Chapter XLVIII: What Is to Be Will Be

Jess looked helplessly at her false friend.

“If the wedding must take place, I--I am ready!” she answered, in a low voice, which threatened to break into sobs ere she finished the sentence.

“Come along, then, my dear,” returned Queenie, ignoring the first part of the remark. “Your bridegroom-to-be is most impatient; I can hear him pacing up and down the drawing-room.”

Jess allowed Queenie to wrap the long fur cloak about her, and lead her down to the corridor below.

“Do not let him come near me, or touch my hand, or I shall surely faint!” whispered Jess, hoarsely, as she shrank behind Queenie.

The latter bit her lips fiercely, to keep back the sneering retort that sprang to them. She concluded, however, that discretion was the better part of valor, and that it would not do to seem to go against her, lest Jess should refuse to allow the marriage to take place at all, and thus upset all of their well-laid plans and her own hope of getting a good slice of the Dinsmore inheritance.

Low as Jess had uttered the words, Raymond Challoner’s quick ear had caught the words distinctly, and he crushed back an imprecation most fierce behind his white teeth.

“Ye gods! how the girl detests me!” he thought; “and by the Eternal, I’ll give her good cause to do so before I am through with her. She is expecting me to rush up and embrace her, while I feel more like making her ears tingle with a thorough boxing. I have no patience whatever with that kind of a girl--they arouse all the hatred and antagonism in my nature. When we turn from the altar, I will show her who is lord and master, confound her!”

But the suave, graceful manner in which he came forward, with his inimitable bow and smile, gave no warning of what was passing in his treacherous heart.

“Jess,” he murmured, making not the slightest attempt to offer her a caress, but simply offering her his arm, “this is the happiest day of my life. Come, the carriage is in waiting.”

Out into the bitter cold air he led her, and adown the marble steps, from which every vestige of the snow had been brushed away.

The drive to the church seemed like a dream to the girl. Queenie sat beside her, and the man whom she was to wed sat opposite. No attempt was made to keep up a conversation. Raymond Challoner was congratulating himself that he had reached the point where it was quite unnecessary.

The church was quickly reached, and the bridal party hastily entered.

“How bitter cold it is in here!” exclaimed the bridegroom-to-be, in an angry tone of voice, addressing the remark to Queenie, whom he had intrusted with the making of the hurried arrangements. “They might have had some semblance of a fire, heating up this old barn of a place. And then, again, there are half a score of people sitting about, while I ordered it to be strictly private.”

“No doubt they are the caretakers; you cannot prevent them from entering if they choose,” returned Queenie, indifferently.

It did not attract the particular attention of the bridegroom-to-be that all of the men present wore their coats turned high up around their necks, and their hats pulled well down over their faces, for he would have considered it only the usual precaution to fortify themselves against the bitter cold which permeated the edifice in great draughts.

They need have little fear of being recognized, for the light that flickered in through the stained-glass windows was unusually dim on this day, which had been ushered in so dark and dismal, with leaden skies, over which black, ominous stormclouds scudded.

“There isn’t even the sign of a minister to greet us! I hope there is to be no hitch over this affair,” he remarked to Queenie, his brows darkening perceptibly.

“He is in the pulpit, awaiting our coming; he has just entered by the side door yonder,” Queenie replied.

Jess uttered no word; she was trembling like a veritable aspen leaf; whether it was from cold, or fear, or both, Raymond Challoner could not determine, nor did he trouble himself to inquire.

It ever afterward seemed like a weird dream to Jess, whether she walked or was carried down the long, dark, cold aisle, until at length she found herself in front of the altar, where the minister stood, with his open book in his hand.

She felt as though she must turn and fly from the place, her fear was so great; but this, she feared, would be hard to accomplish, with her bridegroom on one side of her and Queenie on the other. In that moment it struck her as an evil omen that Queenie should have accompanied her to the altar, draped in crape and mourning attire.

She had little time to think of this, however, for the marriage ceremony had already begun, and the man beside her was repeating after the minister:

“I, John Dinsmore, do take thee, Jess, to be my lawful, wedded wife, to have and to hold, to cherish----”

The sentence never was finished. Up from a nearby pew sprang a tall form, and with swinging strides he came down the aisle toward the altar, crying, in a deep, sonorous voice, that struck terror to two of those hearts before the altar:

“Hold! Let not this ceremony proceed! I forbid the banns!”

As he spoke, he threw back the collar of his coat, and took off his hat.

There was a piercing cry of joy, and in an instant Jess had sprung from the side of the man at the altar and into the arms of the tall stranger.

“What is the meaning of this, sir?” cried the good minister, staring in bewildered amazement from the one to the other.

“It looks, parson, as though the game were up, and that the marriage is off, and that a more formidable game is on!” exclaimed Ray, hoarsely, as he beheld a brace of officers making for the spot where he stood, while as many more guarded each aisle, cutting off every avenue of escape.

“I did not have quite time enough to carry out my ingenious scheme,” he added, quickly, “or I should have been far away from here by this time; anyhow, I shall not give the real John Dinsmore, as he is waiting to proclaim himself, the joy and the fortune he is looking forward to. He shall take a trip with me!”

