LEAVENWORTH MURDER

3Y ANNA KAWEIUNE Git MEN,

Authoress of

"A Strange Disappearance " and

"The Sword of Damocles."

XXXII,

MRS. DGCDEN'.'i NAKRATIVE (CONTINUED). Nor was this mood a mere transitory one. That same night she made a discovery which increased her apprehension almost to terror. This was nothing else than the fact that Eleanore had been keeping a diary of the last few weeks, " 0," she cried, in relating this to mo the next clay, "what lecurityshalll ever have while this diary Of hers remains to confront me every time I go into her room. And slic will not consent to destroy it, though I bave done my host to show her that it is a betrayal of this trust I reposed in her. She says that it is all there is to show her reasons for doing as she has, and that without it she would lack means of defcuee, if uncle should accuse liei of treachery to him and his happiness. She promises to keep, it lucked up, but what good will that do? A thousand accidents might happen, any of tliem sufficient to throw it into uncle's hands. I shall never feel safe for a moment while it exists." I endeavoured to calm her by saying that it Eloanore was without malice, such fears were groundless. But she would not be comforted, and seeing her so wrought up, I ■ suggested that she should ask Eleanore to deliver it into my kpoping'till such time as she should feel the necessity of using it. The idea struck Mary favourably. "O yes," cried she, " and I will put my certi ficate with it and so get rid of all my care at once." Ami before the afcernoon wa9 over, she had seen Eleauore ami made her request. It was acceded to with this proyiso, that I was neither Ito destroy nor give up all or any of the papers except upon their united demand. A small tin box was ac cordingly procured into which were pat all the proofs of Mary's marriage then exist ing, viz.: tho certificate, Mr Olavering's letters and such leaves from Klcanore's Diary as referred to this matter. It was then handed over to me with tho stipula tion I have already mentioned, and I stowed it away in a certain closet up stair.', , where it bas lain undisturbed tilt last ;nipht. Here Mrs Belden piiusod, and blushing j painfully, raised her eyes .to mine with a look in which anxiety and entreaty were curiously blended. "I don't know what you will say," she icgan, "but led away by my fears I took that box out of its hiding-place last even ing, and notwithstanding your advice, car ried it from the house and it is now—" "In my possession," said I quietly, I don't tuiuk I ever saw her look more astounded, not even when I told her of 'Hannah's death. "Impossible 1" she "exolaimed. "I left it last night in tho old b;irn that was burned down. I merely meant to bide it for the S resent and could think of no better place iruyhnrryj for the barn is said to be haunted—a man hung himself there once —and no one over goes there. I—l-you cannot have it," cried she, " unless—" "Unless I tound it and brought it away ;Before the barn wai destroyed," I suggested. Her face Hushed deeper, " Then you followed me ?" " Yea," said I. Then as I felt my own redden, I hastened to add, "We have been playing strange and un accustomed parts, you and I, Sometime, when all these dreadful events shall be a mere dream of the past, we will ask each other's pardon. But never mind all this

now. The box is safe, and I am anxious to hoar the rest of your story."- >' p' .This seemed to compose her, and after a minute sho continued "Mary seemed more like herself after this. And though owing to Mr Leaven worth's return and their subsequent pre parations for departure, I saw but little more of her, what I did see was enough to make me fear that with the locking iip of the proofs of her marriage, shewasindulg ing the idea that the marriage itself had become void. But I may have wronged her in this. The story of those few weeks is almost finished. On the eve of the day before she left, Mary came to my house to bid me good-by. She had a present in her band the value of which I will not state, as I did not take it, though she coaxed me with all her prettiest wiles. But she said some thing that night that 1 have never been able to forget. It was this. I had been speaking of my hope that before two months had elapsed she would so win upon Mr Leavenworth that sho would be able to send for Mr Claverins:, and that when that day came, I should wish to be advised of it, when she suddenly interrupted me by saying, " Uncle will never be won upon as you call it while he lives. If I was convinced of it before, lam sare of it now. Nothing bat his death will ever make it possiblo for me to send for Mr Clavering." Then aee ing me look aghast at tha long period of separation this seemed to betoken, blushed a little and whispered, "The prospect looks somewhat dubious, doesn't it? But it Mr Clavering loves me, he can wait." "But," said I, "your undo is only little past the prime of life and appears to be in robust health; it will be years of waiting, Maty." "I don't know," murmured she. "I think not, Uncle is not aa strong as he looks and-" She did not say any more, horrified perhaps at the turn the conversa tion was taking. But there was an expres sion on her countenance that set me think ing at the time and has kept me thinking ever since. Not that any actual dread of guch an occurrence as has since happened came to me then to make the long months which now intervened |worse than they were. 1 was as yet too much under the spell of her charm to allow anything calculated to throw a shadow over her image to remain long in my thoughts. But when, some time in the fall, a letter came to me personally from Mr Clavering,.filled with a vivid appeal to tell him something of the ■woman who, in spito of her vows, doomed him to a suspense so cruel, and when, on the eveningl of the same day, a friend of mine who had just returned from New York spoke of meeting Mary Leavenworth at some gathering, surrounded by manifest admirers, I began to realise the alarming features of tho affair as it then existed, and sitting down, I wrote* her a letter. Not in the strain in which I had been accustomed to talk to her—l had not her E leading eyes and trembling, caressing ands ever'befove me to beguile my judg ment from its proper exercise—but honestly and earnestly, telling her how Mr Clavering felt and what was the risk she ran in keeping so ardent a lover from his rights. The reply she sent rather startled me. "I have put Mr Robbing out of my calculations for the presenty and a,dvise you to do the same, disappointing as it may be to you. As for the goutloman himself, I hare told him that when I could receive him I would be careful to notify him. That day has not yet come.} "But do not let him be discouraged," she added in a postscript; "When he does, receivo his happiness, it will be a satisfying one." i When, I thought. Ah, it is that when which is likely to ruin all! But, intent only upon fulfilling her will, I sat down and wrote a letter to Mr Clavering, in which I stated what she had said, and begged him to have patience, adding that I would surely let him know if any change took place in Mary or her'circumstances. And bavins despatched it to his address in London,awaited the development of events, They were not slow iv transpiring. In two weeks trom that time I heard "of the sudden death of Mr Stebbins, the man who had married them; and while yet labouring nridor the agitation produced by this shock, was further startled by seeing in a New York paper the name of Mr Clavering among the list of arrivals nt tho Hoffman Hnnse; showing that my letter to him had failed in its intended effect, and that the patience Mary had calculated upon so blindly, was verging to its end. I was con sequently far from being surprised when, in a couple of weeks or so afterwards, a letter came from him to my address, which,owing to tbe careless omission of the private mark upon the envelope, I opened, and read enough to learn, that driven to desperation by'tha constant failures which he had ex. perienced in all hia endeavours to gain access to her in public or private, a failure which he wa3 not backward in ascribing to

her indisposition to sec him, he had made up bin mtud to risk everything, oven liar dis pleasure ; and by making an appeal to hoy uncle, mid the snspeuso under which he was laboiuingjCleiinitely and at once. "I want you, Amy," he wrote; "dowered ordowerlcs*, it makes littlo difference to me. If you will not come by yourself, then I must follow the example of the brave knights, m> ancestor.-1; storm the castle that holds you and carry you otl by force oi arms." Neither can I say that I was much sur prised, knowing Mary as I did, when in a few days from flip, she forw»rdcd to me for copying, this reply: "If Mr Bobbins ever expects to bo happy with Amy Uelden let him reconsider the determination of which lie speaks. Not only would he by such au action, succeed in dostioyiug the happiness of her he professes to lore, but run tlin greater risk o£ effectually annulling the affection which makes the tie between them endurable." To this there was neither date nor signa ture. It was the cry of warning which a spirited, self-contained creature gives when brought to bay. It made even me recoil, though I had known from the lirst that her pretty wilfulncsa wa< but the tossing foam floating above the souutllesi depths of oold resolve nud most deliberate purpose. What was its effect upon him and her bxtc I can only conjecture. All I kuow i» that in two weeks thereafter, Mr Leaven worth whs found murdered in his room, and Hannah Chester coming direct to my door from the scene of violence, begged me to take her in and secrete her from public inquiry, as I loved and" desired to serve Alary Lcarenworth.

