BY MISADVENTURE
:BY
FRANK BARRETT
CHAPTER X. (Continued.)
I was shown into a Bitting room, as
pretentiously genteel and chilling as Mrs.
Yeamea herself, and there I -waited till it
pleased the woman to come to me. She
waved me to a chair, after seating her
self, without giving me her hand, for
which I was grateful, though hitherto she
had allowed me to take the tips of her
clammy fingers. Her lofty air and pat
ronizing smile showed that she partici
pated in her precious son's belief with
regard to the heritage.
"I have called to see your son, Mr.
Lynn, madam," said I.
"He Is not hyah," said she with that pe
culiar pronunciation which your "supe
riah" person affects. "He is in London,
where he has met with an accident re
quiring medical treatment which confines
him to his room."
"Can you give me his address?" I ask
ed. "I have business to transact with
him."
"No, I cannot give you his address. I
have received a wiah from him, in which
he begs me to act for him in all matters
of a business nature until his return."
About three days after th:,, n client
who had just returned from a business
Journey to the south of France dropped
in to have a chat with me, and amongst
other things he said:
"By-the-by, Keene, I crossed over with
young Yeames."
"When?" I asked.
"On the fifteenth night service. He
pretended not to see me, so I did not
bother him. I know a man at such times
as this doesn't oar for condolence and
that sort of thing."
"He waa going to Paris, I suppose?" I
ventured to suggest.
"Oh, farther than that. I caught sight
of him at the station where the line
branches off to Monaco."
"You are sure of your fact?" I asked,
though I had little doubt of it
"1 am as aura It was he as I am that
you are before me now."
Now the 15th was the very day he had
left Coneyford for London. Was London
not gay enough' for him, that he must
go on to Monaco for amusement? One
thing waa certain : Mrs. Yeamea, to have
received a telegram from him, must have
known his whereabouts, and could not
give me his address in London aimply be
cause he was at the other end of Europe.
Why had she told me that lie? Because
ahe did not wish it to be known that
her son had gone to Monaco, lest it might
ba inferred that he bad gone there for
pleasure? That waa the conclusion I
oame to.
It never entered my head that he had
got out of the country for prudential
reasons, and that the cause of bia precip
itate flight was that little paper pellet
which was lying quietly In my handy
drawer. There are things which escape
ven the suspicion of a lawyer some
times. CHAPTER XI.
Mrs. Yeamea found time to quit her
dressmakers, her crapes, bombazines, and
the rest of it, in order to visit the two
poor souls at Flexmore House and wor
ry them. First of all, she attacked Nurse
Gertrude upon the subject of mourning.
"Is it possible that you have not yet
begun your mourning?" she asked,, look
ing around her with a sniff, as if scent
ing the air for the smell of crape.
"Miss Clip is making our dresses; they
are to be home to-morrow," replied Miss
Dalrymple.
"Very injudicious. I always have the
dressmaker in the house. You know then
that an inferiah article is not substituted
for the material you have bought, and
that none of it is kept back. Also you
can be certain that good work Is put in
and no machining. The cost is very much
less, too. What with lining and trim
mings, and one thing and anobhah, I fear
these dresses will be a very heavy ex
pense." "Not more than I can afford to pay, I
hope," said Miss Dalrymple quietly.
"I hope you have chosen a fashionable
cut for my niece's dresses. I should have
liked them to be like Sir Willoughby
Chough's little girls', or the Honorable
Mrs. Blinker's nieces'. You must have
noticed how very elegant and high-class
"hey are."
"I do not think Laure Imitated any
one's style."
"Surely you have not suffered that
child to choose her own style!"
"Yes; Laure has very good taste In
dress, and the dresses are for her."
"She'll be a perfect sight!" said Mrs.
Yeames emphatically, with a dab of her
hand. "How very unfortunate! If I
had only thought of it a little earlier.
Deah, deah! They'll all have to be al
tered, of course, when she goes to board
ing school."
"But I am not going to boarding
school," said little Laure desperately. "I
am going to stay always ever, ever!
with Nurse Gertrude. Mr. Keene says
so."
"Mr. Keene knows nothing about it.
Your guardian will settle such matters,
and not Mr. Keene I And little gills
should speak when they are spoken to
not before. I'm afraid I shall have a
great deal of trouble with you when you
come to live with me."