As he spoke, ere any one could spring forward to prevent the action, he pulled a small, silver-mounted revolver from his breast pocket, and pointing it at John Dinsmore, fired quickly. A second shot followed in less time than it takes to record it, and the second time the instrument of death was pointed against his own heart.

For the next few moments all was confusion: in the _mêlée_ Jess had fainted, and Queenie, taking in all the situation at a glance, fled ignominiously from the scene, no one attempting to bar her exit, as it was understood by all present that this would probably be the course she would pursue.

When the smoke had cleared away, it was found that John Dinsmore was uninjured; for once the practiced hand of Raymond Challoner had fired wide of its mark. In Challoner’s own case, the result was fatal. He had met death instantly, with that sneering laugh yet lingering on his lips.

To the bewildered minister they explained all in a few words--the dastardly scheme the dead man and the woman who had just left the edifice had planned and almost executed, to rob the gentleman who stood, pale and anxiously bending over Jess, of name, wife and fortune; how his tried and true two friends had learned, through the young widow’s maid, of the marriage which was about to take place at that hour between her mistress’ pretty, young guest and the young man whom they had met emerging from the house on a former visit, and that his name was John Dinsmore. Of how fate played into their hands, when they began their search for him, by meeting in the restaurant, after which they had not lost sight of him for a moment. And, furthermore, that his death brought to an untimely end the business of the officers of the law, who had trailed him down by the triangular diamond ring he wore; and who were there to arrest him for a murder done at Saratoga some months before, and for which he would have had to pay the penalty with his life, for his guilt was assured.

Ere Jess returned to consciousness, John Dinsmore had her conveyed to a nearby hotel, and here she found herself when her thoughts became clear and her dark eyes opened to life again. She almost believed it to be a wild, delusive dream to behold him whom she loved so well--not dead, but kneeling beside her, holding her hands, and calling upon her name by every sweet word in love’s vocabulary.

One instant more and she was in his arms, her head pillowed on John Dinsmore’s sturdy breast. That was their joyful reunion; and clasped thus, heart to heart, mutual explanations followed. And to Jess, the most amazing of them all was that fate had had her own way, in spite of her willfulness, in wedding her to John Dinsmore, the co-heir of Blackheath Hall, after all.

Her husband would not allow her to talk of that scene at the church. All he would say was:

“Raymond Challoner--that was his real name--is dead; you must forget that you ever knew him, and you must also forget that false friend, Queenie, who would have lured you to a fate worse than death if I had not come in the nick of time to frustrate her designs. She kept from me the knowledge that Raymond Challoner was attempting to palm himself off for me and gain the Dinsmore fortune by marrying you.”

He was even more amazed at her crafty villainy when Jess whispered to him that she had made a confidant of Queenie, telling her of her former marriage, and how Queenie had informed her of her husband’s death through an accident, which she was too ignorant of the world’s ways to inquire into.

“Let us think of the arch plotters no more, my darling!” declared John Dinsmore, fondly clasping his beautiful, little bride the more closely in his arms, and covering her lovely, blushing, dimpled face with passionate kisses, while her white arms clung more tightly around his neck.

Never were two men more happy than were Jerry Gaines and Hazard Ballou over the happy ending of John Dinsmore’s trials and tribulations, and the joy he entered into at last, in being reunited with the bride he loved better than his own life.

“I shall never know how to do enough for you hereafter, boys!” he exclaimed that evening, holding the hands of each, while tears which were no disgrace to his noble manhood stood in his eyes.

“I am going to make you both acknowledge my true friendship in a very practical way. When I receive my share of the Dinsmore millions I am going to buy out a New York paper, and take you both in as equal partners.”

“Do you mean as artist and reporter, as we have been for years?” laughed Ballou.

“As equal partners in the enterprise,” repeated John, slowly and emphatically; and the day came, soon after, in which he kept his word; and to-day “The Trinity,” as they are still called, own and publish one of the most successful of all the great dailies in the great metropolis.

They are both constant visitors at John’s happy home, and at the end of John’s first happy year of married life, when the twin boys came, he named them after his tried and true friends, Jerry Gaines Dinsmore and Hazard Ballou Dinsmore, much to their delight. The handsome artist is still a bachelor, but at the end of the first year after John married, Jerry Gaines took to himself a bride. Guess who she was, reader mine? No less a person than Lucy Caldwell, the farmer’s daughter, whom he met while she was on a visit to Jess.

Queenie, the dashing, young widow, soon after wedded another aged man for his wealth, but she was not a happy woman, because, as she often said to herself, through her fickleness she had missed the one joy that makes life worth living--love.

She lived and died envying Jess, and the great love her husband lavished upon her, to the end of her life. And the only time her proud eyes ever shed a tear was when the thought crossed her mind:

“It might have been!”

THE END.

