theme. Occasionally, however, I have gone outside that 
 path, particularly in "Speaking of Ellen" and "His Fos- 
 ter Sister," and an over-indulgent public has shown no 
 diminution of its kindness. 
 
 In the following pages I have once more experi- 
 mented in the field of mystery, and particularly in that 
 of conscience. If my efforts prove satisfactory I may 
 extend them further along these lines. 
 
 During the past nine months, while travelling in the 
 islands of the Pacific, and particularly in Japan, I have 
 planned a novel which shall introduce some of the 
 strange and fascinating scenes through which I am 
 passing. I hope by next July to present you with such 
 a volume, but I dare make no promises. I have found 
 that an author's pen takes fancies of its own, which he 
 cannot always control.
 
 8 TO MY READERS. 
 
 I have been astonished and gratified to discover that 
 my readers reach even to these shores, as I found them 
 by the Adriatic and the Caribbean. With fervent 
 wishes for a happy New Year to all, 
 
 I am, as ever, your friend, 
 
 Shanghai, Nov., 1899. ALBERT Eoss.
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 VICTOR LOSES HIS TEMPER. 
 
 VICTOR HALL, aged 22, stood in the office of Cyrus 
 Keith, attorney-at-law, in the presence of that gentle- 
 man, and gave way to a violent exhibition of temper. 
 They were good friends and the ill-feeling of the 
 young man was not directed at the lawyer but at a 
 thirdperson not present. Victor's usually clear brow was 
 ruffled and his dark eyes glittered from between their 
 half-closed lids. With his hat tipped back on his well- 
 shaped head and both hands deep in his trousers pock- 
 ets, he ground his white teeth together and looked as 
 if he would like to strike somebody with the fists that 
 moved -nervously in their receptacles. 
 
 "That's your opinion, is it?" he cried, breathing 
 heavily. " You believe as a matter of law that Dick 
 Morse can hang on to my property, whether I like it 
 or not, and if he steals the whole of it before his time 
 runs out I have no redress whatever! " 
 
 Mr. Keith responded in a composed tone that this 
 
 f9]
 
 IO STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 was a fairly accurate statement of the decision at which 
 he had reluctantly arrived. 
 
 " When your father died, Victor," he said, in a grave 
 voice, " he left his entire estate to your mother, know- 
 ing- that she would use whatever she thought right on 
 your maintenance and education. It probably never 
 entered his head that she would so soon leave you an 
 orphan. When she learned that her time was short she 
 made her own will, as she had a perfect legal right to do, 
 and tied up the property in a way she believed best for 
 you. She provided that you were to receive the in- 
 come only until you reached the age of thirty years, 
 and that Mr. Morse was to act as trustee without giv- 
 ing bonds for the faithful performance of his duties. 
 The same sort of testament is made every day. Morse 
 accepted the position and has, up to this time, carried 
 out the stipulations of the will. Deducting a reason- 
 able charge for his services he has paid over to you 
 various sums from time to time. He has now nearly 
 eight years left before he can do anything more, unless 
 ordered to by the court. In my opinion no judge 
 would make such an order, and an attempt to secure it 
 would end in certain failure. Unpleasant as this may 
 be, I am obliged to answer your question. 
 
 Mr. Hall drew one of his fists out of the pocket that 
 contained it and brought it down on the office desk be- 
 fore Mr. Keith, with a resounding blow. 
 
 " And yet you know, as you sit there," he said, bit- 
 terly, " that you have not enough faith in the man to 
 trust him with a hundred dollars." 
 
 The lawyer nodded assent.
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. II 
 
 "Admitting it, for the sake of argument, what in- 
 fluence would my opinion, unsupported by a scintilla 
 of fact, have on that of the judge? If there was any- 
 thing we could bring forward except our private sus- 
 picions, it would be a different story. These are the 
 facts. Richard Morse was selected by your mother 
 to manage this estate, after an acquaintance with him 
 extending over a number of years. While she lived 
 he was her confidential business agent. She believed 
 she could trust him with this important matter. He 
 has never been, as you admit, a day behind in his pay- 
 ments out of the receipts. You have no proof thathislife 
 is other than that of a decent, respectable citizen. His 
 business, that of an insurance agent, shows that he has 
 a standing in the community and that his honesty is 
 taken as a matter of course by people with large inter- 
 ests. 
 
 " At the same time, you and I have an instinctive 
 feeling that there is something crooked in his make-up, 
 and neither of us is pleased at his hold over your little 
 patrimony. That is all we could say if we brought a 
 suit against him. Courts are very guarded in interfer- 
 ing with trustees appointed in accordance with the re- 
 quests of a will. My dear Victor, I am sorry, but if 
 you want to make a move predestined to failure you 
 must do it through some other attorney and against 
 my advice." 
 
 Mr. Hall pressed his hand against his breast and ex- 
 pelled the air violently from his lungs. 
 
 " I'll get one, then," he said, with a shake of the 
 head. " If I'm going to lose all I have in the world
 
 12 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 I'll make the court responsible for it. When I find 
 I'm a beggar it'll be some satisfaction to go to a judge 
 and say, ' I warned you of the kind of man you've let 
 rob me! ' It's not in my blood to stand still and have 
 my throat cut without a protest." 
 
 Mr. Keith did not attempt to influence the decision 
 of his impetuous friend. He busied himself with some 
 papers that lay on his desk, as if 'he had dismissed the 
 matter from his mind. Mr. Hall waited a moment, 
 then turned on his heel and strode toward the door 
 that opened into the hallway. Pausing, he swung 
 about and remarked in a querulous tone, " You don't 
 say anything." 
 
 " What's the use? I understood you wanted the 
 best advice I had to give, and you've got it. Appar- 
 ently you prefer to be your own counsellor. You've 
 heard the proverb, 'A man who tries to be his own law- 
 yer has a fool for a client.' " 
 
 " You must admit that it's a nasty situation." 
 
 " There's no question about that." 
 
 " I could bring fifty men who wouldn't trust Dick 
 Morse with a dollar. Wouldn't that be of any influ- 
 ence in showing the kind of man he is? " 
 
 Mr. Keith smiled and asked soberly how many men 
 Hall knew, who, though they might admit that they 
 held this opinion in a private conversation would 
 be willing to go on a witness stand and swear to it. 
 They would crawl out of the dilemma like rats from a 
 sinking ship. Most of them would have to acknowl- 
 edge that their property was insured in companies of
 
 STRANGER T53AN FICTION. 13 
 
 WhlcK Morse wa agenf. In fhe han3s of a sfirew3 
 cross-examiner they would appear ridiculous. 
 
 " No, Victor, it wouldn't work," he added, solemnly. 
 
 " Then it amounts to this I must have my pockel 
 picked without making an effort to save myself! A 
 rascal can hide behind his ' legal rights ' and I am help- 
 less. I've a great mind to walk into his office and 
 make him give up his plunder with my hands on his 
 damned gullet ! " 
 
 There was so little likelihood that the young man 
 would do anything of the sort that the lawyer was not 
 much disturbed. He was moved, however, to ask if his 
 client had made any attempt to persuade Morse to sur- 
 render his trust peaceably. 
 
 " No, I haven't. My feelings are such that I don't 
 care to hold any conversation with him. He's a great 
 deal too oily for me. Say," added Mr. Hall, struck by a 
 new idea, " won't yau go as my representative and 
 state the case in your own words? You wouldn't fly in 
 a rage, as I might, if he stuck and wouldn't do a thing. 
 Perhaps you could persuade or scare him into turn- 
 ing over the stuff if he's really got any of it left, 
 which I doubt. That's the best scheme yet. Put on 
 your hat and run over, and I'll wait here till you come 
 back." 
 
 This Mr. Keith did not seem in haste to do. He 
 dwelt on the disagreeable nature of the proposed inter- 
 view, which would amount to announcing that the 
 honesty of the trustee was called in question. After a 
 long talk, however, he finally consented to see Mr.
 
 14 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 Morse and ask him such questions as he deemed best, 
 depending on the attitude that person assumed. 
 
 "And if he tries any cheap evasions, will you hit him 
 one, right on the proboscis? " asked the visitor, half in 
 earnest. 
 
 " That would be a little out of my line." 
 
 " I'll do it myself, if he drives me to it," said Mr. 
 Hall, growing angry again. " He'll give you no sat- 
 isfaction, I feel it in my bones, but I want you to try. 
 I'd pay half he's keeping from me to have him alone 
 in a room for just ten minutes." 
 
 When his client finally left him to himself Mr. Keith 
 buried his face in his hands and thought for an hour 
 on the subject of their conversation. He recalled the 
 day when Mrs. Hall sent for him to come to her bed- 
 side and told him how he was to draw her will. He 
 had been her legal adviser as well as the close friend 
 of her husband, but she had turned to Richard Morse 
 for counsel in everything pecuniary. When she stip- 
 ulated that Morse was to be trustee of the property she 
 wanted to will to her son the lawyer was nevertheless 
 a little surprised. 
 
 He felt it his duty to ask if she was perfectly sure 
 Morse was a suitable person to entrust with this duty 
 but when she asked, " Have you any cause to doubt 
 it? " he was obliged to answer that he could give no 
 satisfactory reason for the inquiry. He drew the will 
 as she wished it, saw that it was properly signed and 
 attested, and after her death presented it to the court. 
 Victor at that time was a boy of sixteen, and it was
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 15 
 
 not till several years after that he began to express 
 fears of the honesty of the trustee. 
 
 Morse occupied a peculiar position in Stromberg, 
 the Illinois town in which our history opens. He had 
 come there some years before and purchased the busi- 
 ness of the principal insurance agent, who was obliged 
 to remove to a milder climate on account of his health. 
 As is common in such cases the patrons of the old con- 
 cern continued their insurance with the new agent, 
 depending rather upon the solidity of his companies 
 than upon him. Being thus well established new busi- 
 ness came also and he continued to have by far the 
 largest line of insurance of any agent in the vicinity. 
 
 And yet there was something about the man that 
 caused the feeling which troubled Victor Hall to lodge 
 in the minds of many other people. When Mrs. Hall 
 gave her estate into his hands without bonds a murmur 
 of surprise swept through the community. Nobody else 
 would have thought of putting such faith in Richard 
 Morse. He did not seem the type of man usually se- 
 lected for that sort of confidence. If asked to give a 
 reason for this impression no other answer could be 
 obtained than a strong impression. But it was general, 
 practically universal, and Mr. Hall heard expressions 
 of sympathy from nearly every one who had any cause 
 or no cause to say anything about the matter. 
 
 While he remained at school Victor cared little and 
 thought less about the pecuniary status in which he 
 found himself. When he became of age, however, and 
 the importance of Mr. Morse's relation to him became 
 more evident, he grew uneasy and finally worked him-
 
 l6 STRANGER THAN FICTION, 
 
 self up to the heat in which we have just found him, 
 
 He was usually a very quiet and courteous young man, 
 and no ordinary affair would have thrown him into 
 
 such a state of temper. 
 
 All this came back to Mr. Keith as he revolved the 
 question in his mind and tried to find some avenue of 
 escape from the disagreeable situation. He thought 
 of Mr. Morse in every aspect of his visible life. Thirty 
 years of age, of quiet dress and manner, so polite in 
 his intercourse with people that more than one used 
 the expression applied by Mr. Hall, and called him 
 "oily." 
 
 He walked through the world as if wearing a pair of 
 velvet slippers. Whatever may have reached his ears 
 of the hateful things said, no one could remember 
 hearing a word from him that implied criticism of 
 others. He was always to be found at his office during 
 the usual hours and everything connected with his 
 business was as shipshape as if a committee from the 
 various insurance companies was hourly expected, to 
 make a searching examination of his books. 
 
 Although he was not a member of any church and 
 never prated about religion, he was generally found on 
 Sunday at one of the houses of worship in town, tak- 
 ing whatever seat the usher assigned him and always 
 putting a substantial coin in the box when it was 
 passed his way. 
 
 Many of the business men of Stromberg drove fast 
 horses and some of them had other articles that might 
 also be trrmrd fast, dmwinrr upon their purses: not so, 
 as far as anybody knew, had Morse. Many took " fly-
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. Vf 
 
 ers " in the stock market; never he. Some reeled 
 home occasionally late at night the worse for drink; 
 Mr. Morse was to all appearance a total abstainer, 
 though he never forced his prejudices in this respect or 
 any other upon people who differed from him. 
 
 The more Mr. Attorney Keith reflected upon these 
 things the more doubtful he became as to the outcome 
 of the interview he had promised unwillingly to have 
 with this man. There seemed absolutely no ground on 
 which to base a demand that Morse surrender his trust, 
 and men are not likely, as a rule, to give up an ap- 
 pointment of that kind merely because they are asked 
 to do so; the request would in itself be construed as a 
 reflection upon the trustee and if complied with would 
 place him in a bad position before the public. 
 
 All the same the lawyer did not in the least change 
 the opinion he had expressed to his young friend, that 
 Morse was not the type of person in whom one would 
 place implicit confidence. If he could find any excuse 
 to suggest that he resign he would be only too glad 
 to avail himself of it. 
 
 The result of long thought was to leave Mr. Keith 
 just about where he was when he began. He decidecf 
 to approach Morse in a friendly manner and trust to 
 luck. There would be nothing remarkable in a lawyer 
 who had represented two generations of the Hall fam- 
 ily asking, as the attorney of the surviving one, to be 
 shown the exact condition of the estate, and to be 
 given proofs that the property was as represented. 
 Keith could hardly expect this slow, subtle man to 
 furnish evidence on which to base anvthing: substan-
 
 i8 STRANGER THAN FICTION. , 
 
 tial, unless the worst that was feared had already hap- 
 pened. 
 
 The next day, therefore, without sending word of 
 his intended visit, which he thought unnecessary, Mr. 
 Keith entered Mr. Morse's office early in the morning 
 and was met by that gentleman with the impassive 
 face that all his acquaintances knew so well. The ex- 
 tended hand of the visitor was touched by his cold, un- 
 responsive fingers and then, a chair being offered and 
 accepted, Mr. Keith got down to business.
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 ''SHE WEARS A RING I GAVE HER/' 
 
 " I BELIEVE, Mr. Morse, you hold some property in 
 trust for a young friend of mine, Victor Hall." 
 
 Mr. Morse bowed with slow deliberation. If he had 
 any suspicion as to the move Mr. Keith contemplated 
 he gave no outward sign of it. 
 
 " Representing Mr. Hall, and being an old friend of 
 his father's before him, I would like to know exactly 
 how that property is at present invested." 
 
 Mr. Morse bowed again, in the same manner as be- 
 fore. Then, asking to be excused a moment, he went 
 to an inner office, where two clerks were at work, and 
 leaving the portal ajar, asked one of them to open the 
 safe. The clerk left his writing, applied himself to the 
 combination, and when he had finished returned to his 
 work. Mr. Morse put his hand immediately on a 
 brown paper parcel, neatly tied with blue tape, and re- 
 turned to Mr. Keith with it in his hand. The parcel 
 was of the shape in which legal documents are usually 
 filed, being something like ten inches long, three or 
 four inches wide, and an inch and a half in thickness. 
 
 " Everything is in this package," said Mr. Morse, 
 laying it on the table in front of the lawyer. " Ex- 
 amine it all you please, take whatever notes you desire
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 is stationery m the table drawer and toucK 
 that bell when you have finished. I shall be in the 
 next room writing some letters." 
 
 Surely nothing could seem more open and above- 
 board than this procedure and the lawyer reddened 
 slightly as he compared the action with the attitude he 
 was himself compelled to assume. He responded in as 
 pleasant a tone as possible that he was much obliged, 
 and proceeded to untie the tape, which was neatly se- 
 cured in a bow-knot. Drawing a sheet of paper from 
 the indicated receptacle, he took up a pen and dipped 
 it in the inkstand before him. Then he copied as his 
 first line the words he found on the outside of the 
 package, written in the neat and legible hand of Mr. 
 Morse, which he recognized without difficulty: 
 
 " Property of Victor Hall, held in trust by Richard A. 
 Morse } tinder the will of Martha Hall, deceased." 
 
 The parcel contained bonds of various railroads and 
 other corporations, all standing high in the confidence 
 of the public; what were, in short, known as " gilt- 
 edged " investments. If Mr. Keith had been asked 
 to name the safest securities for a trust estate he would 
 have mentioned most of these without hesitation. 
 When the list was copied in full he tied up the package 
 again as nearly as possible as before, and touched the 
 little hand-bell that stood on the table. 
 
 Mr. Morse's face exhibited neither pleasure nor dis- 
 satisfaction as he re-entered the lawyer's presence. It 
 was the same impassive countenance that everybody 
 in Stromberg knew so well.
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 21 
 
 " I am much obliged to you," said Mr. Keith, push- 
 ing the parcel toward him with a slight motion. 
 " Those are very solid securities, Mr. Morse. What 
 do they average annually? " 
 
 "About four per cent. I could secure a larger rate, 
 but safety of the principal is the first thing to be 
 thought of. All of them, I believe, have appreciated in 
 value since they were purchased, which will help to 
 offset the low income. I kept, of course, an account, 
 during Mr. Hall's minority, of the receipts, and of my 
 expenditures for him, which I gave him with the bal- 
 ance remaining^ on his twenty-first birthday. Since 
 then I have handed or sent him the net income quar- 
 terly." 
 
 It was something of a relief to the investigator to 
 have the trustee assume this impassive demeanor, but 
 he could not quite overcome the feeling that Morse 
 must know the suspicion which had prompted his 
 visit. 
 
 " I suppose you would be equally willing to show 
 these papers to Mr. Hall, if he should come with me 
 or by himself to see them?" he inquired, rising. 
 
 "At any time. If I am not in you can ask Mr. 
 Brown, my clerk, to open the safe for you. I will give 
 him instructions. As I do not think it wise for two 
 persons to have the combination of a safe, I always 
 have Mr. Brown open mine for me, and I will tell him 
 to do the same for you or Mr. Hall." 
 
 Such perfect fairness and confidence almost took the 
 lawyer's breath away. He was glad when the inter- 
 view was terminated. At his office he found Victor
 
 22 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 awaiting him with impatience, and as soon as he could 
 recover his balance Mr. Keith related the particulars 
 just narrated. 
 
 " If he had been expecting to bring in his final 
 account and close up the trusteeship this morning, he 
 could not have had anything in more perfect order," 
 he said, in closing. 
 
 " I wish he was expecting it," growled Mr. Hall, ap- 
 parently no more pleased than before. " I suppose 
 you are convinced now that all my apprehensions are 
 groundless? " 
 
 " No, Victor. Even in the face of that remarkably 
 clear exhibit I am just as doubtful of him as I was be- 
 fore. It may be I am wrong; I hope I am; but that's 
 the way I feel and, like you, I am unable to give any- 
 thing more than a strong impression for my fear." 
 
 "And you still think there's no remedy? " 
 
 " I am sorry to say I do." 
 
 The younger man muttered something beneath his 
 breath that, judging by the expression of his face, was 
 not of a pleasant nature. 
 
 " I'll tell you what I've decided on, then," he said, 
 when he could find utterance. " I'm going to leave 
 this part of the country and begin the task of making a 
 living for myself in some State where nobody ever saw 
 or heard of me. I've got a little something saved, 
 thank Goodness! and I can get along for awhile with- 
 out much other income. I'm a beggar, or shall be, and 
 I might as well look the thing straight in the eye." 
 
 Mr. Keith drummed with his fingers on his desk in 
 a way he had when absorbed in thought. He didn't
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 23 
 
 knew that he could conscientiously advise his young 
 friend against the course he had outlined. Sometimes 
 it was the best thing for a fellow to be thrown on his 
 own innate resources and learn to develop the best that 
 was in him without exterior aid. Victor had never 
 shown any inclination toward dissipation, so far as he 
 knew. He had a fairly good head on his shoulders 
 and had graduated from school with fair rank. He 
 thought of all these things as he inquired if Mr. Hall 
 had any definite destination in view. 
 
 " I'm going further west. Horace Greeley's advice 
 is still worth following. In a new country a man is 
 taken for what he is, not for what his ancestors were. 
 I can put my shoulder to the wheel and push without 
 being discouraged by whispers that I wasn't born for 
 hard work, and that if I had my rights I could start 
 out with a decent capital and do wonderful things. 
 And there's another reason, Keith, and it's more im- 
 portant than you think, too. I've been developing a 
 dangerous sentiment toward that villain across the 
 street. It's no joke to say that I've been on the point 
 of climbing his stairs and knocking the stuffing out 
 of him a dozen times, within the past month. Of 
 course I should get the worst of it, for I would be 
 breaking the law and might get inside a jail to pay for 
 my amusement; but when I think of the way he ' 
 
 The young man broke off suddenly, his voice chok- 
 ing with suppressed rage. The lawyer felt no inclina- 
 tion to smile. He could see there was something in 
 the statement to which he had just listened. 
 
 " I believe you are going to do the best thing, Vic-
 
 24 STKANGER THAK FICTION,. 
 
 tor," He answered, firmly. " Even if we've misjudged 
 this man if your property is handed to you all right 
 and straight when you are thirty years old no harm 
 can be done by putting your best foot forward between 
 tiow and then. If he turns out to be the fraud we fear, 
 you'll be glad you didn't waste eight of your best years 
 waiting for something that never came. I hate to have 
 you go I feel almost as if you were a son of my own, 
 you know that very well but no selfishness should be 
 put into the scale. All I want to say is, you must call 
 on me for anything I can do, pecuniary or other- 
 wise, just as freely as if we were indeed father and 
 son." 
 
 Impetuously Victor Hall stretched out his hand and 
 grasped that of his friend. 
 
 " You would do anything for me, Keith; I know 
 that; but I hope there'll be no need of imposing on 
 your generosity as far as money is concerned. I've 
 got a good deal of grit, and the life I intend to lead 
 ought to bring it out. There's one thing I do want to 
 impress on you, though. When I leave Stromberg 
 you'll be the only person here who'll have my address. 
 I shall shut the rest of them as absolutely out of my 
 life as if I had gone off in a balloon and landed on the 
 planet Mars. If you're ever asked where I am, con- 
 vey the idea that you don't know. When you answer 
 my letters, mail your replies at some point outside this 
 town." 
 
 To this Mr. Keith responded that he would do as 
 requested, but added that there was one other person
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 2$ 
 
 in Stromberg, he presumed, who would be exempted 
 from the sweeping statement he had heard. 
 
 " Gertrude Felton," he explained, when Hall asked 
 whom he meant. 
 
 An expression of pain flitted across the other's 
 brow, and he closed his eyes for an instant as if to shut 
 out a disagreeable sight. 
 
 " No, I shall see her for the last time before I leave 
 here," said he, in a low voice. " I didn't mean to 
 bring her name into our conversation, but now it's 
 done I may as well tell you all. You know Oscar Fel- 
 ton. You know he's the richest man in Stromberg, 
 though he came here poor as any one. He would 
 never give his daughter to a man with no expectations. 
 Now, Keith, you have the secret of my intense anxiety 
 to get hold of the $40,000 Dick Morse keeps from me. 
 With that for a beginning I might return in a few 
 years fitted from a pecuniary standpoint to marry 
 Gerty Felton; without it the chances are very small, 
 indeed. I can't wear my heart out in a hopeless dream. 
 I have renounced her with the rest, and to-night I'm 
 going to make her a final call and say good-by." 
 
 " Don't be too impetuous. You are both young. 
 A hundred things may happen." 
 
 " I can't endure it, I tell you! " cried Hall. " Mr. 
 Felton has the same idea as everybody else around 
 town that I'll never see the color of my money from 
 Dick Morse. He has hinted it two or three times v 
 with enough added to let me see plainly how the wind 
 blows with him. Gerty is a dear girl. I won't stand 
 in the way of letting her find happiness with some one
 
 26 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 else, like a dog in the manger. No, don't say a word, 
 my mind's made up." 
 
 There are emergencies when the advice of a member 
 of the bar is of no more value than that of an or- 
 dinary layman, and Mr. Keith felt that in a case like 
 this it was not best to say too much. So he contented 
 himself by repeating his caution not to act precipitately, 
 and to remember that the cards in the game of life could 
 be shuffled so as to come out in many different ways. 
 
 " I don't like to seem inquisitive," he added, " but 
 are you and she engaged? " 
 
 " In a way we are; she wears a ring I gave her, but 
 I shall ask it back. I shall tell her I am going away 
 from town, and don't know when I shall return." 
 
 Mr. Keith shook his head sagely. 
 
 "Do you think she'll let you go like that?" he 
 asked. " No, she'll expect you to tell her your ad- 
 dress, and she'll write you there." 
 
 " But I don't know it myself! " said Victor, with a 
 touch of his old impatience. " If she asks me to write 
 when I get settled I shall have to make some evasive 
 reply, I suppose. Oh, it's enough to drive me crazy, 
 this whole business ! If I don't get out of town pretty 
 soon they'll have to carry me to an asylum!" 
 
 He turned, as if he could not bear to discuss the 
 matter a second longer, and left the office, followed by 
 the pitying glances of his friend.
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION 1 . 2? 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 FATHER AND DAUGHTER. 
 
 DURING the rest of the day, Mr. Hall completed the 
 few arrangements necessary to close his connection 
 with the town of Stromberg. A single man can change 
 his domicile with little trouble. There were only his 
 things to pack and a few bills to pay. He meant to 
 take the midnight train, to attract as little attention as 
 possible. 
 
 When the shades of evening had fallen he took his 
 way slowly toward the more aristocratic end of the 
 town and opened the gate of a handsome residence. 
 His heart beat uneasily and he dreaded the interview 
 for which he had come. For several years his feel- 
 ings toward Gertrude Felton had been of a tender na- 
 ture. The happiest moments he could recall had been 
 passed in her company. He had builded, sometimes, 
 a radiant future in which they two were linked in in- 
 dissoluble bonds. All this, he felt with sadness, was 
 now to end. He must force himself to say farewell. 
 It was the hardest thing that lay before him in the new 
 Jife on which he had decided. 
 
 Hardly had the gate closed noiselessly behind the 
 young man, when the door of the mansion opened and 
 a portly form emerged. Mr. Hall knew well the
 
 28 STRANGER THAN FICTION, 
 
 owlier of that form and wished he could avoid the 
 meeting that was imminent. An instant later they 
 exchanged greetings that were not over cordial. Each 
 considered the other a menace to his peace of mind and 
 acted accordingly. 
 
 Mr. Hall said " Good evening," in a perfunctory 
 tone and received a reply in the same words, delivered 
 in the same manner. But before he reached the gate 
 Mr. Felton turned and spoke again. 
 
 " Just a word, if you please." 
 
 Victor turned and faced the speaker and for nearly 
 a minute nothing more was spoken. 
 
 " It is well known to you," said the elder man, at 
 last, " that your calls on my daughter are not agreeable 
 to me. Let me ask, then, why you continue them?" 
 
 " Instead of replying directly, sir, let me say that I 
 have come to bid Miss Felton farewell. I intend to 
 leave Stromberg." 
 
 An expression of decided relief came into the father's 
 face. 
 
 "In that case," he remarked, insinuatingly, "what 
 need is there of calling? A note would, I should 
 think, answer every purpose; or, if you choose, I will 
 say to her what you have told me." 
 
 There was another brief silence. Mr. Hall's eyes 
 were bent on the ground and his breast heaved. 
 
 "Mr. Felton," he said at last, " I have known Ger- 
 trude several years. We have been good friends. 
 After to-night it is unlikely that T shall ever see her 
 again. Do you forbid my speaking to her for the 
 last time?"
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 29 
 
 " No, I do not forbid it; I only ask you to consider 
 whether it is wise. To be candid, Mr. Hall, it has 
 long been evident to you that your attentions to Ger- 
 trude have not met my approval. I do not know what 
 your intentions may have been, but frequent associa- 
 tion between young people whose future stations must 
 be far apart I say only what you realize, I have no 
 doubt is not of advantage to to either. We cannot 
 help the silly talk of gossips. I have even been asked 
 by persons who could not, apparently, see the absurd- 
 ity of the question, if you were ' engaged ' to my 
 daughter. Such things are not only a source of 
 great annoyance to me, but they may prove an injury 
 to my child. She will inherit a large fortune and it 
 is only reasonable to suppose that when she makes a 
 matrimonial alliance it will be with a gentleman simi- 
 larly situated. To receive you as she has done, to be 
 seen in your company, to have her name coupled with 
 yours (I cast no reflections upon you, Mr. Hall), was 
 at least very injudicious. So I ask you, if you are 
 going away, why not drop the matter exactly where 
 it is? Some one may learn news spreads so rapidly 
 in small towns that one of your last calls was at 
 my house, and the tongue of rumor will be let loose 
 again." 
 
 The cheek of Mr. Hall burned as he listened. The 
 remarks were galling to his sensitive pride as well as 
 painful to him from another standpoint. 
 
 " Mr. Felton," he answered, controlling himself with 
 a great effort, " you are a much older man than I ; you 
 are also the father of a young lady I highly esteem;
 
 3O STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 both reasons make me wish to treat you with the great- 
 est respect. I must remind you, however, that you 
 came to Stromberg penniless and that it was my 
 father to whose kindness you owed your first rise in 
 life. What do you think he would say if he heard 
 you taunt his son with being unfit to enter your house, 
 merely because fortune has dealt more kindly with you 
 than with him? " 
 
 The hands of the elder man were raised depre- 
 catingly. 
 
 " That is a very harsh way to describe a desire for a 
 daughter's happiness," he protested. " I do not say 
 you are unfit to enter my house, nothing of the kind. 
 The fact that I have never forbidden you to come here 
 proves that I have no such thought. As to the assist- 
 ance rendered me by your father I have never forgot- 
 ten it nor ceased to be grateful for it. He loaned me 
 a small sum of money, which I repaid with interest. It 
 was to a certain extent a business transaction, by which 
 he lost nothing. To use it at this late day as an ex- 
 cuse to alter the arrangement of my family affairs is 
 extraordinary, to say the least." 
 
 Smarting under the strain until he could hardly hold 
 his tongue, Mr. Hall turned abruptly toward the gate. 
 
 " I shall not enter your house after what you have 
 said," he remarked, pausing. " That will please you, 
 I have no doubt, even if it wounds a sweet girl whose 
 friendship I hoped to retain in my distant home. I 
 only ask you to tell Gerty why I left Stromberg with- 
 out a parting word, after the pleasant relations she and 
 I have sustained so long."
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 3! 
 
 The satisfaction of the father was too evident to be 
 concealed. 
 
 " I will tell her to-morrow," he said. " Let me add 
 my personal thanks for your very wise decision. It is 
 much better than if you had even sent her a note as I 
 at first suggested. Very much better." 
 
 Mr. Hall shrank as if stung by a poisonous reptile. 
 
 " You are afraid to trust your own child," he ex- 
 claimed, bitterly. " You believe she loves me, and 
 that, were I to say the word, she would go with me as 
 my wife, whether you gave your consent or not! " 
 
 The rich man fumbled nervously with a massive 
 watchchain that hung across his black waistcoat. 
 
 " You say you expect to leave town to-night," said 
 he, as if anxious to get further from that view of the 
 subject. "Have you decided where you are to lo- 
 cate?" 
 
 " Without intending to be impolite I must answer 
 that it is none of your business," retorted Victor, im- 
 patiently. 
 
 iMr. Felton bit at his finger nails. 
 
 " I have heard that you think of adopting the legal 
 profession?" 
 
 " I must answer again that it is no concern of yours 
 what I do or where I go." 
 
 " I only wanted to say and you must not get angry 
 with me that if you find an opening where you can 
 use a few thousand dollars to advantage I am not un- 
 mindful of what your father did for me " 
 
 Unable to bear any more, Mr. Hall bolted, leaving 
 the perplexed gentleman standing alone. This seemed
 
 $2 STRANGER THAN FICTIOtf. 
 
 the hardest of all the troubles he had had during the 
 past few weeks. To throw him the offer of financial 
 aid, after barring him from his door, was adding insult 
 to injury. 
 
 Mr. Felton waited until the form of the other was 
 out of sight, and then slowly retraced his steps. 
 Taking a pass-key from his pocket he re-entered his 
 residence and, ringing for a servant, requested that she 
 ask Gertrude to come to the library. Mrs. Felton had 
 deceased some years before and there was no one to 
 share his responsibility with him. 
 
 Gertrude came running lightly down the stairs. 
 When she entered her father's presence she came to his 
 side and, putting an arm around his neck, kissed him 
 on the cheek. She was dressed in a gown of light 
 material, very becoming to her blonde beauty, and had 
 some bright-colored flowers in a corsage bouquet. 
 
 " You look as if dressed for company," said Mr. Fel- 
 ton, with a desire to gain time. 
 
 " I do expect a caller, papa dear," she answered, 
 kissing him again. " Victor Hall telephoned me this 
 afternoon that he would run in for a little while this 
 evening." 
 
 He held her off at arm's length and looked at her 
 face searchingly. 
 
 " You know I don't like him," he said, simply. 
 
 " But, papa, he's a very nice young man and we've 
 known each other a long time and- 
 She could not look into the eyes he bent so question- 
 ingly on her. 
 
 " Gertrude, I have let you have your way in almost
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 33 
 
 everything since, your mother left us," said he, gravely. 
 " You are now twenty years old and should yield to my 
 superior judgment in matters of this kind. If Mr. Hall 
 calls here to-night you must make an excuse not to 
 see him." 
 
 "Papa ! " 
 
 "If you have any doubt of being able to obey me, I 
 shall remain in and go to the door myself." 
 
 Miss Felton burst into tears and for a long time 
 could not speak intelligibly. Afterwards she tried 
 every art of which she was mistress to induce her father 
 to mitigate the rigorousness of his decision, but with- 
 out avail. He talked to her of the position she was 
 entitled to in society, of the high alliance that would 
 naturally be hers, of the improbability that Victor Hall 
 would ever reach the social and financial level that 
 would make him a suitable mate. The poor girl knew 
 only that she loved the boy and was not in the least 
 dazzled by her parent's gorgeous pictures of the bril- 
 liant future in store for a millionaire's daughter. 
 
 " If I can't have around me the people I like best," 
 she protested, over and over, " I don't see the pleasure 
 of being rich. Oh, papa, dear papa, don't make me 
 treat him uncivilly, at least! When he rings the bell 
 let me invite him into the parlor and break it to him 
 gently. If we must part it should be as friends." 
 
 To all of her entreaties he remained firm, but about 
 nine o'clock he went out, saying he had a business er- 
 rand that needed his attention, and that he relied upon 
 her not to disobey his commands. Whether she would 
 have lone so or not we cannot say, as ten o'clock came
 
 34 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 and then eleven, but of course no ring announced the 
 one she expected. 
 
 Mr. Hall went from the presence of Mr. Felton with 
 a sore heart, but with a clear conscience. If a girl 
 would insist on having a father like that she must suffer 
 the consequences. When he reached the place where 
 he boarded he felt ill and decided not to take his train. 
 He needed a good rest before starting on a long 
 journey. 
 
 The first thing he thought of in the morning was not 
 his lost sweetheart, but his doubtful inheritance. He 
 surprised Mr. Keith, who thought him already gone, 
 by appearing at his office and saying he wanted to look 
 at the securities in Mr. Morse's safe, as it would proba- 
 bly be the last time. They went over together and 
 Mr. Brown, the clerk, 'handed them the packet, Mr. 
 Morse having gone out on some errand. Mr. Hall 
 could not doubt the evidence of his eyes, but he ex- 
 pressed to his friend the same lack of confidence in the 
 trustee as before. 
 
 " I've a good mind to grab the thing and run," he 
 said, with a faint laugh. " What could they do to me 
 if I did ? It's mine, isn't it ? " 
 
 " Not at all. You'd be just as much guilty of lar- 
 ceny as any other thief. Yes, that's good law, though 
 it may seem poor logic." 
 
 "Good-by, then," said Victor, kissing the brown 
 paper with a tragic air. " I know I never shall set 
 eyes on you again ! " 
 
 The next day he left town on the noon train, and at
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 35 
 
 'dinner Mr. Felton told his still inconsolable daughter 
 the news she would have to hear some time. 
 
 " I've learned why young Mr. Hall didn't keep his 
 appointment last night. He's given up his room and 
 left for good. Yes, bag and baggage." 
 
 A scream that pierced him like a knife and a heavy 
 fall on the dining room floor followed the statement. 
 And a few minutes later a doctor's carriage was driven 
 rapidly up the street and paused before the million- 
 aire's residence.
 
 36 STRANGER THAN FICTION; 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 TRAMPING IN CALIFORNIA. 
 
 THE hot sun of a midday in January shone over the 
 ranch. According to a custom brought to Southern 
 California by its early Spanish possessors, and tenac- 
 ious of life even among the settlers from Eastern 
 America, the inhabitants were taking their rest after the 
 noontime meal. Lack of rain, that curse of the country 
 that often discourages the farmer, showed in the stunt- 
 ed verdure and dry soil on every side. There was a 
 small orange grove, panting for the needed moisture, 
 a few acres of alfalfa and an arid area that was expected 
 to develop later into a barley field, besides a spot that 
 would be used for a kitchen garden if any sign of a 
 possible harvest should appear in the meantime. The 
 ranch-house was a low, inexpensive structure, with 
 most of the rooms on the ground floor, and a woeful 
 lack of paint on its wooden walls. A small stable shel- 
 tered a pair of farm-horses, two cows and a few head 
 of miscellaneous stock. In the distance clouds of dust 
 could be seen sweeping like a storm across the horizon, 
 while overhead other clouds floated tantalizingly, but 
 gave no indication of pouring their needed waters on 
 the parched earth. 
 
 Darius Gardner, who was the nominal head of the
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. tf 
 
 establishment, smoked his pipe on the narrow porch, 
 looking as if his interest in this world had long since 
 been reduced to that narrow compass. Mrs. Gardner, 
 an invalid for many years, lay on her bed inside the 
 house. Their daughter Elsie, fifteen years of age, was 
 resting in a rocker outside with her father, occupied to 
 the verge of absorption in the latest copy of Munsey's 
 Magazine. And her younger brother, Jacob, sat on 
 the floor near by, whittling aimlessly at a piece of 
 wood. 
 
 The family had moved to this spot some years be- 
 fore, on the advice of physicians, who imagined the dry- 
 ness might cure the ailments of the wife and mother. 
 But though the climate was usually dry enough, the 
 sick woman never recovered sufficiently to leave her 
 room for any length of time. Like many others she 
 had "come too late." The climate of Southern Cali- 
 fornia will do wonders, but there is a limit to its healing 
 powers. Probably it did prolong the flickering spark, 
 but it could not replenish the wasted oil in the lamp. 
 
 Unfortunately for her and her children Mr. Gardner 
 had no genius for ranching, nor indeed for any other 
 useful occupation. His favorite position was the one 
 in which we have found him, among those at present 
 available. If he had been asked to name the one he 
 preferred it would probably have been with his elbows 
 resting on a bar and a glass of some alcoholic bever- 
 age glued to his lips. He was thinking, as he sat on 
 his porch or rather on his wife's, for the ranch was 
 her property, the remains of a small patrimony she had 
 inherited that this was a very hard world, and that
 
 38 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 he was, all things considered, the worst used man 
 in it. 
 
 Elsie lent about all the attraction there was to the 
 picture, on the exterior of the dwelling. In her print 
 gown and white collar, with a bit of red ribbon in her 
 brown curls, her dress half way between her knees and 
 ankles, she looked very engaging as she leaned over 
 the magazine and drank in the story. She had bright, 
 dark eyes, fringed with most attractive long lashes, and 
 a beautifully rounded little figure, that gave no indica- 
 tion of future undue fatness. 
 
 The " hired girl " was, as is usual in this section, a 
 Chinaman, who, not being included in the list of those 
 who followed the Spanish custom, could be heard in 
 his kitchen, rattling his dishes. He bore the name of 
 Ah Wing, and served as family butler, cook, scullery 
 maid and footman. The purse of the Gardner family 
 had been steadily failing for some years and one ser- 
 vant was all they could afford. Elsie did her share of 
 the household duties, acting as nurse to her mother 
 among other things. The small brother was voted too 
 young to be of assistance; and the father, beyond at- 
 tending to the barn affairs, was not expected to help in 
 any way. When the seasons had been better a Mexi- 
 can had helped with the crops, from which the scanty 
 income of the family was more or less augmented. The 
 prospect at present was so poor that it was thought 
 wise to save the monthly wage and board of this man. 
 There's somebody down to the road, pa," said little 
 Jacob, looking up from his whittling. "'He looks as 
 if he was a-comin' up here."
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 39 
 
 M A tramp, I guess/' commented Mr. Gardner, after 
 a cursory and surreptitious inspection of the man, who 
 had stopped at the gate, some two hundred feet from 
 where he sat. "Now, Elsie, don't you give him noth- 
 in' to eat. The more you do of that sort of thing the 
 more you may. They mark some secret sign on the 
 fences an' trees so's every tramp what comes along 
 arterwards knows who to impose on." 
 
 Elsie did not hear him at first. She was too deeply 
 absorbed in her book to think of anything else. It 
 was only when Jacob nudged her foot that she came 
 back to earth and had her attention directed to the 
 stranger. 
 
 " Don't pay no 'tendon to him, an' p'raps he'll go 
 along," suggested Mr. Gardner, in a whisper. "It 
 makes me tired to see them strong, healthy fellers 
 trampin' up an' down the country, gittin' their livin* 
 out of honest, hard-workin' people." 
 
 " He may not be a tramp at all," said Elsie, putting 
 down her Munsey. " And if he is, you know mother 
 won't let us send any one away hungry. Run down 
 to the gate, Jakey, and see what he wants." 
 
 As there was no one on whom the small boy could 
 shift his new " white man's burden " he rose unwil- 
 lingly, and shuffled, still whittling, toward the man who 
 had caused this commotion. He wished with all his 
 heart that he had not disturbed the others by calling 
 their attention to the apparition, and been left to sit 
 in peace in the shade. 
 
 If the reader will look carefully through the dusty 
 coating that envelopes the features and soils the cloth-
 
 4O STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 ing of the traveler, he will discover no less a person 
 than our friend Victor Hall, who had, for reasons sat- 
 isfactory to himself, undertaken a long walk through 
 this out-of-the-way locality. As Master Jacob ap- 
 proached, he addressed him pleasantly with, "Hallo, 
 my little man, what's your name? " 
 
 " Never you mind what my name is," was the un- 
 gracious retort. " The folks wanter know what yer 
 hangin' 'round here fer." 
 
 "Indeed! Well, I only stopped to inquire if this is 
 John Smith's house." 
 
 " No, 'tain't. It's Mrs. Gardner's house, an' she 
 lives here, an' Darius Gardner, an' Elsie Gardner, an* 
 me. Now you've found out, s'pose you march 
 along." 
 
 Mr. Hall glanced at his dirt-covered clothing and 
 admitted to himself that he did not present a very im- 
 pressive appearance. But he smiled back at the boy, 
 for the little fellow's surly manner only amused him. 
 
 " The fact is, my lad, I've walked all the morning and 
 would like something to eat, if it's not too much 
 trouble. So I'll thank you to say as much to Mrs. 
 Gardner, or Mr. Darius Gardner, or Miss Elsie Gard- 
 ner; that is, unless you feel authorized to attend to the 
 matter yourself." 
 
 The boy stared at the young man w 7 ith a not very 
 hospitable expression. 
 
 " Yer'd git mity little from Darius Gardner, I'll tell 
 yer that. He don't take no stock in you kind of peo- 
 ple. Mrs. Gardner's sick abed and can't be asked 
 no how. I'll tell Elsie Gardner an' see what she says."
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 4! 
 
 The amused smile that illumined the traveller's face 
 broadened into a grin. 
 
 " I do believe he takes me for a tramp," he said to 
 himself, as the boy slouched off. " I don't know as I 
 blame him, either, for I'm so covered with dust that 
 my best friend wouldn't know me. It's a good joke, 
 any way, and I may as well play it out. I wonder 
 what sort of young lady Miss Elsie will turn out 
 to be?" 
 
 When Jacob returned from his errand Mr. Gardner 
 renewed his protests against giving food to "one of 
 them lazy good-for-nothin's." To which Miss Elsie 
 replied, without debating the matter, that her mother's 
 directions were explicit and must be followed. So tell- 
 ing her brother, much to his annoyance, to bid the man 
 go to the kitchen, where Ah Wing would give him 
 some bread and butter and tea, she resumed the story 
 she was reading when first disturbed by the incident. 
 
 Mr. Hall laughed good-naturedly when the message 
 \vas delivered, and putting one hand on the board fence, 
 vaulted over it without stopping to open the gate. 
 Then he followed the lad to the kitchen, where his re- 
 ception by the Chinese cook was no more cordial than 
 the one that preceded it. When the plate and cup 
 were handed to him, Victor stepped out of doors with 
 them, preferring the clear air of the yard. The wily 
 Celestial, in some fear that the " tramp" intended to 
 steal the china, watched him furtively from a window, 
 prepared to give the alarm in case he started off on a 
 run. 
 
 The traveller gave ample evidence of the state of
 
 42 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 his appetite by devouring the food and drinking the 
 tea in a very short space of time. Then, after return- 
 ing the china to the Chinaman, which was certainly 
 appropriate, he sat down on a bench near by and re- 
 lapsed into deep thought. 
 
 An hour later Mr. Gardner, happening to pass the 
 spot, saw to his astonishment that the " tramp" was 
 still there; and, it not being one of his wife's rules that 
 " people of that sort " should be harbored after their 
 hunger was satisfied, he made bold to say, " If there's 
 nothin' else you want, young feller, you'd better be 
 goin'." 
 
 Mr. Hall, who had in the meantime washed his face 
 and hands of some part of the dust that had clung to 
 them, arose and addressed Mr. Gardner respectfully. 
 
 " I would like to speak to Miss Elsie before I leave," 
 he said. 
 
 "W-h-a-t!" gasped the astounded man. 
 
 " Yes, if you please. I would like to thank her for 
 her hospitality." 
 
 Mr. Gardner gasped again. 
 
 "Say, you git out of here!" He pointed toward 
 the road. 
 
 His voice was raised to such an angry pitch that the 
 Chinaman inside began to tremble among his pots and 
 pans. He had heard that tramps were dangerous 
 persons, and perhaps this one intended to murder 
 everybody on the premises, including himself. Elsie 
 and her brother were also disturbed by the noise and 
 came around the corner to ascertain its reason. 
 
 " What is it, father? " asked the girl, in a tone of 
 quiet assurance.
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 43 
 
 The "tramp's " hat was removed from his head as 
 the pretty vision appeared. He bowed low, and when 
 he found that Mr. Gardner's indignation was too great 
 for utterance, addressed the young girl politely. 
 
 " Am I speaking to Miss Elsie? " he asked. 
 
 " Yes," she said. 
 
 " Then permit me to thank you for the refreshments 
 so kindly given me." 
 
 Mr. Gardner started to speak, but was interrupted 
 with a wave of the hand on his daughter's part that 
 reduced him to silence. 
 
 " You are very welcome sir," she said, hesitating 
 an instant before using the final word. 
 
 '' Can you tell me how far it is to Olluma? " 
 
 " Much farther than you can walk to-night, I am 
 afraid," was the kind reply. Elsie was evidently im- 
 pressed with the unusual bearing of her strange vis- 
 itor. " You are welcome to remain with us till morn- 
 ing if you desire," she added, slowly. 
 
 " Elsie, are you crazy! " cried the father. 
 
 " If it will not incommode you I shall accept you" 
 kindness," said Mr. Hall. Then he added, smiling, 
 " I do not wish to cause any difference of opinion in 
 the family." 
 
 Before Elsie could reply again Mr. Gardner drew 
 her aside and expostulated earnestly. She paid little 
 attention to him until he uttered the words, " your 
 mother," upon which she said she would leave it to 
 the invalid and abide by her decision. 
 
 " Will you step into the house a moment, sir, till I 
 can consult my mother? " she said.
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 " YOlfLL BE LIKE MARIAN." 
 
 REMARKING that, with the young lady's permission, 
 he would remain outside, Mr. Hall strolled up and 
 down the lawn, waiting for the verdict. Mr. Gardner 
 followed his daughter to her mother's room to give his 
 version of the question at issue, and little Jacob sidled 
 in after them. The sick woman was prompt in ren- 
 dering her decision. With a spare bed in the house 
 and a tired man outside, she had no hesitation in tell- 
 ing Elsie to bid him welcome. 
 
 " I don't seem to amount to much in this family/' 
 was Mr. Gardner's disheartened remark, as the decision 
 turned against him. 
 
 " You know why I do this." said the wife, wearily. 
 " You know very well." 
 
 " Now, don't always be throwin' that up at me," 
 was her husband's snarling reply. " You'll make a 
 nice loclgin' house for tramps here, jest on account of 
 that boy." 
 
 " He may be asking for a bed himself some day," 
 responded the invalid, wiping her eyes. 
 
 As a result of the interview with her mother, Elsie 
 showed the traveller to his room. In response to his 
 offe; .0 help her about the ranch, she said she would
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 4| 
 
 think the matter over and see what she could find for 
 him. He was not a farmer, nor used to manual labor 
 of any sort, as one glance at his hands proved. The 
 bed he would occupy would cost nothing and his food 
 was too little to think about. She was glad the op- 
 portunity had come to her, and like Mrs. Gardner, 
 thought of the especial reason why she ought not to 
 turn him away. 
 
 Left in his chamber alone, Mr. Hall took from his 
 pocket an envelope that had been through the mail 
 and opened two letters. Both bore signs of having 
 been handled more than once, but he read them again 
 with keen interest: 
 
 My Dear Mr. Keith [one of them began]: A 
 most distressing occurrence compels me to send you 
 these lines. The matter concerns Mr. Victor Hall, 
 out as I do not know his address and think perhaps 
 you may, I communicate with you instead. You 
 remember the securities I showed you, embracing 
 the trust funds I held for him. They were done up 
 in a brown paper parcel, you will recollect, and tied 
 with bine ribbon. 
 
 This morning as some of the dividends were com- 
 ing due, I took out the parcel and opened it. 
 Imagine my surprise at finding within nothing but a 
 lot of folded white blank paper! Diligent search 
 and inquiries of my assistants have failed to afford 
 any solution of this appalling mystery. Can you 
 offer a suggestion or hazard a guess as to what has 
 happened. The worst of the matter is that the bonds 
 are unregistered and consequently negotiable. I 
 think Mr. Hall should know of the matter at once 
 and beg you to communicate with him. If nothing
 
 46 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 transpires within a few days I shall render an ac- 
 count of the loss to the court. 
 Very Truly, 
 
 RICHARD A. MORSE. 
 
 Mr. Hall read this letter through five or six times, 
 pausing long between the readings. Then he took up 
 the other letter, which was signed by Cyrus Keith, and 
 read that with equal -slowness and intensity : 
 
 I have no opinion to offer in this unpleasant 
 business [said the lawyer's note], but I must caution 
 you not to lose your head. The bonds were in the 
 package all right when last we saw it. Who has 
 meddled with it and substituted a false parcel I do 
 not know; and neither, as a matter of fact, do you. 
 If I were to suggest anything it would be to put 
 the affair quietly in the hands of an experienced de- 
 tective. His wisest course, I think, would be to 
 move very slowly, but that would be a matter for 
 his own judgment. If you decide to return I shall 
 be glad to see you, but there is nothing you can do. 
 I am ready to act in your stead in any reasonable 
 and legal way you may direct. 
 
 It was no wonder that the perusal of these two let- 
 ters brought beads of perspiration to Mr. Hall's face. 
 He had received them several days before and could 
 not yet make up his mind what answer to send. The 
 fact that he was not permanently located would ac- 
 count in Mr. Keitih's mind for his delay and it was an 
 occasion when common sense was needed in an un- 
 usual degree. 
 
 An unexpected knock on the door disturbed him at 
 last and caused him to start to his feet. For a second
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 4 
 
 he could not recollect where he was. When it all 
 came back to him he hastened to open to Master Jacob. 
 
 " Else wants ter know if yer kin milk," said he. 
 " Pa's the only one 'round the place that kin, an' he's 
 so upsot with your being let inter the house he won't 
 stir off the sofy." 
 
 It happened that Victor did know something' about 
 milking, having taken a fancy to learn that art some 
 years before, while spending a summer in the country. 
 Laughing at Jacob's manner of referring to his father, 
 he went below, took up the pail that was handed him 
 and proceeded to the cowyard, where he was soon 
 extracting the lacteal fluid from the udder of one of 
 the bovines there. He had about half-filled the pail 
 when he saw Miss Elsie approaching, and paused to 
 greet her with a pleasant " good-evening, " as she 
 stood a little away from him and watched the process. 
 
 " You haven't always been a tramp, have you ? " 
 asked the girl, as he resumed his task. 
 
 " Why, don't I look like an experienced hand at the 
 business? " 
 
 She shook her head decidedly. 
 
 " I thought I was doing it very well." 
 
 " But you haven't always have you, now? " she 
 persisted. 
 
 "Tramped? Well, no. I used to crawl, I believe." 
 
 " Crawl? " she repeated. 
 
 " Yes, crawl, as the English say, more correctly than 
 ' creep,' it seems to me. Moved along on all fours, 
 you know. Tramping implies a swinging use of the 
 limbs. Babies crawl, grown people tramp."
 
 48 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 " But that isn't what I mean. We call a tramp a 
 man who ' She hesitated. 
 
 " Who goes about from place to place, with no vis- 
 ible means of support? " 
 
 Elsie nodded, relieved. 
 
