The Exeter Advocate, 1888-12-13, Page 5f"
THE
fliREAD
0 R,
SIINSIIIN AND 811A -D4.
trotreditlooSheeocouloldooialetidloift vheerry eye
L " leo.
teem horrified au appalled her. Tim
men's aptitude for lying strecle her pest.
tively numb. The hidetare ingepuity with
which he eneounted for everything—the
diebolieally lever way tu vehicle he had
WCATU, in* 040 after the other, the ring, the
evatehe zhe lettere, the pionic, the lonely " What, Haesinger 1" Reif cried in Some
tranan to Otfordnese—onote her to the her slight mirprite. "How won be Hatlaerley,
erith'it horrible teething for the vile wretch end when wits he doing in towo at thie time
of year ? An good Squires ought :sorely
te be down in the country pow at their bere-
dttary work a supplyieg the market with a
due preportton et horee ami partridges.'
"Ob, he's a poor evreek," Hethert
ley ettewered lightly, "Yeeeva hit it
le off eneetite —enok to the level of
the bawled exieteereey. Ple -exhales au
CHAPTERWXXV.—letantonment. know,—Yeelre wrong. there; you're quite
?nee —Seen ot re Sea Remo, oor b
Oh, the lierror mod dredgery et tbeeenen
eme memos, nein, neve. in A mem et Femme Austrelie either. Thee wen A lie.--EisieE
diegnet, we,,,143404,4y amiemaeun mein dead—dead three yeareege—before wedwere
nex enneameentegementm intenene eaten married..--Deaa wan buried ina efor nem.
.Pooth, tbet leonted Ahead so full et gleem Vine a chiid, too,"
time, for time hopeleen to the eueny And I've melt her grave, and, cried eve ie
end wretchennem foe letmeelf end Wiolfren ill lie *pane With Solemn intensitn of
Teem vreenothieg for le POW but to fans." eernentoma ; bet he OPeho in vain. Willi -
the newel:Ole, to endure the nonednrable, bee&t, h4t ry
II e entebge Oren& with it hilt let it coet
whet it might. For et. leeet. in the eted ton
had one ceinfert At Sm. Remo, Winifred.
vrenid ;led vet be was mierelten; there was
merneet, ha,d leog dime remixed
the lowest peseible cont empt
eeoro, for tie lumhand on whom sew bee
theown herself ewey ; but as be met her
E.seo at all, there er elsewhere..
If you'd dropped in enly tele cabmen% eerier.
you might have inspecten the 'intereetiog
reliefs, Bat he's gene back to Ida betel by
this time, I fumy. The atmosphere of
Cheyoe Row seems soinewhee too redolent
of vulgar Cevendiale for hie waned 'Oaten
sneolteit nothing, nowedeye hiteself but
the be replies, r
me.ssive solid haildiess, f$Q eemmon oit the
Rtviera, let out ii linte or in single
Epartravats), and with f* deep well of a
nceeme istanease oecupeing the entire me-
ttre of the block like 4 covered curt -
yard. ,A8 Warren Reif mounted to hie room
on. the thine fleor, with the chatty Swiss
waiter from toe ceenou Tian°, whe cerried
hie bag, he aeleed quietly if the lady on the
sepondo who seemed so ill was in ay
mediete or preseing claimer.
"Dteger, garter?' She b U1, oertainlyn
they earned her up stairs t she coadon
hew: weeked ee. linneettill." exparel-
able Tsai ceneented to merry. That she bed
eaderee so long eueb. migerable crew,
tonne heught caressee alled. her inmost
seta with e sichenieg eeuee of die -
gust Mid horror. She cowered wed
crouched closer end deur ber rereote
earner ; ehe felt thee his pretence there
i,mtemelly pelt:teed the cerriage she oesepierl;
she longed ler Mereillee, for See Reme, for aremnef vested ineereste. Real estate's hie
relettee, that ohe might get at Meet farther Moloch et present, and he bows the knee to
'one farther away trem him, She coule eolidified seeniiii in the temple of Rimmon,
alment hove opened the door la her enema ,ent itee oe view en anything in panielaiar,
horror eed tuinned from the trait' wbile l•felieve but riperien proprietorship: coin.
reetioo *o ieeeese was her burping aled pining skillet the GermaitOman tor dieregard-
'peeing desi-e to eseeme for ever from lue Moe the sacred righte of property; and belle
poteceoue eeighheorhodd. that tine sole busineas of =enlightened Brit.
