CHAPTER XXVJASON JONES
The Colonel and Peter Conant had just entered the drawing room of thesuite at the hotel and found Mary Louise absent. This was unusual andunaccountable and they were wondering what could have become of thegirl when the door suddenly burst open and Josie's clear voice criedtriumphantly:
"I've got her! I've captured the missing heiress at last!"
Both men, astonished, rose to their feet as Alora entered and with aburst of tears threw her arms around the old Colonel's neck. For a fewmoments the tableau was dramatic, all being speechless with joy at thereunion. Colonel Hathaway patted Alora's head and comforted the sobbinggirl as tenderly as if she had been his own grandchild--or Mary Louise.
Josie perched herself lightly on the center-table and swinging her legscomplacently back and forth explained her discovery in a stream ofchatter, for she was justly elated by her success.
"And to think," she concluded, "that I never missed a clew! That it wasreally the nurse, Mrs. Orme--Mrs. Jones' old nurse--who stole Alora,according to our suspicions, and that her object was just what Ithought, to get money from that miser Jason Jones! Daddy will bepleased with this triumph; _I'm_ pleased; Mary Louise will be pleased,and--By the way, where is Mary Louise?"
"I don't know," confessed the Colonel, who had just placed Alora, nowmore self-possessed, in a chair. "I was beginning to worry about herwhen you came in. She seldom leaves these rooms, except for a fewmoments, and even then she tells me, or leaves word, where she isgoing. I spoke to the clerk, when I returned, and he said she had leftthe hotel early this morning, and it's now four o'clock."
Josie's smile faded and her face became grave.
"Now, who," she said, "could have an object in stealing Mary Louise?Complications threaten us in this matter and the first thing we must dois----"
"Oh, Alora!" exclaimed Mary Louise, who had softly opened the door andcaught sight of her friend. Next moment the two girls were locked in anembrace and Josie, a shade of disappointment struggling with her sunnysmile, remarked coolly:
"Very well; that beats the champion female detective out of anotherjob. But I might have known Mary Louise wouldn't get herself stolen; nosuch adventure ever happens to _her."_
Mary Louise turned to the speaker with an earnest look on her sweetface.
"An adventure _has_ happened to me, Josie, and--and--I hardly know howto break the news."
She held Alora at arms' length and looked gravely into her friend'sface. Alora noted the serious expression and said quickly:
"What is it? Bad news for _me?"_
"I--I think not," replied Mary Louise, hesitatingly; "but it's--it'swonderful news, and I hardly know how to break it to you."
"The best way," remarked Josie, much interested, "is to let it out in agush. 'Wonderful' stuff never causes anyone to faint."
"Alora," said Mary Louise solemnly, "your father is here."
"Where?"
"He is just outside, in the corridor."
"Why doesn't he come in?" asked the Colonel.
"He needn't have worried about me," said Alora, in sullen tone, "but Isuppose it was the danger of losing his money that----"
"No," interrupted Mary Louise; "you mistake me. Jason Jones, the greatartist--a splendid, cultured man and----"
A sharp rap at the door made her pause. Answering the Colonel's summonsa bellboy entered.
"For Mr. Conant, sir," he said, offering a telegram.
The lawyer tore open the envelope as the boy went out and after aglance at it exclaimed in shocked surprise: "Great heavens!"
Then he passed the message to Colonel Hathaway, who in turn read it andpassed it to Josie O'Gorman. Blank silence followed, while Mary Louiseand Alora eyed the others expectantly.
_"Who_ did you say is outside in the corridor?" demanded Josie in apuzzled tone.
"Alora's father," replied Mary Louise.
"Jason Jones?"
"Jason Jones," repeated Mary Louise gravely.
"Well, then, listen to this telegram. It was sent to Mr. Peter Conantfrom Dorfield and says: 'Jason Jones killed by falling from anaeroplane at ten o'clock this morning. Notify his daughter.'"