 " No, I haven't always done that, even since I was a 
 man grown. And to tell the truth, I don't want to 
 continue it any longer than I can help. Everybody 
 doesn't treat us as well as yon." 
 
 She waited a little while, to get the next question 
 right. She did not wash to hurt his feelings. 
 
 " Would you work, if you found anything to do?" 
 she asked, finally. 
 
 " If it was anything I was fitted for. I'm afraid 
 there are not many things included in that category." 
 
 " That cat" 
 
 " Category; list, you know. Most of the men who 
 tramp do so, I imagine, because they have no calling 
 or profession." 
 
 She watched the swift filling of the milkpail and 
 eyed the milker interestedly. 
 
 " Would you like to work on a ranch, for people 
 who couldn't afford to pay much wages?" she asked, 
 with an effort. 
 
 He smiled up at her in a way that won her young 
 heart. 
 
 " For you, do you mean? I should like it above all 
 things. But I have a partial promise of something 
 more remunerative at Olluma, if I can get there, and 
 I fear your suggestion is influenced by your kind dis- 
 position."
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 49 
 
 The particular animal he was working on had now 
 exhausted her supply of 'milk and he moved over to 
 the next one, carrying his pail and stool. Elsie fol- 
 lowed him. 
 
 " We need somebody on this place," she said, when 
 he was again at work. " Pa is not very well, and 
 there's hardly enough to do to hire a Mexican. If 
 you don't succeed where you're going we could give 
 you your board and perhaps something else for awhile. 
 You can think it over." 
 
 He could not laugh at the proposition, made with 
 such seriousness. She was a pretty girl and he was 
 in the full bloom of youth. 
 
 " I will think it over," he responded, gravely. 
 
 There was silence for several minutes after that, and 
 he completed his work in the meantime. She walked 
 by his side to the house and called Ah Wing to take 
 the pail from him. Then she asked him if he was 
 tired. 
 
 " Not a bit," he said. " What else shall I do? I 
 can chop some wood, if you wish." 
 
 No, there was wood enough ready. She wanted 
 to talk with him, and they .strolled down to a spreading 
 liveoak, beneath which a rough bench was standing. 
 
 " What do you expect to do at Olluma? " she asked, 
 when he was seated by her side. 
 
 " Write in an office." 
 
 " Then you have had an education. But I could tell 
 that from listening to you." 
 
 " I have been to school," he said. " Is that such 
 a remarkable thing, in this part of the country? "
 
 5O STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 She started to say that it was certainly remarkable 
 in a tramp, but paused in time. 
 
 " I've never been inside a schoolhouse in my life," 
 she remarked, instead. " My mother has taught me 
 some, but since she has been confined to her bed I 
 haven't made much progress. If you should come 
 here you could teach me a great deal, I'm sure." 
 
 " I would do all I could. And there is the little 
 brother has he never been at school, either? " 
 
 " No. All he knows I taught him, myself. He can 
 read and figure, but he uses such awful language! 
 There's no school near to send him to. I wish there 
 was," she continued, regretfully. " A boy needs to 
 know much more than a girl." 
 
 " That's not the modern idea. They are giving girls 
 the best education they can, now-a-days, in the East." 
 
 This led her to ask him if he came from the East, 
 and when he mentioned Illinois, she said, with a long 
 breath, that it was a long way off. " You must have 
 found it tiresome, walking so far," she added, simply. 
 
 The sun had gone down and the short twilight had 
 begun to give way to the early starlight. A voice came 
 from the direction of the dwelling it was Jacob's 
 " Else, ain't yer comin' in for supper? We're waitin'." 
 
 " What time is it? " she asked Victor. Then, when 
 he drew out a watch, she exclaimed: "Why, that's 
 gold!" 
 
 She had inquired for the time, wondering if any- 
 thing that would enable him to tell hung at the end of 
 t/he chain she noticed on his vest. The sight of so 
 much luxury startled her greatly, and a half-formed
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 51 
 
 suspicion came that her father was right in cautioning 
 her not to admit the stranger to their home. 
 
 " It is nearly seven," he answered. " Yes, the watch 
 is gold, I believe. I have had it a long time, and I 
 don't like to part with it now. The truth is," he con- 
 tinued, as they walked toward the house, "I had some 
 property once that was left for me in charge of a trus- 
 tee; and one day I got word that it had disappeared 
 been stolen, in fact. So there was nothing left but to 
 look for work and that's the way I became a tramp. 
 I didn't mean to tell you, but it's out now. Please 
 don't say anything about it to the others. They might 
 think I was complaining." 
 
 Darius Gardner sat on the porch and eyed the pair 
 with strong disfavor as they approached. Victor un- 
 derstood that he was the cause of the sharp looks, but 
 thought the better way was not to notice. When Elsie 
 told him where to find water, soap and a towel without 
 going upstairs and also that his place was ready at 
 the table when he had finished, he made his ablutions 
 and went into the dining room. Mr. Gardner, on be- 
 ing called, said he was not coming that he didn't 
 care for anything and as Jacob had eaten hurriedly 
 and Mrs. Gardner was unable to leave her bed, Mr. 
 Hall and Elsie were again alone. 
 
 " Do you know," said the girl, between mouthfuls, 
 " I almost hope you won't get that place at Olluma." 
 She had banished her suspicions 'of him almost as 
 soon as they came. " It's lonesome here and you 
 would be a great deal of company." 
 
 He was flattered by her evident interest.
 
 52 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 " If I don't get the place I shall accept your offer,** 
 he replied. " Though I'm afraid your father wouldn't 
 make me very welcome. He doesn't like me, I can 
 see that." 
 
 " It's only because he doesn't know you." She spoke 
 as if she had been acquainted with him for an indefinite 
 period. " Mother will like you, because you have the 
 ways of a gentleman, and she was used to such society 
 before we moved here. Jakey will like you when he 
 learns that you can teach him things and I I shall 
 make it pleasant as I can. I'm awful sorry you lost 
 your property. Isn't there any chance of your ever 
 getting it back? I should think you could sue the 
 man who had charge of it. He had no right to 
 be so careless." 
 
 Something seemed to tell her that the subject was a 1 
 painful one and she dropped it after that. He began 
 to ask about the products of the ranch, and she told 
 him all she knew of the orange industry and the prices 
 of other products of the region. It was the story famil- 
 iar enough to most residents of southern California, 
 but very new to him then, of a dry season and a 
 scarcity of water even in the irrigating reservoirs. 
 There would not be half a crop of anything unless the 
 rains came very soon. 
 
 " You speak as if you were the man of the house," 
 he could not help saying, when he had listened to her 
 for a long time. 
 
 " It amounts to that. With Ma sick abed and Pa 
 as you see him, I have everything on my shoulders."
 
 STRA1TOER THAN FICTION. 53 
 
 "And they are not very strong 1 shoulders, cither," 
 he commented, with a kindly smile. 
 
 " Pretty strong," she answered, with a little flush. 
 " I can carry things in some way, I guess, till Jakey 
 gets old enough to relieve me. We've no mortgage, 
 that's one comfort, and Ma has a little money left. It 
 don't cost us much to live, you see. If it would only 
 rain!" 
 
 In this vein they conversed and the time flew rapidly 
 away. The voice of Mr. Gardner finally broke in upon 
 them from the hallway. 
 
 " Elsie, did you know it was after nine? It's time 
 the house was quiet." 
 
 With just a suspicion of a frown on her face, the 
 young girl asked her visitor to verify the statement, 
 which he pronounced correct, rising at the same time 
 and making it easier for her by saying that he was 
 tired and would be glad to seek repose. They parted 
 at the foot of the stairs, and he went to the plainly 
 furnished little room which had been assigned him. 
 Across the bed lay a white cotton nightshirt that El- 
 sie's thoughtfulness had provided. It was a bit of 
 kindness which, though small in itself, pleased him 
 greatly. 
 
 He had just settled himself to sleep, when the sound 
 of low voices reached him from the porch. 
 
 " li you have any regard for yourself you wouldn't 
 make so free with every tramp that happens along the 
 road." 
 
 "'Sh, Pa! He might hear you. I haven't made 
 free with him. He's not an ordinary tramp, either.
 
 54 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 He told me he had been to school, and he carries a 
 gold watch. Some property that he used to have 
 
 Elsie stopped short, remembering her promise not 
 to reveal what had been told her and her father's voice 
 was heard again. 
 
 " They all talk the same way. You're a headstrong 
 girl and delight in going contr'y to what I tell you. 
 You'll be just like Marian if you keep on." 
 
 Victor did not mean to listen, but unless he stuffed 
 something into his ears he could not help hearing. The 
 night was so perfectly still that every sound was clear 
 and distinct. 
 
 "I'm not going to stay and hear you abuse Marian," 
 said the girl, in a voice that contained a half sob. 
 " You drove her away, as you are trying to drive me. 
 This gentleman is going in the morning, and probably 
 I'll never set eyes on him again.'' 
 
 " Gentleman! A tramp, from no one knows where! 
 Well, keep on! Have your own way. We'll see the 
 end of it some time." 
 
 A door closed, small feet were heard ascending the 
 stairs, and a stifled sound as of suppressed tears was 
 wafted through the thin partition. 
 
 Victor went to sleep at last, but two questions 
 haunted his dreams: 
 
 Who was Marian and what had Marian done?
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 JAKEY AND THE " CIRKIS." 
 
 THE sun was high in the heavens when Victor 
 avvoke, and he sprang from his bed with a guilty feel- 
 ing that he had been neglecting a duty. As long as he 
 stayed on the ranch he should attend to the milking 
 at least, to carry out the character he had assumed. 
 When he descended he sa\v Mr. Gardner coming from 
 the stable with the full pails in his hands and anything 
 but a pleasant expression on his face. Not wishing 
 to meet him in these circumstances, Victor walked in 
 the other direction and found a more agreeable coun- 
 tenance turned toward his in bright expectation. Elsie, 
 to put him at ease, spoke first. 
 
 " I knew you were tired from your your walk, and 
 there was no need of waking you. But isn't it a lovely 
 morning! I should think those fleecy clouds meant to 
 give us a shower if I hadn't been disappointed so often. 
 "What is the exact time? " 
 
 He drew out the watch, and on opening it burst into 
 a laugh. 
 
 " It's only half-past four! Not so very late, after 
 all. I must have forgotten to wind it. I'm afraid I 
 wouldn't be a very valuable assistant on a ranch, I for- 
 get so many things. I'm sorry, though, that your
 
 56 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 father had to do the milking. And he not well," 
 he added, after a pause. 
 
 A strange look which he did not know how to in- 
 terpret crossed the bright face of the girl. 
 
 " I ought to have learned, myself, long ago," she 
 said. " There'll be trouble some day, if he really does 
 get too sick to do it, and no one to take his place. 
 Perhaps," she smiled up into his face, " perhaps you 
 would teach me?" 
 
 " You don't seem just made fora ranch girl." 
 
 Her eyes glistened. 
 
 " You mean I seem good for something better? " 
 
 " Something very much better. And I don't think 
 independent positions the best things for women. I 
 think the right destiny for you is to become the wife 
 of a good man not a ranch owner, either; somebody 
 who lives in a town, let us say." 
 
 She shook her head, as if refusing an offer that had 
 actually been presented in due form. 
 
 " I've thought all about marriage. Ma's experience 
 is always before me. It's not been a success in her 
 case, at least. You know what an invalid she is, never 
 able to leave her room, just waiting for the end as 
 patiently as she can. Well, it was my little brother 
 who did that, to begin with. And when she seemed 
 recovering somewhat and we had hopes there was 
 oh, no! I .shall never marry. I've seen too much of it." 
 
 "Ain't you goin' to ( have no breakfast to-day?" 
 came her father's harsh voice from the house door. 
 " Folks what's bin up an' workin' are hungry, whether 
 them what's done nothin* is, or not."
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 57 
 
 The young people moved at once toward the sound. 
 Elsie whispered that her guest, for so she had come 
 to consider him, must not mind her father's ways, and 
 that she hoped he would be drawn into no controversy 
 at the table. This turned out to be an easy injunction 
 to obey, as Mr. Gardner ate the meal in silence, stuff- 
 ing the food into his mouth, with the evident intention 
 of carrying out the old proverb to "let his victuals 
 stop" it. There were boiled eggs, coffee, some chicken 
 warmed over, hot muffins and fruit. A farmer may 
 not have mu-ch money in his pocket, but his family 
 usually can get enough to eat. 
 
 Mr. Gardner left the table before the others, and 
 young Jacob, who had been as taciturn as his father, 
 speedily followed him out of the room. 
 
 " I think I'd best start on my walk to Olluma," said 
 Mr. Hall. " Indeed, I meant to go still earlier, when I 
 retired last night. With the rest that I need at noon, 
 in the heat of the day, I shall hardly arrive before sun- 
 set. Let me thank you heartily for the kindness you 
 have shown to a perfect stranger, and to express the 
 hope that you will permit me, .some day when I have 
 bettered my circumstances, to return and make you a 
 call." 
 
 " I shall be very glad to have you. I wish you could 
 stay longer now." 
 
 " I'm afraid it won't do. I ought to reach Olluma 
 to-night. If all goes well there I shall be at the end of 
 my tramping for the present." 
 
 " It's awfully lonely here," said the girl, In a low 
 tone. " It's a real kindness to have some one come.
 
 58 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 I don't want you to think of it in any other way. You 
 were so good, too, to help with the milking. Well," 
 she added, choking down her disappointment, " if you 
 must go, you must." 
 
 She left him abruptly, afraid that he would see a tear 
 that lurked in a corner of her eye, and which she was 
 trying in vain to restrain. Victor went to his room 
 again, washed his hands, brushed his hair and, mutter- 
 ing to himself that he would be glad when he got once 
 more into touch with his baggage, descended. 
 
 Ah Wing came to the kitchen door with a little pa- 
 per parcel, tied with a piece of blue tape. Victor stared 
 at it sharply and uttered an audible exclamation. It 
 looked for all the world like the package of securities 
 that had been taken from Mr. Morse's safe or at 
 least that Mr. Keith and he had seen there. 
 
 " Miss Else puttee up lunchee," said Ah Wing. 
 " She tellee me say good-by. She gone up stair and 
 no come down now." 
 
 His first inclination was to refuse the gift; it made 
 him look more like a beggar than ever, and he did 
 not want to lower himself in her eyes. On second 
 thoughts he accepted it and telling Wing to express 
 his gratitude, went down the path to the high road 
 with it in his coat pocket. 
 
 A little way >off in the direction he was to travel he 
 saw a small figure which he had no difficulty in rec- 
 ognizing as that of Master Jacob Gardner. The lad 
 was sitting disconsolately by the roadside, and on a 
 nearer approach it was seen that his face was grimy
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 59 
 
 wvtft lurrows A a: silly a combination of tears and fist 
 pokes could give. 
 
 " Wliy, Jacob," asked Victor, " what is the matter? " 
 
 It was some time before anything like an intelligible 
 answer could be obtained, though many sounds that 
 seemed intended as a reply to the question came from 
 the small mouth. At last Mr. Hall thought he dis- 
 tinguished the word " Cirkis." 
 
 "Circus?" he repeated. "What about the circus, 
 Jacob?" 
 
 The little fellow took his fists from his face and 
 jerked one of them toward the side of the barn nearest 
 to them. Following the direction, Victor saw that 
 gaudy posters emblazoned with representations com- 
 mon to circus troupes covered a large area. 
 
 " Where's the circus going to be? " he asked, grad- 
 ually coming to the point he wanted. 
 
 " Brayt'n." 
 
 "Is it to-day?" 
 
 " 'Morrer." 
 
 " Well, you're going, I suppose? " 
 
 Out of the torrent which followed this suggestion 
 Victor gathered, little by little, that Jakey had set his 
 heart on seeing the show, and that now, when it was 
 right at hand, his sister had told him that she could not 
 let him have the money. 
 
 It was Elsie again at the head of affairs. She was 
 both the man and the woman of the little household, 
 evidently. 
 
 "Elsie doesn't object to circuses, does she?" asked
 
 60 STRANGER THAN FICTIOK., 
 
 Victor. "It** just because she don't think the can 
 
 afford it? " 
 
 " That's all. Lasit year an' the year afore we went 
 tergether. An' this year it don'/t rain an' we don't have 
 nothin'." 
 
 " Well, Jacob, I think I see a way out of this. How 
 much will it cost to see the show? " 
 
 " Two bits, fer a kid like me; four bits fer grown 
 folks." The boy was brightening wonderfully, and 
 his face began to glow with expectation. 
 
 "Two bits, four bits?" repeated the young man, 
 slowly. He had not yet become accustomed to this 
 method of reckoning money. " That must be a quar- 
 ter of a dollar, and fifty cents. Jacob, do you think 
 you could keep a secret? " 
 
 " Yasser." 
 
 " Then take this" (handing him a small piece of gold) 
 " and scamper over to Brayton tomorrow morning as 
 early as you can. Get two tickets for your father and 
 Elsie, and one for yourself, for the afternoon. Ask for 
 reserved seats; they'll cost a little more, but never 
 mind. When you show them to your sister just say 
 a man gave them to you. Don't tell her it was I. If 
 you can't promise I won't let you have the money 
 at all." 
 
 Jacob readily promised and took the gold piece in 
 his hand, as if he was afraid it would be taken from 
 him. The value of the coin was two dollars and a 
 half. 
 
 " Yer ain't no tramp! " was the 'boy's comment, as
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 6t 
 
 he stepped back and eyed the traveller suspiciously. 
 " What are yer, a robber? " 
 
 The thought did not seem to lower the stranger as 
 much as might be expected in the small brain. In- 
 deed, to Master Jacob a robber was a sort of stage 
 hero, to be regarded in much the same light as a circus 
 rider or a lion tamer. 
 
 " We've got one secret together, Jakey," said Mr. 
 Hall, " and we may as well have another. So I'll tell 
 you just between ourselves, mind I'm not a robber. 
 I'll even tell you a third one, but you mustn't breathe 
 it for the world; I think your mister Elsie one of the 
 prettiest and nicest girls I ever saw." 
 
 Too late he saw the angry flame kindling in the eyes 
 of the dirty-faced lad. With every appearance of un- 
 trollable anger, Jacob, his face convulsed and his fists 
 clenched, threw the gold coin in the -dust at Victor's 
 feet. 
 
 " Damn yer! " That was only the beginning. The 
 curses flew from the little mouth. " If I was big 
 enough I'd lick yer so yer couldn't stand. I'd kill yer! " 
 The boy backed away and sought a sizable stone, fail- 
 ing which, he picked up a hard lump of earth and 
 threw it with such accuracy of aim that only a quick 
 jump saved Victor from receiving it 'full in the face. 
 Then, fearing punishment, Jacob ran as fast as his 
 diminutive legs could carry him in the direction of 
 home. 
 
 Much disturbed and at first not realizing- how he had 
 managed to give so much offence, Mr. Hall debated 
 whether it was best to return to the Gardner house and
 
 62 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 make his explanations and apologies to Miss Elsie. 
 After reflection he decided that this might only make 
 matters worse, and turned regretfully toward his des- 
 tination. 
 
 He walked rapidly, for a torrent had begun to seethe 
 in his bosom, swollen from many little streams beside 
 ithe one that had just joined it. The way was dusty, 
 the sun came out hot and strong, but he had youth 
 and health and felt no weariness. The god of day was 
 in the zenith when he came to a small apology for a 
 hotel and concluded to stop there for lunch. But be- 
 fore he had ordered the meal he remembered the pack- 
 age in his pocket and seeking a quiet corner removed 
 its wrappings. 
 
 There were sandwiches, and cake, and fruit, just the 
 kind of lunch he might have expected. His face soft- 
 ened as he looked at the articles and thought of the 
 little fingers that had prepared them for him. There 
 was a napkin, too a real cloth napkin and some 
 pepper and salt mixed, in a piece of brown paper. And 
 there was something else, an envelope with a note in- 
 side! 
 
 " I hope you won't think me bold in writing this," 
 said the note, "but I know few people outside of 
 my own little world, and I think you may be able to 
 aid me, with no loss to yourself. I knew long before 
 you came that life on the ranch was not the existence 
 for me that I must seek another when I could do so 
 without neglecting those who depend on me. My es- 
 cape will not be by the gate of matrimony, which so
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 6$ 
 
 often leads to a harder lot than the one forsaken. All 
 I ask, when my family can spare me, is 'to live and work 
 somewhere among people instead of on a back road 
 where not even one wagon passes sometimes in a day. 
 I want to get a little education too not a grand one, 
 just enough so I won't be ashamed when I meet ordi- 
 nary folks. If you will kindly write me, when you get 
 settled and have time, sending your address so I may 
 know how to reach you that is all I have to ask. 
 Again I say, please don't think me torward. I am like 
 a girl on an island, which ships only pass once in a 
 long time, and I have to wave my handkerchief to the 
 first one I see. Of course, as I told you, if you can 
 come out here any time, you will be very, very wel- 
 come." 
 
 Victor Hall sat still for some minutes, and then pro- 
 ceeded to rearrange the parcel exactly as he had found 
 it. He tied it up with the ribbon, everything inside, 
 even to the letter for that he knew by heart and put 
 the package back in his pocket. Presently he went to 
 order a meal prepared and after eating it and taking 
 another rest, resumed his walk. 
 
 The sun was setting as he entered the town of Ol- 
 luma and inquired his way to the hotel. As he gave 
 his name the clerk said, " There's some baggage here 
 for you, Mr. Hall. Shall I send it to your room?" 
 
 Thankful for a chance to change his apparel, Vic- 
 tor responded in the affirmative. After a bath and an 
 entire alteration of garment he came down to supper. 
 As it was not quite ready he procured some stationery 
 and wrote the following brief note to Miss Gardner:
 
 64 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 Dear Miss Elsie : A thousand thanks for your 
 thoughtful parcel and communication. My address is 
 simply, " V. Hall, Olluma," and anything sent to me 
 here will be received and answered. 
 
 I had the misfortune to say something which 
 wounded the feelings of your small brother just as I 
 was leaving this morning to my intense regret. Lest 
 he should have injured me in your esteem by giving an 
 unfair version I must assure you he had no cause for 
 anger. However, I shall not hold any feeling against 
 the little chap. I was only sorry that such a pleasant 
 visit as I made at your house should be marred in any 
 way at its close. 
 
 Your request is granted in advance. I shall be de- 
 lighted to place myself at your service in any way 
 agreeable to you, either now or at a future time. 
 
 With great respect, your Obt. Servt., 
 
 V. HALL. 
 
 After supper he thought it best not to visit -the gen- 
 tleman who was expecting him before the next day, 
 and being tired and sleepy he was soon in dreamland.
 
 4TRANGEK THAN FICT1OM. 6$ 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 " IT WAS ELSIE AT THE GATE." 
 
 " 1 HAVE received your letter, my dear Keith, and 
 after some dyspeptic qualms have succeeded in digest- 
 ing its contents." So wrote Mr- Hall to his friend. 
 " To say that the dose is unpalatable can hardly sur- 
 prise you. That I had been expecting some such out- 
 come, sooner or later, you know well. If you ask 
 what, in my opinion, had best be done about it, I can 
 only say that I have no faith that the culprit will be de- 
 tected. He had a chance to lay his plans too deeply. 
 The property is gone. I question if the shrewdest 
 ' sleuthhound ' you can put on its track will get so 
 much as a scent of it. (No pun intended.) 
 
 " I have secured the sort of position I wanted in the 
 office of a lawyer here, a Mr. Whiteley, and am doing 
 my best to fit myself for an attorney at the California 
 bar. As I have got to make my way in the world, 
 perhaps it is best the confounded inheritance I was 
 never to inherit is off my mind. As, for some time at 
 least, I can hope to earn no income, and as my means 
 are rather straitened, I may have to accept your kind 
 offer and ask a small loan for old acquaintance' sake. 
 I do not want anything now, but when T do I shall
 
 66 STRANGER THAN FICTION,. 
 
 write freely. I calculate that $1,000 all told will see 
 me to solid ground. 
 
 " It is folly to waste good money on Morse. A 
 quiet eye on his movements by a non-professional like 
 yourself may succeed in tracing something, after his 
 first scare is over, but I fear not. No, I shall not think 
 of returning. With my impetuous disposition I might 
 get myself into the lockup, fogetting the ' other cheek ' 
 business. 
 
 " This is a great country out here. I can make my 
 fortune, as others have done, and you will see me do 
 it, too. I shall think no more than is necessary about 
 the past. My face is toward the morning, which in 
 this case happens, oddly enough, to be in the direction 
 of the setting sun." 
 
 A few weeks later an answer came from Mr. Keith: 
 " I am delighted that you are in such good spirits. I 
 feared all sorts of things. I send you a newspaper 
 with the latest phase of the robbery dished up by an 
 ingenious reporter. I might as well confess, how- 
 ever, that my opinion of the matter is very much like 
 your own. I shall keep an eye out for your inter- 
 ests and if I see a place to strike I shall strike hard. 
 In the meantime it may be well to follow your advice 
 and disarm suspicion. I have been questioned about 
 your address, but pretend ignorance. You will no- 
 tice that the postmark on this letter is from another 
 town." 
 
 And several months later still, in another letter, oc- 
 curred these words: " Our friend Morse is certainly a 
 peculiar chap. He called on me yesterday and left
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 6? 
 
 his check to cover the dividends on the stolen bonds, 
 for the quarter just over, saying he hoped to make the 
 entire amount good one of these days and would keep 
 up the interest in the meantime. He left the money 
 in my hands in your absence, thinking I might in some 
 way hear from you; so you can have it whenever you 
 please and will not be obliged to borrow. From the 
 standpoint of believing that he robbed his own safe 
 which is still my opinion, notwithstanding what has 
 transpired I think he is rather cunning in the course 
 he has taken. However, it would be folly to refuse 
 what we can get and I shall continue to take anything 
 he brings and hold it subject to your orders. 
 
 " By the way, I meet Miss Fulton frequently and 
 she never fails to inquire if I have had a letter from 
 you. She looks very anxious, and I fancy is grow- 
 ing pale. I hope you did not leave her with any false 
 expectations. A man must 'be above board in his 
 dealings with women." 
 
 These letters disturbed the young law student, but 
 he bit his lips and stuck to his legal library. To offset 
 them he had, not only one, but several letters from a 
 certain young miss near Brayton, with whom he was 
 an established and regular correspondent. Her first 
 communication was in answer to the one he sent her 
 on the night of his arrival, and showed that no breach 
 had occurred in her sentiments on account of his col- 
 lision with her small brother. Subsequent ones were 
 devoted to doings on the ranch and the writer's aspira- 
 tions for a life outside its confined area, not omitting 
 hopes for Mr. Hall's success in all things.
 
 68 STRANGER THAN FICTION, 
 
 me newspaper v^ich, according to Mr. Keith, con- 
 tained something of interest in relation to the missing 
 securities, never arrived, and after inquiring at the 
 post several times, Mr. Hall dismissed the matter from 
 his mind. He thought if it was anything of especial 
 value Mr. Keith would have dwelt more upon it. 
 
 When June arrived, Victor thought of a vacation 
 and the Gardner ranch occurred to him as an eminently 
 proper place at which to spend it. He wrote a letter, 
 half serious, half jocose, to Elsie, inquiring if her folks 
 ever took summer boarders, and saying he would be 
 glad to help out with the milking or any other light 
 work, besides paying a reasonable sum for accommo- 
 dation. Her answer came as soon as the mails could 
 bring it, declaring that he would be more than wel- 
 come and that anything like pecuniary payment was 
 not to be thought of. If he could put up with the 
 frugal table and poor quarters on the ranch they were 
 entirely at his disposal. She added that she had con- 
 sulted her mother about the matter and that Mrs. 
 Gardner seconded her invitation warmly. 
 
 It was evidently not necessary to consult her father 
 or Master Jacob, otherwise the verdict might have 
 been different. But Victor hoped by management to 
 disarm the opposition of both these personages in time. 
 
 He hired for little more than an agreement to take 
 good care of it, a fair horse, buggy and harness, and 
 drove over the road on which he had tramped to Ollu- 
 nra in the preceding January. A mile on the hither 
 side of the farmhouse he saw a small figure by the side
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 09 
 
 of the road, which as he came closer he recognized a 
 
 Jakey. 
 
 " Hallo! " exclaimed Mr. Hall. " I thought it was 
 you. Jump in and ride. I'm going straight to your 
 house." 
 
 " Nobody wants yer there," came from between the 
 set lips. " Yer'd better turn your horse 'round and 
 go home." 
 
 "Well, that's not very hospitable! You shouldn't 
 keep up your spite at me for something I meant all 
 right. Get in, that's a good boy." 
 
 Jacob showed no intention of complying with the 
 request. 
 
 " If yer go, it's at yer own risk," he persisted, darkly. 
 " Pa don't like yer, an' he'll let yer find it out, the 
 first thing yer know. They've sot down on him 
 Ma an' Else have but he's made up his mind. An* 
 when Pa get's sot, he's orful." 
 
 It was not a very cheerful outlook. Mr. Hall be- 
 gan to think perhaps he would best not have come. 
 It would not do to back out now, though. In the dis- 
 tance he could see a tiny speck at the house gate that 
 he felt sure was Elsie, who was probably awaiting him 
 with expectancy. 
 
 " I'm much obliged for your advice, Jakey," he said, 
 " but when I'm invited to visit people I must be my 
 own judge about accepting. If you don't care to 
 ride, you needn't; but you may want to take this team 
 alone some time and you'd best keep on the right side 
 of the owner." 
 
 Sc saying he started up his animal and proceeded
 
 JTO STRANGER THAN FICTION,.; 
 
 at a trot, with the parting salutation of the boy ringing 
 in his ears: " You'll wish y' hadn't! Yer'll wish yer'd 
 gone when yer was told." 
 
 Yes, it was Elsie at the gate, and she waved her 
 hand to him as soon as she was quite sure it was he. 
 
 " I'm very glad to see you, Mr. Hall," she said, be- 
 fore he could spring from the wagon. " I was afraid 
 something had detained you. Who were you talk- 
 ing with back there in the road?" 
 
 When he told her it was Jacob she looked worried 
 and expressed a hope that the boy had not said any- 
 thing disagreeable. 
 
 " What made you think he might? " 
 
 (He led the horse to the barn, she following. 
 
 "Oh, he takes such funny fits! This family, as I 
 think you must have noticed, gets broken into two 
 sections sometimes. Jakey always sides with Pa, but 
 Ma and I make a majority." 
 
 " I fear I ought not to stay here unless I can give 
 your father a better opinion of me," he remarked, 
 gravely. " I shall try my best to bring him around, 
 but if I can't possibly " 
 
 "There, there!" she interrupted, "don't begin to 
 threaten, when I've only just got sight of you. I 
 think the best way when folks are unreasonable is to 
 let them sulk it out. The ranch belongs to Ma an' 
 she wants you here." 
 
 He smiled at the casuistry and she took hold with 
 a hand more practiced than his to help unharness. 
 
 " I have thought of a scheme to win your father 
 over," said Mr. Hall, as they walked toward the house.
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. J\ 
 
 "Will you leave the means entirely to me and not 
 complain if I succeed? " 
 
 She nodded wonderingly. Supper was ready, but 
 she made him come to her mother's room for a few 
 minutes, where the invalid added her hopes to those 
 of her daughter that he would enjoy his rest and re- 
 main as long as he found it agreeable. 
 
 Neither Mr. Gardner nor his son came to the table 
 that evening, which disturbed the visitor somewhat. 
 He could hear their low voices on the porch outside 
 and fancied that all sorts of uncomplimentary things 
 were being said about him. Elsie did her best to 
 brighten the meal, keeping him busy in listening to 
 and answering questions. When Victor rose he 
 signed that she should leave him alone for the pres- 
 ent, to give him a chance for his proposed interview 
 with her father. Realizing that even a surly dog is 
 better natured when his stomach is full he strolled off 
 into the field to allow Mr. Gardner to partake of his 
 meal undisturbed. 
 
 It was nearly nine when Elsie, who was waiting 
 anxiously for him, saw her visitor approaching the 
 house and her father walking peaceably by his side. 
 She had been distressed by their long absence to- 
 gether in the direction of the orange grove, for she 
 feared the outcome. 
 
 " Then I can stay with your full consent? " she over- 
 heard Mr. Hall inquire, as her father left him to enter 
 the doorway. 
 
 " Yes. But it is with your solemn promise"
 
 ^2 STRANGER THAN FICTiOrf. 
 
 The voice fell and she could not guess the conclud- 
 ing words. 
 
 "You've made it all right with him!" she cried, 
 when she and Victor were again alone. 
 
 " Yes, Elsie. And you're not to ask questions. 
 I can stay without danger of a quarrel with your re- 
 spected sire, and that, I trust, will be accepted by 
 your guardian angel brother for himself as well." 
 
 " I'm so glad! I was afraid he would induce you 
 to leave us, and I simply couldn't have endured it. 
 I've been so lonely! And I've looked forward to 
 this for so long! " 
 
 " I suppose we ought to be going in," he said, 
 glancing at his timepiece. 
 
 "No, indeed! It was only because Pa wanted to 
 be hateful that he said those things the other time you 
 were here. I'm often up till ten and it's not nine 
 yet. Let us sit down on the bench under that tree. 
 I want to tell you how I first found out you were not 
 a tramp. You remember the gold piece you offered 
 Jakey?" 
 
 He tried to pretend ignorance, but she proceeded: 
 
 " He threw it on the ground because you said some- 
 thing he didn't fancy. He tried to tell me what you 
 said, but I wouldn't let him; I knew it wasn't any- 
 thing that need make him act like that. Well, it 
 seems that after getting over the worst of his temper 
 he went back and picked up that money. He took 
 it in a piece of paper to the arroyo to wash the pollu- 
 tion of your touch from it, and then went over to 
 Brayton with some other boys and had an awful time
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. ?3 
 
 with lemonade and peanuts at the circus. He went 
 both afternoon and evening; and as we didn't know 
 where he was we had a scare before he turned up. I 
 wondered where he got the money and had all kinds 
 of fears till I forced him in the morning to confess 
 the truth. 
 
 " ' And so you took the gentleman's money and 
 spent it after abusing him as you did!' I said. 'It 
 wasn't his money then/ ne retorted; ' It was anybody's, 
 when I found it on the ground, and I had a right to 
 do as I liked with it.' Such an argument! Now, 
 tell me, why did you want to make me think you a 
 beggar when you had gold to throw away on saucy 
 boys?" 
 
 " It came about in a queer way. I had no idea your 
 folks would take me for a tramp till they had done 
 so, and then the joke was funny enough to keep up. 
 I asked if I could get some food, as no hotel came in 
 sight and I was hungry. I expected of course to pay 
 for it. When you all decided I was a tramp I was 
 amused and didn't think it worth explaining." 
 
 "What were you walking for? " 
 
 "Simply because I had overslept in the morning 
 and the stage had gone off without me. I took this 
 road because I was told it was pleasanter and more 
 hilly, just to get the view. And I got one." he added, 
 " that I wouldn't have missed for a great deal." 
 
 Elsie understood and reddened. She was not used 
 to compliments and they tasted sweet to her. Then 
 they talked of various things till he felt it wise to look
 
 74 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 at his watch again. It was past ten now and he sug- 
 gested not she that they should retire. 
 
 When Elsie had locked the door she heard a light 
 step on the porch and went back to open it. It was 
 Jacob, whom she supposed in bed long before. He 
 slid by her and ran up stairs, disdaining to answer 
 the questions she put to him in her astonishment.
 
 STPANGER THAN FICTION. 7$ 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 NEWCOMER TO THE RANCH. 
 
 MR. HALL seemed to get along very well with the 
 Gardner faimily, for some time after this. Elsie liked 
 him, and Mrs. Gardner thought him one of the most 
 agreeable young men she had ever known. Her 
 husband kept his bargain and the reader may as well 
 know the cause. A little arrangement to pay a weekly 
 sum for board and to put the amount into Mr. Gard- 
 ner's hands without letting the others know anything 
 about it, settled the whole business. Gardner had 
 certain wants, largely in the refreshment line, which 
 he had great difficulty in meeting. The purse of the 
 household was kept, of necessity, by the women folks, 
 and, as he brought nothing to the common fund and 
 the treasury was always low, he had been forced to 
 all sorts of measures to gratify his thirst. Now he 
 was to have seven dollars a week, paid in advance, for 
 a month or more. Visions of unlimited stimulants 
 overcame his paternal instincts, and even his natural 
 disposition to oppose anything his wife fancied. 
 
 As Elsie had said, Master Jacob sided with his 
 father in most things, and when he found though he 
 did not know the cause that Mr. Gardner looked 
 with a kindlier eye on Mr. Hall, the boy laid a part
 
 76 STRANGER THATf FICTION. 
 
 at least of his own feelings on the shelf for the pres- 
 ent. He did not speak to the guest, but neither did 
 he throw stones or hard pieces of earth. He accepted 
 the situation for the present, reserving all rights, as 
 the advertisements say, to change his course if at a 
 later time it seemed advisable. 
 
 Among the things that Victor had brought in his 
 wagon was a gun and a box of cartridges, with which 
 he intended to kill something if possible before his 
 vacation was over. There were in the range of moun- 
 tains back of the ranch a few deer, and once in a while 
 the tracks of a puma (mountain lion) were seen. 
 After a few days he began to make excursions in the 
 hope to capture one of these animals, the more dan- 
 gerous preferred. Although he did not succeed in 
 his quest for some time he had the exhilaration of the 
 long tramps and found it a pleasant change from the 
 monotony of ranch life. For, pleasant as his little 
 talks and strolls were with the young daughter of the 
 house, Victor was too active to be able to live by that 
 kind of bread alone. 
 
 One evening he found an unanticipated variation 
 to existence in the Gardner home. As he returned 
 from an unproductive hunt he noticed a new figure 
 on the veranda, that of a young woman of about his 
 own age. She was sitting pensively on a low chair, 
 with her hands clasped together about one of her 
 knees, the leg to which it belonged being crossed 
 easily over the other. Victor's quick glance showed 
 that the girl was of good form and of interesting 
 features. He was of the opinion that she would be
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 77 
 
 an acquisition to the household if, as he hoped, she 
 intended to make more than a temporary stay in it. 
 He walked slower, to keep the vision unaware of his 
 presence as long as possible. When at last the girl 
 noticed his approach she rose as if slightly disturbed 
 and, turning her face from him, entered the house. A 
 moment later Elsie came out and greeted him. It was 
 easy to see that she had been weeping, though she 
 had evidently tried to remove all traces of tears from 
 her eyes. 
 
 He looked rather than spoke the natural inquiry. 
 
 " Oh, it's Marian," she said, in a low tone. 
 
 "Ah!" 
 
 " My sister, who has been away for some time." 
 
 ' I didn't know you had a sister." 
 
 " I hardly knew I had, myself," she said, and then 
 seemed sorry for the expression. She wanted to get 
 a little farther from the door, so they would not be 
 overheard. " I don't know how much you care to 
 hear or how much I ought to tell you, but well, the 
 truth is, she went away some years ago on account 
 of father." 
 
 He noticed her reddening cheeks and in a kindly 
 tone said, " Elsie, don't tell me any more. There is 
 no reason I should hear it. Has she come back to 
 live here that's all you need to say." 
 
 " We haven't got as far as that. She only came 
 an hour ago. Ma is failing fast, you know, and 
 Marian is like one of the eyes in her head." 
 
 " It's going to crowd you," he remarked. " I must 
 be occupying her bedroom. I will get a room af
 
 78 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 some house in the neighborhood and come here every 
 day, just the same." 
 
 "The idea! She can sleep with me, can't she? 
 Don't you think of such a thing. I shall feel badly 
 if you speak of it again. Come in now and let me 
 introduce you. Or if you like I'll fetch her out." 
 
 He said it should be as she pleased and she adopted 
 the latter plan, in order not to disturb the invalid, who 
 \vas passing a very nervous day. 
 
 " Air. Hall, my sister Marian." 
 
 Marian had started to extend her hand in welcome, 
 but at the mention of his name she paused abruptly. 
 
 "Mr. Hall!" she repeated, as if much startled. 
 
 "Victor Hall, at your service," he said, at which she 
 grew more confused than ever. 
 
 " Take your seat, Miss Gardner, from which I am 
 afraid I drove you away," he said, realizing, though 
 unable to understand her embarrassment. 
 
 Elsie went into the house to see to the dinner and 
 the couple were left alone. 
 
 " I have been absent from home for some time," 
 Marian said, trying to compose herself, " and find my 
 mother quite ill. The air of her chamber has made 
 me faint, I think. I hope you will excuse my seem- 
 ing lack of cordiality. Do you live in the neighbor- 
 hood, Mr. Hall?"' 
 
 "No, at Olluma; but I am passing a short vacation 
 here with your people. I came from Illinois less 
 than a year ago." 
 
 Again there were signs of disturbance in the young 
 woman's brain. She mastered her emotions with an
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 79 
 
 effort, and turned the conversation to matters con- 
 cerning the weather and the scenery. With much 
 tact he succeeded in making himself agreeable, and by 
 the time they were called to the evening meal they 
 were on easier terms. Marian astonished him by a 
 certain superiority of manners and education to the 
 rest of her family, except possibly the mother. He 
 could hardly connect her in a sisterly capacity with 
 the little wood violet called Elsie or the strange com- 
 pound called Jacob. Did the time she had spent 
 away from the family account for the great difference? 
 If so. she must have learned rapidly. 
 
 "I hope you have come home for a long stay, Miss 
 Marian," he said, when the supper was over and he 
 found himself on the porch alone with her again. 
 
 "You hope so?" she repeated, vaguely. 
 
 " It must be pleasant for you to get back; and I 
 can see that to your sister and mother your return 
 has given much joy." 
 
 She did not seem to have any answer ready, and he 
 branched off on the subjects of scenery and weather, 
 and finally to that of himself, relating with many a 
 merry laugh how he made the acquaintance of her 
 family, when they mistook him for a tramp. 
 
 " The mistake was quite natural," said he, " for I 
 had lost the stage that morning and was covered with 
 dust. Your little sister got me to milk the cow r s, and 
 I even offered to work out my lodging on the wood- 
 pile. When she saw how industrious I was she pro- 
 posed to give me employment on the place till I could 
 get something better to do, and that night I occupied
 
 80 STRANGER THAN FICTION^ 
 
 the room I now have. It was a strange beginning 
 to a charming acquaintance, for I had no friends in 
 California at that time. When I got settled at study- 
 ing law in Olluma I wrote a few letters to Miss Elsie, 
 and when vacation time arrived I secured permission 
 to spend it on this ranch. I am enjoying myself im- 
 mensely, and the only fly in the ointment is the fact 
 that I shall have to return to my books so soon." 
 
 Marian struggled for some moments with a ques- 
 tion that rose to her lips and that she tried in vain to 
 down. At last it came out bluntly: 
 
 " Are you any relation to a gentleman of your 
 name, who lived in Stromberg? " 
 
 " That is where I came from." 
 
 " But, it was not you was it who had the mis- 
 fortune " 
 
 His bright face clouded. 
 
 "To lose my inheritance? Yes." 
 
 " I saw it in the papers," she said, "and when I 
 heard your name it struck me you might be the one." 
 
 She was controlling her voice with difficulty, which 
 did not escape his observation. 
 
 " Let us talk of something else," he said. " To 
 tell the truth I am doing my best to forget everything 
 in connection with that affair. It altered the course 
 of my life, but I am getting used to the changed con- 
 el itions. Ah, here is your sister." 
 
 Elsie looked from one of them to the other, as if in 
 wonder what they had been talking about. Mr. 
 Hall could not yet decide whether the sisters were
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. Si 
 
 especially fond of each other or not. There seemed 
 
 a certain constraint between them. 
 
 " I ought to go in and stay with mother," said Ma- 
 rian, rising. 
 
 " She is asleep/' replied Elsie. " If you are going 
 to be with her all night you may as well get the pure 
 air while you can. I haven't had time to ask you 
 yet how long you expect to stay." 
 
 With a moment of hesitation, Marian answered 
 that she did not know. She would remain as long 
 as she could do any good. Mr. Hall began to think 
 they might wish to talk unhampered by his presence, 
 and asked them to excuse him while he went for a 
 short stroll. There was a full moon that had already 
 risen and the evening was nearly as light as day. 
 
 " I'll go with you, if you want me," Elsie called 
 after him, but he answered that he would only take a 
 few turns up and down the road and return soon. 
 When he was gone the first question that Marian put 
 to her sister was concerning him. 
 
 " Don't you think it a little forward, dear, to invite 
 yourself to accompany a man on a moonlight walk? " 
 
 "Now, stop!" cried Elsie, deeply wounded. "It 
 sounds too much like things you used to say to me 
 when I was a little girl. You went off and left me to 
 manage things and I'm running them my own way. 
 Just because you've taken a fancy to come back for 
 awhile, don't think you can lord it over those who've 
 stayed at home." 
 
 There was not the least bit of anger in the tone, but 
 a quiet determination that counted for much more.
 
 82 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 Marian thought the matter sufficiently important to 
 speak upon it a little further. 
 
 " Don't be cross, pet. Mr. Hall has been telling 
 me how he made your acquaintance. He seems a 
 pleasant young gentleman, and I think you would 
 like to retain his esteem. Men notice it when girls 
 act too fond of their company. If he had asked you 
 to go, I should not have said a word." 
 
 Elsie's anger had already vanished and, drawing 
 her chair nearer to her sister, she slipped one arm 
 around her neck. 
 
 " Tell me all you've been doing, Mannie," she said, 
 coaxingly. 
 
 " There's not much I can tell, Elsie. You know 
 the trouble between me and father. I took up the 
 side of Paul, and after that he gave me no peace. I 
 am sensitive and couldn't bear the things he said, nor 
 could I reply to him in the same kind of language. I 
 talked it over with mother and she admitted that I 
 might as well go. I knew it was hard for her, but I 
 had great hopes and thought I would be able to earn 
 something to help the rest of you, besides taking off 
 the burden of my support. I know you've thought 
 I was to be envied, but the world is not such a charm- 
 ing place as it looks from a distance. It is hard and 
 cold and sometimes cruel. When I got your letter 
 telling how mother was sinking it was no sacrifice to 
 return. I went away with almost nothing and I've 
 come back with a little to help out her small store." 
 
 The stillness of the summer night enveloped the 
 two girls and no sound broke the silence till the 
 younger spoke again.
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 83 
 
 "You seem so different, Mannie; so much older 
 and wiser " 
 
 " I am older and hope I am wiser, dear." 
 
 " And so much better educated. Have you been 
 to school since you went away?" 
 
 " Yes, I have been at school. I have learned many 
 things," was the dreamy response. 
 
 " If you worked all day you must have got your 
 education at a night school? " 
 
 Marian nodded in confirmation. The sisters' 
 cheeks were touched lovingly together. 
 
 " I don't want you to go away again," said Elsie. 
 " It was awfully lonesome here, before Mr. Hall 
 came." 
 
 " After he went, I think," smiled the other. " After 
 he came and went again, that was when you began 
 to notice the difference, wasn't it? " 
 
 Elsie flushed and turned away her face. 
 
 " I knew you would think something like that," she 
 said, " but it's not so. I'm not one of your fall-in- 
 love girls. I've seen enough of marriage. He's a 
 real gentleman and I like him, but that's all. And 
 it's all there ever will be." 
 
 A dark little form could be seen down by the fence, 
 crouched on the ground, and both the girls noticed it 
 at the same time. 
 
 " If you've got any influence with Jakey I wish 
 you'd try to make him use my company decent," 
 Elsie said, as she realized the situation. " He began 
 by throwing things at Mr. Hall, and then by saucing 
 him; and now he spies on every step he takes."
 
 84 STRANGER THAN FICTION* 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 " YOU JEST LET ELSE ALONE." 
 
 MR. HALL'S vacation came to an unwelcome end, 
 both to him and to the Gardner girls. For Marian had 
 learned to like him and knew she would miss him from 
 the little circle. Her uneasiness in his presence gave 
 way to an entirely opposite feeling. She grew to re- 
 gard him as a sort of big brother, and he seemed to 
 entirely reciprocate this sentiment. 
 
 " There's one thing you might do for me before you 
 go," said Elsie to her guest a week before the day set 
 for his departure. " You might teach me to load and 
 fire that rifle of yours and leave it till you come again. 
 I don't suppose there's much game running around 
 in Olluma, and you won't need it there." 
 
 " With pleasure," he answered, " but I must warn 
 you in advance that it is not a weapon to be trifled 
 with. It is apt to kick pretty hard, sometimes, unless 1 
 you are very careful when you put it to vour shoulder. "j 
 
 The girl laughed merrily. 
 
 " It will be no new experience to me. I'm quite used 
 to things that kick I've had a father and a young 
 brother, you know." Then she seemed repentant at 
 having said so much and her brow clouded. " Really, 
 Mr. Hall, when you come to think of it, we ought t<?
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 85 
 
 have some kind of a weapon here 'Marian and I 
 alone as we are, so far from any settled neighborhood. 
 All the tramps that come along may not be as agree- 
 able as you were, and the sight of a steel barrel has 
 been known to be of value." 
 
 So Victor took the rifle and showed her how it was 
 loaded, and the right way to take aim. He stood by 
 her side when she fired her first shot at a live oak, and 
 though she missed it at fifty feet distance, he said that 
 was by no means remarkable. He got an old news- 
 paper and pinned it to the trunk and made her try 
 again, till at last, to her great pride, she tore a hole in 
 one corner, and began to consider herself a marksman 
 of merit. When she held the gun a little too lightly 
 against her shoulder and uttered a slight cry of pain 
 as the smoke cleared away, he rubbed the sore spot so 
 gently that she was not sorry for the accident. Before 
 the trial was over for the day she had made sufficient 
 improvement to justify his prediction that she would 
 yet become an expert. 
 
 He thought it best to suggest to Marian that she 
 take a few lessons in the same line, and took equal 
 pains to show her the points of the weapon. The girl 
 had even better success at the start than her sister, and 
 he declared that she would make a genuine hunter if 
 she kept at it. 
 
 " You have decided to remain at home for some 
 time, I understand?" he added, in an interrogative 
 form. Elsie had gone into the house. 
 
 " Of course I would not leave mother in her pres- 
 ent condition. Even if she is taken from us, I don't
 
 86 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 See how I would be justified in going at once. When 
 I went before," she seemed to cthink a defence for that 
 proceeding necessary, and yet did not know how to 
 make it, " there were special reasons. Elsie had 
 mother to direct her, and they got along very well 
 without me. If she is left without her guidance it will 
 be quite another thing. I shall either 'have to break 
 up the home and take her with me, or stay and make 
 the best of it. Father is so, so helpless, you know, 
 he could do nothing without her; and my little brother 
 is only a child. I shall have to stay," 
 
 After her life in a more thickly settled community 
 the ranch was evidently not the place she would have 
 chosen; duty was at war with inclination. He formed 
 an enhanced estimate of her character on the spot. 
 
 " It is a pity you have no older brother " he began, 
 and wondered why she started at the words. " I would 
 be glad to fill that position to the best of my ability," 
 he continued, in a bantering, yet half serious tone, " if 
 you lived near Olluma. You have all been so kind 
 that I shall miss you terribly when I go back to my 
 law office." 
 
 She asked him, after a pause, how soon he would be 
 admitted to practice and if he intended to stay in Ol- 
 luma when he was a full-fledged member of the bar. 
 And he told her that he would reach that distinction 
 within a year and that Mr. Whiteley, in whose office 
 he was studying, had already offered him a partnership 
 when that time came, which he thought he should ac- 
 cept. He liked California and believed his future was 
 to be connected with that State.
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 87 
 
 " What will be your specialty, for I suppose you will 
 have one? " s'he inquired. 
 
 " Ob, I mean to seek a general practice. One can 
 hardly divide it into specialties in a place no thicker 
 settled than Olluma. I shall try to thoroughly book 
 myself on the land and mining laws, for one thing, but 
 if my services are sought by some chap who wants the 
 scales of justice tipped a bit in his favor I shan't refuse 
 my aid at least, if he has enough money to pay my 
 fee. If any one in this family breaks the laws, though, 
 I promise in advance to defend you gratis," he con- 
 cluded, with a smile, which she did not seem to appre- 
 ciate. 
 
 " I want you to send me a few books, so that I can 
 teach Elsie," said Marian, as they walked toward the 
 house. " You know what she needs. Send the bill 
 with them and I will remit the money. I don't know 
 any too much myself, but the poor child will grow up 
 in absolute ignorance unless I make an effort. If the 
 crop should be good this year I would like to send her 
 to a boarding school. She is a bright girl, if I do say 
 it, and fond of reading." 
 
 He endorsed this statement warmly. 
 
 " A very bright girl. And a very sweet one," he 
 said. 
 
 The one of whom they were speaking met them at 
 the door and asked smilingly what they had found so 
 interesting to talk about. She had watched them from 
 the window after the firing was ended. 
 
 " We were talking about you principally," responded 
 Mr. Hall. " Your sister was saying that you were a
 
 88 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 very bright girl, and I was adding that you were a very 
 sweet one beside. Now don't get puffed up with pride, 
 for we may both be mistaken. I am going to send 
 down some school books for you and expect you to 
 be fitted for the University by the time I come next 
 year." 
 
 " You aren't going to stay away from us as long as 
 that! " 
 
 There was almost a wail in the young voice. 
 
