Under Lock and Key; or, Marion Marlowe's Last Role — page 8: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Ki ~~“ * & ae ; ’ = e office door closed behind him as he ‘ ; whispered the last words, and then Richard - Carson drew himself up with a mighty effort. - He had stooped to a deed which would’ mean imprisonment were it to be revealed, but, should it succeed, he would live in affluence _ awhile longer, perhaps until his days, which were well on to three score and ten, should be ended. The will of Daniel Brookes was a peculiar instrument, for so long as Reginald obeyed his father’s wishes, he, Richard Carson, re- mained executor of the entire estate in trust for Mrs. Brookes and the doctor, and the income was divided equally between them, but, should Reginald marry beneath his sta- tion in life or contrary to the known wishes of his father, every penny of the enormous fortune would be turned over to Mrs. Brookes, and the lady was to act her own pleasure with it. That she disliked him thoroughly the lawyer knew—hence, with : ; _ Reginald’s marriage to Marion, his last hope alike! ~ Mrs. Mason. vanished.” It was for him to act at once if he would save his position. Now all depended upon his cleverness and. the silence of his confederate. It was no wonder he had aged perceptibly even in _ those last few days. But his man, Steve Blakely, was not re- pining at his lot.. As he fingered the papers he chuckled softly: “It’s the same old game the world over. Doctors, lawyers, ministers—they are all All out for the stuff, and not stop- ping at anything. Thank my lucky star, I know them all! Steve Blakely has his pals in every class in society!” - "i GHAPTER Ill. = THE INCARCERATION. “Miss Thompson!” : “Well?” “Have you a vacant room in the ward?” “Not now, but I will have after bedtime, Mollie is going up to number eight. Have you a new patient for me?” Mrs. Mason, the supervisor of the “Home Rest Sanitarium,’ came up close to the at- -tendant before she answered. P ° - . a o~ a _& Stee il Fae MY QUEEN. 5 “T think I shall have, Miss Thompson, but © ‘not until late,” she said, in a low voice. “Dr. Lee expects an arrival some time be- tween now and midnight. I thought it well to be prepared for her.”’ “She must be pretty ‘bad, if this is her des- tination!” remarked the attendant, grimly. “What is the matter with the reception ward? Is it too crowded already?” Mrs. Mason did not reply. It was not her habit to answer many questions. Her duty was to obey orders from her superiors and see that her own were carried out. She was half way across the long hall before the attendant realized it, “She is a dumb one,” remarked Miss -Thompson to her roommate, Miss Taylor, ‘as’ she Bes her a minute later. “You couldn’t get a bit of information out of Ma- son with a lemon squeezer! She is just the woman for a supervisor in a lunatic asylum!” “Hush! For Heaven’s sake, hush! Who dares to call this a lunatic asylum?” said Miss _ Taylor, laughing. “Well, I do for one,” was Miss Thomp- son’s answer, ‘and, what is more, of all the hopeless infernos that I ever read about, this ‘Home Rest Sanitarium’ takes the medal, Edith Taylor! Why, I would as soon be a resident of the old original bot- tomless pit before it became reconstructed into Hades and Gehenna and all those nice sounding places as to spend one day in the wards of this place, if it wasn’t that I knew I was at liberty to leave any minute.” “Pshaw! You may never be allowed to exercise that liberty!” laughed Miss Taylor again, “especially if you will be so frank in your statements, Mary. Why, just let Dr. Lee or one of his assistants hear but a whis- per of your honest sentiments, my dear, and. —presto! change—out you would go in a jiffy! And with your name on the ‘black- list’ for the benefit of all such kindred ‘sani- tariums,’ and, as like as not, minus your last month’s salary.” “Thank goodness, I’ll take my tongue with me when I go!” snapped Miss Thomp- son, quickly. “And say, won’t I do a bit of talking, Edith! I'll preach upon the housetops what I have seen in this cellar, COMICOOOKS. CO