UNEXPECTED TESTIMONY.

Pol. What do you rend, my lord? Hum. Words, words, words. —Hamlet. Mva Belden paused, lost in the sombre ladow which these words seemed to evoke, ud a abort silence fell upon the room, It 'as broken by my asking for some account f the occurrence she had just mentioned, it eint; considered a mystery how Uununb ould liavo found entrance into her house without the knowledge of the neighbours. " Well," said she, "it was a chilly night nd 1 had gone to bed early—l was sleeping ben in the roosu off this—when, at about a uarter toonr—the last train goes through t at 12,50—there cams a low knock cm he window-pane at the head ef my bed. ?hinking that some of the neighbour* wor* ick, 1 hurriedly roso on my elbow and .sited who was there. The answer came a low mulllecl tone*, 'Hannah, Misi jeavenworth's girl! Pltaso let me io at he kitchou door.' Startled at heaving the rell-known Toico, and fearing I kuew not vhut, I caught up a lamp and huiried ound to the door. 'Is any one with you V '. asked, ' No,' she replied. ' Then come v.' But no sooner had she done so than ill my strength failed me and I had to Bit lown, for I saw sho looked very palo and itrange, was without baggageand altogether lad tho appearance of some wandering spirit. ' Hannah 1' I gasped, ' wtat is it? ivhat has happened ? what brings you hero vi this condition and at this time of night V 1 Miss Loavenworth has sent me,' rcp.ied sho in the low monotonous tone of ono re peating a lesson by rote. 'She told mi to come here; said you would keep me. I am not to go out of the house and no one is to know lam here.1 ' But why V I asked, trembling with a thousand undefined fears ; 'what has occurred?' 'I dare not say,' she whispered ; ' I am forbid ; I am just to stay here and keep quiet.' ' Bin—' I began, helping her to tako off her shawl, the dingy blanket advertised for in the papera—''you fflusttell me. She surely did not forbid you to tell me.?' 'Yes »ho did; everyone,' the girl replied, growing white in her persistence, 'and I never break my word ; lire couldn't draw it out of me.' She looked bo detcrminod, so utterly unlike herself as I remembered her in tho meek unobstrusive days of our old acquaintance, that I could do nothing but star* at her. ' You will keep me,' sue said, ' You will not turn, me away?1 'No,1 I said, 'I will not turn you away.' 'And tell no one? blio wont on. ' And toll no one,' I repeated, " This seemed to relieve her. Thanking mo, she quietly followed me up stairs. J put her iuto the room in which jou found ncr, because it w«a the most secret one ir the house, and there she has remained evei since, satislicd and contented as far as ] could see, till this very same horrible day.' "And is that all?" I asked. "Did yoi have no explanation with her afterwards Did sho novcr give you any information ii regard to the transactions which led to he flight 7" "No, sir. She kept a most persbtcn silence. Neither then nor when upon thi next day, I confronted her with tho paper: in my hand and the awful question ou mj lips as to whether her flight had beei occasioned by the murder which had takei place in Mr Learenworth's household, die she do more than acknowledge she had rut away on its account. Some ono or some thing had sealed her lips, and as she said 1 Fire aud torture should never make he gpeak,'" Another short pause followed this; thei with my mind still hovering about the om point of intensesc interest to mo, I said, "Thisstory, then, this account whicl you have juat given mo of Mary Leaven worth's secret marriage and the great straii it put her into—a strait from which no thine but her uncle's death could seem to relieve her—together with this acknowledgment o! Hannah's that she had left home and taker. refuge here en the insistence of Miu-j Leavenworth, is the ground work you have for the suspicions you have mentioned ?" " Yes, sir ; that and the proof of her in^ terost in the matter which is given by the letter I received from her yesterday, aud which you cay you have now in junr pos ; session." 0 that letter! "I know," Mrs Belden went on in a broken voice, "that it is wrong in a seriout case like this, to draw hasty conclusions : but O, »ir' how can I help it,knu wing whai I do?' 1 did not answer ; I was revolving in my mind the old question: was It possible, in face of all these later developments, still to believe Mary .Leavenworth's own hand guiLless of her uncle's blood ?" " It is dreadful to come to such conclu sions," proceeded Mrs Belden, "n,ni nothing but her own words written in her own band would ever have driven me to them, but—" "Mrs Belden," I interrupted, "pardon me, bat you said in the beginning of this interview tbat you did not believe Mary herself had any direct hand in her uncle's murder. Are you ready to repeat that assertion ?" " Yes, yes, indeed. Whatever I may think of her influence in inducing it, I never could imagine her having anything to do with its actual performance. O no, O no ; whatever was done on that dreadful night, Mary Leavenworth nover put hand to pistol or ball,or erea stood by when they were used; that you may bo sure of. Only the man who loyed her, longed_ for her, and felt the impossibility of obtaining her by any other means, could have found nerve for an act so horrible." "Then you think—" "Mr CUvering is the man? I do, and O, when you consider that he i 9 her hus band, is it not dreadful enough ?" "It is indeed," said I, rising to conceal how much I was affected by this conclusion of hers, Something in my tone or appearance seemed to startle her. " I hope and trust I have not been indiscreet," she cried, eying me with something like an incipient dis trust. " With this dead girl lying in my house, I ought to be very careful, I know, but-" " You have said nothing," I cried.edging towards the door in my anxiety to C9cape if but for a moment from an atmosphere that was staling me, "No one can blame you for anything you have either said or done to ■ day. But—" and here 1 paused and walked hurriedly back, " I wish to ask one thing more. Have you any reason beyond that of natural repugnance to believing |a young and beautiful woman guilty of a ;;reat crime, for saying what you have of Henry Clavering, a gentleman who has hitherto been mentioned by you with res pect." "No," she whispered, with a touch of her old agitation, "none but that." I felt the reason insufficient, and turned away with something of the same sense of suffocation with which I heard that the key sought for had been found in Eleanore Leavenworth's oossesrion. "You must ex cuse me," I said; "I want to bo a moment by myself in order to pon der over the facts which I have just heard; I will soon return;" and without further ceremony, hurried from the room. By some indefinable impulse I went immediately upstairs, and took my stand at the western window of the large room lirectly over Mrs Belden. The blinds were closed; the room was shrouded in funereal gloom, but its sombreness and horror were for the moment unfelt: I was •ngaged in a fearful debate with myself. Was Mary Leavenworth the principal or merely the accessory] ,ih this crime ?\Did,