 " You may find me in your Christmas stocking, if 
 you hang it in the right place and look very sharp," 
 he said, brightly. " It can only be for a day or two, 
 though. I'll try and make a brief visit if you decide 
 you really want to see me and say as much through 
 the mail." 
 
 His good-by to Mrs. Gardner was affecting. Feel- 
 ing that she might never see him again in this world 
 she took the opportunity to commend her loved ones 
 to him and to express the hope that when he found 
 them motherless he would exercise what care over 
 them he was able. He took the usual course of say- 
 ing the things he did not believe, in relation to her 
 prospects of improved health, and predicted that she 
 would be sitting up to welcome him when Christmas 
 arrived. On leaving the room he stooped and kissed 
 the pale forehead and felt a renewed conviction that 
 Azrael hovered very near the lowly roof. 
 
 Mr. Gardner, who had kept his agreement to treat 
 his guest good-naturedly (which as he had been in- 
 toxicated most of the time during his stay, was not
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 89 
 
 difficult), shook hands with him and said he was sorry 
 he was going. 
 
 Mr. Hall made a last effort to be reconciled with 
 [Master Jacob, seeking him out in the barn for that 
 purpose. 
 
 " I'm off for Olluma to-day, Jakey," said he, " and 
 I'm not coming back till Christmas. What do you 
 want me to bring you then a pair of skates or a 
 sled?" 
 
 " Nothin'," was the short answer and the boy's eyes 
 were bent sullenly on the barn floor. 
 
 " You're determined to keep on hating me, are 
 you? Now, that's very foolish. I told Elsie exactly 
 what I said when you got angry with me, and she didn't 
 think it was anything to cause such feelings." 
 
 " She's a fool! " snapped the lad, his eyes looking up 
 
 at last and flashing. " She's a d d fool; but / ain't! 
 
 I'm growin' older every day, too, an' bigger, an' when 
 I'm your size, jest you look out! " 
 
 "Oh, pshaw!" was the only reply Mr. Hall could 
 make. 
 
 "Pshaw! You don't know us Gardners! My 
 brother did up a man bigger' n you when he wa'n't six- 
 teen, an' I'm ten now! If you don't want no trouble, 
 keep away, that's what you do! " 
 
 Here was a revelation! His brother? Victor had 
 never heard there was another son in the family. He 
 could understand, if what Jakey said was so, why there 
 had been no effort to give him that information. Per- 
 haps this secret was the cause of Marian's trouble with 
 her father. He would have liked to know all about it.
 
 90 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 but he could not ask questions of either of the other 
 members of the family, and he did not dream of in- 
 quiring of neighbors whose houses he must pass on 
 his homeward drive. If the matter at which Jacob 
 hinted had been before the courts, perhaps Mr. White- 
 ley would know; and yet he did not like to ask him, 
 either. 
 
 " Well, Jakey," he said, as he turned away, " if you 
 won't take a Christmas present from me, perhaps you 
 might find one hanging on a tree around the yard 
 when the 25th of December comes. If gold pieces can 
 be picked up by the side of the road, a pair of skates 
 or a sled might get out of Santa Claus' sleigh and fall 
 among the branches of a eucalyptus." 
 
 The boy was evidently torn between his tendency 
 to sulkiness and his desire to possess what he was 
 likely to get in no ordinary way. 
 
 " If I found anythin' like that on this place an' it 
 didn't belong to nobody an' nobody couldn't brag 1 
 over me that they give it to me or throw their gener- 
 ousness at my head, I wouldn't let it stay there an' 
 spoil," he said, finally, and with a great effort. " But 
 that wouldn't make no difference with me if I found a 
 man foolin' with my sister and gittin' her stuck on him, 
 jest meanin' to t'row her down." 
 
 The dark suspicion that had been lurking so long 
 in this diminutive brain too young, one would think, 
 to even understand its significance struck Victor 
 Hall like a blow in the chest. 
 
 " I respect and esteem your sisters, Jakey, as much 
 as if they were mine," he said, impressively.
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 9 1 
 
 " Let Else alone, then! " was the retort. " If yerVe 
 got to have any nonsense, why don't yer take the other 
 one. She's used to fellers like you. But yer let Else 
 alone! If yer don't, yer'll wish yer had." 
 
 The small speaker took himself out of the way, leav- 
 ing his auditor more thunderstruck than ever. What 
 did the midget mean! Used to fellows like him! Was 
 there a dark chapter in Marian's history that accounted 
 for her absence from home and the mysterious way in 
 whkh she returned to it? Mr. Hall wished heartily 
 that he had left the ranch without this interview. Sus- 
 picions like these were disagreeable enough without 
 having them fostered by a member of the family. 
 
 And, if it were true, what Jakey had almost led him 
 to believe, was it right to have sweet little Elsie under 
 the influence of such a sister? Marian would be the 
 natural head of the family now, while she remained. 
 The mother w r as sick she could not know. The father 
 was worse than useless in such an emergency. Victor 
 felt troubled exceedingly. He wished he either knew 
 more or had heard less. It was very aggravating just 
 as he was going away. 
 
 It had never occurred to him to set himself up as 
 a protector of innocence and he did not feel entirely 
 fitted to the role. What could he do? He put off his 
 departure one day more, in the hope that something 
 would transpire to relieve the situation.
 
 92 STRANGER THAN FICTION, 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 A BUSINESS MATTER. 
 
 " I WISH you would look into a business matter for 
 me while you are near Brayton," wrote Whiteley to 
 Hall, in a letter that he received the following morning'. 
 " A man named Beal is at work on a gold mine some- 
 where in that section and he tells big stories of his 
 prospects. If half he says is true (of which you must 
 be the judge) I shall try to raise a few thousands to 
 help him push his work. He has reached the end of 
 his small pile and will make any terms." 
 
 In the course of his drives and strolls in the neigh- 
 borhood Mr. Hall had noticed that mining was one of 
 its industries. Inquiries had failed to show that any 
 very rich deposits had been found, but occasionally a 
 hard worker had succeeded in earning big wages. He 
 knew exactly where Beal was digging and it was very 
 likely on account of a talk with him that the miner 
 had addressed his letter to the Olluma lawyer. White- 
 ley was not a capitalist himself, but he might be able 
 to secure the necessary sum to still further work the 
 mine if convinced that there were big profits in store. 
 
 Mr. Beal was tunnelling only a few feet from the 
 boundary line of the Gardner homestead, and after 
 reading the letter Mr. Hall went over and had a long
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 93 
 
 interview with him. According to the owner of the 
 claim, the sum of $5,000 would of a certainty bring 
 fortune to the investor. He backed his statements with 
 certain things in the way of proof, and in response to 
 the direct question offered half of the entire plant for 
 the $5,000 mentioned, or a third of it for the insignifi- 
 cant sum of $1,500. Asked what he would take to sell 
 out entirely he declared that he would live on roots 
 and wear his ringers to the bone before he would dis- 
 pose of more than a half interest. Mr. Hall took sam- 
 ples of ore with him to show to experts and left with a 
 very favorable impression. 
 
 Mr. Gardner, who happened to see him talking to 
 Beal, pooh-poohed at the idea of the man's claim hav- 
 ing more than a nominal value. He said the miners in 
 that section had been at work for years and had 
 averaged less than if they had stuck to the surface of 
 the earth. His opinion was not likely to count for 
 much, however, with the investigator, and Mr. Hall 
 only listened out of politeness while the man rattled on. 
 
 " I wish some fool'd come along an' buy my place," 
 he said. " There's just as likely to be gold under it as 
 any of the others. I'm sick an' tired o' livin' here., out 
 o' the world. You couldn't find some nice, easy berth 
 for me around Olluma, could you? " 
 
 " Nice, easy berths," such as Mr. Gardner seemed 
 to desire, are not very plentiful anywhere in this world 
 and least of all in a growing, pushing California town. 
 Besides, Victor knew that the ranch belonged to the 
 wife, and that she was in no condition to think of
 
 94 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 moving, even if the "fool" sought lor should be found 
 and come forward with his money. 
 
 In the course of a talk that he had with the elder 
 sister, after lunch, Mr. Hall inquired what would prob- 
 ably be her plan of action in the event of her mother's 
 demise. She had led him to introduce the subject by 
 remarking that Mrs. Gardner could live but a short 
 time longer at the farthest. 
 
 " Would you and the others be likely to remain here, 
 in that case? " 
 
 " I don't know," was her dispirited reply. " Mother, 
 ill as she has been for so long, is the band that ties us 
 together. Elsie and Jacob are too young to go off by 
 themselves, and father is as little fitted for it as they. 
 It is my duty to remain with them, wherever they are, 
 though the glimpse I had of a wider life makes it 
 doubly hard." 
 
 " Have you no relations who would take the little 
 sister and see to her for a few years? " he asked, guard- 
 edly. 
 
 " No, we are quite alone." 
 
 " If a chance came to sell the place and move into 
 a town where there are schools?" 
 
 " Oh, in that case I presume \ve would accept it; 
 but it is very unlikely. There is no demand for ranches 
 here. The uncertainty of the rain-fall is the curse of 
 this part of California. The only people who succeed 
 are those who have capital and can afford to wait." 
 
 Her tone was sad and he was extremely sorry for 
 her. 
 
 " Supposing I should learn of some nice family that
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 95 
 
 would give Elsie a home? " he began; but she stopped 
 him by a look. 
 
 " And leave me to bear this alone? No, I could not 
 do that. Besides, I must guard Elsie if I am left in 
 place of her mother. Strangers would not meet the 
 case at all." 
 
 " Have you ever had any other brothers or sisters? " 
 he asked, in what was meant to sound like a casual 
 way. 
 
 A covert glance was shot at his face, and then she 
 answered : " I had one brother, but we lost him some 
 years ago." 
 
 He could not go farther into the subject, much as he 
 wanted to know about it, and he smiled on Elsie as she 
 came to call Marian to attend the invalid. He thought 
 it strange she should take up the very subject that had 
 been in his mind. 
 
 " I have been wondering," she said, " if you couldn't 
 find something for me to do at Olluma. My family 
 used to be well enough off to put such things out of 
 the question, but that's over now, and I don't see the 
 sense of false pride. Marian thinks it would be a reg- 
 ular disgrace to go into a shop, to sell goods, make 
 dresses or trim hats. If you could find a place for me 
 I'd try hard to make her see things as they are. There's 
 no way of making a living for all of us here, and we 
 might as well face the fact." 
 
 He looked sympathetically at the earnest young face. 
 
 " Perhaps she thinks you too young to go off alone," 
 said he. " There are trials and even dangers to which 
 you 'are not subjected at home."
 
 96 STRANGER THAN FICTIOH. 
 
 She moved her chair nearer to his and put one of 
 
 her hands on his knee with perfect confidence. 
 
 " But you would be there. If any trouble came I 
 could go to you with it. I talked with her last night 
 for an hour and spoke about this and she wouldn't 
 hear a word. I believe she thinks I would be a burden 
 to you and doesn't like to impose on good nature." 
 
 " No, Elsie, it is not that. She knows a young 
 man of twenty-three is not considered a suitable chap- 
 eron for a girl of sixteen, when he is no relation to her 
 family." 
 
 " Oh, bother! I guess you and I could take care of 
 ourselves. If I get desperate I shall just tie up some 
 things in a bundle and run away. When Mannie 
 couldn't stand it that's what she did, and now she 
 wants to lecture me! " 
 
 The cheeks flushed and the eyes sparkled with de- 
 termination. 
 
 " Did Marian go alone?" he inquired, gravely. 
 
 " N-no," Elsie made haste to get away from the 
 subject, into which she had been drawn farther than 
 she intended. " Oh, well, I shall stand it as long as I 
 possibly can, and then " 
 
 He understood that when the point indicated arrived 
 there would be a sudden alteration of the young life, 
 nnd he told her in kind tones that she must do nothing 
 without writing to let him know. He was always to be 
 reached in a clay or two, and his advice might be of 
 value. She half promised what he asked and then ac- 
 companied him to the stable. The Mexican they now 
 hired regularly to work about the place helped them
 
 STRANGEB THAN FICTION, 97 
 
 put the horse Mr. Hall had brought into the buggy. 
 She got in with him, to drive up to the house door, 
 where the last good-bys were to be said, and then an- 
 nounced to Marian that she was going to ride just a 
 little way up the road. The sister's face expressed dis- 
 sent from the plan, but she did not like to put her 
 thought into words. Elsie was determined and Mr. 
 Hall uttered his farewells and drove through the gate 
 with her. 
 
 He let the horse walk, being willing to prolong the 
 time, and for some minutes neither uttered a word. 
 
 " I think you will have to get out here," he said 
 at last, drawing in the reins. " It will be quite a walk 
 for you as it is." 
 
 She held up a woebegone face and gasped several 
 times. 
 
 " I wish you hadn't got to go at all," she sobbed. 
 " Or else that I could go, too. I don't know what I 
 shall do without you! " 
 
 " Hush! " he whispered. " You will help take care of 
 thoce you love. And you will study hard in the books 
 I am going to send. And you will practice with my 
 rifle till you can go out by yourself and kill a deer. And 
 you will write me a letter every week. And you will 
 count the days till Christmas, when I am coming 
 again." 
 
 She bit her lips and tried her best to smile, but the 
 gasps came frequently and tears fell from her eyes. 
 
 " I mustn't do this! " she cried, springing from the 
 bug-gy. " I was sure I wouldn't let you see ma cry a
 
 98 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 but it came of its own self. Yes, I'll do as you say. 
 Good-by, good-by!" 
 
 She fairly ran away from him and he started up his 
 horse at a trot. For the next hour he wore almost 
 as sad a face as the one he had left, but the effect grad- 
 ually wore away. He stopped thinking of Elsie and 
 dwelt again on the insinuations he had heard regarding 
 Marian. What could have happened? 
 
 He put together the bits of evidence that had come 
 to him, like parts of a puzzle. Several years before 
 she had suddenly left home. A disagreement with her 
 father over his treatment of a brother was the imme- 
 diate cause. This brother had " done up a man," 
 according to the expressive phrase of Jakey, " when 
 he wasn't sixteen." And the girl had left home Elsie 
 said " not alone " in answer to his question and re- 
 mained away for a long time. Neither the mother nor 
 the younger sister nor any one else had ever mentioned 
 to him that she existed. It was probable that she was 
 to them a thing of the past, and till the last minute they 
 did not expect her to return. 
 
 If 'she had no relations near enough to send Elsie to, 
 it was natural to suppose she had not been spending 
 her long absence with any herself. She had gone away 
 probably with almost nothing in the way of funds 
 and returned with much better clothing than the others 
 of her family could boast. 
 
 Mr. Hall fitted the pieces of the puzzle slowly to- 
 gether, but it was still incomplete. 
 
 She did not leav home alone. With whom did 
 she go?
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 99 
 
 Suddenly it came to him, as natural as anything. 
 Why, she went with the missing brother, of course; 
 the one her father had, to her. mind, ill-treated. 
 
 Where was the brother now? Marian had said he 
 ' was " lost," evidently meaning to convey the idea that 
 he was dead. Victor wondered if this was so. 
 
 When he reached Olluma, Mr. Whiteley listened 
 with interest to the report he had to make about the 
 Beal mine and took the samples of ore to have them 
 assayed. The young student settled down to the work 
 which had accumulated in his absence, only pausing 
 to read the following from Mr. Keith: 
 
 " Morse has brought in another payment on the 
 dividends of the stolen bonds, and it is at your service 
 whenever you choose to write for it. I have nearly 
 $1,000 now from him. His game is just as deep to me 
 as ever. I'm sorry for the young fellow, but there's 
 nothing I can do for him, of course. (" What does 
 he mean by that? " mused Victor.) You covered your 
 tracks well. Nobody here knows were you are, for I 
 am asked frequently. Glad you are satisfied with your 
 place and that you are going into the firm. Your loss 
 may turn out in the end the best thing that could have 
 happened, though I suppose it will be hard to make 
 you see it that way. I met Miss Fulton again yester- 
 day and she made the usual inquiry. She does not 
 look at all well." 
 
 At the end of the week Elsie's first letter since his 
 departure came to brighten his spirits, which any com- 
 munication in reference to the Morse incident always 
 served to dampen. She was feeling better, she said, 
 and looking forward now to his December visit.
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 "THERE WAS ANOTHER, i THINK A SON?" 
 
 THE books Victor had promised for Elsie Gardner 
 were duly sent and he heard from time to time that 
 she was taking great interest in her studies. She 
 hoped to improve so much before he came again that 
 he would see the change. It was evident that a de- 
 sire to stand high in his opinion was her principal rea- 
 son for wishing to acquire an education and that his 
 influence over her was distinctly good. Occasionally 
 a letter came also from Marian, but her manner of 
 addressing him was more formal and business-like. 
 There was nothing in any of the communications, 
 however, to throw light on the mysteries that inter- 
 ested him. 
 
 The investigation which Mr. Whiteley had started 
 into the question of Beal's mine resulted in the for- 
 mation of a company to develop that property. An 
 Eastern gentleman of means who was staying at Ol- 
 luma lent Whiteley and Hall the $5,000 required to 
 secure a half interest, taking their notes instead of 
 stock. He had apparently more faith in their honor 
 than in the prospects of the venture. According to 
 the original understanding this $5,000 was applied to 
 developing and extending the mine.
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. IOI 
 
 It was soon apparent that the schera was likely to 
 
 be a paying one. Mr. Whiteley went out to the place 
 several times and did what business was required, re- 
 turning quite enthusiastic. 
 
 Mrs. Gardner, who had held out wonderfully, suc- 
 cumbed at last to her disease. A brief note from 
 Elsie begging Mr. Hall to come if possible to the 
 funeral, caused him to drop everything and take a 
 drive to the stricken home. 
 
 " Mother wanted so much to see you at the last," 
 said the girl, when the particulars of the more impor- 
 tant story had been related. " The doctor said you 
 could not get here in time or I would have sent for 
 you then. She had a lawyer, though, from Bray- 
 ton, and when he went away he left a package for 
 you. It's about something, I think, that she wanted 
 you to do when she was gone." 
 
 The package, when opened, proved to be the lady's 
 last will and testament. It was brief and simple, 
 giving what she had to Mr. Hall as trustee, to provide 
 for her family as might seem best to his judgment. 
 It made him also guardian of the minor children, in 
 case her husband should be pleased to waive his rights 
 in that respect, as she evidently thought he would be 
 glad to do. 
 
 Victor was staggered for a moment by the weight 
 of the responsibility thrust upon him, as well as affect- 
 ed by the confidence reposed. 
 
 " Do you know what this is, Elsie? " he asked, as 
 she looked into his anxious eyes. " It is your moth- 
 er's will and it asks me to take charge of her estate."
 
 IO2 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 " I'm so glad! " was the impetuous reply. " There's 
 very little to take charge of and it won't be any 
 trouble. I don't think there's much but the ranch 
 left now." 
 
 " But there's something else," he continued. " If 
 your father consents, she wants me to be guardian of 
 you and Jacob during your minority. That's a more 
 serious matter." 
 
 She tried to understand and finally asked him why 
 it was serious. 
 
 "Well, let us take Jakey, for one thing. How do 
 you think he would like to be placed under my au- 
 thority? There'd be trouble from the start. And 
 you, dear; why, I'd make the worst guardian in the 
 world for you. I like you so well you could do just 
 as you liked, which is not the best thing always for a 
 girl of your age. I don't think I can take such a re- 
 sponsibility. There's Marian, now she's more than 
 twenty-one and ought to serve." 
 
 A look of distress crossed the young face. 
 
 " If Ma had wanted Marian she would have put it 
 in the paper," said she. "Don't make up your mind 
 yet. We'll talk it all over together before you go 
 back." 
 
 Mr. Gardner received the visitor coldly and Jakey 
 acted as he had always done. The great loss they 
 had sustained had not had the effect of entirely sooth- 
 ing either of these strange natures. In response to 
 Victor's request to know how he could serve him in 
 this sad emergency, Gardner mumbled that there 
 wasn't a dollar in the house, or if there was the others
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION". 
 
 were keeping it carefully from him. He wante3 a 
 few little things, a black tie and a new pair of shoes, 
 for instance, and if Mr. Hall could lend him the 
 amount " 
 
 Five dollars was at once handed him, with the re- 
 sult that he went to the village and returned the next 
 day without the tie or the shoes, but with full evidence 
 of having drank heavily. Marian sighed when she 
 noticed his condition and begged him with tears not 
 to touch another drop till the funeral was over at least. 
 The father muttered in a sheepfaced way that he had 
 only taken a little medicine to help him bear his sor- 
 row. Before noon she found a pint of whiskey in 
 his room, which she hid and refused to give up when 
 he came to demand it from her. By this means the 
 husband was forced to attend his wife's funeral in a 
 sober if somewhat dazed condition. 
 
 The minister who came to read the service was, with 
 the exception of half a dozen curiosity-mongers, the 
 only outsider there. He was a man of about 27, who 
 had come West for his health and had no settled 
 charge as yet. People called him the "Good Sa- 
 maritan" because he spent so much of his time with 
 the sick and poverty-stricken. He often held meet- 
 ings for religious counsel in out of the way places, 
 schoolhouses on by-roads, and even in open fields. 
 He had paid a number of visits to Mrs. Gardner dur- 
 ing her illness. Though Mr. Hall had heard of the 
 clergyman they had never met till now. 
 
 " Mrs. Gardner spoke much to me about you," said 
 the minister, in a low tone. " It was a great com-
 
 IO4 STRANGER THAN FICTION, 
 
 fort to her, in her last moments, to feel that you would 
 undertake in some measure to fill her place. I should 
 like to talk with you further about this before you 
 return to Olluma." 
 
 The services were brief. Besides reading the for- 
 mal text, Mr. Sewall made a few remarks in excellent 
 taste and prayed fervently for those bereft. The pro- 
 cession to the ce-netery was made in ordinary car- 
 riages, the coffin r:.-ried in a carefully draped box 
 wagon. Nothing FO ambitious as a hearse was yet 
 known in the neighborhood. When it was all over 
 Mr. Sewall returned and partook of a sad supper in 
 the farmhouse. Afterwards he motioned to Victor 
 that he wished he would follow him and they took a 
 little walk together. 
 
 " Have you decided to accept the trust imposed oit 
 you?" asked the minister. "Before you answer, let 
 me say I sincerely trust you have. The little estate 
 left to these helpless people needs the management of 
 a business head, and as far as I can learn no one else 
 has equally their confidence." 
 
 " What would you advise me to do, in case I accept 
 it?" said Victor. "Let matters go on as they are 
 as long as possible, I suppose. There is some kind 
 of a living to be made out of the ranch and it would 
 bring very little if put on the market." 
 
 " Yes, that is the condition that stares them in the 
 face. And yet neither of the young women will want 
 to stay here if they can help it. The elder, as per- 
 haps you know, was gone long enough to feel the
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 105 
 
 loneliness of this life and Miss Elsie chafes under 
 it, too." 
 
 " How lor-' have yon kncwn the family?" inquired 
 Mr. Hall. 
 
 " Merely during the past year." 
 
 " Then you have only been acquainted with Ma- 
 rian since her return?" 
 
 " That is all." 
 
 "Are you sure she will consent to remain?" 
 
 No, the minister was not as sure as he would like 
 to be. The others needed her quite as much as the 
 mother did. She was now the natural head of the 
 house. 
 
 "There was another, I think?" said Mr. Hall. "A 
 son?" 
 
 The clergyman was disturbed by the question. He 
 said, " I believe so," in a tone that convinced the list- 
 ener that he knew all about the matter. There are 
 times when even a man of his calling thinks it best to 
 equivocate. Victor wanted to ask whether this son 
 was still living, but the words would not form them- 
 selves. He did not like to worm a secret from un- 
 willing lips. 
 
 " There is another matter mentioned in the will," he 
 said, to bridge over the dilemma, " about which I am 
 much more disturbed than the trusteeship of the little 
 property. Mrs. Gardner wanted me to act as guard- 
 ian for her younger children. If you had any con- 
 versation with her about that matter I would like 
 you to say, if you can, why she selected so young a 
 man for such an important post."
 
 106 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 Mr. Sewall responded that the reason was the same 
 as in the other case, that of availability and supreme 
 confidence. 
 
 " I don't believe I can accept that, at any rate," 
 said the other, in a worried tone. " If the father con- 
 sents to allow any one to usurp that duty, why should 
 it not be taken by Marian? She is almost as old as 
 I, bright, intelligent, sufficient in every way. The 
 wards are her own brother and sister. I shall do 
 my best to persuade her to accept the appointment, 
 and in any case, unless I change my mind entirely, I 
 must decline it." 
 
 Then something came out that did not clear up the 
 situation at all. Airs. Gardner had had that idea pre- 
 sented to her by Air. Sewall, and had replied with 
 great positiveness that she would not think of Ma- 
 rian in that connection. 
 
 " Well, there is yourself, then," said Air. Hall, with 
 a sudden thought. " You are just the man. If you 
 will take the place of guardian I will accept that of 
 trustee. When the matter comes before the judge 
 I will suggest you to fill the position." 
 
 The idea was not welcome to Air. Sewall, that was 
 entirely evident, but he was a conscientious man who 
 desired to evade no duty. After a little further de- 
 bate he said he would talk with Alarian about it and 
 give a definite reply before the time when the matter 
 would have to be settled. Perhaps one point had 
 best be investigated at once. They could learn Air. 
 Gardner's intentions. 
 
 Returning to the house they found the bereaved
 
 STRANGER TITAN FICTION. IC>7 
 
 husband and father smoking in the kitchen. The 
 Chinese cook had gone out for a visit and Mr. Gard- 
 ner was alone. Carefully they revealed to him the 
 contents of his wife's will and asked what he had to 
 say on the matter. 
 
 " There's no use in my sayin' anything," he replied, 
 after puffing discontentedly at his pipe for some mo- 
 ments. " She might have left the ranch to me, 
 knowin' I would do the right thing by the children, 
 but of course she knew my state of health. I shall 
 look to you, then, Mr. Hall, the same as the rest of 
 'em. You'll see that I have a little ready money, of 
 course. I didn't use to be so hard up, but somehow 
 the world has gone agin' me." 
 
 " I would rather Mr. Sewall would take the guard- 
 ianship of Jacob and Elsie," said Mr. Hall, " leaving 
 nothing to me but the business matters. He is to 
 live near by and can attend to it better than I. Will 
 that be satisfactory to you? " 
 
 Mr. Gardner nodded. It was clear that the only 
 thing that interested him was the source to which he 
 must look for his own income. " A little ready 
 money" that he could invest in liquor was the main 
 point at issue. 
 
 As Mr. Hall was obliged to return to Olluma in 
 the morning the situation was laid before Marian, 
 who had no objections to offer to the arrangement. 
 Indeed, she approved it highly. 
 
 "You didn't want to take charge of Elsie, then?" 
 she said to Hall, with something like surprise in the 
 tone in which she said it.
 
 108 STRANGER THAN FICTION* 
 
 " No, not in that way," he answered, musingly, and 
 the minister and the elder sister exchanged glances. 
 " Of course I will do anything I can to help her, and 
 and all of you but I would rather not have the 
 responsibility." 
 
 Learning on further inquiry that there was little 
 if any cash on hand Victor tendered a temporary loan 
 to Marian, which she reluctantly accepted, saying she 
 would return it as soon as possible. In the morn- 
 ing he bade them all good by for the present, sooth- 
 ing Elsie's grief with tender words as he took his de- 
 parture.
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 109 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 MR. SEWALL TALKS TO MARIAN. 
 
 MR. KEITH wrote occasionally to his friend, giving 
 'the latest news regarding Mr. Morse's movements, and 
 referring sometimes to Miss Felton, who was, it ap- 
 peared, still unmarried and even without any visible 
 sweetheart. These allusions gave Mr. Hall a fit of the 
 dumps, from which he recovered slowly as time passed 
 on. He was, however, much interested in everything 
 that concerned his late trustee, and read 'every word 
 over and over. 
 
 " Morse has been in again with your dividends," said 
 Mr. Keith's letter that came in January, " and I have 
 placed them to your credit. I can't make the fellow out 
 at all. He was reserved enough before, but now he 
 hardly speaks to any one except on necessary business 
 and he has quit attending anything in the nature of a 
 public function. Probably the fear that he will, after 
 all, be discovered hangs like a millstone around his 
 neck. I should not be in the least surprised if he came 
 in some day with a cock-and-bull story about having 
 found the lost property, for I never really believed the 
 other yarn." 
 
 "The other yarn?" Victor wondered what "the 
 other yarn " was. It must have been detailed in that
 
 IIO STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 newspaper account of which Keith had spoken before, 
 that newspaper which never reached its destination. He 
 thought he would write to ask for further details, but 
 something drove the matter from his mind when he was 
 inditing his answer; and, much to the advantage of this 
 history, he never learned what the " other yarn " was 
 for a long time afterward. 
 
 In the meantime a partnership was formed, under 
 the title of Whiteley & Hall, with his associate. Busi- 
 ness came to the new firm enough to keep them pretty 
 busy, and besides this the mine, under the personal 
 charge of Mr. Whiteley, was already paying expenses. 
 The future had begun to look bright for Victor, from 
 a financial point of view. He went occasionally for a 
 day to the home of the Gardners, having been given his 
 papers as executor of the estate, and finding his pres- 
 ence sometimes necessary. A timely succession of 
 showers had brought the orange crop to bearing and 
 for the present the wolf was kept at a reasonable dis- 
 tance from the lowly door. The family remained on the 
 ranch, as formerly, that seeming the wisest disposition 
 of them at present, though the girls chafed at the lone- 
 liness of their position. Mr. Sewall had little to do as 
 guardian of the younger children, but he called often 
 and gave them the benefit of his presence and counsel. 
 It soon became apparent, however, that it was the elder 
 sister who acted as the principal lodestone in his case. 
 
 Under a thinly veiled pretence of consulting with her 
 about the studies which Elsie or Jakey were pursuing, 
 Mr. Sewall had long talks with Marian, which he 
 seemed to find very agreeable. For a time she accepted
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. II f 
 
 his attitude without suspicion, but at last it dawned on 
 her mind that he was becoming more attentive than she 
 thought it the point of wisdom to permit. She began 
 to excuse herself on the plea of various duties from 
 staying with him alone, and when he came to tea or 
 lunch she managed to keep Elsie in the room as much 
 as possible. 
 
 " I don't know how I ever got along without this 
 family," remarked Mr. Sewall, one evening, when the 
 younger sister had gone to some affair at Brayton. " It 
 was a real blessing to me to form your acquaintance." 
 
 " You have been very kind to us all," Marian an- 
 swered. " I'm sure we're grateful." 
 
 " I wish I could do more," he said, with straightfor- 
 ward honesty. " I wish, Marian, you would put it in 
 my power make it my right to take all your burdens 
 on myself. You know," he went on, seeing that she 
 was trying to interrupt him, " that I have more than 
 sufficient means to assume the expense of the education 
 of your sister and brother, besides providing for your 
 father to the end of his days. Marian, if you would 
 only let me " 
 
 Was it a proposal of marriage ? It certainly had that 
 sound, and for an instant the heart of the young woman 
 almost stood still in her breast. She had known that the 
 young minister was growing fond of her too fond 
 but she had not looked for this. Clasping her hands 
 together she turned her face to him appealingly. 
 
 " Mr. Sewall," she said, in a voice that trembled, " I 
 don't know how to thank you for all the kind things you 
 have done for us, but I ought to sav now I must say
 
 112 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 that to accept anything further is impossible. Unless 
 you wish to inflict pain you will not allude to the matter 
 hereafter." 
 
 He listened breatnlw-ssly. ant' w-^ced as he saw her 
 wipe away a tear that v.as about to roll down her 
 cheek. 
 
 " Do you understand me perfectly? " he said. " I 
 love you, Marian. I want you to be my " 
 
 " Don't ! Forget that you ever thought of such a 
 thing. I have no right to listen to such a statement, 
 much less to consider it seriously. I hope I am not to 
 blame. If I am, I am truly sorry." 
 
 It was plain that he was stunned by her reply, and 
 could not rally immediately from the blow she had dealt 
 him. 
 
 " If my presence disturbs or annoys you, Miss Gard- 
 ner " he began, rising from his chair. 
 
 " Oh, please ! " she cried. u Don't act any differently 
 toward me than if this had never happened. We can 
 still be good friends, can't we? And don't call me 
 ' Miss Gardner.' Just forget that you ever thought of 
 anything except that you are one of the truest and best 
 friends I have." 
 
 Women often say these things and act as if they 
 thought it easy to follow their injunction. It seemed 
 to Mr. Scwall a very hard thing, just then. He would 
 rather have taken himself back to his study in Brayton 
 and let his wound heal as best it might in the solitude of 
 his lonely home. He was a brave man, though, and he 
 liked this little woman too well to cause her pain. 
 
 " I want to ask you one or two questions," he said,
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 1IJ 
 
 after a long pause. " Yet* can do as you think wise 
 about answering. In ".he fir;;-,, place, is there another ? 
 If there is, he has my tiuest hopes for his happiness." 
 
 ; ' There is another," she replied, huskily. " Now, 
 ask no more." 
 
 " Dear Alarian, tell me only one thing further. If it 
 is Air Hall" 
 
 She shook her head decidedly. 
 
 " It is not Mr. Hall ? " 
 
 " No, no, no ! " 
 
 " Is it any one whom I know ? " he persisted. 
 
 " I I think not. Now, please ask nothing else. I 
 have told you this because I esteem you highly. Let 
 us close the matter. Dear, kind friend, you can do that 
 for me ? " 
 
 And thus it was that Mr. Sewall's dream vanished 
 and that he became the fast and true friend of Marian 
 instead of her husband. He crushed down the hope 
 that had found lodgment in his heart rmd devoted him- 
 self to proving that even a rejected suitor may be 
 worth retaining as a firm advocate. Instead of ending 
 their pleasant relations the incident seemed to bind them 
 closer. Now that they understood each other she need 
 not avoid him, and there was no reason why he might 
 not extend to the younger members of the family any 
 kindness they required. 
 
 Another year passed after this event occurred, with 
 little change in the condition of things at the ranch. 
 The income still sufficed, with great economy, to sup- 
 port the little household. Elsie, with Mr. Sewall to help 
 Marian and her own earnest desire to learn, was ac-
 
 114 STRANGER THAN FICTION.. 
 
 quiring such knowledge as is found in books at a rapid 
 rate. Jacob, though a harder subject to deal with, had 
 been cajoled by means of story papers into reading 
 more valuable works, and through small presents of 
 things he coveted into learning the lessons in arithmetic 
 and geography th^t were set him. Grammar was his 
 main aversion. He ^.jclared that he "didn't care 
 nothin' about it," an ,. '.iis lapses in conversation proved 
 his assertion. Indec ., his speech grew steadily worse, 
 owing to the juvenile company he elected to keep. 
 
 A shotgun that Mr. Sewall had bought him as a 
 Christmas present was his main delight, except when 
 he was permitted to take Air. Hall's rifle, that Elsie still 
 retained on the premises. He grew quite skilful with 
 both weapons, and occasionally added something to the 
 scanty fare at the family board from his trophies of bird 
 and beast. 
 
 The life of Air. Gardner underwent the least change 
 of any of them. He still smoked his pipe and drank 
 what whiskey he could get hold of, grumbling when 
 spoken to and complaining of the hard lot a poor man 
 had to endure. The first thing that awoke any special 
 interest in his sluggish brain was the visit of a stranger 
 who wanted to see the proprietor of the ranch and to 
 learn what price would be considered a fair exchange 
 for a deed of it. 
 
 He had long hoped that such a proposal would come 
 from somewhere, but when it was actually brought to 
 his attention it almost took his breath away. 
 
 " I'm owner of this ycr place, about as much as any- 
 body, I reckon," he managed to articulate at last, look-
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 115 
 
 ing carefully around to see if they were likely to be 
 overheard. " How much do yer calkerlate it's wuth to 
 yer ? " 
 
 " A better way to begin would be to tell what you ask 
 for it," smiled the stranger. " How many acres have 
 you ? " 
 
 " Oh, thar's about two hundred, of one kind an' an- 
 other. We that is, my wife give $3,000 for it eight 
 year ago. Of course," he added, cunningly, " it's ben 
 improved a good deal sence then new trees sot out and 
 money spent on the barn." 
 
 A long conversation ensued, the would-be purchaser 
 making notes in a little book he carried. 
 
 " If the property is willed to you and your three 
 children," he said, finally, " I suppose there's an exec- 
 utor or trustee or something." 
 
 The connection of Mr. Hall, of Olluma, with the 
 estate was explained and the man departed, saying that 
 he would call on that gentleman without delay. 
 
 " You can tell him we're willin' to sell, if he can git 
 the right price," were Gardner's parting words. 
 
 With great diplomacy the father worked for the next 
 few days preparing the minds of the others for the 
 change that might be coming. He pictured the pleasure 
 of living in a town and of being where something in 
 the way of " work" could be obtained to help out the 
 fast failing funds on which they had to rely. The 
 crowds of people to be met there were contrasted with 
 the semi-occasional traveller who passed by their pres- 
 ent abode. And as Olluma would undoubtedly be the 
 town selected, he even practiced with Elsie on the fond-
 
 116 STRANGER THAN FICTION 1 .; 
 
 ness he knew she fdt for Mr. Hall's society, until the 
 girl could hardly contain herself at the prospect. 
 
 In a short time Mr. Hall came down, with the 
 stranger, in a buggy, and there was a family council. 
 The buyer had offered $6,000 in cash for the place, and 
 to take possission as soon as was convenient to the 
 others. 
 
 " If you ever intend to sell," Victor told them, when 
 Marian asked for his own opinion, " this seems a par- 
 ticularly eligible opportunity." 
 
 There was no dissenting voice when it came to a vote, 
 and the papers were given that bound the executor. A 
 fortnight later the deed was signed, and the Gardners 
 prepared to move to a cottage at Olluma that Hall pur- 
 chased for them with part of the funds received. 
 
 Mr. Whiteley came into his office the next day and 
 drew up a chair in a confidential way to that occupied 
 by his partner. 
 
 " Mr. Sherman, who bought the Gardner ranch,' 
 offers to sell it at just what he gave," said he. " Now, 
 if you and Beal want to have it hitched on to our prop-, 
 erty, I'll take it for the company." 
 
 " Why under the sun should we want it ? " asked the 
 astonished listener. 
 
 " There's a vein that leads off in that direction from' 
 where we're working now," was the reply, delivered 
 with much meaning. " The fact is, I got Sherman to 
 buy it for me, and I'll put it into the concern or not, just 
 as you say."
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 A FACE AT THE WINDOW. 
 
 To say that Mr. Hall was astounded by the con- 
 fession of his friend and partner but feebly expresses 
 the fact. His first feeling was that of indignation; 
 his second that of shame. He was placed in a po- 
 sition of having disposed of property which he held 
 in trust in a way that might bring profit to himself 
 and render the original owners less than an equiva- 
 lent for what constituted their little all. 
 
 It was not enough to reflect that he was guiltless 
 of wrong, so far as his intention went. He had per- 
 petrated an act that he would have been the last per- 
 son to do had it been presented to him in its bare 
 enormity. Now, what course should he adopt to 
 lessen the injury? Was there really anything that 
 could mitigate the effect of his action? 
 
 " I must say, Mr. Whiteley," he began, as soon as 
 he could find words to express his feelings, " that I 
 do not approve of your methods in this affair." 
 
 " There is no need you should," was the cold re- 
 ply. " You sold the ranch for at least double what 
 any other person but me would have given for it. The 
 Gardners were barely able to eke out an existence 
 from the small crops they raised, and could have done
 
 Il8 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 nothing beneath the ground even if they had suspect- 
 ed there was paying ore. If you don't want to have 
 our company take over the land, you need only say so. 
 In that case I shall form a second corporation and be- 
 gin independent digging.' 1 
 
 " But I don't understand why the thing should have 
 been done in this form. If the owners had been told 
 there was, or was believed to be, gold there 
 
 " They would probably have asked you not to sell 
 it," was the grim statement of the lawyer. " They 
 would have tried to hold on to property they could 
 not develop, and eventually have lost everything, 
 whereas now they receive twice what the ranch cost 
 them. It was by Beal's discoveries while at work 
 on our side of the line that I came to the conclusion 
 it would be wise to add to our holdings. I can't say 
 positively what we shall find, but as a matter of judg- 
 ment I consider the place worth more to us than to 
 any one else. I want to deal square with you and 
 will put it in at just what I paid, if that meets your 
 approval. I think I have the reputation of being an. 
 honest man in business transactions, Mr. Hall." 
 
 Hall reddened at the concluding words. He had 
 not meant to imply anything to the contrary in what 
 he said. 
 
 " I have a fairly good reputation, I trust, to the 
 same effect," he answered. " And, let me add, I want 
 to keep it, too. This is a much mixed question, Mr. 
 Whiteley. Give me a little time to think it over." 
 
 Mr. Whiteley said he could have a week if needed, 
 but added that he could not see how, by the most ex-
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 cessive straining of the point, Hall could come to 
 the conclusion that there was anything improper in 
 allowing the mining company to acquire possession 
 of this land. It was not yet certain that the purchase 
 would prove a paying investment. If it did not, the 
 Gardners would simply be $3,000 richer for the error 
 of Mr. Beal. If there turned out to be a good lead 
 it was only a case of luck for the miners and of no loss 
 to any one. 
 
 Mr. Hall took a part of the week which he was al- 
 lowed to go to the ranch on which the Gardner family 
 still lived. He found them all impatient for the day 
 when they would bid good-by to it forever. They 
 listened with pleasure to his description of the little 
 home he had bought at Olluma, and one and all, even 
 including the junior member, thanked him, either by 
 words or looks, for the interest he had taken in them. 
 
 Mr. Sewall called while he was there and, though 
 he did not seem as enthusiastic as the others, quietly 
 approved the move. He said the fortunate sale of 
 the ranch had settled a good many problems that had 
 troubled him in his capacity as guardian. 
 
 " Our young folks need good schools and will get 
 them," said he. '' They need society, contact with 
 people of culture and refinement, and they will get 
 that. They need things that money alone can buy, 
 and with the balance now on hand much can be done 
 in that direction. It seems a providential change that 
 will undoubtedly inure to the benefit of all con- 
 cerned." 
 
 At the mention of "Providence" Victor winced.
 
 I2O STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 " I have recently learned what induced Mr. Sher- 
 man to pay so high a price for the place," he remarked. 
 " You know I got more than twice what any of us 
 thought it worth. I considered it my duty as trustee 
 to secure all I could, but if I had heard what I know 
 now I should have tried to make the price even 
 larger, or perhaps refused to sell at all." 
 
 The listeners stared at him with open mouths, even 
 Mr. Gardner forgetting to puff at his pipe till the ex- 
 planation came. 
 
 " It is believed that gold will be found here." 
 
 " Stuff! " exclaimed the father, with contempt. 
 
 "I don't believe they'll get much, do you?" said 
 Marian. 
 
 " Why, your mine just beyond here hasn't more 
 than paid expenses, has it?" asked the minister. 
 
 " No," responded Victor, answering the last query 
 first. " But of course we have hopes to do better 
 as all miners have," he added. " Mr. Whiteley wants 
 to buy up this place and add it to our holdings. He 
 thinks there is a vein here that it will pay to work." 
 
 Elsie turned her bright eyes upon the young man. 
 
 " If there's anything to it, I hope you will," she 
 said. " There's no person we would all like as well 
 to find gold here as you. Still, I should be careful. 
 I'd have people who know about such things make 
 thorough tests before putting good money in." 
 
 The sweet voice and the comfort of the words came 
 as a balm to her friend's perturbed feelings. lie 
 turned on the girl a look of gratitude. 
 
 "What do you say, Mr. Sewall?" he asked next.
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 12 f 
 
 " Why, I don't see as it makes any difference to this 
 family now who buys it, if it's for sale. No matter 
 how great a fortune there is here, it's out of their 
 hands. Mr. Sherman wants a big bonus, I suppose?" 
 
 With a reddening cheek Mr. Hall said that Mr. 
 Whiteley could get it for the company at the same 
 price the man had paid. 
 
 " Then Sherman must have lost faith in it." 
 
 Silence greeted this suggestion, broken by Mr. 
 Gardner. 
 
 " All the gold they'll git out o' this ranch you can 
 put in your eye, mark what I tell you! Half a dozen 
 times folks have been here and I've let 'em dig holes in 
 different places and it never amounted to nothin'. I 
 don't s'pose my 'pinion's much 'count, but I tell you, 
 Mr. Hall, to let the blamed thing alone." 
 
 After a slight pause Victor remarked to Marian that 
 she was the only one who had expressed no opinion 
 on the main question, at which Master Jacob sniffed 
 and turned his face away disgruntled. 
 
 " I was only thinking," replied the elder sister, 
 " that if it could have been our fortune to have 
 found a paying mine and kept the place if we could 
 have become rich out of it what glorious things we 
 could have done with the money. It. would then have 
 been no little cottage at Olluma and I'm not un- 
 grateful, either, for what we've got but a fine home 
 like those some others have, with horses and ser- 
 vants, and the best education and clothing for Elsie, 
 and oh, dear! 1 mustn't let such thoughts run away 
 with me; but I couldn't help thinking!"
 
 122 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 A depression fell on the group at these words at 
 least on all but Elsie. It seemed to her that they 
 were trying to rob their best friend, the man but for 
 whom they might have had far less to live on, might 
 in fact have been compelled to stay indefinitely on the 
 mean old ranch which she hated with no less fervor 
 than ever, whether there w r as a gold mine under it or 
 not. 
 
 " I think you're treating Mr. Hall shabbily," she 
 said, with eyes that flashed. " He comes to ask our 
 opinion about what is no business of ours whatever, 
 and you hesitate and hem and haw yes, you, Marian 
 Gardner, and you, Mr. Sewall instead of telling him 
 that he has nothing to do as far as we're concerned 
 but act for his own interests! Would it please you 
 better," she continued, refusing to take hints that were 
 cast at her from the faces of those she criticised, " if 
 some stranger dug up this ground and made himself 
 rich? I want you to know," she said, turning to the 
 young man, and walking straight to his side, " that 
 there's one who can give an answer that isn't 
 mixed with selfishness. If there's anything in the 
 place, 7 want ycni to have it. You've been the dear- 
 est friend to all of us, ever since that day I took you 
 for a tramp and had you fed in the kitchen! " 
 
 Then, to the consternation of everybody present, 
 and to that of Mr. Hall above the rest, the girl threw 
 her arms around his neck. 
 
 "Elsie!" cried Marian, reprovingly. 
 
 She was overcome with shame and confusion, in the 
 presence of the minister, too. But the younger sis-
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 123 
 
 ter, as soon as she realized what she had clone, bolted 
 for the door that led upstairs, and fled from the con- 
 sequences of her overwrought impetuosity. 
 
 Jacob had risen from the floor and taken a pair of 
 tongs threateningly in his hands. Nobody looked 
 at him except Mr. Gardner, who did not comprehend 
 !n the least that a tempest was ready to burst in the 
 little head. The father took the tongs from his son, 
 with a whispered injunction to behave himself, at which 
 Jakey went in one direction as fast as Elsie had gone 
 in the other, and slamming the outer door behind 
 him, escaped into the yard. 
 
 " It was very kind and honorable of you, Mr. Hall, 
 to ask our opinion on this subject." So said the cler- 
 gyman, and he did it in a way to quietly take atten- 
 tion from the startling events that had just transpired. 
 " If a trustee sells a piece of property with no thought 
 of benefiting himself personally thereby, and the prop- 
 erty is afterwards believed by him to be worth pur- 
 chasing from the new owner, there is no moral objec- 
 tion to his doing it, that I can see. It is only where 
 the holder of a trust knows or believes that a greater 
 value than appears to exist does exist, and manages 
 by surreptitious means to get the property into his 
 hands for less than it is really worth, that moral wrong 
 is done. This, on your statement, does not appear 
 to be that kind of case ; and indeed we know you bet- 
 ter than to think for an instant you could be party to 
 any fraud." 
 
 Although fhe declaration of Mr. Sewall could not 
 be denied, as a fair proposition, and he assented to it
 
 _j?4 STRANGER THAN FICTION, 
 
 with a pretence of relief, Mr. Hall was worried over 
 the manner of its construction. There was still a 
 sincere wish in his heart that possession of the Gard- 
 ner ranch, if it was to be had by his company, could 
 have been obtained in a way that looked less like un 
 derhanded. He felt, after thinking the matter over 
 for some days, in all its bearings, however, that he 
 had best accept the proposition of Mr. Whiteley to 
 add the estate to the ownings he and Beal had in con- 
 nection with him. If events proved that the product 
 was less than anticipated no great harm would be 
 done. If it proved very valuable some way might be 
 found to make the Gardners a sharer in at least the 
 third he would control, perhaps without letting them 
 know the source of their increased income. 
 
 When but a few days remained before the family 
 was to bid farewell to their long-time home, Marian, 
 who was the last one of them up, heard a tap on the 
 parlor window at ten o'clock at night, which startled 
 her. She thought of calling one of the others to as- 
 sist in investigating the sound, which was evidently 
 made with the design of attracting notice, by a per- 
 son standing outside. An instant's reflection con- 
 vinced her, however,, that none of the other occu- 
 pants of the house would be of much service, and she 
 pulled aside the curtain. 
 
 A young man, exceedingly pale, looked with sunken 
 eyes at her. 
 
 "With a nastily suppressed cry of astonishment and 
 pain, Marian hastened to the door and admitted the
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 12$ 
 
 new comer. Throwing her arms about him she 
 rained trembling kisses on his lips, at the same time 
 warning him that any conversation must be carried 
 on in the lowest whispers. 
 
 " Food! " he managed to articulate, as he sank^ 
 wholly exhausted, into a chair.
 
 126 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 " HE KILLED THE GUARDS ! " 
 
 TIPTOEING cautiously to the pantry, fearful of awak- 
 ing any of the others in the house, Marian Gardner 
 found some edibles for the nearly fainting youth. Ten- 
 derly she prepared them and assisted him in conveying 
 the first mouthfuls to his lips. He drank eagerly at 
 the milk she brought, but showed his weakened state 
 when he tried to use a spoon or a fork. Though his 
 clothing was dilapidated, his shoes being worn through 
 in places and his entire appearance unkempt in the 
 extreme, to the girl he was no object of aversion. 
 
 " What's that? " he asked, starting nervously at some 
 slight sound. " Hide me, Mannic; don't let them take 
 me back again!" And, when she assured him in a 
 confident whisper that he need not fear, he nestled 
 against her protecting arm like a weary child. 
 
 '' Tell me about it, dear," she whispered, when he 
 had become partly rested " How did you escape, and 
 how did you manage to come this long distance? " 
 
 " I can't to-night," he answered. " I am completely 
 exhausted. Where can you put me till I am able to 
 go on again? The barn that will be the safest place. 
 I will stow myself away there till morning, when you 
 can smuggle me out a breakfast. Yes, the barn will
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 12? 
 
 be all right it is better shelter than I have had gen- 
 erally for the past month. There is no moon, no one 
 will see me leave the house. If they come for me they 
 won't be as likely to search there as they would here." 
 
 "Are they hunting you?" she asked, tearfully. 
 "Poor boy!" 
 
 " I don't know. I've heard nothing, tout I suppose 
 they're doing the best they can. No one has been 
 here yet, then? Oh, Mannie, I can't go back! I'd 
 rather die than have them take me to that place 
 again! " 
 
 She comforted him with expressions of love and 
 hope, though her heart was ready to sink, and after a 
 little further talk agreed to his plan, unpleasant as it 
 was to turn him out of the house in his weak condi- 
 tion. She said she would manage to see him in the 
 morning and bring him enough to eat, and then they 
 would decide what it was best to do. 
 
 " Don't let father know I'm here," he said, darkly. 
 " Poor mother she was my true friend has gone 
 and I could not even stand by her coffin. Dear sister 
 Elsie might help if she was old enough, but it isn't 
 safe to let her into the secret. There's one you can 
 tell " (and he brightened) " he would protect me 
 to the end of his little strength I mean Jakey. If you 
 think it's not wise to come to me yourself, send him." 
 
 Marian promised and the.., as he was about to go 
 out of the back door, a thought entered her mind. 
 
 '' There is another friend I might consult," she said, 
 eagerly, " Rev. Mr. Sewall, who has been here a great
 
 ttS STRANGER THAN 
 
 deal and is guardian for the children. He would do 
 anything I asked of him." 
 
 The fugitive expressed instant disapprobation. 
 
 "A minister! He would be the most dangerous 
 person you could choose. If the police came and 
 asked him outright he would have to tell the truth, 
 and that would be fatal. Good night, dear. Don't 
 lie awake worrying about me. I shall sleep the best 
 I have for weeks, now that I have you near." 
 
 Marian stood in the doorway and watched the re- 
 treating form till it disappeared through an opening 
 in the stable and then, wiping her tears away, sought 
 her chamber, where after a long time she sobbed her- 
 self into a broken slumber that lasted till daylight 
 came. 
 
