[CHAPTER XXXIV.]
THE CLEVERDALE MYSTERY.
After Mannis fled so precipitately from the parlor of the Hamblin mansion, George Alden was the first to break the silence.
"Friends!" he exclaimed, "I am George Alden, whom you have supposed dead. A great wrong or mistake has made me its victim, and the body lying in yonder cemetery is that of a stranger." Then, covering the face of his wife with kisses, he moved forward, and deposited the insensible form of Belle on the sofa, when Fannie Alden sprang quickly toward him, and hysterically embraced him, exclaiming:
"Yes, it is indeed my brother! Oh, what happiness!"
The fright occasioned by the sudden appearance of the supposed dead man having been dispelled by Alden's words, all except members of the family withdrew. In a few moments the efforts at restoration were successful; Belle opened her eyes, and said:
"Was it a dream?"
Beholding the form kneeling beside her, feeling the warm breath on her face, and seeing the loving eyes looking into her own, she cried: