One of My Sons

It was not I!" And Alfred, leaving his brothers, stood before his young cou

was it sorrow; but the next minute he had that rebellious fist in his own

an who can exonerate his brothers by co

ose hand had caugh

youngest son of Mr. Gillespie withdrew from her side

an incoherent phrase like this at the end of a letter begun in health but finished in agony, prejudice you to

the letter, suspicion would never have followed the discovery of this incongruous addition to the half-finished business letter found in the typewriter; "one of my sons he"-was that an accusation of crime? George and Leighton were on the point of asserting not, and Alfred had just begun

was ill a month ago. It was not a dangerous illness, but the remedies given-Oh! Dr. Bennett help me to say it-were remedies we all knew to be dangerous if taken in too great quantities. One night-I cannot go on-he had reason to think his glass was tampered with, and after that, he wrote this letter, and charged me with its delivery in case he-he-Ah! I need not say in case of what. You have seen his dear head lying l

ed out the letter, and the coroner, giving it one glance, handed it over to Leig

privilege of being the first to read the

e room from which he was retreating, nor could he be said to have real

friend," murmured Miss Me

against whom she had felt forced to utter this denunciation of crime, loved her (or so I believed), Al

eld the letter ba

me with a

sfavour, how could I calculate upon another opportunity of seeing them all together. And they must rea

ppy to say that my presence gave her courage to bear u

after an experience which I will not relate here, as it will be found more fully stated in the letter it

eighton,

a Christian family, members of an honourable community, trained each and all in religious principles, you, by the best, the sweetest of mothers-does it move you to think that one of you could contemplate parricide and even attempt it? It moves me; and in two of you must awaken a horror, the anticipation of which affords me the sole comfort now remaining to my doomed and miserable life. For nothing will ever make me believe that this act was a concerted one or that the a

rom the gas jet near the top of the stairs. This light has always been company for me, especially in wakeful nights or when I found myself troubled by dreams or any physical distress. It seemed to connect me with the rest of the house, and simple as it may seem to you, ac

s, I exerted all of my faculties to detect the step I now heard loitering about my door. But it was studiously cautious and made no distinct sound in my ear. I did not like this, and listened still more intently, whereupon I heard the door open and someone come in, softly, and with long pauses such as were not wont to ac

no definite reason for doubting any of you. I knew you were in debt and that two of you at least were in crying need of money, but I hardly think I dreaded the rifling of my desk by the hands of one of my sons. Yet th

ay of restraint upon me, held me still, and I remained dumb while that sneaking hand continued to fumble among the phials and glasses. Suddenly a fear struck me, a fear so far removed from any which I had ever before known, that my whole attitude of thought towards my sons must have undergone an instantaneous change-a gulf opening where an instant before was confidence and love. The medicine was kept there from which my nightly dose was prepared; a medicine which you have all heard declared by my physician to be a deadly poison, which must be measured most carefully and given in only such doses as he had prescribed. Could it be that my son was feeling about for this? Had George bet once too often on that mare which will be his ruin, or Leighton found his religion an insuf

gravity; but now that there was really poison in the house, and one of my own blood stood hiding behind the screen within a foot of my medicine glass, I could not but choke down the cry which this thought caused to rise in my throat and listen for what might come. Alas! I was destined to behold with my eyes as well as hear with my ears the next move made by my unknown visitant. By the grace of God or through some coincidence equally providential, the gas at this momentous instant was relit in the hall, and I perceived, amid the old shadows thus called out upon the wall, a new one-that of a hand holding a bottle, which, projecting itself beyond the straight line cast by the screen, was now stealing slowly but surely in the direction of the table on which stood my glass of medicine. I did not gasp or cry. Thought, feeling, consciousness even of my own u

dicine in my glass had been strengthe

ch

turned, the wild desire to know just what and whom I had to fear seized me in the midst of my horror, mixed with another sentiment harder to explain, and w

acting with which I have been by nature endowed, I moved restl

you, George? If so,

orge step

rely I hear one of you in the room.

