ould he have taken the chance to rob me of
the only proof I have that we are man and wife? If
he has he is a villain at heart, and is capable of
doing any thing, even of marrying this Pratt girl
who he _has_ taken riding again. The worst is that
I dare not accuse him of having my certificate;
for if he didn't take it and should find out it is
gone, he'd throw me off just as quick as if he
had. What shall I do then? Something. He shall
_never_ marry another woman while I live."

"MAY 30, 1880.--The Pratt girl is gone. If he
cared for her it was only for a week, like an old
love I could mention. I think I feel safe again,
only I am convinced some one ought to know my
secret besides myself. Shall it be Emily? No. I'd
rather tell her mother."

"JUNE 9TH, 1880.--I am going to Utica. I shall
take these letters with me. Perhaps I shall leave
them. For the last time, then, let me say 'I am
the lawful wife of Tremont Benjamin Orcutt, the
lawyer, who lives in Sibley, New York.' We were
married in Swanson, Nevada, on the 3d of July,
1867, by a travelling minister, named George
Sinclair.

"MARY ANN ORCUTT, Sibley, N. Y."

XLV.

MR. GRYCE SAYS GOOD-BYE.

There still are many rainbows in your sky.--BYRON.

"HELEN?"

"Yes, Imogene."

"What noise is that? The people seem to be shouting down the street.
What does it mean?"

Helen Richmond--whom we better know as Helen Darling--looked at the
worn, fever-flushed countenance of her friend, and for a moment was
silent; then she whispered:

"I have not dared to tell you before, you seemed so ill; but I can tell
you now, because joyful news never hurts. The people shout because the
long and tedious trial of an innocent man has come to an end. Craik
Mansell was acquitted from the charge of murder this morning."

"Acquitted! O Helen!"

"Yes, dear. Since you have been ill, very strange and solemn revelations
have come to light. Mr. Orcutt----"

"Ah!" cried Imogene, rising up in the great arm-chair in which she was
half-sitting and half-reclining. "I know what you are going to say. I
was with Mr. Orcutt when he died. I heard him myself declare that fate
had spoken in his death. I believe Mr. Orcutt to hav