At les; aelfugh with lluehed fayeand eager iele legisfature la to keep the sand from blow.
!ewe eeimed ;lessee a little from hie Pero am ing in at his own inviolable dining Men Win-
o eelnelonewene arid eelf-revelation, aim dews. Poor commany, m fact, ince Ie dee-
groitiad and met her husbaminmah, heaveo 1 "How Jon& he going to atop in town-,
then with that mcredibie ieltebeed- ati ehe
Meemehile, Wtnifren grew Tepially worm, , mime, need* thteh et—oo lying bps, wenh
efo nit thee even Hugh began to Pravve it, Se graTe faCe eon as profOnin' au Air of
and despeneel of beteg ehle to eerre her m 'Week neofes.ezene, be lone' wedeln MO At
1344ty Sa5 Beene. The ifheeef. eier 94Ce te 4 Yet e!lblirlxer belghr argnee.eolt
RelfS' had teld aeriegay OPe4 he: week and g, 11 V.4
ebetteredeoestitotien; the ceeetatetirietien neve r ee haVe eetzla4Kd hereelf eapseble-
of her reletiorte with Hegla ceesleued to tell "Yu hateful thing 1" Ste eried,rieleg free
1144 oletheeleee e4114leee neelfer leeking elewn onen Mee nheedeeale feene her her hinibetwe life atteleg Online her ; Thaa good„„ nen „t we to atop
breeden me.ree even he wet t et t fv t tie 4Wered. 4.14e10
fred rental her eyes omen more from the cended te the SquirearChy."
u ir1 and pon 4 every day thee paned ever her. o her met to the entre of the teenier. end, --tbet Mee eheuld reeve zo call thee thing de you tuaQw Relt anima ceriously.
r gr
had uo elms eheelettely CP.0 eartk, wee
eonla syropetialle with her ha her tertnete
treolne. She tenged to ding hereelr open
Riehne hesententhe dear pin en:4e tht
bed enge been, the Resin thee eefeeene
Weed neetreteed her—tenti oy
Aloud to ter ler pity, fez eyreptiry. r.5.140A
she got to See Reneethe thoeght,
the week' tell ell—every word—to Eiite ;
end Bide at /oat muse be very mew;
etteeged U epite cf ell the geulsi net. feel
for her,
Proud sus she wee, 440 wee/41,1am her-
mit ele Eines merey. Rig% lame evrereled
herr ma aim would tell ell to Elein Hut
resellte Emelt. Hugh wee heed And gold end
unyieloliog Ateel, weld not be for
bog, She would ewe be relvesed. .'ked
then lluele--- She three& ft= thieking
At laat the dent came ler their Journey
teeth. They were ping alas, WithMit
even a maid; gled. to have Feld the eervaitm
their Amami and tiecepe alive from the
eintehen of the bete/sem and Wrens. Nor.
ember fogs shrouded the wold, Zegla had
oompleted those rile trauseetiehe of tete with
the attentleye And the reertey-loudere,
*ea felt faiettly Weaned 41' the AO.
reetallie ebietk of gold for the
journey rettileg end jinglieg hie
ereesera' percket. But bitted met very
week sued 41In the ler censer of the firsts
eiem meriege that byre them away from
Merles t;reast Steeleo. They he eeme etc
the day Were from Alreutelluen *WO,
and opent the night loxerieusly in dm romm
of the Arampafe. You meet mske 41PR
Wenianeerefertsble. And Hugh had dropped
round with defient pride into the Cheyne
Row Club, aesturnieg rein the old jaunty
linguld poetical air—" of the days before
he had degenerated into land.owubsg,"
idatherly said Aftorwarde—jeet to let re.
micitrant Bohemia. see for Resit it hedge;
actively embed him br Yejleqlles; Ili/Ream].