 Rising, she came down and appeared to busy herself 
 as usual about the duties of the house. She anxiously 
 watched her father take the milkpails and go toward 
 the barn they had dispensed with the services of their 
 laborer the instant the place was sold and looked 
 occasionally from the window till she saw him emerge 
 with the product of the two cows. As it was clear from 
 his manner that he suspected nothing, she breathed 
 easier. She sat down to breakfast with the others, try- 
 ing to attract no attention by her distressed face, but 
 Elsie asked her if she was ill, declaring that she looked 
 as if she had not slept a wink. A reply that she had 
 been troubled with an aching tooth explained matters 
 and the kind-hearted little sister volunteered to at- 
 tend to her duties, advising her to lie down and try to 
 get the rest she needed.
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. lag 
 
 When the table was cleared and Mr. Gardner had 
 started on a walk toward Brayton probably with the 
 purpose of replenishing a certain bottle that he car- 
 ried Marian whispered to Jakey. 
 
 " I must tell you a secret," she said, " and if you let 
 any one know, it will bring great misery upon us all. 
 Can I trust you, little brother? 
 
 The small chap looked at her with suddenly aroused 
 interest. 
 
 " Paul! " he exclaimed beneath his breath, and his 
 orbs flashed. 
 
 '"' You remember him," she answered, astonished at 
 the quickness of his guess. " You and he were great 
 friends. Paul loved you more than he loved any of us, 
 I think, and when he fell into trouble you grieved as 
 much as we older ones, didn't you? " 
 
 Jacob listened with his lips setting closer together. 
 
 "He's dead?" he said, interrogatively, and the 
 moisture gathered in his eyes. 
 
 " Xo, dear. He is living and are you certain I 
 can trust you, Jakey? You'd do anything in the world 
 for Paul, I'm sure," 
 
 " Come, what's happened? They put him in jail, 
 I know that, and I don't see what more they kin do." 
 
 She sat down and drew the little fellow to her side, 
 with an arm around him. He had never taken kindly 
 to petting, and the fact that he endured it now proved 
 how anxious he was to hear what she had to say. 
 
 " They put Paul in jail, yes, nearly three years ago. 
 The judge said he must stay there five years and never 
 go outside the walls. They put men all around him,
 
 I3O STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 with guns in their hands, and had big iron doors and 
 great locks to hold him in, but " 
 
 " He killed the guards and got out! Ah! That was 
 like Paul! " The boy was alive with enthusiasm. 
 
 The suggestion of the young brother sent a chili 
 down Marian's spine. For the first time she began to 
 think that something of this sort might have happened. 
 Not knowing the particulars of Paul's escape she had 
 not connected violence with it, and the intimation 
 frightened her. 
 
 " I can't tell you how he got out," she answered, with 
 chattering teeth, " but he escaped in some way. If 
 they catch him again he will have to return to that 
 dreadful place and stay even longer than he was sen- 
 tenced for the first time. I want you to help me pro- 
 tect him." 
 
 The boy looked around the room, as if he half ex- 
 pected to s-ee the familiar face in some corner. His ex- 
 citement was intense. 
 
 " Is he up stairs?" he asked. 
 
 " No." She gazed around as if the walls might have 
 eyes and ears. " He's in the stable." 
 
 He drew a long breath and said that was better. 
 Then Marian told him s'he had a package of things to 
 eat and drink that she wanted him to take to his 
 brother. She impressed upon him the vital importance 
 of his errand. In the first place, he must conceal the 
 articles about his clothing and enter the stable from 
 the rear in a careless way, as if he had no especial mat- 
 ter to attend to there. Once inside he would have to 
 use great judgment in making his presence known to
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 1$I 
 
 Paul, and what few words they found it necessary to 
 exchange must be in the lowest possible tones. In- 
 deed, no matter how strong the temptation to talk, he 
 must confine his visit to a very few minutes, and find 
 out what Paul wanted them to do for him during the 
 next twenty-four hours. His return must also be in a 
 roundabout way; and if any one was near Marian at 
 the time he must wait before communicating with her 
 till she was entirely alone. 
 
 The lad was restive under the careful instructions 
 and, muttering that he guessed he knew something 
 himself, proceeded to hide the food and a bottle con- 
 taining coffee and milk among his clothing. Then, 
 with another word of warning from .the sister, he pro- 
 ceeded on an errand that filled him with great satis- 
 faction. Not only was he delighted at the pr aspect 
 of seeing Paul, but there was something piquant in the 
 adventure. It reminded him of those detailed in cer- 
 tain dime novels he had managed to borrow from the 
 boys in the neighborhood, whose heroes had long since 
 decided him to adopt outlawry as a permanent profes- 
 sion when he was a little older. 
 
 He made his way as directed to the rear of the sta- 
 ble and entered. Whistling softlv, he ascended a lad- 
 der to the loft, where he proceeded to take the articles 
 he had brought and put them behind some convenient 
 barrels. He stood up and sang in a low tone a few 
 lines of a popular song, so that Paul might have a 
 chance to see and recognize him in case he doubted 
 whose voice he heard:
 
 132 STRAKGER THAN FICTION!, 
 
 There's an orgin in the parlor. 
 
 To give the house a tone, 
 An' yer welcome ev'ry ev'nin' 
 
 "Jakey!" was heard in a faint whisper, and a thin 
 form emerged from its place of concealment. 
 
 " Stay where yer are, an' I'll bring the stuff to yer," 
 was whispered back; and a moment later the long sep- 
 arated brothers were locked in a warm embrace, 
 
 " Any stranger been around the house? " 
 
 " No." 
 
 " What's father doing? " 
 
 " Went off to town an hour ago." 
 
 Paul bit his lip. 
 
 " For whiskey, eh? Where does he get the money? w 
 
 He drank heavily of the mixed coffee and milk, and 
 bit hungrily at the viands. 
 
 " Oh, there's plenty of money sence we sold the 
 ranch," said J '.ey. " Didn't yer know? " he added, as 
 he saw the sr -prise in his brother's face. " Sold the 
 hull t' v g for six thousan', an' we're goin' to live at 
 Olluma." 
 
 Paul wanted to know more about the transaction 
 and was given all the information the little fellow pos- 
 sessed, including the probability that the place would 
 be absorbed by a mining company that had been ope- 
 rating on the ranch next to them. Paul heard with 
 darkened face the rumors about gold being found be- 
 neath the soil. 
 
 " How's Mannie this morning? " he asked, changing 
 the subject.
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 13$ 
 
 " Looks as if she hadn't slept none. Yer come last 
 
 night, I s'pose? " 
 
 "Yes; I waited till I thought father was asleep. 
 Doeo he ever say anything about me?" 
 
 " Never a word. He's pretty sour most o* the time. 
 I'm the only friend he's got in the fam'ly, an' I stick 
 to him jest 'cause there ain't nobody else. Say, Paul, 
 tell me how this t'ing happened. I never understood 
 much after yer an' Mannie left here." 
 
 Paul listened intently, and then said: 
 
 " You're sure no one can spot us? " 
 
 " Sure. They'll think I'm off in the woods huntinV 
 
 " Have you got a gun, then? " asked Paul, with sud- 
 den interest. 
 
 " Yes, two, a shotgun an' a rifle. An' I kin hit a 
 cottontail at a hundred yards." 
 
 "Where are the guns?" 
 
 " In the house. I'll bring 'em out here if yer say 
 so." 
 
 " Bring 'em to-night after dark, and plenty of am- 
 munition. They're not going to take me alive, if I 
 can help it." 
 
 " Bully for you! " was the delighted reply. " P'raps 
 I'd better go now. When I come out with the guns, 
 an' it's all still an' dark, will yer tell me th' hull story? " 
 
 Paul promised and, with a parting word of caution, 
 retired to his concealment, while Jacob made his way 
 back to the house without observation.
 
 134 STRANGER THAN FICTION, 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 BROTHER AND SISTER. 
 
 THERE are few compensations worth mentioning to 
 the child whose father has acquired an inordinate taste 
 for ardent spirits, but the next evening, when Marian 
 saw her remaining parent stagger with difficulty up- 
 stairs to his bed she breathed a sigh of relief. She 
 wanted to have Paul where interference from this 
 source was not one of the dangers to be feared, and the 
 opportunity was gratefully accepted. Elsie was the 
 soundest of sound sleepers. Ah Wing had never been 
 known to stir after his slumbers began, made firmer, no 
 doubt, by the pipe of opium which he was in the habit 
 of smoking before retiring. Jakey was in the secret, 
 and could be thoroughly trusted, and there were no 
 neighbors likely to call after dark. A message was ac- 
 cordingly sent to the barn, advising Paul to .make his 
 appearance in the ranch-house, and just after the clock 
 had struck ten he was admitted by the kitchen door. 
 
 The food and rest of which he had partaken had al- 
 ready effected a distinct change for the better in his 
 appearance, though he still bore evidence of the trials 
 he had undergone. Though much stronger than on the 
 preceding day, his breath came short and he started at 
 each sound like the hunted man he believed himself to
 
 STRANGER THAN" FICTION". 135 
 
 be. Marian kissed his thin cheeks and put her arm in 
 a sisterly way about his dilapidated coat. She took 
 pains to turn the key in the lock of the hall door, so 
 that in case of surprise he could escape by a window. 
 Then, with Jacob by her side, she sat down near the 
 sofa on which Paul reclined and made ready to hear his 
 narrative. 
 
 " I want you to answer me one question before I be- 
 gin," he said, earnestly. " Do you believe I was 
 guilty ? " 
 
 The girl hesitated and the silence grew painful. 
 Jacob fidgeted in his seat and finally said : " We'll be- 
 lieve anythin' yer tell us, Paul. If yer did take the 
 stuff, I hope yer've got it stored away where it'll be 
 some use t' yer." 
 
 " Hush !" (From Marian.) " I want to believe you 
 were innocent, Paul. They said you had a fair trial. 
 God knows, I've hoped it was all a mistake. If you did 
 it, poor boy, you've been dreadfully punished. If you 
 didn't do it, no one can ever make up to you the suffer- 
 ing you've been through." 
 
 " Mannie, before my God ! I know no more than you 
 what became of those bonds ! I never had a thought of 
 touching them, and when they accused me I didn't 
 know what to say. Why should I? I had the com- 
 bination to the safe and could have stolen everything 
 in it, months and months before that time, if I had had 
 such a disposition. There was money there, and it was 
 found all right and straight. If I wanted to steal would 
 I leave that money and take a lot of bonds that I would 
 have to sell at great risk? And then, if I had taken
 
 136 STRAKGER THAN FICTION.; 
 
 anything, is it likely I would stay there to be suspected 
 and arrested ? Oh, Mannie, I've known all along that 
 in your heart you thov ;'at I did it; and that's been the 
 hardest thing I had to bear ! " 
 
 Tears coursed down the cheeks of the sister. 
 
 " On what evid nee did they convict you, then?" she 
 sobbed. " What di ! they have to offer to the jury to 
 make them bring in that verdict?" 
 
 " Why, I was the only person, so Air. Morse swore, 
 who had the safe combination. The lawyer who was 
 appointed to defend me did the best he could, but there 
 was the question who else could have opened that safe 
 but me? The bonds were gone. Somebody must be 
 punished and the jury were shown that I had been in 
 the reform school before. They thought a bad record 
 in so young a boy was evidence of what might be ex- 
 pected, and they had to have a victim." 
 
 The fists of the small brother doubled up and his 
 teeth grated together as he listened. He would have 
 been pleased at a chance to tackle the entire " twelve 
 good men and true " who had done Paul this wrong if 
 he could have been let loose on them at that moment. 
 
 " Dear, dear brother," said Marian, winding her 
 arms about the neck of the recumbent figure. " I do 
 believe you guiltless, though I must own I have doubted 
 it. I thought you denied the crime for the sake of the 
 rest of us so that we might say you were unjustly 
 convicted. Forgive me! But now I am firmly con- 
 vinced. Tf you had $40,000 you would not be here in 
 these rags, almost fainting for lack of nourishment. 
 Oh, I know you never did it, my darling brother ! "
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 137 
 
 Paul submitted with satisfaction to her embraces, re- 
 turning the kisses she showered on his checks and lips. 
 It was an hour he had hoped for earnestly during 
 weary months of captivity. 
 
 " Who did it?" Marian asked, when she could con- 
 trol herself. " If we could only find out ! " 
 
 " You know what the people of Stromberg said." 
 
 " Yes, but I can't believe they were right. Do you 
 know what Air. Morse has done, ever since? He has 
 taken the interest on those securities out of his personal 
 
 funds and paid it regularly for Mr." she hesitated, 
 
 frightened to see how near she had come to pronoun- 
 cing the name of her younger brother " paid it reg- 
 ularly to Mr. Keith for their owner. That looks like the 
 act of an honest man, Paul. In our sorrow and humili- 
 ation let us not be guilty of injustice because a wrong 
 has been done to us." 
 
 Paul breathed heavily and pressed his palms upon his 
 aching head. 
 
 " I never said a word to imply that I thought so, 
 Mannie. either to my counsel or in my evidence. The 
 lawyer hinted the talk of the townspeople to me, and I 
 wouldn't hear to his bringing it into the case. Mannie, 
 I've been a bad boy sometimes, but I've always loved 
 you, and knowing how much you thought " 
 
 He paused, troubled as his sister had been by the 
 eager ears of Jacob, who realized, however, the way 
 the sentence was about to end as well as if it had been 
 audibly finished. The boy rose to his feet, and, with a 
 face distorted with rage, uttered two words with all the 
 angry force of his being.
 
 138 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 "Damn him!" And when his sister looked at him, 
 thunderstruck, he repeated, "Damn him!" with the 
 same vehemence, unabashed by her astonished eyes. 
 
 "Who taught you such dreadful language?" she 
 asked, for though Jacob had used similar expressions 
 before, it had not been in her presence. 
 
 " He taught me ! " was the rough reply. " When he 
 stole that stuff hisself and laid it on Paul he taught me 
 what to think of him, and some day I'll say it ter his 
 face. Yer a nice sister, Mannie, ain't yer, to care for 
 that scamp more than fer yer own brother ! Wait till 
 I'm old enough ter settle with yer Morse, that's all! " 
 
 Marian's face paled at the charge thus brusquely put 
 into form by the small lips. She hed felt for the past 
 two years that this allegation might some time be 
 brought against her, and that it would have to be met, 
 but she had not looked for it from this source. Paul 
 came to her rescue, saying Mannie had troubles 
 enough without listening to harsh talk from her own 
 family; at which Jacob subsided sulkily and resumed 
 his seat. 
 
 " There was another clerk in the office with you," 
 suggested Marian, wiping her tears away. " He could 
 have learned the combination, couldn't he, by watch- 
 ing you when you opened the safe?" 
 
 ''Willie Hay ward! I would trust him with my 
 life. And there he is to-day, at his desk right where 
 I left him, pinching himself on the same small salary 
 to help his old mother take care of his sisters. There's 
 a mystery about the loss of those bonds, Mannie, 
 that's too much for me. I made up the combination
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 139 
 
 I used and neither told it to any one nor wrote it on 
 paper. Mr. Morse always came to me to open the 
 safe when he wanted to get anything. You can see 
 how dark these facts were, coupled with the knowl- 
 edge that I had been sentenced before." 
 
 More to compose her nerves, shaken by Jacob's at- 
 tack, than for any other reason, Marian said she was 
 going upstairs to make sure that her father and Elsie 
 were sound asleep. She asked Paul to lock the par- 
 lor door after her and open it only when he heard 
 four low raps on the panel. She returned after sev- 
 eral minutes with the announcement that all was 
 quiet, and the conversation was resumed. 
 
 " Tell me how you escaped," she said, rearranging 
 her brother's sofa pillow to make him more comfort- 
 able, " and how you managed to make that long jour- 
 ney unaided." 
 
 " It was entirely unexpected. I had secured the 
 friendship of the officers long before and was given 
 many privileges not commonly given to prisoners. 
 Among these they allowed me to keep in my cell the 
 clothes I wore when sentenced, and every evening I 
 used to put them on in my solitude and imagine that 
 I was again a free man, unsoiled by the stripes of a 
 felon. It was the one happy hour in the day to me, 
 and as I never broke any of the rules and was regard- 
 ed as a model prisoner, no special watch was had over 
 my movements. A Y. M. C. A. young man of the 
 city, who devoted himself to lightening the lot of the 
 inmates, brought me books such as were allowed and 
 sometimes spent an evening with me in my cell. He
 
 I4O STRANGER THAN FlCTIONT. 
 
 was permitted to come and go as he pleased, within 
 reasonable limits, for it was felt that his influence was 
 good. Though not a clergyman he was very re- 
 ligious, and never left without asking me to kneel 
 with him while he prayed. I don't believe much in 
 that sort of thing, as you know, Mannie, but his visits 
 were so welcome that I humored him. He is in very 
 poor health, and people say he does not expect to live 
 long. 
 
 " One evening, while praying just before the hour 
 for departure, his voice suddenly stopped; he had 
 fallen on 'the floor of my cell. I picked him up and 
 laid him on my cot, too weak to speak. The thought 
 of escaping by this means suddenly entered my brain. 
 I put on his cloak and hat, rapped to the guard, who 
 was' half asleep in the corridor, and actually passed 
 without challenge through the outer gate and into the 
 open world, while the door of my cell was locked on 
 the other man. 
 
 " Feeling that I had but a short time before the au- 
 thorities of the prison would learn of my escape, I put 
 the greatest possible distance between myself and my 
 late home. A freight train I was lucky enough to 
 catch carried me nearly two hundred miles before 
 morning. Then began a series of hidings by day and 
 travelling by night, begging for food, working at any- 
 thing I could get to do, a voyage by steamer through 
 Lake Michigan, in the capacity of cook's helper, stolen 
 rides again on the rail, and so on, constantly near- 
 ing my destination. 
 
 " Though sometimes nearly frantic with hunger I
 
 jTHANGER THAN FICTION.. 
 
 never stole anything more valuable than a ride on the 
 cars. I exchanged the clothes I wore for these which, 
 though much inferior, would lessen my chances of dis- 
 covery, as a printed description had undoubtedly been 
 circulated concerning me. It is a horrible story, sis- 
 ter, and I do not like to go into it any deeper than is 
 necessary. When I reached this house I was so ex- 
 hausted that I must have given up had there been a 
 mile further to go. I imagined you had read in the 
 papers of my escape, and I had no money to pay the 
 postage if I had thought it wise to write." 
 
 Many times the sisterly arms had clasped Paul dur- 
 ing this brief recital, and the sisterly lips had been 
 pressed lovingly to his face. 
 
 " We seldom see any newspapers here," said Ma- 
 rian. " We are cut off almost as completely from the 
 world as you were. I am trying to think what can 
 be done now. Day after to-morrow is the time fixed 
 for us to move to Olluma. You would not be safe 
 .with us if there is anybody searching for you. I can 
 give you some money, thank God! but I am much 
 puzzled what to advise you." 
 
 They talked over this matter for some minutes. It 
 .was clear that Paul must act the part of a fugitive for 
 a long time, as there was no means of knowing how 
 earnest an effort would be made to apprehend him. 
 He was willing to work, and did not intend to be too 
 particular as to the kind of occupation, anything being 
 a luxury compared to what he had passed through 
 in his disgraceful confinement. 
 
 " I've heard it said that in cases like mine what looks
 
 142 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 boldest is often safest," he said. " If I were to go to 
 one of these towns and get employment the chances 
 are a thousand to one nobody would ever think of 
 looking for me there. I dropped our family name 
 when I got out of the reform school and I shan't take 
 it up again till I can look the world in the face and 
 prove I never was a thief. I was convicted as Her- 
 bert Brown, not Paul Gardner, you know." 
 
 "Dear, dear brother!" murmured Marian, ten- 
 derly. " As soon as I get the others settled in their 
 new home I will go to Illinois and try to convince 
 Mr. Morse that a wrong has been done you." 
 
 He told her that great caution would be necessary; 
 that she would have to profess ignorance of his es- 
 cape, as the first requisite; that dust must be blown in 
 the eyes of his pursuers, in case they suspected his 
 whereabouts; and that any letters .she sent him would 
 have to be mailed in out-of-the-way places and with 
 great secrecy. All of which she agreed to remem- 
 ber and promised to act with the utmost discretion. 
 
 " You have heard of Mr. Keith, the lawyer," he 
 said. " He let me know at the time that he believed 
 in my honesty, but being an old friend of the Hall 
 family he couldn't come into the case. Go to him 
 for advice. He is an honorable man and you will 
 be safe." 
 
 Jacob, who had been sitting absorbed in his 
 thoughts for the past ten minutes, had started at the 
 word "Hall," as indeed, had his sister. She had 
 feared much to have that name brought into the de- 
 bate, but knew no way to warn Paul against it with-
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 143 
 
 out telling him something she wanted particularly to 
 conceal. The small brain noted not only a name that 
 was his bete noire, but the uneasiness manifested by 
 Marian as well. There was something here that 
 Jacob meant to ferret out if possible. 
 
 Fearing to continue the interview longer it was 
 now nearly midnight Marian suggested that Paul 
 had best return to his concealment, which he did 
 without demur.
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 " SHALL I GO ON ? " HE ASKED. 
 
 THE removal of the Gardners to Olluma took place 
 
 at the appointed time, and all of the family were much 
 pleased to get into their new home. To Elsie es- 
 pecially the change from the loneliness of the ranch 
 brought great delight, and the nearness to Mr. Hall, 
 for whom she had grown to have a strong affection, 
 heightened the pleasure she felt. Though she had 
 passed most of her life since babyhood in seclusion 
 from society, she could remember in a dim way her 
 earlier days in a larger community. Mr. Hall had 
 come into her life as a bright sunbeam, and the rela- 
 tions that he had assumed toward her made him fill the 
 place of a parent, brother and friend, on whom she im- 
 plicitly relied. 
 
 Though she was now nearly eighteen years of age 
 her experiences were very meagre, and her first days 
 at Olluma can only be compared in excitement to tint 
 of some village girl who makes her first visit to a city. 
 Everything was new and wonderful. The little town 
 was a metropolis, to her narrow perceptions. The 
 small shops were emporiums of surpassing grandeur. 
 The little groups that strolled up and down the side- 
 walks of an evening were immense concourses of peo-
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 145 
 
 pie. The conveyances for freight and passengers were 
 a gigantic procession of wonders on which she never 
 tired to look. 
 
 On Sunday, when everybody donned their best cloth- 
 ing and went to the churches, she gladly followed, en- 
 tranced with the crowd, the organ, the singing, even 
 the sermon, more eloquent than she had supposed 
 public speaking could be. With the additional funds 
 at her disposition, new gowns, hats and other articles 
 of apparel, purchased under Marian's more mature di- 
 rection, had transformed her into what she thought 
 a gorgeously attired young miss. Books, in which she 
 had a decided interest, could be obtained both from 
 the Sunday school and a free library, and she plunged 
 headlong into reading. When an occasional concert 
 or theatrical company visited the place and she was 
 permitted to occupy one of the seats in the balcony, she 
 thought heaven itself must be inferior to the wonders 
 displayed. She used to ask Marian if any troupes as 
 fine as these traveled in the States farther east, and ex- 
 pressed the opinion that nothing superior could pos- 
 sibly be found anywhere. 
 
 Nothing was more pleasing to her, however, than 
 the evening calls of the man she regarded as, to a 
 great extent, the cause of her changed life. Mr. Hall 
 had shone like a star of the first magnitude at the 
 ranch, where there were no rivals to be compared with 
 him; and here, among a hundred other young rnen, 
 he suffered nothing of importance in her eyes. She 
 heard him spoken of as one of the brightest young 
 lawyers and most successful business men of his years
 
 146 STRANGER THAN FICTION". 
 
 in the town. She often had occasion to notice the 
 deference with which he was addressed, even by men 
 older than himself. It was a miracle that so gifted 
 and important a citizen should take such interest in a 
 friendless child whose acquaintance he had made in 
 a most unconventional fashion. 
 
 And while Elsie noticed this of Mr. Hall, she could 
 not help feeling, more than ever before, the striking 
 contrast he presented to her unfortunate father. Mr. 
 Gardner changed none of his habits in his new home, 
 spending all the money he could get hold of for liquor, 
 loafing around the saloons when not occupied with a 
 dirty black pipe at home, bringing nothing to his fam- 
 ily, either in material aid or credit. Elsie had not 
 minded it half as much out on the ranch, where there 
 were so few to notice, but here she felt the disgrace of 
 having such a progenitor and sometimes her thoughts 
 were bitter indeed. 
 
 The family had one piece of good fortune that de- 
 serves to be noticed they secured that rarity in 
 Southern California, a capable woman, to take the 
 place of Ah Wing, and preside over the exacting duties 
 of the household labors. A widow named Skane, who 
 proved a capable and careful housekeeper, was dis- 
 covered by Marian in some way and substituted for 
 the Chinaman. Not only did she attend to the kitchen, 
 but her influence was felt in other departments. The 
 family treated her with consideration, when she proved 
 that she deserved it, and she attended to their wants 
 quite as if doing the work of a home of her own. 
 
 Master Jakey made trouble at first by getting into
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 147 
 
 difficulties at the school to which he was sent. His 
 wild habits came reluctantly under the sway of legu- 
 lar rules, and he had a way of answering when spoken 
 to by his teacher which did not agree with her ideas 
 of politeness and discipline. He was really anxious 
 to learn, however, and, after several collisions in which 
 he came out worsted, he settled down to a better com- 
 prehension of his relative position in the establish- 
 ment. On holidays he always loaded a gun re- 
 taining the rifle Mr. Hall had left so long before and 
 went out into the country after game, generally bring- 
 ing something for the table as the result of his sports- 
 manship. Victor tried to win the boy's good will by 
 many little artifices, and a truce was patched up be- 
 tween them; but it was evident no very warm feeling 
 had been engendered in the breast of the strange 
 young chap, in spite of all the efforts used. 
 
 It was the full intention of Elsie to discover some 
 way of relieving the family exchequer from the cost 
 of her support, but the impending departure of her 
 sister to the East made it seem best that she should 
 postpone the scheme till her return. Marian, as may 
 be guessed, did not reveal to Elsie anything about 
 Paul's escape from prison, and it was presumed to 
 be for the sake of visiting him in his confinement that 
 the journey was made. The latest misfortune that 
 had happened to the brother was not believed to be 
 known on the Pacific coast, and the family, though 
 pressed down with its weight, was relieved from the 
 additional pain such knowledge among their neigh- 
 bors would have caused them,
 
 148 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 Elsie realized that there was a chapter in Marian's 
 Career that had been purposely concealed from her, 
 but she did not make herself uncomfortable on that 
 account. If she had a tendency to morbidness, the 
 full place that Mr. Hall took in her life acted in the 
 opposite direction. 
 
 Mr. Sewall, the young minister, had come oftener 
 to Olluma to see them than was absolutely required 
 by the obligations he had assumed as technical guard- 
 ian of the minor children. He passed most of his 
 time, too, not with them, but with Marian, in whom 
 he could not conceal his deep interest, notwithstand- 
 ing his bad fortune in seeking a more intimate rela- 
 tionship. Just before the girl was to leave for the 
 East he came on a special errand. 
 
 " There is something I must say to you," he re- 
 marked, as soon as they were free from listening ears. 
 " And I am at a great loss how to approach the sub- 
 ject." 
 
 Without the least idea what he had in mind she re- 
 plied that she would leave that to him entirely, rely- 
 ing on his good judgment. 
 
 "Is it anything about me or my family?" she 
 asked, thinking to aid him, as he was a long time in 
 beginning. 
 
 " Not about you nor," he hesitated for the right 
 expression, "any of your family in Olluma." 
 
 She glanced around in a frightened way, for she 
 could not mistake his meaning. The word " Paul" 
 rose to her lips, but she did not utter it. She sat there 
 eying him with unconcealed uneasiness.
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTJON. 149 
 
 "Shall I go on?" he asked, meekly. Then, when 
 she bowed assent, he continued, "You have one very 
 dear to you, Marian, who has endured great suffering. 
 It is of him that I wish to speak." 
 
 "How did you know?" she asked, with straining 1 
 eyes. 
 
 " In a very strange way. I have a friend, a dear 
 friend, who lives in an Illinois town, and has long de- 
 voted his failing life to aid those who need help and 
 too often find none. He has always kept up a corre- 
 spondence with me and has related a great deal of his 
 experience in this self-appointed work. Before I ever 
 knew you he wrote of a bright young man who had 
 attracted his interest and in whose innocence of the 
 charge against him he had come to have full confi- 
 dence." 
 
 "Bless him for that!" interrupted Marian, de- 
 voutly. 
 
 "All of the facts the young man knew were put in 
 my friend's possession," Mr. Sewall went on, slowly. 
 " He then went to the Governor and urged a pardon, 
 showing how insufficient was the evidence on which 
 a conviction was made, but no favorable result was 
 achieved. So earnest did he become in the matter 
 that it wore upon his spirits and troubled him exceed- 
 ingly. One evening when visiting the prisoner in 
 his cell I must use plain words now he had an at- 
 tack of vertigo, during which the young man seized 
 the opportunity to make his escape, using the outer 
 garments of my friend to avoid recognition from the 
 guards."
 
 I5O STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 The minister eyed Marian narrowly as he ended tu w 
 last sentence, and saw distinctly that her brother's 
 flight was no secret to her. 
 
 " The name the young man bore in the town where 
 he had lived," pursued the narrator, " was Herbert 
 Brown. His other name (I am not going to speak it 
 aloud) he confided to my friend, with the information 
 that his family lived near Brayton in this State. In- 
 terested in the coincidence my friend wrote me, ask- 
 ing if I knew a family of that name, and (you may as 
 well know) it was from this cause that I first became 
 interested in in that family. I have never said any- 
 thing to you about this matter, and only do so now 
 because I thought you should know of the escape of 
 Mr. Brown and because, convinced that a great 
 wrong has been done him, I wish to offer my services 
 in any way you may suggest." 
 
 She managed to say that he was very, very kind, but 
 she was in a peculiar situation. This Mr. Brown 
 had himself requested that no person be informed 
 about any of his movements, and she felt bound by 
 the promise she had given him. 
 
 "You have heard from him, then?" 
 
 " Yes; I think I have the right to say that. I be- 
 lieve, however, that it is best that we drop the sub- 
 ject for the present. If any contingency arises in 
 which you can aid me I shall not hesitate to call upon 
 you." 
 
 He thanked her warmly and said he would be glad 
 to have ber postoffice address, as he might find it im- 
 portant to write her during her absence. She re-
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 151 
 
 plied with a blush, as she realized the lack of faith she 
 seemed to show, that he could give anything he wished 
 to Elsie, who would see it was forwarded safely. 
 
 Before taking her departure from the State Marian 
 had another secret meeting with Paul, at which she 
 provided him with funds enough for the present and 
 gave him her best counsel. He was now twenty-two 
 years of age seven years older than when last seen 
 by any resident of California except herself and 
 Jakey and a full beard that he was cultivating would 
 disguise him beyond probable recognition. Marian 
 urged him to be careful, however, and to wait the 
 outcome of her efforts. 
 
 Only a few days after she went away Mr. Whiteley 
 remarked to his partner that they needed an assistant 
 in the office, who was capable of copying documents 
 and attending to minor matters of business. It was 
 agreed that if the right person could be obtained he 
 should be engaged, and a notice of what was required 
 was published in the Olluma Eagle. 
 
 Paul Gardner saw it and, with the courage of des- 
 peration, decided to apply for the position. Although 
 he had no references in the vicinity, being as he said 
 a "tenderfoot," his manner of address, the specimen 
 of penmanship that he exhibited, and perhaps, more 
 than anything else, the fact that he was willing to 
 work for $10 a week to begin with, won the day with 
 Mr. Whiteley. He was accordingly given a desk in 
 an inner office, and to his great satisfaction found him- 
 self again earning an honorable living. 
 Mr. Hall was gone at the time, and when he re-
 
 152 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 turned the new clerk nearly fell in a faint. It had 
 never occurred to him that Hall of Whiteley & Hall 
 was or possibly could be the man for the larceny of 
 whose papers he had suffered imprisonment. It was 
 clear, however, that Mr. Hall did not remember ever 
 seeing him before and he decided to stay where 
 he was.
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 153 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 A STARTLING SUPERSCRIPTION. 
 
 MARIAN GARDNER was gone for some weeks, and 
 Victor Hall came regularly to the house during her 
 absence, feeling his responsibility temporarily greater 
 on that account. Though Mr. Sewali was technically 
 guardian of the ones who most needed oversight, he 
 lived at Brayton. And while there was nothing special 
 required of either of them, it was so evidently agree- 
 able to Elsie to have him come, and so undoubtedly 
 pleasant to himself to go, that the daily visits were be- 
 gun and continued as a matter of course. 
 
 Victor often thought of the hints he had gained from 
 Jacob as to an absent brother the one who had " done 
 up a man " when he was only a boy, and who was never 
 alluded to in any conversation to which he had listened. 
 Sometimes, too, the strange expression came back to 
 him " Why don't you take the other one? She's used 
 to fellers like you." In spite of all he could do, a feel- 
 ing of uneasiness overcame him. He wondered if lie 
 ought to separate Elsie from the influence of one who 
 seemed her natural protector. 
 
 "Business affairs took up his time so thoroughly that 
 every minute of the day was occupied. His law firm 
 was getting the larger share of the county litigation,
 
 154 STRANGER THAN FICTION, 
 
 besides the drawing' of papers and confidential dealing's 
 wkh clients. Mr. Hall had not yet argued any cases in 
 court Mr. Whiteley attended to that but he pre- 
 pared evidence and arranged testimony in a way that 
 made the work of his partner comparatively light. 
 Then there was something always to do about 
 the gold mine, which did not pan out quite as rich as 
 had been expected. In such a case more shrewdness 
 is needed than where a bonanza develops at the start. 
 The lead that had induced the purchase of the Gardner 
 ranch looked as if it was going to " peter out," to use 
 the phrase employed by Mr. Beal. 
 
 This induced Mr. Whiteley to study up a means of 
 getting something out of the surface of the ground. 
 He evolved a plan of starting a town there, the situa- 
 tion being very healthful and sightly. He had streets 
 surveyed, introduced a larger supply of water, and 
 built several houses as a starter for the expected settle- 
 ment. He advertised the lots in the usual florid way 
 common to new States and not wholly unknown in 
 older ones, but no sales were made. Whiteley and 
 Hall began to find themselves running pretty close to 
 the wind. As Beal had nothing but w 7 hat he could 
 earn with his hands, the financial prospects of the con- 
 cern were far from assuring. 
 
 Whiteley brought matters to a head one day by call- 
 ing Beal to the office with a letter, and telling him he 
 must either submit to an assessment of $5,000, the 
 same amount to be contributed by each of the others, 
 or the concern would have to be wound up. Beal could 
 just as easily have put in a half million as the sum
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 155 
 
 named, and he was driven to the very point Whiteley 
 wanted. 
 
 " I don't know where under the skies I could get 
 any such pot of money," he said. 
 
 " Well, then, it's either buy or sell. We're stuck on 
 this thing, unless we can put enough money in to boom 
 the town and drive the digging. Hall and I've got 
 about $15,000 of good cash in there now. What'll you 
 give us to get out, and if you can't pay cash let us have 
 your notes, with security on the property? " 
 
 " I couldn't run the thing alone," sighed the miner. 
 " What would you and Hall give me for my third 
 spot cash? Perhaps we can trade that way." 
 
 Mr. Whiteley, who had now got the matter just 
 where he wanted it, said he would consult with his 
 partner and let him know in a few days. Something 
 had got to be done. Unless a good deal more money 
 was invested, all that was there would drop out of sight 
 and never again be seen. 
 
 Knowing by experience that Mr. Hall had a vein of 
 conscientiousness in his composition, Whiteley ap- 
 proached the subject guardedly. He related the condi- 
 tion of affairs, which his partner could not deny was 
 dubious. He spoke of the need of putting more money 
 in, and of the impossibility of Beal's responding to a 
 call. Finally he brought in the offer of the miner to 
 sell his interest, without mentioning how it came about 
 that he made it. 
 
 " If we can get his third," said Whiteley, seeing that 
 the idea made a deep impression, " and then secure 
 enough funds to push the work on the tunnel, I've no
 
 I =.6 STRANGER THAN FT 
 
 w 
 
 doubt we will soon be in a position to make the thing 
 pay handsomely. It would take, I suppose, $5,000 or 
 more to settle with Beal, and we ought to have twice 
 that in the treasury to go on with. Could you raise 
 $7,500 at short notice, as your share? " 
 
 Hall looked at his partner out of the corner of one 
 eye. Was Whiteley trying to freeze him out, too? If 
 he was, he would find he had undertaken no easy task. 
 
 " I think I can get it," said he. " There are two or 
 three strings I can pull back East, if it seems worth do- 
 ing. You've no doubt of your own capacity in the 
 same direction, I suppose?" 
 
 Whiteley reddened a little at this and replied that 
 he had been in correspondence with a man who con- 
 trolled capital and wanted to loan some of it in that 
 section. He thought, with the prospects of ultimate 
 success, he could get his share of the money required, 
 without doubt. 
 
 Another talk was had with Beal, this time at the 
 mine, and after backing and filling for some hours, the 
 miner consented to accept the $5,000 offered him and 
 to assign his shares, half to each of 'the others. He was 
 discouraged and thought he would seek his fortune 
 in some other part of the country. 
 
 Hall left town for a week, saying he would have to 
 make a journey of that duration to secure his funds, 
 and when he returned 'brought with him even more 
 than the sum he required. He exiplained that it was 
 necessary to secure his creditor by an assignment of 
 his shares in the corporation, of which he now owned 
 fifty per cent., and Whiteley admitted that he would
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 157 
 
 have to do the same thing. The assignments fortu- 
 nately did not have to go on record, 'but that of Hall 
 was made to his old friend, Air. Keith, while that of his 
 partner, to Victor's astonishment, bore the name of 
 Oscar Feltan of Stromberg, 111. 
 
 " I have learned from Mr. Felton that he was once 
 acquainted with you," said Mr. Whiteley, as he saw 
 the astounded look on Mr. Hall's face. " He was 
 looking for a good rate for some money he had to in- 
 vest, and I managed to convince him he could trust 
 me. I've never seen him, the whole business being 
 conducted by mail, but he's coming out here by-and-by 
 and you'll have the pleasure of meeting him again." 
 
 The expression on Mr. Hall's face did not indicate 
 that much " pleasure " was anticipated from the meet- 
 ing referred to. He was in fact greatly distressed at 
 what he heard. It brought up a long train of thoughts 
 that caused him uneasiness. As soon as he could 
 recover partial equanimity he plied Whiteley with ques- 
 tions: How had he heard of Mr. Felton? In what 
 manner had Mr. Felton learned that he (Hall) was in 
 the office with Whiteley? What had he said about 
 him, in the exact language, if possible? 
 
 " It was rather odd," said Whiteley. " I saw an 
 advertisement in a Chicago paper, stating that the ad- 
 vertiser had money to loan on Western property. I 
 answered it, naturally using the letter heads of our 
 firm. Mr. Felton, in his reply, mentioned that he be- 
 lieved my partner was a young man who came from 
 his section of the country, and that he hoped our rela- 
 tions would be pleasant and profitable to all concerned.
 
 158 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 This, with the enclosure of a draft for $6,500, the 
 amount I needed to complete my agreement with you, 
 was about all there was to it, except the statement I 
 have referred to, that he would come at as early a date 
 as convenient to visit this section and perhaps invest 
 other moneys here, if I had anything to recommend." 
 
 Victor's brow cleared somewhat as his partner 
 reached the end. 
 
 " I only want to say," he remarked, " that I'm glad 
 you didn't get him into any relations with us as a firm. 
 He's all right as far as you are concerned but he 
 couldn't do any business with me. Don't ask me the 
 particulars it was a wholly private affair only if you 
 learn in time of the date he expects to arrive in Olluma, 
 give me a chance to take a vacation until he has left 
 town." 
 
 Whiteley, though with much wonder in his eyes, 
 gave the required promise. The newly-arranged cor- 
 poration went on with its business and as happened 
 more than once in similar cases prosperity attended 
 it from the start. Good fortune, that had dodged the 
 tripartite partnership, had only been just around the 
 corner, and showered her smiles on the dual owners. 
 
 " It's always the darkest hour just before morning," 
 and " It never rains but it pours," were some of the 
 expressions that Whiteley made use of to indicate the 
 altered conditions. It was in fact marvellous how 
 everything came their way, once the tide set toward the 
 shore. " Pay dirt " of a very rich quality was found 
 not fifty feet from the line at which they had crossed 
 the Gardner ranch, while investors in house lots, who 
 had been holding off so long, came in shoals and
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 159 
 
 planked down their money. Stories of these extraordi- 
 nary happenings got into the newspapers (not wholly 
 without the knowledge in advance of Mr. Whiteley) 
 and both partners were soon approached with offers of 
 unlimited capital, should they need any, or several 
 times the cost of their investment, should they prefer 
 to sell out at that stage. 
 
 Victor grew quite dizzy at this influx of prosperity. 
 He had long hoped for something of the kind, and had 
 believed in his heart that it would be his fate to achieve 
 it, but now it was here it almost frightened him. The 
 fact that the new profits came almost altogether from 
 the Gardner tract added greatly to his uneasiness. 
 Everything seemed honest enough, as far as he was 
 concerned, in the acquirement by his corporation of 
 that property, but he was in the disagreeable position, 
 for all that, of sharing in immense gains which ought, 
 he was half persuaded, in equity to belong to others. 
 
 Sometimes when Whiteley talked in an exhilarated 
 strain of the fine returns they were having, Hall could 
 not help adverting to this phase of the question. 
 
 " I wish we had taken the Gardners into partner- 
 ship," he used to say. " It seems hard that, when they 
 need money so much, it should have been taken away 
 when almost within touch of their hands." 
 
 " Bosh ! " the other would exclaim. " Don't en- 
 courage hypochondria. That ore was there millions 
 of years before they bought the ranch, and would have 
 been there a million more for all they would have 
 known of it. They got a big price, much 'bigger, I 
 assure you, than thev would, but for your friendly of-
 
 l6o STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 nces. Not a cent of all we're taking out how, by our 
 capital and courage, can by the wildest reasoning be 
 shown to belong to them. But," he added, with a 
 laugh, " if you persist in thinking otherwise, you have 
 a remedy that can be applied even yet." 
 
 Hall looked the inquiry that naturally arose. 
 
 " Why, hand them your haii of the profits as fast as 
 received. You'll admit that something belongs to the 
 enterprise and skill that has developed the mine and 
 the town site. I'll take that half as my share, and you 
 can give up yours in the way I suggest. I guess, when 
 it comes to that, you'll think twice, though. You've 
 a tender heart, my dear fellow, but you mustn't let it 
 run away with you on a matter of business." 
 
 Mr. Hall decided that it would be right for him at 
 least to get out of his investment enough to pay for 
 the cash he had put into it, and as this would take 
 some little time, with the new machinery, expenses 
 connected with laying out the lots, etc., he dismissed 
 the matter from iiis mind for the present. But when 
 his tranquility was restored on this point it was dis- 
 turbed almost immediately on another, as is often the 
 case in this world of trouble. 
 
 Happening soon after into the postoffice to get the 
 mail from the lockbox which his firm hired there, the 
 postmaster accosted him with a question: 
 
 Yon know everybody in this region, I think, Mr. 
 Hall. Here is a letter that's been h^rc a week and I 
 don't remember any -ncrson of that name. At the ho- 
 tel thev are in similar ignorance. Have you ever heard 
 of a Mr. R. A. Morse around these parts? "
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. l6l 
 
 Like one dazed Mr. Hall regarded the speaker, as 
 the letter was put into the hand he mechanically 
 stretched out to receive it. 
 
 Mr. Richard A. Morse, Olluma, Cal. 
 
 It was an innocent enough address, but what added 
 to the astonishment of the young lawyer and confirmed 
 him in his suspicion of the identity of the owner was 
 the distinct stamp in one corner, " Stromberg, 111." 
 What could his old enemy be doing, that people ad- 
 dressed letters to him at this place? 
 
 " I don't think there's any such man here," he man- 
 aged to articulate, and turned abruptly away. 
 
 " He must be coming," he added, breathing hard, as 
 he walked back to his office. " Is it a mere accident, 
 or lias he in his mind some new annoyance for me? 
 I'll risk a wire to Keith, and see what he knows about 
 it. I'd rather see the evil one himself than that same 
 oily, sneaking hypocrite." 
 
 The answer from Mr. Keith came promptly: 
 
 Man left town several days ago. Know nothing else 
 about it. 
 
 " He's coming without doubt," mused Mr. Hall, 
 darkly. " Well, I won't be here to lose my temper 
 over him." 
 
 He closed up a few affairs, locked his private desk, 
 wrote a note to W T hiteley that he was going down to 
 the mine, and ithen called the new clerk from the next 
 room. 
 
 " I'm going out of town/' said he, " and can't tell
 
 l62 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 when I shall come back. If a man named Richard 
 Morse calls to see me tell him that, and write me what 
 answer he makes, at the postoffice in Brayton. Under- 
 stand, I want to get rid of the man. Make no mis- 
 take now." 
 
 " I will be careful, sir," answered the new clerk, in a 
 scarcely audible whisper.
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 163 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 " YOU CAN'T STOP FOLKS TALKING." 
 
 GERTRUDE FELTON was the idol and pet of her 
 father. In the seemingly severe way he had treated 
 her when the question of an interview with Victor 
 Hall was mooted he had done only what he thought 
 for her best and lasting good. When he saw her fall 
 to the floor in a faint, when the physician who was 
 summoned looked grave and said she had evidently 
 suffered a violent shock, when the recovery of the 
 young woman took weeks, and when her spirits 
 seemed entirely broken, Mr. Felton began to realize 
 that he had gone too far. 
 
 But by this time there was little he could do to com- 
 fort her. Victor had left town and nobody, so far 
 as he could learn, knew where to find him. He had 
 gone in anger and distress, in a mood that might fairly 
 be called desperate. The only destination -that could 
 be ascribed to him was the very indefinite one " Out 
 West; " which, it will be admitted, is a territory rather 
 wide in extent. 
 
 Convinced that if he persisted in his daughter's 
 making a marriage such as he had intended, he would 
 soon have no daughter at all, Mr. Felton reluctantly 
 resigned his dreams of glory. He told Gertrude he
 
 164 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 would do his best to find Mr. Hall and if the young 
 people were able to come to any agreement in regard 
 to their future, he would not stand in their way. Ger- 
 trude smiled faintly and kissed her parent's cheek in 
 gratitude, but whispered that she had little hope that 
 Victor would be found, or that, in any case, he would 
 renew his courtship. She said he was a young man 
 of high pride, which had, she feared, been too deeply 
 wounded to risk another rebuff. But the father com- 
 forted her with better predictions, and the little gleam 
 of hope that came to her bosom brought her up from 
 the sick bed and out into the world once more. 
 
 Feeling reasonably certain that Mr. Keith knew 
 Hall's whereabouts, Mr. Felton used every means he 
 could think of to worm it out of him. True to his 
 promise, however, the lawyer continued to express 
 ignorance, quoting as proof the fact that although the 
 newspapers, far and wide, had printed accounts of the 
 arrest of Brown, Mr. Morse's clerk, no word had been 
 received from Hall by any one in authority. 
 
 " He told me he was going West," said Mr. Keith, 
 " and that when he got settled he would let me know. 
 Probably it takes him longer than he expected." 
 
 When the trial of the clerk came up, Gertrude was 
 able to attend one of the sessions. She saw the pris- 
 oner in the clock and the prisoner saw her. With 
 the natural kindness of heart of a young girl, she pitied 
 him, but it never occurred to her to doubt the cor- 
 rectness of the jury's decision. She pitied Victor, 
 too, who had sustained this great loss, at a time when 
 he needed his fortune especially, for though he could
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 165 
 
 not get hold of the principal (he had talked that mat- 
 ter over with her) the income would be worth much to 
 him while struggling for a foothold in a new part of 
 the country. She did not know of Morse's resolve 
 to keep up the dividends. 
 
 As time passed on the girl spoke to Mr. Keith with 
 her own lips, more than once. One day he told her 
 that Mr. Morse had paid him the interest on the lost 
 bonds, and that he was holding it for Mr. Hall. This 
 seemed to indicate more than ever that Victor had 
 dropped all communication with his former friends, 
 and she grew melancholy again at the thought that 
 she might never hear from him. Perhaps he had 
 succumbed to the privations of frontier life! 
 
 Her father, when this idea was suggested, told her 
 it was extremely improbable. Victor was in good 
 health, young and resolute. He was very set in his 
 ways and having decided to abandon the East had 
 doubtless gone to the full extreme in that intention. 
 Mr. Felton said he would try some new scheme to as- 
 certain his whereabouts and felt certain he would suc- 
 ceed in time. 
 
 As anxious now as was Gertrude to find Mr. Hall, 
 Mr. Felton took a dozen ways to accomplish that end, 
 some of them suggested by a detective with whom he 
 went into correspondence. When one plan failed 
 he was ready to try another, and his confidence sus- 
 tained the hopes of his frail daughter, who was in 
 spite of all efforts sinking in health. One of his 
 ideas was to advertise in a large group of Western 
 newspapers that he had money to loan at a low rate
 
 1 66 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 of interest. It was in answer to this that the letter 
 from Mr. Whiteley came, along with a thousand 
 others of no interest to him. When Mr. Felton saw 
 on his desk the heading " Whiteley & Hall," with the 
 words " Abner Whiteley, Victor Hall," below it, he 
 could hardly contain his delight. He hastened home 
 and cried to Gertrude, " We've got him at last, my 
 girl ! " and nearly threw her into a dangerous palpi- 
 tation of the heart by his abruptness. 
 
 It seemed the most sensible thing Felton could do, 
 when Mr. Whiteley sent his prospectus showing that 
 the mine was going to be a great success and that all 
 he wanted was $6,500, for which he would pledge his 
 shares, to let him have the amount without delay. If 
 anything happened to Whiteley's calculations, and the 
 shares were forfeited, it would make Felton a sort of 
 partner with Mr. Hall, a thing he would welcome with 
 delight. He had now also a good excuse for appear- 
 ing at Olluma, for examining the property at Bray- 
 ton, for frequenting the offices in which Mr. Hall was 
 to be found. 
 
 In response to many questions Mr. Whiteley wrote 
 his patron considerably more about his partner than 
 he communicated to that young man. Thoroughly 
 pleased at Felton's interest in the mine and town-site, 
 he was glad to oblige him in every way, agreeing at 
 the same time to keep from Victor the knowledge that 
 such facts had been asked for or forwarded. When 
 Felton learned that there was "a young woman 
 named Gardner," to whom Hall was paying much 
 attention " (in the words of Mr. Whiteley), he decided
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 167 
 
 tnat it was time to move his forces to the scene of con- 
 flict and, in the words of the immortal soldier, "move 
 immediately upon " his " works." 
 
 New strength seemed to come to Gertrude when 
 she found that she was to be taken on a journey that 
 would probably bring her face to face with the man 
 she loved. She made elaborate preparations, laying 
 in a large stock of lovely garments, feeling that her 
 impression on Victor should be influenced by every 
 adventitious circumstance. On arriving at San Fran- 
 cisco they received a letter from Mr. Whiteley, saying 
 that Mr. Hall had gone away for a few days and that 
 they had best come at once and get comfortably set- 
 tled in town before his return. This removed the 
 dim apprehensions that had begun to creep into Ger- 
 trude's mind, and she went forward with a lighter 
 heart. 
 
 " I'm sorry I can't spend much time with you for a 
 few days," said Mr. Whiteley, as he was riding wfth 
 them in a carriage to the hotel. " My clerk was 
 taken ill a few days ago, which leaves an extra burden 
 on my shoulders, with Mr. Hall away at the same 
 time. However, I will make up for this later." 
 
 " Your firm is evidently doing a large business," 
 said Mr. Felton. 
 
 "The largest in this part of California. Since I 
 took Mr. Hall into partnership we have had more 
 cases offered us than we can attend to. The mine 
 and the surrounding interests, too, are looking splen- 
 didly. I shall be glad to take you down there next 
 week."
 
 l68 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 The day after the arrival of the Feltons two other 
 passengers known to the reader left the train at Ol- 
 luma. One of them bore a decided resemblance to 
 Mr. Richard Morse, and the other was recognized 
 by several people at the station as Miss Marian 
 Gardner. 
 
 As soon as Marian could do so she made a hasty 
 visit to the offices of Whiteley & Hall, to warn her 
 brother that Mr. Morse was in town, and that he had 
 best keep out of the way for the present. The office 
 boy told her Brown was ill and had not been at work 
 for several days, which convinced her that Paul had 
 in some way learned of his danger and taken warn- 
 ing. Returning home she got Jakey to go to Paul's 
 lodgings and learn 'what, if anything, he wanted her 
 to do. 
 
 Mr. Sewall came to town during the day and sought 
 out Miss Gardner. He had been troubled by a let- 
 ter just received from his friend in Illinois. It told 
 him that Marian had been in town, had called at the 
 prison and asked to see her brother (evidently with 
 the hope of throwing the authorities off the scent, in 
 case they suspected her of knowing his whereabouts), 
 and had probably been followed by detectives, who 
 believed they would find, by keeping on her track, 
 where Paul was hiding. Mr. Sewall had stopped at 
 the hotel, before coming to the house, to see if any 
 strange looking men were there, and had come across 
 the name of " Richard A. Morse, Stromberg, 111.," on 
 the register, with those of "Oscar Felton and Miss 
 Gertrude Felton," of the same town, recorded on the
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 169 
 
 preceding day. Such an influx of Illinois people 
 boded no good, he feared, to the escaped prisoner. 
 