* * * * *

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327--Was She Wife or Widow? By Malcolm Bell.
326--Parted by Fate By Laura Jean Libbey.
=325--The Leighton Homestead (Double
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324--A Love Match By Sylvanus Cobb.
323--The Little Countess By S. E. Boggs.
322--Mildred By Mrs. Mary J. Holmes.
=321--Neva’s Three Lovers (Double
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320--Mynheer Joe By St. George Rathborne.
319--Millbank By Mary J. Holmes.
318--Staunch of Heart By Charles Garvice.
317--Ione By Laura Jean Libbey.
=316--Edith Lyle’s Secret (Double
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315--The Dark Secret By May Agnes Fleming.
314--A Maid’s Fatal Love By Helen Corwin Pierce.
313--A Kinsman’s Sin By Effie Adelaide Rowlands.
312--Woven on Fate’s Loom By Charles Garvice.
=311--Wedded by Fate (Double Number)= =By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon=.
310--A Late Repentance By Mary A. Denison.
309--The Heiress of Castle Cliffe By May Agnes Fleming.
308--Lady Ryhope’s Lover By Emma Garrison Jones.
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305--Led By Love By Charles Garvice.
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300--The Spider and the Fly By Charles Garvice.
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232--A Debt of Honor By Mabel Collins.
230--A Woman’s Atonement, and A
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229--For the Sake of the Family By May Crommelin.
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227--For Love and Honor By Effie Adelaide Rowlands.
226--The Roll of Honor By Annie Thomas.
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224--A Sister’s Sacrifice By Geraldine Fleming.
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220--A Fatal Past By Dora Russell.
219--Lost, a Pearle By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon.
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216--The Lost Bride By Clara Augusta.
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213--The Heiress of Egremont By Mrs. Harriet Lewis.
212--Doubly Wronged By Adah M. Howard.
211--As We Forgive By Lurana W. Sheldon.
210--Wild Oats By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon.
209--She Loved But Left Him By Julia Edwards.
208--A Chase for a Bride By St. George Rathborne.
207--Little Golden’s Daughter By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller.
206--A Daughter of Maryland By G. Waldo Browne.
205--If Love Be Love By D. Cecil Gibbs.
204--With Heart So True By Effie Adelaide Rowlands.
203--Only One Love By Charles Garvice.
202--Marjorie By Katharine S. MacQuoid.
201--Blind Elsie’s Crime By Mary Grace Halpine.
200--In God’s Country By D. Higbee.
199--Geoffrey’s Victory By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon.
198--Guy Kenmore’s Wife and The Rose
and the Lily By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller.
197--A Woman Scorned By Effie Adelaide Rowlands.
196--A Sailor’s Sweetheart By the author of Dr. Jack.
195--Her Faithful Knight By Gertrude Warden.
194--A Sinless Crime By Geraldine Fleming.
193--A Vagabond’s Honor By Ernest De Lancey Pierson.
192--An Old Man’s Darling and
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191--A Harvest of Thorns By Mrs. H. C. Hoffman.
190--A Captain of the Kaiser By St. George Rathborne.
189--Berris By Katharine S. MacQuoid.
188--Dorothy Arnold’s Escape By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon.
187--The Black Ball By Ernest De Lancey Pierson.
186--Beneath a Spell By Effie Adelaide Rowlands.
185--The Adventures of Miss Volney By Ella Wheeler Wilcox.
184--Sunlight and Gloom By Geraldine Fleming.
183--Quo Vadis By Henryk Sienkiewicz.
182--A Legal Wreck By William Gillette.
181--The Baronet’s Bride By May Agnes Fleming.
180--A Lazy Man’s Work By Frances Campbell Sparhawk.
179--One Man’s Evil By Effie Adelaide Rowlands.
178--A Slave of Circumstances By Ernest De Lancey Pierson.
177--A True Aristocrat By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon.
176--Jack Gordon, Knight Errant
(Barclay North). By William C. Hudson.
175--For Honor’s Sake By Laura C. Ford.
174--His Guardian Angel By Charles Garvice.
173--A Bar Sinister By the author of Dr. Jack.
172--A King and a Coward By Effie Adelaide Rowlands.
171--That Dakota Girl By Stella Gilman.
170--A Little Radical By Mrs. J. H. Walworth.
169--The Trials of an Actress By Wenona Gilman.
168--Thrice Lost, Thrice Won By May Agnes Fleming.
167--The Manhattaners By Edward S. Van Zile.
166--The Masked Bridal By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon.
165--The Road of the Rough By Maurice M. Minton.
164--Couldn’t Say No By the author of Helen’s Babies.
163--A Splendid Egotist By Mrs. J. H. Walworth.
162--A Man of the Name of John By Florence King.
161--Miss Fairfax of Virginia By the author of Dr. Jack.
160--His Way and Her Will By Frances Aymar Mathews.
159--A Fair Maid of Marblehead By Kate Tannant Woods.
158--Stella the Star By Wenona Gilman.
157--Who Wins? By May Agnes Fleming.
156--A Soldier Lover By Edward S. Brooks.
155--Nameless Dell By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon.
154--Husband and Foe By Effie Adelaide Rowlands.
153--Her Son’s Wife By Hazel Wood.
152--A Mute Confessor By Will N. Harben.
151--The Heiress of Glen Gower By May Agnes Fleming.
150--Sunset Pass By General Charles King.
149--The Man She Loved By Effie Adelaide Rowlands.
148--Will She Win? By Emma Garrison Jones.
147--Under Egyptian Skies By the author of Dr. Jack.
146--Magdalen’s Vow By May Agnes Fleming.
145--Country Lanes and City Pavements By Maurice M. Minton.
144--Dorothy’s Jewels By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon.
143--A Charity Girl By Effie Adelaide Rowlands.
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136--The Unseen Bridegroom By May Agnes Fleming.
135--Cast Up by the Tide By Dora Delmar.
134--Squire John By the author of Dr. Jack.
