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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1939-11-09, Page 6PAGE SIX VIMSIBIEMENIEBSEIONIMININSESEMIZE e t r Gift However, in pursuance of this art fel policy, he certainly gave the dead man. what the landlady of the village inn called, "a dressy funeral." All that could be done in the way of pomp and ceremony was done, and the proees- e on which followed Ishmael Hearne to the grave was an extraordinarily long one. The villagers came because. like all the lowly orders, they loved the excitement of the interment; the gypsies from the camp followed, since the deceased was of their blood; and many people in financial and social circles came down from London for the obvious reason that Pine was a well-known figure in the City and the leWest End.As for Lambert. he put ie an appearance, in response to his cousin's invitation, unwilling enough tut in order to convince Agnes tha he had every desire to obey her con !rands. People could scarcely think that Pine had been jealous of the ear- ly enemeement to Agues, whet. her for seer lover attended the funeral of a r..;cessftil rival, Ff •nurse. the bailee party at the Manan had broken up immediately af- ter the inquest. It would have distn- tcgrated before only that inspector T.crby insisted that every one should remain for examination in connection Trfth 'he Puts Tragical occurrence, But spite of questioning and eross- ,iestiening. nothing had been learn- ed likely to show who had murdered the millionaire. There was a great seal of talk after the body had been raced in the Lambert vault. and there. was more talk in the newepap• rs when an accountwas given of the teneral. But neither by word of re enth. nor in print, was any sngges- tiren made likely to afford the slight- er: clue to the name or whereabouts re the assassin. Having regard to Ptntee romantic career. it was thought try +'ltrr that the act was one of re- v«:;fie by a gypsy jealous that the man ;-•eseek1 attain to .such affluence, while r•ieeee hinted that the motive fnr the {rin',c• was to be friend in connection wits, the millionaire's career ate a eentr:w. Gradually. as all ennjecture ^•w. -e futile 'Ire gn"-ip died away. ieed - *her ' vent• usurped the interest +£ the public. Pine. who was really Hearne. had haen murdered and bur - ed: his assassin would never he. die. -i;ver..d. since the trail was too well hidden.: and Lady Agnes inherited at !east two millions on which she would prcbably marry her cousin and so restore the tarnished splendors of the Lambert family. In this way the sit - !sateen was summed up by the gos- ens. and then they began to talk al}out something else. The tragedy was only a nine minutes' wonder a: ter all. The gossips both in town and toms - try were certainly right in as -inning that the widow inherited the vast property of her deceased husband, But what they did not know was that a condition attached to such inherit- ance irritated Agnes and caused Gar- vington unfeigned alarm. Pine's snlie- itor—he wee called Jarwin and came from a stuffy little office in Chancery Lane—called Garvington aside, when the mourners returned from the fun- eral. and asked that the reading of the will might be eonfined to a few people whom he named. "There is a condition laid down by the testator which need not be made public," said Mr. Jarwin blandly. "A proposition which, if possible, must he kept tint of print." Garvington, with a sudden reeoll- ection of his iniquity in connection with the falsified cheek, did not dare to ask questions, but hastily sum- moned the people named by the law- -yer. As these were the widow. Lady Garvington, himself, and his cousin Noel, the little man had no fear of what might be forthcoming, since with relatives there could be no risk of betrayal. All the same. he waited far the reading of the will with some perturbation, 'for the suggested sec- recy •hinted at some posthumous re. venge'on the part of the dead man. And,, hardened as he was. Garvington. fi ,s a:7r`i�'.liilk�r + ..iv"ktA �eAl',i did not wish his wife and Lambert to become acquainted .with his delin- quency. He was, of course, unaware that the latter knew about it through Agnes, and knew also bow it had been used to coerce her—for the pres- sure amounted to coercion -into a loveless marriage. The quintette assembled in a small room near the library, and when the door and window were closed there was no chance that any one would overhear the conference. Lambert. was rather puzzled to know why