SUNLIGHT THROUGH THE CLOUDS.
Richard could hardly dress quickly enough after he finished Tolman
Bike’s letter. The indolent young man had never been seen in such
frantic haste. The elevator seemed to him to creep. Rushing out to the
street, he jumped into the first cab, telling the driver to make the
best possible speed to Fifth Avenue.
With a sad, penitent face, Penelope Howard was impatiently awaiting her
handsome lover in her own little room, her abject apologies all cut and
dried for use. But he gave her no time.
“Penelope, the mystery is solved!” he yelled, and catching her in his
strong arms, he held her so close to his heart that she gasped for
breath.
“I’ve the story right here, sweetheart,” and in the fewest possible
words, punctuated with Penelope’s exclamations of surprise and sorrow,
Richard related all that had happened since the night before she went
to Washington.
“My dear--Oh, Richard. Good morning,” said Penelope’s aunt, as she
entered the room with bonnet on and a carriage-wrap thrown hastily
over a house dress. “Mrs. Chamberlain has sent for me. They have just
received news that Clara’s fiancée, Mr. Bike, was found dead in his
bathroom, shot through the head. They think it was accidental, and poor
Clara, who was to have been a bride this evening, is prostrated. I’ll
be back presently, dear. Richard stay with the child.”
They let her go without a word of the information they possessed, and,
oblivious to all else, they read Tolman Bike’s confession. Woman-like,
Penelope was in tears, and had as much pity for the unhappy man as for
the luckless girl.
“I knew he was the man,” Richard said. “When the messenger boy pointed
out the man in the Hoffman House as looking like the man who got the
gown, the resemblance struck me, though this man was fair and Tolman
Bike was dark. The moment the resemblance struck me, the whole thing
flashed before my mind. My ridiculous remark that probably the man was
bleached, suggested to me the possibility of Maggie’s sister having
bleached after she left home. Still, it was all so wild and improbable
that I tried not to think of it.”
They decided only to tell the secret of the crime to those most
concerned. That done, they effectually saved the name of Tolman Bike
from deeper disgrace, little as he deserved it.
When Mrs. Van Brunt returned from the house where the preparations for
wedding festivities had been turned into arrangements for a funeral,
Penelope, with her eyes red from weeping, drew her aunt into her own
little den where Richard was. Together they told the astonished woman
the story of the crime, and she was more determined even than they
were that the confession should be held sacred, since making it public
could benefit no one, and would only serve to hurt the family who had
expected to welcome him into their home as the husband of the daughter
of the house.
They had intended to visit Maggie Williams that day and tell her the
story of her sister, but Mrs. Van Brunt, more thoughtful, told them to
delay the sad information until the girl was married, as Richard had
told them of her intended marriage Sunday.
Tolman Bike was privately buried Sunday from the Chamberlain mansion,
while the girl who was to have been his bride, lay unconscious in a
darkened room upstairs. Mrs. Van Brunt, as an old and intimate friend
of Mrs. Chamberlain, went to the funeral. Penelope went with her aunt,
her heart divided in sympathy for the dead man, the dead girl, and the
stricken daughter of the Chamberlain household. If Tolman Bike had
lived, Penelope would have hated him for his crime, but because he had
strength to die, and when she pictured his lonely end, she felt sorry
for his wretched fate.
Sunday evening they visited Maggie Williams, now Mrs. Martin Shanks,
and Penelope gently told them the story of the Mystery of Central Park,
omitting as much as possible that would pain the sister. Rough, but
kindly Martin Shanks comforted his bride. Dido Morgan mingled her tears
with Maggie’s, but she was shy and awkward, having little to say in
the presence of Penelope Howard, though Penelope did her utmost to be
cordial and considerate.
The warm, frank feeling that had heretofore existed between Dido and
Dick was gone. Dick endeavored to be friendly and pleasant, but Dido
maintained a stiff silence that made him have a sense of relief when he
and Penelope finally took their departure.
“Ah, Penelope, it’s true, as Tolman Bike said, happiness is not so
plentiful in life that we can afford to let it slip by when near
our grasp,” Richard said, sadly, as he and Penelope drove homeward.
Penelope merely sighed in response.
“I did not solve the mystery as you expected and wished,” he continued,
taking her hand in his, “still I object to being cheated of my
happiness. When are you going to marry me?”
“Oh!” Penelope tried to say in playful surprise, but her hand trembled.
“This is the tenth. I will give you until the twenty-first to make
what little preparations you need for the wedding,” Richard said,
masterfully, yet tenderly.
“Oh! If you talk that way I suppose I must meekly obey,” Penelope said,
as, with a sigh of content, she allowed Dick to take her in his arms.
