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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Advocate, 1894-11-15, Page 7fs^. A Woman's. Crime. BY AN EX-DETEOTIVE, Published by permission of the OWnertl of the Copyright, (COIanetimen "Old man, I got you out of that old hive to tell A to you, and I have got to have your help, even if you have to shake the Bradwardine for a time," re- plied Neil Bathurst gravely. "Good Lord, Neil 1 is it a heavy case, then P" "Yes, Bob, it is as bad as your Elise Schwartz business." "What, is it murder?" "Yes, it's murder." "Who is the victim?" "Clarence Arteveldt." "What !" "Clarence Arteveldt. He was murder- ed on his wedding night." "Good GodI" They had passed beyond the row of cot- tages and were now walking by a fenced - in but vacant lot. As he uttered this last exclamation, Bob Jocelyn, for the census taker was none other, paused and leaned back against the fence. "Let's stop here," he said, after a mo- ment's silence. "We can talk with more safety than when moving. Do you ex- pect to find the assassin here, Neil?" "No. I am after threads. Arteveldt's destroyer is believed to be a woman." "A woinan ! What woman?" 4 'His wife." 'Heavens! Tell me all about it, Neil. I can't comprehend the thing," "Well, Rob," began Neil Bathurst, leaning nearer to his friend, "the morn- ing after the shadowing of Mike's you remember my telling you that you had spoiled. a wedding for me, don't you?" "Yes! yes!" "Well, it was Arteveldt's wedding, as I told you then, and it had a tragic ter- mination. You had not been gone ten minutes whenl some one rapped at my door. I opened it and. Mrs. Arteveldt's coachman staggered in, looking like a ghost. He wastoo near crazy with fright to be very lucid, but I managed to make out that there had been murder commit- ted at the new house Arteveldt had fitted up, and I set off at full speed. Arrived there, I went straight to the bridal °ham- ber. The doctor was there already, and old Mrs. Arte -veldt in hysterics of the worst sort, while on the bed, all covered up with the satin. quilts and finery, lay Clarence, just as if he were sleeping, ex- cept that his face was livid, and there was a small, round hole just back of his temple, with only a clot of blood to mark it." "What?" Rob jocelyn turned swiftly and clutch- ed his friend by the shoulders. "What, Neil!" he cried, "a stylet -wound?" "Yes." "Then, by the Lord, Neil Bathurst, i you are huntng slippery game. Old Schwartz and his sister were killedin just that way, and, I believe'when you find your murderess I shall findd "You think them the same?" "Yes. Women who use such weapons are not plentiful. Trust me, the hand that struck down old Schwartz in London •and the hand that took the life of young Arteveldt in America belong to the same woman, and it will take all your wits and all of mine to find her if she has escaped." "She has escaped, as mysteriously and effectually as did Elise Schwartz, the Lon. - don murderess." "Then Isay again she is Elise Schwartz." • CHAPTER XXF.T.-A NEW LINK Di THE CHAIN. "1 don't know," said Neil Bathurst. "You may change your opinion about that, Rob, when you have heard the whole story; and that I can't tell you now. It would take too ranch time. But I will tell you this, there is a clear case of circumstantial evidence, and that of the strongest kind, against thisgirl that Arteveldt married, the very night he got that death blow. His mother will hunt her to the ends of the earth, and I must find her, and give no thought to anything else until I do. Now then, in a pell mell rnsh for this girl, or woman, they are leaving some loop holes open; because they can't see them. I can see them, however, and I tell you they need looking after." "And you want me to stop up the loop holes?" asked Jocelyn with a laugh. "I want you to go straight back to the city, and worm yourself into the con- fidence of that scamp Fordham, who knows some of Arteveldt's secrets, of the off color sort. And I want you to keep an eye on. the house which stands e next to, or rather is a part of, the building where the murder was conaraitted. rn give you some points; and we raust contrive to have a talk to -night, when all these stupid. people are in. bed." "You want me to go to the city?" said. Bob, with a puzzled look. "Where are you going, Neil?" "I'm going to stay here." Yes, here! If I can't get a thread. to follow in this village, I can't get one any where." Well, I suppose I must let Mr. Brad- wardine drop for a while. However, I fancy that I possess about as much in- formation as he does at the present mo- ment. He's waiting for something to turn up, for he has got to the length of his tether. What's your lay here, Neil?" "I'm cultivating Dr. Austin.". " Dr. Austin!" "Yes. He is the guardian of the sup- posed murderess. She came to the city a little less than three months ago, fresh from this rural