Alora drew a quick breath and clasped her hands over her heart.Uncongenial as the two had been, Jason Jones was her father--her onlyremaining parent--and the suddenness of his death shocked and horrifiedthe girl. Indeed, all present were horrified, yet Mary Louise seemed tobear the news more composedly than the others--as if it were a minorincident in a great drama. She slipped an arm around her girl friend'swaist and said soothingly:
"Never mind, dear. It is dreadful, I know. What an awful way to die!And yet--and yet, Alora--it may be all for the best."
Josie slid down from the table. Her active brain was the first to catcha glimmering of what Mary Louise meant.
"Shall I call that man in?" she asked excitedly, "the man whom you sayis Alora's father?"
"No," answered Mary Louise. "Let me go for him, please. I--I must tellhim this strange news myself. Try to quiet yourself, Alora, and--and beprepared. I'm going to introduce to you--Jason Jones."
She uttered the last sentence slowly and with an earnestness thatbewildered all her hearers--except, perhaps, Josie O'Gorman. And thenshe left the room.
The little group scarcely moved or spoke.
It seemed an age to them, yet it was only a few moments, when MaryLouise came back, leading by the hand a tall, handsome gentleman whobore in every feature, in every movement, the mark of good birth,culture, and refinement, and in a voice that trembled with, nervousexcitement the girl announced:
"This is Jason Jones--a California artist--the man who marriedAntoinette Seaver. He is Alora's father. And the other--the other----"
"Why, the other was a fraud, of course," exclaimed Josie.
CHAPTER XXVIWHAT MARY LOUISE ACCOMPLISHED
I am quite sure it is unnecessary to relate in detail the scene thatfollowed Mary Louise's introduction or the excited inquiries andexplanations which naturally ensued. To those present the scene wasintensely dramatic and never to be forgotten, but such a meetingbetween father and daughter is considered too sacred to be describedhere.
Mary Louise's intuition had not played her false. She had found at theCongress Hotel another Jason Jones, far different from the one she hadknown, and a few questions elicited the fact that he was indeed thefather of Alora. So, as briefly as she could, she told him how anotherman had usurped his place and seized all of Alora's income, at the sametime willfully depriving the girl of such comforts and accomplishmentsas one in her position should enjoy.
"And to think," she added indignantly, "that he is not Jason Jones atall!"
"I believe you are mistaken there," replied the artist thoughtfully."Jason is a family name, derived from one of our most eminentancestors, and in my generation it is also borne, I have learned, byone of my second cousins, a Jason Jones who is also a painter andaspires to fame as an artist. I have never met the man, but hisindifferently executed canvases, offered for sale under our commonname, formerly caused me considerable annoyance and perhaps interferedwith my career. But of late I have not heard of this Jason Jones, forsoon after my separation from my wife I went to Southern California andlocated in a little bungalow hidden in a wild canyon of the SantaMonica mountains. There I have secluded myself for years, determined todo some really good work before I returned East to prove my ability.Some time after Antoinette died I saw a notice to that effect in anewspaper, but there were no comments and I did not know that she hadmade me guardian of our child. That was like Antoinette," he continued,in gentler tones; "she was invariably generous and considerate of myshortcomings, even after we realized we were not fitted to livetogether. Her renunciation of me seemed harsh, at first, for I couldnot understand her ambitions, but in fact she drove me to success. Ihave won the Grand Prize, after all these years of patient labor, andfrom now on my future is assured."
"Have you never longed for your child?" asked Mary Louisereproachfully.
> "I have, indeed. In imagination I have followed Alora's growth anddevelopment year by year, and one of my most cherished anticipationswhen coming here was to seek out my daughter and make myself known toher. I knew she had been well provided for in worldly goods and I hopedto find her happy and content. If my picture received favorable commentat the exhibition I intended to seek Alora. I did not expect to win theGrand Prize."