tilt! rtelennined prejudice of Mr Gryce, the convictions of Eloanoic, tbe oircuragtaatial' ovidonoo evcu of such fuels as had come to our knowledge, preclude the possibility that Mrs Bcldcn's conclusions were correct? That all the detectives interested in the atl'air would regard the question us settled I did not doubt; but need it be? Was it utterly impossible to iind evidence yet that Henry Claveriug was, after all, the assassin of Mr Leaven wort!' Filled with the thought, 1 looked across the room to the closet where lay the body of the girl wh>,according to'all probability, had known the truth of this matter, and a great longing seized me. O why could not the dead be made to speak? Why should she lie there so silent, so pulseless, so inert, when a word from her wero enough to ducide the awful question? Was there no power to compel those pallid lips to move? I Carried away by tlie fervour of the moment, I made my way to her side. Ah, sod, how still! With what a mockery the closed lips and lids confronted my demanding s;aze, A stone could not have been more unresponsive. With a feeling that was almost like anger, I stood there, when—o what was it I saw protuding from beneath her shoulder* where they crushed against the bed? an cm elope ? a letter ? yes. JJizzy with the sudden surprise, over come with the wild hopes thin discovery awakened, I stooped in great agitation nii'l drew the letter out. It was sealed, but not directed. JJreaking it hastily open, I took a glance at its contents. Good heavens! it was the work of tlie girl hersi'lf ! —its very ftpearance was enough lo make that evident I Foeliug as if a miracle had happened, 1 hastened with it into tue other room, and set myself to decipher the awkward scrawl- This is what I saw rudely printed in lead pencil on the inside of a sheet of common writing paper: "I am a wicked girl. I have kuono things all the time which I had ought to have told hut I didn't dare to ho said lie would kill me if I did I mene the tall spleudud looking Kentulmau with the black mustash who I mot coming out of Mister Leveuworth's room with a key in his hand tha night Mr Levcnworth was murdered. He was so scared ho gave me money and made me go away and come hero aud keep ererythiug secret but 1 can't do so no louder. I s«em to see Miss Eletior all the time crying aud asking mo if 1 want her sent to prisun, God kuow's I'd rathur dio. And this ii the truth and my last words and I prny eYerjrbody'g forgiveness and hope no body will blamo mo and that they wont bother Miss Elver anymore but 20 and look after the uaudsomo gentulmau with ttio black mushtash.

BOOK IV.—THE PROBLEM SOLVED.

XXXIV. MB CinYCK RlCSinuS COMMAND,

It out-hcrods Herod.

—Hamlkt. A thing devised by the enemy. —HICIIAHD 111. A HALF-HOUtt hud passed. The train upon which I hud every reason to expect Mr Gryce, had arrived, and I stood in the doorway »nd waited with inde scriablo agitation, tUo slow and laboured approach of the motley group of man and woman which I had observed leava the depot at the departure of the cars. Would ho be among them ? Was the telegram of a nature peremptory enough to make his presence hoio, sick as he was, an absoluto certainty ? The written confession of Hannah throbbing against my heart, a heart all elation now, as but a short half-

hour before, it had beau nil doubt ami struggle, seemed to rustic distrust, and the prospect of a Ions; afternoon spent in im patience, was rising before me, when a por tion of tke advancing crowd turned oil' into a side street, and I saw the form of Mr Gryce hobbling, notou two sticks, but very painfully ou one, coming tlowly down the street.

His taco, as he approached, was a study. " Well, well, well," exclaimed he, as wo mot at the gate; "this is a pretty how dye-do, I must say. Hannah cload, eh? and everything turned topy - turvy I Humph, and what do you think of Mary Leavenworth now ?"

It would therefore seem natural, in the

conversation which followed his introduc tion into the house and instalment in Mr.s Bclden's parlour, I should, begin my narra tion by showing him Hannah's confession : but it was not so. Whether it was I felt anxious to have him go through tlio name alternations of hope and fear it hud been my lot. to experience since 1 came to H ; or whether in the depravity of human nature thero lingered within me fiillicicut resentment for the persistent disregard ho had always paid to my suspicions ot Henry Olavering to make it a matter of moment to mo to spring this knowledge upon him just at the instant his own convictions ■ seemed tc have reached the point of absolute cartainty, I cannot say. Enough that it was not till I had given him a full account of every other mattor connected with my itay in this house; not till I saw his eye beaming and his lip quiveiing with the excitement incident upon the perusal of the letter from Mary found in Mrs Belden's poalcet; not indoed until I became as»ured from «uch expressions as "Tre mendous !" " The deepest gmne ot the soason!" V Nothing like it sinco the Lafarge affair!" that in another moment he would be uttering somo theory or btlicf that, once heard, would forever stand like a barrier between us. did I allow myself to hand him the letter I had taken from under the dead body of Hannah.

I shall never forget his expression aa he received it. " Goud heavens 1" cried he, "what* this?" "A dying confession," replied I, "of the girl Hannah. I found it lying in her bed when I went up a half-hour ago to take a second look at her." Opening it, he glanced over it with an incredulous air fhat speedily, however, turned to one of the utmost astonishment as he hastily read it, and then stood turning it over and over in his hand, examining it. "A remarkable pieco of evidence," ex claimed I, not without a certain feeling of triumphj "quite changes tbe aspect \ of affairs I" "Think sol" answered ho sharply; then, whilst I stood staring at him rin amazement, his manner was so different from what I expected, looked up and said, " You .tell me that you found this in her bed. Whereabouts in her bod ?" "Under the body of the girl herself," returned I. "I saw one corner ofit pro truding from beneath her shoulders, and drew it out." Ho came and stood before me, " Was it folded or open when you first looked at it?" " Folded; fastened up ia this envelope;" showing it to him. He took it, looked at it for a moment, and went on with his questions. "This envelope has a very crumpled appearance, as well as the letter itself. Were they so when you found them ?" "Yes, not only so, but doubled up as you hoc." "Doubled up? You are sure of that? Folded, sealed and then doubled up, as if her bndy bad rolled across it while alive?' "Yes." i "No trickery about it? Wo look as if the thing had been insinuated there sinco her death I" " Mot at all, 1 should rather say that to every appearance she held it in her hand when she lay down, but, turning over, dropped it and had lain upon it." "Mr Gryce's eyes, which had been very night, ominously clouded; evidently »hb lad been disappointed in my ansjyers. Laying the letter down, he stood musing, but suddenly lifted it again, scrutinised the edges of the paper on which it was written, and darting me a quick look, van ished with it into tbe shade of the window curtain. His manner was so peculiar, I involuntarily rose to follow, but he waved mo back, saying, " Amuse yourself with that box on the table, which you had such an ado over ; see if everything is there.according to Mrs Belden's telling; I want to be by myself for a moment." Subduing my astonishment, I pro ceeded to comply with his request, but scarcely had I lifted the lid of the box be fore mf, when he came hurrying baclc, Hung the letter down on the table with an aii' of the greatest excitement, ana cried, " Did I say there had never been any thing like it sinco the Lafarjzc affair? I tell you there has never been anything like it in any affair. It is the rummest case on record! Mr Raymond—" and his eyes, in his excitement, actually met mine for the first time in my experience of him; "pre pare yourself for a disappointment. This: pretended confession of Hannah's is aj fraud !" "A fraud?" • | ,'; % "Yes; fraud, forgery, what you. will; the girl never wrote it." Amazed, outraged almost, I bounded; from my chair. " How do yon know that ?" cried I,