dell. Why, Rob, she ar- rived the very day that you made your appearance. I was to have met her that evening at Ruthven's ; but sent ray re - vets by poor Arteveldt." "Well, as I told. you that morning, Arteveldt met his fate that night-lus fate indeed! This Lenore Annyn-this country girk--rnade rapid progress in the city. I fancy Dr. Austin was not a very strict guerdian. I wonder if he so ranch as knows of the marriage and murder." et" Don't know. But I tell, you, ad boy, your head was level .whei you came here, I guess I can give you something that you may work out, perhaps. You know, 'Brady' and I arrived here -let me see -why, the night after the murder. Something took me with the notion that I had 'better look after Mr. B.; so I went down the avenue that morning, and caught him east leaving the house. I followed hirn to an office, -where he in- gaired about the trains to Fairlie and bought a ticket; then I Went to my quarters, got myself up as att houeet census taker and came on the Same train. As I was about to say, a man can't come into this town, or leave it, without being observed more or legs, and it was not strange thee I should see Dr. Austin rid- ing opposite me in the saute coach that brought me and my game to this "dise riot'; for he tha come on that coaelt, and he came from the city by the same train that brought us," "He dtd Then my reasoning was sound?" 64 rour reasoning generally is ,protty sound, my boy. Now, I can tell you a little about Dr. Austin. He is the best and kindest of men -that's what all the villagers think, and I fully coincide with them. He is in moderately comfortable circumstances, and has a fat, jolly little wife, 'who is universally popular. Every one here will swear by Dr, Austin, These facts I have picked up while circulating about town. Have you, seen him?" " Yes ; and I think you have hit him off eorreetly. Nevertheless, I must find the fugitive bride through him. Have you heard any mention of Miss Armyn in, your rounds, "Well -yes; I have heard a little about her," replied Rob, with that pe- culiar intonation -which Neil knew meant something suppressed. "But here we arenNeil let's change the subject; and to -night, if you will be so good as to leave the door unloeked, I will give you a call. I know every corner of this little trap; and everybody except Brady goes to bed before 9 o'clock." "Well. we wiU follow their example - temporarily," replied Neil, with a laugh. They entered the hotel, resuming them "characters" as they did so, and, after a few yawns and nervous inquiries about burglars, John Jacob retired., soon to be followed by the census taker and all the rest of the household. Jason Braaward- ine could. be. heard pacing restlessly up and down his room till a late hour. But finally the sound of his footsteps ceased, and the little hotel was profoundly quiet. little after midnight two forms might have been seen to emerge from a rear door of the little hotel, and glide away in the direction of the stables. They seemed to have no designs upon the horses, however, for they went straight toward a wood -pile, and seated them- selves thereon as comfortably as they could. "There !" said the taller of the two; "here we are, safe and comfortable -or tolerably so," giving a hitch, as a, not particularly soft log rolled a little under his weight. "Such a supernaturally quiet house as the worst place in the world for private interviews, not to mention the " NOBODY WILL LOOK FOR NIGHT -LARKS ON THE WOODPILE." wafer-like quality of the walls. But no- body will look for night -larks on the 'wood -pie; so begin at the beginning, Neil, and tell me all about this busi- n.ess." Neil Bathurst did begin at the begin- ning -at the very moment when Jocelyn had bidden him good morning, and. then gone in pursuit of Bradwardine. He de- scribed the scene at the bridal banquet, and all that followed, omitting nothing. Then he reviewed the evidence for and against Lenore, told of his various inter- views with Rate Jess Warren George Fordham and. others • of the finding of the mysterious threatning notes, of the visit of the veiled. woman to Lenore Armyn, ,of his doubts and. suspicions, up to the very time when he had set out for Fairlie. Rob Jocelyn was an attentive listener, and he interrupted the narrator less fre- quently than was his wont when listen- ing to such a story. Neil Bathurst, who knew him so well, was fully convinced that some idea, the nature of which he could not guess, was working in the brain of the astute Jocelyn, and he waited quietly until Rob should see fit to de- velop it. When his story was done, they sat silent for a longteime, Jocelynseeming to have an unusual amount of thinking en hand. At last he got up, reseated himself in a new position, and then said: "Well, and so you think that this next- door house needs to be watched?" "I do. I have gathered this much in- formation concerning it. It