THE END.
G. W. DILLINGHAM, Successor.
1889. 1889.
[Illustration: G. W. CARLETON & CO.]
NEW BOOKS
AND NEW EDITIONS,
RECENTLY ISSUED BY
G. W. DILLINGHAM, Publisher,
Successor to G. W. CARLETON & CO.,
33 West 23d Street, New York.
The Publisher on receipt of price, will send any book
on this Catalogue by mail, _postage free_.
All handsomely bound in cloth, with gilt backs suitable for libraries.
Mary J. Holmes’ Novels.
Tempest and Sunshine $1 50
English Orphans 1 50
Homestead on the Hillside 1 50
’Lena Rivers 1 50
Meadow Brook 1 50
Dora Deane 1 50
Cousin Maude 1 50
Marian Grey 1 50
Edith Lyle 1 50
Daisy Thornton 1 50
Chateau D’Or 1 50
Queenie Hetherton 1 50
Bessie’s Fortune 1 50
Darkness and Daylight 1 50
Hugh Worthington 1 50
Cameron Pride 1 50
Rose Mather 1 50
Ethelyn’s Mistake 1 50
Millbank 1 50
Edna Browning 1 50
West Lawn 1 50
Mildred 1 50
Forrest House 1 50
Madeline 1 50
Christmas Stories 1 50
Gretchen. (New) 1 50
Marion Harland’s Novels.
Alone $1 50
Hidden Path 1 50
Moss Side 1 50
Nemesis 1 50
Miriam 1 50
Sunny Bank 1 50
Ruby’s Husband 1 50
At Last 1 50
My Little Love 1 50
Phemie’s Temptation 1 50
The Empty Heart 1 50
From My Youth Up 1 50
Helen Gardner 1 50
Husbands and Homes 1 50
Jessamine 1 50
True as Steel. (New) 1 50
A. S. Roe’s Novels.
True to the Last $1 50
A Long Look Ahead 1 50
The Star and the Cloud 1 50
I’ve Been Thinking 1 50
How Could He Help It 1 50
To Love and To Be Loved 1 50
Time and Tide 1 50
Woman Our Angel 1 50
Looking Around 1 50
The Cloud on the Heart 1 50
Augusta J. Evans’ Novels.
Beulah $1 75
Macaria 1 75
Inez 1 75
At the Mercy of Tiberius. (New) 2 00
St. Elmo 2 00
Vashti 2 00
Infelice 2 00
May Agnes Fleming’s Novels.
Guy Earlscourt’s Wife $1 50
A Wonderful Woman 1 50
A Terrible Secret 1 50
A Mad Marriage 1 50
Norine’s Revenge 1 50
One Night’s Mystery 1 50
Kate Danton 1 50
Silent and True 1 50
Maude Percy’s Secret 1 50
The Midnight Queen. (New) 1 50
Heir of Charlton 1 50
Carried by Storm 1 50
Lost for a Woman 1 50
A Wife’s Tragedy 1 50
A Changed Heart 1 50
Pride and Passion 1 50
Sharing Her Crime 1 50
A Wronged Wife 1 50
The Actress Daughter 1 50
The Queen of the Isle 1 50
Allan Pinkerton’s Works.
Expressmen and Detectives $1 50
Mollie Maguires and Detectives 1 50
Somnambulists and Detectives 1 50
Claude Melnotte and Detectives 1 50
Criminal Reminiscences, etc 1 50
Rail-Road Forger, etc 1 50
Bank Robbers and Detectives 1 50
A Double Life. (New) 1 50
Gypsies and Detectives 1 50
Spiritualists and Detectives 1 50
Model Town and Detectives 1 50
Strikers, Communists, etc 1 50
Mississippi Outlaws, etc 1 50
Bucholz and Detectives 1 50
Burglar’s Fate and Detectives 1 50
Bertha Clay’s Novels.
Thrown on the World $1 50
A Bitter Atonement 1 50
Love Works Wonders 1 50
Evelyn’s Folly 1 50
Under a Shadow 1 50
Beyond Pardon 1 50
The Earl’s Atonement 1 50
A Woman’s Temptation 1 50
Repented at Leisure 1 50
A Struggle for a Ring 1 50
Lady Damer’s Secret 1 50
Between Two Loves 1 50
Put Asunder. (New) 1 50
“New York Weekly” Series.
