80

IX. THE COLONEL AND JAKE 88

X. EUDORA 102

PART II

I. HOWARD CROMPTON TO JACK HARCOURT 115

II. JACK HARCOURT TO HOWARD CROMPTON 122

III. ELOISE 127

IV. THE ACCIDENT 139

V. AMY 149

VI. AT MRS. BIGGS'S 160

VII. RUBY ANN PATRICK 178

VIII. MRS. BIGGS'S REMINISCENCES 189

IX. LETTER FROM REV. CHARLES MASON 199

X. PART SECOND OF REV. MR. MASON'S LETTER 211

XI. SUNDAY CALLS 218

XII. THE MARCH OF EVENTS 227

XIII. GETTING READY FOR THE RUMMAGE SALE 242

XIV. THE FIRST SALE 256

XV. AT THE RUMMAGE 261

XVI. THE AUCTION 271

PART III

I. THE BEGINNING OF THE END 285

II. THE LITTLE RED CLOAK 294

III. ELOISE AT THE CROMPTON HOUSE 304

IV. THE SHADOW OF DEATH 315

V. LOOKING FOR A WILL 323

VI. IN FLORIDA 336

VII. IN THE PALMETTO CLEARING 342

VIII. THE LITTLE HAIR TRUNK 350

IX. WHAT HOWARD FOUND 362

X. HOWARD'S TEMPTATION 371

XI. CONCLUSION 379

Illustrations:

"Here by this grave I promise all you ask."

THE CROMPTONS

PART I

CHAPTER I

THE STRANGER AT THE BROCK HOUSE

The steamer "Hatty" which plied between Jacksonville and Enterprise was
late, and the people who had come down from the Brock House to the
landing had waited half an hour before a puff of smoke in the distance
told that she was coming. There had been many conjectures as to the
cause of the delay, for she was usually on time, and those who had
friends on the boat were growing nervous, fearing an accident, and all
were getting tired, when she appeared in the distance, the puffs of
smoke increasing in volume as she drew nearer, and the sound of her
whistle echoing across the water, which at Enterprise spreads out into a
lake. She had not met with an accident, but had been detained at Palatka
waiting for a passenger of whom the captain had been ap