was leased a few days after Arteveldt took the other one. Leased by a middle-aged respect- able sort of a widow woman, who intends opening an aristocratic boarding-house. Now, as I told you, when I examined the premises, I quickly saw how easy it would be for any one concealed in that unoccupied house to get out on the roof and enter Arteveldt's through the scuttle holes or hatch, and then go back the same way, letting themselves out with- out difffeelty. Now, then'if I had men- tioned this idea, what would have been the result? They would have insisted upon searching that house, and would fail in accomplishing anything except to pat the party on guard. Mind, my theory is, not that the house was entered by some one who merely knew it to be vacant, and who had no interest in it further, when I repeat that the house was taken within the same week that Clarence rented its fellow,and that, in spite of the fact that while his, Arte - veldt's, house was all ready for occupancy a week before the weading, the other house was not yet entirely fitted up, and was, and is still, unoccupied, you will comprehend my idea." "Yes !" replied Socelyn, "If I am correct, and the party is not alarmed by a search warrent, in all pro- bability they will use, or some one will use, the house, for a short time et least, Do you. see my drift?" "Yes, and take care, of the home. Go on, Neil; what more "Fordham ; cultivate him; 1 have al- ready told you all I can to guide you theee." "All right my boy. I'll set oat by the ieext etage, And -I'll leave Brad wardinfa in your charge." "1 don't knew about that, Bob; I am afraid I should have to drop higi," "No; you won't have to drop bim. You have a stronger reason for keeping a lookout on him than ever I had," "1! how do you make that?" "Well -fop one thing -.-didn't you ob- serve by that precious register that he was here in August last? He has seen Lenore Armyn and you have not." "No; and I could not get a picture a her ; ne one had ranch a thing. Bat, Bob, that's not a sound reason after all. I think you can give a better one." "Yes," replied Rob Jocelyn, 411 cans my boy; and here it is : The woman who wrote those mysterious letters to Jason Bradwardine, years ago, was Mrs. Armyn, who died here some nine mouths ago. The woman who fled lam Elm Valley, and who called herself, while there, 'Mistress Bourne,was Mrs. Arrayn. The child he tried to steal was little Lenore Armyn. And the game Jason Bradwardine is in search of now is the same that you are hunting down - Lenore Armyn Arteveldt, the fugitive bride and supposed murderess." CHAPTER xXV.-THE ENGLISH DETEC- TIVE. Kind reader, with the rapidity of thought, than which nothing speeds fast- er, let us transport ourselves, for a very little time, to another cotintry and an- other scene. It is the middle of November. Nay, it is the very day that comes with the sun chariot at its heels, and looks down to behold Clarence Arteveldt a corpse, It is the very hour that over in America that dreary inquest is being held and Le- nore Arroyn is being pronounced a mur- deress. Bat now we are in England; we stand upon the threshold of Hillary Hall, the stately country seat of Sir Hillary Mas- sing'wer iho owns a splendid modern pal- ace n London and a costly bijou, called fashionably a shooting box, in the High- lands, who is lord over many acres, many servants and many, many thousand pounds per annum. We enter the private cabinet of Sir Hil- lary Messinger, where everything is stately, antique, magnificent and almost priceless. No stranger could enter there without gazing spellbound. But the room might be furnished in deal so little no- tice do its inmates take of the beautiful surroundings. The elder of the two men who sit at a carved table strewn with business -like looking papers and letters innumerable is Sir Hillary Messinger himself -a proud, stern -looking old man, tall and erect, but wearing upon his brow lines indicative of care and trouble, and above it scanty locks of snow-white hair. The other is a younger man; he may be twenty-five or thirty-five, or even old- er; you cannot guess his age by his face. i It s smooth shaven and slightly florid; the eyes are not large and of a blue grey color; they are introspective, inscrutable eyes, and sometimes they are keen and restless. The hair is thick and soft, light brown in color and cut close, very close, to the splendidly formed head.. It is not a handsome face, but it is a strong one, as strong as if east in iron, and yet there are times when the face, the eyes, the very figure of the man wear an expression of unutterable weariness and profound melancholy. He is below the medium height,broad shouldered and thoroughly English in build. And he is an English- man, and a good one. Sir Hillary Mas - singer's vis-a-vis and companion is Fran- cis Ferrars, the first and best of English detectives. He sits before Sir Rillary in the