 " You know Mr. Morse, at least," he said, as he 
 finished the main part of his story. " He was the 
 prosecutor, I think, when your brother was arrested ? n 
 
 " I do know Mr. Morse," said Marian, shivering, 
 "and he is the man you suspect. He came on the 
 train with me. I have already been to warn Paul, but 
 he must have got word before in some way, for the 
 office boy reports him absent. Now I have sent 
 Jacob to see what, if anything, he wishes me to do." 
 
 " Do you know whether Mr. Morse suspects Paul 
 to be in this vicinity? " 
 
 The questioner had learned of Paul's nearness from 
 Marian by mail. 
 
 " I fear it, though he professes to have made the 
 journey for the sake of conferring with Mr. Hall." 
 
 " Did you talk with him about your brother? About 
 the question of not opposing a pardon?" 
 
 Marian told her whole story then. She had gone 
 first to Joliet, where she asked for the prisoner Brown 
 and expressed surprise to hear that he had vanished. 
 She then went to Stromberg, where she asked Mr. 
 Morse if he would still oppose an attempt, should one 
 be made, for a legal termination of the case against 
 the convict. 
 
 " What did he say to that? " 
 
 " He said that a pardon would not be likely to be 
 granted to a prisoner who had escaped from custody; 
 that as Brown was now free, one was not necessary; 
 and that, in any case, before he would interest him-
 
 I7O STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 self for the young man, he would have to restore the 
 $40.000 he had taken. All of which rendered my 
 journey worse than useless." 
 
 Mr. Sewall talked anxiously about the brother, fear- 
 ing that he was not safe in Olluma, and offering him 
 an asylum at his house in Brayton. Marian brought 
 him a photograph of Paul, taken several years before, 
 and said he now had a full beard that altered the face 
 thoroughly. 
 
 " Jakey admits that he would never have known 
 him when he arrived here but for my information. 
 Elsie has spoken with him twice at the office, when 
 she has been there to see Mr. Hall, and suspected 
 nothing. I think he could not be safer, for surely 
 that is the last place they would dream of finding him. 
 However, I will let him know of your offer, and if 
 anything transpires to cause alarm he will gladly, I 
 have no doubt, accept a refuge with you." 
 
 Mr. Sewall asked if she knew anything about the 
 Feltons of Stromberg, and she told him that they were 
 wealthy people, having no doubt come West on a 
 pleasure trip. 
 
 When the minister left the house of the Gardners 
 he met a man coming into the yard whom he recog- 
 nized as the person at the hotel who had been pointed 
 out to him by the clerk as Richard Morse. 
 
 " Pardon, sir," said Mr. Sewall, speaking on the im- 
 pulse of the moment. "Whom do you wish?" 
 
 Mr. Morse looked at the questioner critically but 
 .without any assumption of displeasure. He essayed
 
 STRANGER TITAN FICTION. 17! 
 
 to continue his walk without replying, but could not 
 do so without pushing the other aside. 
 
 " I have called," he said, finally, " to see a member 
 of the family." 
 
 "Which one?" persisted Mr. Sewall, surprised at 
 his own nerve. 
 
 The front door opened and Marian appeared. 
 
 " Walk right in," she said. Then, as if she had 
 just noticed Mr. Sewall, she added a few words, pre- 
 senting the men to each other. They bowed coldly 
 and formally, and, Mr. Sewall stepping aside, Morse 
 passed in. The door closed again and the minister 
 went up the street, his head reeling. 
 
 " Can she have asked him to call? " he said to him- 
 self, "and if so for what reason? Does she expect 
 to persuade him? I have heard he is a very hard 
 man. What influence can she hope to bring to bear 
 on him, when he has refused so long? " 
 
 The problem was too great, and he did not like to 
 go back to Brayton without some further effort to 
 solve it. He went to the hotel, registered, and de- 
 cided to remain overnight, instead of taking a moon- 
 light drive home as he had intended. 
 
 In the way of travelers the world over he got into 
 conversation after supper with Mr. Felton who, learn- 
 ing that he knew Mr. Hall, made a great many inquir- 
 ies about that gentleman, stating that he had known 
 him in the East and his father before him, and had 
 the greatest confidence in his ability and integrity. 
 Gertrude had retired to her room and the conversa- 
 tion between the men was uninterrupted.
 
 172 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 " There is also in town another resident of Strom- 
 berg," said Mr. Sewall, when he found a chance to 
 introduce that subject. " You know him, I sup- 
 pose? " 
 
 " Mr. Morse ? Yes; he is an insurance agent." 
 
 " A man of high standing and character, I presume, 
 being in that business? " 
 
 " Well I don't know as anyone could prove to the 
 contrary. He's considered rather queer, though, by 
 many. You may have read in the papers of the rob- 
 bery of his safe by a clerk, several years ago, of $40,- 
 ooo or more likely have heard the story from Mr. 
 Hall, to whom the property really belonged. You 
 have? Well I express no opinion of my own 
 there are people who've always believed Morse knows 
 more about the disappearance of that package than 
 he would like to admit. Mind, I don't say I think 
 so, but you can't stop folks talking, you know."
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION* I7J 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 MISS FELTON BEGINS HER TASK. 
 
 IT is not difficult for people who come to spend a 
 short time in small towns, especially when they have 
 every evidence about them of prosperity in the thing's 
 of this world, to get acquainted. Gertrude Felton 
 learned from Mr. Whiteley, through her father, what 
 family it was that Mr. Hall devoted most of his atten- 
 tion to in Olluma, and an introduction to the Gardner 
 home followed speedily. " Friends of Mr. Hall " was 
 the only recommendation needed and the humble cour- 
 tesies of the home were tendered by both the sisters. 
 In return Gertrude hired the best pair of horses the 
 local livery afforded and easily induced the girls to take 
 drives with her through the surrounding country, tak- 
 ing one at a time, the better to pursue the investiga- 
 tions she had in mind. 
 
 The first one taken on these excursions was Marian, 
 and the conversation led from one thing to another, 
 now being upon the affairs of the vicinity and then 
 having reference to those of the East. The girls were 
 not far from the same age and notwithstanding the dif- 
 ference in what is usually called their " social rank " 
 they had no difficulty in making themselves agreeable 
 to each other.
 
 174 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 " Have you known Mr. Hall long"? " was one of the 
 first questions that Marian asked, when she found her- 
 self alone for the first time with Miss Felton. 
 
 " Since childhood. He used to come to our house 
 when he was only entering his teens and continued up 
 to the time he left Stromberg. We were in fact great 
 friends and I regretted his going away very much. The 
 acquaintance of his father and mine dates back many 
 years. You find him very agreeable, I am sure." 
 
 To this Marian returned a warm affirmative. She 
 told, with no pretence of concealment, of the relations 
 Mr. Hall had sustained to her family and of the kind- 
 ness he had shown in taking care of their small for- 
 tune after her mother's death. 
 
 " Your sister is a very sweet girl," commented Miss 
 Felton. " I do not blame Mr. Hall if he finds her so- 
 ciety very pleasant indeed, which I am told is the case, 
 I have a mind to tell you something about mvself. Yes, 
 I will. Had it not been for the ill advised interference 
 of my father, Victor and I might now. be occupying 
 much closer relations to each other. 
 
 The listener looked deeply interested -and Gertrude 
 went on to tell of Mr. Felton's ambitious plans for her, 
 in which she had never shared, and which had resulted 
 in his almost forbidding Mr. Hall the house. She had 
 long since convinced him that he was in the wrong, 
 however, and when Victor and she met she believed 
 everything would be made right again. She men- 
 tioned the fact that her father was a millionaire and 
 that she was his only heir, not with anything like arro- 
 gance or superiority, but as if it was the most natural
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 175 
 
 thing in the world, and Marian liked what seemed her 
 unaffected confidence of manner. 
 
 " Then you love Mr. Hall as much as ever? " Marian 
 said, softly, when the other paused. 
 
 " Yes," was the answer, delivered with much feeling. 
 " I shall never care for any other man, no matter what 
 ' brilliant ' offers may come to me. I have no sister, 
 dear Miss Gardner, and it does me good to tell you 
 this, and to feel that I can implicitly trust you." 
 
 On another day, when Elsie was substituted in the 
 carriage for her sister, Gertrude reverted to the same 
 subject, though from a slightly different point of view. 
 She wanted to judge from her manner whether any- 
 thing stronger than friendship existed between her and 
 Mr. Hall. 
 
 " He is making a great success at the tar, I hear," 
 she said, when they were well embarked on the theme 
 that interested them both. " I do not suppose he will 
 care to spend the whole of his life in California, when 
 he feels that his fortune is sufficiently assured." 
 
 " Why not? " was the wondering reply. 
 
 " Oh, the brightest men in the law drift back East, 
 where the prizes of the profession are greater. Mr. Hall 
 came here (shall I tell you?) under the pressure of a 
 personal disappointment. When that trouble is re- 
 moved it is only natural to presume he will return to 
 Illinois," 
 
 Elsie's lips began to tremble. 
 
 " I know all about that," she said. " You mean, his 
 lost property." 
 
 " Not altogether. He feared he had lost something
 
 176 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 else at the same time something of more importance 
 to a young man than wealth. There was a mistake 
 about this, which he went away too quickly to have ex- 
 plained." 
 
 Elsie repeated the words vaguely, " More important 
 than wealth? " 
 
 " Yes, dear. Victor and I were close friends. My 
 father had decided that I must marry some man of high 
 station, he being the richest citizen of his town. It was 
 what he said to Victor on this subject without con- 
 sulting me that led to his sudden departure for the 
 West." 
 
 The poor little heart was crushed in an instant. She 
 did not know how to pretend. She only said, " Stop 
 the carriage, please! I don't want to ride with you any 
 further. I want to get out." 
 
 " Why, my dear child, have I hurt you? " exclaimed 
 Gertrude, much alarmed. " Don't leave me, I beg. 
 Let me at least drive you home. Can it be," she added, 
 as the horses were turned in an opposite direction, 
 " that you care for him yourself? " 
 
 Elsie caught her breath in a pained gasp. The eye- 
 lids that she lifted to her companion's face twitched 
 nervously. 
 
 "Do I care?" she repeated. "He is all I have! 
 Are you going to take him away from me? You are 
 rich. You have so many things, while I I have only 
 him!" 
 
 Big tears rolled down her cheeks as she plead in her 
 simplicity for what she valued more than life. She did 
 not know that it would be the proper thing to
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 177 
 
 hide her agony, to pretend that her soul was not pierced 
 as with an arrow. She only knew that this hand- 
 somely dressed girl talked of robbing her of her dear- 
 est treasure; and she asked her as a child might plead 
 with a burglar to let it alone. 
 
 " I am very sorry," said Miss Felton. " You are so 
 young I never thought Has he asked you tot 
 marry him, then? He cannot have done that! " 
 
 " No," was the honest response. But I can't have 
 him go away. He is the dearest thing on earth to me. 
 I have not thought of marriage, I've only thought that 
 he would always be here and that I should see him 
 every week of my -., >' 
 
 She closed her -wollen eyes wearily. " I cannot 
 have him go! I 'annotl" 
 
 Miss Felton fit. her ground slowly. 
 
 " It is very v rong of him if he has encouraged such 
 thoughts in your mind," she said, in a low tone. " Do 
 you see this ring on my finger? He gave it to me, five 
 years ago, as a token, and he has never said or written 
 a word to take back the pledge he gave with it." 
 
 But Elsie only repeated, "Take me home! I am 
 faint. Take me home! " 
 
 There was nothing else to do and the horses were 
 driven in the direction of the Gardner house. On the 
 way Miss Felton said a hundred things to brighten the 
 weary eyes and bring a little comfort to the sad face, 
 but nothing availed in the least. Marian saw them 
 from a window and ran out to help Elsie in. 
 
 " She was taken with a faint spell," said Miss Fel- 
 ton, " and asked me to bring her back. A little rest
 
 178 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 will restore her, I nope, I will run over this evening 
 to see if there is anything I can do." 
 
 The girl was helped to a bed on the lower floor 
 and Marian asked what had caused her illness. When 
 she refused to answer, a suspicion of the real reason 
 came to the sister's mind. She had no doubt Miss 
 Felton had been talking of Mr. Hall to Elsie, and had 
 hurt her feelings in some way in regard to that mat- 
 ter. She did not think it wise to talk about it then, but 
 acted the part of a faithful nurse, soothing the child 
 w r ith gentle words and bathing her face with cooling 
 liquids; the result being that a refreshing sleep came 
 at last to the tired head. 
 
 When, several hours later, Elsie arose, she removed 
 the traces of grief as far as possible and sat down to 
 supper with the rest of the family, To Marian's ques- 
 tion as to how she felt replied with a firm voice, " I'm 
 all right, Mannie. I never shall have that kind oi at- 
 tack again." 
 
 She passed the evening up stairs with Jacob, hearing 
 him recite his lessons, in which he had begun to take 
 great interest. When Miss Felton made the promised 
 call she said over the ballusters to her- sister that she 
 was too busy to descend. 
 
 " I am distressed beyond measure. Miss Gardner/' 
 said Gertrude, when the answer was brought to her, 
 " at the condition in which some simple words of mine 
 left your sweet little sister. 1 was telling her us I did 
 you of the relations Mr. Hall has sustained toward me, 
 and happened to speak of this ring, which ceim-iurd 
 our engagement five years ago. I do not blame her
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 179 
 
 for being fond of him I do not see how any, one can 
 help it who knows him but I did not look for any- 
 thing like this. She asked me to take her home at 
 once, saying she was faint and, of course, I did so. I 
 hope, when she has time to reflect, she will forgive me 
 if I was too thoughtless, but really, how could I antici- 
 pate the way she would feel? " 
 
 A knock at the front door prevented the reply that 
 rose to Marian's lips, and there being no servant to 
 attend to that duty she went to open it herself. Mr. 
 'Richard Morse stood on the threshold. 
 
 " Ah, you have company! I will call later," he said. 
 
 " I am just going," said Gertrude, rising. " I think 
 I have met you at Stromberg, Mr. Morse. I am the 
 daughter of Mr. Felton." 
 
 " Yes," he said, hardly raising his eyes to her. " I 
 knew you were at the hotel here. I hope I have not 
 disturbed you." 
 
 "Not in the least" 
 
 A few minutes later Marian called up the stairway, 
 " Elsie, aren't you coming down again to-night? " 
 
 " No." The younger sister appeared at the upper 
 landing. " Jakey has gone to bed and I am going, too. 
 My head aches still." 
 
 " Is father asleep? " (This in a very low whisper.) 
 
 " Long ago." 
 
 " Good night then, my darling." 
 
 " Wait a moment, Mannie. I want to kiss you." 
 
 Stockinged feet tripped down the stairs and the two 
 girls held each other for a moment in a warm embrace.
 
 180 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 " Are you coming up pretty soon, Mannie? * 
 " Pretty soon." 
 
 A masculine form paced to and fro in front of the 
 cottage, on the opposite side of the street, till nearly 
 eleven o'clock, watching the light in the windows of 
 the room where Mr. Morse and Marian sat. When at 
 last the insurance man emerged and took his way 
 toward the hotel, the form crossed to the house and a 
 hand tapped on the door. 
 
 " Why, Mr. Sewall ! What brings you at this 
 hour? " 
 
 " Miss Gardner," came the shaking voice, " why has 
 that man been here again? " 
 
 " Surely you ought to guess. I am trying to arrange 
 with him for my brother's pardon." 
 
 " And can you afford to pay a price like this? " de- 
 manded the minister, with terrible meaning-. " Is your 
 brother's liberty worth purchasing with his sister's rep- 
 utation? " 
 
 " Mr. Sewall, you are insulting! " Marian essayed 
 to close the door. 
 
 " I asked you once to be my honorable wife," he 
 said, preventing her from executing her purpose. 
 " You know how much I care for you. Tell me you 
 will not meet that man alone at night again." 
 
 But she managed to wrench tne door from his grasp 
 and to close and lock it in his face.
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. l8l 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 "ESCAPED! THANK GOD!" 
 
 AT Brayton, Victor Hall was worried at his enforced 
 absence from business. There were many things at 
 Olluma that required his attention, while the affairs of 
 the mine and 'the town site had always been the partic- 
 ular care of his partner. He learned that the profits 
 from both these sources were growing, and saw evi- 
 dence that unless something unforeseen intervened he 
 must soon become a rich man, but he felt restive. The 
 presence of Morse, which he learned was likely to con- 
 tinue indefinitely at Olluma, made him an involuntary 
 exile. He feared that he would have to meet the man, 
 sooner or later, in spite of all. 
 
 The news that soon came by mail of the presence of 
 the Feltons added to his uneasiness in no small degree. 
 He had heard nothing directly from them since the 
 painful scene with the father hvfront of his residence at 
 Stromberg. To meet Gertrude again must, he be- 
 lieved, result in an unpleasant hour to both of them. 
 He began to think seriously of taking a long trip to 
 some other part of the State, regardless of everything. 
 But one evening he was thunderstruck to see a party of 
 four people drive up to the little hotel where he was 
 staying, and to find that the situation must be met,
 
 l82 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 whether he liked it or not. In the party were Mr. and 
 Miss Felton, Mr. Morse and Mr. Whiteley. They had 
 come down in a trap drawn by four horses, and had 
 evidently made quick time across the country, judging 
 by the heated condition of the beasts. 
 
 There was nothing to be done but make the best of 
 it, and Mr. Hall rose from his seat on the hotel veranda 
 and lifted his hat to the visitors. The first to alight was 
 Whiteley, who said, as if he had done the one thing 
 on earth most delightful to his partner, " I've brought 
 some of your old friends, Hall." Next was Mr. Morse, 
 who offered a hesitating hand, that Victor was obliged 
 to accept, unless he chose to attract attention by re- 
 fusing it. Mr. Felton, before helping Gertrude down, 
 grasped the palm of Mr. Hall as warmly as if they had 
 always been on the warmest terms. 
 
 " I'm awfully glad to see you, my boy," said he. 
 " You've not forgotten Gerty, I'm sure." 
 
 Miss Felton's eyes 'sought those of her one time 
 lover with a shy glance that told him volumes. His 
 heart began to beat more violently as she placed both 
 of her hands in his in what seemed a /perfectly artless 
 manner. 
 
 " How well you're looking! " she remarked, and in- 
 deed he had a color that might have been ascribed to 
 solid health, at that moment. " Papa wanted to see 
 the mine, and thought 'the drive would do me good." 
 
 As soon as rooms had been engaged by the new 
 comers and they had all retired with the exception of 
 Whiteky, to remove the dust from their faces and
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 183 
 
 ihands, Mr. Hall turned to his partner with a worried 
 expression. 
 
 " How the devil," he asked, " did you round up that 
 crowd? It's taken all my breath away to meet them 
 so unexpectedly." 
 
 " Thought it would be a happy surprise," was the 
 reply. " Morse told me he must see you, if he had to 
 wait six months, and I've learned from Felton that he's 
 got some nice things that you'll be glad to hear." 
 
 " What do you mean? " demanded Victor, reddening 
 still more. 
 
 " I guess I'd better let him tell his own story. The 
 long and short of it is, though, he feels he's used you 
 wrongly. He practically wants to beg your pardon 
 and ask you to let by-gones go." 
 
 Mr. Hall gasped in surprise. 
 
 " Did he tell you what passed between us, before I 
 left Stromberg? " he said, bewildered. 
 
 " Substantially. The young lady is yours, my boy, 
 in spite of all. You must have made a deep impression 
 to have it last all this time, without a word, as I under- 
 stand, for three years! That's what I call faithfulness 
 and I congratulate you with all my heart." 
 
 A dizzy feeling came across Mr. Hall's brain. As 
 his partner vanished with a bright laugh he staggered 
 to the chair he had recently vacated and gave himself 
 up to troubled thought. In his palms was still the im- 
 pression of those little hands whose touch had once 
 sent the deepest thrills through his veins. A long time 
 had passed years in which he had tried to bury those 
 hopes of the old days.
 
 X&l STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 Now the question must be reopened, if what White- 
 ley said was true. If Mr. Felton was really going to 
 ask him to resume his relations with Gertrude he must 
 decide without more ado what reply to make. 
 
 He had loved her with the full flush of his first 
 youthful passion. The frigid way in which he had 
 been asked to surrender his hope had changed the en- 
 tire current of his life. On her account he had aban- 
 doned friends and the ties of his old home and gone 
 into the wild West to begin an entirely new existence. 
 By a singular combination of circumstances he had at 
 last reached a road that would lead to pecuniary suc- 
 cess. Was it the knowledge of this fact that persuaded 
 the haughty millionaire to look with more favor on 
 an alliance he had once rejected with insult? Victor 
 did not understand what else could alter Mr. Felton's 
 views. 
 
 As to Gertrude herself, Victor was not quite certain 
 of his sentiments at the present day. Time works 
 changes and he had suffered much on her account. 
 Did he love her still, or had the experiences through 
 which he had passed buried that most tender senti- 
 ment? He grew weak as he tried to decide this ques- 
 tion, and, although he was not quite sure what the ver- 
 dict would be, he found himself, before he was aware of 
 it, pressing to his lips the fingers she had touched. 
 
 He had quite forgotten Morse, in the tumult that the 
 other matter caused in his brain. When he heard his 
 name spoken by the soft tones of that individual, who 
 reappeared on the veranda, he felt a very disagreeable 
 chill.
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION ; 185 
 
 " Can I have a few minutes' conversation with you, 
 Mr. Hall, before dinner?" 
 
 " Is it necessary? " was the not ovei polite reply. 
 
 " I have come two thousand miles. I shall only de- 
 tain you a few minutes." 
 
 Rising slowly and unwillingly, Hall motioned to the 
 other to follow him and ascended to his chamber on the 
 second floor. Indicating that his companion might 
 proceed, Victor threw himself into a chair and mo- 
 tioned him to another. His manner was not cordial, 
 though he did his best to make it decent. He did not 
 like Morse; the man knew it and any attempt to con- 
 ceal the fact would have been quite apparent. It was 
 as well to make no pretense. 
 
 " I hardly know how to begin," came the low, almost 
 apologetic tones. " I realize that you suffered a great 
 loss some years ago, that was caused in a measure - 
 through me. I feel that you have a certain animosity 
 toward me on that account, which I wish I could con- 
 vince you is entirely undeserved." 
 
 He paused, as if to give his statement an interroga- 
 tive form, and Victor replied, " Quite useless," in a 
 listless way, without looking toward him. 
 
 " I have been surprised," pursued the speaker, after 
 a pause, " at your not drawing on Mr. Keith for the 
 dividends, or the equivalent to what they would have 
 been, which I have paid him, ever since the securities 
 were stolen. He tells me he wrote you about the mat- 
 ter and that he presumes you received his letter. May 
 I ask if you do know that over $400 has been paid by
 
 l86 J&TRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 me to him for you every three months since my safe 
 was robbed? " 
 
 " I do know," was the impatient rejoinder. 
 
 " And you ha- e never drawn a cent of it. Why? " 
 
 Mr. Hall swung his chair around so that it would 
 face the speaker. 
 
 " You have asked me a question," he said; " let me 
 ask you another. We might as well understand this 
 thing in its entirety. If you can turn over to my agent 
 the interest and dividends on this property, why do 
 you not hand him the bonds and stocks themselves?" 
 
 There was not a tremor in the eyelids that confronted 
 the questioner. They were raised with the least ele- 
 ment of surprise in them, and that was all. 
 
 " Did you understand, then, that the securities were 
 recovered?" asked Mr. Morse. "That is an error. 
 The man who was convicted of tiie theft made no con- 
 fession. We could not get him, under any threat or 
 promise of mitigation of sentence, to surrender the 
 least part of his plunder." 
 
 Victor sprang up with every muscle on his face dis- 
 tended. 
 
 "A man convicted of the theft!" he repeated. 
 "What man?" 
 
 " The one who had exclusive opportunity to commit 
 it, a clerk in my office named Herbert Brown. You 
 remember him, do you not? He was the only person 
 who kept the combination of the safe. Do you really 
 mean that this is news to you? " 
 
 Victor paced up and down the floor like a madman 
 for the next few minutes, unable to utter a word.
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. l8j^ 
 
 " I never heard a word of it," he ejaculated at last, 
 the perspiration standing on his forehead. " Convict- 
 ed, did you say? And sentenced? Did you succeed in 
 putting anybody in prison, on such flimsy evidence as 
 that? " 
 
 " The case was clear enough. He alone had the 
 combination and the package was taken without vio- 
 lence." 
 
 "He alone except you!" said Hall, with un- 
 doubted meaning. 
 
 " He alone. I never had it, thinking such a secret 
 best in the custody of one person." 
 
 Stopping before the other man, Mr. Hall shook his 
 finger in his face. 
 
 " You know whom the people of Stromberg think 
 took that package! " he cried. " They believe to a man 
 that you have those papers in your possession to-day, 
 unless you have disposed of them! " 
 
 Mr. Morse was much affected by this direct state- 
 ment. He covered his face with his hands and a low 
 groan escaped his lips. 
 
 " I know it too well," he said, when he raised his 
 head again. " No one has ever lisped the thought 
 aloud in my presence till this instant, but I have been 
 made to feel it like the stinging lash of a whip on the 
 bare skin. It matters not that the evidence in the court 
 satisfied a jury and a judge that were honest and im- 
 partial ; that I have tried to lead the life of an incorrupt 
 man; that at the sacrifice of half my earnings depleted 
 greatly on account of this unjust accusation I have 
 managed to hand Mr. Keith quarterly a sum equal to
 
 188 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 the income on what you lost. They are determined to 
 
 believe me guilty and now, I find, you hold the same 
 opinion. What can I do what can I do! " 
 
 The perspiration that had streamed over Victor 
 Hall's face came out again in renewed streams. 
 
 " There is a greater jury than any found in our court- 
 rooms," he said, " and it has found you guilty. We can 
 do no good by discussing this question. Why have 
 you come to California?" 
 
 Restoring himself by a strong effort, Morse seemed 
 in an instant the quiet, suave business man of yore. 
 
 " 1 will tell vou," he said. " It is necessary, however, 
 that you keep my communication a secret for the pres- 
 ent. When the young man accused (we will say ac- 
 cused, since it pleases you better) of purloining your 
 property from my safe, escaped from his prison 
 
 " Escaped! " cried Hall, startled. Then he muttered 
 something that sounded like " Thank God! " 
 
 " Yes, he escaped some months ago and has not 
 since been apprehended, though the detectives think 
 they have traced him and expect to apprehend him 
 soon." 
 
 " How long was his sentence? " 
 
 " Five years." 
 
 "And how long had he served?" 
 
 " Between two and three." 
 
 " For the love of Heaven! Is not that enough. Only 
 a bloodhound would want to drag the man back after 
 such punMiment, and with no direct evidence r<-*?m<?t 
 him, either." 
 
 Morse lifted his hands deprecatingly.
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 189 
 
 " It is not further punishment that is wanted. We 
 believe that, rather than undergo the rest of his term, 
 with the additional penalty for running away, Brown 
 will own up to the place of concealment in which he 
 has put your property. If he does I, for one, would be 
 willing to make his sentence as light as possible. I 
 am not vindictive. I only wish to see you righted." 
 
 lie talked as if he were really innocent and Mr. Hall 
 was speechless for some time. 
 
 " That property was mine," he said, finally. " I 
 am going to be rich enough without it, and I won't 
 have the young fellow punished further for a crime 
 he may or may not have committed. I shall communi- 
 cate at once with Mr. Keith and .bid him use every 
 effort to secure a pardon." 
 
 " Excuse me," was the reply, delivered in a mechan- 
 ical tone. " The property at the time it was stolen was 
 not yours; it was mine, in my capacity of trustee. You 
 had no more concern in it, according to law, than the 
 man who stole it. To put myself right beiore the court 
 I must find those bonds and, when you are thirty years 
 of age, turn them over to you. If I am unable to do 
 that I shall take my own property, small as it is, and 
 put that into the scale, to the last farthing. If Brown has 
 not already made way with the securities and spent the 
 proceeds, it is my duty to myself, to you and to your 
 deceased mother to put every legal pressure on him 
 to compel restitution." 
 
 "You came here to tell me this, did you?" asked 
 Victor impatiently. 
 
 "Partly; and partly because Brown has been seen
 
 I9O STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 in Southern California, where it is said he has relations. 
 If I can locate him here I shall hope for something 
 tangible in your behalf. He will do anything, I think, 
 rather than go back to his cell." 
 
 The dinner bell interrupted the conversation, for 
 which Hall was thankful. He dismissed his caller, and 
 after making himself more presentable, descended to 
 the dining room, where the Feltons were already seated 
 at his table.
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 MR. GARDNER GOES TOO FAR. 
 
 LEARNING that Mr. Morse had gone to Brayton, 
 " Herbert Brown," who was known at Whiteley & 
 Hall's by still another name that of Mason Harvey 
 returned to his work at the law office. He thought he 
 had best be there as much as he dared, lest his employ- 
 ers should think it necessary to engage some one in his 
 place; and when Mr. Whiteley sent to inquire if he 
 could not come in during his absence, even if he did 
 not do much work, he replied that he would do what he 
 could and at least keep the place open. The situation 
 was one he coveted much, as it enabled him to earn a 
 living and at the same time reside near Marian, \vith 
 whom he wanted to keep in close touch. Late at night, 
 when the others of the family were asleep, he could tap 
 on her window and be admitted for a conference, with- 
 out attracting attention in the darkened street from the 
 passers that were very few and far between. 
 
 Paul learned from his sister the fullest particulars of 
 her visit to Illinois, but as she did not know that her 
 movements had been watched by the suspicious officers 
 of the law, she was not able to convey any warning of 
 this fact to him. He was principally interested in the 
 effort she had made to induce clemency on the part of
 
 192 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 Richard Morse, and her failure to secure any promise 
 in this direction, unless preceded by a surrender of the 
 stolen bonds, which he still claimed to believe Paul had 
 taken. 
 
 "If only we could find who did steal those bonds," 
 she said to him, one night when he was on a late visit 
 to her house, " how easy our course would be ! Have 
 you thought of everything possible in that direction? 
 Are you sure no one had the combination of the safe 
 but you, and that the package was inside on the very 
 day before it was missed? " 
 
 " All I can say is," Paul replied, " that I used a com- 
 bination that I invented and never divulged to any 
 person. As to the package, I don't know when the 
 false one was substituted for the true. On the outside 
 they looked very much alike. I saw a package which 
 seemed to me the same, day after day, whenever I 
 opened the safe; and when Mr. Morse came into the 
 room with a lot of blank papers in his hand and said 
 that he had found them instead of the securities, I was 
 too dumfounded to know what to think. He was pale 
 and trembling. Together we took every scrap out of 
 the safe and examined them with care. "When it was 
 clear there was nothing of the kind inside, we looked 
 at each other. T had never thought of him, but the 
 su>nicion came into my mind, I think, at just the mo- 
 ment he began to accuse me. ' You know where those 
 bond- are ! ' he cried, savagely. ' Give them up at once 
 or T will ?cml for the police! ' 
 
 " Yoii ccvld have knocked me down with a feather, 
 Mannie. ' I guess you can tell better than any one else
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 193 
 
 where they are ! ' I retorted, as soon as I could catch 
 my breath. And then I said some things that wouldn't 
 sound well to repeat, being overtaken with one of my 
 old fits of temper. I told him that nobody in Strom- 
 berg thought him an honest man, that people had been 
 hinting for months that he would find some way to 
 cheat Mr. Hall out of his inheritance. I know it wasn't 
 nice to say such things, dear, but when a fellow is called 
 a thief, he's not responsible. 
 
 " He said nothing more then, but a week later we 
 had it again. Infuriated he backed against the door 
 and told Willie Hayward to run for an officer. Poor 
 Willie looked at me, as if he didn't know what to do, 
 but I told him to go ; that it would be all right. When 
 the policeman came and Mr. Morse said he wanted me 
 arrested I never answered a word. I had had time, 
 Mannie, to think of you I could only be locked up a 
 few hours, I believed, and I might as well make the 
 best of it. I never dreamed that I would be taken into 
 court and arraigned for theft, least of all that I could be 
 convicted, with no evidence against me, and I didn't 
 want to carry things too far, when I remembered what 
 happened before and what obligations we were under 
 to him," 
 
 The sister listened with anxious eyes, clasping the 
 hands of the speaker in her own. 
 
 " Poor, poor Paul ! " she said, " how brave and true 
 you were; and I believed you guilty! Can you ever 
 forgive me? You wrote me not to come to you that 
 there was no danger of your conviction and I thought 
 as you did. But, my brother, there is one thing I wish
 
 194 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 you could banish from your mind, hard as it may be. I 
 know Mr. Morse so well, it is just as incredible to me 
 that he could have done this act as that I could have 
 done it myself. It is because he is thoroughly con- 
 vinced he is right that my tears and prayers have no 
 effect upon him. Since he came to Olluma he has 
 called here on two evenings, and we have talked the 
 whole matter over from every point of view. He has 
 paid a sum equal to the dividends the bonds used to 
 bring, quarterly, to Mr. Keith, out of his own pocket. 
 His business has fallen off greatly on account of the 
 feeling against him, and he has had to pinch in many 
 ways to do this, but he insists that he must make what 
 restitution he can. It is not revenge on you that he 
 seeks, now, nor to get back what he himself has lost, 
 but the rehabilitation of his honor in the community. 
 Oh, Paul, I wish you could believe him innocent! " 
 
 He put his arm around her waist like a lover and 
 kissed her tenderly on the cheek. 
 
 " You don't want me to lie to you, Mannie. I can't 
 believe it; I only wish I could. Either he stole that 
 property or I did. Will nothing suffice him but to pur- 
 sue me into my grave? for I feel that this continuous 
 watching for men who hunt escaped criminals will be 
 my death. If he has no mercy for me, has he none for 
 you and poor little Elsie? I'm doing all I can to be 
 patient, but if they try to take me back I don't know 
 what will happen. There is an end to my endurance 
 somewhere, and they may find it." 
 
 The brother's lips blanched and specks of blood ap- 
 peared in the pupils of his dark eyes. At the same in-
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 195 
 
 stant a stealthy noise alarmed both him and Marian, 
 and they looked at each other in alarm. Presently the 
 knob of the door that led into the hallway was softly 
 turned, but the key had been used in the lock and the 
 intruder could not enter. 
 
 " Are you there, Marian ? " asked the shaking voice 
 of Mr. Gardner. 
 
 Motioning Paul to 'hide behind the sofa, which he 
 instantly did, the girl replied in the affirmative. 
 
 "Who is with you?" 
 
 " I am alone, father. What do you want? " 
 
 " I want something to make me sleep. I thought I 
 heard some one talking." 
 
 She went at once to unlock the door and to assure the 
 intruder that he was mistaken. She had been reading, 
 she said, and perhaps had unconsciously pronounced 
 the words aloud. If he would come back up stairs she 
 would see what she could find for him. 
 
 It was plain even to the muddled perceptions of the 
 father that something had occurred to unbalance the 
 nerves of the young woman ; he was also sure that her 
 story about reading aloud was a prevarication. He 
 took her by the arm so roughly that, if she had not had 
 Paul's safety at stake, and known that the slightest out- 
 cry would have brought him to her side, she must have 
 uttered a scream. 
 
 " Yer lyin' ! Who was a-talkin' here with yer an' the 
 door locked ? " 
 
 "I didn't want to tell you, father, for I know you 
 won't approve of it, but I had to see him somewhere
 
 196 STRANGER THAN FICTION, 
 
 and I let him in for a little while. He's gone now, 
 though, and I won't have him come again." 
 
 He leered at her with heavy eyes. 
 
 " Morse, eh ? Well, did he leave yer any money ? " 
 
 " Father- don't ! Let me go and find your medicine. 
 I think there is some whiskey in a bottle in my room, 
 You must go back to sleep. You don't look well. Come, 
 dear." 
 
 " Find the whiskey an' I'll come. It's some yer stole 
 out o' my room, ain't it? A nice lot o' children I've 
 brung up. Thieves, the whole of 'em. An' yer still 
 refusin' to take his money, are yer? The more fool 
 you. Ef yer don't want it yer self, yer might remember 
 others what's sick an' gittin' old an' sufT'rin fer the 
 comforts o' life. He's at the hotel, though, an' I'm 
 goin' to see him in the mornin' an' ask him to do some- 
 thin' fer me," 
 
 Marian turned on her father a look that he had never 
 seen in her face before. Jt quelled him and he shrank 
 like a whipped cur before her. 
 
 " If you dare ! " she said, with terrible meaning. 
 " Father, I've borne a great deal from you, but speak 
 one word of that kind to Mr. Morse and 
 
 Her voice choked. She could not go on. A flood of 
 tears stopped her utterance. Mumbling that there was 
 nothing to blubber about and that she'd better get the 
 whiskey, Gardner shambled from the room. She fol- 
 lowed him up the stairs, found the liquor, which she 
 had obtained in the way he suggested, and gave it to 
 him. Then, after waiting long enough to feel sure he
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 was in a drunken sleep, she went back to th parlor and 
 
 rejoined her brother. 
 
 It was late, and merely repeating that he must not 
 think of coming to the house again, and that she would 
 send Jakey every day or two to communicate with him, 
 Marian parted with Paul, and saw him disappear into 
 the darkness. 
 
 It was a heavy burden Marian Gardner was carry- 
 ing. With no mother to advise her, she had this awful 
 incubus of a remaining parent, lost to all sense of pa- 
 ternal duty or affection; a brother, maligned, perse- 
 cuted, punished for a sin he had never committed, 
 dearer than ever through it all ; and now there was 
 something else to cause her anxiety, the suffering 
 through which her younger sister was passing. 
 
 " I didn't know you really loved him so, Elsie," she 
 said, the next morning, when she took the light break- 
 fast to the bedside and saw the wl 'te face turn away 
 from the food. " He has been a friend to us all, and I 
 supposed you liked him the same as I do, but I never 
 thought of this." 
 
 " I didn't know it, either, Mannie. When that rich 
 young lady began to talk of his going back to the town 
 where she lives when she showed me the ring he gave 
 her it all came over me like a weight that crushed. 
 But I'm going to get over it, sister, and he must never 
 know anything about it. Isn't there somewhere I can 
 go before he returns, so I w r on't have to see him till I'm 
 stronger? I wouldn't for the world have him sus- 
 pect." 
 
 " Sweet little sister ! How I love you ! "
 
 198 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 A shuffling step outside the door put an end to the 
 conversation for the time, and Marian went about her 
 duties elsewhere, thinking of the suggestion Elsie had 
 made, about going out of town for a little time. That 
 would undoubtedly be the best thing, if she could ar- 
 range it. After long thought she turned to the only 
 one outside the family on whom she could rely and 
 wrote about the matter to Mr. Sewall : 
 
 My Dear Friend : Do you know of any quiet familj 
 near Brayton where Elsie could go to board, at a rea- 
 sonable rate, for a few weeks ? I have thought of that 
 town because you would be there to see her frequently, 
 and that would keep her from being lonely. I cannot 
 put the reasons for this step on paper, but if you 
 should find the sort of home I mean, perhaps you 
 would drive up here and talk it over with me. 
 
 I know the last time we met there was a slight dif- 
 ference between us, but I hope you have forgotten 
 that. At any rate, my sister is your legal ward and I 
 think you have a duty to perform in her case. 
 
 MARIAN. 
 
 Mr. Sewall, who had worried over the incident to 
 which Marian alluded, was much relieved to receive 
 this letter, which showed that she held no feeling 
 against him for his interference in her affairs. He 
 wondered what she could mean, however, in her allu- 
 sion to Elsie, and lost no time in seeing to the errand 
 with which she had charged him. A family suited in 
 all respect occurred to him at once and within an hour 
 he had persuaded them to receive his young friend as 
 a guest. After lunch he sent to the hotel stable for a 
 team, intending to set out for Olluma immediately.
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 " There's a gentleman here who'd like to ride to town 
 with you, if you've no objection," said the landlord, 
 coming down the steps to meet him. 
 
 " Tell him I shall be delighted," was the reply. 
 
 But a minute later the minister began to doubt this ; 
 for the passenger he had agreed to carry was none 
 other than Richard Morse of Stromberg.
 
 20O STRANGER THAN 1 FICTION. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 MR. OSCAR FELTON prided himself on his reputation 
 as a " business man." By that I mean that he had a 
 high opinion of himself as one who generally accom- 
 plished whatever he set out to do, More than once he 
 had wrenched success from the very jaws of failure, in 
 matters financial. He was not over scrupulous in his 
 methods, believing that business concerns justified al- 
 most anything in the race for supremacy. When he 
 started out to secure his daughter the husband he had 
 once rejected he carried into the scheme the methods 
 of his counting room. He loved his child, and he had 
 become convinced that her happiness perhaps her life 
 itself depended on her marriage with Victor Hall, 
 
 In the first talks that he had with the young attorney 
 at Erayton he proceeded with care. In the first place 
 he expected to admit the injustice he had done him the 
 night they met on the walk in front of the rich man's 
 Stromberg residence. He was willing to abase himself 
 as much as might be necessary to accomplish his ends, 
 He had also a full understanding with his daughter as 
 to the role she was to play. They were both to use their 
 utmost efforts to bring back the old status quo, and
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 201 
 
 anything or anybody that stood in the way was to be 
 Sacrificed without mercy. 
 
 " I trust you won't think me a flatterer if I say that 
 your conduct in that unfortunate affair merits my 
 highest commendation," he said to Victor, after Ger- 
 trude had retired to her room on the evening of their 
 arrival at Brayton. They had dined together, in com- 
 pany with Mr. Whiteley and all reference to the past 
 had been carefully avoided at the table. " I did what at 
 the time I thought right, but in less than a week I saw 
 my error. You had then left town and my repentance 
 came too late. I learned by the wasting cheek of my 
 dear girl, by her silent yet reproachful attitude toward 
 me, how wrong it was for any consideration of a 
 worldly nature to come between young and loving 
 hearts. Could I have reached you, in person or by let- 
 ter, I would have begged your pardon and invited you 
 to make yourself wholly at home in my house. I did 
 my best to locate you, but no one seemed to know where 
 you had gone. It was a terrible experience, Mr. Hall. 
 When I accidentally discovered your whereabouts, 
 through the loan I made your partner, I resolved to 
 lose no time in letting you know how I regretted my 
 error and how anxious I was that its effects might be 
 obliterated." 
 
 Mr. Hall listened with wonder to this statement. It 
 was quite different from anything he would have ex- 
 pected from the haughty millionaire. He could not 
 help being affected by the paternal interest that 
 prompted it, and in the first flush of his surprise he 
 assured Mr. Felton that he appreciated his position per-
 
 2O2 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 fectly and begged he would not think it necessary to 
 apologize further. 
 
 " I left Stromberg, as you can imagine," said he, 
 " under a severe pressure of mental distress. I had a 
 very warm feeling toward your daughter and had come 
 to realize, with deep sorrow, that in my financial con- 
 dition I could not hope to win your consent to our 
 union. Sometimes I think my brain was affected by 
 my disappointments. Then, when I had hardly time to 
 recover a little from that, I learned that my small for- 
 tune had gone with the rest. I must admit that I had 
 had some doubts of the perfect probity of the trustee 
 doubts shared I think by many others who knew him; 
 but when the blow came, in addition to the one I re- 
 ceived from you, I saw the necessity of putting the past 
 out of my mind and beginning an entirely new life. 
 The hard work this compelled has been in a measure 
 my salvation, for it has kept me too busy to allow much 
 time for repining. As you can see, I am now, appar- 
 ently, on the road to a competence, and whether the 
 whole property is ever found or not I shall achieve in 
 time a respectable financial position." 
 
 To this Mr. Felton listened with great politeness. 
 He assured the speaker that no one of his friends could 
 rejoice more at his altered prospects than he, but he 
 added that it made not the slightest difference in his 
 personal sentiments toward him. A high character and 
 honorable aspirations were the best recommendations 
 for a young man; if he had cherished other ideas he 
 had long since abandoned them. The conversation, 
 which lasted for several hours, closed with the hope
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 2O3 
 
 expressed by Mr. Felton that all by-gones would be 
 forgotten, and that Mr. Hall would resume his old re- 
 lations with his family. 
 
 " I have no higher wish than to see you young people 
 make each other happy," he said, with emotion. " As 
 far as wealth is concerned, I have enough for both, 
 more than enough, in fact. I am growing old and can- 
 not long be here to cherish and advise my child. My 
 dearest wish is to see her happiness secured, and I 
 know it lies in only one direction." 
 
 It did not impress Mr. Hall as strongly as it may the 
 reader that Mr. Felton was practically " throwing his 
 daughter at the head " of the listener. He took the 
 statements of the gentleman for what they seemed a 
 plain acknowledgment of errors long since regretted 
 and repented. He was affected by the parental affection 
 shown. More than this, the touch of a slender hand 
 still vibrated in his youthful nerves. He had not out- 
 grown the sentiments of four years ago, for the pretty 
 and now fragile daughter of the Stromberg millionaire. 
 
 The two men parted at bedtime with mutual expres- 
 sions of good will, and Mr. Felton, according to his 
 promise, went straight to Gertrude's room to tell her 
 with elation that everything appeared to be progressing 
 finely. The girl listened anxiously to every word and 
 retired to bed with rose colored visions of a happy fu- 
 ture. 
 
 Mr. Whiteley, influenced by a desire to please a great 
 capitalist, became a willing assistant to Mr. Felton in 
 everything that was asked of him. His task it was to 
 eradicate any idea that might have found lodgment in
 
 2O4 STRANGER THAIf FICTION. 
 
 Mr. Hall's mind of an alliance with the little girl at the 
 Gardners. He was a lawyer of considerable astuteness, 
 and did not need instruction as to the best way of in- 
 fluencing a jury. He went about the work of under- 
 mining the Gardner family in his partner's estimation 
 as deliberately as if it was an honorable act. He had 
 Mr. Fel ton's theory that success justified any method, 
 and he could not see how a marriage with a very rich 
 man's daughter could be other than advantageous, both 
 to Mr. Hall and to the firm of which he was the junior 
 member. 
 
 At the mine, the next day, when alone with Victor, 
 he began, in a roundabout fashion, to feel his way. 
 
 " I think the Gardners have never regretted selling 
 this old ranch," he said. " It's a pity the father is in 
 such a condition unable to do anything for his family 
 through constant use of stimulants. He had one of the 
 finest wives in the world, I've heard people say." 
 
 " She was a lovely character," said Hall, musingly. 
 " A great loss to her girls, I can assure you." 
 
 " They've had more than their share of trouble," 
 pursued the wily advocate. " You know about the 
 brother, of course, Paul, I think was his name. When 
 less than 16 he was sentenced to a State institution for 
 stabbing a man with a knife, and no one knows what 
 became of him afterwards. Somehow these things run 
 in families, like a taint in the blood." 
 
 He then went on to talk about the mine and for some 
 minutes made no reference to the subject which had 
 interested Mr. Hall greatly. He wondered how White-
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 305 
 
 ley had learned so fflucli (3fl a matter of which lie had 
 only the obscure hints of little Jacob. 
 
 " Speaking of the Gardners," he said, when a chance 
 came to reintroduce the subject, " how different the 
 young ladies are from their father. Pedigree doesn't 
 count for much with the human race, or else girls take 
 their characteristics entirely from the mother's side." 
 
 " Y-e-s," was the doubtful response. " And yet you 
 know, I suppose, that there is a strange mystery con- 
 nected with the elder one. I don't like to talk about 
 such things on mere rumor, but it is said she disap- 
 peared for several years and conceals her whereabouts 
 during that time when questioned on the matter. There 
 was a rumor that an Eastern man was here paying her 
 attention and that when her people objected to him 
 they went off about the same time, but I never take 
 stock in such insinuations without more proof. The 
 worst thing about it is the effect it's sure to have on 
 her sister's prospects. She's a girl of whom everybody 
 speaks in the highest terms, and the history of her fam- 
 ily will be a dreadful stumbling block in her way, one 
 of these days, when she gets old enough to marry. Yes, 
 Bill, I'll be there in a minute." 
 
 There is a story of a lawyer who once addressed a 
 jury somewhat in this fashion: '' I will not allude, 
 gentlemen, to the fact that the defendant murdered 
 his aged father in cold blood and brought the hairs of 
 his mother in sorrow to the grave; the learned judge 
 would not allow me to touch on those painful incidents 
 in his career. I will confine myself entirely to the evi- 
 dence you have heard about the watermelon."
 
 2O6 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 Had Whiteley used a different tone, acting as if he 
 wished to cast aspersions upon the elder Miss Gardner, 
 Victor Hall would certainly have risen to her defence 
 from innate chivalry and friendship. As it was, the 
 only effect was the one intended, to connect the dis- 
 agreeable history of the other members with poor little 
 Elsie. He liked the child immensely, though no definite 
 idea of marriage had ever entered his mind in connec- 
 tion with her. He found himself entertaining the view 
 suggested, and he pitied the girl from the bottom of his 
 heart. His greatest hope was that these things were 
 not known to her in their full enormity and that she 
 might be kept from ever hearing of them. 
 
 At the same time he mused much over his altered re- 
 lations with the Feltons and could not quite make up 
 his mind what he ought to do what he wanted to do 
 in the new 'circumstances. Having driven matrimony 
 out of his mind with a violent effort, four years ago, the 
 thought of becoming a benedict, even with his old 
 sweetheart for a partner in 'Connubial bliss, was some- 
 thing that bred in his mind a certain uneasiness. He 
 felt, without exactly realizing it, that he was being 
 pushed toward a decision, and resented in a vague way 
 the attitude in which he was placed. And he was a 
 good deal troubled also over the revelations of Mr. 
 Morse. It seemed as if the case of Herbert Brown, the 
 convicted clerk, ought to command his attention before 
 anything else. 
 
 When he met Gertrude he tried to assume toward 
 her an air of friendship, without committing himself 
 further. This was not so easy as he had imagined it
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 2O7 
 
 inight be. They had been very fond of each other in 
 the old days and she evidently thought their renewed 
 acquaintance had fully established their former terms. 
 Whenever they were alone together which seemed to 
 be very often her conversation was based on the old 
 lines. She extended her hand to him, timidly and yet 
 confidently, and held his own with a clasp that spoke 
 volumes of the state of her palpitating heart. 
 
 She was so utterly happy in his society that he could 
 not enter seriously on a discussion of the situation. She 
 talked much of papa's sorrow at what he had done, and 
 mentioned incidentally two or three offers of marriage 
 she had rejected from men of high position and large 
 wealth, one of them an Austrian baron of old family. 
 He began to feel that her love had meant more than his, 
 even when he thought the loss of his darling would 
 break his heart. 
 
 But he went on, for the week he remained at the 
 Brayton House, meeting her often, talking of the old 
 times, taking an occasional drive with her, and letting 
 her assume that everything was all right between them, 
 not knowing just what his intentions were or what he 
 ought to say. It is much easier to float with the tide 
 than to propel one's boat against it. When he felt that 
 he could no longer remain away from his office without 
 doing injustice to important business there and when 
 he supposed that Richard Morse intended to spend a 
 while longer at Brayton, or return East (having ap- 
 parently no special reason for staying in California), he 
 bade a good-by to the Feltons with as little ceremony 
 as was consistent with politeness. He kissed Gertrude 
 in her father's presence, when she offered him her lips
 
 2O8 STRANGER THAN FICTION.; 
 
 as if it were a matter of course, and said in the usual 
 way that he would be glad to see them whenever they; 
 came back to Olluma. 
 
 " I hope Harvey won't get sick again," said Whiteley 
 to him, standing at the carriage wheel. " He's a bright 
 young fellow and I don't want to have to hunt up an- 
 other clerk. I think you'd best give him the combina- 
 tion to the safe, as we're both liable to be off at the same 
 time. If I'm any judge of human nature he's all 
 right." 
 
 " I don't believe in throwing temptation in the way 
 of a ten dollar a week clerk," replied Hall. " We might 
 get another safe and put such things in it as he would 
 need to get at, but where the cash is I'd rather keep the 
 combination myself." 
 
 " All right," said Whiteley. " Order one, will you? 
 Perhaps that's the oest way. We have five or ten thou- 
 sand dollars some nights to leave in the office. Yes, I 
 guess that's safest." 
 
 Mr. Hall drove a pretty good team, which was one of 
 the extravagancies he had of late indulged in, and after 
 he had gone ten miles or so he saw that he was over- 
 taking another pair of horses going in the same direc- 
 tion. Coming closer, gradually, he recognized, first 
 Mr. Sewall, and then his travelling companion. He 
 would have been glad to stop and talk with the minis- 
 ter, but he did not like to say much to Morse, so he 
 touched his animals with a whip and passed them rap- 
 idly. 
 
 " I've got an important engagement at Olluma," he 
 explained, as he waved his hand to Mr. Sewall and left 
 them in the dust from his flying wheels.
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION.. 20Q 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 " I REFUSE TO BE DRIVEN I " 
 
 THE present technical head of the Gardner family 
 
 smoked his black pipe in his usual discontent, on the 
 back piazza of his town residence. Not only was he 
 recovering slowly from a prolonged " booze" but, what 
 was harder to bear, the prospect of starting on another 
 was not as good as he could have desired. With Mr. 
 Hall out of town there was no one to apply to for the 
 necessary funds. Marian, who held the slender purse- 
 strings of the family, had been less liberal to him than 
 ever since the night when he said those insulting things 
 in the hearing of her hidden brother. The saloon- 
 keepers of the village had adopted a cash basis, so far 
 as he was concerned, and all his pleadings for " jest one 
 pint," which he solemnly promised to pay for at an 
 early date, failed to move their hard hearts. He could 
 think of nothing in the way of jewelry which he could 
 pawn, a careful lock being kept on the few trinkets that 
 belonged to his daughters and his own timepiece and 
 chain having been sacrificed at a time long distant. 
 