be had been requested to be present, as be had no idea that Pine would men tion him in the will. However, he had Apparently there was no solution to the mystery, as every ane con- cluded, when the evidence was fully threshed nut. An open verdict was brought in. and the proceedings end- ed in this unsatisfactory manner, "Wilful murder against some per - 500 nr persons lu.known," said Lam- bert, when he read the report o2 the inquest in his St. James's Street rooms. "Strange. I wonder who cut the Gordian knot ref the ropy which hound Agues to Pine?" CHAPTER N. Lord Garvington was not a credit• able member of the aristocracy, sieve his rices greatly exceeded his virtues. With a wreak nature. and the tastes of a sybarite. be required a great deal of money to render him happy. Like the immortal Becky Sharp, he could have been fairly honest if possessed of a large income; but not having it he stopped short of nothing save ac- tnal criminality in order to indulge his luxurious tastes to the full. Cand- idly speaking, he had already over- stepped the mark when be altered the figures of a check his brother-in-law had given him. and, had not Pine been so generous, he would have un- doubtedly occupied an extremely un- pleasant position. However, thanks to Agnes, the affair had been hushed up, and with characteristic promptitude. Garvington had conveniently forgot- ten how nearly he had escaped the iron grip of justice. In fact, so entire- ly did it slip his memory that—on the plea of Pine's newly -discovered origin —he did not desire the body to be placed in the family vault. But the widow wished to pay this honor to ber husband's remains. and finally cot her swr, way in the matter, for the simple reason that now she was the owner of Pine's millions Garving- ton did not wish to offend her. But, as uch a mean ereature would, he made capital ten of the r•oncession. "Since I de this for you, Agnes," he said -bluntly. when the question seas being decided, "you must do tr,me-hinc for me." •'What de, you wish me to do?" urn—heye- hr.!" gurgled Gar- viegton, thinking cunningly that it wed tro early yet to exploit her. "We c an talk about it when the will has hien read. and we know exactly how we stand. Ilei -idea your grief is sacred to me, my dear. Shut yourself up and cry..' Agnes had a sense of humor, and the blatant hypocrisy of the speech .made her laugh outright in spite of the genuine regret she felt for her hus- band's tragic death. Garvington was melte shocked. "Do you forget that the body is yet in the house?" he asked with heavy solemnity. "1 dor't forget anything,' retorted .Agnes, becoming scornfully serious. "Not even that you count on me to settle your wretched financial diffteul- ties out of poor Hubert's money." "Of course you will, my dear. Yon are a Lambert." "Undoubtedly; but I am not nec- essarily a fool. "Oh. I can't stop and hear you call yourself Stich a name; said Garving- ton, ostentatiously dense to her true meaning. "It is hysteria that speaks, and not my dear sister. Very natural when you are so grieved. We are all mortal:" "Yon are certainly silly in addition," replied the widow, who knew how useless it was to argue with the man, THE SEAFORTH NEWS THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1939 "Go away and don't worry me. When poor Hubert isburied and the will is read, I shall announce my intentions." "Intentions! Intentions!" muttered the corpulent little lord, taking a hasty departure out of . diplomacy. "Surely, Agnes won't be such a fool as to let the family estates go." It never struck him that Pine might have so worded the will that the in- heritance he counted upon might not come to the widow, unless she chose to fulfil a certain condition.. But then he never guessed the jealousy with which the hot-blooded gypsy had regarded h art the early engagement Of Agnes and Lambert. If he had done so, ee assuredly would not have in- vited the young man down to the fun- eral. But he did so, and talked about doing so, with a frequent mention that the body was to rest in the sac- red vault of the Lamberts so that ev- eryone should applaud his generous humility. "Poor Pine was only a gypsy," said Garvington, on all and every occa- sion. "But I esteemed him as a good and honest man. He shall have every honor shown to his memory. Noel and I, as representatives of his wife, my dear sister, shall follow him to the Lambert, vault, and there, with my ancestors, the body of this honorable, though humble, man shall rest until the Day of Judgment, A