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132--Whose Was the Crime? By Gertrude Warden.
131--Nerine’s Second Choice By Adelaide Stirling.
130--A Bitter Bondage By Bertha M. Clay.
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120--The White Squadron By T. C. Harbaugh.
119--An Ideal Love By Bertha M. Clay.
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116--The Daughter of the Regiment By Mary A. Denison.
115--A Fair Revolutionist By the author of Dr. Jack.
114--Half a Truth By Dora Delmar.
113--A Crushed Lily By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller.
112--The Cattle King By A. D. Hall.
111--Faithful Shirley By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon.
110--Whose Wife Is She? By Annie Lisle.
109--A Heart’s Bitterness By Bertha M. Clay.
108--A Son of Mars By the author of Dr. Jack.
107--Carla; or Married at Sight By Effie Adelaide Rowlands.
106--Lillian, My Lillian By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller.
105--When London Sleeps By Chas. Darrell.
104--A Proud Dishonor By Genie Holzmeyer.
103--The Span of Life By Sutton Vane.
102--Fair But Faithless By Bertha M. Clay.
101--A Goddess of Africa By the author of Dr. Jack.
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99--Audrey’s Recompense By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon.
98--Claire By Charles Garvice.
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94--Darkest Russia By H. Grattan Donnelly.
93--A Queen of Treachery By T. W. Hanshew.
92--Humanity By Sutton Vane.
91--Sweet Violet By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller.
90--For Fair Virginia By Russ Whytal.
89--A Gentleman from Gascony By Bicknell Dudley.
88--Virgie’s Inheritance By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon.
87--Shenandoah By J. Perkins Tracy.
86--A Widowed Bride By Lucy Randall Comfort.
85--Lorrie; or, Hollow Gold By Charles Garvice.
84--Between Two Hearts By Bertha M. Clay.
83--The Locksmith of Lyons By Prof. Wm. Henry Peck.
82--Captain Impudence By Edwin Milton Royle.
81--Wedded for an Hour By Emma Garrison Jones.
80--The Fair Maid of Fez By the author of Dr. Jack.
79--Marjorie Deane By Bertha M. Clay.
78--The Yankee Champion By Sylvanus Cobb, Jr.
77--Tina By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon.
76--Mavourneen From the celebrated play.
75--Under Fire By T. P. James.
74--The Cotton King By Sutton Vane.
73--The Marquis By Charles Garvice.
72--Willful Winnie By Harriet Sherburne.
71--The Spider’s Web By the author of Dr. Jack.
70--In Love’s Crucible By Bertha M. Clay.
69--His Perfect Trust By a popular author.
68--The Little Cuban Rebel By Edna Winfield.
67--Gismonda By Victorien Sardou.
66--Witch Hazel By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon.
65--Won by the Sword By J. Perkins Tracy.
64--Dora Tenney By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller.
63--Lawyer Bell from Boston By Robert Lee Tyler.
62--Stella Stirling By Julia Edwards.
61--La Tosca By Victorien Sardou.
60--The County Fair By Neil Burgess.
59--Gladys Greye By Bertha M. Clay.
58--Major Matterson of Kentucky By the author of Dr. Jack.
57--Rosamond By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller.
56--The Dispatch Bearer By Warren Edwards.
55--Thrice Wedded By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon.
54--Cleopatra By Victorien Sardou.
53--The Old Homestead By Denman Thompson.
52--Woman Against Woman By Effie Adelaide Rowlands.
51--The Price He Paid By E. Werner.
50--Her Ransom By Charles Garvice.
49--None But the Brave By Robert Lee Tyler.
48--Another Man’s Wife By Bertha M. Clay.
47--The Colonel by Brevet By the author of Dr. Jack.
46--Off with the Old Love By Mrs. M. V. Victor.
45--A Yale Man By Robert Lee Tyler.
44--That Dowdy By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon.
43--Little Coquette Bonnie By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller.
42--Another Woman’s Husband By Bertha M. Clay.
41--Her Heart’s Desire By Charles Garvice.
40--Monsieur Bob By the author of Dr. Jack.
39--The Colonel’s Wife By Warren Edwards.
38--The Nabob of Singapore By the author of Dr. Jack.
37--The Heart of Virginia By J. Perkins Tracy.
36--Fedora By Victorien Sardou.
35--The Great Mogul By the author of Dr. Jack.
34--Pretty Geraldine By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller.
33--Mrs. Bob By the author of Dr. Jack.
32--The Blockade Runner By J. Perkins Tracy.
31--A Siren’s Love By Robert Lee Tyler.
30--Baron Sam By the author of Dr. Jack.
29--Theodora By Victorien Sardou.
28--Miss Caprice By the author of Dr. Jack.
27--Estelle’s Millionaire Lover By Julia Edwards.
26--Captain Tom By the author of Dr. Jack.
25--Little Southern Beauty By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller.
24--A Wasted Love By Charles Garvice.
23--Miss Pauline of New York By the author of Dr. Jack.
22--Elaine By Charles Garvice.
21--A Heart’s Idol By Bertha M. Clay.
20--The Senator’s Bride By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller.
19--Mr. Lake of Chicago By Harry DuBois Milman.
18--Dr. Jack’s Wife By the author of Dr. Jack.
17--Leslie’s Loyalty By Charles Garvice.
16--The Fatal Card By Haddon Chambers and B. C. Stephenson.
15--Dr. Jack By St. George Rathborne.
14--Violet Lisle By Bertha M. Clay.
13--The Little Widow By Julia Edwards.
12--Edrie’s Legacy By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon.
11--The Gypsy’s Daughter By Bertha M. Clay.
10--Little Sunshine By Francis S. Smith.
9--The Virginia Heiress By May Agnes Fleming.
8--Beautiful But Poor By Julia Edwards.
7--Two Keys By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon.
6--The Midnight Marriage By A. M. Douglas.
5--The Senator’s Favorite By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller.
4--For a Woman’s Honor By Bertha M. Clay.
3--He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not By Julia Edwards.
2--Ruby’s Reward By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon.
1--Queen Bess By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon.

