training, and one who knew life thoroughly. He had delightful
manners, and when he could forget his shyness for a while, he could
be very agreeable. The ladies of my family came to like him, and
encouraged him to call frequently. Then the thing happened that I
should not have believed possible. My ward, Miss Roemer, a quiet,
reserved girl, fell in love with this man about whom none of us
knew anything, a man with a past of which he did not care to speak.

"I was not in any way satisfied with the match, and they seemed to
realise it. For Siders managed to persuade the girl to a secret
engagement. I discovered it a month or two ago, and it made me very
angry. I did not let them see how badly I felt, but I warned Lora
not to have too much to do with the boy, and I set about finding
out something regarding his earlier life. It was my duty to do this,
as I was the girl's guardian. She has no other relative living, and
no one to turn to except my aunt and myself. I wrote to Mr. Richard
Tressider in Chicago, the owner of the factory in which I had been
employed while there. John had told me that Tressider had been his
client during the four years in which he practiced law in Chicago.
I received an answer about the middle of August. Mr. Tressider had
been able to find out only that John was born in the town of Hartberg
in a certain year. This was enough. I took leave of absence for a
few days and went to Hartberg, which, as you know, is about 140 miles
from here. Three days later I knew all that I wanted to know. John
Siders was not the man's real name, or, rather, it was only part of
his name. His full name was Theodor John Bellmann, and his mother
was an Englishwoman whose maiden name was Siders. His father was a
county official who died at an early age, leaving his widow and the
boy in deepest poverty. Mrs. Bellmann moved to G-- to give music
lessons. Theodor went to school there, then finally to college, and