Bending forward, lie put the letter into ay hand.. "Look at it," said ho, "cx imiueit closely. Now tell me what is the irst thing you uotiee in regard to it." " Why, the fimt thing that strikes me, is ,hat this worls aie printed, instead of .ViiUeu.Somei.bing which might be cxp'.cted irom this girl, according to all accounts." "Well." " That they are printed on the inside of % sheet of ordinary paper—," '' Ordinary rjapur '(" . . ■ .. . "Ych." "Thatia, a sheet of commercial note of the ordinary quality." " Of course." "But is it?" " Why yes. I should say so." "lj"ok at the lines." " What of them » O, I sec, they run up close to tin; toi> of the page ; evidently the Boissors have been used here." " In short it is v large sheet, trimmed down to the size of commercial note ?" " Yes." " And is that all you see t" "All hut the words." " Don't you perceive what has been lost by means of this irimruing down ?" " No, unless you mean the manufacturer's stamp in tlio corner." Mr Grjce's glance took meaning. " But I don't s«e why the loss of that should be deemed a matter of any impoitauec." "Dou't you ? not when you consider that by it we seem to bo deprived of nil opportunity of tracing this sheet back to the quire of paper trom which it was taken V' '• No." " Humph ! then you arc more of an amateur than 1 thought you. Don't you sou that tin Hauniih could have had no moti?tf for concealing where tbe paper came from on which slie wrote her dying words, this sheet must liavo been propared by someone else? "JNo," said I, " I cannot say I see oil that." " Can't! Well, then, answer me this. Why should Hannah, a girl about to commit suicide, care whether any clue was famished in her confession to the actual desk, drawer, or quite of paper from which the sheet was taken, ou which she wrote it ?" " She wouldn't." " Yet especial pains have been taken to destroy that clue." "But-" " Then there is another thing. Kead tho cdnfeßsion itself, Mr Kayiaond, and tall me What you gather from it." " Why," laid I, after complying, " that the girl, worn out with constant apprehen sion, has made up her mind to do away with herself, and that Henry Claver ing—" "Heniy Clavcriug?" Tbe interrogation was put with so much meaning, I looked up, " Ye*," said I. '■Ah, I didn't know that Mr Claver ing's name was mentioned there ; excuse me," "Ilia name is . not mentioned, but a description is given so strikingly in accord auce —" llere Mr Gryee interrupted me. " Doe? it not seen to you a little surpiis'ng thai v gitl liku llunuali should have stopped to tleseiibo v man she knew by name?" 1 started ; it was uunatiiral surely. " You believe Mrs Jieldeu's story, don't you ?" " Yes." " Consider her accurate in her relation oi what took place here a year ii.ro J" '•I do." "Mu-t believe, then, that Hannah, tlit go-between, was acquainted with Mi Olavering, and with his name?" " Undoubtedly." "Then why didn't «he use it? If her in tentlou wys :n s!ie here protases, to save Eleanoie Le.venwnrih from the ialse im pututiuu which had fallen upon her, slu would naturally take the most direct method of <;owg it. This description of a man whose identity she could hare at ouce pui beyond a doubt by the mention of bin name, in the work, not of a poor ignorant girl, bul of nome person, who iv attempting to pla) the role of one has signally failed. Bu that is not all. Mrs Bclden; according t( yon, maintain!) that Hannah told her uuor. entering the house, that Mary L»nvenwortt sent her here. But in this document, sin declared it to be tho work of Black Alua taeho." " i know, but could they not have botl: been laities to tlio transactiont" " Yes," said he, " yet it is always a sus. picious circumstance when there is any dis crepancy between the writtou and spoken declaration of n person. Hut why do we stand here fuoliug, when a few words Irom this Mrs Balden you talk k> much nbout, will piobably settle thu whole matter ?'' 11A fow wards from Mrs Beldeu," I re peated, "I have had thousands from her to day, and iind tho matter no nearer settled than in the beginning.'' "You hare had," said he, " but not I. Fetch her in, Mr Kaymoud." I rose. " Uno thing, 11 said it, " before J go. What if Hannah had found the sheet of paper, trimmed just us it is, and used it without any thought of the suspicions it would occj-iou i" "Ah ! that is just what we are going to lind ont " Mrs Belden wa» in a fluttter of im patience when 1 entered the sitting room. When did I think the coroner would come ! aud what, did I imagine tho detective would do tor us? It was dioadful waiting there »lono lor something, she knew not what. I calmed her as well as a could, telling her tbe detective had not yet informed me what he could do, having gome questions t» ask her lir.it. Would aho come in and sco him ? She rose with alacrity. Anything was better than suspense. Mr Gr.vco, who in the short interim of my absence, had altered'his mood from the severe Jto the beneficent, received Mr» Balden with juit that show of respectful ceurtegy likely to impress a woman as de pendent as she upon the good opiuion of others.. ,1..; ," Ah! and this is tha lady in whose hrtnse this very disagreeable event has oc curred," exclaimed he, partly rising in his entuuslasm to greet her. "May I request you to sit," he asked j "if a stranger may bo allowed to take the liberty of inviting a lady to sit iv her own bouse," " It does not seem like uiy own house any longer," said she, but ia a sad, rather than an aggresivo tone; so much hud hia genial way imposed upon her. "Little better than a prisoner here, I go and come, keep silence or speak, just a3 I am bidden ; am all because an unhappy creature, whom I took in for the most unselfish of motives, has chanced to die in my houso !" " Just so !" exclaimed Mr Gryce, "it is very unjust. But perhaps we can right matters. I have every reason to believe we can. This suddea death ought to be easily explainable. You say you had no poison in the house ?" "No, sir." " And that the girl never wont out ?" " Never, nir," " And that no ono has ever been hero to sec her?" "No one, sir." "So that she could not have procured any nucli thing i£ she had wished?" " JVo, >ir." "Unless." he added suavely, "she had it with her when she came here ?" " Chat couldn't have been, sir. She brought no baggage ; and as for her pocket I know everything there was in it, for I looked." ; "And what did you find.there ?'.' "Some nionpy in , bills, more i than you would have' expected such a girl to havo, some looseipcnuies.aud a common handker chief " I ~. ;■,:■' "Well, |hen; it is proved tho girl dida't die of poison, there being none in the house," He said this in so convinced a tone, she was deceived. '"That is just what I have been telling Mr Kaymoud," giving me a triumphant look. " Must have been heart disease." he went on. " You say she was well yesterday ?" ''' Yes, sir; or seemed so " " Thouyh not cheerful ?" " I did not say that;, she was sir, very." "What, ma'am, this girl ?" giving ma a look. " I don't undei'stand that. I should think her anxiety about those she lett behind h°r in tha cit» would havo been enough to keep her Irom being very cheer tul." "So you would," returned Mrs Belden; "but it wasn't .«o. On the contiary, she never seemed to worry about them at all," "What,!" cried he, "not about Miss Eleanore, who, according to tbe papers stands in no cruel a position before tlio world? But perhaps »he didn't know any think abnut that—Miss Leavenworth's position, I mean?" "Ye 3, fhe did, for I told her. I was so istonishcd I could not keep it to myself. You see I had always considered Eleanore ia one above, reproach, and it. Knocked me so to sse nor name mentioned in the news iaper in 1 fitch a connection, that I went lo aannah,read the article aloud,and watched ler face to see how she took it." "Andhow did she?"