great carved chair with all the ease and grace of a drawing -room habitue. And he looked the old nobleman squarely in the eye, as he says in a firm, resolute tone: "I have waited upon you to -day, Sir Hillary, because I have some reason for thinking that you are becoming dissatis- fied with my work, and I do not choose to be misunderstood, or to have my efforts undervalued, even by you. I must, therefore trespass upon your time while I review, for your benent, my work for the past three years and more." The nobleman moves uneasily itt his chair, and one aristocratic hand toys nervously with a paper weight as he re- plies: "You are too sensitive, Ferrars. I may have questioned the advisability of one or two things, but I have had, and still have, perfect confidence in your skill. Why, man, nobody in England doubts that." "Nevertheless, Sir Hillary, I must in- sist upon this hearing. Blunders have been made, shameful ones. But the fault shall rest where it properly belongs. I will take the consequences of my mis- takes; others who deal with m.e must carry the burden of theirs- If I am to con- duct this case further, we muet thoroughly review the ground and begin afresh with a better understanding," "If you are to conduct it!" broke in. Sir Hillary. Why, man, of course you are. 1 would trust it to no one else, and I will keep it moving until I die." "Then, so will 1," replied Francis Fer- rara. "Now then, Sir Hillary," he resumed, "we will begin, if you please, at the be- ginning." . "Proceed then," said Sir Hillary, sink- ing back with a half sigh. "If you must, you will, Ferrars; but I protest; it is unnecessary." "I think I shall convince you that it is not unnecessary," replied the detective tranquilly, "First, then, Sir .efillary," he began. "Long ago, some three years and four' months since, you applied to Scotland Yard for my serviess in a private case, and my chief detailed me for as long a time as your case should require. Norte of us dreamed then that it would be pro- longed year after year and take me half over the world. When I came to you for instructions, this is what you told me. Some fourteen years ago, you said, in a small village in the south of France, there had lived a woman, young and beautiful; she was supposed to be mar- ried to a young Englishman of good fam- ily, and was herself of good blood, on the side of the mother, who had been guilty of a misalliance. The marriage with the Englishman had been a private one, and they had lived under an assumed name. They had one child, a girl, then more than a year old, and seemed very happy in their seclusion. But one day the hus- band disappeared, and the young wge had good reason for believing herself for- saken, There had been one or two stormy scenes between her and some of her hus- band's relatives, and when her hasband forsook her she conceived the idea that sooner or later he would rob het of her &lid, and she fled from the villa country, leaving no clue to her whereabouts or in- tentions behind her. The manner in -which yen set about this case nroVedthat you were a novice in Well matters. Yon eine me names, dates, addressee and a pi:Our() of the woman. You also fur- nished ree with the names and. all that you knew of her family --and yet you gave unt only half confidence. Is not that true, Sir Hillary Massager V.' ' Sir Hillary had been sitting with one handshading his facie., and the other work- i/ig nervously, cle,seeng and unclasping itself, as it lay elk the velvet arm of his ask. Ee never looked. up as the detee- tive paused for asreply ; he only said, in a low, eonstrained tone; "Yes ---that is true." "Here, then, occurred the first mistake, and because of it I spent months of valu- able time in useless Seareh. The lady had been missing fpurteen years, and I needed everything that you could tell me to guide me in my search -everything. Ir: order to successfully follow such miss- ing ones, a detective should know their antecedents, who their friends are, who are their enemies, and what their tastes and favorite pursuits are, If he does not know thees things his first task is to learn them. You did not choose to tell these things, so, after eight months' search, I came to you, and told you what you already knew; namely, that the missing lady was the wife of your only son; that you had been at first ignorant of the marriage, and that, when it first came to your knowledge, you took meas- ures wbich, whether you Intended it or not, had the effect of eventually separat- ing the young husband and wife, of wrecking his health and happiness, and of making her an outcast and a wander- er." "True," said Sir Hillary with a groan. "I know it -I know it now !" "And. yet -even thett you did not tell me all," resumed the detective, almost sternly. "Month after month passed away; I scoured France, Italy, Germany, Spain; I searched the provinces, and little less than a year ago