A Wonderful Secret, or Marion Marlowe's Discovery — page 14: what you’re looking at

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

a lawyer! Honestly, I can hardly under- stand my deep interest in this matter!” He glanced out of the window as he spoke, and Marion watched him curiously. It was plain that he was laboring under some great mental excitement. “Yew kin force™him, ter show them air originals, can’t ye?” asked Deacon Marlowe, soberly. “He must hev ent som’ers—he wouldn’t dast ter destroy ‘em.” Lawyer Hobart turned quickly. was a dark scowl upon his features. “It is my opinion that the papers are not in his possession,” he said, gravely. “If they are, he is keeping them somewhere be- - sides in his office, for I made him pull out every drawer in the place, and the very eagerness with which he did it made me sus- picious.” “Yet he drawed ’em up! I remember that distinctly,” said the deacon, staring. Lawyer Hobart took another stride around the room before he answered, and Miss _ Allyn and Marion glanced questioningly at each other. The emotion which was so plainly de- “picted upon the gentleman’s face was grow- ing more and more perplexing, and yet neither of the young girls liked to ask him the question, or even mention the similarity in names which they had just discovered, for fear of bungling some serious matter. “Tt is that fellow Jenkins who is bothering me,”’ he said, finally. “Two or three times while I was in the judge’s office that man came to the door and called him out. Now, what is there be- ; tween them? A secret, you can bet, and, m furthermore, it relates to Bert Jackson!” . 'Marion’s brow clouded in anxious thought, but she closed her lips with firm determina- tion. | There i | ca what I want to know is, Be - ew 4 “We must ferret it out, Mr. Hobart,’’ she ” said, decidedly. “See, here is a dispatch : from Bert’s father, telling me to leave no 4 stone unturned to free Bert immediately.” She handed the telegram to the lawyer as she spoke, and then waited almost breath- lessly. The telegram.was signed by the _. name of Canfield. There was not a sign of recognition on the gentleman’s face, as he read it, and the next instant, under the MY QUEEN. 2 strain of her emotions, Marion broke out sharply : “His father is a very wealthy man—he is a railroad president, Mr. Hobart, and, oh, it is so strange that [ can’t help mentioning It; his father was a poor boy once and his name was Hobart. He took the name of Canfield from a foster parent!” She blurted the words out swiftly, and then, for a second, her heart almost stopped ° beatin g. Mr. Hobart turned so pale that -she thought he was fainting, and, as he leaned toward her, his eyes seemed to positively glare at her. ° ; “Oh, Marion! You should not have said it!” cried Miss Allyn, springing to her feet. “Really, Mr. Hobart, it is only a coinci- dence!. Dear me, what is in a name that you should look so startled!” “Tam dreadfully sorry! Pray forgive me!’’ murmured Marion, in agony, as the lawyer still stood like a statue, growing paler every minute. “[ don’t know why I said it, only it seemed so extraordinary. Your name is Alberto and so is Bert’s, and your name is Hobart and so is Bert’s foster father’s! But do please sit down, Mr. Hobart, and let me get you a glass of water! I have been fool- ish in telling you, but it is too late to undo it !"” Marion moved a chair toward him as she spoke, and almost forced him into it; then darted into the kitchen to bring a glass of water. “Dear me! But you dew look upset?” murmured Mrs. Marlowe, sympathetically, and then she, too, bustled out into the kitchen to hunt up a bottle of smelling salts. “IT don’t know what ails me,” said the law- yer, faintly, as he tried to smile in an indif- ferent manner. “I confess Miss Marlowe's news did upset me a little, but then, as you say, it is merely a coincidence, and the idea of a lawyer being ‘upset,’ as you call it, T give you my word I am disgusted with my actions.’ He rose from his chair just as Marion entered with the water, and in a moment more the color was returning to his features. He had just opened his lips to speak again . COMmuicoooks. conn