The Masked Bridal. Mrs. Georgie Sheldon

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СКАЧАТЬ chafing her cold hands, while bitter tears rolled over her face.

      A few words sufficed to explain the situation, and then the indignation of the warm-hearted daughter of Erin blazed forth more forcibly than elegantly, and she berated the absent grocer and present officer in no gentle terms.

      Kate O'Brien would gladly have advanced the five dollars to the grocer, but, unfortunately, she herself was at that moment almost destitute of cash.

      "Come, Miss Allandale," said the officer, somewhat impatiently, "I can't wait any longer."

      "Oh, mamma! how can I leave you like this?" moaned the girl, with a despairing glance at the inanimate figure which, as yet, had given no signs to returning life.

      "She has only fainted, mavourneen," said Kate O'Brien, in a tender tone, for she at last realized that it would be worse than useless to contend against the majesty of the law. "She'll soon come to hersel', and ye may safely trust her wid me—I'll not lave her till ye come back again."

      And with this assurance, Edith was forced to be content, for she saw, by the officer's resolute face, that she could hope for no reprieve.

      So, with one last agonizing look, she pressed a kiss upon the pallid brow of her loved one; then, again donning her hat and shawl, she told the policeman that she was ready, and went forth once more into the darkness and the pitiless storm, feeling, almost, as if God himself had forsaken her, and wondering if she should ever see her dear mother alive again.

CHAPTER III.

      THE YOUNG LAWYER EXPERIENCES TWO EXTRAORDINARY SURPRISES.

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      The next morning, in the matron's room of the Thirtieth street station-house, a visitor came to see Edith Allandale. The visitor was Kate O'Brien, who, after announcing the condition of the prisoner's mother, declared her willingness to aid Edith in any way in her power.

      Edith intrusted a letter to her for Mr. Royal Bryant, and early Monday morning Kate was at the lawyer's office, and placed the missive in his hands.

      The young man instantly recognized the handwriting of his fair copyist, and flushed to his brow at sight of it.

      "Ah! she is ill and has sent me word that she cannot come to the office to-day!" he said to himself.

      "Sit down, madam," he said to his visitor, and he eagerly tore open the letter and read the following:

      "Mr. Bryant:—Dear Sir:—I am sorry to have to tell you that the five-dollar gold-piece which you gave me on Saturday evening was a counterfeit coin. I passed it at a grocery, near which I reside, in payment for necessaries which I purchased, and, half an hour later, was arrested for the crime of passing spurious money. I could not appeal to you at the time, for I did not know your address; but now I beg that you will come to my aid to-morrow morning, when I shall have to appear in court to answer the charge, for I do not know of any one else upon whom to call in my present extremity. Oh, pray come at once, for my mother is very ill and needs me.

      "Respectfully yours,

      "Edith M. Allandale."

      Royal Bryant's face was ghastly white when he finished reading this brief epistle.

      "Good heavens!" he muttered, "to think of that beautiful girl being arrested and imprisoned for such an offense! Where is Miss Allandale?" he added, aloud, turning to Mrs. O'Brien, who had been watching him with a jealous eye ever since entering the room.

      "In the Thirtieth street station-house, sir," she briefly responded.

      "Infamous!" exclaimed the young man, in great excitement. "And has she been in that vile place since Saturday evening?"

      "She has, sir; but not with the common lot; the matron has been very good to her, sir, and gave her a bed in her own room," the woman explained.

      "Blessed be the matron!" was Royal Bryant's inward comment. Then, turning again to his companion, he inquired.

      "What is your name, if you please, madam?"

      "Kate O'Brien, at your service, sir."

      "Thank you; and do you live near Miss Allandale?"

      "Jist forninst her, sir—on the same floor, across the hall."

      "She writes that her mother is very ill," proceeded the young man, referring again to the letter.

      "Whisht, sir; the poor lady's dyin', sir," said Kate in a tone of awe.

      "Dying!" exclaimed Royal Bryant, aghast.

      "Yes, sir; she has consumption; and just afther the officer—bad luck to 'im!—took the young lady away, she had a bad coughin' spell, and burst a blood-vessel, and she has been failin' ever since," the woman explained, with trembling lips.

      "Who is with Mrs. Allandale now?" questioned Mr. Bryant, with a look of deep anxiety.

      "The docthor, sir; he promised to stay wid her till I come back."

      "Well, then, Mrs. O'Brien, if you will be good enough to hurry back and care for Mrs. Allandale, I will go at once to her daughter; and I am very sure that I can secure her release within a short time. Tell her mother so, and that I will send her home immediately upon her release."

      "Bless yer kind heart!" cried the woman, heartily, and she hurried away to take the blessed news to Edith's fast-failing mother.

      The moment the door closed after her, Royal Bryant seized his overcoat and began to put it on again, his face aflame with mingled indignation and mortification.

      "In a common city lock-up for the crime of passing counterfeit money!" he muttered, hoarsely. "And to think that I brought such a fate upon her!—I, who would suffer torture to save her a pang. Two nights and an endless day, and her mother dying at home!—how she must have suffered! I could go down upon my knees to ask her pardon, and yet I cannot understand it. That money came directly from the bank into my possession."

      He was just fastening the last button of his coat when there came a knock upon his door.

      "Come in," he said, but frowning with impatience at the unwelcome interruption and the probable detention which it portended.

      An instant later a rather common-looking man, of perhaps forty years, entered the room.

      "Ah, Mr. Knowles! good-morning, good-morning," said young Bryant, with his habitual cordiality. "What can I do for you to-day?"

      "I—I have called to pay an installment upon what I owe you, Mr. Bryant," the man responded, flushing slightly beneath the genial glance of the lawyer.

      "Ah, yes; I had forgotten that this was the date for the payment. I hope, however, that you are not inconveniencing yourself in making it to-day," remarked the young lawyer, as he observed that his client was paler than usual and wore an anxious, care-worn expression.

      "There is nothing that inconveniences me more than debt," the man evasively replied, but quickly СКАЧАТЬ