AFTERWARD.
It will not take many words to bring our narrative to a close. The
sensation in Lakeview the next day, indeed, throughout the entire
country, was tremendous. Here was a condemned man not guilty at all; a
man whose name had never once been connected with the murder had done
the deed, and he was already dead. The newspapers printed long comments
upon the case, and published sharp editorials on the instability of
circumstantial evidence, and in every store and public place the case
was vigorously discussed.
There was one man who was thoroughly disgusted with both the news and
himself, and that was Jack Hull. He had woven an elaborate web about
Henry Cross, and that was brushed aside as a broom might clear away the
web of a spider.
He tried to reason the matter in a way to lighten the cloud of contempt
which he felt he had brought upon himself, but public feeling had gone
over to Cross in a great tidal wave. Even the prosecuting attorney
would not listen to him, and he never learned the true significance of
the slip of paper he had found addressed to Maud Willowby.
Henry Cross himself could not, at first, realize his good fortune. He
had spent days in his narrow cell, waiting for his sentence, which he
knew could be but one thing; and when they threw open the door, and
said that a man had confessed the murder, and he would be free just as
soon as the necessary papers could be signed, he sat like one dazed,
refusing, at first, to believe that his ears had not deceived him.
There was no trouble in bringing forth evidence against Dick Harding,
now that he had confessed. Half a dozen people remembered him at
the race track; and one man had seen Chesterbrook thrash him with a
carriage whip; and still another had seen him in the vicinity of the
bachelor apartments on the morning of the murder. All these things
strengthened the confession, until it stood as it was meant to stand.
On the day after his release, Henry Cross received a note from Maud
Willowby.
“I am glad, from the bottom of my heart, that you are free,” she wrote.
“Some day I mean to tell you all--but not now.”
His heart leaped with pain when he thought how he had sometimes thought
she might be guilty. He went up to the Willowby mansion a week later,
but found that the colonel and his daughter had gone South, and would
not be back until the following spring. Later on he heard that they
had taken Violet Harding with them, and also a little boy, whom nobody
seemed to know.
Cross tried to settle down to work on the proposed new railroad line,
but that seemed irksome. He tried it for two weeks, and then gave
it up. Three days later he, too, went South, after having been very
particular to worry Nancy Motley into giving him Maud’s address.
The two met in an orange grove in Florida, and while Violet Harding
went off with little Roy, and the colonel dozed away in an easy-chair
on the veranda, numerous explanations ensued, which must have been
entirely satisfactory to both parties, for when they came back from a
long stroll beneath the palms it was arm in arm--heart to heart--and
each face was beaming with smiles.
“Yes,” Maud was saying, “Violet is to stay with me as a sort of
companion. She has had a good education, and I have induced her to
become Roy’s teacher. He has been much neglected, and needs some one to
help him along constantly.”
“And I’ll take a hand at that, too,” was the reply of Henry Cross. “Oh,
we’ll all get along famously when you and I are----”
“Hush!” she whispered, blushing deeply. “Somebody might hear you,
and--and--I’m not quite prepared yet, you know.”
“Never mind, darling,” he made answer. “I think I can well afford to
wait--a little.”
THE END.
“For the Man She Adored” is the title of the next volume, No. 990, in
the NEW EAGLE SERIES. It is from the pen of Julia Edwards, an author
whose skill has been widely praised. In the forthcoming novel you get
a charming love story, woven through numerous dramatic situations and
abounding in sparkling dialogue and pleasing surprises.
20th Century Hand Books
ISSUED SEMI-MONTHLY
There is a big demand for really good, up-to-date hand books, and if
you will glance over this list you will be convinced that some of the
best are included in it. It is our intention to add to this list of
TWENTIETH CENTURY HAND BOOKS from time to time until we have a most
complete line, with a volume devoted to every art and science that
up-to-date readers are interested in.
To be published during February, 1917.
1--Sheldon’s Letter Writer By L. W. Sheldon
2--Frank Merriwell’s Art of Physical Development, By Burt L. Standish
To be published during March, 1917.
3--National Dream Book By Mme. Claire Rougemont
4--Zingara Fortune Teller By a Gypsy Queen
To be published during April, 1917.
5--Heart Talks with the Lovelorn By Grace Shirley
6--Luck’s Dream Book By Carol Luck
To be published during May, 1917.
7--How to Keep Fit and Healthy By Mrs. Frank Stephens
New 20th Century Hand Books
1--How to Write Photoplays By Clarence J. Caine
2--Secrets of Pitching By Burt L. Standish
3--The Complete Cook Book By Jennie Day Rees
In order that there may be no confusion, we desire to say that the
books listed above will be issued, during the respective months, in New
York City and vicinity. They may not reach the readers, at a distance,
promptly, on account of delays in transportation.
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THE COCA-COLA CO., ATLANTA, GA.]
Transcriber’s Notes:
Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected.
Some inconsistent hyphenation (turnout vs. turn-out) was retained from
the original.
Table of contents has been added and placed into the public domain by
the transcriber.
In the original print version of this book, the paragraph ending with
the sentence “She returned to the dining hall” is missing its ending
punctuation and is followed by two copies of the same paragraph. It
is possible that these typographical errors indicate that some of the
original text was lost at this point.