"I can't say. She looked as if ihe idu't nuflciftand ; asked me why I read uch things to her, aud told me lie didn't want to hear any more ; that I tad promised uot to trouble her about this aurder, aud that if 1 continued to do »o »tao youliln't listen." " Ilnmph ! aud what else ?" "Nothing olse, She put her hand over ier care and frowned in such a sullen way '. left the reoui." " That wa» when ?" "About th.cc weeks as;«." "She has however mentioned the subject iince 1" "No, sir ; not once." " What! not asked what they were goißg to do with her mistress ?" " No, air." " She has shown, however, (hat some thins win preying on her uiiud—fear, re morse, or anxiety '!" " SHo, sir; oil the contrary, »he has oftener appeared like one secretly elated." " Kut," ixcluimedMr Gryce with another sidelong look at me, "that was very strange and xinnatural; 1 cannot account for it." " Nor I, sir. 1 used to try to explain it by thinking her sensibilities hail been blunted, or that she was too ignorant to compieheud tuo scriousnes of what hud happened, but as I learned to know her better, I gradually dunged my mind. There was too much method in her gaiety for that. I could uot hep seeing she had tome future betore her for which she was preparing herself. As for in-tance, she usked me one day if I thought blio could learu to play ou tho uluno. And I finally came to the couelusiou slie had been promised money if she kept tho secret iv. trusted to her, and Was so pleased with the pro.pect that she forgot the dn-adfui past and all counected with it, At all eveuts ihat w*9 the only explanation I could lind lor her general industry and desire to im prove herself, or for the complacent smile* I detected now and then ite.liuj ev«r her face when she didn't know I was looking." Not mch a suiilo a« crept over the coun tenance of Mr Gryce at ihat moment, I warrant. " It w*s all this," csntinued Mrs Balden, "which made her death such a shock tc me. I couldn't 'believe that so cheerful and healthy a creature could die like that, all in one nr;ln, without anybody (knowing auy thing about it." "Wait one moru«»t," Mr Gryce here broke in. " You speik of her endeavours tt improve herself. Wiiut do you mean b\ th»t?" " Har desire to learn things ehe didn'i kutw, as for instance to write and reac writing. She could only clumsily prim when she came here." I thought Mr Gryce would take out i piece of my arm, he griped it so. " When she came iiere ! Do jyou mean to say that since she has been with you she has learned to write ?" " Yes, sir. I us.cd to set her copies and—' " Where are these copies ?" broke iv Mr Qryce, subduing his voice to its most pro fessional tone. "And where are hei attempts at writini;? I'd like t» see eotni of them, Can't you get them for us?" " I don't know, sir. I always made it i point to destroy them as soon as they hat answered their purposu. I didn't like t< have such things lying around. But I wil go aim see." "Do," said he; " I will go with you. ] want to take a look at things upstnrs, any way," And, heedless of his rhcumatii feet, he rose and prepared to accompany her. "Tliis ia getting very intense," I whig pured as ho passed mo. 'ihe smile lie gave me in reply woulc have made tho fortune ola Thcspiai Mciihistopheles. Of the ten minutes of suspense which ! emluml in their absence, 1 say nothing At ihe end of that time they returned witl their .hands full oi paper boxes, which il,c; flung down on the table, "The writing paper of tho household,' observed Mr Gryce; "oiery scrnp ant half-sheet which could bo fou d. JJu before you exumiuu it, look at this." Am he held out a sheet of bluish foolscap, oi which were written some dozen imitation of that time-worn copy, " Be good AN] you Wlhh HE HAPPY"; with an oceasinnn "Beauty soon fades," and "Evil commit mentions corrupt good manners." '• Wlia do you think ot that!" " Very neat and very legible." "That is Hannah's latest. The on]' specimens of her writing to be found. No much liko some .scrawls we have scon eh?" "No." "Mrs lieldcn says this girl has knowi how to write as t;ooii as this for more thin a week. Took great pride in it, and wa coDtinnnUy talking a»out how tm..rt sh was." Leaning over In: whispered in m; ear, "This tluug you havo iv your han! nuut have bc-n scrawled some time ago, i she did it." Then aloud, " But let us 100 l at the paper she used to write ou." Dashing open the covers of the boxes oi the table, lie took out the loose sheet lying inside, mid .-cattored them out b-.-fon me. Oue glance showed they were all o an utterly dill'ereut quality from that ust< in the confession. " This is all the pape; in tho house," taid he. " Arc you sure of that?" I asked, looking at Mrs iielden, wio stood in a soit of maz< before us. " Wasn't there one stray slice) lying around some*here, fool<cap or some thing like that, which she might have g.> hold of and us«l witlu/ut your knowm< it?" " No, sir; I don't think bo. I had oulj these kinds; besides, Hannah had a wlmli pile <>f paper like this in her room, am wouldn't have been apt to go huntiug rouuc after any stray sheets." "But you don't know what a girl lil« that might do. L >ok at this one," said I showing her tho blank side of the eoufes sion. "Couldn't a sheet ltko this havi come from somewhere about the house Examine it well; tho matter is import ant." "I have," replied *ho ; "and I say no I I never had a sbeet of piper like that iv inj houso." Mr Gryce advauced aud took the coa fession from my hand. As he did so, In whispered, " What do you think now ; Many chances that Hannuh got up this pre cious document »" I shook my head, convinced at last, but in another moment turned to him and whispered back, "But if tianuah didn't write it, who did ? And how came it to bo found where it was ?" " That," said he, "is just what is left for us to learn." And beginning; again, he put question after question concerning the girl's life in the house, receiving answers which only tended to show that she could not have brought the confession with her, much less received it from a secret mes senger, Unless we doubted Mrs Belden's word, the mystery seemed impenetrable, and I was bo^innins; to despair of success, when Mr Gryco with an askance look at me, leaned towards Mrs Belden aud said : " You received a letter from Miss Mary Leavenworth yesterday, I hear," " Yen, sir." " This letter 2" continued he, showing it to her. " Yes, sir." " Wow I want to ask you a question. Was the letter as you see it, the ouly con tents of the envelope iv which it came ? Wasn't there one for Hauuati eucloscd with Ec?" "No, sir," replied she, but with strange jagprncss. " There was nothing in my letter for her, but she had a letter herself yesterday. It came iv the same mail with mine." " Hannah had a letter!" exclaimed we )oth, " and in the mail ?" "Yes; but it was not directed to her. [t was—" casting me a look full of despair, 'directed to mo. it was only by a cer aiu mark in the corner of the enveiopc that [knew—" " Good heaven !" interrupted I, " where s the letter? Why didn't you speak of it >efor« ? What do you mean by allowing is to flounder about here in the dark, when . glimpse of this letter might have set us ight at once ?" "I didu't think anything sbout it till his minute. I didn't know it was of impor ance. I—" Kut I couldn't restrain myself. 'Mrs ieldeu," cried I, " where is the letter ? lave you got it ?" " No," said she, 'I gave it to the girl csterday ; I haven't seen it since." "it must bo up^tairj, then, Let us a,ke another look," and I hastened towards be door. "You won't fiud it," said Mr Gryce a? ly olhoiv. ''I have looked There is othing but a pile of bnroed paper in the Drner. By the war, what could that have een ?" a3ked he of Mrs Beldcn. "I don't know, sir. She hadn't anything ) burn unless it was the letter." " We will see about that," murmured I, urrying up stairs and bringing down the ashbowl with its contents. "If the letter as the one I saw in your hand at the post fice, it was in a yellow envelope," "Yes, sir,"