cynic in London laughed when the speech was reported to bin, "If Garvington is buried in the same vault," he said contemptuously, "he will ask Pine for money, as soon as they rise to attend the Great As- sizes!" which bitter remark showed that the little man could not induce people to believe him so disinterested as he should have liked there to con sider him, All this Silver said in a perfectly frank, free -and -easy manner, and also related how the dead man had in structed-him to ask Garvington to al- low the gypsies to remain in the wood. The reporter published the in- terview with sundry comments of his own. and it was read with great avid- ity by the public at large and by the many friends of the millionaire, who were surprised to learn of the double life led by the man. Of course, there was nothing disgraceful in Pine's past as Ishmael Hearne, and all attempts to discover something shady about his antecedents were vain. Yet --as was pointed out—there must have been samething wrong, else the advent- urer, as he plainly was, would not have met so terrible a death. But in spite of every One's desire to find fire to account for the smoke, nothing to Pine's disadvantage could he learned. even at the inquest, and when the matter was thoroughly threshed out, the dead man's character proved to be honorable, and save in the inno- cent concealment of his real name and origin—bis public and private life was all that could be desired. The whole story was not criminal, but truly romantic, and the final tragedy gave a grim touch to what was re- garded, even by the most censorious. as a picturesque narrative. In spite of all his efforts, Inspector Darby, of Wanbury, could produce no evidence likely to show who had shot the deceased. Lord Garvington, under the natural impression that Pine was a burglar, had certainly wounded him in the right arm, but it was the second shot, fired by some One outside the house, which had pierced the heart. This was positive- ly proved by the distinct evidence of Lady Agnes herself. She rose from her sick -bed to depose how she had opened her window, and had seen the actual death of the unfortunate nom, whom she little guessed was her hus- band. The burglar—as she reasonably took him to be—was running down the path when she first caught sight of him, and after the first shot had been fired. It was the second shot, which came from the shrubbery— marked on the plan placed before .the Coroner and jury—which had laid the fugitive low. Also various guests and servants stated that they had arrived in the passage in, answer to Lord Garvington's outcries, to find that he had closed the door pending their coming, Some had even heard the second shot white descending the stairs. It was proved, therefore, in a very positive manner, that the mas- ter of the house had not murdered the supposed robber. "I never intended to kill him," de- clared Garvington when his evidence was taken. "Ail I intended to do, and all I did do, was to wing him, so that he might be captured on the spot, or traced later. I closed the door after firing the shot, as 1 fancied that he might have had some accomplieea with him, and I wished to maize my- self safe until assistance arrived." "You had no idea that the meet was Sir Hubert Pine?" asked a juryman, "Certainly not, I should not have fired had I recognized him. The mo- ment I opened the dour he flung him- self upon me. I fired and he ran away. It was not until we all went out and found him dead by tlto shrub- bery that I recognized my brother-in- law. I thought he was in Paris." Inspector Darby deposed that he had examined the shrubbery, and had noted broken twigs here and there, which showed thatsome one must have been concealed behind the screen of laurels. The grass—some- what long in the thicket—had been trampled. But nothing had ,been dis- covered likely to lead to the discov- ery of the assassin who had been am- bushed in this manner, "Are there no footmarks?" ques- tioned the Coroner, "There bas been no rain for weeks to soften the ground," explained the witness. "therefore it is impossible to discover any footmarks. Tbe brok- en twigs and trampled groes show that some one was hidden in the shrubbery, but when this person left the screen of laurels, there is noth- ing to show in which direction the escape was made." And indeed all the evidence was useless to trace the criminal. The Manor had been bolted and barred by Lord Garvington himself, along with some footmen and his butler, so no one within could have fired the