* * * * *

..._The_...

Arrow Library

A STANDARD LINE BY STANDARD AUTHORS...

This is a popular line of famous fiction by the world’s most famous authors. Herein is contained the very cream of American, English and French literature, including works of Nathaniel Hawthorne, Oliver W. Holmes, Thomas Hardy, William Black, George Eliot, Alexandre Dumas, Alphonse Daudet, etc., etc. The stories are of such high literary merit and entrancing interest, that it is a pleasure to read them. These books are of a kind to make many a leisure hour pleasant, that ordinarily would be dull. Glance over the list given herewith and select any one title. Purchase and read it carefully and you will vote it the best story you ever read.

294--The Lasses of Leverhouse By Jessie Fothergill.
293--Three Feathers By William Black.
292--Two Wedding Rings By Margaret Blount.
291--Golden Girls By Alan Muir.
290--June By Mrs. Forrester.
289--The Resurrection By Count Leo Tolstoi.
288--Elsie Venner By Oliver Wendell Holmes.
287--The Blithedale Romance By Nathaniel Hawthorne.
286--Two Marriages By Miss Mulock.
285--The Maid of Sker By R. D. Blackmore.
284--Maid, Wife or Widow By Mrs. Alexander.
283--A Fallen Idol By F. Anstey.
282--Mosses from an Old Manse By Nathaniel Hawthorne.
281--Susan Fielding By Mrs. Annie Edwards.
280--Dick’s Wanderings By Julian Sturgis.
279--Rhona By Mrs. Forrester.
278--The Marble Faun By Nathaniel Hawthorne.
277--Miss Bretherton By Mrs. Humphrey Ward.
276--The Forty-Five Guardsmen By Alexandre Dumas.
275--Chicot, the Jester By Alexandre Dumas.
274--Marguerite De Valois By Alexandre Dumas.
273--A Ballroom Repentance By Mrs. Annie Edwards.
272--Christowell By R. D. Blackmore.
271--The Heritage of Langdale By Mrs. Alexander.
270--Hearts By David Christie Murray.
269--Viva By Mrs. Forrester.
268--Friendship By “Ouida.”
267--Monte Cristo and Wife By Alexandre Dumas.
266--Robin By Louisa Parr.
265--Love’s Harvest By B. L. Farjeon.
264--Borderland By Jessie Fothergill.
263--Roy and Viola By Mrs. Forrester.
262--The Wooing O’t By Mrs. Alexander.
261--The Canon’s Ward By James Payne.
260--I Say No By Wilkie Collins.
259--Doctor Cupid By Rhoda Broughton.
258--Dolores By Mrs. Forrester.
257--What’s Bred in the Bone By Grant Allen.
256--Annan Water By Robert Buchanan.
255--Pure Gold By Mrs. H. Lovett Cameron.
254--The Way of the World By David Christie Murray.
253--Rosamond Leyton By Mary J. Holmes.
252--Cousin Maude By Mary J. Holmes.
251--The Chevalier De Maison Rouge By Alexandre Dumas.
250--Andree De Taverney By Alexandre Dumas.
249--The Royal Lifeguard By Alexander Dumas.
248--The Countess De Charny By Alexandre Dumas.
247--Ange Pitou; or, Taking the Bastile By Alexandre Dumas.
246--The Queen’s Necklace By Alexandre Dumas.
245--Memoirs of a Physician By Alexandre Dumas.
244--Joseph Balsamo By Alexandre Dumas.
243--Judith Shakespeare By William Black.
242--Dame Durden By “Rita.”
241--Driven to Bay By Florence Marryat.
240--Victor and Vanquished By Mary Cecil Hay.
239--Nell Gwynn By W. Harrison Ainsworth.
238--Beside the Bonnie Brier Bush By Ian Maclaren.
237--For Lilias By Rose Nouchette Carey.
236--Les Miserables, Vol. III. By Victor Hugo.
235--Les Miserables, Vol. II. By Victor Hugo.
234--Les Miserables, Vol. I. By Victor Hugo.
233--A Woman Hater By Charles Reade.
232--Dita By Lady Margaret Majendie.
231--Under Sleive Ban By R. E. Francillon.
230--The Woodlanders By Thomas Hardy.
229--Erema By R. D. Blackmore.
228--Only a Woman By Miss M. E. Braddon.
227--All in a Garden Fair By Walter Besant.
226--Faith and Unfaith By “The Duchess.”
225--Grif By B. L. Farjeon.
224--Moths By “Ouida.”
223--The Mystery By Mrs. Henry Wood.
222--Once Again By Mrs. Forrester.
221--Felix Holt the Radical By George Eliot.
220--Duchess Annette By Alexandre Dumas, fils.
219--Not Wisely, But Too Well
218--At Bay By Mrs. Alexander.
217--A Life’s Atonement By David Christie Murray.
216--A Princess of Thule By William Black.
215--A Lost Wife By Mrs. H. Lovett Cameron.
214--Beulah By Augusta J. Evans.
213--The Moonstone By Wilkie Collins.
212--The Heir of the Ages By James Payn.
211--Dark Days By Hugh Conway.
210--Dead Men’s Shoes By Miss M. E. Braddon.
209--Comin’ Thro’ the Rye By Helen B. Mathers.
208--Dick’s Sweetheart By “The Duchess.”
207--Deldee By Florence Warden.
206--The Merry Men By Robert Louis Stevenson.
205--A Life’s Secret By Mrs. Henry Wood.