"But I am not going to live wit)'. you
never, never t" exclaimed the child, screw
ing herself in terror against Nurse Ger
trude, and holding her arm for protection-
"We shall see about that," retorted
Mrs. Yeames, pursing up her lips and con
tracting her nostrils viciously. Then
turning to Nurse Gertrude, she said:
"Have you made any plans with regard
to yourself, Miss Dalrymple? Have you
settled where you will go when you leave
hyah?"
"No ; It Is impossible to settle anything
definitely at present"
"One thing there Is which should cer
tainly be done without delay. It ought to
be intimated to the servants that their
services will not be required after their
month is up. The bouse will be given
up, of course. Perhaps you would like
me to tell them they must go?"
"No. I am to consider my position
here unaltered and no change in the rout
ine is to be made until the will has been
read, Mr. Keene says."
"Mr. Keene seems to be unduly inter
fering to be overstepping the bounds of
his ah ! function," said Mrs. Yeames
tartly.
Whereupon little Laure, with the cour
age of desperation, declared I was a dear
old man, and wouldn't let cook be sent
sway, or f( any nne h TPd tinhnny.
The day of the funeral came and a
sad day It is in my memory, for even
a lawyer cannot bury an old friend with
out a pang of regret for, the past that
can never be renewed; a bitter yearn
ing for the hand and the voice and the
eyes that never again one shall clasp,
and listen to, and look into!
I expected that Lynn Yeames would
be sufficiently well to come back for the
reading of the will; but he was not. How
ever, Mrs. Yeaimes was there with a tele
gram of regret from him (she bad torn
off the heading, but I found out after
wards that It came from Monaco), and
herself prepared to stand as his repre
sentative; and a fine monument of re
spectability ahe was in her crape. To
her disgust I bad up all the servants
Into the room ; Indeed, I had invited every
one whose name was in the will. Dr.
Awdrey was there, looking as if he were
going to. have his bead cut off, and Miss
Dalrymple, and little Laure.
I opened the will, and in a dead si
lence I began to read it clearly and slow
ly. You might have heard a pin drop.
After the usual preamble, came the leg
acies to the servants, whom Mrs. Yeames
would have packed off with a month's
wages, and then began the sniffing and
sighing and smothered exclamations of
astonishment and pleasure as they learn
ed that there were a hundred pounds and
a good suit of clothes to come to each
of them out of the fortune of their kind
old master. And when these were dis
posed of, I came to the Yeames bequest
"To Mrs. Anna Maria Yeames, widow
of my brother, Joseph Flexmore, I .give
and bequeath the sum of five pounds."
I looked at her over the top of my
glasses as I read this. She folded her
arms, closed her eyes, and assumed a
look of injured dignity. I would have
given as much as this bequest to have
been able to look round and see how the
servants managed to conceal their feel
ings. However, I contented myself with
reading on :
"To my nephew, Lynn Yeames, stepson
of the aforesaid Joseph Flexmore" here
I turned over the page, and glancing at
Anna Maria, found her eyes open, and
her expression indicative of assured tri
umph "I give and bequeath the sum of
fifty pounds and my glass case of stuffed
birds."
Lowering the will and looking over my
glasses, I said to Mrs. Yeames Flex
more :
"As your son is not here, I will apprise
him by letter of this bequest."
"That is not all, I am sure. Read on,
if you please," raid the lady.
I bowed, and proceeded to read out in
full the clause in which Flexmore con
stituted John Howard Awdrey, M. D.,
etc., sole guardian of his beloved daugh
ter, Laure Constance Flexmore, and in
recognition and consideration of his ser
vice in ,the capacity of guardian and trus
tee bequeathed to him the annual inter
est on such capital as remained after the
payment of the foregoing aforesaid leg
acies, life annuity to myself one hundred
pounds, and all outstanding debts, until
the said beloved Laure Constance Flex
more should attain the age of twenty-one,
when the whole estate would revert to
her.
I paused here and again looked over
my glasses at Mrs. Yeames. The woman
had risen to her feet ; she was white with
passion. I saw she wished to speak, and
waited. Her lip twitched convulsively;
it was some moments before she could
articulate.
"Do do do I understand," she fal
tered, "that he has left nothing to my son
but fifty pounds?"
"And a glass case of stuffed birds ; that
is all," I said.
"All the property, in fact, goes to Dr.
Awdrey?"
"The bulk of the property goes to Dr.
Awdrey, In trust for Laure Constance
Flexmore, who inherits when she is twenty-one
years of age. Until that time Dr.