I came to you and said I had made one discovery, namely, that some cause I could not understand lay behind all that you had told ree con- cerning this woman, and that I believed that some one beside yourself had been instrumental -in bringineP'about her trouble. I insisted upon- being told of every enemy you or your son might have had, and I insisted upon. being told the true reason why you desired now, at this late day„ to find this woman and her child. I would 'same nothing less than the whole truth, and, finally, yea told me all, or so I believed and do still." "Yes," interrupted Sir Hillary, "I told you the truth then." "You told me that your son had died estranged from you, that you being a' widower had then. married a young wife and. hoped for an heir. But your wife died childless, and within the yeur al- most, and then the man who would of necessity inherit after you began to manifest himself. You, had always dis- liked the man and with good reason, andyouhad never dreamed of his be- coming your heir. Theie was but one way to prevent it, however; the females of the house of Messinger were lawful inheritors; this man belonged to a very remote branch. If you could find your son's child you would have an heiress, and jasoxt Bradwardine would be cut off. Anything was better than Jason Brad- wardine, and so you set me to look up the missing heiress'without telling me that a man. who had the strongest pos- sible interest in keeping this heiress from coraxnunicating with you was in exist- ence." "I tell you, man, I never dreamed. of such a thing, and I hated his very name. I never thought of the possibility of his inheriting after me until my wife died. And I know that his elder brother was alive until four or five years ago. I don't believe he ever thought of the succession until I became a widower and childless." "You think so. Listen, Sir Hillary Messinger. For more than a year I have been like a sleuth hound on the trail of that man. I have been near him when he little dreamed it. I have won the con- fidence of his servants and his friends. Hetis base, he is treacherous, he is cun- ning; he has schembd' all these years to become Sir Jason Messinger, of Hillary Hall. He has borrowed money on his expectations, and because you have been blinded I have been following shadows. His elder brother died nearly eighteen years ago, and the letters you have received purporting to come from him have been forgeries on the dead, perpetrated by this schemer. jason Bradwardine has known where to put his hand upon your heiress; whether he knows her whereabouts now, is, I think, doubtful. He has been living itt a villa itt one althea London suburbs, and there is now a lady there who calls her- self his wife. I happen to know this to be a pleasant fiction of hers, however. Not long ago I eontrived, no matter how, to gain access to his house and his pri- vate room.; my strategy was not a very safe one, but I took the risk, and. forcing open his private desk examined the con- tents. It was there I found evidence enoueeh to convince me that he had, years ago, -known the hiding place of your son's wife. I may as well tell you how I accomplished my work, perhaps. The villa is very solitary, and few men. veere in the vicinity at that hour. I approacb- ed the housed as a tramp, and entered it as a robber. I frightened the woman, and. the two female servants, and they submitted while I searched the house and their pockets. From the pocket of the mistress I abstracted this letter • see, it is in Jason Bradwardine's hand, and is mailed from America'from a place celled Fannie, in the State of —. It is dated August last. I had omitted to say that while 1 VMS lying ill,. for a little less than a week, Bradwardine had disap- peared. I have not seen him since June last ; nor could I find a clueto his where- abouts until I came in possession of this letter." The 'detective paused for a moment and gathered up his papers, while Sir Hillary sat staring at him and striving to digest this, to him, startlingrevelatiou of Bred - war me s c a. unn'ng "1 think you will now do me the jus- tice to say that the blunders in working this case have not been of my making, Sir Hillitryn" said Francis Ferrars, rising as'if his businese were completed. "No, by hen -vets, Ferrara 1" cried the old man, rising in his turn, "It has been my fault, first and last! I have been blind, a dolt, stool! My accursed pride has stood between me and the only thing that can make happy one remaining hour of my life, my last hour. And note it may be, it probably is too late to remedy the wrong I have helped to do." His voice sank to a helpless cadence, and he threw himself wearily backin the great 93,ft. chair once Moro. "On Wei 'contrary, Sir Hillary; far my, fuvit tittedel etie a ray of hope for us, My coulee is rnapped out; I shall follow it edgereeSstly ; and -4 helieVe I Shall S110^ ceed,'' "What