204--Hidden Perils By Mary Cecil Hay.
203--A Country Gentleman By Mrs. Oliphant.
202--The Man in the Iron Mask By Alexandre Dumas.
201--Louise de La Valliere By Alexandre Dumas.
200--The Two Sides of the Shield By Charlotte M. Yonge.
199--Mistress and Maid By Miss Mulock.
198--Pascarel By “Ouida.”
197--In Luck at Last By Walter Besant.
196--A Modern Circe By “The Duchess.”
195--Her Lord and Master By Florence Marryat.
194--The House on the Marsh By Florence Warden.
193--Foul Play By Charles Reade.
192--A Pair of Blue Eyes By Thomas Hardy.
191--Bound by a Spell By Hugh Conway.
190--Beaton’s Bargain By Mrs. Alexander.
189--The Last of the Mohicans By J. Fenimore Cooper.
188--A Prince of Darkness By Florence Warden.
187--Wee Wifie By Rosa Nouchette Carey.
186--The Dead Secret By Wilkie Collins.
185--Mrs. Fenton By W. E. Norris.
184--Marvel By “The Duchess.”
183--One Thing Needful By Miss M. E. Braddon.
182--Lady Grace By Mrs. Henry Wood.
181--A Vagrant Wife By Florence Warden.
180--Mignon By Mrs. Forrester.
179--The Visits of Elizabeth By Elinor Glyn.
178--The Last Days of Pompeii By Sir Bulwer Lytton.
177--Jane Eyre By Charlotte Bronte.
176--Under-Currents By “The Duchess.”
175--Under Two Flags By “Ouida.”
174--Rory O’More By Samuel Lover.
173--The Witch’s Head By H. Rider Haggard.
172--Averil By Rosa Nouchette Carey.
171--A Perilous Secret By Charles Reade.
170--My Lord and My Lady By Mrs. Forrester.
169--St. Cuthbert’s Tower By Florence Warden.
168--Married in Haste By Miss M. E. Braddon.
167--An Englishwoman’s Love Letters
166--The Picture of Dorian Gray By Oscar Wilde.
165--Mademoiselle Miss By Henry Harland (Sidney Luska).
164--Cometh Up as a Flower By Rhoda Broughton.
163--The Evil Genius By Wilkie Collins.
162--Cherry Ripe By Helen B. Mathers.
161--The Heir of Linne By Robert Buchanan.
160--Rossmoyne By “The Duchess.”
159--The Danvers Jewels By Mary Cholmondeley.
158--Lorna Doone By R. D. Blackmore.
157--Merle’s Crusade By Rosa Nouchette Carey.
156--Old Hagar’s Secret By Mrs. Mary J. Holmes.
155--Dora Deane By Mrs. Mary J. Holmes.
154--John Holdsworth, Chief Mate By W. Clark Russell.
153--Uncle Tom’s Cabin By Harriet Beecher Stowe.
152--Airy Fairy Lilian By “The Duchess.”
151--The Splendid Spur By “Q.” (A. T. Quiller Couch).
150--East Lynne By Mrs. Henry Wood.
149--Love and Life By Charlotte M. Yonge.
148--Madame Sans Gene By Victorien Sardou.
147--Consequences By Egerton Castle.
146--My Lady Green Sleeves By Helen B. Mathers.
145--The Dean and His Daughter By F. C. Philips.
144--Molly Bawn By “The Duchess.”
143--That Beautiful Wretch By William Black.
142--By Woman’s Wit By Mrs. Alexander.
141--The New Magdalen By Wilkie Collins.
140--Pretty Miss Smith By Florence Warden.
139--Ships That Pass in the Night By Beatrice Harraden.
138--Love Letters of a Worldly Woman By Mrs. W. K. Clifford.
137--In Strange Company By Guy Boothby.
136--Red as a Rose is She By Rhoda Broughton.
135--Pretty Miss Neville By B. M. Croker.
134--Beauty’s Daughters By “The Duchess.”
133--Prince Otto, and the Silverado
Squatters By Robert Louis Stevenson.
132--Red Spider By S. Baring Gould.
131--A Cardinal Sin By Hugh Conway.
130--I Have Lived and Loved By Mrs. Forrester.
129--Chiffon’s Marriage By “Gyp.”
128--God and the Man By Robert Buchanan.
127--Sam’s Sweetheart By Helen B. Mathers.
126--Vice Versa By F. Anstey.
125--Weavers and Weft By Miss M. E. Braddon.
124--Cleopatra By H. Rider Haggard.
123--Phyllis By “The Duchess.”
122--Far from the Madding Crowd By Thomas Hardy.
121--Miss Kate By “Rita.”
120--The Frozen Pirate By W. Clark Russell.
119--John Halifax, Gentleman By Miss Mulock.
118--The Master of the Mine By Robert Buchanan.
117--Good-By, Sweetheart By Rhoda Broughton.
116--The Master Passion By Florence Marryat.
115--For Maimie’s Sake By Grant Allen.
114--Colonel Quaritch, V. C. By H. Rider Haggard.
113--Aurora Floyd By Miss M. E. Braddon.
112--Living or Dead By Hugh Conway.
111--The Queen of Hearts By Wilkie Collins.
110--Proved Unworthy By Mrs. Emily Lovett.
109--The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne.
108--The Mayor of Casterbridge By Thomas Hardy.
107--A Change of Air By Anthony Hope.
106--Camille By Alexandre Dumas, fils.
105--Concerning Isabel Carnaby By Ellen Thorneycroft Fowler.
104--Led Astray By Octave Feuillet.
103--Black Beauty By Anna Sewell.
102--The Vicomte de Bragelonne By Alexandre Dumas.
101--The Typewriter Girl By Grant Allen.
100--The First Violin By Jessie Fothergill.
99--Twenty Years After By Alexandre Dumas.
98--A Man of Mark By Anthony Hope.
97--The Courting of Dinah Shadd By Rudyard Kipling.
96--The Count of Monte Cristo
(Part II.) By Alexandre Dumas.
95--Young Mistley By Henry Seton Merriman.
94--Lady Audley’s Secret By Miss M. E. Braddon.
93--A Bride from the Bush By E. W. Hornung.
92--Edmond Dantes (Vol. I. of the Count
of Monte Cristo) By Alexandre Dumas.
91--The Story of an African Farm By Olive Schreiner.
90--The Hunchback of Notre Dame By Victor Hugo.
89--Carmen and Colomba By Prosper Merimee.
88--Suspense By Henry Seton Merriman.
87--Self-Raised; or, From the
Depths By Mrs. Emma D. E. N. Southworth.
86--Ishmael; or, In the
Depths By Mrs. Emma D. E. N. Southworth.
85--Prisoners and Captives By Henry Seton Merriman.
84--The Shadow of the Crime By Hall Caine.
83--Jess: A Tale of the Transvaal By H. Rider Haggard.
82--Inez By Augusta J. Evans.
81--The White Company By A. Conan Doyle.
80--Macaria By Augusta J. Evans.
79--Meadowbrook By Mrs. Mary J. Holmes.
78--The Phantom Future By Hentry Seton Merriman.
77--The Three Musketeers By Alexandre Dumas.
76--The Cruise of the
Cachalot By Frank T. Bullen, Chief Mate.
75--The New Arabian Nights By Robert Louis Stevenson.
74--An Egyptian Princess By George Ebers.
73--The Bondman By Hall Caine.
72--Dead Man’s Rock By “Q.” (A. T. Quiller-Couch).
71--In the Golden Days By Edna Lyall.
70--Under the Deodars and Story of
the Gadsbys By Rudyard Kipling.
69--The Firm of Girdlestone By A. Conan Doyle.
68--The Bab Ballads By W. S. Gilbert.
67--The Partners By Alphonse Daudet.
66--A Hardy Norseman By Edna Lyall.
65--Soldiers Three By Rudyard Kipling.
64--Frivolous Cupid By Anthony Hope.
63--Plain Tales from the Hills By Rudyard Kipling.
62--The Honorable Mrs. Vereker By “The Duchess.”
61--The King’s Stratagem and Other
Stories By Stanley J. Weyman.
60--The Homestead on the Hillside By Mrs. Mary J. Holmes.
59--Jack By Alphonse Daudet.
58--My Lady’s Money By Wilkie Collins.
57--English Orphans By Mrs. Mary J. Holmes.
56--Lena Rivers By Mrs. Mary J. Holmes.
55--Thelma By Marie Corelli.
54--The House of Seven Gables By Nathaniel Hawthorne.
53--Tempest and Sunshine By Mrs. Mary J. Holmes.
52--Worth Winning By Mrs. Emily Lovett Cameron.
51--Eric Brighteyes By H. Rider Haggard.
50--Donovan By Edna Lyall.
49--Ballads and Other Verses By Rudyard Kipling.
48--The Iron Pirate By Max Pemberton.
47--Wormwood By Marie Corelli.
46--The Romance of a Poor Young Man By Octave Feuillet.
45--Won by Waiting By Edna Lyall.
44--Miss Milne and I By the author of “A Yellow Aster.”
43--The Prince of the House of
David By Rev. Prof. J. H. Ingraham.
42--Cyrano de Bergerac By Edmond Rostand.
41--Beautiful Jim By John Strange Winter.
40--Mildred Trevanion By “The Duchess.”
39--Hector Servadac By Jules Verne.
38--The Maddoxes By Jean Middlemass.
37--Ruy Blas By Victor Hugo.
36--Vendetta By Marie Corelli.
35--Coralie’s Son By Albert Delpit.
34--The Duchess By “The Duchess.”
33--Allan Quatermain By H. Rider Haggard.
32--The Tragedy in the Rue de la Paix By Adolph Belot.
31--The Great Hesper By Frank Barret.
30--The Toilers of the Sea By Victor Hugo.
29--Chris By W. E. Norris.
28--The Stranglers of Paris From the celebrated play.
27--Ardath, Vol. II. By Marie Corelli.
26--Ardath, Vol. I. By Marie Corelli.
25--Ingemar By Nathan D. Urner.
24--Treasure Island By Robert Louis Stevenson.
23--His Fatal Vow By Leon De Tinseau.
22--In All Shades By Grant Allen.
21--Around the World in Eighty Days By Jules Verne.
20--A Dangerous Catspaw By David Christie Murray.
19--Han of Iceland By Victor Hugo.
18--A Romance of Two Worlds By Marie Corelli.
17--The Sign of the Four By A. Conan Doyle.
16--Sappho By Alphonse Daudet.
15--Kidnapped By Robert Louis Stevenson.
14--Jack and Three Jills By F. C. Philips.
13--As in a Looking-Glass By F. C. Philips.
12--The Phantom ’Rickshaw By Rudyard Kipling.
11--A Marriage at Sea By W. Clark Russell.
10--The House of the Wolf By Stanley J. Weyman.
9--The Rogue By W. E. Norris.
8--A Living Lie By Paul Bourget.
7--King or Knave By R. E. Francillon.
6--Beyond the City By A. Conan Doyle.
5--Master of Ballantrae By Robert Louis Stevenson.
4--Germinie Lacerteux By E. & J. de Goncourt.
3--A Study in Scarlet By A. Conan Doyle.
2--She’s All the World to Me By Hall Caine.
1--The Light That Failed By Rudyard Kipling.