Awdrey will receive from me annual pay
ment of all Interest accruing from the
estate. In payment of service rendered as
guardian of the child. There Is a further
clause providing for the appointment of
a new guardian In the event of Dr. Aw
drey' death, and the reversion of the
whole estate to Dr. Awdrey in case of
ths child dying before coming of age, and
which I will now proceed to read.-
"Don't trouble yourself I don't wish
to bear it !" screamed rather than said
Mrs. Yeames.
"Madam," said I, "I am here to read
this will, not solely for your pleasure."
"Let me look at the signature of that
will," she cried, crossing quickly.
"There is the signature duly witness
ed," I said, showing it; "and the date,
you see, is the fourth of September of
last year."
"Do you mean to tell me this is the
will be made last year?" she asked.
"I do, madam. Have you any reason
to doubt it?"
"I have," she said, and then stopped
short For how could she explain the
means by which her son had possessed
himself of a knowledge of the affair? She
would have liked to proclaim me a scoun-
drel and a forger, as 1 believe sne lelt
convinced that I was, but she had just
strength enough to contain her passion.
"That will shall be contested," she
said. "I will telegraph at once to my
son. We shall put this Into the hands
of a trustworthy solicitor."
"That is the very best thing you can
possibly do," said I.
She clenched her teeth, and shook her
head at me with such fury in her face
I hope never again to see disfiguring the
face of a fellow creature; and then aba
turned her back on us and marched out
of the room with as much dignity as
she could command.
CHAPTER XII.
T vimm drawing n n some DaDers the next
afternoon when Mr. Lynn Yeames was
announced. I slipped the papers In a
drawer, turned the key, and rose from
my chair as the young man was shown in.
He had the decency to assume a limp,
albeit he had come over on horseback.
"I want to see Mr. Flexmore's will,"
he, began after brusquely nodding a sal
utation. "The will itself Ms not in the office,"
said I; "but you can see the draft from
which that will was drawn up." And I
fetched from a tin box that precious
draft.
He knew the -sight of it at once, and
holding it in his band, be looked steadily
at me through his half-closed eyes, with
his lips firmly set and bis brows knitted
as though he were saying to himself:
"You confounded old vagabond!"
"Supposing I am prepared to swear
that this is not Flexmore's last will?"
"In that case, I might be compelled
to prove that it is."
"How would you do that?"
"In the first place, there are the w!t
nesses to the signature, and then there Is
Dr. Awdrey, whose evidence I could bring
if any evidence were required."
"Dr. Awdrey!" be exclaimed. "Did
he know that this will existed?"
"Certainly he did. It waa In conse
quence of that knowledge that he induced
the late Mr. Flexmore to decide upon
making that second will, which 1 was pre
vented from getting duly signed."
"Show me that second will," he said In
a tone of authority.
"It is destroyed. If it were not I do
not think I should show it to you. If it
were in your possession even, and you
could prove that Flexmore intended to
sign it, there could be no possible change
in the result There is no revoking the
first will."
He nodded, still looking at me stead
fastly with bis half-closed eyes, his brows
knitted and his lips set I suppose he
thought to intimidate me. He didn't suc
ceed. "Now tell me," said he presently, "why
you led me to suppose that this first will
was favorable to me, and the second an
tagonistic. Tell me tnat
"Because," said I, "it is a professional
. , ' ... AflrA;H fnwn I
rule to conceal ouch uucuto auaua
those who seek to discover them, and be
cause I saw no harm to my client In al
lowing you to form any conclusion you
pleased, and by whatever means you
chose. That is the rule as regards a
lawyer and 'his client But there pro
fessional delicacy ends. If a lawyer is
acquainted with a secret of a person not
his client he may conceal it or publish
it as circumstances direct."
That completely disconcerted him un
duly as It seemed to me then, for I was
only thinking of the mean and under
hand manner in which he had sought to
learn Flexmore's testamentary intentions.
It never entered my head I wish It had
that his anxiety related to that paper
pellet he had lost.
He looked at me, then at the table, as
he flicked it with his riding whip; then
at me again ; finally as if uncertain as to
the extent of my meaning, and to prove
it, he said :
. "Supposing I gave you a thundering
good horsewhipping, as you deserve, what
would you do?"
"Bring an action for damages, like a
shot," said I. -
He drew a long breath, and there was
visible sign of relief In his expression.