d. I could not! He was t

thers in not utte

of a door, and I realised that an escape had been effected from the room in a way I had not calc

before the man who had thus escaped me could find refuge in any of the adjoining rooms. But I must have fallen insensible almost immed

elt a sort of physical fear, probably the result of illness, which made it quite impossible for me to traverse the halls and creep from room t

r of any of you which made me able to say in this solitary and awful communion with my own fears, "This one at least is innocent!" If I dwelt on George's generous good nature, I also recalled his wild extravagance and the debts he so recklessly heaps up at every turn he makes in this God-forsaken city; if some recollection of Leighton's strict ways in open matters of conscience came to soothe me, there instantly came with it the remembrance of the various tal

medal; Leighton's, when he denied himself a new pair of skates that he might give the money to a crying street urchin; Alfred's, when the fever left him and his cheeks grew rosy again with renewed health. All these young and innocent f

ide me; if I left it untouched it would show suspicion on my part, and suspicion might precipitate my doom. How could I avoid taking it without raising doubts as to my discovery of the trick which had been played so near me? In the feverish condition of my mind but one plan suggested itself. Throwing out my arm, I precipitate

nd a smile full of happiness. She had risen from a beauty sleep and, possibly because my thoughts had been so dark, I had never seen her look so b

ad, uncle! You look poorly this mornin

ed up all my p

y I look so wretched. I did not sleep after four. You can sa

she moved around to my sid

aimed, stooping as her foot

fted the bottle. It had been left there on the floor and

e glass, but I failed pitiably. At the sight of her dear, womanly face and the affec

ayed. "Let me feel one

love, changed, and, while she submitted to my caresses and even warmly returned them, it was wi

s house? George and Alfred love you devotedly; and little Claire

not includ

er, but the attempt was not very successful, and she was leaving

gances and Alfred's caprices are no new story to you. I have been thi

ntion Leighton

inet. As she did so, I perceived her turn with half-open lips, as if about to ask some question. But she either lacked the courage or the wil

s much here as there ought to be! I am s

it was she who prepa

of your bed? Did you try to strengthen the dose? You know you ought not to; Dr. Benne

I had openly cherished of seeing Hope married to one of my sons clogged my faculties. My protest

d. "Nellie will bring my breakfast up with yours, a

not chime in

ss you if you are not there to pour the coffee for them. Alfred shows an astonishing punctuality of

ted to her the secret wish you have one and all entertained ever since he

o think of. Your mother is dead and in Paradise, but Hope is young and the crushing weight under which I staggered could not well be borne by her. For her sake if not for my own, I must locate the plague-spot that to my mind spread defilement ove

ease has yielded to Dr. Bennett's treatment, and when I can rise above these sickly fancies, which are the effect, no doubt, of the powerful remedie

my cheeks, and I probably looked less ghastly. She turned away with a smile. Alas! her

ise that she had seen far enough into my mind to imagine I would dread eating anything she had not cooked for me herself. As Hewson was withdrawing, I asked if you were all well. His answer was an astonished Yes. At which I ventured to remark that I had heard someone up in the night. "That was Miss Mere

e not have been so happy or so unhappy as to have caught a glimpse of the man who crept out of my dressing-closet a moment later! Overcome by a possibility which might set

u are too careful of me; I had rather have you sleep. George's room is on t

tance," said she. "I could not trust you

n heard you say that you have heard him pacing the

in; but Alfred does not stay out as late as he used to

s true as the sky they mirror. I grasped h

ght? I am sure I heard a man's step in the ha

it smelling dreadfully. But I didn't encounter any

ered how I was to ask the next question. "W

you quiet. It was cold in the halls-Hewson had left th

?" I instantly inquired. "Or did you

e and looked anxi

a voice? Would there have been any harm in my cousins b

rily. But l

the convulsive clasp with which she answered my clutch. Forgetting her youth, ignoring all the resolves I had made in the secret watches of the night, I drew her ear down to my mouth and gasped into it the few tell-tale sentences which revealed the dishonour of our house. I caught the thr

are. She believed in the integrity of the man she held dearest, but she would not tell me which of you she thus loved. And I could only guess. But even this belief weakened a little as we talked together, and I soon saw by the arguments she used that peace and certainty would never be hers again as long as a doubt remained as to which of her cousins had conceived and perpetrated this criminal act. As for me, the future holds no comfort. I shall give each of you a thousand dollars to-night in celebration of my anniversary of marriage, and perhaps this will awaken the conscience of the one who loves my money better than my life. Then, though I shall not change my will, I shall publish abroad that I have had losses which only a fortunate speculation can make good, and see if by these means the cupidity which came near co

. I shall be satisfied, and the God whose commandments he has do

e my blessing. May all happiness be theirs, whether this does or does not in

ald Gi

may understand the situation which ensue

which these three young men drew back as from a common centre,

gain, and striding up to George, shouted out in an awful voice