But the protest flee ; it wee indeed a widen, weetred ended tepteate. mud, the mew mem mere, eon nee etteniee, ke up Min ;Ir.!? arils aj
its, soethieg exitiqueee Zile Pliecii.44y.
g g
p ail age 4 preteaded t:',4r4 tetrene her geld with at all, ety ear if be were, rd rad
b'ke "1r 14 ce114"." " alrenet° "ere^ "In tbet ati Asked i" 'down to Btfeleton for the interval. A. nwonih
adalrg” attEt npin, 1 .5.3y. eefeih 1E7 eme•nla ley mien "15 your romattee fie- vf mas4loger. at the, °tune pow teenna be a
then If yen eenn Wed eae word o- trade need en
neervest for the eeseide lodginge. But I'm
1ln ;Ilem!. el --43".,.! the gerte" ette n'Teatte all r Hugh eried, heryeert biel hippy to tell yea he's going to Temeve bis
' dwee 4q,44 ''''ve„?7,1'''" fere in lde bee •N emtl heedieg &nee els fleke merme retimioneefor the actin of hirees deen
wned4ve "4C' VP349." '"" te the level of hie in otter ebjetie —deed. 414(1 beried, leeg ego, in the White -
silence. , esii humilletittp. W413,1444 1 Winifred I 'greed eeedbillenne Rento to morrow,
" W•ite Winitee4t" liegb "evdt 61'''F"dg it le no remence, Wen't you Wee 491W Peer little Mrs. Memiugerni eerieualy illt
bie
bele thgr "4:L/W:r4t 4C3P47,!.4110V4 me 1" rry to say. Tee Mileh BATa Ivo told et
thitg is the trath, the very,. very eleeth• the Xtrer4g117 4 t epee her, Bud fer breekiset, Bard for
1whatl) 1T4th'' that rtt4 Aew °Ulh'g Winifeeeleeeweredfienteneefleneettirelnebel /uncle; and Peed for divner week/ ertdermine
/4:4/4e4 N' 1""g 4k7'v'tt 'new*. "1 don't deee' ehowe grost taltgo, tizao the &loudest eomititotieu. Sir Ananl-
t4'44'berY. 1 4'"'91111v4a,°' tb*v A ent eet mem emheity fiede its preclueen en her CA44 Sup.
Omit! iletelved yeti. Dot e want to V
won't ?evel w, eitardgewh.leh 1,13 YeneeneoPer .otelke• premed Goan or Tehereeler Diethesie, or
'Yon tb4"411"le "; ,A,g1,5,"ge inate44. tee i4W, for weep yterve we eftenlog of tbe Itrete, et. something liner -
10 me ecevoe, 444irgq# 744 exuberate, au imegioetioe yeidd have SW. tog and nemeroue of that eort ; and, he'll
won't lieteu to me 1°'
O 4uTactl 145 4g93.1"4.a.,V_Ia"tehali-r-4' Y('eeda%1 Volkt:letv4eQrirld4 Mrhaelt'll/rItaProthldeellasetdb4tUo to the PnletclbrttiAlgeut,he htriee"eine%g;
Vending tOVO WO°14,_ t*V° Pt,°?°CM,.." ,"4 Nomilder yen; petery Your etery, ohne/tete ab first to Smi Remo he tell, me,
euell ‘teo effe0 d"44 "4".4"'"ne'w Allow, heap together in every part with re. prehably beeatteS, with hie neleel bed taste,
: resirkable 1e* t4 hennen he didol desire to OPjey your egreeebla
" on' ehe murmured.. edelnifoie At* to ketow ie. ell nen beginning to end for a metety ; but thee 'lumpy little woulels•
her corner. "Osurbello Your mouologuo, timers of febrettooda—Forellyoer etettegaen geyser ea gout, )14*; 4 will of her own
TVis sepreene vreyeents arctor ceuld beetle/me yeteto lyted to vto eyew malv th4 eau ten vol.; t Ramo 2/14 bait;
Inet be IP pad ea to eneider my pert Ireferee„ Yaw icoote tet Ewe l'ebeb 41,erh arid 04 see': Remo the Bard envie
lu the pieces left ;At altogether- 440 1.04er, .14119N% emu pretend to be deed, go aceorilimely, You Remold addrem
enewer yen. Vie more. thould be ;sorry tc 'le eweerieg your owe arrive' to -eight by ir- here .eeesx him ebafrog with set ietereel fire
interrupe ficiithen
in arragt r r.4gvutuivAt .94a Remo, e let it ell MAP te. re!, by hint,. 1n the
Ifer 4Zathieit eariteleapt wroughtopiallegh Hugh deug Mewed beck iu the fatal ex- billierd"room this; eveeieg. Poor eltinmy
remit fem. efbeleenteluninuetiete, Teen lentelitn cf titter litlpAir en the Padded CU, WO.444, theugh, Item tor
theeld with tet scenfere, heeds/ebb:0,0U hieca had P:eYed hie i**t nerd With her. Is bard Item oa her, See had OM
before her, tO Make reparetieu I erre that Wieffelnl• end ken ili*N'erYrenWrie alraii. makings et a Mee emelt boetem in her once;
Winifred eheald *Fern hie best **tempt, ed hint etithieg. Hie very confession was but eke Berd'is misted her—stroked her dry
el;euld settees so reveh as to lateen to bad to iiniresee On Whitt oeuld he clef awl chucked her eway—and abe"st dying of
Me avowal! It we* toe iguemieleue, "Fee Whitha three; He Imeer 09 Ammer. Re him now, from wine he toile me."
lassevez's rake." be ericd, with bis hush; eedeni hiteeelf tip and down on hie seat lin
elespeil bard, "at le tat lot ree Week, Let hopelees misery. 'The worst hoxi cerese Ire
lee loom my few Vet.7., You're ell wrens; bed blasted out all, Aed Winifred, Wiab
/we're wreugleg um elderly. I've behaved bed Weida 3:4t believe him
moat wickedly, EMS' smelly, I knew; I "I wiels it wax treat' he eried ; I wish lb
cease It all. I abase myself se your feet, way. true, Winule 1 I wish she was there.
1! you went eet, to be object, 111 peed But it in't; it len't 1 She* demi 1 I killed
before yea, I admit; my mime, my slut roy hoz And her blood bee :weighed upon my
ttauseteimoo,_,I wotet potood to juitify, head ever alum I Fey far inow 1 I kill.
myself et alL—ree lied to yee• forge(' to ed,b,Ltftle be 11'
vett, deceived you mialed you 1" (At tech.
clause tied, phritle paginate selnectunem- 'Wluifred bed rieen to her full height in "tilly°11 " 11111141174 41t1:4 tblr(4,
Warren Reif looked beck with a start of
eitenielunent. 41 To
$an Remo!" be atled,
You're ante, Iletherley, be aid Sim
Bernell'
"Perfectly motels& Son Remo it be
Obeerve, hi presto, there's no deception.,
He gave me this cud In 'came of error
"Hugh Ilaminger, for the prment,
Poste Reenette, San Remo," No other ad.
dress forthcoming as et. He expecte te
feeble cue •heallese Bohemia eagressed • I e 4a Ba yotlete wrong U. ss he nor; rd his ne • 0 * go
I swarm to you, my child. Liele's not
after ft* wont with its Loney? georite, the
rislegauthor of Lays orate elfrtear; Laniard,
held ant to Hugh Masstinger of Matte-
-
strand Hall lin ilebbleet right hand of lake -
warns weleorne. And this STS4 the Bohemia
Vint ono* bad reaped Ida latellsew Began
w ith faternal fervour efeayrnpanhetio de.
wotiert 1 The chilliness of hit receptioe lo
the aCene of his encinat populmity /nuns the
Bard to the quit*. No more for him the
tabour, the cymbals, and the oaten pipe ;
no more the bluehful Cheyee Row Hippo -
come. He left himself demotic. The rapid
'Etyma of Louden society and Lendou
thought hid swept eddying peat mad left
him strended. Ott for ;some enelseuted env -
pet of the Arablen Nights. to trensport
him hank with a hound from his present self
to them good old days of Thirds and Elsie 1
nt mehanted carpets are now unhappily
out of date, and Chested ateemera have quit.
gruperseded the easnleal aliallops of good
liarotimal-Raaolid. In plain praise, the
Straits were rough, and Winifred suffered
severely from the Miming. At Calais, they
took the through tram for Mar:ladles, having
eecured coune be at Charing Cross before-
hand.
Thee Was A terrible night, that night
spent en the loupe -cit with Winffred ; the
most terrible Hugh had ever endured Mace
the memorable evening when Eleie drowned
hereelf.
They had paned round Paris at gray
dusk, in their comfortable throogh carriage,
by the Chemin do Far de Cenature to the
Garai de Lyon, and were whirling along on
their way, to Fontainebleu through the
ahadee of evening, when Winifred first broke
the ominous eilence she had preserved ever
since they stopped at St. Danis. "It won't
be for long now," she said dryly, " and it
will be so conveniene for yort to be at San
Remo,"
Teregies heart sank onee more within him.