 He was very thirsty. The hard-heartedness of this 
 world struck him as it had often done before with a 
 sickening chill. Had the Evil One been around (as he 
 used to be) with a manuscript deed of his soul ready
 
 210 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 to exchange for a good drink of whiskey, Gardner 
 would not have hesitated to close the bargain on the 
 spot. It may perhaps be proper to add in this connec- 
 tion that, unless souls were at a premium in Sheol that 
 day, His Satanic Majesty would have lost heavily by 
 giving even this price for such a diminutive one as Mr. 
 Gardner had to offer. 
 
 " Oh, for one little drink! " he moaned. " I wonder 
 if Mr. Hall is coming back this week." 
 
 The easiest way to get information on that subject 
 was to go over to Whiteley & Hall's law offices and 
 inquire. Poising himself unsteadily on his feet, Gard- 
 ner laid down his pipe and began the painful task. His 
 head throbbed, his throat burned, his legs wobbled. 
 Several times on the way he sat down to rest on some 
 convenient curb, where he excited the pity of some, 
 the derision of others and the disgust of all who saw 
 him. After a long time, however, he managed to 
 reach his destination and shambled slowly up the stairs. 
 There was no one in the front office, but a door that 
 led to one of those in the rear was partly open and in 
 response to a light cough a young man came to the en- 
 trance. 
 
 " Has Mis'r Hall got back f'm Brayt'n (hie)?" said 
 Gardner. 
 
 " No, sir," replied the young man, turning his face 
 into the shadow. 
 
 " Do y'know when he's (hie) comin'?" 
 
 " Probably next week." 
 
 The inquirer staggered toward his informant and 
 pushed the door aside. There was no use in trying to
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 211 
 
 hide further, and Paul (for it was he) decided that he 
 must face it out. The full beard he had grown had suf- 
 ficed to disguise him from others, perhaps it would 
 from this man. 
 
 " tVashername? " asked Gardner, staring hard at his 
 son. 
 
 " Mason Harvey, sir." 
 
 " Ever see me afore? " 
 
 " No, sir.' 
 
 " Well, my name's Gardner 'Rius Gardner. Mr. 
 Hall's got charge of some prop'ty (hie) of mine an' 
 whenever I want any money I git it. Can't yer Vance 
 me four bits till he comes? 'S all right, young feller, 
 give yer m'word." 
 
 A fifty cent piece was instantly put into the out- 
 stretched palm and with expressions of broken thanks 
 Gardner lost no time in leaving the place, to Paul's re- 
 lief. He was afraid it was wrong to pander to his 
 father's taste for liquor, which he knew was his object 
 in asking the loan, but greater interests were at stake. 
 The way in which the applicant had stared at his face 
 was little less than alarming. On thinking of it at 
 leisure, however, Paul ascribed the intensity of the look 
 to his father's condition and congratulated himself once 
 more on escaping recognition. 
 
 Just before closing that evening, without having sent 
 any warning of his intention to return, Mr. Hall sprang 
 briskly up the steps of his office. The clerk put down 
 his hat, which he had on, and for more than an hour 
 devoted himself to matters of business. There was 
 much to say, a great deal of mail to open, and several
 
 '212 feTRAN'GER THAtt FICTIOK 
 
 letters to write in answer to dictation. When this was 
 finished it was past seven o'clock. 
 
 " I'm going to tell Whiteley I think we should raise 
 your salary a little," said Mr. Hall, with a gratified air, 
 as he prepared to leave. " If he takes my advice you 
 will begin to draw $15 a week, after this month." 
 
 " You are very kind, sir." 
 
 "And by the way I mustn't forget to write to 
 Mosler to-morrow for a new safe. We need another 
 one, as this is getting overcrowded. Do you know 
 anything about opening a safe with a combination? " 
 
 With one gasp of surprise at the question, coming 
 from him, Paul managed to answer that he thought he 
 could easily learn. 
 
 " Yes, it won't take you an hour. I'm going to give 
 you one safe to have the combination of yourself, while 
 I keep the other. In case you took a notion (ha! ha!) 
 to run off, we want something left to- continue business 
 with. Well, good-night, Harvey." 
 
 At the door, however, a man was about to enter; did 
 enter, in fact, as it was opened. It was Richard Morse. 
 Not knowing how to avoid him, except by a direct dis- 
 courtesy, Mr. Hall stepped back; and the clerk, pale 
 from his construction of the latest words of his em- 
 ployer, met Morse face to face as he walked out. 
 
 " I just called to see if any letters had possibly got 
 sent to me in your care," said Mr. Morse, deferentially. 
 " None? Thank you. Who was the young man I met 
 your clerk, I presume? Yes. Thank you again. 
 You are very kind. I would like a few words with
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 213 
 
 you, but I fear this is an inopportune time. Yon have 
 not had dinner, have you? " 
 
 " I have not, but if I had, Mr. Morse, I don't see 
 what reason there could be for any more interviews 
 between us." 
 
 " I do not wish to annoy you. I can wait till you 
 have leisure." 
 
 Mr. Hall chafed at the very presence of the man. 
 
 " If you must say anything to me say it. And, as 
 the proclamations say, ' forever after hold your 
 peace.' ' : 
 
 Morse, who was always sallow, had no color at all 
 in his face now. He made a movement as if to take a 
 chair and then, seeing that no very cordial look en- 
 couraged him, braced up again. 
 
 " I only wished to tell you," he said, uneasily, " that 
 I have strong hopes of getting possession soon of your 
 property." 
 
 " In other words you think you have carried out the 
 farce of pretending it was stolen as long as you care 
 to?" 
 
 The man winced palpably under the sarcasm. 
 
 '' You are cruelly unjust," he said, swallowing some- 
 *hing that stuck in his throat. " My business honor is 
 at stake. I shall never rest until it is cleared up so that 
 even you will admit that you have done me a grievous 
 wrong. Cannot you dismiss your bitterness, and listen 
 for a few minutes to a very serious statement I think 
 you ought to hear? " 
 
 With a sigh of impatience Victor took a seat and 
 made a slight morion to his companion to take another.
 
 214 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 " Just remember that I've had nothing to eat since 
 noon," said he. 
 
 " I am willing ito come to-morrow," said Morse, half 
 rising from the seat he had barely taken. 
 
 " For God's sake! finish your errand. If you've got 
 anything to say to me, begin." 
 
 " It is this, then, Mr. Hall, and I pray you have pa- 
 tience: Do you know who the clerk was who took 
 (who was convicted of taking, if you prefer that) your 
 securities that disappeared from my office? " 
 
 "No, I don't and I -don't care! All I ever heard 
 about him was what you told me yourself." 
 
 " Well, I think you ought to know. He called 'him- 
 self Herbert Brown, but that was a name assumed 
 when he left a reform school several years before, 
 where he had been confined for an assault with a dan- 
 gerous weapon. His real name was (don't blame me, 
 sir!) Paul Gardner, son of Darius Gardner of this 
 town." 
 
 The listener did not care to drive his informant from 
 the office now. He was quite ready to hear all he had 
 to say. 
 
 " There is a mystery here," he cried, much excited, 
 " which I must ask you to explain. How could you 
 employ a clerk that you knew had already done time 
 for a criminal offence? and not only employ him, but 
 make him sole custodian of the combination of a safe 
 in which you kept your clients' valuables? " 
 
 " I believed he had fully reformed and I wanted to 
 give him an opportunity to redeem fcwnself."
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 21$ 
 
 " You mean that you wanted some one with a pre- 
 viously bad reputation to lay your own rascality on! " 
 
 Tears actual tears came down the pale cheeks of 
 the other man. 
 
 " I can say no more to you," he stammered, brokenly. 
 " You give me no credit for any honorable sentiment." 
 
 He rose and went with tottering- steps toward the 
 door and the lawyer's voice followed him : " Don't I 
 credit you with as much honesty as other people do? " 
 
 " That's the worst of it," he said, turning. " You're 
 all bound to drive me to the wall. Well, I refuse to be 
 driven!" He raised his head with an air that was 
 slightly majestic. " I will prove my innocence I 
 never had any doubt I should some day do that but 
 I will try no more to save others who stand before the 
 car of justice. What you have said to-night alters all 
 my plans. Hereafter I shall think of myself alone of 
 my ruined reputation, my crushed hopes, my destroyed 
 business prospects! The world has been cruel and 
 heartless to me I will be heartless and cruel to the 
 world! I will drag Paul Gardner back to his prison 
 and force from him the hiding place of his plunder, and 
 woe to those in my way! " 
 
 Mr. Hall heard this outburst with all imaginable sur- 
 prise and when the office door crashed loudly behind 
 the speaker, he got up and paced the floor in great 
 uneasiness. There had been too much realism in the 
 action of his caller to doubt that he meant to do his 
 worst against the absconding clerk. And he was Elsie 
 Gardner's brother! Lord, Lord! Was there anything 
 in all the range of fiction as strange as that?
 
 2l6 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 He went to the hotel and sat down to the late table 
 alone, but there was little on the bill of fare that ap- 
 pealed to his appetite. The interview with Morse had 
 disturbed him in every fibre. 
 
 " I'll go to Marian," he said, after a long debate 
 with himself. " If what he told is true she needs a 
 friend and I will be one to her. Dick Morse is in a 
 rage that won't down easily and he shan't have a weak 
 girl to fight alone. I'm in a condition, financially and 
 otherwise, to help that brother, and I'll offer my ser- 
 vices in any way that seems advisable. If we're going! 
 to have a war I may as well begin getting my ammuni- 
 tion. Confound him, I wish he'd go back to Strom- 
 berg, or to the devil! I shan't enjoy life again till I 
 know he's out of this vicinity. ' Woe to those in my 
 way,' eh? Well, the man that gets in my way may 
 find his share of woe, too." 
 
 He could not wait till morning and though it was 
 rather late he walked to the Gardner cottage and 
 rapped on the front door.
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION.. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 UNCONTROLLABLE IMPULSE ? 
 
 As soon as he could finish an early dinner, Mr. 
 Sewall went to see Marian. He was glad enough to 
 meet her on friendly terms, for their encounter on the 
 night he took her to task for entertaining- Mr. Morse 
 so late had left him with anything but agreeable feel- 
 ings. He had also learned many things during his 
 drive with the Stromberg insurance man, on that same 
 afternoon, and he wanted to show by his presence and 
 his manner if in no more definite way that he re- 
 gretted extremely the course he had inconsiderately 
 taken. 
 
 When she came to the door to admit him he could 
 not help saying, " Do you forgive me? " And when he 
 received her reply in a simple and whole-souled " Yes," 
 they were both satisfied to make no further allusion to 
 the unpleasant circumstance. Their talk changed im- 
 mediately to Elsie; and Marian told him her reasons for 
 wanting him to take temporary charge of the sister. 
 He listened gravely till she had finished and then said 
 he had already secured the home she would require and 
 would take her there on the following day, if she was 
 ready. 
 
 This being settled, the conversation naturally re-
 
 2l8 STRANGER 1HAN FICTION. 
 
 verted to Paul. No danger to him threatened, so far 
 as Marian knew. He had met not only his younger 
 sister, but his father, with no apparent suspicion of his 
 identity in the minds of either. The bold step he had 
 taken, of bearding- the lion in his very den, though 
 not approved by her at first, seemed justified by re- 
 sults. As " Mason Harvey," clerking in the office of 
 one of the men he would naturally avoid, Marian 
 thought Paul might be safer than among strangers. 
 The thing that troubled her most was his reiterated as- 
 sertion that in no circumstances would he be taken 
 back to prison. If his whereabouts were discovered, 
 she feared something dreadful would happen. 
 
 Elsie had been up during a part of the day, but had 
 retired early, needing all the strength she could get. 
 She was quietly determined not to give way to her sor- 
 row, and never to let Mr. Hall know how much she 
 cared for him. The picture Marian drew of the ''child," 
 as they always called her, was striking and pathetic. 
 She related the history of Miss Felton's visits and the 
 revelation of the engagement between her and Mr. 
 Hall, that had crushed the delicate flower on its stem. 
 Mr. Sewall listened intently and when she finished 
 asked how much she thought Mr. Hall was to blame 
 in the matter. 
 
 " I don't think he is to blame at all/' replied Marian. 
 " Elsie admits that no word that could be construed 
 into the expression of a lover has ever passed his lips to 
 her. He has acted merely like a good friend, like a 
 faithful brother, to both of us. I know he likes Elsie 
 very much indeed, but no one can blame him for that.
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 219 
 
 It probably never occurred to him that she would mis~ 
 construe his attentions. I'm sure it never occurred to 
 me. I have seen them together day after day without 
 such a thought seriously entering my head. Elsie is 
 growing a little older, of course, but to me she is still so 
 young that the idea of matrimony can hardly be com- 
 prehended in connection with her." 
 
 " I had a companion on my ride here from Brayton 
 to-day," he said. " Mr. Mbrse." 
 
 She started in surprise at the statement and then 
 reddened. 
 
 " I got from him what he says is generally known at 
 Stromberg, about the former relations of Mr. Hall with 
 that young lady. It is current gossip there that they 
 had planned their future without the aid of Mr. Fel- 
 ton, and that when Mr. Hall lost his inheritance his 
 chance of securing the father's consent was despaired 
 of. They say also that Miss Gertrude suffered severely 
 from the blow, and that all efforts to induce her to ac- 
 cept the attentions of other gentlemen have failed. Mr. 
 Whi'teley told me yesterday that since they came West 
 things have been rearranged, however, and that an 
 early marriage between them may now be looked for." 
 
 Marian sighed. If she had had any lingering 1 hope 
 that Elsie's love might yet be returned this dashed it to 
 the ground. 
 
 " You will assume charge of her till she is quite re- 
 covered? " she said. " In your hands I know she will 
 be safe. It is such a blessing to have a friend like you 
 to call on."
 
 22O STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 " If she were my sister, dear Marian," he said, " 1 
 could not more gladly render her this service." 
 
 She hesitated at the next question. 
 
 " Did Mr. Morse say anything else in relation to 
 us? He is usually very uncommunicative." 
 
 " Nothing that I would like to talk about just now. 
 I think I secured his confidence, which may be of use 
 to some of you in the future. Do you know when he 
 intends to go home? " 
 
 She shook her head. 
 
 " Not very soon, I am afraid. I wish some one 
 would convince him that Paul did not take those pa- 
 pers. As long as he believes he did we shall always 
 have him to fear." 
 
 He bowed, and both were silent under the spell of 
 this thought for some moments. 
 
 "I have a theory of my own," he said at last, " as to 
 what became of the bonds. It is only a theory, but I 
 am going to work on it, in the hope that something 
 will develop. Recent events have made it possible 
 for me to take certain steps that I would have shrunk 
 from earlier. We all admit that if the stolen property 
 could be recovered the incentive to pursue your 
 brother would be removed. It is a great task one 
 naturally quite out of my line but I am going to try." 
 
 Marian begged him to be careful. She wanted no 
 more innocent people accused. Nothing but the most 
 absolute proof could justify the bringing in of other 
 names. This Mr. Sewall promised and, seeing by his 
 watch that it was nearly eight o'clock, said he would 
 take his leave, returning at an early hour in the morn-
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 221 
 
 ing for his passenger, whom Marian promised to have 
 ready for her ride. 
 
 Before he could go, Mr. Hall came; and when he 
 found Mr. Scvvall there, begged him to remain a few 
 minutes longer. They were all equally interested in 
 one matter. He then related the particulars of Mr. 
 Morse's visit to his office, an hour before, repeating the 
 assertion of the latter that Paul Gardner was in 
 California and that he would never rest till he had him 
 again in custody. 
 
 " You knew, then, it was my poor brother! " cried 
 Marian, beginning to weep. 
 
 " Not till he told me. I was thunderstruck at the 
 news. It seemed my first duty to warn you. If you 
 have any way of communicating with him, urge him to 
 leave the State at once. Whether he be innocent or 
 guilty of the crime charged, he has suffered enough. 
 I will do anything you suggest to aid him; both from 
 my high regard for his his two sisters, and because 
 1 think he is being persecuted outrageously. By-the- 
 way, where is Elsie?" 
 
 Averting her face, Marian replied that her sister had 
 retired early with a headache. She then asked, desir- 
 ing to keep the conversation in its original channel, if 
 'Mr. Morse had given any other intimation of Paul's 
 whereabouts than to say he wa^ *n the State. 
 
 No, he had not. And even this might be based on 
 guess. The only thing certain was that he was bound 
 to track him down, and had tried to get Mr. Hall's 
 help. 
 
 " Confound those bonds ! " exclaimed Victor. " I
 
 222 S1RANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 wish I'd never heard of them. They've made me all 
 the trouble I ever had, I think. My business is doing 
 well and I've no need of the property, even if it is re- 
 covered. Should it be returned to me at the cost of 
 suffering to any member of your family, Miss Gardner, 
 I would feel like refusing to accept it." 
 
 The minister looked at the last speaker and 
 said in a pointed way, " What is your honest opinion, 
 Mr. Hall, about the disappearance of those securities? " 
 
 Victor wiped away the perspiration that his excite- 
 ment had caused to cover his face. 
 
 " I never had but one, and that's as likely to be 
 wrong as not. Nobody trusted Richard Morse, that I 
 ever knew, except my misguided mother. People 
 began to tell me as soon as he took possession that I 
 never would get what belonged to me. I don't think 
 you can find a man, woman or child in Stromberg who 
 has any doubt he knows where the property is." 
 
 The minister's steady gaze had never left the other's 
 countenance. 
 
 'And you can suggest no other probability? " he 
 asked, quietly. 
 
 " Oh, there may be a hundred. Perhaps the safe 
 opened itself and the package flew out of the locked 
 windows. I say again, it has been a curse to every- 
 body concerned. I am the loser and it ought to be 
 enough to Morse that I refuse to aid him in driving a 
 young man to the wall, whether he has or has not 
 been guilty of the error." 
 
 A^ murmur that she should never forget these kind
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION". 223 
 
 words came from the trembling lips of Marian. But 
 the minister's set face was still turned toward Mr. Hall. 
 
 " I don't like to injure your feelings," said he, after 
 a most impressive pause, " but there was a man who, 
 according to his own admission, -had those bonds in 
 his hands within forty-eight hours of die time they were 
 last seen by any one we know. Have you thought of 
 him?" 
 
 For a second Victor's brows knotted in a puzzled 
 way and then he burst into a nervous laugh at the very; 
 absurdity of the idea. 
 
 "Keith? Ridiculous! 1 don't think you would 
 make a very good detective, Mr. Sew-all. But you 
 have some excuse in the fact that you don't know the 
 man. Why, he's trusted with fifty times the amount I 
 losit, and his reputation is clear as the skies. Besides, 
 he's the dearest friend the dearest masculine friend 
 I have on earth. Keith? Well, well! Is nobody go- 
 ing to be safe in this cursed affair! " 
 
 Mr. Sewall did not join in the laugh, nor even relax 
 the muscles of his set countenance in the slightest de- 
 gree. 
 
 " Have you never heard of such a thing as ' uncon- 
 trollable impulse? ' " he asked. 
 
 "Pshaw! I can't discuss it seriously. My errand 
 is done and I must go. An awful pile of work has ac- 
 cumulated, with both Whiteley and myself away, and 
 part of the time that new clerk of ours has been out sick. 
 He is a bright fellow, by the way, that Harvey. I'm 
 going to get his pay raised as soon as the senior re-
 
 224 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 turns. There's a chap you could trust, now. You 
 can see honesty shining in every lineament of his face. 
 Give my condolences to Elsie when she wakes and tell 
 her to run over to the office if she has time to-morrow. 
 We must take care of our girl, Marian. What a sweet 
 little thing she is! " 
 
 'Mr. Sewall was going also and they took their leave 
 together. The minister tried to renew the talk about 
 the theft, but Victor declared that he should not sleep 
 a wink if it was reopened. It fairly gave him the jim- 
 jams, he said. He had come two thousand miles, four 
 years ago, to get out of sight and sound of a set of 
 mosquitoes who kept buzzing in his ears that he would 
 eventually lose it all, and the first news he got from 
 home told him the catastrophe had occurred. If he 
 must listen to the disagreeable subject here he would 
 have to take a ship and sail to the Sandwich Islands. 
 
 " One question and I have done," said Mr. Sewall. 
 " Who sent you the news vou speak of, that the securi- 
 ties were stolen? " 
 
 "Why Keith. Morse came over and told him; 
 and, as the only person who knew my address, the 
 news had to come from his hand." 
 
 " That's all," said the minister, but to the disturbed 
 mind of the young lawyer even these simple words 
 were distasteful. 
 
 " I wouldn't believe a thing like that of Cyrus 
 Keith," he exclaimed, " if he told me with his own lips 
 he did it." 
 
 " People who know Paul Gardner are quite as sure 
 of him."
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 225 
 
 " Why, then," laughed Hall, " it comes back to the 
 
 original starting place to a man that everybody would 
 believe it of that every one does believe it of Dick 
 Morse, insurance agent 1 "
 
 226 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 VICTOR MAKES A PROPOSITION. 
 
 THE Feltons returned to town in a few days and be- 
 gan to talk of going home. Victor Hall earnestly 
 hoped they would do so, for he wanted ample time to 
 think over the new condition of things, unhampered 
 by their presence. He had enough to do at the office 
 to drive a sane man wild. Elsie's absence on some 
 mysterious visit "to friends," into which he did not 
 feel like inquiring deeply, worried him in a vague way. 
 He missed the girl when evening came; and the fact 
 that Gertrude was willing to devote to him -all the time 
 he wanted did not, somehow, answer the purpose. Mr. 
 Gardner, too, was more persistent every day in his 
 demands for money, and while the amounts were small 
 and insignificant, the fact that he used them to get 
 beastly drunk and went home to annoy Marian made 
 the donor consider whether he should not put his foot 
 down and stop the thing. Then Morse, who had gone 
 away for a day or two, took a notion to return. Take 
 it altogether, Mr. Hall found his life becoming one 
 continuous burden. 
 
 " What do you think," said Mr. Felton to him one 
 evening, when talking about returning to Stromberg, 
 "of my putting a paragraph in the newspapers an-
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 227 
 
 nouncing your engagement to Gerty? It would pre- 
 pare the public, you know, and explanations could be 
 made in a natural way." 
 
 What a business-like style the had in talking of deli- 
 cate matters! 
 
 " I wouldn't do that just yet," said Victor. " I 
 don't see as there's any hurry." 
 
 " No, but it's all understood now, of course, between 
 you young folks, and I want to do what is right on my 
 side. You won't think of living out here, I suppose, 
 after you're married? You can get the best business 
 there is in Stromberg, or if you like it better, go to 
 Chicago. If you don't feel like leaving your interests 
 in the mine entirely, you can run out once or twice a 
 year, or I would buy the whole thing for cash, if you'd 
 prefer to sell." 
 
 Few men, even along a road they intend to travel, 
 enjoy being pushed; and Victor Hall had still some 
 lingering doubts whether he wanted to travel on this 
 road at all. 
 
 " These things all require thought," he stammered, 
 " and the best way is to let me think the matter over 
 after you have gone and write you what decision I ar- 
 rive at. My business, as you can see, is driving me fear- 
 fully, and I can hardly find time to eat and sleep. Al- 
 low me a month at least to settle these points and be 
 sure everything is decided for the best." 
 
 Somewhat disappointed, Mr. Felton knew there was 
 nothing he could do but accept this suggestion with as 
 good grace as possible. He took pains to get a tacit 
 acknowledgment that the engagement between Mr.
 
 228 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 Hall and his daughter had never been broken off, i u 
 the presence of Mr. Whiteley, who according to in- 
 structions made a note to this effect in his diary. Then, 
 as there might be such a thing as carrying the cam- 
 paign too far at that season, the Feltoris finally left 
 town, Gertrude securing a promise from Victor to 
 write often, and what was of more importance a 
 kiss at the railway 'Station that was witnessed by twenty 
 people. 
 
 " Mr. Hall's engaged to that Miss Felton who's been 
 here with her father," all the gossips were saying, that 
 evening. " He's a millionaire and she's his only child. 
 Lord! what will Elsie Gardner say when she hears of 
 it? Poor thing! She thought 'she was going to make 
 that catch herself." 
 
 It was a hard position for the young lawyer when 
 the men around town began to throw out hints and 
 even ask definite questions. He did not wish to admit 
 the truth of what they had heard, but neither did he 
 think it wise to deny it, when he might decide to marry 
 Gertrude, after all. He contented himself with saying, 
 " Did you? " to those who mentioned that they " had 
 heard " of his engagement, or " Indeed! " To others 
 who asked if the rumor was true he said, " That's a 
 leading question," and to still others he gave equally 
 evasive answers. The result was that the story was 
 confirmed in everybody's mind and that Mr. Hall was 
 voted " a mighty 'cute young feller," who knew " on 
 which side his bread was buttered." 
 
 He wrote the letters he had promised, very brief 
 ones they were, which he ascribed to the demands o\
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 22Q 
 
 Business, but avoided saying anything that would com- 
 mit himself, quite as careful with the young lady in 
 that respect as with the voracious public. But the 
 postoffice employes knew his handwriting, and every 
 envelope he addressed to Stromberg, 111., was duly re- 
 ported by the vigilant scouts inside the government 
 building. 
 
 And all the time Mr. Hall was thinking, thinking, 
 thinking, of Elsie Gardner. It surprised him that, 
 wherever she had gone, he had received no letter from 
 her. When she lived at the old ranch she used to 
 write with regularity. Why should she do less now? 
 He wouldn't ask questions of Marian. The way she 
 had avoided telling him anything definite when he in- 
 quired where her sister had gone prevented that. All 
 the same he wanted to know; and, the next time Mr. 
 Gardner came in he managed to allude to the subject 
 in an offhand way, hoping something would transpire 
 from this source. 
 
 " Have you heard from Elsie, Mr. Gardner? " he 
 asked, busying himself at the same time among his 
 papers. 
 
 " I wouldn't be likely to hear nothing'' was the old 
 man's reply. " I'm the last person any of 'em would 
 write to, an' I'm their father, too ! " 
 
 " Has she gone for long, do you think? " 
 
 " I dunno. Till she gits over it, I guess? " 
 
 " Is she sick? " asked Victor, with alarm. 
 
 " Low-sick. Leastwise, that's what I happened to 
 hear her tellin' Marian. They don't let me inter any 
 o' their secrets. Could you give me four bits? "
 
 230 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 Although he had quite made up his mind that he would 
 refuse the next request in this line (all the money he 
 had given Gardner had come from his private purse) 
 Hall was so startled by this statement that he handed 
 the man the money and saw him depart with his usual 
 celerity. Then he leaned back in his chair and pon- 
 dered long. 
 
 "Lovesick?" Little Elsie? With whom could it 
 be? He had never known her to< show any special 
 predilection for any young man. 
 
 It was the oddest thing he had heard for a long time! 
 He began thinking of her in a bridal veil, with orange 
 flowers in her hair, marching up the aisle of some 
 grand church on the arm of an individual dressed in 
 black. Absurd! She was a dear little child quite 
 unfitted for the dignities of matrimony just a baby 
 to be petted and loved 
 
 He closed his desk and went out for a walk, choosing 
 the by-streets and finally passing the boundaries of the 
 village. Down by an arroyo, shaded in places by stray 
 specimens of the eucalyptus and the pepper tree, he 
 sat down, and thought, and thought. 
 
 Something he had long had in mind came to him 
 with renewed vigor. It was time he talked it over 
 with Marian Gardner. 
 
 Back to the town he went, after an hour alone in the 
 shade, and took his way to the cottage that Elsie had 
 brightened by her presence, and in which her absence 
 left a vacancy that could be felt even before he passed 
 the gate. The cottage was fairly embowered in a 
 mass of goldof-Ophir roses, that peculiarly beautiful
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 'flower of Southern California which transforms the 
 most ordinary abode into a home fit for a goddess. 
 Geraniums of gigantic size bloomed in the yard. 
 Everything in nature took -on the proportions of Brob- 
 dingnag. He alone had shrunken. His life seemed 
 to have dwindled in the past few days to a tithe of its 
 former dimensions. 
 
 " Marian, have you time for a few minutes' talk with 
 me? " he asked, as the girl came to admit him. 
 
 " Surely," she said, and they seated themselves in 
 the parlor. 
 
 " I want to do an act of simple justice, and you must 
 not put any objections in my way. It has been my in- 
 tention ever since the occasion arose that makes it 
 seem right. You know how Whiteley obtained pos- 
 session of your ranch. He knew or believed there was 
 gold there and instead of telling you or me, he got Mr. 
 Sherman to buy it and transfer it to him. Then he 
 offered to put it in with the property he and I and Beal 
 held together and, after discussing the matter in all its 
 bearings, I consented. I was not easy in my mind, for 
 I felt that strict honesty would have dictated a differ- 
 ent course. If there was much gold to be found there 
 I believed it belonged of right to you and yours. Be- 
 fore I knew anything about it, he had the deed. If I 
 had declined to accept his proposal I should have been 
 helpless to right the wrong. In taking a third interest 
 I put it in my power to protect you to at least that ex- 
 tent. It was then possible for me to act as your trus- 
 tee and to save a part for those who should have had it 
 all."
 
 232 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 The young woman listened with astonishment. She 
 did not know what to say and she let him continue to 
 the end. 
 
 " From the beginning, Marian, I never thought of 
 taking anything out of this for myself. I could only 
 protect you to the extent of one-third, but that I was 
 determined you should have. For awhile it began to 
 look as if there was a mistake that the price you had 
 received for your land was all it would ever prove to 
 be worth. Later Whiteley's judgment proved correct, 
 but in the meantime Mr. Beal had grown discouraged 
 and sold out his share to us. That put an even half of 
 everything at my disposal and I have retained it ever 
 since for you. It seems to me that the time has ar- 
 rived when I should restore it. I don't think I shall 
 remain much longer in California. I want to put into 
 the hands of somebody you select my half of the 
 mine and lands connected with it, for you and and 
 Elsie and the rest. You have full confidence in Mr. 
 Sewall, suppose I make it over to him? " 
 
 The brow of the young lawyer was clouded, his voice 
 was husky, he spoke as if under the pressure of strong 
 emotion. When he ceased, Marian was silent for more 
 than a minute. 
 
 " I am more surprised than I can express by what 
 you tell me," she said, finally. " I am afraid you have 
 overrated your duty. The enterprise of yourself and 
 your partners has made the,property we used to own a 
 paying one. We have had our share of it already. If 
 you insist I will tell the others what you say, but I 
 know what my own position will be. I cannot accept
 
 STRANGER THAN" FICTION. 233 
 
 a penny and I think I can speak quite as confidently 
 for my sister. At the same time I feel and she will 
 feel the great nobility of character that leads you to 
 make the offer, and you will have our undying grati- 
 tude just the same as if we agreed with you abotu: it, 
 It is the most generous thing I ever heard proposed^ 
 Mr. Hall, but I wish you would withdraw it." 
 
 He was not surprised entirely at her attitude, but 
 he persisted that he could not be content till his share 
 of the mine that had come into his hands in a way he 
 had never felt right was restored to the Gardner fam- 
 ily. He was willing to submit a list of all the expenses 
 of development, and as near as possible of the receipts 
 from ore found on that side of the line cutting the 
 two in twain and giving up only what was clearly 
 theirs. But she shook her head as decidedly as before. 
 
 " I question, with all respect, your right to speak for 
 your sister," he said, when he could not move her. 
 " Can you not send for her and let me present the case 
 exactly as I have presented it to you? There is a 
 large sum at stake not less, I estimate, than $30,000 
 to be paid over in cash, beside the stock, that has now 
 a high and increasing value. She ought to decide on 
 a case like that with a full knowledge of all the facts." 
 
 The figure he named surprised Marian and the 
 wealth it placed before her dazzled her brain. How 
 much might be done for Elsie yes, and for the poor 
 brother who was running such danger of apprehension 
 and imprisonment, with $30,000! But she felt as 
 strongly as ever that the money ought not to be ac- 
 cepted that it could not be in honor.
 
 234 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 " There is something in what you suggest about my 
 not being authorized to speak for the others," she ad- 
 mitted. " Elsie is visiting friends at some distance 
 from here, and is not in the best of health. She has 
 an affection of the heart. I do not like to send for 
 her to come home just yet. But I will write her, ex- 
 pressing no opinion of my own, and leave her to say 
 what her judgment is. She will never 'take it, though, 
 Mr. Hall, I am sure. She does not care for money, to 
 begin with, and she expressed her opinion strongly 
 when you came to us at the time Air. Whiteley offered 
 the property to you, that you had the fullest right to 
 buy it and reap whatever benefit might accrue." 
 
 He looked like a sick man, leaning heavily on one 
 elbow, that rested on an arm of the chair he occupied. 
 
 " There is still another member of your family who 
 should be consulted," said he, gutturally. " One who 
 has just as much legal right to anything that inures 
 to your mother's estate as the rest of you. If you can 
 reach him 'by mail as I presume I have a right to 
 surmise his decision should not be overlooked. I 
 am determined to surrender all my share in that prop- 
 erty to some one. If part of you refuse to take it I 
 shall give it to those, if any, who hold a different 
 opinion." 
 
 'Marian's head whirled. If she had a friend on earth 
 whom she could trust it must 'surely be the man be- 
 fore her, urging her to< accept a large part of the for- 
 tune he had acquired, even for the brother who stood 
 before the law guilty of having robbed him. 
 
 " Mr. Hall," she said, rising and putting her hand on
 
 STRANGFR THAN FICTION. 235 
 
 his shoulder, " I still think it unwise to trouble Elsie 
 with this matter now. If you cannot be moved from 
 your purpose to offer to this family what I assure you 
 I never will touch, myself, you may begin with Paul. 
 That I trust you with all my heart you will be con- 
 vinced when I tell you where to find him. He has 
 been in your employ for several months under the 
 name of ' Mason Harvey.' " 
 
 He looked as if about to swoon, but recovered him- 
 self and rose to go. 
 
 " I have no sister, Mannie," said he, holding out his 
 hand as he used the affectionate diminutive. " Will 
 you let me kiss you, as a token? " 
 
 She threw her arms around his neck, sobbing with 
 the excess of her feeling, and, hardly less affected than 
 she, he pressed his lips to her fevered cheek.
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION^ 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 "MY WIFE NEEDS NO DEFENCE." 
 
 THE front door, near which they stood, had opened 
 noiselessly and a stealthy step had crossed the thresh- 
 old. Richard Morse stood gazing at the young 
 couple with mild surprise. Overcome for the mo- 
 ment with indignation Victor turned and faced the 
 intruder angrily. 
 
 " You impudent hound! " he cried. " Has it come 
 to this, that you walk into private dwellings and spy 
 on people, without even knocking? Take yourself 
 out this instant! " 
 
 " First tell me what business it is of yours, whether 
 I come here or not," was the bold reply. There 
 was little of the Morse Victor had known in the new 
 attitude and tone. 
 
 Marian stepped between the men, as if her slight 
 touch could prevent the collision that threatened. 
 
 " For my sake, remember, both of you! " she ejacu- 
 lated. 
 
 " I am the guardian of this young lady's estate and 
 to a certain extent of herself," said Hall, restraining 
 his wrath as well as he could. " And if I were not 
 I would allow no interloper to annoy her. Again I 
 tell you to go."
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 337 
 
 "And again I refuse," said Morse, returning- his 
 scowls with interest. "No, Marian," he continued, 
 as the young woman appealed to him with her eyes 
 to make no scene, " I have been misrepresented by 
 this man too long. It is time I should speak out. He 
 and I are enemies and nothing can be gained by 
 silence." Then to Mr. Hall, " Perhaps you will feel 
 your responsibility for this lady somewhat lessened 
 when I tell you she is my wife! " 
 
 Victor fell back and looked from one of them to 
 the other in amazement. 
 
 " Is it true? " he said to Marian, with white lips. 
 
 She bowed silently, with her eyes fixed on the car- 
 pet. 
 
 "Then I beg your pardon," he said, more to her 
 than to Mr. Morse. " I may be excused, I think, 
 for never dreaming of such a thing as that." 
 
 " But now that you know this you should learn 
 some other facts," said Morse, bridling at the insult* 
 ing insinuation. " You have acted toward me as if 
 I were a crawling reptile, only fit to be spurned by 
 your feet. I have endured it until I can do so no 
 longer. If you have a particle of manhood in you, 
 stay till I show you how bitterly I have been ma- 
 ligned. Marian, have you any influence with this 
 hard man? If you have, join your entreaties to mine." 
 
 The feminine fear of scenes would have induced the 
 young woman to evade the one impending, had she 
 not been approached in this direct fashion. What 
 her husband wanted to say must be known to Mr. 
 Hall some time, and it might be as well to have the
 
 238 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 agony over. To Victor's inquiring glance she re- 
 sponded with a look which showed that she wished 
 him to remain and listen. Hesitating a moment be- 
 tween two opinions he gave in and laid down his hat. 
 
 " You have no faith in me," began Morse, " but I 
 think you believe in the honesty of my wife. In any- 
 thing I may say with which she differs I ask her in 
 advance to tell you wherein I am wrong. There is 
 no need of invention or exaggeration. The story 
 is quite sufficient as it is. 
 
 " I have known the Gardner family, then, for more 
 than twelve years; before, in fact, they moved from 
 the East to California. Mrs. Gardner knew and 
 trusted me your mother was not the only person 
 who ever did that, you see. I managed the little 
 patrimony her father left her. After her health com- 
 pelled her to move West I sent her the proceeds and 
 from time to time such of the principal as she was 
 obliged to have. Her husband, as you well know, 
 was of no assistance during that time, having acquired 
 habits that unfitted him for work or business. 
 
 " Nearly eight years ago Mrs. Gardner wrote me 
 to come to Brayton. Mr. Gardner was using every 
 effort to induce her to sell the ranch on which they 
 resided, going even to the point of using threats (I 
 must tell the whole story, Marian). She had a nat- 
 ural fear that if this home was sacrificed the dram- 
 shop would soon get the proceeds and she and her 
 children be left without a roof to cover them. When 
 I arrived I found a sharper in the house, with a deed 
 already drawn up, and the two men trying to force a
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 239 
 
 ^en into the hand of that invalid woman, lying help- 
 less in her bed. Marian here was crying helplessly at 
 the scene, while the younger ones had been sent on 
 some errand by their shrewd father. I took in the 
 situation at a glance. I asked Mrs. Gardner if she 
 wished to sign the paper. She assured me in trembling 
 tones that she did not. I reached out and as quick as a 
 flash tore the document to bits before the eyes of the 
 plotters, at the same time ordering the would-be pur- 
 chaser from the room. Am I telling the exact truth, 
 Marian?" 
 
 Mrs. Morse, who was pressing a handkerchief spas- 
 modically to her eyes, nodded in acquiescence. 
 
 " Foiled in a plan he had nearly succeeded in ac- 
 complishing 'that of robbing his wife of the little that 
 remained to her, and for which the price to be paid 
 was less than half what she had given for the prop- 
 erty Darius Gardner threw himself upon me. In 
 defending my face from his blows I had to grapple 
 with him. His accomplice lost no time in getting 
 out of the house. I had succeeded in throwing my 
 antagonist to the floor, his head striking some projec- 
 tion so severely that he lay unconscious, when his son 
 Paul, a lad of fifteen, came in. Catching up a fruit 
 knife that lay on a table, and without waiting to in- 
 quire as to the right or wrong of what he saw, he 
 plunged it into my side. (Marian, I must tell every- 
 thing now. I have a duty to myself that outweighs all 
 else.)" 
 
 The last remark was caused by an appealing little
 
 24O STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 cry the wife had sent up, which implored him to spare 
 allusions to her unhappy brother. 
 
 " I went down under that 'thrust," continued 
 Morse, while Mr. Hall gazed at him half stupefied, 
 " bleeding internally and nearly lost consciousness. 
 Marian ran to the stable, put a bridle on a horse, rode 
 to town and brought a doctor. His services were 
 badly needed, you may believe. Mrs. Gardner, so 
 ill that the greatest quiet had been enjoined on all the 
 family, was hardly able to speak; her husband's head 
 was tied up with cloths, which his son had procured 
 for him; while I had come within half an inch of my 
 death, a variation of that amount in the knife thrust 
 being pronounced inevitably fatal. They took me to 
 the doctor's residence, where I hovered between life 
 and death, as it was, for several months. Youth and 
 good habits I am entitled to say that brought me 
 through, but I never have been and never shall be 
 the man I was before. If you think a cut four inches 
 deep in the side with a recently used fruit knife will 
 add to one's physical stamina, Mr. Hall, you ought to 
 try it. I found to the contrary. 
 
 " Of course the story that an affray had taken place 
 got out and the authorities came to look into the mat- 
 ter. When they thought I would die they got depo- 
 sitions as to what had occurred. The evidence was 
 all to one effect. I wanted them (Marian, did I, 
 or did I not?) to consider Paul's offence the unpre- 
 meditated impulse of a boy who thought his father was 
 being injured, but the court said no. On ac- 
 count of his extreme youth they would not sentence
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 241 
 
 him to an ordinary prison, but the impetuous temper 
 he had shown made some restraint necessary. His 
 father, to whom the entire family appealed, could only 
 remember that he had been foiled in his attempt to 
 get fifteen hundred dollars into his hands that he could 
 spend for rum. He and Paul had never been very 
 friendly, the boy too often taking the side of his mother 
 when the father came home intoxicated. Paul went 
 to the reform school, sentenced to remain there till he 
 .was of age." 
 
 Except for the tones of the speaker and the occa- 
 sional gasps of his wife behind her handkerchief, the 
 room was as still as a grave. There was something 
 awful to Mr. Hall in this spirited defence from a man 
 who had never seemed to have courage enough to 
 face a sparrow. 
 
 " Moved by the entreaties of the poor mother, and," 
 the voice sank to a whisper, " by the love already 
 planted in my breast for this sweet girl, I tried in 
 every way to secure a commutation of the sentence 
 Paul received. At last I was successful. The Gov- 
 ernor said if I would take him to Illinois and keep 
 him under my personal supervision till he was twenty- 
 one he might go with me. That was five years ago. 
 While out here on this errand I confessed to Marian 
 the love I had for her and tried to induce her to marry 
 me then. She insisted that we must wait till Paul 
 had redeemed himself from the blot on the family, but 
 consented to go East and accept some suitable posi- 
 tion which I was to procure her. At her request noth- 
 ing was said to her mother or the others of the en-
 
 242 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 gagement between us, she fearing it might disturb the 
 invalid. The excuse was made that, owing to her 
 father's growing irritability and bad habits, as well as 
 the waning fortunes of the family, it was best for her 
 to do something for herself. After two years, during 
 which I constantly urged that our marriage take place, 
 an event occurred that postponed it still further. That 
 event was the one in which you are interested and 
 need not be detailed here at length. 
 
 " But what must be told," pursued Mr. Morse, rais- 
 ing his voice, after a momentary pause for breath, " is 
 this: That in my fierce determination to do right by 
 you, sir, I used every effort to force out of my pros- 
 pective brother-in-law the hiding place of your prop- 
 erty, even to prosecuting him relentlessly, and seeing 
 him taken to prison on a five-years' sentence; even to 
 hearing from his sister's lips that, if I persisted, she 
 would never be my wife! I loved her as I do to-day, 
 as I have since she was a child, passionately and de- 
 votedly and I told her, notwithstanding, that I would 
 sacrifice my happiness, if need be, on the altar of my 
 business honor. Until I could go to you, Mr. Hall, 
 and say, ' Here are the bonds that were stolen while in 
 my custody/ I would never rest content. The dear 
 girl, after proving to her satisfaction that I could not 
 be moved from what I thought just, and learning, I 
 hope, to appreciate the sentiments that moved me, 
 finally consented to have the ceremony that made us 
 one performed. A letter from her mother made her 
 feel it her duty to return to her old home, however, 
 and after we were united she took the first train.
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 243 
 
 'When may I come to see you?' I asked. 'When we 
 have proved my brother an innocent man,' she an- 
 swered, and with those words vanished from my view. 
 I could next chide her for holding to her sense .of duty 
 as strongly as I held to my own. She believes her 
 brother an injured man, to-day ; I know him to be a 
 guilty one; and until he makes restitution of what he 
 has taken I will pursue him, though in the meantime 
 my heart is breaking for the love of die sweetest and 
 purest wife man ever possessed." 
 
 Mr. Hall sprang from his chair like one demented. 
 
 " I can't listen to this! " he cried, his nerves twitch- 
 ing. " I have made an awful mistake ! Forgive me, 
 Mr. Morse, and you, too, Marian, if you can. You 
 never intended, sir, to rob me, though I believed it 
 with all my soul. But neither did Paul Gardner. No, 
 no! There is some other explanation to this mys- 
 tery and I will devote myself to unearthing it. Yes, 
 I will abandon my pursuit of business and fortune till 
 I have righted him in your eyes as you have righted 
 yourself in mine! " 
 
 The insurance man did not respond with any en- 
 thusiasm to this admission and declaration. He had 
 said his say as the expression goes and the opin- 
 ion of this person, whether he was enemy or friend, 
 mattered nothing to him. 
 
 " In reference to what you saw when you entered 
 the house to-night," pursued Hall, thinking something 
 in this line was required, " lot me assure you that your 
 wife could not be more sacred to me if she were my 
 sister."
 
 244 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 w My wife needs no defence from you, sir,** was the 
 brusque retort " I criticise nothing more than her 
 taste in bestowing friendship on one so unworthy. I 
 think you will now admit my right to be alone with 
 Mrs. Morse, and I hope you will excuse us from your 
 company for the present." 
 
 Though Marian looked the picture of distress at 
 this statement, the words were spoken. With head 
 aching and with limbs that seemed like lead Mr. Hall 
 went back to the hotel.
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION, 245 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 THE BIRD TAKES FLIGHT. 
 
 IT still lacked some minutes of five o'clock, the hour 
 at which the law offices were usually closed to the pub- 
 lic. After a slight rest Mr. Hall began to think of the 
 danger in which Paul Gardner would be if he continued 
 in his present situation. Mr. Morse had made no secret 
 of his intentions. If he discovered the identity of the 
 escaped prisoner he would without doubt put the au- 
 thorities on his track. The lawyer roused himself, put 
 on his hat again and, though weary and far from well, 
 dragged himself to' his business rooms. 
 
 Paul was still there and luckily alone. Without cir- 
 cumlocution Hall told him what he had learned from 
 Marian and advised him to lose no time In putting a 
 long distance between himself and Olluma. 
 
 " You are entitled as much as the others to share in 
 your mother's property," he said, " which has turned 
 out more valuable than was expected. I have an ex- 
 planation to make in regard to that matter, but it will 
 have to be deferred till you are in less danger. Take 
 my advice and leave town at once. Here is a sum of 
 money that you will find handy. You can accept it 
 without compunction, as it is really your own. When
 
 246 STRANGER THAN FICTION, 
 
 you are safe at some distant point, write me and I will 
 do everything in my power to assist you further." 
 
 " You do not believe me guilty, then ? " said the 
 grateful youth, as he accepted the proffered funds. 
 
 " No, I never have believed it, since I first heard of 
 your misfortune, which was but recently. Neither do I 
 think Morse took the bonds, though it is only within 
 the last hour that I heard his full story. I am going to 
 prove who did it, if I am not mistaken, and then all 
 doubts of your innocence will be removed. Go now, 
 Paul, without delay. Something tells me that you are 
 in great danger and that every minute you remain in 
 Olluma is perilous. Take one of the country roads and 
 board a train at a way station. You have made too 
 good a fight to let them take you now." 
 
 Paul set his lips together in a determined way. 
 
 " They never shall take me, Mr. Hall," he said. " I 
 have suffered all the imprisonment I will for a crime I 
 never committed. Your kindness is fully appreciated 
 and you shall never regret it. Good-by." 
 
 " Good-by. In an hour I hope you will be far from 
 here and that your tracks will be so well covered no 
 one can trace you." 
 
 The alarm that Mr. Hall felt had by this time become 
 thoroughly communicated to the younger man. He 
 started first to go to his lodgings, but paused ere he 
 reached there, conjuring up the spectre of an officer 
 of the law waiting for him at the door. Turning into a 
 by-street he walked rapidly toward the outskirts, with 
 no definite destination in view. Before going far he 
 saw his brother Jacob, who was hastening after him.
 
 STRANGER TITAN FICTION. 247 
 
 " Mannie sent me to tell yer she t'inks Morse is on," 
 he said, out of breath. " She wants yer to git out o' 
 town as quick as yer kin. Here is some boodle ter pay 
 yer way." 
 
 " I don't need the money, Jakey, and I am going 
 away now. Air. Hall warned me at the office and gave 
 me plenty of cash to start with. I can't stop even to 
 talk with you, so good-by." 
 
 But Jacob had no idea of being "shaken" in this sum- 
 mary fashion. No one was near, as they had passed the 
 line of residences, and he kept up at a dog-trot with the 
 rapid steps of the other. 
 
 " Hall gave yer money ! " he repeated, with a grimace 
 of dissatisfaction. " Then he's up ter some trick and 
 yer'd better look out. He cheated us out o' de ranch 
 and he's no frien' of mine. Whar yer goin', Paul? I'll 
 bet anything he's gone to de perlice and sent 'em after 
 yer." 
 
 The boy's language had been " enriched " by certain 
 acquaintances he had recently made, till it was worse 
 than ever. 
 
 " Nonsense, Jakey ! Why \vould he give me the 
 imoney and advise me to run away if he meant to do 
 that?" 
 
 "So's he could pertend he didn't. Oh, he's a deep 
 tin ! P'raps when dey catch yer an' fine de money on 
 yer, he'll say yer stole it from his office. He an' Morse 
 have been togedder lots lately. Don't trust him, Paul; 
 he'll t'row yer down, sure's yer livin'." 
 
 Improbable as the idea seemed, it troubled the elder 
 brother, now considerably excited. He asked Jacob
 
 248 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 what he could do, if he was not to follow the advice of 
 his late employer. 
 
 " I've got a plan fer yer. I've knowed fer a long time 
 ye'd have ter make a skip, an' I've ben preparin'. It'll 
 be dark in an hour an' we kin take de road to Brayt'n. 
 Dere's no railroad dere an' dey'll never t'ink o' lookin' 
 fer yer in dat direction. De ol' barn we uster own is 
 empty now, an' I've got a lot of stuff laid away, 'spect- 
 in' dis very t'ing. Dar's vittles enough to last two of 
 us a week or more, besides de rifle an' shot-gun an' 
 plenty of ammunition. I tole Mannie when ahe sent 
 me to yer to-night dat I might go wid yer a piece, so 
 she won't be scairt if I don't git home. Dat barn's de 
 place, Paul. Ef yer try ter git on ter a train, dey'll 
 telegraph ahead an' cotch yer easy." 
 
 In his nervous state Paul Gardner was ready to grasp 
 at any straw. He welcomed the aid of his small friend, 
 at a time when every bush seemed an officer and every 
 whisper in the pepper trees a " Surrender or I fire ! " 
 The shadows were falling and soon they would be able 
 to pursue their way unobserved by any late passer along 
 the highway. Without accepting his brother's proposi- 
 tion in words he continued his rapid walk, occasionally 
 replying to the latter's observations. In this way they 
 did the twenty miles, without, so far as they could see, 
 being pursued by any hostile force, and shortly after 
 one o'clock came to the place desired. 
 
 '' There's a light in one of the rooms of the house," 
 whispered Paul, as they approached. 
 
 " Yes, some o' de miners put up dere ; but dere's no-
 
 'STRANGER THAN FICTION. 249 
 
 body in de barn, not even a boss, an' we kin hide dere 
 till it's safe ter move on." 
 
 Creeping around to the rear of the structure the boys 
 entered noiselessly. Jakey proudly pointed out, by the 
 dim light that entered from a hole in the roof, the small 
 armory he had sequestered, and the stock of food he 
 had smuggled away, on a recent visit to the neighbor- 
 hood, during a school vacation. He was in ecstacies, 
 having at last entered on a career in opposition to the 
 constituted authorities of the land, such as had been 
 dear to his little heart ever since he was old enough to 
 read his first dime novel. But both 'were very tired 
 and after a few whispered words they fell into a sound 
 sleep, that lasted till noon. 
 
 In the meantime events at Olluma proved that Paul 
 had taken his departure none too soon. Mr. Morse had 
 overheard the words of his wife to Hall, '' He is in your 
 employ under the name of Mason Harvey," just as he 
 opened the door of the cottage and found them to- 
 gether. Like a flash he realized what it was in the 
 clerks face that had haunted him with reminiscence. 
 The absconding prisoner was there, where one would 
 be least likely to suspect, brazening it out to the 
 very faces of the men he had wronged. Cunning and 
 cool, Morse decided that his best course was to disarm 
 suspicion by completing his call at the Gardners' in the 
 usual way, and not acting as if in any haste to depart. 
 He stayed an hour after Mr. Hall went out, and then 
 walked leisurely to the hotel and took his dinner at a 
 table but a few feet from that occupied by the attorney. 
 At eight o'clock he strolled out on the street and went
 
 250 STRANGER THAN FICTION". 
 
 leisurely to the residence of the chief of police, with 
 whom he had already become acquainted and who knew 
 the cause that had brought him to California. 
 