ere you gen% to d9 "1 ani going to America by the first steamer." ' Of141ernit INVESTICATORS. "The game Jason Bradevrrcline is in seareh of is the earn° that you are hunt- ing down: Lenore Arreyn-Arteveldt, the fugitive bride and supposed murderess." These low -Spoken words of Bob Jocelyn brought Neil Bathurst to his feet with a bound, "Job! Are you in earnest?" he cried, giving his friend a little shake; is Brad- wardine really in search of 14enere Armyn?" ' "lie really is Neil. Good Lord, man, let up that grip on my arm !" said Bob, jerking himself from the tender elasp of Neil's powerful band. "Bless me'but you are a fraud, old boy; you don't look much to speak of beside me. I almost wish I were not quite so high, and so wide myself, just for the satisfaction of seeing the -emitirns stare` out of the eye that wasn't blacked, when I knocked 'ern down so nice and easy. Just knock nae over once, Neil; I want to see your arm shoot "By thunder 1 I will, if you don't stop your nonsense, you chaffingold ele- phant!" replied. Neil, -with an impatient half langh. "I want to get down to busi- ness. I am thoroughly astounded. The -whole thing, from hrst to last, seems like fatality. So those letters I packed up, on general principles, as it were, were writ- ten by the mother of my fugitive." "They certainly were," replied Rob, dropping his jesting tone. "Tell me what you know atout this, Rob." "Well, you see I came here at his very heels, and it didn't me long to find out that he was trying to come the friendly dodge on Doctor Austin. He made a good many inquiries about Mrs. Armyn and her daughter of one and another, in a sort of round -about way, and then I had him safe. He pre- tended that he wanted to buy the .Armyn cottage for a summer residence,etc. Well, when I once got my suspiciou aroused, it was easy for me as a census taker to find old -women, and young ones, too, for that matter, who would talk by the yard about anything. I found. out that the coming of Mrs. Armyn and child to this village would correspond with the date on which she left Elm Valley ; then, tem the descriptions tallied. There's no doubt about the matter, Mrs. Armyn is the woman he was hunting, and, now that she is dead, he transfers his atten- tions to the daughter." "You can't guess his motives:?" (TO BE CONTINUED.) A ROYAL LOVE AFFAIR, Why the Czarwiteh Does Not Want to Marry Princess Alix. A startling and romantic story is at presentgobag the rounds of the aristo- cratic circles of St. Petersburg regarding a serious love affair of the heir to the Russian throne. Friends of the young prince do not hesitate to say that, de- spite the announcement of his marriage day, he will never lead Princess Ala of Hesse to the altar, improbable as this seems. It is even said that he has threat- ened to renounce his succession to the throne in order to marry the woman of his choice -a Hebrew maiden. In view of the condition of the health of the Czar and of the serious illness of his majesty's second son., George, the consequences of such a romantic decision on the part ef the Czarwiteh are so far-reaching that they cannot readily be surmised. There are many things, however, -which lend color to the interesting, if improbable, story. It may be remembered that in. 1889 there was considerable talk of the en- gagement of the czarwitch and the Prin- cess Margarethe of Prussia, the youngest sister of the Emperor of Germany. It was supposed at the time that the prince, then twenty-one years old, was really itt love with the young Hohenzol- lern, and -would willingly wed her. It was said, however, that the marriage did n,ot take place because of the impossibil- ity of agreeing upon the question of re- ligion. But it is now positively declared that the Czar was perfectly willing. to consent to the demands of Prince Bis- marck -that the princess remain true to her faith during the engagement, and become a Greek after her marriage. But when this agreement was reached, after many diplomatic discussions, the czar - witch, to the surprise of everyone and the chagrin of both caarts, announced that ho could not marry the princess. He was young enough, he declared, to wait a few years. All attempts to per- suade him to carry out the plan were in vain. He did wait a "few years," and a Hohenzollern was deprived of the happy chance of becoming a Russian. empress. Even at the time there were hints that "youth" was not the real explanation of the action, of the prince, and maiay be- lieved that there was some romantic at- tachment which influenced him. All efforts, however, to prove this supposition true were fruitless. But the Emperor decided, nevertheless, to send his son on -a long journey. Re completed his journey around the world, visited various courts, was nearly mur- dered by a crazy Japanese, and had many - adventures. But when he returned to the Russian capital he was just as much disinclined