It was quite clear that Winifred thought
Hide was there. He wished to heaven she
was, and that he was no murderer. Oh, the
weight that would have been lifted off his
'emery soul if only he could think it so 1
-... The three years' misery that would rise like
a mist from his uncertain path, if only he
did not know to a certainty that Elsie lay
buried at Orfordness in the shipwrecked
trailers' graveyard by the Low Lighthouse.
He looked across at Winifred as she sat in
her place. She was pale and frail; her
wasted cheeks showed white and hollow.
As she leaned back there, with a cold light
gleaming hard and chilly from her sunken
blue eyee—those light blue eyes that he had
never loven—thoote cruel blue eyes that he
had learned at lain to avoid with an instinc-
tive shrinking, as they gazed through
end through him with- their flabby
persistencenhe • said to himself vrith
a sigh a relief : "She oan't last
long. Better tell her all, and let her know
the truth. It could do no harm. She
might die the happier. Dare I risk it, I
wonder? Or is it too dangerous ?"
"Well ?" Winifred asked in an ioy tone,
interpreting aright the little click in his
throat and the doubtful gleam in his shifty
eyes as implying some hesitating desire to
neon to her. What lie are you going
to tell me mext ? Speak it out ;
don't he afraid. It's no - novelty. You know
I'm not easily disconcerted.' •
He looked back at her nervously with
bent lorows. That fragile creature 1 He
positively feared her. Dare he eell her the
truth? And would she believe it ? These
blue eyes were so coldly glassy. Yet, with
a sudden impulse, he resolved to unburden
his guilty soul of all its weight of care to
Vinnif red.
"No, Winifred, but the aolemn truthoi
he hlertedfout slowly, in 4 voice that of
it -
sell might have well -produced complete con-
viction—on any one, less incredulous than
the wife he had teethed epd deceived so of-
ten. "You thief& Elsie's at San Remo
•
ODM ACqn cgs ,
to -morrow expreie to the Riviera." he sal
about thus. You misteke me wholly.—
'hardy.
gettot and beggettl earl deadly wan like a
thrtniketx little tragedy queen &have him.
or pale white false allowed partied, whiter
end more death like still by the feeble To pursue the Bevil I wouldn t, if
of the stregglingolblemp &patter bloodl stu. To tell you the troth, Iknow he
lips trembled and quivered eisteln t tem yen. "
paarden an she tried to repress her oretn* las men, I believe. The feeling is
Lug Indiguatime with one masterful eff,rb. perh to Mat extent annual. No, not to
eten 1" the sAid, with dace Intensity. pure Im — topreveut misehlef,--Hend
" Whet you exy is fahse. I know you're mao the CoutinentelBradehavr, will you!
lying to me. Weems Reif told no himgelf the — rh nks. That'll do. De yen know wbieh
other day in London thee Bide Chelloner was line Martenhes, I suppose? Did he hen=
'till alive, and lininm where you know she to author& It!"
lives, aver there at San Remo," "He told me he was going by Dijon an
Warren Ralf 1 That serpent 1 That rep- Lyons. "
tile! That eavesdropper I Then fen was the "All rieht. That's it. The Marselliee
oreattinns mean revenge 1 Rs had lie.d that route. Amine at San Remo at 4.30. I'll g
despicablelie to Winifred 1 Hugh hetedhim round the other way by Turin and intereep
In hie eau' more flan/01y than ever. He was him, Traina arrive within five minutes of on
Wiled moo more ; end ;dray* by thetneme another, I me, That'll be just in time t
malignant intrigner 1 prevent any contretemps."
Whore did you me Relf 1" he burst out " Your people are at San Remo already,
angtily. His indipetion, flaring un to believe?"
whiteneet afreth at thia Wont machination "My people—yea. But how did you
of his ancient enemy, gave new strength know ? They wore at Menton° for a while
of the confesaionet ad seized upon his soul; te? his words and new point to his hatred and they only went on home to the Villa
remorse and despair were goading him on. I thought I told you long Tibiae at White- Roma tne day before yesterday."
He most haw/relief for his pent.up feelings. !trend to hold no further communication "So I heard from Miss Reif," Hetherley
than with that wretched being 1
Three years of silence were inore
enough. Winifred's very Incredulity com-
pelled him to continue. He moat tell her
ail—all, all, utterly. He meat melee her
underetend to the netennostjoe wily, nilly,
that he wee not deceiving her
With eager lips, he b -gan his story f rom the
beginning, recepitulating point by pointhis
interview with Elsie ia the Hall grounds,
her rushing away from him to the roots of
the poplar, her mad leap into the ewirling
bleek water, his attempt to rescue her, his
nriconsmoutume, and his failure. He told
it all with dramatic completeness. Winifred
saw and heard every scene and tone and
emotion as he reproduced in Then he went
on to tell her how he came to hirneelf again
on the hank of the dike, and how in cold
and &Amami he formed his Plan, that fated,
horrible, slime:mild Plain which he had ever
since been engaged in carrying out and in
detesting. He described how hereturned to
the inn, unobserved and untracked; how he
forged the first compromising letter from
Elsie ; and how, once embarked upon that
career of deceit, there was no drawing beck
for him in crime after crime till the 1r/resent
moment. He despised himself for it; but still
he told it. Next came the episode of Eisie's
bedroom: the theft of the ring and the
other belongings; the hasty flight, the fail
from the creeper; and his subsequent horror
of the physical surroundings connected with
that hateful night adventure. In his agony
of Bell -accusation he spared her no einem-
stanoe, no petty detail : bit by bit he retold
the whole story in all Ms hideous inhuman
ghzuablmess—the walk to Orfordneos, the find-
ing of the watch, the furtive visit to Eisle's
grave, his horror of Winifred's proposed
picnic to that very spot a year later. He
an, nab:anted, in an ecstasy of humiliation,
through the entire tale of his forgeries and
his deceptions: the sending ot the ring;
the andmious fiction of Elsie's departure to
a new home in Australia; the long esquence
of occasional letters ithelivingliehe had daily
and hoerly aa tedlhe fore her. And all the while
at he truly bad, ,with slow tears inning one
by one down his dark cheeks, he knew hen.
self a murderer: he felt himself a murderer;
and all the while, poor Elsie was lying, dis-
honoured and unknown, a nameless corpse,
in her pauper grave upon that stormy sand.
epit.
Oh the joy and relief of that tardy con-
fession 1 the gush and flovv of those pent.up
feelings 1 For three long years and more
he had locked it all up m his inmost soul,
chafing and seething with the awful secret;
aid now at lest he had let it all out, in one
burst of confidence to the uttermost item.
As for Winifred, she heard him out in
Bole= eilence to the bitter effd, with
ever-growing ociatempt and shame and
Alive. You re *lows of a women who's
been dead for years. For my sin Aud theme
I say in Mee* dead long ego!"
Ile nolghb as well hive tried to convince
the domehandle. Winifred's loathing
found no overt vent le angry worn*; she
repremed her /peace, her very breath el.
meet, with a speamodie drort. Brit she
stretched °et bath her hands, the palms
tunied outward, with a ;mature of horror,
contempt, end repulgice ; and elm everted
her taco with a little cry of eupreme disgust,
checked deep down in her rising threat,
as one averto onon hoe instinctively
from a loAtheome ;lore or e. venomous
reptile. Such hideous duplicity to a
dying women waa more than she could
brook without aomentuMr expremion of her
clamed sense of melee decency.
But Hugh could no lopger reatrain him-
self now; be had begun his tale, and he
must run right through with it. The fever
But Winifred by this time, worn out with
excitement, had fallen back speechless and
helpless on the cushions. Her feeble strength
was fairly exhanated. The fatigue of the
preparations, the etermy psessage, the long
epall entravelling, the night journey, and
added to it all, this terrible interview with
the man she had once loved, but now despio.
ed and hated, had proved too much in the
end for her weakened constitution. A fit of
wild incoherence had overtaken her ; sho bale
bled idly on her seat in broken sentences.
Her muttered words were full of " mother "
and "home" and "Elsie," Hugh felt her
pulse. Ha knew it was delirium. His one
thought now was to reach San R MID att quick.
ly poniele. If only she could live to know
Warren Ralf bad told her a lie, and thee Elsie
was deed—dead—deed and buried!
Perhaps even this story about Warren
Relf and -what he had told her was ittelf but
a product of the fever and delirium 1 But
more probably not. The man who could
open other people's letters, the man who
could plot and plan and intrigue in secret to
set another man wife against her own
husband, was capable of telling any lee that
came uppermost to hurt his enemy end to
serve his purpose. He knew that lie would
diatress and torture 'Winifred, and he had
atm& at Hugh, like a coward that he was,
through a weak, hystericen dying woman 1
He had played on the mean chord of femin-
ine jealousy. Hugh hated him ite he had
never hated him before. He should pay
for this soundly—the our, the scoundrel 1
CHAPTER XXXVI.—Tan OTHER SIDE or
THE SHIELD.
