CONCLUSION.
Reader, we thank you for your kind attention. Our tale is told, and
we shall impose upon it but a moment longer. It would not probably
interest you to know that the twenty thousand dollars worth of forged
notes, forged by the dead man, still remain in the hands of Mr. Jonah
Nipper--and are likely so to do for all time to come. During the first
three years of their married life, Ben and his beautiful wife received
a letter without a signature. It told of a young girl that had been
betrayed by a heartless man, and persuaded by him to leave her humble
home. Harassed by her importunities in a moment of weakness to his
cold, crafty self, he had allowed a marriage ceremony to be performed.
Shortly after, the man's uncle died leaving provisions in his will that
made the man _hate_ the poor helpless being he found himself tied to.
Her death was his only release. A dark night on a Hudson River steamer,
a blow and a splash in the waters, and he thought himself a free man.
But the girl lived. Lived to hunt him down with the fury of a tigress.
In poverty she pursued her revenge. As a tramp, in male attire, she
tracked her would be murderer. At last revenge seemed to come within
her reach. She would wait until he had violated the law, and then crush
him and his hopes, as a bigamist. But meanwhile the love that had died
blossomed anew. She thought to live and love once more. It was not to
be. The object of her new love had given his heart to another. Still
she loved him, and as a last offering of her love placed within his
reach the idol of his heart, all unsullied.
Both Bertha and Ben strove to discover her whereabouts. From that day
to this, "_Tommy_" has been neither seen nor heard of by them. They
live in all the luxury wealth can offer. As happy as happy can be.
Smythe, Hough and Wasson were at the wedding, and all claim to have
provided Ben with this terrestrial paradise by sending him on that trip
to New Orleans. The Cleveland's house is known to the fraternity of the
foot-path far and wide. There is not a vagabond of them but knows that
a hearty meal and substantial help await all who knock at that door.
And their calls are numerous and frequent.