" Yellow envelopes burn differently from vrliito paper. I ought to ho able to tell the liader mule by a yellow envelope when I see it. All, the letter has been destroyed ; ere is a piece of tlie envelope," and I drew it of the heap of charied scraps a small bit loss burnt than the rest and held it up. " Then there is nu use looking here for what the letter contained," said Mr Gryce nutting the washbowl aside. "We will have to ask you, Mrs Belden." " But I don't know. It was directed to me, to b-i .sure, but Hannah told me when she first requested me to teach her how to write, that she expected such a letter, so I didn't open it when it came, but gave.it to her just as it was." "You. however, stnid by lice to see her read it ?" " No, sir; I was in 100 much of a flurry. Mr iliiymond had just come and I had no time to think ot her. My own letter, too, was troubling inc." " But you surely asked hcreomequestions about it before the day was out ?" "Yes, sir, when 1 went up with her tea things, but she hid nothing to say. Hannah could bo as reticent as anyone I ever knew, when she pleased. She didn't even admit it was from her mistress." " All, theu you thought it was from Miss Leavenwonh ?" "Why, yes, sir; what else was I to think, seeing that mark in tlie corner? Though, 10 be sure, it might have been put there by Mr CLivuriug," she added thought fully. " You say she was cheerful yesterday ; was she so after receiving this letter ?" "Yea, sir; as far as I could see. I wasn't with her long ; the necessity I felt of doing fomething with the box iv my charge—but p.:rhapi Mr Raymond has told you ?" Mr Gryce nodded. " It was an exhaustive evening and quite put Hannah out of my head, but—" " Wait!" cried Mr Gryce, and beckoning me into a corner, whispered, " Now comes in that experience «f Q's. While you are gone from the houso and before Mrs Beldon sues Hannah again, he has a glimpse of the girl bending over something in the corner of her room which may very fairly be the washbowl we found there. After which, he sees her swallow in the most lively way, a dose of f-omething in a bit of paper. Was there anything more ?" " No," said I. "Very well then," oried he going back to Mrs Belden. " But—" "But when I went up stairs to bed, I thought of the girl and going to the door opened it. The liuht Mas extinguished and she seemed asleep, so I closed it again and came out." "Without speaking?" "Ye?, sir." " ijid you notice how she was lying ?" " Not particularly. I think on her back." "In something of the same position in which she was found this morning ?" " Yc3, sir." " And that is all you can tell in either of her letter or her mysterious death J" " All, sir."- Mr Gryce straightened himtelf up, "Mrs Belden," said he, " you know Mr Chivering's handwriting wheu you see it ?" "I do.". " And Miss Leaveuworth's ?" " Yop, sir." "Mow which of the two was upon the envelope nt the letter you uave Hannah ?" " I couldn't say. It w.is a disguised hnndwritiuir and misfit have been tliat nf cither ; hut I think—" '•Well?" "That it was more like hers than his though i. wa-n't like hers cither." With a smile Mr Uryce enclosed the con fession in his hand in the envelope in which it ha'i boen found. "You remember how large the letter ivh which you gave her." "0, it wns large, very large; one of the largest sort,1' " And thick?" " O, yes ; thick enough for two letters." " Large enough and think enough to con tain thU?'1 laiing the confession folded and enveloped as it wa«, befo'i'e her. "Yos sir," giving it a look of startled amazement, " large enough and thic en 'U4II to contain that." Mr Once* e>cs, bright as diamond.", ll.uhtd .1 round the room and finally settled upon a IK' traversing my coat-slecvc, " Uo you need to ask now," whispered he in a low voice, "where, and fiom wiioin, this so-called coufes-ion comes?" Mr Grvce allowed himself one moment of silent triumph,then rmntr,began folding the papers on the iab'o aud pint ng them in liis pocket. ' Whit arc you g ing to do ?'' I asked, h'.irric ilv api roacbing, Me '0 <k me hv tlio arm and led me across the hull into the sitting-room. "I am s:oing buck to New York. I am goiny to puiiiua ihis mutter. 1 am going to lind out Irom whom came the uoi-on ihat killed tin-* girl, nud by whose h.md tiiis vile for gery of a Confession was written." " Hut," «aid I, rather thrown off my balance by all this, "Q and the coroner will ho heie presently, won't you wait to see them ?" "No," said he; " cluea such as are given here, must be followed while the trail is hot ; I cunt ailbrd to wait." " If I am not mistaken they have already come," said I. as a tramping of feet without, announced that somtone stood at the door. " I'hat is so,"cried he, hastening to let them in, Judging from common experience, wo had every reason to fear that an immediate stop would be put to all pr. ceedings on our part, as soon as the coroner was iutrodnctd upon the scene. But happily for us and the interest at stake, Dr, Fink of X , pro Ted to be a very sensible man. He had only to hear a tine stoiy of the affair, to recognise at once its importance and the necessity of the most cautious action in the matter. Further, by a sort of sympathy with Mr Gryce, all the more remarkable that he hud never seen him before, ho ex pressed himself as willing £0 enter into our plans, oll'ciing not only to allow us the temporary use of such papers as we defied, but «yen undertaking to conduct the necessary formalities of calling a jury and instituting an inquest, iv such a way as to give us tiiiio for the investigations we purposed to make. The delay was therefore short. Mr Giyce was enabled to take the 6.30 train for New York, and I to follow on the 10 ! .m., —the calling of a jury, ordering of an autopsy and final adjournment of the iuquiry lilt the following Tuesday, having all taken place in the interim.

(To be Continued.)

Work of a San 'Diego Spiritua list Impostor.

Counted Her Dupes uy Scores,

Sa.n Diego, July 25, 18S2. The denizens of this ambitious city are wont to pride thems :lves on their enter prii-o and pluck. They ev^n plume them aelve-! on their sharpness, but it ia an opeu question whether tuere is a community on the Pacific coast so easily swindled. It is hurdly pos-ible to conceive of a more astounding or outrageous imposition thiiu hiis been practised on this community by a WOtuau during this past four mouths. -\bout six or eight month* ago a Mrs I'attersou, a lar^e, coarse woman, came here ami set up as a Spiritualist docior. she made no stir iv fctie community, until, from the Spiritualists here, she had in formed her-elf about many of the families of this place. She then blossomed out into a medium, and, associated with a Mrs deal, guve Spiritual istic lectures while in a trance state and went through the fraudulent performances ii'iial with the professional Spiritualists. With much cunuiug she selected as her first victims those who had recently lost near relatives, husbands, wives or children, by death. A number of mothers who had children and were mourning and des pondent, tell easy victims to her wiles. SPREAD OF THE DELUSION; When she hud apparently got theso en tirely under her control, through them she reached out for all daises, aad a genuine mania ensued. Steady-going buduess men, church members, even real estate dealers, became converts. The reguiar medical faculty took a bank seat j the family physician was discarded ; reason was scouted; superstition, in the shape of Mm Patterson, reigned suprorna, She pro fussed to be guided in her medical and surgical operations by tha spirit of an Indian who died several centuri a ago. Hy the aid of this defuact lud an she was abl« to sea through ever/ per<on und detect dis ease with absolute certainty. Most strange to relate, slie saw that every woman wa-i suffering from ovarian, faliopiaa 01 other tumours, which she—Yin Patterson -under the guidance of spirits, would remove, with little or no pain, and without the loss of a drop of blood, for 75d015. or lOOdols. cash in hand, according a? the case was more or less difficult. Iv most cases the cash bad to be paid ia advance.