The selesanie night, another English pas-
senger of our acquahltance was mpeeding in
hot haste duesouthwend to San Remo, notin.
deed by. the Calais and Marseilles expresg, but
bythenval route via 13eulogne the Mont
Ceeis, Turin, and Savona. *amen Reif
had claosen the alternative road by
deliberate design, lest Hugh Measinger and
he should happen to clash by the way, and a
needless and unseemly mane alloyed perhaps
take plaoe before Winifred's very eyes at
some Intermediate station.
It was by the merest accident in the ,
world, indeed, that Warren had heard, in "Iga•
-Minnick of opportunity, of the Massineers' "On what floor has the genneman who
projected visit to San Remo. just arrived placed himself ?' he asked of
In the cosy sinekingwoom it the Cheyne the landlord, a portly Piedmontese, of au -
Row Club, he had found Hatherley. already gnat dimenoions,
installed in a big armchair, discussing coffee On the secoucl story, signor."
and the lase new number of the "Nineteenth " Th6n I will go on the third," Warren
Century." Reif answered with short decision. And
"Hullo, Reif 1 The remains of the Bard they found him a more forthwith without
were in here just now," Hatherley exclaimed further parley.
18 he entered. "You've barely mimed him. The pension was one of them large and
answeree with a slight cough. "She lum-
paned to be writing to me—about a literary
matter—a mere question of current art-oriel.
im—on Wane:Atm morning.'
Warren hardly noticed the alight hesiM-
tion: and there was nothing odd in Elie's
writing to Hatherley : that beat of abater/1
Was always jogging the memory of inatten.
tive critics. While Elie lived, indeed, her
brother's name was never likely to be
forgotten in the weekly organe of artistic
opinion. She homed it, if anything, an un-
due prominence. For her much importune
ty, the sternest, of them all, like the unjust
judge, was compellecl to notice every one of
her brother's performances.
So Warren hurried off by himself at all
speed to San Remo, and reached it at almost
the same moment as Maseinger. If Hugh
and Elsie were to meet tuaexpectedly, War-
ren felt the shook might be positively dam-
e
An he emerged from the station, he hired
a close carriage, and ordered the vertihritio to
draw up on the Inc side of the road and wait
it few minutes till he was nepared for stare.
ng. Then he leaned back in his seat in the
shatheof the hood, and held himself in teach'.
nese for the arrival of the Paris train from
Ventimiglia.
Ile had waited only a quarter of an hour
when Hugh Messinger came out hastily and
called a cab. Two porters helped him to
oarry out Winifred, now seriousty ill, and
muttering inarticulatly as they planed
her in the carriage. Hugh gave an in-
audible order to the driver, who drove off at
once with a nod and a smile and a cheery
"Si. signer."
Pollow then carriage 1" Warren said in
Italian to his own cabman. The driver
nodded and followed closely. They e rove
up through the narrow crowded little streets
of the old quarter, and stopped at last
opposite a large and dingy yellow-washed
mansion, in the modern part of he town,
about the middle of the Avenue Vittorio-
Emma,nuele. The house was new, bet con-
genitally shabby. Hugh's carriage blocked
the way already. Waren waited outside for
some tem minutes without shelving his face till
he thought the Massingere would have en •
gaged rooms: then he entered the hail
boldly and enquired if he could have ledg.
There; indeed, is history, and history o
the higheet class. Dees not the very nam
of Fenian carry one back more than 20
years to the time when the free epirit 9
Bnelaud wen battling for We and death
againee the right divine of Kings to gov-
ern wrong!" As the shadowy twilight deep.
ens amend the queint cid mansion, it needs
little stretch of twooy pieture oneet self
M the recese of one of its ivied widow e two
eeated at a tale covered with papees,
one of wecen—a tune fine-leohing mem in
the prime of life, whose die m ie a compro-
ed ins hands and pursed his ups But mise between the stern eimplicity of the Pa -
what nt that The hcasso expecte zxey. rime aid the Lateen° epleuder of the Cave-
coroo berg to die, many of theao Eoguoil, lien looks up nervously ever ard anou, as if
fleeing something not wholly to hie liking
The eignera doebt will die sooe. tibee either in the Contents of the papers or in the
a very bad ettell, She kw hardly any life Awarded his companion, it Lard Weirfax
1414174 measured by thia cold minion laching nothing nova then redeem concentre.
breve. handsome, elegaet, accornplieleed,
tion of purpose when; le the mein strength
irt tnhotTerfitt'et'lalainitiYev.litiouirageda'17eararglecVirr:dd
mere reputetloo moiler the title of Gem
Cromwell.
