PAOLINA OR THE MILLIONAIRE'S PLOT.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10177, 1 March 1911, Page 2

PAOLINA OR THE MILLIONAIRE'S PLOT.

OUR SERIAL.

By MARIPOSA WEIR. Author of "Evadyne's Temptation," "A Chase Round the World," etc

CHAPTER XXXVIII

PAOLINA SIGNS AWAY HER INHERITANCE. _____ Paolina, after a few hasty preparations, and with a foreboding of- evil, at once obeyed the .summons of her uncle., •"This, my doar," said Sidney Huntingdon, as Paolina entered the room, "is my legal adviser, Mr Brown, .and he: presented her to a middle-aged Julian, with shrewd, but vulgar feat'■lure's'," who acknowledged her curtsey ! with an awkward bow, j"" "You will remember the conversa- ' tion we had this morning," resumed Uncle Sidney, "on the. question of the papers necessary to empower me to act for yon in reference to the Italian bequest. Mr Brown has drawn the documents, and I believe they are all ready for your signature." Paolina felt that there was something strange in all this, but. she did not reply. The lawyer drew two folded papers from the breast pocket of his overcoat, and laid them on the table. Uncle Sidney opened, them, smoothed them out with his hand, and then placed a chair at the table'and looked, at his niece, as if waiting for her to occupy it for the purpose of signing

"Why, then, take the trouble to get tho girl's signature, Any other would do as well." "I'm not sure of that. She writes an eminently Italian hand, and her signature is very like'her mother's. There maybe some advantage in that. "And you are quite certain about this fortune? There is no mistake about the girl being the true heiress?" "None whatever. There could not well be a clearer case. An old Italian nobleman, Lamberto Manutoli, left m immense fortune to the Marchese Ercole Marliani and his heirs, andnext in order of succession to Paolina Marliani and her heirs. Tho Marchese Ercole died without issue. Paolina Marliani, my-brother's wife, was the mother of Paolina Huntingdon, the young lady who has just left the room. I ascertained all the facts when I was at Ravenna a few years ago. My niece, Paolina Huntingdon, is beyond question the heiress of the [ Manutoli property." Glancing out of the window half-an-i hour later, Hannah Hagbum saw the lawyer leave the house and enter a light wagon. Beside him, to her infinite amazement, with the reins in * . ■ his hand, as the wagon drove off, was her uncle, Mark Punderson. ,

the documents. "The young, lady had better read ] them first," said fihe lawyer. . j Huntingdon looked at him with a sudden lifting of the head expressive of surprise and.annoyance, or possibly of some stronger emotion. . "Read them then,' J: he said, pushing the papers toward him. The lawyer- took the papers, and commenced reading what appeared to be a power of attorney , constituting Sidney Huntingdon the attorney in , fact of his niece, with full powers, and a special clause authorising him to act for her and in her behalf in the matter of the bequest. x It was drawn with much formality, and so abounded in repetitions and uncouth phrases that Paolina found it difficult to keep track of the slender threads of distinct meaning that was hidden in such a bewildering labyrinth of legal jargon. Huntingdon handed her the document, and she was about to affix her ! signature, when the lawyer interposv •ed. • './'..' j "Wait a moment," he said, "we I shall want two witnesses to the ihstru- ] merit." : Huntingdon'ra'ng the bell, and when Hnnibal presented himself he bade him summon Francois. "We shall want two,"'said the lawyer. "Cannot you sign as a witness?" demanded Huntingdon, in a dry and almost irscible tone. 1 "There are reasons why, I would rather not," returned the lawyer, ' without volunteering any further information. ,v • 1 1 Huntingdon, hesitated a moment, and then ordered the boy to call Han- !'; nah Hagburn, as well as Francois. The lawyer looked up quickly on hearl ing Hannah's name, as though it excited some interest or curiosity in , him, and when, a minute or two later i girl entered the room, he eyed her narrowly. Francois had already arrived, and Huntingdon explained to the two the purpose for which their presence had been required. The lawyer then unfolded the second paper, as if to read ■ that. ' "Let her glance over it herself," said Huntingdon, taking it from the other's hand, and placing it before Paolina. She went through the form of reading it, since that seemed to be expect- . Ed of her, but derived Tittle impression - from it than that it began with !- "Know all men by these presents,", r and after an interminable, string of "whereases" v and "aforesaids," ended with, "In witness whereof I have ■ hereunto set my Hand and seal this : -day of in the year of our Lord," etc. When. Paolina and the two witnesses had affixed their signatures to the papers, Huntingdon dismissed them with his ceremonious bow, and was left alone with the lawyer. "Of course you know," said the latter, "that the instruments are invalid in their present state?" "I know there must be an acknowledgment authenticated by the seal of some court of record. I can have that arranged."

CHAPTER XXXIX

EXCITEMENT AT THE "TIGERIE"

There was one section of ( the town devoted almost entirely to gaming saloons. It was ten o'clock at night, and already the "Tigerie," as this section was called, presented a lively scene. In one of the more spacious of the hybrid saloons, on the main alley of the quarter, a number of various games were going on at the same time. Half-a-dozen men, of whom a , couple were the ."bird of prey" species and the rest unfortunate miners who had strayed or been beguiled into this den of iniquity, were playing draw •poker at a small table in a remote corner. In tho opposite corner a game of monte was going on, while at a billiard table, with four pockets^in the centre .of the room, the highly popular game of rondo was in prosperous progress. •Among the group gathered around the rondo table was a man. whose dress and general appearance strongly distinguished him from the rest of i the crowd. He Avas of large and very 'powerful frame, in, the prime of manhood, over, six feet in stature, Broad shouldered and muscular. A round, vain, insolent face that looked scom and defiance on men and insulting admiration on women, revealed an overweening, self-complacent, brutal nature. , Yet the round, vain, insolent face was one that would have been pronounced handsome by many, but for the fact that, it was deeply pitted by small-pox, and that the bridge of the nose was broken, apparently by a blow with some blunt instrument, and which, in addition to this injury, had left a livid scar that traversed the forehead diagonally from the eyebrow to the roots of the hair. This personage was much better dressed than those by whom he was surrounded, and seemed from his i SAvaggering air, to be enjoying a very] pleasant consciousness of the fact. . .:! As he Avatched the game, occasionally making a bet, he every noAV and then glanced rouud upon the other spectators and bettors Avith an air i}hat seemed partly to challenge admiration and partly to seek some cause of a quarrel. "What! Don't knoAV Kim?" said a J burly miner to' a companion who had I addressed to him a Avhispered question about the personage Ave have just described. "But I forgot you was a stranger in old Tuolumne. That, felloav is Bob Bulger, of SaAvmill Flat; "Handsome Bob" they call him. He is a fighter, he is. He's had a scrimmage Avith deadly Dade and ain't underground. . There ain't many men can say that." "Pe'rhaps..the luckiest man- that visited'the "Tigerie" that night Avas our* old acquaintance, 1 Mark Punderson. Two other banks had Avithin a feAv hours suffered from his contests Avith them, and as he entered the saloon where Ave find Handsome Bob, he boasted to the latter of his rarp good fortune, stating that he had won over four hundred dollars. (To Be Continued.)