FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95  
96   97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   >>   >|  
ble to put my finger upon the guilty man, or doubt if I will be able to bring him to justice?" "I doubt," she said with strong effort, "if any one ever knows who is the guilty person in this case." "There is one who knows," I said with a desire to test her. "One?" "The girl Hannah is acquainted with the mystery of that night's evil doings, Miss Leavenworth. Find Hannah, and we find one who can point out to us the assassin of your uncle." "That is mere supposition," she said; but I saw the blow had told. "Your cousin has offered a large reward for the girl, and the whole country is on the lookout. Within a week we shall see her in our midst." A change took place in her expression and bearing. "The girl cannot help me," she said. Baffled by her manner, I drew back. "Is there anything or anybody that can?" She slowly looked away. "Miss Leavenworth," I continued with renewed earnestness, "you have no brother to plead with you, you have no mother to guide you; let me then entreat, in default of nearer and dearer friends, that you will rely sufficiently upon me to tell me one thing." "What is it?" she asked. "Whether you took the paper imputed to you from the library table?" She did not instantly respond, but sat looking earnestly before her with an intentness which seemed to argue that she was weighing the question as well as her reply. Finally, turning toward me, she said: "In answering you, I speak in confidence. Mr. Raymond, I did." Crushing back the sigh of despair that arose to my lips, I went on. "I will not inquire what the paper was,"--she waved her hand deprecatingly,--"but this much more you will tell me. Is that paper still in existence?" She looked me steadily in the face. "It is not." I could with difficulty forbear showing my disappointment. "Miss Leavenworth," I now said, "it may seem cruel for me to press you at this time; nothing less than my strong realization of the peril in which you stand would induce me to run the risk of incurring your displeasure by asking what under other circumstances would seem puerile and insulting questions. You have told me one thing which I strongly desired to know; will you also inform me what it was you heard that night while sitting in your room, between the time of Mr. Harwell's going up-stairs and the closing of the library door, of which you made mention at the inquest?" I had pushed my inquiries too far, and I saw it immedia
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95  
96   97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

Leavenworth

 

looked

 

strong

 
guilty
 
Hannah
 

library

 
existence
 

weighing

 

question

 

steadily


confidence
 

answering

 

Raymond

 

turning

 

despair

 
inquire
 

Finally

 

Crushing

 

deprecatingly

 
sitting

Harwell

 
inform
 

strongly

 

desired

 

inquiries

 

pushed

 

immedia

 
inquest
 

mention

 

stairs


closing

 

questions

 

realization

 

forbear

 

showing

 

disappointment

 

circumstances

 

puerile

 

insulting

 

displeasure


induce

 

intentness

 

incurring

 

difficulty

 

supposition

 

assassin

 
cousin
 

lookout

 

Within

 

country