"SO SHINES A GOOD DEED IN A NAUGHTY WORLD."
Howe'er it be, it seems to me
'Tis only noble to be good.
Kind hearts are more than coronets,
And simple faith than Norman blood.
TENNYSON.
Kathleen remained a week longer with her relatives; but such
importunate letters came to her from Mrs. Stone and Helen Fox that
she decided to go home to Boston, promising her grandmother that they
should meet often in future.
Leaving her friend Daisy to brighten the quietude of River Cottage,
Kathleen departed with her uncle and her betrothed for Boston.
She had promised Daisy that she would stop in Philadelphia and inquire
for her about her aunt, Miss Watts. She also wanted to see her
benefactor, the kind-hearted Mr. Hall.
To her dismay, she found, on inquiry, that Miss Watts had died three
months before, and her will, made years ago, bequeathed her snug little
fortune to her niece, Daisy Lynn.
There were no greedy relatives to dispute the will, so Kathleen had the
blended pain and pleasure of writing to Daisy that she was bereaved of
her only living relative by death, but that her aunt's demise had left
her rich.
Kathleen sent her address to Samuel Hall, and the young man came
promptly to call on her, his kind face beaming with delight at seeing
again the beautiful heroine of his romantic adventure. He was shocked,
however, when he heard of the second peril from which she had escaped.
"It is that woman Fedora who planned it, I feel sure!" he exclaimed;
for he believed the woman was wicked enough for anything.
Kathleen did not agree with him, for her uncle had confided to her his
and the detective's belief that Ivan Belmont was the guilty party. Jack
Wren had been to Boston, carefully spotting the young man's movements
from the time that Kathleen had charged him with the theft of her
jewels, and he believed he had found a clew that, if carefully followed
up, would lead to his conviction.
Uncle Ben Carew was very much pleased with Kathleen's friend, and when
he left her went for a stroll down Chestnut Street with him.
Sammy Hall thought that the old gentleman was very inquisitive, he
asked so many questions, getting out of the rather quiet young man the
fact that he was engaged to a beautiful fellow-clerk, Miss Tessie Mays,
but that they thought themselves too poor to marry until he had laid by
a little sum for housekeeping.
"You shall hear from me again, young man," said Uncle Ben,
mysteriously; and he did.
Several months later, when he had almost forgotten all about the
old man's promise, he received a deed of gift to the pretty little
furnished house where Miss Watts had lived. Uncle Ben had bought it
from Daisy Lynn, who continued to reside with the Franklyns, and he
gave it to Sammy Hall in his niece's name.
"Marry your lovely Tessie and be happy in your cottage home, the gift
of Kathleen's grateful heart to her noble friend," wrote Kathleen,
sweetly.
Sammy Hall lost no time in taking this pleasant advice, and he and his
charming Tessie spent a long and pleasant life in the pretty cottage
home. Their first daughter was called Tessie, for her mother; but the
next time Heaven sent them girl twins, "as like as two peas," wrote
Sammy, when he announced to Kathleen that he had named them Kathleen
and Daisy.