Spirituiili-ts of San Dieuo. A number of the women have devoted their wbole time

and energies to procuring victims for her,

Those women have so worked and plotted for this fieud that youa^, healthy pirlf

have been taken by their mothers to

DRIVIttG ritiOE IS ORHDULITY. It is almost bey md belief that any person having a .amblanea of reawa could be so duped. Yet ova after another !oE the mar- ri"s women of this city nbinittol to the i) * ~ , (~,,„ iv ,m -i«j • !.,„„„ ~,i, , ~n . .,;,,,.^| fhi.iv ifunn o&edon° ust^mSa S an^ woman fell a victim. TIIH FRAUD EXPOSED. , Three days arzo an intended viciim told her husband that Mrs Patterson had in- formed her that she was suffering from a tumur ; that it must be removed at once or she svould die. The husband liiid not goue

her uoim ill JC^utucky aad hare two sons }» «" jobol army bamoa priii's alw a \« erof I'"f«* n »» Mis 0. '1. bro.n'ng w 1838, reviewms tin-, a i.ur in terms, it must be coaled, brata'.ly derogatory to wards, had a K.«ntucky sister to live with Ma^; rodd' M r^hr f afr L'r O Y\ TiiUl of Lexington. Miss lodil was of dis-in "high-brtd, P rou<!, briUwat, witty, aud witu a w yj t in U bont everyone else to her purposes.'.she took Lincoln captive the very moment she considered it expedient to di 90 ." She was ambitious to be the wife of n President, and was courted by Douglas ill dismissed him for hh bad morals ■ha

crazy und hodemuired, but fina'ly told her to go to her family phy.siei.rn and consult him about the matter. She did Sf), md the doctor asked her if she cuulii get him one ot thu tumors thar, Airs Patterson had taken from any one of her patients. She thought she could, and within an hour brought him a tumor that Mr■< Patterson had recently removed from a woman. Upon cxamina- tion the physician raw at once that it wa« notbiug more nor less than a portion of a pig's kidney. He called in separately six ot the prominent physicians and submit'ed the tumor to their inspection, and each pronounced it to be a pig's kidney. The next day two other tumors that Mrs Patter- aoa had removed were procured fram two other victims ; one was like ths first, pin's kidney ; tbe other sheep's kidney, with the addition of a piece of chicken's windpipe.

rtU i ( i o f one of her mates who had niiuricd a, wealthy old gentleman ; "I would rather marry a good man, a man of mind, wih aO pe nnd bright prospects for pos'tinn, fame and power, tbau to marry all fie | lO r>es, gold and bone* in the world," Lin ooia and Miss Todd became engajjpd, though apre tyeintcrot Edwarda' came uc;ir shipwrecking even this ma'ch. Tretty gir s , UU st have been distressingly thick in llt'Sj duys, when Kentuckf was sondiig its lust blood into Illinois. Lincoln ff.lt the Kil wards attachment Hosttuuglv that hcbog^eil to be released by M.Ua Tod.d (the Edwards irjrlma Tied unotuer man, for LincoUi m-ver mentioned it to her), aud ha "rau off the track" again, to use the expression by which he once described his attack ot inanity. He was "as crazy as a Icon" tor nearly a year, aud did not a.tend iho session

JAUREST of THif IMPOSTOR, The "Sun" of this place came out ,n ißturday morning wife a fuU exposure of the business, and on Monday •ue of the ivho died the previou/nSht; »blhad boon ill; a longtime. The pbysicans had uiauitaiued that the was suffering from au better Of U a nddesi>ted. A BAND OF ARDENT DISCII'MS. It seem* incredible that such an outrage- ous, disgusting and filthy imposition could succeed ia a civilised community. But never was there a more devoted band of followers than Mrs Patterson found in th>

of the Legislature of 1841-42, to which he *$£& *«*»^lsSft g f. th Ed y wardj rtdvised , t t th ?arlierm,heyear indicating hi. embar.as. wspowaon, hw "great agony, as Umon „,, ,' (O .., > ,„ , ~ ~ no green Western girl is evinced by the spirit of these ekeicnos of local life, which are reproduced iv " Lamou's Life of Liu coin." She teas.:d Shields in then, and ha demanding to know the autlnr, binoultl accepted the responsibility —" Springfield Kepublican."

thia woman us an ottering to her in satiable treed, Mrs Patterson could not have had bucu success in her filthy piactice but. for tlie aid of a few women who "roped iv" the victims. Fortunately, thii minor fiend knew enough to cook the kidnojs tnd other meats used in preparim: specimen,; otherwise, sedous food poison in» must, have ensued, as in several cases they we.c left until putiid, the better to cirry out the imposition. Unfortunately, it is the ytncal belief that she will not be convicted, for if the tumor fiend caD compel respectable, intelligent women ts betray their triends and neighbours, she can probably c.miuaud her dupes iv Court, A number of her dupes and associates visited her yesterday to give assurance of their entite faith in her. With one or two exceptions, it U ssid her vic tims still persist iv their faith iv this charlatan. The exposure is mo ,t humiliating to many of ihem, but their faith seems to survive, for it is written, ' Tbongh you bray a fool in a mortar with a pf-stle, yet will not his folly depart from him "; so such filthy impositions a? this of Mrs Patterson will continue to flourish as long as they have fools to feed on. -{Cones toiiuonco otthe " Chronicle.")

Lincoln's Love Affairs.

Twice Made Inpane by Jilts and

Disappointments,

The death of Mrs Lincoln at the home of that sister where she lirat met and wa- courted by her future husband closes the family life of the K reat P. esideut. She wa> not his ttrat or his deepest love. That dia- tinction Dclon^s to Ann liutledge, whose father was the founder of tbe Tillage ol am Salem, on the .sangauion, a village which is mu\y deserted. Wutledge was one of the famous South Carolina family, and his daughter, four years younger Iban Liv- colu, seems to have impressed the whul« community as a lovely and refined girl, unaffected, "a blonde in complexion, with golden hair, cherry-red lips aud a bonny blue eye," says McNamara. McNamara was the lover who first won her heart. He went home to «evv York to take Weat his pareuts, but was detained some years in New York. la the meantime Lincoln pressed his suit, aud the girl's parents doubted whether McNamara would ever comeback; she save her love to Liucila, but insisted on waiting for a formal release from McNamara before marriage. This waiting told upou her aensidve organijm, uer health declioed, aud she died of whit was called brain fever on August 25,1835. This was the great grief of Lincoln's youth, His reason was unsettled, and his friend Bowiin Gieeue had to take him off to a loueiy log cabiu and keep him till he recovered his sanity. Then waa when he learned the poarn beginning- Oh, why should the spirit of mortal be proud? An old friend who asked him, after his elec- tiou to the Presidency, if it was true that he loved aud courtea Aua Kutledge, got this reply : "It i» true— truu ; indeed I did. I have loved the name of Rutleage to this day. It was my first. 1 loved tne woman dearly, Sue was a haudaome girl; would have nudo a good, loving wife ; was natural and quite intellectual, tuou^h not highly educated i did homstly and truly love the giJ, and ihink often, often of her now," Me Samara returned soon after her death, lived near the little buryin-mound, and in 1566 pointed out the grave of Annlimledge .0 Mr tlcrndou. This affair had, a marked