sec- ond shot. The evidence of Mother Cockleshell, of Citaldea, and of vari- ous other gypsies. went to show that no one had left the camp on that night with the exception of Hearne, and evert his absence had 1101 been made known until the fact of the death was made public next morning. Hearne, as several of the gypsies stated, had retired about eleven to his tent and had said nothng about going to The Manor, much less about Strawberries In Victoria While chilly blasts and leaf - ',Y shedding trees mark the approaelt of winter in Eastern Canada, horticultural minded British Colunihians on the west coast are picking fine, fat, full- flavored strawberries from thick beds. This picture taken recently in the garden of Mrs. Rudolph Olsen, Victoria, shows Miss Mu- riel Laurence with some of the luscious berries the garden has been producing, Golf, tennis, swimming and riding are among the recreations available to visit- ors all winter long, and inquiries at Canadian Pacific offices and reservations at the Empress Hotel indicate that Canadians in large numbers are turning to the West Coast evergreen playground for their winter holidays, .: leaving the camp, Silver's statements revealed nothing, since, far from seeking his brother-in-law's house, Pine had pointedlydeclared that in order to keep bis secret he would be careful not to go near the place. "And Pine had no enemies to my knowledge .who desired his death," declared the secretary. "We were so intimate that had his lite been in •r danger he certainly would have spoken of it to me." "You can throw no light on the darkness? asked the Poroner hope- lessly. "None;" said the witness, "Norso far as I can see, is any one else able to throw any light en the subject. "Pine's secret was not a dishonorable one, as he was such an upright mall that no one could have desired to kill him," the truth. And a nice thing it is for me and Lady Agnes." "I don't think you need worry about that, Lord Garvington. The honorable way in which the late Sir Hubert at- tained rank and gained' wealth will reflect credit on his humble origin. When the papers learn the story--" "Confound the papers!" interrupted Garvington fretfully. "I sincerely trope that they won't make too great a fuss over tate business." The little man's hope was vain, as he might have guessed that it would be, for when the news became known in Fleet Street, the newspapers were only too glad to discover an original sensation for the dead season. Every day journalists and special cor'res- pondents were sent down 10 sue numbers that the platform of Wan - bury Railway Station was crowded with them,. As the town—it was the chief town of Hengishire—was five miles away from the village of Garv- ington, every possible kind of vehicle was used to reach the scene of the crime, and The Manor became a rend- ezvous for all the morbid people, bath in the neighborhood and out of it, The reporters in particular poked and pried all over the place, passing from the great house to the village, and thence to the gypsy camp on she bor- ders of Abbot's Wood. From one per- son and another they learned facts, which were published with, such fait - ('1(01 additions that they read like 11c - tion. On the authority of Mother Cockleshell—who was not averse to earning a few shillings --a kind of Gil Blas tale was put into print, and the wanderings of Ishmael Hearne Wert set forth in the picturesque style of a picaroouing romance. But of the time when the adventurous gypsy assumed his Gentile name, the Romany mulct tell nothing, for obvious reasons. Um til the truth became known, because of the man's tragic and unforeseen death, those In the camp were not aware that he was a Gorgic million- aire. 13ut where the story o2 Mother Cockleshell leftoff, that of Mark Sil- ver began, for the secretary had been connected with his employer almost from the days of Hearne's lirst ex- ploits as Pine in London. And Silver freely related all he knew. "Hearne carne to London and called' himself Hebert Pine," he stated frankly, and not hesitating to confess his own lowly origin, "We met when I' was starving as a toymaker in Whitechapel. I invented some penny toys, which Pine put on the market for Inc.. They were successful and be made money. I am bound to confess that he paid me tolerably well, al- though he certainly took the lion's share. With the money he matte in this way, he speculated in South Afri can shares, and, as the boom was then on, he snnply coined gold. I6very- thing he touched turned into cash. and