The Argosy — page 113: what you’re looking at

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

A Secret of the Sea. IOI Ought to recoup his fortunes by marrying an heiress, he had looked upon it as so much quiet chaff on her part, never thinking that any serious meaning was attached to her words. But the mention of Eleanor Lloyd's name had. changed all this. Suddenly he seemed to see a pitfall at his feet. His mind, ever active in moments of emergency, at once whispered certain questions to him, not one of which he could answer to his own satisfaction. What object had Kelvin in view in offering {to procure for a man whom he knew only as a nameless adventurer a situation of trust and responsibility in the house of such a man as SirjThomas Dudgeon? What object had Olive Deane: in view In trying to persuade this same nameless adventurer to make love to and win the hand of Eleanor Lloyd? Was it with Kelvin’s know- ledge and sanction that Miss Deane was thus trying to persuade him? or was she doing it merely in furtherance of some hidden scheme of her own? Was Miss Deane aware, as Kelvin undoubtedly was, that Eleanor was not the heiress people believed her to be, nor arty relation of Jacob Lloyd ; and if so, what could her object possibly be in trying to bring Jack Pomeroy and Miss Lloyd together? Finally, came the oft-recurring questions: Why had not Kelvin written to him as Gerald Warburton, the real heir; and why had he neglected to reveal the contents of the sealed packet to Eleanor? There seemed to be something under the surface that at present he could in no wise fathom. He could not rid his mind of the suspicion that there was some hidden link of connection between the concealment of the sealed packet by Kelvin and the evident desire of Olive Deane that he should win Eleanor for his wife. And yet how could there be any such link of connection? In any case, he would meet stratagem with stratagem. It should be a case of diamond cut diamond. He would still be Jack Pomeroy to them, and would seem, for a little while at least, to fall in with all their views and wishes. ‘Really, Miss Deane,” he said at last, ‘“‘ you have piqued my curiosity in the strangest possible way. I hard:y know in what terms to answer you. The position of this Miss Lloyd, who is so far above me in the social scale, would seem to render utterly absurd and Quixotic on my part any advances that I might make with the view of ultimately winning her hand.” “Of course, if you are lacking in boldness and audacity,” said Miss Deane, with the faintest possible sneer, ‘‘ those are qualities which no one can lend you for the occasion, and the sooner we bring our inter- view to an end the. better. But if it is simply means—that you are short of funds for carrying on the campaign, you need be under no apprehension on that score. Pardon me for speaking so plainly, but my cousin gave me to understand that you were not one of the richest of individuals: he insinuated, in fact, that you were almost penniless,’ ‘‘ Not for the first time in my life, Miss Deane—in fact, I rather like CORNICE OOS (GO)