effect upoa Lincoln's life, aud added to its s-omore tone; but it probably haa also a deeper meaning in purifying and euuooling kin inuer nature. Mr Lincoln, who by this time was a mem ber of tlie Legislature, and about 27, next " paid attentions" to a Miss Owens, a smart young woman of some avoirdupois, who once told him that she thought ho was '"lacking in t'.ie smaller attentions, those little liuKs which nuke up the great chain of woman's happineas," because ke dangled along by her side onco when they were going up a hill, and allowed her friend Mrs B nv liu Greene, to '• cirry a big, fat child, heaty and crossly disposed," up the hill. A still raoro untoward incident happened once at Mrs Abie's, a sister of Miss Owens.- Lincoln had sent word to Abie's that he was coming down to soe Miss Uweng. She, girl fashion, to test her lover, went off " to Graham's," about a mils and a half. When Lincoln came and was so informed, he asked if Mus Owens did uot Know lie was comings Mrs Able said no, but one ot her enfant tcrriblcs promptly replied : "Yes, ma, j-he did, for [ heard Sam tell her ho." ''Lin, coin sat uwMle and then, wont about his business,' says Lamon'a ucsount. Lettc s exist from LtncQlu to Mias uwens in 183G and 1537, in one of which he says : " Ii you. feel yourself in any degree bound to mi-, I am now willing to release you provided you wish it; wbilc on the other naud I am willing Mid even anxious to bind you faster, if 1 can db coavinced that it will in any cousiderable degree add to your happiness. Thi*, indeed, is the whole question with me. Nothing would make o-j more miserable—nothing more happy, than to know you were so." Thisis thelaoguageoianhonourable man, a cool lover, and a practised hand in the English language. Miss Owens declined his hand, and lived to marry another man at

Arsenic Poisoning.

A Lawyer's Story,

The mistress was a queer combination ot Vanity and " grippiness," though quitu ,~~ , , , you^' and rather good-looking. 'Jhey kept a Mr bouse and two servants and were resident in a town nearer 'G'aWow than Edinburgh. _~ ~ ~ „ ~:, , . , I think Mrs Brodetick s fault was more vanltv than greed-the vanity prompted her to keep the big house, and Rive fash-on, able P altlea »ud otherwise live tar above her income, and tho pnva"o aonwiog ard Piaohing which earued for her the repula tlon of H?" 1? 1 snppy waß rcorely t|]e result of ,tllat extravagance—uu almost praiseworthy desne 10 limit her ordinary expenditure, /<■ ■» often thu*. vv: ia t soem 1Q the ci of the workl our Wol'st fil»'^ "re really our viriuca, wuilc what «c know to be our rcalwealcenessts are oitber over lo°ked. or Pass ]or the noblest trails of character. * real weakness of this young and fash lonaWe wlfe' was a craze for the use o( arßem<J. which she took m small doses with. the ldea ot ucautifyin« her co.nplexiv.it, »ut which only changed her cluck* to a j?llllstly greenish hue, and caused many to inquire if she was quite healthy and strong. Vanity kuowa no pain, and sees n<> evil results iv any of its practices, *o Mrs Bi\i derick blamed *omethiog ei!«e for the greenish guastliness, and continued to reli giously chow up her arsenic, aid to give parties, and screw down her servants to the lowest limit of Btarvation short of rebellion

or flight. l;rom the mistress to the servant, in nar iatlDS thlß very strange case, la a natural J teP- rh.fe. w t erf always two ser vanU, as l have *ald> but the. 0I T le that dnei^ "te rests ua at present is Jeseis Springett, Uio MO. Ir> ,wh. 0> wonderful to relate, ha*L re mained with Mrs Broderrck for ihi-eeyosw, and. ,^h7 mnS n temP«r o£ her own, could bully her mistress, and awe her rath.r b?tter taan tuat lady could, the other 8U ~,' . ~ The dripping was an old subject of dia puto between Jestie and her mistress; it had beeu so from the first month of Je^ie's engagement, hometunes there wag very ■«M;ie to fisht about, but when the parties came. on *nd. *here waa n Sreat d«al of r°astlDg Jessies can got filled, and if her »n<*rP-eyed mistress happened to he prying a°°ut the contentionwas sure to be renewed, J«sie claimed the drippiug as her lawful Perquisite, and declared that Bhe would QaV(: " °. nd Belf "> °,r. Blve ]t t0 her fiends, or Pltcb J' ou'll s" disposed, as long as slio remained in Mrs Brodarick s service. She was careful to add that that lady o.uld dis cna'6e Qer if she felt so inclined, and get a cook more pliant, but as Jessie was clever Bad thorough in everything, the dismissal "ever came> - f corae ,now to tho Particular can oE crlPP»?g ao°«t which I started to write, wh<l" lt; behoves me to be very exact in matters oj detail. If poisoning] were nut HUC'I a_ serious matter, the adventures and mutations of that dripping would be as comical and striking as those of "Alexan der'n body turned to cluy," as described by Hamlet. There had been a deal of extra roasting in Castle Cawdor, as the place had been named, and Jessies drippin? can was full, ln order to admit a number of fresii lumps, 'he can, which ttood about a foot «nd a half high, had been plac-:d close to the kitchen range, so that the heat might melt aU ,iiu? on<r ,6Olid callfuL .At thi* juncure, '^!? d V,c? CaQ Sl'eraed t0 hs full <* oil, MfS t-rodenck wandered into the kitchen, and o£ course HBhtcd tuo dripping.

" We'll need to keep some of that for our own use, Jessie," she observed, return ing to the attack for the hundredth time "The visitors will be sure to bring in lnts of fish from the river for weeks to come, so we must not run short of drip ping." " We never do run short, ma'am," said Jessie shortly and resentfully, " and I've plenty malr in the pantry." "But whit are you going to do with all this?" hungrily continued her mUtress. "There must be tweuty pounds of it at least." "I'll maybe send it to my mother, if I can get unyone to take it as far," paid Jessie. "Such a lo>s," Eighed her mistress, with a rueful groan. " 'Way, it'? shameful 1 You might use it in the kitchon lor butter." " Butter, indeed," wd Jessie, in high dudgeon. ■' I'd sooner spread puah'on ou my bread.'1 That was the beginning of the row, but of what followed—the bitter taun s, and ducats, aud scoldings—no living being could give an accurate account, though he had been trained m shorthand all his days .nd se«t there especially to record the words of the contending pcrs.us. The quarrel would hare been agientdi'alnowiot but for the fact that there were visitors in the house, but the end of it was that Mrs Brodeiick declared her intention of taking 'he can of dripping for her own private use, ■vliilo Je»sh delied her to touch it, and declared that if she did she would lose Lev cook at the end of the month. The can of Irippint; rcmuititd by the fire for the ro> mainder of that day, during which time Jes«ie gave her mi-tress every opportunity v> remove it by absenting herself from ilia Kitchen during that lady's presence, but the can remained there, apparently un« touched,

STAR SATURDAY SUPPLEMENT, OCTOBER 7, 1882