as ever to marry. The czar pleaded with him, and pointed out the dangers of delay to his dynasty. But thishad no effect, and the czar lost his patience. When the chance came the young prince to proceed to Germany and become engaged to the Princese Alix. He hesitated, however, even to obey the command of his father -although it had been announced, naturally, far and wide that the engagement was to be solemniz- ed. He went at the last minute. The engagement took place, andthe credit at the time was given to the Emperor of Germany. The sequel, however, according to the story, is starding. The prime returned to St. Petersburg in a morose and un- happy condition. He acted as one hall mad for several days, and then went to his mother to make a confession. He pleaded with her to have the engagement broken, as he was it love with. a Hebrew girl, whom he could not and would riot desert. Re had long ago decided to re- nounce his succeesioli to the throne in order to marry his sweetheart. Conside- ration for the condition of his father's health had. alone kept him from carrying out his intentions. Now, however' he eoUld wait no longer. He must wedthe woman of his choice, It is not diffie,ult to imagine the effect of such a declaration upon the Czarina from her favorite soh., She tried to shoes hire the Madness of such a course and entreated him to save her shame and sera r9W. She called all her relatives to her aid -but they talked to deaf eters in Mak- ing to the young man. Then the Czar had to be told, The shock WA se great, it, isa said, that his Majesty suffered a slight attack of apoplexy, whieh 041.150a. Paveh alarm on aecount of the condition of his health, This, it is said, brought the young an partly to his senses, and be finally eon- sented to take a trip to Darmstadt, However strong the attachnient of the young man may kea for a Hebrew girl, it is, of course, not probable that it men( w interfere with the xnarriage of the Neu- IIIERRirs A 600P fall OUT. How a Voting EngiLiebnian Caused a Flutter in Upper Tenteirele 8, Z...7 The people of the pretty town of Ridge- wood, N.J., for the past two mouths have been having a better time gossiping than they have had for the better part of a decade, and all on account of set Young Englialunan named John West, who, after being laestler at the Herbert house for two years, announced that be had fallen heir to it fortune of $125,000, and that he was going to study in Ridgewood and invest it in real estate. The 4C0 of the place felt themselves in it pretty pickle when this ennounceneent was made. What were they to do? Could they receive with open arms a youth who for two years had cleaned horses at the inn? Yet the fad remained that he had $126,600 in cash, and, appareetly to prove that he had, he proceeded to buy a e1,400 tanden team and let a contract for a $1 5,000 house, to be built on one of the most fashienable streets. But to cetuater- act that again it was rumored that he was engaged to one of the waitresses of the hotel, and was going to marry her. Mn. West was found at the Herbert bouseothere he was waiting for his coachman to bring around a new horse be had bought, and NS Lich he was going to try. "I don't kr ow what all this fuss is about," he said to a reporter. "There is not anything wonderful about my get- ting $125,000, for I have always known that I was to get it, you know, and I am gout g to have more when ray father dies, I dicl rot have to work as a hastier. you know." "What made you leave England and become one P" he was asked. "Well, you know, my rather, David West, is a rich man, who lives iri New- market, Erg. He is it retired captain of the British navy. Now, I have a friend named Arthur Doiinelly, son of Sir Peter Donnelly, an Irish baronet. Well, now, you know, one clay we had a little quar- rel, and he fell to guying me, and said I cotild not earn my own living. That made me hot, and I wagered him auk that I could earn my own living with my hands, and he took me up. You know people look at things differently itt the old country from what they do here, so without letting ray people know I seiled on the Campania on her second trip, and landed in New York in Sone, 1892, with 8850 in my pocket. I had a friend there, a.nd through him came down to Ridge- wood within it month after landing and want to work for Mr, Estis, the well - driller. After workIng a month at that I found I was not strong enough, and so I came to work for Mr. Herbert as lust- ier. You know," he added, "I was con- sidered the best amateur rider in New- market. MY father wrote to me to go home, though he did not know what kind of work I was doing, but I knew what a guying I'd get, and hked the country and stayed, f or I knew it woula be only a snort time before I'd get this money." DO YOU WANT Write to the NoaTneaN BUSINESS COLLEGE, Owen TO LEARN IT ? 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