ALL THE BEST WORKS OF

=Alexandre Dumas=
=William Black=
=R. D. Blackmore=

And many other famous authors are contained in

The Arrow Library

High-Class Literature at a Moderate Price

* * * * *

THE PARAGON OF ALL

_The Dr. Jack Series_

Every author’s work appeals to a particular class of readers. Only a few writers, however, have the happy faculty of interesting all classes. Mr. St. George Rathborne is one of these. His tales are full of exciting adventure and interesting incident, while throughout there are pretty love scenes strongly depicted.

Realizing what a great favorite this author has become, we have contracted with him to write a large number of NEW stories.

These new tales, together with some of the author’s most popular works, we will publish in a series by themselves and call it the Dr. Jack Series.

Every reader cannot fail to like these most meritorious tales from the pen of one of America’s most prolific authors. The following is a list of the stories already published and those scheduled for early publication:

By ST. GEORGE RATHBORNE.

_1. Dr. Jack._
_2. A Filibuster in Tatters._
_3. Dr. Jack’s Wife._
_4. The Witch From India._
_5. Dr. Jack’s Paradise Mine._
_6. Captain Tom._
_7. Dr. Jack’s Widow._
_8. Kinkaid from Peking._

STREET & SMITH, _PUBLISHERS_,
238 William Street, New York City.

* * * * *

LAURA SERIES

A weekly publication devoted to good literature. August 5, 1903.

No. 2

Public records will show that there have been more women restored to health and strength, and more lives saved by

Lydia E. Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound

than by any other medicine in the world.

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* * * * *

Transcriber’s Notes:

Punctuation has been made consistent.

Variations in spelling and hyphenation were retained as they appear in the original publication, except that obvious typographical errors have been corrected.