 " I've located our man," said he, when he was alone 
 with the officer. " If you will bring two or three fel- 
 lows with you after ten o'clock we can take him quietly 
 out of his bed and save all trouble." 
 
 The officer knew that a reward of $500 was outstand- 
 ing for the culprit, and had been assured that he would 
 also be remunerated from the private purse of his in- 
 formant in case he secured the fellow. He rubbed his 
 hands together with satisfaction, therefore, and asked 
 for fuller particulars. 
 
 " I don't think I need any help," he said, when the 
 matter was explained to him. '' I could take half a 
 dozen young chaps like that alone." 
 
 " You'd better not risk it. He's sure to have a pistol 
 and he's desperate. I don't want to touch him, of 
 course, being my wife's brother, so you mustn't depend 
 on me. Take men enough, for if he gets away now, I 
 shall have had all my trouble for nothing." 
 
 After some further talk it was agreed that two other 
 police should accompany the chief, to picket the 
 grounds in case there was a premature alarm. The 
 wily officer wanted all the glory to be achieved from 
 apprehending with his own single hand this famous 
 desperado, and above all things of securing for himself 
 the reward whose offer had been for months pasted on 
 the scrapbook of his office. 
 
 The chief had no trouble in learning where Whiteley 
 & Hall's clerk roomed. Olluma was just the sized town
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 2$ I 
 
 for everybody to know things like that. There were 
 very few people who wanted board, and fewer yet who 
 made a business of furnishing that commodity. Mr. 
 Morse went back to the hotel and awaited with anxiety 
 the signal the chief promised when he had the much 
 wanted man under lock and key. 
 
 It was a period of severe mental strain to the insur- 
 ance man. Much as he wanted to regain possession of 
 the securities which he had small doubt would soon 
 follow this arrest he could not help thinking of Ma- 
 rian. To find her brother again in custody, trapped by 
 her husband, would reopen all the unhappy differences 
 that time might have closed. It was a sad necessity that 
 faced him. Had the property been his own or had he 
 possessed sufficient personal fortune to make the loss 
 good to Mr. Hall he would have sacrificed it instantly 
 rather than bring one tear to the eyes he loved. His 
 honor as a trustee was an entirely different thing. He 
 must make the world admit that his character w r as un- 
 tarnished, before he could introduce to that world the 
 wife who would be to a great extent affected by his own 
 standing. 
 
 At about 1 1 o'clock he received the signal agreed on 
 that the head of the police department of Olluma was 
 ready to see him. This was a whistle from the street 
 above the hotel, made on the implement ordinarily 
 used for police calls. Hastening to the place, Mr. Morse 
 found a much disgruntled man awaiting him, 
 
 " Our bird has flown," he said. " He didn't come to 
 dinner and we can't find any one who saw him leave 
 the office. Something's put him on his guard."
 
 252 STRANGER THAN FICTION, 
 
 " Then rouse up the telegraph operator and send tha 
 news in every direction ! " cried the excited Mr. Morse. 
 " He has probably taken to the railroad and can be cut 
 off if you are quick." 
 
 Together they went to the house of the telegraph 
 operator, who proved to be a young woman and whom 
 the promise of five dollars for extra speed did not stim- 
 ulate to much celerity. The perspiration streamed 
 down Morse's face at the delay. He was a prey to bit- 
 ter regrets, for if he had left Marian at once when he 
 heard the accusing sentence he would certainly have 
 been in time to intercept Paul. 
 
 Even a female telegraph operator can be moved in 
 time, however, and about midnight the news of the 
 escape was being read in all directions. The greatest 
 fear Morse had now was caused by the fact that at most 
 of the smaller stations the operators had, like her, left 
 their posts and would not return till morning. Nothing 
 could be done about it, and paying the woman her 
 money, which she received with not even a " thank 
 you," he left the place. 
 
 " Have you seen the livery men? " he asked, as a new 
 thought struck him. " He may have hired a team." 
 
 No, the astute guardian of the peace had not seen the 
 livery men. He was not used to anything larger in the 
 way of crime than a common drunk or a petty larceny. 
 Besides he was sleepy and the bright vision of the $500 
 reward had faded from his view till he had little hopes 
 of ever seeing it again. He told Mr. Morse that he was 
 not feeling \\ell, that he guessed he would go home and 
 get his rest, and that, if he thought it worth while to see
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 253 
 
 the livery stable keepers (which the other did not be- 
 lieve) he would lend him one of his men as a guide. 
 Accepting the offer, Morse went from one stable to 
 another, rousing gruff hostlers from their " beauty 
 sleep," but of course with no result. As a last resource 
 he went to the hotel and awoke Mr. Hall from what 
 was at best but a fitful and unsatisfactory nap. 
 
 " Well, your new clerk has run away," he said, when 
 the lawyer reluctantly admitted him and sat down on 
 the edge of the bed in his pyjamas. 
 
 " I'm glad to hear that," was the nonchalant reply. 
 
 " I hope he's robbed your safe of all the valuables in 
 it," was the spiteful suggestion. 
 
 " Thank you. I'm not so big a fool as to trust the 
 combination of a safe containing my clients' papers to a 
 young man whose previous bad reputation is known to 
 me." 
 
 All the regret Victor had felt at his injustice was laid 
 aside in the presence of Morse's sarcasm. 
 
 11 You know, I presume, that it is a legal offence, 
 punished with imprisonment, to aid and abet an es- 
 caped criminal?" said Morse, coloring. 
 
 " I know in a matter of that kind the important thing 
 to procure is evidence; and unless you have any, I 
 would remind you that accusation of crime is in itself a 
 legal offence. Now, Morse, you and I've had trouble 
 enough. So has poor Paul Gardner. I will execute to 
 you a receipt in full of all you ever owed me acknowl- 
 edge that your trust was well and honestlv fulfilled if 
 you will let up on that boy. Can't you do it for the
 
 254 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 sake of his sister if I am willing to sacrifice $40, 
 ooo?" 
 
 The man shook his head sternly. 
 
 " Before I accept a receipt in full from you," he said, 
 " I will put the lost property in your hands. When T 
 have done that on your thirtieth birthday I shall be 
 happy to settle our personal differences in any way you 
 suggest." 
 
 " What ! You're talking of a duel ? " said Victor, 
 with a light laugh. 
 
 " I wish to God we could have one, now, in this room, 
 with knives," muttered Morse, with set teeth. " You'll 
 have your opportunity some day. believe me ! " 
 
 With a most malevolent look he ground his heel in 
 the carpet and left the room.
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 255 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 "DAT'S A GAL, DE WORL' OVER!'* 
 
 JUST after dark, three days from the time Jacob 
 Gardner secreted himself and Paul in the barn at the 
 old ranch near Brayton, that young man emerged 
 from his concealment and took his way stealthily to- 
 ward the village. Creeping along, with a look-out 
 for " spotters," he came at last to the house where Mr. 
 Sewall lived, and reconnoitred for some minutes in 
 hopes to get sight of that individual, without attract- 
 ing the attention of other inmates of the dwelling. The 
 room in which the minister was usually to be found 
 was dark and Jacob concluded that he had gone out. 
 The best thing then, was to lie in wait for him on his 
 return. As the boy had nothing else to do he lay 
 down behind a hedge and bided his time. 
 
 An hour passed before anybody came in sight, and 
 then it was not Mr. Sewall, but the Chinese cook who 
 had formerly been employed by the Gardner family. 
 Recognizing Ah Wing, Jacob went up to him boldly. 
 He knew the Celestial could be trusted implicitly. 
 
 " Hullo, Wing," he said. " Don't yer know me? 
 It's Jakey Gardner." 
 
 Wing, who had thought for a moment that the ap- 
 parition was a robber, and that the little store of monejr
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 which ne carried on his person was to be niched from 
 him, was much relieved. He was cooking for a fam- 
 ily in the town and had been making a call on some 
 Chinese friends in the outskirts. On being asked if 
 be would go and tell Mr. Sewall he was wanted, being 
 careful not to let any one else know who had sent him, 
 he informed Jacob that the minister had not been in 
 Bray ton for some days and that he had gone " way 
 off somewhere on the 'lailload.' " 
 
 This was a severe disappointment and for some sec- 
 onds Jacob scratched his head puzzled what to do. 
 
 "What want?" asked Ah Wing. 
 
 " I want him ter write a letter ter me sister Else dat 
 I'm all right. She don't know where I am." 
 
 " Want tell Miss Elsie you allee light? " said Wing. 
 " Why you no go tell her you self? She live next 
 stleet, in big housee." 
 
 Jacob uttered a low exclamation of surprise. 
 
 " You not know Missee Elsie live in big housee?" 
 said Wing. 
 
 " Naw. How long's she be'n here an' who's wid 
 her? " 
 
 " Nobody with her, only folkee in housee. Want 
 show placee? Come 'long." 
 
 As the boy followed the Chinaman he asked more 
 questions than Wing could answer. He had evident- 
 ly heard nothing of the stirring events that filled 
 Jakey's head. Before they reached the residence 
 where Elsie was staying, the boy impressed on Wing 
 the necessitv of telling no one he had seen him, ex- 
 cept Elsie herself, and then only in the lowest tones.
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 2$? 
 
 The Chinaman understood and proved a most valu- 
 able assistant. Telling Jacob to " lair" for him he 
 went around to the kitchen, where he secured an ally 
 in the person of the family's Chinese domestic. 
 Elsie was thus notified in a way that attracted no at- 
 tention and came out of the rear door under Wing's 
 pilotage. The night was quite dark and she reached 
 the place where Jakey awaited her without being dis- 
 covered. 
 
 " Good-night, Wing," said the boy, before begin- 
 ning his explanations with his sister. " Be careful, 
 never tell dis, now." 
 
 " Good-nightee. Me nebber tellee; hopee me die! " 
 said the Chinaman, making a significant move with 
 his had across his throat. 
 
 " What have you come here for? " asked Elsie. 
 " And why didn't you knock at the door and ask for 
 me instead of sending in this mysterious way? " 
 
 " Hain't yer heard nothin' ? " said the astonished 
 hoy. 
 
 "About what?" 
 
 " Oh, Lord! Have I got ter go over de hull t'ing? 
 Well, den. close yer mout' an' lis'en. An' if yer feel 
 like yellin' don't do it, onless yer wants to send half 
 yer family ter de gallers.' 
 
 It was evident that something most important was 
 to be divulged and the girl's heart began to palpitate. 
 She sat down in the grass by her brother's side and 
 \vaited, with white cheeks. 
 
 " I've got ter tell yer a lot," he began, " or yer won't 
 onnerstan' de sittyvation. Dar's so much, I don't
 
 258 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 know how ter begin. Yer knew Paul was locked up 
 out East fer stealing dat stuff from Morse?" 
 
 " Yes, the poor, dear fellow as honest a child as 
 ever breathed." 
 
 " Dat ain't de point jes' now whedder he was hon- 
 est or not. De point is dat he skipped out and come 
 home one night, weeks an' weeks ago. Mannie let 
 him in an' give him some grub an' den he hid in de 
 barn; it was before we left der old place, yer see." 
 
 Elsie's heart beat more rapidly than ever. She said 
 "Yes, yes!" in a way that showed her deep interest 
 in the history. 
 
 " De next mornin' Mannie tole me about it an' I 
 went out to carry him some t'ings. She didn't tell 
 Pa, of course, dat wouldn't 'a' ben sense; nor you, 
 cause dere wa'n't no need o' bringin' kids inter de 
 deal. Paul stayed hid up till Mannie went ter Illinoy, 
 ter find out how hot de prison folks was on his trail, 
 and den he come out. He'd changed a lot sence he 
 used ter live in dese parts, and I'd never knowed him 
 myself if Mannie hadn't put me on. So he walks 
 right up ter Mr. Whiteley an' gits a job clerkin' in his 
 office, ter bluff de gang, in case dey got a notion he 
 was out dis way." 
 
 The girl could hardly believe her ears. 
 
 "Not that clerk I used to see there?" she gasped. 
 
 " De very same. Yer never got onter him, an' even 
 Pa didn't have a smidg' of s'picion, dough he saw 
 him more'n wonst. But w'en Morse come out here, 
 it begun to look more ticklish. Mannie got scairt, 
 cos Morse swore he'd never let up on him, an' last
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 259 
 
 week she told Hall who his clerk -was. Nice per- 
 ceedin', I don't tink, an' him de feller de stuff belonged 
 ter dat was stole! " 
 
 Elsie was too anxious to hear the story to the end 
 to waste time with many interpolations, so she merely 
 said, " Go on, go on! " 
 
 " Hall, as is nattral (dis is my t'eory, see?) wanted 
 ter git his han's on Paul widout semin' ter be in the 
 t'ing. So he goes back to his shop an' hands him a 
 big wad of dough " 
 
 " Of what? " 
 
 "Dough; stuff; boodle cash, yer know, an' tells 
 him ter light out. I was lucky 'nuff ter meet him 
 jest as he was makin' tracks, an' he let me do de 
 steerin'. Hall spected o' course dat he'd leg it fer de 
 railroad an' git on a train, where he could telegraph 
 to de perlice to nab him. I says, ' Don't yer do 
 nothin' o' de kind. Come down ter Brayt'n an' hide 
 in de barn on de old ranch where we uster live,' I 
 says. An' dat's what we did, an' we've been hid up 
 sense Sunday. Whew! What a long yarn dis is! " 
 
 Elsie, whose face shone pale in the shadow, asked 
 nervously if there had been any sign that the boys were 
 followed or their hiding place suspected. 
 
 "Not yit; but dey'll git onter us sure, in time, an' 
 w'en dey does dey'll git a warmin' up dat'll do 'em 
 good. We ain't goin' ter be took alive and before 
 dey gits our dead bodies, a few of 'em'll bite de dust, 
 as Old Sleuth says in 'Dare Devil Dick.' " 
 
 The pride of the boy at his use of these expressions 
 was great, as well as in his knowledge of literature.
 
 26o STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 "Elsie was too much occupied in the dilemma which he 
 outlined even to chide him. 
 
 " Have you had nothing to eat for three days, 
 then? " she asked, with a little feminine shudder at the 
 thought. 
 
 " Nothin' ter eat? Lived like fitin' cocks! I had 
 a lot of grub stowed away ready fer jest such a t'ing 
 as dis. Oh, we ain't starved, by no means, but we're 
 runnin' shy now. If yer kin smuggle us a little fresh 
 stuff, it'll be gratefully received, as de posters say. 
 Leave it anywhere in de nayborhood and we'll see yer 
 from cracks in de barn. But I'm fergittin' de main 
 t'ing. I wan't yer ter write ter Mannie dat we're 
 safe. Put it in a nambaggous way, as de books call 
 it, so's noboddy else would git on if de letter was 
 opened. Tell her as soon as we t'ink de hunt is cool- 
 in' Paul'll strike out fer some odder part o' de kentry 
 an' I'll show up home. Say we ain't de least bit scairt 
 an' dat Paul's got dough enough ter start a bakery. 
 Won't it be the best joke on Hall \v'en he finds Paul's 
 got safe wid de stuff he meant ter catch on him an' 
 swar he stole it f'om his safe? " 
 
 The girl rose to her feet. Now that the strange 
 tale had reached an end the significance of her broth- 
 er's insinuations against Mr. Hall merited her atten- 
 tion. 
 
 " You are a wicked boy to talk in that way about the 
 best friend we ever had," she said, chokingly. " He 
 thinks, of course, that Paul stole his property all he 
 had in the world at the time and yet he has, you say, 
 .warned him to escape Morse's clutches and given him
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. flfc 
 
 money to assist in his flight. It's the nobleat act I 
 ever heard of, and I shall remember him for it with 
 
 gratitude all my life." 
 
 " Rats! " said the boy, in derision. " Yer stuck on 
 de bloke, dat's all. Did yer see de piece in de Ollu- 
 ma Eagle, how he's goin' ter marry dat Felton gal? 
 He's bin gittin' yer in love till yer sick, an' den he goes 
 back on yer, jest as I knew he would, dat time I frew 
 his money in de road. I'd like ter fetch him one on 
 de nob wid a crowbar! " 
 
 The young fellow r clinched his fist as if he wished 
 his enemy was near enough for him to execute his 
 threat. But he melted a little when he saw the big 
 tears in his sister's eyes. 
 
 " Jakey, I did see the piece in the paper, and I knew, 
 all about it before, for Miss Felton showed me her en- 
 gagement ring. I am not ashamed to tell you my 
 little brother that I do love Mr. Hall. That is no 
 reason, though, why you should abuse him. He 
 never said a word to encourage me. I loved him be- 
 fore I realized how far my feelings had carried me; 
 and when I saw what I had done I told Mannie and 
 she advised me to come down here and stay till he had 
 closed up his affairs and gone back where he came 
 from. I didn't want him to know how I felt, for it 
 would only distress him. Now, my dear brother, won't 
 you try to think a little more justly of him, for my 
 sake? If poor Paul is ever arrested again, you will 
 see how Mr. Hall will stand by him. He is so good, 
 so pure and true! " 
 
 Refusing to assent to the request, Jacob went so
 
 262 STRANGER THAN FICTION, 
 
 far at least as not to combat the sentiments in words. 
 He said he must be getting back to his brother and 
 that Elsie ought to return to the house before her 
 absence was discovered. 
 
 " If yer kin bring anyting in de eatin' line, an' leave 
 it around de barn, it may come handy," he said, be- 
 fore departure. 
 
 " I'll manage it. I wish I could creep over there 
 to-night and put my arms around Paul's neck and tell 
 him how dearly I love him. Take him a kiss for me, 
 Jakey, won't you?" 
 
 The boy dodged the offered embrace as if it had been 
 a blow. 
 
 " Dat's all gals tink of! " he said, with aversion in 
 his face. " Huggin' an' kissin' and such rot! It 
 makes me sick ter de stummick. So long, Else! " 
 
 " And you'll try to think more kindly of Mr. Hall? " 
 
 He whistled a low strain, with averted countenance. 
 
 " Dat's a gal, de woiT over! " he retorted. " T'row 
 'em down an' dey'll lick yer han's like a dog. Git 'em 
 mashed on yer, an' den quit 'em fer anodder petticoat; 
 dey'll cry, an' say yer too sweet ter live. If Hall keeps 
 out o' my way an' let's yer alone, I ain't got no row 
 wid him, unless he tackles Paul. But dat Morse, if 
 he'n I ever gits ter close quarters, he'll t'ink a cata- 
 mount's lit on his back. Good-by, Else. Don't fer- 
 git de grub." 
 
 Jacob went back to the barn, along the shadiest side 
 of the road, while the sister reached her room unob- 
 served, except by the faithful Chinaman who 'had sat 
 tvp for her.
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 263 
 
 But along in the wake of the small brother crept 
 another figure, far behind and yet never letting him 
 out of sight, till he disappeared in the old building 
 which sheltered Paul from the pursuing minions of the 
 law.
 
 264 STRANGER THAN FICTION 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 AN ASSAULT ON THE OLD BARN. 
 
 ELSIE slept little that night. She rose early in the 
 morning and wrote to Marian, letting her know in a 
 guarded manner that Paul and Jacob had been heard 
 of, and that, so far as they knew, the police were not 
 informed of their whereabouts. Then she began to 
 study up some plan to get the refreshments that Jakey 
 had asked for to the imprisoned boys. After long 
 thought she hit upon a scheme. 
 
 She went over to one of the neighbor's houses, where 
 there was a girl of about her own age, and asked her 
 how she would like to spend the clay in picnicking. 
 The girl was much pleased with the idea and named 
 half a dozen others of her acquaintances that she 
 thought would be glad to join. In an hour the party 
 was arranged and by nine o'clock the little procession 
 took up its way to the old ranch of the Gardners, which 
 Elsie named as the pleasantest place to hold it. 
 
 " There's a barn there that's not used now," she said, 
 " and we can have lots of fun. If a rain comes up we 
 shall be sheltered, too." 
 
 She urged each member of the party to bring a lib- 
 eral supply of edibles, declaring they would be 
 ' starved to death ' by noontime. Each girl carried,
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 265 
 
 therefore, a large basket, and the articles included be- 
 sides the food some bottles of ginger-ale, and a quan- 
 tity of lemons and sugar. Elsie meant to leave all she 
 could for her brothers at the end of the feast. 
 
 On the way a buggy, containing two men, passed 
 them. She overheard words from one of the pair that 
 startled her greatly. 
 
 " He's here, I tell you. I think there's a gang to- 
 gether, and it'll take a good-sized posse to handle 
 them. As soon as we get to Olluma I'm going to get 
 Whiteley to help us raise a crowd. The reward of 
 $500 is as good as ours already." 
 
 To the suspicious mind of the young woman this 
 referred without doubt to her brother and she wanted 
 more than ever to get into communication with Paul. 
 As it would take the buggy till the middle of the after- 
 noon to reach Olluma, and a number of hours for the 
 occupants to return with the people they were to get, 
 there was fortunately plenty of time. When the picnic 
 was over she must find some way to carry the warning 
 she had luckily obtained. 
 
 Cunning being necessary in the game she was play- 
 ing, Elsie walked boldly up to the ranch house and 
 greeted a woman who came to the door. 
 
 " My name is Gardner," she said, smiling, "and I 
 used to live here. I want to know if you'll let these 
 friends of mine and me use the barn for a picnic 
 We'll be careful not to hurt anything." 
 
 " Why, of course. Use anything you want. I'm 
 afraid you'll find it pretty dusty in there, though. No- 
 body's used it since we came here."
 
 266 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 " Thank you," said Elsie. " Will you let me have 
 the key?" 
 
 She knew perfectly well there was no lock on the 
 rear door, but she meant to disarm suspicion. When 
 the woman told her how to enter, she thanked her 
 again and, joined by the girls, went to the barn. She 
 entered first, so that her familiar voice would be heard 
 by Jacob in time for him to hide, should he be in an 
 exposed position, but as the girls had been singing 
 on their way from the house he was sure to know of 
 their presence before that time. 
 
 " Come in! " she called. How nice it seems to be 
 in the dear old place! Olluma is all right, but there's 
 something fascinating about the country, after all." 
 
 " I shouldn't think you'd know the ranch," re- 
 marked one of the others, " with the new houses that 
 are being built on the other side and the heaps of dirt 
 the miners have thrown out. It was a pity to spoil 
 such a lovely place." 
 
 One of the others said wisely that gold was better 
 than orange trees or alfalfa, and to this Elsie laughed 
 an agreement. The lunch-baskets were put away and 
 the girls went out to take a walk over the premises. 
 
 " I hope nobody'll come and steal our stuff," said 
 one. " We should be in a nice pickle, come noon, if 
 our baskets were found empty." 
 
 " I don't think anybody around Brayton would be 
 so mean," said Elsie. " When we get through, though, 
 if there's anything left, I hope some poor person will 
 happen along, that we can give it to. One of the
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 267 
 
 greatest pleasures in life is giving away things you 
 don't want yourself." 
 
 This brought a hearty laugh from all present and 
 the girls sauntered off, with their arms around each 
 other's waists. 
 
 The time till noon sped swiftly. The foreman of 
 the mine reoognized Elsie, for one thing, and invited 
 them all to inspect the work that was being done. They 
 had a thousand questions to ask about the business, 
 which he answered with the pride of superior knowl- 
 edge. They went back after that to the foothills and 
 down into an arroyo, picking and eating some oranges 
 found on the trees that were still undestroyed. 
 
 It was one o'clock when they reached the barn again 
 and though their appetites had been somewhat lessened 
 by the fruit, of which Elsie had made them eat all she 
 could, they spread out the food they had brought and, 
 seated in a circle, enjoyed the meal to the utmost. 
 
 This ended, they voted themselves too tired to walk 
 any more and, lying back in comfortable positions, 
 their skirts gathered up for the sake of cleanliness, 
 they told stories and sang songs till it was time to go 
 home. 
 
 " There's an awful lot left," remarked one girl, as 
 they packed away the napkins, glasses, spoons and 
 forks. " I'm afraid your ' poor person ' won't come 
 along, Miss Gardner." 
 
 " Never mind, it'll be a treat for the rats! " said Elsie. 
 Then an idea struck her and she uttered a scream, at 
 the same time starting as if in fright. " Gracious, 
 there's a big one now! Run, girls, run!"
 
 268 STRANGER THAN" FICTION. 
 
 With screams that could hardly have been excelled 
 in volume had a tiger fresh from the jungle been dis- 
 covered, the girls went, helter-skelter, out of the door. 
 Elsie climbed a ladder that connected with the hay- 
 mow, instead, acting as if more scared than any of the 
 others. When she knew none of her friends could 
 hear she said in a stage \vhrsper, " Paul ! " and a faint 
 voice replied. 
 
 : ' The officers are coming after you. Get out to- 
 night early or they will be here. There's plenty of 
 food downstairs. Good-by, dear, and God bless you! " 
 
 She clung to the ladder, descending slowly, and 
 the girls, who had recovered something of their cour- 
 age, came and peeped in at the door, laughing at her. 
 
 " Are you sure it's gone? " she asked in mock terror. 
 " Oh, look carefully before I step foot on the floor. I 
 should drop dead if it ran after me!" 
 
 Two of the older girls opened the barn-door wide 
 and declared there \vas nothing to be seen of the terri- 
 ble rodent. Elsie thereupon jumped from the ladder's 
 third round and, after falling in her haste, reached the 
 outside trembling. 
 
 Between serious talks about rats they had seen and 
 heard of, and occasional laughs at the danger they had 
 escaped, the party wandered homeward and there ouf 
 interest in them ceases. It may please the reader, 
 however, to know that within five minutes of their dis- 
 appearance two hungry boys were feasting on prime 
 sandwiches, jelly-roll, tarts and ginger-ale and at the
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 same time discussing the information conveyed by El- 
 sie's ingenious stratagem. 
 
 Mr. Sewall returned from his journey toward the 
 evening of that day, having been to Stromberg on 
 what he was convinced was a useless errand. He had 
 evolved a theory, .based on what he had heard of the 
 mysterious robbery of the bonds from Mr. Morse's 
 safe, that Cyrus Keith might know .more about the 
 matter than he was willing to admit. He knew that 
 Keith was a warm partisan of Victor Hall's, and held 
 his opinion that the securities were anything but safe 
 for their prospective owner in Morse's hands. He 
 knew also that Keith had been in temporary possession 
 of them only a few days before they were missed and 
 thought it possible that, in his zeal to protect the in- 
 terests of his young friend, he had taken illegal cus- 
 tody of them at that time. It was a rather queer 
 guess, it must be admitted, but nothing but guesses 
 seemed of much use in a case so shrouded in obscurity. 
 The theory, if true, ruined the character of a highly 
 respected citizen and member of the bar a man 
 trusted to an unusual extent by his fellows and who 
 had never been accused of unfaithfulness in any rela- 
 tion of life. 
 
 But a brief interview with Mr. Keith convinced the 
 minister that he was on the wrong track. The anxiety 
 over the matter which the lawyer showed was wholly 
 incompatible, in the mind of Mr. Sewall, with such a 
 procedure as he had mentally charged him with. After 
 going over carefully every phase of the case that was
 
 27O STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 known -to Mr. Keith, the minister came to the con- 
 clusion that his talents did not lie in the line of private 
 detecting. He had to admit to himself that a wild 
 goose chase was the only thing comparable to his er- 
 rand. 
 
 Elsie returned from her picnic and found him wait- 
 ing for her at the house where she boarded. From her 
 he learned for the first time of Paul's flight, (not hav- 
 ing been to Olluma at all, but having left his train at a 
 small station nearer Rrayton). He was much troubled 
 at the news, as he felt that the boy was in great danger 
 of being apprehended, now that his description was 
 better known and the fact that he was in that part of 
 California could.be telegraphed to all adjacent points. 
 Of course Elsie kept to herself the fact that her broth- 
 ers were concealed in the barn at the ranch, feeling 
 that this was a secret it could do no possible good to 
 reveal even to this trusted friend. 
 
 In the middle of the night a posse of men, to the 
 number of fifteen, alighted from a wagon drawn by four 
 horses, at a point a little distant from the Gardner 
 homestead. It was headed by the sheriff of the county, 
 a man named Stocker, and included Mr. Morse, Mr. 
 Whiteley and two of the regular police of Olluma. 
 The chief had declined to make the trip, having aban- 
 doned all hope of securing the reward, in case of suc- 
 cess, as the sheriff was his ranking official in an out- 
 lying section like this. After a hurried consultation, 
 Mr. Stocker directed his following how to move, and 
 they proceeded stealthily in four directions, so as to
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 2/1 
 
 descend on the " desperadoes " in a manner that would 
 cut off all chance of escape. 
 
 When the place was in this way surrounded the sher- 
 iff boldly opened the rear door, and cried out in a dis- 
 tinct voice, " Paul Gardner, I call on you to surrender, 
 in the name of the law. I have a large force who guard 
 this barn on every side. Resistance on your part is 
 simple folly. We are all arm'ed and if you compel us 
 to do so shall use violent means. Come down like a 
 sensible fellow a-nd make the best of it." 
 
 The answer he received was sufficiently distinct to be 
 heard and understood, not only by himself, but by the 
 others. A rifle ball whistled in dangerous proximity 
 to his head. This was so unexpected that the official 
 beat a hasty retreat and was for some minutes in doubt 
 what to do. 
 
 Mr. Whiteley volunteered at last to try the effect of 
 his own persuasion. Taking up a position at a corner 
 of the barn, where he thought himself somewhat safer 
 than in the open, he addressed the occupant of the 
 structure: 
 
 " Listen, Harvey. It is I, Mr. Whiteley. I have 
 come with the sheriff to see that you are treated with 
 consideration. I am sorry, but he has a warrant for 
 you and nothing can prevent your arrest. Sur- 
 render and I will do all I can to procure your re- 
 lease afterwards. But if you resist with unlawful 
 arms an officer of the State, it is certain to go hard 
 with you. Nothing less than a life sentence would 
 follow, I fear, any injury you might do in this way." 
 
 Another loud report conveyed the only answer to
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTOOIf 
 
 this speech, and a splinter torn out of a "board showed 
 
 where the ball had taken effect. 
 
 Thus the argument went on, being joined in, from 
 time to time, by various others in the party, including 
 even Morse, who conjured with the name of the sisters 
 the young man was supposed to hold dear. 
 
 No verbal response had been obtained when an hour 
 had gone by. People from the adjacent village be- 
 gan to appear, attracted by the sound of the firing. 
 Among those who came were Mr. Sewall and Elsie, 
 whose distress at the conditions they found was great. 
 The sheriff, on learning of the relationship of the young 
 woman to the man wanted, talked with her at some 
 length in reference to the certain ate that lay in store 
 for Paul if he kept up his present tactics, Quite con- 
 vinced that she had a duty to perform in adding her 
 warning to the others Elsie finally joined her trembling 
 voice to theirs. 
 
 " Paul/' she called, " you won't shoot me, I know, 
 your sister, and you won't believe I would offer any 
 but the best advice. It's hard to be pursued for a 
 crime of which you are innocent, but they are too 
 strong. If you love me, Paul, run no more risk. You 
 will certainly be killed if you attempt it." 
 
 Dead silence followed the plaintive request. The 
 sheriff whispered to Mr. Sewall to take the ladies out of 
 harm's reach, as he was going to order a rush and cap- 
 ture the man at any cost. Sobbing as if her heart was 
 broken, Elsie suffered herself to be led off with the 
 others. There was nothing more that she could do. 
 They were going- to murder her darling brother, after
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 273 
 
 all the wrong that had been done him. And she was 
 
 helpless to prevent the outrage. 
 
 Stocker found that only six of his entire party were 
 willing to follow him into the barn, and muttering a 
 curse at the cowardice of the others, he arranged his 
 plans. 
 
 " Follow me, rough and -tumble," he said. " If you 
 see a head inside there shoot it full of lead without a 
 second's hesitation. We can't mince matters with a 
 crowd like that. I've no doubt there are half a dozen 
 of them, but we got six shots apiece in our re- 
 volvers and after one round it'll all be over. No 
 flinching now. Are you ready? " 
 
 They said they were, and uttering in a whisper the 
 single word, "Now!" the assault began. In two 
 seconds the sheriff and his gallant crew were inside the 
 barn, while the less courageous ones waited to pick off 
 any man that started to escape. 
 
 Then the air was filled with the noise of firearms as 
 if a miniature battle was in progress.
 
 274 STRANGER THAN FICTION.. 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 SOME NEWSPAPER " SCOOPS." 
 
 DURING those days Victor Hall's uneasiness of mind 
 was constantly increasing. The fact of Paul Gardner's 
 disappearance from Olluma was public property on the 
 day after he had advised him to go. Everybody seemed 
 simultaneously to have learned his identity and the 
 story of his crime and punishment. The local paper 
 found the affair a mine of great value and the circula- 
 tion doubled (it was three hundred copies before). A 
 reporter was sent over from Los Angeles, and two from 
 San Francisco, the latter looking with professional 
 hauteur upon the former one, and their feeling being 
 cordially reciprocated. 
 
 In the race for news the Hexameter came out ahead, 
 by at least a length. A portrait that had at some pre- 
 vious time done duty in that office under another name 
 was dusted off and labelled " Darius Gardner," bearing 
 as much resemblance to that individual as it did to the 
 Sultan of Turkey. A fancy sketch of a villainous-ap- 
 pearing fellow, made " on the spot " by an artist who 
 did not leave the vicinity of the Golden Gate, was made 
 to do duty for " Herbert Brown ; " and an old cut of 
 some millionaire's residence at Seattle was used to rep- 
 resent the modest home of the family at Olluma.
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 275 
 
 An hour and a half after the sheriff and his posse 
 made their flying entrance to the barn at Brayton a 
 spirited picture of the scene was being sold with a full 
 page of lively letter press all the way from the Ferry 
 house to the Panhandle. This was a " scoop " which 
 called forth three columns of editorial boasting and 
 filled all rival sheets with the utmost envy. The Pall 
 and the Comical each discharged four of their old- 
 est and best men, for having allowed the Hexameter to 
 "beat" them; and to avoid the possibility of that dis- 
 grace happening again an immense drawing of Paul's 
 final capture was prepared in advance at each of these 
 offices, showing him with a revolver in both hands and 
 a bandana tied in rakish fashion around a head from 
 which blood was streaming; the line " Brought to Bay 
 at Last " being set in large type, with a half column of 
 other heads, all in triple width, descriptive of the mad 
 and profligate life which he had never led. On receipt 
 of the slightest intimation that the criminal was likely 
 to be caught, the news rooms had orders to " run this " 
 and to give directions to have the presses worked at full 
 speed. Even the portraits of " Little Egypt " were to 
 be shelved for the time being and all references to Col- 
 lis P. Huntington to be set in single leads. 
 
 Victor Hall, when the first news arrived, hoped anx- 
 iously that some miracle would yet intervene to enable 
 Paul to escape his enemies. He did not caJI on Marian, 
 as nothing could be gained by an interview with the 
 young woman, and he did not know where to find Elsie. 
 Mr. Gardner called for his customary tip and was 
 greeted with a positive refusal, couched in uncompli-
 
 276 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 tnentary terms which sent him away vowing vengeance. 
 Whiteley had a quarrel with his partner which ended 
 in an announcement by the latter that he would dis- 
 solve their connection as soon as the proper papers 
 could be prepared. Morse did not trouble him with 
 any calls, but they met once or twice in the street or 
 at the hotel and exchanged sour glances. 
 
 Victor learned to some extent the efforts that Morse 
 was making to bring Paul to "justice" and wished 
 heartily that there was some way he could aid the fugi- 
 tive. Thus the days passed until the morning after the 
 events described in the last chapter, when he was 
 awakened by a hubbub in the street that told him some- 
 thing unusual had occurred. While dressing he heard 
 a confused number of cries which convinced him that 
 the worst had happened and he descended at last to the 
 ground floor with a heavy heart. 
 
 The sheriff and his posse had returned by wagon 
 from Brayton and were surrounded by the biggest 
 crowd ever seen in the local streets. As Hall ap- 
 proached, Mr. Stocker mounted a barrel that somebody 
 rolled out of a yard for the purpose and addressed his 
 " constituents : " 
 
 " As there seems to be a general demand," he said, 
 " for a statement of what we have accomplished, I yield 
 to the desires of my friends. ('Good!' and 'Go 
 on!') Last night, learning that the robber of Mr. 
 Morse's safe, who had since escaped from the prison in 
 Illinois, was hidden in a barn near the village of Bray- 
 ton, I took a force of citizens, sworn in as special offi- 
 cers, and drove there. We surrounded the barn and
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 277 
 
 began to parley with the occupant, who replied by 
 firing at us with rifles. Having exhausted all hope of 
 capturing him in a peaceful way I took six of my best 
 men and made a rush for the interior. Bullets flew 
 around our heads and we returned the fire, emptying all 
 six chambers of each of our revolvers. Finally we 
 reached the haymow and I saw " 
 
 (" The robber! Hurrah! " yelled fifty voices, while 
 the rest stood speechless at the bravery of their towns- 
 men.) 
 
 "I saw a form. Throwing myself upon it I soon, 
 with the aid of the others, had a pair of twisters on his 
 wrists. Then we searched the place thoroughly, leav- 
 ing the guard outside to prevent any escape, and 
 found " 
 
 (" Hurry up ! Don't spin it out so long! ") 
 
 " That the man we sought was not there. He had 
 evidently got word in some way that we were coming 1 
 and fled before our arrival." 
 
 The sheriff wiped his face and the crowd set up a yell 
 of derision. 
 
 " Who did yer catch, then ? " asked some one. 
 
 " We caught a brother of the escaped prisoner, who 
 had two guns and a pistol, Jacob Gardner of this town. 
 He is now safe in the lock-up." 
 
 All of those present knew the little chap and, when 
 they realized what a small mouse the mountain had 
 brought forth, sarcastic remarks flew from many 
 mouths. The sheriff, who had been overcome with his 
 temporary importance, got off the barrel and retired 
 in no good humor. The reporter of the local paper,
 
 278 STRANGER THAN FICTION". 
 
 who had been frozen out of the " combination," and 
 had not known of the intended visit to Brayton, 
 laughed in glee at his rivals, who had participated in 
 the inglorious exploit. In the meantime brief wires 
 had been filed for San Francisco at a wayside office and 
 three artists of that city were at work on imaginary 
 portraits of Jakey, picturing him as a villain of the 
 deepest dye, about six feet four inches in height and 
 broad in proportion. 
 
 Mr. Hall went from the scene in front of the hotel 
 directly to the lock-up, where the chief of police per- 
 mitted him to see Master Jacob. The small boy was 
 far from downcast at his incarceration, being in fact 
 quite proud of his importance. He even forgot his old 
 antipathy in his anxiety to relate his version of the 
 affair at the ranch to somebody. 
 
 ' 'Twas de funniest' t'ing yer ever seed," he began, 
 convulsed with laughter. " Paul was gone hours an' 
 hours afore de sheriff come, an' I jes hung on dere ter 
 give him ev'ry minnit I could ter git outer de way. Old 
 Stocker put his head in de door an' I split off a piece of 
 board right side o' his ear. Lordy! how he jumped! 
 I had dat rifle o' yourn, an' my shotgun an* a plstel, wid 
 enough ammunition fer de Cubin army. Den old 
 Whiteley,he t'oughthe'd have more influens, an' he got 
 aroun' de corner whar he t'ought he could shoot his 
 mout' off an' be safe, but I give him a mild reminder an* 
 he \vas t'rough. One arter another inoder, t'ree or 
 four of de crowd tried de same game an' got 'nougfa of 
 it. Den Else, she comes an' plays de baby act, 
 but "
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 279 
 
 " Elsie ! How did she get there ? " cried Mr. Hall, 
 much startled. 
 
 " Come over from Jones's, where she's stayin', but 
 you didn't know dat, o' co'se. Well, she hollers out, 
 half bawlin', ' I'm yer sister, Paul, an' I knows yer in- 
 nercent, but yer'd better give in; ' an' I didn't shoot dat 
 time, 'cause I was loadin' up fer de gang I knowed was 
 comin' inside. All to wonst I seed Stacker's mug an' 
 den de hull caboodle on 'em. I fired both guns an' de 
 pistel, ev'ry blamed ca'tridge, but I didn't hit nobody. 
 Dey all fired at me, too, an' not one scratched me any- 
 wheres. It was an orful waste o' good powder. I 
 didn't care to hold 'em off any longer, fer Paul had 
 got all de start he'd need, so I frew up my han's an' 
 Stocker put de wristers on. Wot does de folks in town 
 say? I'll git my name in the papers all right, won't 
 I ?" 
 
 There was no evidence that Jacob considered the af- 
 fair in which he had participated anything more than 
 an amusing incident and Mr. Hall thought it his duty 
 to caution him against talking so freely to any one else. 
 He told him he had broken the law and might have 
 difficulty in escaping a term in jail. His wisest course 
 was to refuse to speak till he had consulted a lawyer 
 and decided on his defence. 
 
 " Does yer t'ink dey'll give me a real jail sentence? " 
 replied the boy, in a spasm of joy. " Will dey put me 
 an' Paul in tergedder? Dat would be ga-lorious! " 
 
 " Paul, if captured, would have to go back to Illinois, 
 and you would do your time here in California," said 
 Hall. " That doesn't seem so attractive, does it ?
 
 280 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 You'd best take my advice, to refuse to speak. A good 
 lawyer may get you off easy, on account of your youth, 
 if you don't spoil the case." 
 
 When Mr. Hall left he secured a promise from Jacob 
 to abide by his advice and agreed to send to him a 
 young attorney of the town, named Evans, who could 
 be trusted with at least the initial aspects of his case. 
 Hall wanted very much to see Marian, but he would not 
 run the risk of meeting Morse. He returned to his 
 office, therefore, and worked on some legal papers. 
 When lunch was ready and he was about to go to the 
 hotel, remembering suddenly that he had forgotten to 
 eat any breakfast, Mr. Sew r all appeared. 
 
 The minister looked grave. He was deeply impressed 
 by the extraordinary occurrences of the preceding 
 twenty hours and wanted to confer with the lawyer 
 about them. Accepting an invitation to take his lunch 
 with Victor he accompanied him to his chamber, where 
 by special order the meal was served. The dining room 
 had too many ears for what he wished to say. 
 
 " It's a terrible thing," he remarked, when the door 
 was closed behind them. " That reckless boy, Jacob, 
 came very near making a murderer of himself last 
 night. His brother is again fleeing from his pursuers. 
 The elder sister is plunged in grief, and the younger 
 one as unhappy as I can conceive it possible for a girl 
 to be." 
 
 " You know where she is, then? " said Hall. 
 
 " Yes. She went in my charge to the barn when the 
 trouble occurred and I took her back to her friends, 
 when her efforts proved of no avail. They are caring
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 28 r 
 
 for her now with all the tenderness imaginable, but she 
 has had too niudi to bear for one so sensitive and 
 young. Mr. Hall, have you ever thought of Elsie 
 Gardner other than as a friend ? " 
 
 The question was asked in such a solemn way that 
 the lawyer realized the meaning it must have. With 
 the diplomacy of his profession he mastered himself and 
 only answered, " Why ? " 
 
 " She is a beautiful little lady a pearl beyond price 
 a jewel any gentleman might be happy and proud to 
 wear for his own." 
 
 " Mr. Sewall ! You love her ! " 
 
 The minister shook his head decidedly. 
 
 " No. But, if you will excuse my candor, I wonder 
 that she never affected you with that passion, thrown in 
 her company as you have been." 
 
 The door opened and the waiter 'brought in the table 
 cloth and other preliminaries of the meal that was being 
 prepared. His advent was a real relief to Mr. Hall, 
 for it enabled him to master his emotions to a certain 
 degree. 
 
 When they were again alone he faced Mr. Sewall 
 with a white countenance. 
 
 " I don't know that I ought to say this," he told him ; 
 " but I care more for Elsie Gardner than for anything 
 else on earth ! " 
 
 " And yet you are going to marry Gertrude Fel- 
 ton!" 
 
 " I am not sure I am struggling now I have been 
 for a long time with that question."
 
 282 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 The minister was evidently nonplussed. He sat for 
 some time in silence. 
 
 " Have you ever spoken to Elsie of your love ? " he 
 asked. 
 
 " Never." 
 
 " Then she has not refused to listen to it." 
 
 Mr. Hall shook his head, pressing his hands ner- 
 vously together. 
 
 " Won't you tell me why? " 
 
 " I will give you one reason, and then, I beg you, let 
 us drop the subject. She is in love with another man." 
 
 " I assure you that is a mistake ! " cried the minister. 
 
 " It is true. Her father told me so. Now let us talk 
 of the brothers. Is there anything we can do to aid 
 Paul ? We must try our best to keep him again from 
 the clutches of the law. If he is apprehended we must 
 move Heaven and earth to secure his freedom. I have 
 already seen Jakey at the police station and have sent 
 Mr. Evans to confer with him. I think, If the lawyer 
 plays his points right, considering the extreme youth 
 of the boy, he can escape sentence. Now, Mr. Sewall, 
 there is something else that I wish you to hear and in 
 which you can do me a service." 
 
 " Anything that lies in my power." 
 
 " I have not felt easy over the large profits I have 
 made from the mine on the Gardner place. Although I 
 was innocent of the scheme by which it was taken from 
 them, I wish to restore it to their possession. I mean 
 to estimate the amount of money I have personally had 
 from it and turn that over, with my half of the stock, 
 to the children. Will you accept this trust for me? "
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 283 
 
 The minister was much surprised. He said a thing 
 of this kind should be considered with great care. Be- 
 sides, in turning over all his share of the stock, Mr. 
 Hall would give away, not only what he might think 
 Belonged to the Gardner place but his prevTous invest- 
 ment with it. 
 
 " That is exactly what I shall do," said Victor, sigh- 
 ing. " I am going East to live and I want them to have 
 it all. Then when Elsie he paused, drawing a long 
 breath marries, she will have a dowry worthy of her 
 goodness and beauty. Say you will act for me, my 
 friend." 
 
 " I will think of it, but I know you are in error in 
 supposing Elsie has an admirer such as you describe. 
 If there is any man she loves, Mr. Hall, it is yourself. 
 Ask her for her hand and prove my words true." 
 
 " I never can do that," was the sad reply.
 
 284 SXRAtfGER THAN FICTION* 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 " KINDLY EXAMINE THESE PAPERS.* 1 
 
 THE relations between the partners of Whiteley & 
 Hall had become very much strained by this time. The 
 two men were hardly on speaking terms and only 
 held such communications as were absolutely neces- 
 sary in closing up their business. Hall resented bit- 
 terly the action of Whiteley in joining in the pursuit 
 of Paul Gardner and was hurt by the constant proofs 
 that he was hand in glove with Morse, who, though 
 disappointed, was not discouraged and kept up his 
 efforts. 
 
 It was certainly a peculiar situation: The owner of 
 the property taken at Stromberg four years before was 
 doing his best to aid the supposed thief, while the trus- 
 tee was trying to restore the bonds to a man who did 
 not want them recovered. One was influenced to a 
 certain extent by sentiment, the other wanted to re- 
 deem his reputation in the eyes of the world. 
 
 The legal document which would turn over half of 
 the stock in the mining company to Mr. Sewall, as 
 representing the Gardner heirs, was finally completed, 
 as well as other papers necessary to the new move 
 Mr. Hall had decided to make. Then a telegram
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 285 
 
 was sent to Cyrus Keith, saying, " I need you greatly. 
 Come as soon as you can to Olluma." 
 
 In the meantime Paul had reached a distant point 
 where, thinking himself safe from immediate danger, 
 he wrote a letter to Marian. This letter was handed 
 to Mr. Gardner at the postoffice, one day, when he 
 was in a particularly thirsty condition and angry with 
 every one, Mr. Hall especially, for the hard fate which 
 prevented him from satisfying his absorbing appetite 
 for liquor. Altough the envelope bore an unfamiliar 
 hand the old man guessed who had sent it and, con- 
 cluding that an opportunity to make an honest dollar 
 had presented itself, went straight to Mr. Morse. 
 
 " There's a reward offered for that wicked son of 
 mine, ain't there?" he asked. 
 
 " Five hundred dollars by the State of Illinois and 
 $500 more that I am willing to pay out of my own 
 pocket." 
 
 " If a man put you onto the right trail would he git 
 that money? " 
 
 " He would at least get a share of it. I would 
 give a hundred dollars on the spot for a good clue." 
 
 There was something horrible in the scheme that 
 was visible in the cunning face of this depraved 
 father, but the time for splitting hairs had passed. 
 
 " He's been an ondutiful son," said Mr. Gardner, 
 as if to justify the deed he contemplated. " He's 
 brought disgrace on a respectable and honorable fam- 
 ily. I don't, think he's entitled to any consideration 
 from me."
 
 286 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 " You know where he is, then? " asked Morse, with 
 bated breath. 
 
 " You'll give me the hundred, if I show you and 
 say nothing to nobody? " 
 
 An eager affirmative was at once given to the propo- 
 sition. Mr. Gardner, with shaking ringers, tore open 
 the envelope and, after reading the letter within, hand- 
 ed it to the other man. The money was paid, prom- 
 ises of mutual secrecy exchanged, and a few minutes 
 later a dispatch was on the wires directed to the au- 
 thorities of Sacramento, where the young man was in 
 hiding. Mr. Gardner went straight to the nearest 
 bar and got intoxicated. He also took home with 
 him a flask of liquor and for several days indulged his 
 beastly proclivities to his heart's content. 
 
 Olluma was thrown into a ferment one morning by 
 the news that the much-wanted criminal was again in 
 custody. It had been arranged that he was to be 
 brought back to that town and an effort made there 
 to obtain a confession of the whereabouts of the stolen 
 bonds, before he was delivered up to the Illinois au- 
 thorities. 
 
 Marian heard of the capture and, braving the anger 
 of her husband, went to call on Hall. 
 
 " They've caught poor Paul and are going to bring 
 him here," she said, wringing her hands. " Oh, what 
 can we do? " 
 
 " I don't know. All I can say is, I shall use my 
 utmost efforts in his behalf. I have made some 
 some discoveries which I think will secure his par- 
 don, even if he has to be returned first to prison,"
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 287 
 
 "Discoveries?" she cried. "You have learned 
 who was the real thief? " 
 
 " I think so." 
 
 " He ought to be severely punished, after all the 
 injustice he has permitted to be done," she said, ex- 
 citedly. 
 
 " Yes; he ought to suffer as much, if that can be, as 
 he has caused others to suffer." 
 
 Marian's spirits rose. She said the first thing Paul 
 must be told when he arrived was the glorious news. 
 That would enable him to bear his temporary incar- 
 ceration with more patience. The girl laughed 
 through her tears and began to see only the bright 
 side of the case. 
 
 Excusing himself on the plea of urgent business, 
 Mr. Hall bowed her out, which he had hardly done 
 when Mr. Keith presented himself, having lost no time 
 in responding to the call. 
 
 The meeting between the old friends was affection- 
 ate in the extreme, and when the first greetings were 
 over Mr. Hall locked himself in a private room with 
 the new comer and had a long and deeply interesting 
 conversation with him. Before this was finished an 
 officer who had, unknown to Keith, come with Paul 
 on the same train, appeared in the outer office, accom- 
 panied by his prisoner, Mr. Morse and Mr. White- 
 ley. 
 
 The quartet entered the third room of the suite oc- 
 cupied by the law firm the room in which " Mason 
 Harvey " had so long acted as clerk, and there began
 
 288 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 their efforts to secure information as to the disposal 
 Paul had made of the missing securities. 
 
 " You might as well own up," they said to him, one 
 after another, in various forms of language. " Your 
 escape will naturally be treated as a new offence, and 
 unless you make restitution you are likely to get five 
 years more added to your unexpired sentence. Give 
 up what you took and we will all do our best to se- 
 cure your early release." 
 
 The young man wore a haggard look and for a long 
 time refused to make the least reply to the coaxing 
 suggestions. It was the hope of his inquisitors to 
 break him down from sheer exhaustion and they kept 
 at their task. With a refinement of ingenuity the 
 officer had offered him no breakfast that morning, 
 and as he was actually faint with hunger and weariness. 
 When it seemed as if he would refuse to speak, not- 
 withstanding all their efforts, Whiteley hit by accident 
 on a key that opened the closed mouth. 
 
 " Think what suffering you have caused," he said, 
 impressively, " to those who love you. Mr. Hall has 
 made arrangements to dissolve his partnership with 
 me and sacrifice his business prospects in California, 
 because he cannot bear to stay and witness the dis- 
 grace of those he esteems so highly. Your sister 
 Elsie has already found it necessary to seek another 
 home, because she has learned that the man to whom 
 she had given the love of her innocent heart is the one 
 whose life you blighted. Restore what you took 
 from him, give back happiness to your family by doing
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 289 
 
 an honest act, and when you are released from impris- 
 onment, begin a new life of probity." 
 
 Whiteley would have stopped at no deception 
 to accomplish his purpose. He had learned, 
 through Mr. Morse, of the reason that sent Elsie to 
 Brayton, and he threw that into the scale, although 
 he knew Mr. Hall was pledged to Oscar Felton's 
 daughter. The effect, to his joy, was instantaneous. 
 
 " Leave me here for half an hour," said Paul, husk- 
 ily. " I want to think. Oh, you can guard the 
 building," he added, as he saw the quick eyes of the 
 officer light up with doubt. " There is only the door 
 and one window to watch." 
 
 The officer was not sure he ought to leave the 
 young man out of his sight, even under these con- 
 ditions, but the other persuaded him. It seemed to 
 them that the time was near at hand, if it would ever 
 come, for the clearing- up of the great mystery. 
 Presently Paul was left alone, and no one objected 
 when he turned the key in the door behind them. 
 
 The trio sat down and talked in whispers, looking 
 often at their watches and listening for any sound 
 that might come from the inner room they had va- 
 cated. They could occasionally hear Mr. Hall speak- 
 ing on the other side of the partition, but they did not 
 know who was closeted with him, nor, of course, the 
 subject that seemed to engross them so thoroughly. 
 It was a drear)- wait, but the hope that had entered 
 their minds served to make it bearable; and at last, 
 when the full half hour was over, the officer tapped
 
 390 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 lightly' on the door behind which his prisoner was 
 staying. 
 
 The key turned and Paul admitted them. As they 
 looked inquiringly at his unshaven face they saw that 
 a new expression had come into the weary eyes and 
 a new erectness to the bent form they had left. He 
 looked, not like a prisoner being baited and badgered, 
 but like a man among men, who had terms to give to 
 others. He was actually handsome at that moment. 
 
 "Well?" they asked in one breath. 
 
 " If Mr. Roads, the officer, will go with me to my 
 old lodging room," said Paul without a tremor, " I will 
 give him what you want." 
 
 Although they had hoped for something of this sort, 
 all three of the men were overcome with surprise at 
 the straightforwardness of the statement. 
 
 "You will surrender the stolen securities?" asked 
 Mr. Roads. 
 
 "Every one." 
 
 " You had better not go alone," whispered Morse 
 to the officer, too excited almost to enunciate the 
 words. 
 
 " Have no fear," was the reply. " I know my busi- 
 ness." 
 
 " I will do what you ask," added Roads, to Paul. 
 " Excuse me for attaching this bracelet to your wrist 
 and to mine. You have taken at last the sensible 
 course and I renew my promise to do all I can to make 
 it easy for you." 
 
 The carriage in which the party had come was wait- 
 ing below, surrounded by a gaping crowd, which was
 
 StRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 prevented from ascending the stairs by two men in 
 uniform. As Roads caught sight of the assemblage 
 he asked Paul if he wished to tie a handkerchief across 
 his face, so as to be less conspicuous to those who 
 had known him. 
 
 " Not at all. I am doing nothing I am ashamed 
 of," was the proud reply, and the young man straight- 
 ened himself to his full height. As he walked down 
 the stairs and to the carriage he looked much more 
 like an arresting officer than like a prisoner in custody. 
 " He's braving it out," said one to another. 
 
 Whiteley and Morse sat in the office, awaiting the 
 return of the pair who had gone. They spoke in low 
 tones occasionally, as if in attendance at a funeral. 
 Sometimes they moved uneasily, at a noise outside or 
 a movement in the room where Hall and his friend 
 Keith were closeted. Whiteley remarked that it was 
 lucky they had fixed this thing without his partner 
 having a chance to interfere and Morse nodded an 
 agreement. Finally the inner door opened and the 
 occupants of that room appeared. 
 
 " How do you do, Mr. Morse? " said Keith, with 
 some constraint, at the same time offering his hand. 
 
 " You are too early with your courtesies," was the 
 sharp retort. " I do not care to shake hands with 
 anybody from Stromberg just yet." 
 
 Mr. Keith colored, but preserved his good nature. 
 
 " I will admit, Mr. Morse," he said, "that, in com- 
 mon with some others of your townsmen, I have done 
 you an injustice in my thoughts. I rejoice that you
 
 292 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 will soon have it in your power to prove your inno- 
 cence to those who have mistaken you." 
 
 Mr. Hall stood back a little, listening, with his gaze 
 on the door. Mr. Morse looked at the two stupefied. 
 Was there an aperture between 'the room in which 
 they had sat and this one, that they had successfully 
 played the part of eavesdroppers? He was about to 
 ask what Mr. Keith meant by his expressions when 
 the sound of steps on the front stairs was heard, and 
 Paul Gardner, still erect and proud, entered the room 
 manacled as before to Officer Roads. In the young 
 man's free hand was an oblong package, about ten by 
 three inches in size, tied with blue tape. At sight of 
 the men and the package Mr. Hall sprang backward 
 and caught at a desk for support. 
 
 " Mr. Morse," came the strong, clear voice of the 
 prisoner, " will you kindly examine these papers and 
 see if they are the ones you lost? " 
 
 While the insurance agent was untying the tape with 
 trembling fingers, Mr. Keith supported Mr. Hall with 
 his arm and assisted him to a chair, besides bringing 
 him a glass of water, which he sipped feverishly. But 
 Mr. Keith's attention could not be kept long from the 
 strange scene going on at the other side of the room. 
 With undisguised astonishment he heard Mr. Morse 
 verify the contents of the package, piece by piece, and 
 announce that everything taken from him was there. 
 
 " I shall have to retain this for the present/" said 
 Roads, doing it up roughly and thrusting it into his 
 pocket. " And now, gentlemen, let me congratulate 
 you, and say good-by."
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 Mr. Hall staggered to his feet as the officer and h!i 
 prisoner reached the outer door and gasped the one 
 word, ''Paul!" He was too weak to stand, however, 
 Mr. Keith sympathetically helped him to his chair 
 again. 
 
 " Might I ask you, gentlemen, to leave us for a few: 
 minutes," he said to the others, appealingly. " He is 
 very ill." 
 
 Without an oral reply Whiteley accompanied Morse 
 into the corridor. 
 
 "Courage!" whispered Keith to the nearly inani- 
 mate figure in the chair. " Don't give up like this." 
 
 Victor looked up at his friend with wandering gaze. 
 
 " Did you see him? Did he have that package and 
 give it to Morse or was I dreaming? " 
 
 Ten minutes later, supported on one side by Mr. 
 Keith, and on the other by a hackmari who had been 
 summoned, Hall was led slowly down the stairs and 
 driven to the hotel. 
 
 " Don't seem to like his medicine, does he?" re- 
 marked Whiteley to his confederate, with a grin.
 
 294 STRANGER THAN FICTION.. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 AN ELABORATE CONFESSION. 
 
 HON. JOHN M. TANNER, Governor of Illinois, found 
 among his mail within a week after the restoration of 
 the stolen papers to Mr. Morse, the following peculiar 
 and highly interesting documents. They were interest- 
 ing even to a Governor who had many strange things 
 come before him, and were read through twice with 
 care before they were laid aside for action : 
 
 To the Hon. John M. Tanner, Governor : Respect- 
 fully represents the undersigned that it has come to 
 his knowledge that one Paul Gardner, passing also by 
 the name of " Herbert Brown," who was convicted 
 under the latter name of larceny, at a term of court 
 
 held at Stromberg, on the I4th day of , 1895, 
 
 and sentenced to a term of five years in the State 
 Prison at Joliet, is wholly innocent of that crime. 
 Now, therefore, your petitioner, both for himself and 
 for his client, Victor Hall, for some time past a resi- 
 dent of the State of California, but formerly of Strom- 
 berg, and whose affidavit, setting forth his own guilt 
 in the matter of said larceny and the entire innocence 
 of said Gardner, alias Brown, is hereto annexed, prays 
 that said Gardner, alias Brown, be set at liberty, and 
 that an early hearing be given in the matter. 
 
 And your petitioner will ever pray. (Signed) 
 
 CYRUS KEITH, Attorney-at-Law. 
 
 Stromberg, Oct. , 1898.
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION". 295 
 
 'Affidavit of Victor Hall: The undersigned, Victor 
 Hall, formerly of Stromberg in the State of Illinois, but 
 more recently of Olluma in the State of California, 
 makes oath as follows : 
 
 In the year 1890 one Martha Hall, mother of said 
 Victor, deceased at said Stromberg, leaving in trust 
 for said Victor certain funds to the value (approxi- 
 mately) of $40,000, constituting one Richard A. Morse 
 as trustee and executor of her estate. By the terms 
 of said will the said Morse was to retain custody of 
 said funds until the said Victor was thirty years of 
 age, paying him only the income until that time. Said 
 Morse entered upon the performance of the trust 
 aforesaid, giving no bonds, as provided by said will, 
 for the faithful discharge of said duties, and there- 
 after, until the 27th day of November, 1895, as de- 
 ponent says and now believes, acted as an honest and 
 wise guardian of said trust funds, carrying out the 
 provisions of said will according to law. 
 
 And the said Hall deposes that in the month of No- 
 vember, in the year 1895, he became possessed with the 
 conviction that the securities held in trust for him by 
 said Morse were not in honest and safe hands, and 
 was much troubled in his mind over the danger which 
 he imagined said trust estate was in ; and being con- 
 vinced, after much mental worry, that he was likely to 
 be a sufferer from the probable (as he believed) dan- 
 ger to his rights in the case, and that an application to 
 the court having jurisdiction would result in a refusal 
 to have another trustee appointed in whom he, the 
 said Hall, might have full confidence, your deponent 
 hastily conceived a plan by which he might gain pos- 
 session of said securities so held in trust for him bv 
 the said Morse in advance of the time said property 
 would be legally due and payable into his hands. 
 Having been permitted to examine the said securities
 
 296 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 representing said trust property, and observing tKat 
 they were kept in a package, the outer wrapper of 
 which was of a certain style of wrapping paper and 
 tied with blue tape, your deponent says that he pre- 
 pared a package intended to look as nearly as possible 
 like the one in which said securities were kept, and on 
 being permitted again to examine the true package in 
 the office of said Morse, did then and there substitute 
 the false package for the true one, and did take and 
 carry away surreptitiously the said securities of which 
 the said Morse was legal custodian and trustee for 
 your deponent. 
 
 And the said Hall further says that after gaining 
 possession as aforesaid of said securities, which at the 
 time, in his excited state of mind, he fully believed 
 himself justified in doing, on the principle that one 
 should protect his rights at all hazards against immi- 
 nent danger, he removed on the following day from 
 the State of Illinois, and soon after took up his resi- 
 dence in the State of California, carrying the said 
 property with him ; and that to no person did he men- 
 tion or intimate in any way that he had taken said 
 property as aforesaid, but retained possession of said 
 securities in the original form in which he took them 
 until the third clay of October, last past. 
 
 And your deponent also says that he had no infor- 
 mation that the taking of said package was charged as 
 a crime to one Paul Gardner, alias Brown, until the 
 summer of the present year ; that he supposed the only 
 result of his act would be to secure himself in posses- 
 sion of his mother's estate in advance of the legal 
 time; and that he believed himself justified to his own 
 conscience in the unusual action he had taken in the 
 matter. It has recently come to his knowledge, how- 
 ever, that a clerk in the office of the said Morse, whose 
 true name is Paul Gardner, but who was then passing 
 under the name of " Herbert Brown," having been the 
 only person, according to the evidence presented, who
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 2<$ 
 
 had a knowledge of the combination by which a cer- 
 tain safe in said office, in which said papers were 
 ssually kept, could be opened, was arrested, indicted, 
 tried and sentenced to the terra of five years in the 
 State Prison for the larceny of said securities, and 
 that the said Gardner, although a totally innocent per- 
 son as regards said offence, is now undergoing punish- 
 ment therefor in the prison aforesaid. 
 
 And your deponent says that he and he alone is 
 guilty of the abstraction of said property and that 
 said Gardner, alias Brown, had no knowledge of your 
 deponent's act or reason to believe the true facts in the 
 case. 
 
 And said Hall further deposes that he is now and 
 will continue to remain as long as may be necessary 
 to further the ends of justice and do right by the said 
 Gardner, within the limits of the State of Illinois, to 
 wit, at the Palmer House in the City of Chicago, and 
 will be ready and willing at any time to appear for 
 examination by your Excellency or any court or per- 
 son designated by you, to substantiate the allegations 
 of this deposition. 
 
 Wherefore he, the said Hall, prays that your Ex- 
 cellency will give speedy attention to this matter, that 
 an end may be put to the incarceration of the said in- 
 nocent Paul Gardner. 
 
 (Signed) VICTOR HALL. 
 
 Subscribed and sworn to before me, this day of 
 October, in the year 1898, at Stromberg. 
 
 CYRUS KEITH, Notary Public. 
 
 Mr. Keith took a journey to Springfield, secured an 
 interview with Gov. Tanner without much delay, and 
 talked the matter over with him at length. By his re- 
 quest a communication was dictated to the warden of 
 the State Prison to treat Gardner with all possible
 
 298 STRANGER THAN FICTiON. 
 
 leniency consistent with his safe custody until the case 
 was disposed of. 
 
 " What does Mr. Hall expect will be done with him- 
 self when he has secured the release of Gardner?" 
 asked the Governor. 
 
 " He will leave that entirely to the courts. He re- 
 alizes that he has been the cause of great suffering to 
 innocent people and declares he will make no defence 
 except to represent the circumstances exactly as they 
 are." 
 
 " He almost w r ants to take Gardner's place in 
 prison?" said the Governor, with a slight smile. 
 
 " I really believe he does. The revelation of the 
 misery his act has caused has much unnerved him. He 
 fears also that an affidavit unsupported by his presence 
 would not be sufficient. Representing him I can say 
 that he is entirely ready to take whatever punishment it 
 is decided he deserves." 
 
 " It will break up his life and ruin his career," mused 
 the Governor. 
 
 " I am afraid so, but he is determined. And I would 
 not like the responsibility of coming between a man 
 and his convictions of right." 
 
 Mr. Hall stayed at Chicago, because he wanted to be 
 where he could easily be called, and did not like to face 
 the people of Stromberg, day after day, wtiile this mat- 
 ter was waiting to be adjudicated. He wrote a letter to 
 Paul in his prison, telling what he had done and ex- 
 pressing the greatest regret at the suffering which had 
 fallen on the young man. He alluded to his attempt to 
 effect a partial restoration of the Gardner ranch, not as
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 if it ought to affect Paul's feelings toward him, but 
 that he might have the satisfaction of knowing that he 
 would not be penniless when released from bondage. 
 
 Mr. Morse came back to Stromberg, with his head 
 high in the air. To those who expressed congratula- 
 tions he replied in a manner that was curt and haughty. 
 The injuries he had endured had burned deep into his 
 soul. His main idea now was to punish Mr. Hall, and 
 he engaged able counsel to represent him In the pro- 
 ceedings that were to take place. In spite of Hall's at- 
 titude he feared he would not carry out his announced 
 intentions unless forced. He wanted to see him behind 
 the bars, with the stripes of a convict on him. One day 
 he received this letter from the object of his wrath : 
 
 Richard A. Morse, Esq. Dear Sir: As you have un- 
 doubtedly been at some pecuniary loss on account of 
 my actions in relation to the bonds you held in trust 
 for me, and which will naturally be returned to you, I 
 wish to make over to you absolutely the entire prop- 
 erty. This I do from a conviction that it will no more 
 than compensate for what you have endured, and be- 
 cause I have suffered such mental distress that I pre- 
 fer not to see them again. 
 
 Very truly yours, VICTOR HALL. 
 
 Mr. Morse sneered audibly as he finished reading 
 this epistle. 
 
 " He's crawfishing," he muttered. " But he don't get 
 around me by any such trick. He got to do time; 
 that's what he deserves and I'll see it's what he gets. 
 As for the trusteeship it will be carried out according 
 to the terms of his mother's will. I shall take for my
 
 300 STRANGER THAN" FICTION. 
 
 services just what the law allows and no more. He'd 
 like to lower me again in the estimation of my fellow 
 townsmen, but he's taken the wrong way to do it." 
 
 Another letter was written and mailed about this 
 time, which read as follows : 
 
 Miss Elsie : Can you endure a few lines from one 
 who, though he little realized what he was doing at 
 the time, has caused much harm to you and yours? 
 I make no defence ; I have no intention of asking for 
 a pardon I do not deserve. I only beg, if you can 
 grant me that favor, out of the kindness of your heart, 
 that you will let me know the date your marriage is to 
 take place, that I may send some little souvenir. We 
 were good friends once. V. H. 
 
 When notice came that the Governor was ready to 
 hear Mr. Keith's petition, Mr. Hall \vent to Springfield 
 and assisted in presenting the case. Even Morse could 
 find no fault with his manner of doing so, but when the 
 pardon was directed to issue he asked that Hall be de- 
 tained and bound over for trial. He expressed his fear 
 that the confessed criminal would not be found when 
 next wanted, but no attention was paid to his state- 
 ments. He had the unpleasant experience, instead, of 
 hearing murmurs of admiration and approval follow 
 Victor, from the people present at the hearing. 
 
 " Gad, but that's moral courage ! " said one man, ex- 
 pressing the views of all about him.
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 3OT 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 AN AUSTRIAN BARONESS. 
 
 AMONG the people especially interested in the re- 
 markable move that Mr. Hall had made was Oscar 
 Felton and his daughter. They had realized from the 
 brief and unenthusiastic letters he had sent them, as 
 well as from his constrained manner before their de- 
 parture, that he was not enthusiastic over the nuptials 
 they were trying to persuade him to celebrate. Both 
 had hoped, however, that time would bring everything 
 around to their liking and had tried to await that happy 
 day with patience. When the papers began to be rilled 
 with accounts of his confession the news came like a 
 chilling wave to both father and daughter. 
 
 Gertrude's sentiments underwent a decided change 
 when she contemplated the possibility of waiting years 
 for a fiance who could only come to her -arms at last 
 from a felon's cell. Her love was not proof against the 
 new order of things ; and her father, who had encour- 
 aged her infatuation for Victor because it semed the 
 surest way to save her from an early grave, was not 
 sorry to observe that she heard his name with a 
 clouded brow and that apprehension was giving way 
 to indignation. 
 
 About the same time as if to help matters out r ~
 
 302 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 an Austrian baron, who had come to the United States 
 for the purpose of bestowing his title on some eligible 
 young woman with a suitable fortune, made a second 
 visit to Stromberg. Learning the condition of affairs 
 he began again to pay Gertrude marked attention. She 
 was flattered to find herself the envied one among her 
 social set, and when the baron renewed his proposal in 
 a formal manner and she saw a European court in 
 prospect, she came to the conclusion that her path was 
 clear. 
 
 Victor Hall's image had gradually faded from her 
 girlish heart. She was willing to leave a town in 
 which she had known her heaviest disappointment and 
 excite at the same time the little world in which she 
 moved. Mr. Felton was glad to have the troubled 
 seas of her life settled so pleasantly. And although 
 she was not able to converse with her admirer in his 
 own language, nor he with her in hers, they managed 
 by the aid of what French she knew (and an inter- 
 preter) to exchange vows and to arrange the terms 
 of a marriage settlement. 
 
 The little preliminary of breaking off the fiction of 
 an engagement with Mr. Hall was easily arranged. 
 Mr. Felton wrote to Victor that he thought his pres- 
 ent attitude inexcusable and that his confession of 
 theft had disgraced him sufficiently to warrant a sev- 
 erance of all ties between him and his daughter. Quite 
 as much relieved as Gertrude, Mr. Hall responded in 
 the next mail that he would consider the affair ended 
 and that he wished his late fiancee all future happi- 
 ness.
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 303 
 
 Paul Gardner, who was provided with necessary 
 funds now to travel in a comfortable manner, lost no 
 time in returning to California, where his sisters were 
 anxiously awaiting- him. He found Elsie in much 
 distress over the impending punishment of Mr. Hall, 
 who had, she thought, fully expiated his fault, con- 
 sidering all the circumstances. In this view of the 
 matter Paul and Marian entirely agreed with her, the 
 former being abundantly willing, as far as he was con- 
 cerned, to forgive the unhappy man. It was evident 
 to all three that Mr. Hall's action was caused in the 
 first place by an apparently well grounded fear that he 
 was about to lose his inheritance; and in trying to 
 right his wrong, as soon as he discovered it, he had 
 disarmed resentment. 
 
 Marian had suffered with the rest from the terrible 
 error that had been made, for her married life hung 
 by a slender thread, which might break at any time. 
 She would not hear a word, however, in criticism of 
 her husband, who was actuated, she said, by his idea 
 of absolute justice and had endured great trials. She 
 wrote to him often, begging him to join with the 
 others who had been injured, forgetting the past, but 
 no answer came. Mr. Morse fancied that nothing 
 less than legal penalties would balance the account 
 against the author of his disgrace. 
 
 Mr. Evans, the lawyer who undertook the defence 
 of Master Jacob, succeeded in getting that young gen- 
 tleman admitted to bail in a reasonable sum, which 
 was easily procured, and later in having his case placed 
 on file. It was argued to the district court that Jacob
 
 3O4 STRANGER THAN FICTION,. 
 
 was too young to understand the offence with which 
 he had been charged, and had only, at the most, fired 
 some random shots in the air, when he found himself 
 in danger of assault from a mob whose intentions he 
 had no means of knowing, except that they were an- 
 tagonistic. No one had been hurt, at any rate, and to 
 prosecute this little fellow seriously, for holding at bay 
 a dozen strong men headed by a sheriff, would only 
 result in belittling the authorities in the eyes of the 
 public. 
 
 The boy was solemnly warned, however, by the 
 judge, to " turn over a new leaf " and told that in case 
 he was ever arrested in the future this offence would 
 be remembered against him. He came out of the 
 ordeal somewhat sobered and, after receiving a large 
 quantity of good advice from his brother, whom he 
 fairly adored, relinquished his old intention of adopt- 
 ing the profession of a footpad, and devoted himself 
 with ardor to his schoolbooks. The principal diffi- 
 culty thus far has been to induce him to adopt the 
 language usually spoken by respectable people in the 
 United States, and abandon the slang to which he has 
 clung, but he is gradually accomplishing even this 
 feat. 
 
 Mr. Sewall, after long thought and many con- 
 sultations with the Gardners, accepted the trus- 
 teeship of the shares Mr. Hall had owned in the 
 gold mine. It was feared that unless he did so 
 Mr. Whiteley might succeed in absorbing the whole 
 of it, which his actions led them to believe he would 
 not be above doing. When all the troubles were
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 305 
 
 .aightened out, it would be easy to give the prop- 
 erty back to the rightful owner, if they could persuade 
 him to accept it. With a competent representative 
 to look after their interests the mine continued to prove 
 a profitable institution and Mr. Hall's interests were 
 fully protected. 
 
 A sad thing was the necessity that soon devel- 
 oped of placing the father of the family in a home for 
 dipsomaniacs. The money he had received from Mr. 
 Morse enabled him to go on such a prolonged de- 
 bauch that for the time he completely lost his reason 
 and had to be restrained. It is only necessary to dis- 
 miss this unpleasant subject by saying that the unfor- 
 tunate man survived his incarceration but a few 
 months. 
 
 As soon as Paul had attended to necessary business 
 in the West he returned to Illinois and had several in- 
 terviews with Mr. Hall, whom he tried to persuade to 
 flee from the danger that hung over him. Victor was 
 firm. Xot only had he given his word to the Governor 
 at the time he applied for Paul's release, but he would 
 never be satisfied until he had done something to ex- 
 piate his offences. He was much interested to know 
 how Paul had obtained possession of the bonds which 
 he had surrendered and Paul told him the entire story. 
 
 " I had seen that package in your safe," said he, 
 " several times when you came to open it. The sim- 
 ilarity of the size and tapes to the one I was accused 
 of stealing impressed me greatly. Still I could form 
 no idea for a long time why you should have taken it 
 yourself, and at last when I began to comprehend your
 
 306 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 real reason as it was afterwards explained by you i 
 did not like to put you in jeopardy if I could help it, 
 for what did not seem like a real larceny. You were 
 kind to me, you had been like a brother to my sisters. 
 I saw the package several times and grew surer that it 
 was the one I believed, but I meant to use that knowl- 
 edge only in the event that I was again arrested and 
 could find no other way to establish my innocence. 
 
 " With the importance of that bundle of bonds con- 
 stantly in my mind I found myself observing with care 
 the manner in which you unlocked that safe. It was not 
 a difficult matter to fix your movements in my mem- 
 ory, and one day after the office was closed for business 
 I proved my guess correct by opening the door, tak- 
 ing out the package and verifying my suspicions. Then 
 came your warning of my danger from Mr. Morse, 
 your loan of mon^ for my flight, and some things 
 Jakey told me while we were g^ing to our hiding place 
 in the old barn. I made up my mind I would rather 
 be sent back to Joliet and serve out my term than to 
 expose you. Mr. Roads left me in that room for half 
 an hour, to decide whether I would 'confess ' where 
 the missing property was or take the extreme penalty 
 of the law. I quietly opened the safe, put the package 
 under my vest, and locked it again. When they called 
 me and asked for my decision I made Roads go to the 
 house where I had roomed and pretended to find the 
 bonds there. If you had not spoiled my plan I would 
 now be finishing my sentence in prison, with perhaps a 
 year additional, and you would be the same respected 
 citizen of Olluma you were before."
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 307 
 
 Mr. Hall listened with deep interest and sighed 
 audibly when the narrative was finished. 
 
 " And you would have stayed in prison, disgraced, 
 convicted, suffering, while I breathed the fresh air of 
 heaven and retained the esteem of my townsmen I 
 the guilty, you the innocent man! " 
 
 " I wish you had left it so," replied Paul, earnestly. 
 " And, as it is too late now for that, I beg you not to 
 make useless all I have tried to do. I look on your act 
 In taking those securities as a venial matter. You have 
 done all you can to right those who were wronged. If 
 you persist in refusing to escape punishment you will 
 yield to a morbid sentiment which no one will endorse, 
 besides giving further pain to friends who love you 
 my sisters and myself." 
 
 Mr. Hall lowered his head, trying to conceal his 
 overpowering emotion. 
 
 " They are too kind, as well as you," he stam- 
 mered at last. " I hope when I have donned the fel- 
 on's stripes that belong to me, Marian will be restored 
 to the husband my conduct has estranged from her, 
 and that your other sister " (he had tried to pro- 
 nounce the name, that ' stuck in his throat' like the 
 ' amen ' in Macbeth) "will make some good man 
 happy." 
 
 There are times when it is unwise to be squeamish 
 and Paul Gardner thought this was one of them. 
 
 " I have learned," he said, " that you misunderstood 
 something Mannie said to you about Elsie. She is not 
 engaged to rnarry anybody, she has not even the 
 slightest thought in that direction. She showed me
 
 308 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 your letter to her, in which you spoke of her coming 
 wedding, and together we puzzled out the way you 
 came to that conclusion. 
 
 He caught at the straw like a drowning man, but 
 immediately relinquished it. No, it would not bear 
 his weight. 
 
 " It was not altogether what Marian said, though 
 I thought I understood what she meant when she told 
 me her sister had ' an affection of the heart.' It was 
 your father. He told me in so many words that the 
 child was ill from love, when she went to Brayton." 
 
 Paul leaned toward ithe speaker and spoke impres- 
 sively. 
 
 " For a man with two good eyes you are the blindest 
 of human beings." 
 
 Then fearing that he had said too much, he rose, 
 and stating that he would call again soon, took a hasty 
 departure.
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 309 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 " MAY I SPEAK, YOUR HONOR ? " 
 
 VICTOR waited patiently for the next session, at 
 
 which he expected an indictment would be found 
 against him for grand larceny, but when the list of pre- 
 sentments appeared in the newspapers he was surprised 
 even disappointed not to discover his name. Like 
 the Apostle, he was " ready to be offered." He felt 
 that every hour his punishment was postponed delayed 
 the time when he could look the world in the face as a 
 man who had paid the penalty of his offence. 
 
 After talking the matter over with Keith, who came 
 to Chicago to see him, he decided on his course of ac- 
 tion. Going to Stromberg he walked into the local 
 police station and told the astonished captain there, 
 who had known him from boyhood, that he wanted 
 to be locked up. 
 
 " I don't understand you," replied the captain. 
 " Your case was considered by the grand jury and they; 
 found no bill. That clears you, apparently." 
 
 " No grand jury can clear a guilty man," replied 
 Victor, impressively. " Three years ago I stole securi- 
 ties valued at $40,000 from Richard A. Morse of this 
 town. I carried those securities into a distant part of 
 the country and retained possession of them until last
 
 3IO STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 autumn. I am ready to stand trial, and you have no 
 right, Capt. Love, to refuse me that privilege. I sur- 
 render myself into custody. You are obliged to take 
 me in charge.' 
 
 The captain did not like the situation He excused 
 himself for a few minutes, during which he used the 
 telephone in his office to communicate with Cyrus 
 Keith, with Richard Morse, and even with Gov. Tan- 
 ner. When he returned to the waiting man he asked 
 him to follow him and, apologizing to the last moment, 
 showed him into a cell in the rear of the office. 
 
 " I comply with your request, Mr. Hall, under pro- 
 test," said he. " I will have a bondsman here in half 
 an hour who will give bail for your appearance when 
 wanted, after which you will be again at liberty. I 
 was appointed to the police force by your father, when 
 he was mayor, and this proceeding goes against me, 
 I assure you." 
 
 Mr. Hall sat down on an iron bedstead that made 
 part of tthe furniture of his new home and drew a long 
 breath. 
 
 " This is the first contented moment I have known 
 for years," he replied. " I shall refuse to accept bail, 
 so you will only waste time if you make a move in that 
 direction. Can't you see, man, that the greatest kind- 
 ness you can show is to help me pay the debt I owe 
 society? Take me into court, let my friends see I am 
 not afraid to accept the consequences of my folly, put 
 nothing between me and the prison I deserve. I only 
 ask one favor of you: Don't admit any reporters, nor 
 any one else, unless it be Mr. Keith."
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 3! I 
 
 Murmuring that he would take notice of the request, 
 though he should never feel that his friend was wise in- 
 his present movement, Capt. Love turned the key in 
 the massive lock and walked with heavy tread back to 
 his desk. A few minutes later Mr. Keith called, but 
 on hearing what Victor had said, went away again. He 
 knew the state of the prisoner's mind and did not think 
 it best to interfere. 
 
 Of course the local newspapers had a broadside on 
 the matter that evening and when Victor was placed in 
 the dock of the local court the next morning the room 
 was crowded to suffiocation. A formal complaint which 
 had been prepared by one of the lieutenants (Capt. 
 Love was determined his name should not appear on 
 that, at least) was read and Hall responded in a firm 
 voice that he plead guilty. As the matter was beyond 
 the jurisdiction of the magistrate the defendant was 
 bound over in the sum of $500 for his appearance at 
 the Circuit court, though there were murmurs of dis- 
 approbation from many in the throng of sightseers, 
 who thought he should be discharged on the spot, not- 
 withstanding his plea. 
 
 " May I speak a word, your Honor? " asked Hall, 
 rising in his place. 
 
 " Certainly," responded the judge. 
 
 " Then I protest against the amount of bail that your 
 Honor has ordered. I stole $40,000 from Richard 
 Morse. My bail should not be less than twice the 
 sum." 
 
 " But the stolen property has been returned," said 
 the judge, smiling.
 
 312 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 " That is true, your Honor. But the slight bafl 
 which has been ordered is an indication of a tendency 
 to minimize a great offence. If the amount was 
 five dollars instead of five hundred I should not per- 
 mit any one to offer it. Won't your Honor place the 
 sum at such a figure that my crime will seem the 
 heinous thing it is in the eyes of people who are 
 disposed to regard it lightly ? I ask this, not on my 
 own account, but for the influence it will have on men 
 disposed to imitate my 'error." 
 
 Mr. Mtorse, who had sat uneasily among the specta- 
 tors, rose at 'this juncture and essayed to speak, but 
 was speedily suppressed by an officer, who demanded 
 order in the court. The judge replied to Mr. Hall that 
 the amount of bail he had mentioned would stand and 
 the prisoner was taken to the county jail. 
 
 These facts the members of the Gardner family who 
 still lived in the little home at Olluma learned, partly 
 through newspapers and partly by a long letter that 
 Mr. Keith took the pains to send them'. There was a 
 conference between Paul and his sisters, at which it 
 was decided that all should make a trip to Illinois, in- 
 cluding even Jakey, who was delighted with the pros- 
 pect of seeing the world. Mr. Sewall, on learning of 
 the plan, asked and readily obtained permission to 
 make one of the party, and, six weeks after Victor had 
 been committed, they were registered at a quiet hotel 
 in Chicago. There Mr. Keith came to meet them and, 
 a few days later Mr. Morse was persuaded to hold an 
 interview with 'his wife. 
 
 It was Marian's devotion that finally won the day,
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 313 
 
 as far as her husband was concerned. Morse had had 
 time to let a little of his anger toward Victor cool. The 
 spectacle of the young man awaiting eagerly the pun- 
 ishment due his crime, his absolute refusal to allow 
 anything in mitigation, his reiterated expressions of 
 contrition and of a desire to make every restitution in 
 his power to those he had wronged, began to penetrate 
 even the hard heart of the insurance man. Besides 
 this, Morse realized that nothing could fully restore the 
 happiness of his married relations but a concession of 
 some kind on his part. He gave in, little by little, to 
 his wife's arguments and they came at last to mutual 
 ground. 
 
 " Mr. Hall," she said, " will have been incarcerated 
 nearly three months when >the time of his trial comes. 
 He asks and expects nothing from you but bitter op- 
 position. You have a grand opportunity to prove that 
 only love of justice has actuated you and not mere re- 
 venge. Paul, who was kept from contact with free 
 men for more than two years, is willing to call his ac- 
 count settled. Richard, cannot you be as magnani- 
 mous as he? " 
 
 Elsie begged to be allowed to visit the man she 
 adored in his prison, but the others advised against at- 
 tempting -to obtain his permission. She found com- 
 fort, however, in the news that her brother-in-law had 
 agreed to take the side of mercy. The attitude of the 
 men who had been wronged must have a powerful in- 
 fluence on the sentence of the court. Keith came and 
 expressed his certainty that the Governor would not
 
 3 14 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 permit any excessive sentence to stand, if worse came 
 to worst. 
 
 Thus the time passed till Victor stood again in a 
 dock, pleading guilty with erect form, and firm voice 
 before a crowded assemblage, that included Morse and 
 Marian and Elsie, and even the irrepressible small 
 brother. 
 
 "Are you represented by counsel?" inquired the 
 clerk of Victor, when the plea was duly recorded. 
 
 " I am not nor do I wish to be," was the distinct re- 
 ply. " I am guilty as charged in the indictment and 
 only wish the court to hear the exact facts of my case." 
 
 The first witness called was Richard Morse, who 
 told (reluctantly now) the story of his connection with 
 the Hall estate and his discovery that ithe bonds he 
 held in trust were missing. He gave an account of the 
 way he had been led to suspect Paul Gardner of the 
 theft and detailed the arrest, (trial and conviction of that 
 young man, as well as his pursuit of the escaped pris- 
 oner and the final delivery of the securities back into 
 his hands in the office of Whiteley & Hall at Olluma. 
 
 " When did you first suspect that the prisoner ai the 
 bar was the real culprit? " was asked him. 
 
 " Not until I had read in the newspapers the affidavit 
 he sent to the Governor." 
 
 " Then you have no personal knowledge that he 
 stole those papers? " interrupted the judge. 
 
 " Nothing but that confession and the evidence he 
 gave against himself in the lower court." 
 
 The judge asked if the prosecution had any other 
 witnesses they desired to call and was informed that
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 31$ 
 
 they had none. The plea of guilty that the defendant 
 .had entered made it unnecessary to take up the time. 
 
 Victor then asked to be allowed to take the stand, 
 where the oath was at once administered to him. 
 
 " May I state the facts, in my own way? " lie asked, 
 and when permission was given, he leaned on the rail 
 and, to a breathless and silent audience, told his story: 
 
 " Your Honor: Three years ago I was a respected 
 citizen of Stromberg, never dreaming of any other life 
 than that of an honest and upright man. My father 
 had been during his lifetime mayor of the town. I had 
 received a good education and had, I may say without 
 boasting, as many friends as the average young man. 
 Richard A. Morse held in trust for me property to the 
 amount of about $40,000, which, by the provisions of 
 my mother's will, he was to retain till I was thirty years 
 of age, payang me in the meantime only the income. 
 I became possessed with a conviction (I state it now 
 with shame and regret, for I know it was wholly un- 
 warranted) that he meant to embezzle this property 
 and that When the time came it was payable to me he 
 would not hand it over. This impression grew in my 
 brain until it became a mania. I believed I was likely 
 to be swindled of all I owned and tried to invent some 
 means of outJmtting the man I thought meant to do me 
 wrong. 
 
 " An appeal to the court having jurisdiction was 
 contemplated, but the idea was, on consultation with 
 an able attorney, dismissed as impracticable. Mr. 
 Morse had never been an hour behind in his payments. 
 I had nothing to offer as a reason why he should be
 
 3l6 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 supplanted in his position as trustee but a strong Im- 
 pression. At last I resolved to leave this part of the 
 country and go to some place where I could work out 
 my fortune, the one my mother had left me seeming- to 
 my disordered brain already lost. 
 
 " Two days before I was ready to leave I went with 1 
 a friend to Mr. Morse's office and was allowed to in- 
 spect the securities in which he had invested my prop- 
 erty. I noticed that they were kept carefully arranged 
 and filed, in a wrapper of light brown paper, tied with 
 narrow blue tape. The idea seized me of preparing a 
 package exactly similar in appearance and bringing it 
 on a subsequent visit to substitute for the original 
 package. I procured some sheets of white paper, some 
 wrapping like the one I had seen, and some tape 
 of the same description, and went to Mr. Morse's office 
 with the false package in an inside pocket. Being al- 
 lowed freely to inspect the bonds again I succeeded in 
 putting them inside my overcoat and leaving the false 
 package in their place. When I left Stromberg at 
 noon on that day I carried away the bonds. I sup-, 
 posed no further harm would result than a little annoy- 
 ance to the trustee, whom I intended to inform of my 
 trick when his trusteeship should expire. 
 
 " Last summer it came to my knowledge that Paul 
 Gardner, alias Herbert Brown, had been arrested, tried 
 and imprisoned for the supposed theft of tfhese bonds, 
 and had escaped from custody. I learned also that 
 Mr. Morse was doing his best to procure the rearrest 
 of Gardner and that my wild act had caused and was 
 likelv to cause still more pain and suffering to wholly
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 317 
 
 innocent people. My first thought was to invent some 
 way by which I could restore the stolen property to the 
 trustee, in whose honesty I had then come to have im- 
 plicit confidence, without compromising myself. But 
 at last I saw that my duty involved more than that, 
 and that the only way I could wholly right the injured 
 was to make a full confession of my guilt. 
 
 " At the instant I was about to do> this, in the pres- 
 ence of Mr. Morse, of my partner, Mr. Whiteley, and 
 of Mr. Keith, Paul actuated by a nobility of soul 
 which I can only think of with wonder and admiration 
 'tried bo save me by taking my offence on himself, in 
 return for some, slight assistance I had been enabled to 
 render his family. I at once came here from Califor- 
 nia and placed the true statement of the case before the 
 Governor, which resulted in his speedy pardon. Then 
 I surrendered myself to the authorities. I am here, 
 ready to accept whatever penalty your Honor sees fit 
 to impose. 
 
 " In stating my case to you, if I have seemed to offer 
 anything in mitigation of my act, I beg you to dis- 
 charge that from your mind. I ask no mercy, for I 
 deserve none." 
 
 Elsie Gardner was sobbing softly under a thick veil 
 she wore, but to her sister's whisper that there was still 
 hope she replied, " It is not that, Mannie! I would not 
 change a word he has uttered." 
 
 The prosecuting attorney rose to his feet when the 
 prisoner had returned to the dock and said with ill- 
 concealed emotion that he had no remarks to make. 
 There was a. silence more oppressive than ever wbi
 
 318 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 the judge announced that he would postpone sentence 
 until the morrow. 
 
 As Mr. Hall came out of the dock a hundred hands 
 were stretched to grasp his, but he declined them all, 
 with a shake of his head and a smile, till a little figure, 
 leaning on the arm of Paul Gardner, pressed against 
 him. Lifting her veil Elsie showed him her tear-stained 
 face an instant; and then, before all the crowd, she 
 stood on tiptoe and kissed the man! 
 
 The judge, who had stayed in his chair, turned his 
 face away to hide the moisture in his eyes. Several of 
 the sheriff's assistants hemmed to clear obstructions in 
 their throats. Everybody in sight of the episode was 
 affected. 
 
 " They named you right when they called you Vic- 
 tor," said the girl, bravely. " I never was so proud of 
 you as now! " 
 
 The officers led him away and the courtroom was 
 slowly emptied of the lingering throng.
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 319 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV 
 
 A CHANGE OF VENUE. 
 
 AND now, my dear readers, for a little confidential 
 talk. When I say that the judge, on the reassembiing 
 of his court the next day, sentenced Mr. Hall to the 
 minimum imprisonment which his plea of guilty al- 
 lowed that of one year at Joliet you are not going 
 to believe that " our hero " served the whole time, 
 Novels are not written in that way as a rule, and after 
 all this is a novel and not a true history. So I may 
 as well admit right here that the Governor pardoned 
 him and that he (Victor, and I hope the Governor 
 also) expects to " live happy ever after." 
 
 There are other characters in this story to whom a 
 few words must be devoted. Let us begin then, with 
 Richard Morse. Stromberg has gone to the opposite 
 extreme from its old attitude toward the insurance 
 man, since Mr. Hall was released from confinement 
 with his sanction. The people have come to realize 
 that he has merely shown unbending adherence to 
 duty. They know that even now he would oppose 
 any attempt, should one be made (and none will be) 
 to terminate his trusteeship of the Martha Hall estate, 
 one hour before the time stipulated in 'that lady's will; 
 and that he is probity personified, with determination
 
 32O STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 of the highest kind behind it all. All Strombei g- real- 
 izes that no more upright citizen dwells within its bor- 
 ders. 
 
 His fellow townsmen are transferring all their in- 
 surance to him, as fast as it matures, and his only rival 
 in the local business has been obliged to give up his 
 office. Not only this, but five widows and six maiden 
 ladies have executed wills appointing him their execu- 
 tor and trustee, and three have been so obliging as to 
 die, leaving large estates to his care. " As honest as 
 Dick Morse " has passed into a proverb. But he 
 goes on in the even tenor of his way, as unspoiled by 
 adulation as he was uninfluenced by criticism when 
 he knew he was right. 
 
 Marian is happy in her married life. She loved 
 her husband all the time and now she adores him. 
 She does not regret his great tribulation, since he 
 came out with honor untarnished. Her brother Paul 
 is studying law with Mr. Hall, who has established 
 himself again at Olluma. W'hiteley had the bad luck 
 to lose his fortune in speculation and has quit the town 
 in disgust. His half of the gold mine was bought by 
 Mr. Hall, and is now managed, together with the half 
 that was made over to the Gardners (and which no 
 persuasion will induce Victor to take back) to the great 
 profit of all concerned. Indeed, as every reader will 
 be glad to hear, they are growing wealthy out of the 
 proceeds. 
 
 Mr. Sewall continues to live the same unselfish life 
 as of yore, giving aid and counsel to all who need it 
 for miles around. It is not believed he will ever ask
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 321 
 
 another woman to be his wife, but he finds compen- 
 sation in the happiness he brings to tired and desolate 
 souls. 
 
 Jakey is a strong, fine lad, whose chief regret during 
 the past year has been that he was not old enough to 
 enlist in the army. His opinion of " gals " is still 
 contemptuous, notwithstanding the fact that he has 
 two of the loveliest sisters in the world, and he an- 
 nounces solemnly that he shall always remain (he is 
 now fifteen) a bachelor. If he thinks one man on 
 earth superior to all others it is Mr. Hall. He came 
 home one day looking like a hospital patient from 
 Luzon, on account of an altercation with a lad con- 
 siderably bigger, who had " sassed him " by saying 
 that two of his friends were " jail-birds." 
 
 "But yer oughter see de odder feller!" he ex- 
 claimed proudly, when duly decorated with court- 
 plaster. "Dere ain't enuff o' him left for a crowner's 
 inquist! " 
 
 Jakey still drops into his old style of speech when 
 excited, but usually succeeds in mastering that disa- 
 greeable habit. He wants to please Mr. Hall and the 
 latter's " My boy! " is quite sufficient to stifle the ten- 
 dency to slang on all but special occasions. 
 
 To return to Victor: As he passed through the 
 doors of the State Prison, on the day his sentence 
 went into effect, he remarked to the keeper that he 
 was glad it was the same penitentiary in which Paul 
 had served and that he would do his best to make a 
 good record there. He donned without a murmur 
 the convict's garb and went cheerfully about the labor
 
 322 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 to which he was assigned. He was at last where he 
 fully believed that Justice required him to be. 
 
 A sad .party of his friends went the next week to 
 have an interview with the Governor, who had no 
 hesitation in assuring them that he thought further 
 punishment could serve no useful purpose and that he 
 was ready to issue a pardon whenever the prisoner 
 would apply for it. Elsie attracted His Excellency's 
 attention especially, he having been made aware of the 
 broken romance in which the girl figured. The sec- 
 ond great Tanner of Illinois called 'her to his side and 
 questioned her closely. 
 
 " It is customary to ask some one to be responsible 
 for a convict who is released before his time," he said, 
 gravely. 
 
 " Ah, sir! It was the one error of an upright life," 
 she answered. " You are quite safe not to demand 
 that in this case." 
 
 " I do not like to break 'the rule. If you have such 
 confidence in him, my child, you ought to be willing 
 personally to furnish his guaranty." 
 
 "I?" she cried. "Would you take me for se- 
 curity? " 
 
 " Who could be better? Unless I am much mis- 
 taken, too, he would prefer your guardianship to that 
 of any one else." 
 
 She dropped her eyes in confusion at the unmis- 
 takeable meaning of the words. 
 
 " If Mr. Hall wishes you to take charge of him, you 
 will not refuse? " he persisted. 
 
 * No, sir; not if he wishes it," she whispered softly. ,
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 323 
 
 There was a light in the eyes she raised to the official 
 that told him how gladly she would accept such a 
 trust. 
 
 " Then it is settled," said the Governor, kindly. " Go 
 to Joliet, tell Mr. Hall the conditions under which I 
 will grant his pardon, and see what he says." 
 
 All agreed, after consultation, that it would be sheer 
 folly to move in the matter yet. Victor's frame of 
 mind demanded at least a short term in his present 
 location. To begin now might defeat the scheme en- 
 tirely. So the Gardners went back to Chicago, where 
 they waited for the slow days to pass, all but Jakey, 
 who plunged with delight into the gaieties of the 
 city, as represented by variety shows and soda foun- 
 tains. When a month had gone by they began their 
 campaign. 
 
 The first thing was a. letter from Mr. Morse. He 
 related what was entirely true at the time, that his 
 business was suffering from the public impression that 
 he could have mitigated the penalty of the imprisoned 
 'man. He asked if Victor wished to still further in- 
 , jure him. If he continued as he had begun he 
 (Morse) might as well close up his office and remove 
 to some new locality. The townspeople blamed him 
 for the sentence of the judge and were not disposed to 
 listen to explanations. 
 
 Mr. Hall read this letter with deep sorrow and re- 
 plied that he regretted the state of affairs exceedingly. 
 But instead of intimating that he would apply for a 
 release he renewed his request that Morse accept the
 
 324 STRANGER THAN FICTION/ 
 
 $40,000 he held in trust, or at least the income of it, 
 as a partial recompense for his pecuniary loss. 
 
 On hearing of the failure of this plan Paul tried 
 his hand, using a more peremptory tone: 
 
 " It should occur to you," he wrote, " that you are 
 occupying a selfish position quite at variance from 
 your usual character. While enjoying the pleasure 
 of ' expiating your fault/ you cause others to suffer 
 severely. I had made up my mind to study law, but 
 no one cares to take a young man but recently re- 
 leased from prison, even if it has been proved that he 
 was innocent of the charge against him. Were you 
 free I should hope to join you at Olluma and com- 
 mence under favorable auspices. You have uttered 
 some warm expressions of sympathy for me. I shall 
 see now how real was the sentiment behind them." 
 
 This troubled Mr. Hall more than the other letter, 
 but it did not convince him. He wrote to Paul that 
 the income from the mine was quite sufficient to sup- 
 port him for the present and that there must be open- 
 ings for a determined youth in some of the newer 
 sections of the country. He intimated further that 
 the real reason for Paul's efforts was not the one he 
 alleged. 
 
 There was nothing left but to try Elsie's persuasions. 
 If these failed, they all admitted nothing could be 
 done. Victor was called into the office one day from 
 his work, and in his -rison clothes was left alone with 
 the little woman.
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 325 
 
 " You are not glad to *ee me, I am afraid," she said, 
 as he stood trembling, without even offering to touch 
 her hand. 
 
 " After the wrong I have done to you and yours I 
 
 cannot look you in the face." 
 
 " Victor," she said, after a pause (she had never 
 called him by that name before), " I have been talk- 
 ing to the Governor about you. He says if you are 
 released from prison as we all want you to be, so 
 much ! it can only be conditionally. Some one must 
 be responsible for you and surrender you to the au- 
 thorities if you ever again break a law of the State." 
 
 He turned toward her with a gasp and cried, feel- 
 ingly, " I could not ask any human being to take such 
 a responsibility as that! " 
 
 She leaned toward him and whispered, " No one 
 not even me? " 
 
 He drew a long breath and again averted his face 
 for an instant. Then he straightened himself up and 
 addressed her. 
 
 " Elsie! You know I am not at heart a bad man! 
 You know the strange events that led me into the de- 
 vious paths which brought me to this prison. If you 
 wish to shorten my term you can do it easily! I ask 
 you, in these convict's clothes, in this disgraceful build- 
 ing where I am undergoing a righteous sentence 
 will you be my wife? If you consent to marry me 
 after I have expiated my fault and can face mankind 
 again the hours will fly on the wings of happiness 
 nd hope,"
 
 326 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 The maiden took a step nearer and held out both 
 her hands. 
 
 " If I accept you, Victor," she said, " I cannot wait 
 a year. If you want me, take me now." 
 
 He hesitated still. 
 
 " Will you give me a day to decide? Oh, the temp- 
 tation is so great! " 
 
 " And you are not sure? " 
 
 "Yes!" he cried, clasping her to his breast. "I 
 will ask for my pardon at once! " 
 
 W ; hen this was decided and a few more words 
 spoken such as might be expected in such circum- 
 stances, Elsie asked if she might see the cell in which 
 he had slept. She hoped this would be the last time 
 she would ever be within the walls of a prison and 
 she had a curiosity to inspect the interior. He called 
 his guard and they went through the corridor, Elsie 
 shivering frequently at the evidences of force and 
 strength seen on every side. 
 
 "Did Paul have to sleep in a place like this?" she 
 asked, as they came to his little bedroom. 
 
 " Yes, my darling, for more than two long years. 
 Do you think a few weeks enough for a man who 
 caused him that suffering? " 
 
 " Oh, you're not to be set free, understand," she re- 
 sponded, laughingly. " You are to be under my 
 supervision." 
 
 " That is what I call ' capital punishment/ " 
 
 The guard had orders not to hurry them. He dis- 
 creetly walked to the other end of the alley and left
 
 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 thexu quite alone. Sometimes even a jailer has an 
 element of romance in him. 
 
 " Do you know you proposed in the first letter you 
 ever wrote me?" Elsie asked, presently. She drew 
 a faded sheet of paper from her pocket. " This is 
 what you said: 
 
 'I shall be delighted to place myself at your service, 
 in any way agreeable to you, now or at any other 
 time.' 
 
 " I don't see how anything could be more agree- 
 able than marriage," she explained. 
 
 " But you had told me the day before that you never 
 should marry that you had ' seen too much of it!' " 
 
 She laughed again, saying he had a prodigious mem- 
 ory. " You're not going to back out of the offer 
 you've made me to-day, are you?" she added. "If 
 you do, I shall certainly surrender you to the police." 
 
 He said he had something he wanted to show her 
 and, rummaging in his trunk, brought out a package 
 tied with ribbon, which, on being opened, showed the 
 dried crumbs of a lunch long since prepared and a 
 yellow sheet of letter paper. 
 
 *' That's what you gave me when you thought me 
 a tramp." 
 
 "And you didn't think it good enough to eat! " 
 
 " I thought enough of it to treasure all these years 
 and to bring with me to this lonely cell." Then he 
 read aloud the letter she had sent with it. " I am like 
 a girl on an island, which ships only pass once in a long
 
 328 STRANGER THAN FICTION. 
 
 time, and I have to wave my handkerchief to the first 
 one I see." 
 
 " You're not the only ' ship ' I've seen since that 
 was written, though," she interrupted. 
 
 He touched her ripe lips with his own. 
 
 " And yet, you love me, sweetheart? " 
 
 And yet I love you! " 
 
 TEE END.
 
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 By B. M. BOWER. I2mo, Cloth. Colored illustrations. $1.25. 
 
 THE LURE OF THE DIM TRAILS 
 
 By B. M. BOWER. Illustrations in four colors. $1.50. 
 
 HER PRAIRIE KNIGHT 
 
 By B. M. BOWER. Illustrations in four colors. $1.25. 
 
 THE RANGE DWELLERS 
 
 By B. M. BOWER. Illustrations In four colors. $1.85. 
 
 CHH> OF THE FLYING U 
 
 By B. M. BOWER. Three illustrations. Popular edition, sects, 
 
 THE MAKING OF A SUCCESSFUL WIFE 
 
 By CASPER S. YOST. $1.00. 
 
 THE MAKING OF A SUCCESSFUL HUSBAND 
 
 >y CASPER S. YOST. Si.cxx
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
 Los Angeles 
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