* * * * * * * *
It was this newly discovered Jason Jones and his daughter--who alreadyloved him and shyly clung to this responsive and congenial parent--whowent to Dorfield with the Colonel and Mary Louise and Peter Conant andJosie O'Gorman to attend the obsequies of the other less fortunateJason Jones. Mrs. Orme was there, too; Mrs. Janet Orme Jones; for sheadmitted she was the dead man's wife and told them, in a chastened butstill defiant mood, how the substitution of her husband for the otherartist had come about.
"Many years ago, when I was nursing in a New York hospital," she said,"a man was brought in with both arms broken, having been accidentallyknocked down by a street-car. I was appointed to nurse him and learnedfrom him that he was Jason Jones, a poor artist who was, however, justabout to win recognition. He showed me a newspaper clipping that highlypraised a painting then being exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum ofArt, which was signed Jason Jones. I know now that it wasn't hispicture at all, but the work of his cousin, but at the time theclipping deceived me.
"I was ambitious to become something more than a nurse. I thought thatto be the wife of a famous artist would bring me wealth and a positionin society, so I married Jason Jones--without love--and he married me--also without love--in order to get my wages. He won where I lost, forduring several years I foolishly supported him with my savings, alwaysexpecting him to become famous. At first he attributed his failures tohis broken arms, although they had healed perfectly, and I ignorantlyaccepted the excuse. It was only after years of waiting for the man toprove his ability that I finally woke to the truth--that he had notalent--and I then left him to his own devices. In Chicago I sought toforget my unfortunate past and found regular employment there in myprofession.
"It was while nursing Mrs. Jones that I overheard her give to DoctorAnstruther the supposed address of her husband, which had beenfurnished her by a casual acquaintance, and tell him to wire JasonJones to come to her at once. I well knew a mistake had been made andthat she had given the doctor my own husband's address--the address ofan entirely different Jason Jones. My first impulse was to undeceiveher, but that would involve humiliating explanations, so I hesitatedand finally decided to remain silent. When the doctor had gone totelegraph and the die was cast, I reflected that my husband, whom Iknew to be sunk in poverty, would ignore the request to come to Chicagoto be reconciled to his dying wife. _My_ Jason wouldn't care whether Ilived or died and wouldn't have spent a cent to be reconciled with me.For of course he would think it was I who asked for him, since he wouldknow nothing of Antoinette Seaver Jones or that she was the wife of hisdistant relative, the other Jason Jones.
"He did, indeed, answer Doctor Anstruther by saying he would not comeunless his expenses were advanced, so the good doctor launched thefuture deception by sending him ample funds. I knew of this action andwondered what I ought to do. There would be a terrible mix-up when myhusband appeared, and I realized how disappointed the sick woman wouldbe. Knowing her condition to be dangerous, I feared the shock wouldkill her, which it really did, for still I kept silent. I told myselfthat I had not aided in the deception in any way, that it was a trickof fate, and I could not be blamed. I thought that when DoctorAnstruther met my husband there would be explanations and the truthwould come out, but somehow that did not happen. Jason Jones walkedinto Antoinette Seaver Jones' room expecting to find _me_ dying, andsaw a strange woman in the bed and his wife--in good health--standingbefore him. He let out an oath in his surprise and my patient, who hadraised up in bed to stare at him, uttered a low moan and fell back onher pillow, dead. I saw the tragedy and involuntarily screamed, andJason Jones saw she was dead and cried out in fear. I had just time torecover my wits and whisper to him to keep his mouth shut and I wouldmake him rich when Doctor Anstruther hurried into the room.
"The whole thing was unpremeditated up to that time, but now I assistedfate, for I had witnessed Mrs. Jones' will and knew well its contents.No one seemed to know there were two artists named Jason Jones andeveryone accepted my husband as Alora's father and the one entitled toher guardianship and to profit by the terms of the will.