"You're wanted, if you please, sir,"
said my servant, coming to the door.
(To be continued.)
Never Burnt Before. '
"Will you direct me to Farmer Skin
ner's house?" asked the newly-arrived
boarder.
"I will ef you want me to," replied
the station lounger.
"I shall have to ask you for explicit
directions, because I've never been
there before."
''Gosh! I know that, seeln' ye're bo
sot on goln' there now." The Catholic
Standard and Times.
Unlimited Stock.
, Blox (after ten years' absence)
What became of Skinner, the drv cooda
man? When I left he was In financial
traits selling; out at cost
Knox Oh, he's doing business at thf
old stand stUl selling out at cost
gpllL
CITIZriISHIP IN HEAVEN.
' w
, , , By Rey-Dr-J-L- auae-
Christians are citizens of the beav-
enl' ilti"' ou whose register their
names are enrolled, whose privileges
they are free to enjoy and the nobility
of which they are obliged to represeut
by their lives, whether they be in the
, t.ity or absent from it. Ench of th five
words of the text is emphatic.
The pronoun throws the emphasis
upon the contrast Introduced between
genuine Christians and those nominal
Christians. By their manner of life
they show that they are citizens of the
present world, while we, by an opposite
course, declare that our citizenship is
above. They wind earthly things, we
mind heavenly things.
The seat of the Christian's common
wealth Is lu heaven. The Christian be
longs to a celestial order of things; he
Is a member of God's spiritual empire.
He U not at home on tartu, but is ever
t conscious of a certain strangeness In
ills earthly environments while hi
heart looks away to his fatherland.
This celosthil citizenship Is a present
possession, the full realization of
which, however, will not be his until
he is privileged to ublde there In per
son. Thus the Christian ou earth lives
iu two worlds nt the same time, or, to
put it more accurately, the Chrlstlun
Is a resident of earth and a citizen of
heaven. While living In the world he
is not of the world. He may be, and
ought to be faithful In the discharge of
every duty imposed upon him by the
earthly country In which he lives, nnd
jet never forget that his celestial citi
zenship has the prior claim upon his
allegience. Like his lowly King, the
Christian demonstrates that one can
be a better resident of earth by being
a patriotic citizen of heaven,
This celestial citizenship Is obtained
not by merit or purchase, but only by a
spiritual birth. Unless we are born
again from above we can never become
the citizens of the heavenly common
wealth.
The only door of admission to celest
ial naturalization Is regeneration. This
fact our Lord made very plain to Nlco-
demus in his first recorded discourse.
Celestial citizenship Is rich In the
privileges It bestows. Like the govern
ments of this world, the heavenly com
monwealth Invests its citizens with
certain rights. Some of the more
prominent of these privileges are liber
ty from the slavery of sin, dignity
among the sous of men, protection
from the enmity of Satan, and provi
sion for all the needs of body, mind
and heart. These blessings are for
citizens of all classes and conditions,
races and ages alike. And, In virtue
of our citizenship, they are ours with
out money and without price.
Celestial citizenship also Imposes
rertain obligations. We might sum up
ij tnese utes ne word- loyalty,
The Christian should be loyal to the
heavenly kingdom lu Ills conversation,
his conduct and his company, ,
Ixiyalty In conduct Is another duty.
The Christian's mode of living should
be In harmony with the country to
which he belongs. Our nets should be
consistent with the dignity of our citi
zenship. Our manner of life should be
such that others may take knowledge
of ua that we have been with Jesus
and learned of his love. So bright
should be the shining of our light that
others, seeing our good works, may
glorify their Father which Is In
heaven.
It Is also our duty to be loyal to our
King In the character of the company
we keep. Our association with Christ
should determine our earthly friend
ships. SECOND COMING OF CHRIST.
By Rev, A. C. Dixon, D. D.
Text. "This same Jesus, which Is
taken up from you Into heaven, shall
so come in like manner as ye have seen
Him go lm)o heaven." Act9 1:11.
No man, however, knows "the day
nor the hour" wBen Christ will come.
The angels of heaven nre Ignorant of
It; the humanity of Christ will not
know it. To set the day, the year, the
ceiiturv. or the millennium. Is to .he
wise beyond what is written. We nre
simply to watch for Ills coining at nny
time and be ready. In the two hun
dred and sixty chapters of the New
Testament there are about three hun
dred references to the second coming
of our Lord. Surely It Is lmiortunt
The Son of Man came the first time
to seek and to save the lost. He died
on Calvary, the Jimt for the unjust,
nnd on the third day He rose again.