however deeply he plunged into the money market, he always came out top in the end. By turning over his money and re -investing it, and by fresh speculations, he became: a mil- lionaire hi a wonderfully short space of time. Then he made the his secret- ary and afterwards took up politics. The government gave him a knight- hood for services rendered to his party, and he became a well-known figure in the world of finance. He married Lady Agnes Lambert, and— and—that's all." "Yeti were aware that he was a gypsy, Mr. Silver?" asked the re- porter. "Oh, yes. I knew all about his origin from the first clays of our ac- quaintanceship. IIe asked me to ]seep his true name and rank secreta As it was none of my husinese, I dict so. At times Hearne—o• rather Pine, as 1 know, him best by that Mame—grew weary of civilization, and then would return to his own life of the tent and road. No one suspected amongst the Romany that he was anything else but a hor'secoper, He always pre- tended to be in Paris, or Berlin, on financial affair's, when he went back to his people, and i transacted all business during his absence." "You knew that he was at the Ab- bot's Wood camp?" (Continued) Want and For Sale ads; 1 week He PROFESSIONAL CARDS MEDICAL SEAFORTH CLINIC Dr. E. A. McMaster, MB„ Graduate of University, of Toronto. J. D. Oolquhoun, M.D., C.M., Grad- uate of Dalhousie University, Halifax. The Clinic is fully equipped with complete and modern x-ray and other up-to-date diagnostic and thereaptio equipment. Dr. Margaret K. Campbell, M.D., L .A.B.P., Specialist in Diseases in Infants and Children, will be at the Clinic last Thursday in every month from 3 to. 6 p.m. Dr. F. J. R. Forster, Specialist in Diseases of the Ear, Bye, Nose and Throat, will be at the Clinic the first Tuesday in every month from 4 to 6 p.m. Free well -baby clinic will be held on the second and Inst Thursday in every month from 1 to 2 p.m. JOHN A. GORWILL, B.A.,M.D., Physician and Surgeon In Dr, H. H. Ross' office. Phone 5.1 W, C. SPROAT, M.D., F,A.G.S,. Surgery Phone 90-W. Offlee John St., Seaforth DR. H. H. ROSS Physician and Surgeon. Late of London Hospital, London, England. Special attention to diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat. Office and residence behind Dominion Bank. Of- fice Phone No. 5; Residence Phone 104. , DR, F, J. BURROWS Office Main St, Seaforth, over Do- minion Bank, Hours 2-5 and 7 to 8 pm. and by appointment. Residence, Goderich St., two doors west of Unit- ed Church. Phone 46. DR. F. J. R. FORSTER Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat Graduate in Medicine, University of Toronto. Late Assistant New 'York Ophthalmic: and Aural Institute, itlooreicld's Eye, and Golden Square throat hospitals, London, Eng. At Commercial Hotel, Seaforth, third Wednesday in each month from 2 to 4 p.m. Also at Seaforth Clinic first Tuesday in each month. -53 Waterloo St., Stratford. Telephone 267. MARGARET K. CAMPBELL, M.D. London, Ontario Graduate Toronto University Licentiate of American Board of Peals atrics, Diseases of Children At Seaforth Clinic, last Thursday af- ternoon, each month. AUCTIONEER GEORGE ELLIOTT, Licensed Auctioneer for the County of Huron, Arrangements can be made for Sale Date at The Seaforth News. Chat'gea moderate and satisfaction guaranteed F. W. AHRENS, Licensed Auction- eer for Perth and Huron Counties. Sales Solicited, Terms on Application. Farm Stock, chattels and real estate property, R. R. No. 4, Mitchell. Phone 634 r 6. Apply at this office. Watson & Reid REAL ESTATE AND INSURANCE AGENCY (Successors to James Watson) MAIN ST., SEAFORTH, ONT. An kinds of Insurance risks effect- ed at lowest rates in First -Class Companies. THE McKILLOP Mutual Fire Insurance Co, HEAD OFFICE—SEAFORTH, Ont. OFFICERS President, Thomas Moylan, Sea - forth; Vice President, William Knox., Londesbora ; Secretary Treasurer, M. A. Reid, Seaforth. AGENTS Ie. McKercher, R.R.1, Dublin; John E. Pepper, R.R.1, Drucefleld; D. R. G, Jarmouth, Brodhagen; James Watt, Blyth; C. P. Hewitt, Kincardine; Wm, Yeo, Holmeaville. DIRECTORS Alex. Broadtoot, Seaforth No, 3; .James Sholdice, Walton; Wm, Knox, Londeahoro; George Leonhardt, Born- holm No. 1; Frank MacGregor, Clin- ton No. 5; James Connolly, Goderich; Alex. McEwing, Blyth No, 1; Thomas Moylan, Seaforth No. 5; Wm. R. Archibald, Seaforth No, 4. Parties desirous to effect insurance or transact other business, will ba promptly attended to by applications to any of the above named officers addressed to their respective post offices.