"An hour after Mrs. Jones died I secured a secret interview with myhusband, who until then had been thoroughly bewildered, and explainedto him that the mistake in identity would, if he took prompt advantageof it, give him the control of an enormous income for seven years--until the child reached the age of eighteen. He was fearful, at first,that the other Jason Jones would appear and prosecute him forswindling, but as the husband of Antoinette Seaver had not been heardfrom in years, even by his own wife, I induced him to accept the risk.It was I who virtually put that income into my husband's hands, and inreturn he agreed to supply me with whatever money I demanded, up to ahalf of his receipts. But he proved that there is not always honoramong thieves, for after he had been made legal executor of the estateand his fears had somewhat subsided he endeavored to keep all the moneyfor himself and begrudged me the one or two instalments I forced him togive me. Strangely enough, this formerly poverty-stricken artist nowdeveloped a love of accumulation--a miserly love for the money itself,and hated to spend any of it even on himself or on the girl to whom heowed his good fortune. The coward actually ran away and hid himself inEurope, and I, having spent all the money he had given me, with theidea I had an inexhaustible fund to draw upon, was forced to turn nurseagain.
"After three years I had saved enough to follow him to Europe, where Ilocated him at a lonely villa in Italy. Its very loneliness was myundoing, for he made a husky servant lock me up in an outhouse andthere I was held a prisoner until Jason had again escaped to America.He thought he could hide better in the United States and that Iwouldn't have the money to follow him there, but I had fortunatelysaved enough for my return passage. By the time I got home, however, hehad completely disappeared and all my efforts failed to locate him. SoI returned to Chicago and again resumed my profession.
"You will say I might have denounced him as an impostor and made thepolice hunt him up, but that would have ruined my chances of evergetting another penny of the money and might have involved mepersonally. Jason knew that, and it made him bold to defy me. Isilently bided my time, believing that fate would one day put the manin my power.
"You know how I happened to find Alora in Chicago and how I lured herto my home and kept her there a prisoner."
It was found that the dead man had made large investments in his ownname, and as he had left no will Janet declared that this property nowbelonged to her, as his widow. Lawyer Conant, however, assured her thatas the money had never been legally her husband's, but was secured byhim under false pretenses, all the investments and securities purchasedwith it must be transferred to the real Jason Jones, to whom they nowbelonged. The court would attend to that matter.
"And it serves you right, madam," added Peter Conant, "for concoctingthe plot to swindle Alora's father out of the money his dead wifeintended him to have. You are not properly punished, for you should besent to jail, but your disappointment will prove a slight punishment,at least."
"So far as I knew," answered Janet, defending her crime, "Alora'sfather was either dead or hidden in some corner of the world where hecould never be found. To my knowledge there was no such personexistent, so the substitution of my husband for him did him no injuryand merely kept the income out of the clutches of paid executors. Hadthe right man appeared, at any time during these four years, to claimhis child and the money, he might easily have secured them by provinghis identity. So the fault was his as much as mine."
Jason Jones had personally listened to the woman's confession, whichfilled him with won
der. While severely condemning her unscrupulousmethods he refused to prosecute her, although Mr. Conant urged him todo so, and even carried his generosity to the extent of presenting herwith one of her dead husband's small investments, obtaining from her inreturn the promise to lead an honest and respectable life.
It had been the artist's intention to return to his Californiabungalow, but after the probate court had acknowledged him andtransferred to him the guardianship of his daughter, he decided todevote the coming years to Alora and endeavor to recompense her withfatherly devotion for the privations and unhappiness she had formerlyendured.
Alora did not wish to be separated from Mary Louise, so her fatherpurchased the handsome residence of Senator Huling, which was situateddirectly opposite to that of Colonel Hathaway in Dorfield, andsucceeded in making it a real home for his daughter.
Josie O'Gorman went back to Washington well pleased with her success,although she said with a little grimace of feigned regret:
"I did pretty well, for an amateur, for I tackled a tough case and wonout; but, after all, it was Mary Louise who solved the mystery andrestored Alora to her honest-for-true father."
Mary Louise Solves a Mystery Page 25