From the top of Olivet He ascended
Into heaven. On the day of Pentecost
the Ilo,y sI)lrlt t,ai"e "I10" tl,e -'"urch,
an(1 thls ta the dispensation of the
sPrlt- To-day he noIds t,le wepter,
wears the crown, and sits upon the
throne of power on earth. lie Is the
vice gerent of the absent King. His
work Is to take out trom the Gentiles
a people for His name. (Acts xv:14.)
He is gathering the bride and making
her ready for the coming of the Bride
groom. The Greek word translated
"church" means "called out" The
members of the church are therefore
the "called out" oues. It Is clear as a
sunbeam that the mission of the Holy
Spirit Is not to convert the world be
fore Christ shall return. If Buch Is His
mission, It is a stupendous failure, but
we believe that the Holy Spirit Is not
falling any more than Christ failed in
His mission upon the earth. The Spirit
is doing just the work for which Ha
came. "This Gospel of the kingdom,"
says Jesus, "shall be preached In all
the world for a witness unto all na
tions, and then shall the end come."
(Matt. xiiv:14). He does not say that
the world shall be converted to Christ
and then shall the end come. The Gos
pel Is to be preached for a witness. It
Is not surface work. Then shall the
consummation come, not when the
world Is converted, but when the Gos
pel shall have been preached In the
whole world for a witness.
We are often asked, "Is the world
growing better or worse?" Our answer
Is, "Yes nnd no." The good is growing
better and the bad Is growing worse.
The real church of Christ was never
better than It Is to-day, nnd the world
that rejects Jesus was never worse.
There Is more light now than ever be
fore, and those who reject t' llbt
are hardened by the process. Light Is
"a savor of life unto life," or of death
unto death. The bad In the world that
spurns the light will wax worse and
worse, while the good that receives the
light will grow better and better.
In 1 Thea. lv :10, 17, we read : "The
Lord Himself shall descend from heav
en with a shout, with the voice of the
archangel and with the trump of God ;
and the dead In Christ shall rise first;
then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them
In the clouds to meet the Lord In the
air." From this Scripture It seems
thnt when Christ shall come for His
people He will not touch the earth.
Like a great magnet He will draw
those who love Him up to Himself
while those who do not love Him will
remain upon the earth. The dead In
Christ shall rise and shall be the first
to meet Him In the air.
This seems to be the first resurrec
tion. "The rest of the dead," we are
told In Revelation xx :3, "live not
again until the thousand years are fin
ished." "Blessed and holy Is he that
hath part in the first resurrection." Ev
idently Paul had In mind this resur-"
reetlon when he said, "I count all
things but loss," etc., "If by any means
I may attain unto the resurrection of
the dead." An original translation
would be, "Unto the out-resurrectlon
from among the dead." There Is not
at this time to be a resurrection of all
the dead, but of the righteous from
among the dead. In Luke xx:35 we
have the clear declaration.
Let us remember that our salvation
does not depend upon what we think
about the second coming of our Lord.
The first coming is the test Do we be
lieve In the Lamb of God, the Savior
who died and rose again that we may
be saved from sin and live In righteous
ness? Nevertheless, the blessed hope
that Christ may come at any time has
a good effect upon our lives. "Every
one that hath this hope In him purlfieth
himself even as he Is pure."
Short Meter Sermons.
Faith Is not fostered by blinking
farts.
No tool gains a keen edge without
loss.
Precept Is powerless without person
ality. Faith In God. is seen In fellowship
with men.
The heart Is the best text book on
etiquette.
Living for self alone Is a way to soul
suicide.
One light tongue can make many
henvy hearts.
Worry born of imaginary troubles Is
the parent of real worry.
You can never get to know a man
by finding out things about him.
The suspicious seek In others what '
they have hidden In themselves.
This world will never bo saved by
people too spiritually minded to wash
dishes.
No man overcomes sin until he hates
Its power more than he fears its pun
ishment. Many find greatest satisfaction In
fighting sin when It Involves firing at
their neighbors.
Many a man thinks because he Is
blind In business he must be blest with
spiritual vision.
There's a lot of people hoping for
wings on the strength of the chicken,
feed they drop In the collection.
About the thinnest thing In the world
Is the film of a soap bubble. It would
take about 50,000,000 of them to mea-
ure one Inch.