Brownie’s Triumph--Sheldon $1 50
The Forsaken Bride. do 1 50
Earl Wayne’s Nobility. do 1 50
Lost, a Pearle-- do 1 50
Young Mrs. Charnleigh--Henshew 1 50
His Other Wife--Ashleigh 1 50
A Woman’s Web--Maitland 1 50
Curse of Everleigh--Pierce 1 50
Peerless Cathleen--Agnew 1 50
Faithful Margaret--Ashmore 1 50
Nick Whiffles--Robinson 1 50
Grinder Papers--Dallas 1 50
Lady Lenora--Conklin 1 50
Stella Rosevelt--Sheldon. (New) 1 50
Miriam Coles Harris’ Novels.
Rutledge $1 50
Louie’s Last Term, St. Mary’s 1 50
The Sutherlands 1 50
Frank Warrington 1 50
Ernest Renan’s French Works.
The Life of Jesus. Translated $1 75
Lives of the Apostles. do 1 75
The Life of St. Paul. Translated 1 75
The Bible in India--By Jacolliot 2 00
Julie P. Smith’s Novels.
Widow Goldsmith’s Daughter $1 50
Chris and Otho 1 50
Ten Old Maids 1 50
Lucy 1 50
His Young Wife 1 50
The Widower 1 50
The Married Belle 1 50
Courting and Farming 1 50
Kiss and be Friends 1 50
Blossom Bud (New) 1 50
Artemas Ward.
Complete Comic Writings--With Biography, Portrait and 50 illustrations
$1 50
The Game of Whist.
Pole on Whist--The English Standard Work. With the “Portland Rules”
$0 75
Victor Hugo’s Great Novel.
Les Miserables--Translated from the French. The only complete edition
$1 50
Mrs. Hill’s Cook Book.
Mrs. A. P. Hill’s New Southern Cookery Book, and domestic receipts
$2 00
Celia E. Gardner’s Novels.
Stolen Waters. (In verse) $1 50
Broken Dreams. do 1 50
Compensation. do 1 50
A Twisted Skein. do 1 50
Tested 1 50
Rich Medway 1 50
A Woman’s Wiles 1 50
Terrace Roses 1 50
BEST NOVELS BY BEST AUTHORS.
MADISON SQUARE SERIES.
_PRICE 25 CENTS EACH._
No. 1. ALONE By Marion Harland.
No. 2. GUY EARLSCOURT’S WIFE By May Agnes Fleming.
No. 3. TRUE AS STEEL By Marion Harland.
No. 4. TEMPEST AND SUNSHINE By Mary J. Holmes.
No. 5. A WONDERFUL WOMAN By May Agnes Fleming.
No. 6. MADAME By Frank Lee Benedict.
No. 7. THE HIDDEN PATH By Marion Harland.
No. 8. A TERRIBLE SECRET By May Agnes Fleming.
No. 9. ’LENA RIVERS By Mary J. Holmes.
No. 10. WARWICK By M. T. Walworth.
No. 11. A MAD MARRIAGE By May Agnes Fleming.
No. 12. HOTSPUR By M. T. Walworth.
No. 13. HER FRIEND By Frank Lee Benedict.
No. 14. THE ENGLISH ORPHANS By Mary J. Holmes.
No. 15. A WIFE’S TRAGEDY By May Agnes Fleming.
No. 16. DOCTOR ANTONIO By Ruffini.
No. 17. SUNNYBANK By Marion Harland.
No. 18. HAMMER AND ANVIL By Frank Lee Benedict.
No. 19. MARIAN GREY By Mary J. Holmes.
--> They are the handsomest 25 cent books in the market, and sell much
more rapidly than any paper-bound books published.
BOOKS WORTH READING.
THOU SHALT NOT, By Albert Ross.
HIS PRIVATE CHARACTER, By Albert Ross.
A MARRIAGE BELOW ZERO, By Alan Dale.
AN EERIE HE AND SHE, By Alan Dale.
THE MYSTERY OF CENTRAL PARK, By Nellie Bly.
THE DEVIL AND I, By ?
THE SALE OF MRS. ADRAL, By F. H. Costellow.
HIS WIFE OR HIS WIDOW, By Marie Walsh.
DEBORAH DEATH, By ?
AN ERRAND GIRL, By Evelyn Kimball Johnson.
ROCKS AND SHOALS, By Bella French Swisher.
ZARAILLA, By Beulah.
KATHIE, By Anna Oldfield Wiggs.
The above splendid novels are sold everywhere for 50 cents each, or
sent by the publisher by mail, postage paid, on receipt of the price.
[Illustration: colophon]
G. W. DILLINGHAM, Publisher, _33 West 23d St., New York_.
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE:
1. Original spellings were standardised only when a dominant version
was found.
2. Punctuation was made consistent when a predominant form was found;
otherwise it was not changed.
3. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.