'Owen however are not the °My wenn a
tine tine wise& iiitiwy has to 4110
e071EtthgeunarEIZE:i•t:uf dtsheNEyttineectierZtauyapusrese;
which would be 5 perfect treneure to Miss
Breddon or Wilhie Collins, not merely from
int outward aseeen but aleo from whet it
contairm The Weenie beeine from the very
Warren sat down at the Mena et once, eis
soon es he had washed away the dust of
'travel, and SCribbled off a hasty note te
Edie ;
Rumen E,—Just arrived. lefope you
received roy telegram from For
heaven's sake, doter /ee Eleie stir oat of the
boom till I have seen you. This ie /nor im-
peretive, Mane:Ewer and Mee, Meetleger
are here at this pen8ren. He bee brought
her South for her health'e sake. Shen eying
repidly. I wouldn't for worlds let Wtne see
either of them in their preeen; eceidition ;
abeYe ell, She mustn't ran figainSt them uu. eetrance ball itself,. ip vadat 4 tail, t5i5
eXITC-ItalY: I May net be able to sneak higlohaened, uocomproulieleg ohair, width
round te Tneht, tenet all hezenis keep Vele nught beve neaten Clarisee Herlowen father
it till I can get to the Villa. Itsfisa re ceesDlt while ecolding that uotortonate yoon
wEtli pro, nette mum of course retera t/ woman 150 years age, faes4 opseint ol
-NPgiand eencet now eletelogeree eente here, Lath cervieg in nth, represeetteg pies..
heve to feee very serlooe eriSiS. ticrd 10419, Cavelier ettling Alleutly ellen
wets ; write ford:tort preferrsog eettie told 5 very Porpeleot /sera over t jagged let-
mrenge in pereere Meenwhille, see' Midden •tere of One of them delightful thectiptieee
te Elate juwe yo ; lerean it ta her myself. whieli only two 9: three people cm deetpher
—be breathless bee% Yeure ever, very af• at ated width each of these two or three
feetinetely, deekeuelent deaphere be 4 totally differeet way, The
librery le orewded with pereleneetherted
Mies of the eixteeeth mid eeveuteetath
eenterien which, ea the iutte cost old eoeutry
gentlerneu eau/ of the man went was present
eerth have been more eilfertatiate ? TO ed to hlta as a BarMet JaTnea cregiOnl
think that Elsie should enet have ono ant "look remarkably well for their aged'
e beepieg before the nine ardente—end, And as with one roam 44 with all thereat,
elleete be golog eall et the Greed Hew Stem end ;stately dgerea feletly-ammer-
malteyue41.00, tbet Tery nyeeee Vittorio Won bag armor or tewerlug 'mule wigs leen
(To Ex geterrnifete) gently clown upon yen from the alladowy
Re ant the nate remel with uteey
foge by the Swims welter to hie mother**
house. Wheo RIM get it, ene could have
e rled with chegrin. Cooed anythiug on
0 dim
REETROY.
Unhappily the glreetly traditions of this
ceighhetheed are not All grQUIldleaS and
Diekene RAW said, juatly 0401Igh,
that be would lather hear mew a (Airman
legend vvitla a terride name then the tree
tory of AUY old SOU of elsewhere in Idecolree
aud the llaMe thin might be mid with
uelly geed reason of mere than one meant
r house withiu essy rent& of Leaden
tuber sluritg e Carlist war of 1
tb of Spear. a Gelpvzooan petweee, . eau well remember how, year* ago
et old Enable country house started,
being ee s, eorrespendeet mbenie o Midden and terrible Trominence to the
say eue bed been killed in Meat akinatV Of a tragedy &silly enough to draw
replied epigremetinelly, fs Ni hemene, *her from the wind hundrecle, if not
inuger, eel/emote rat cure," (neither men b 1141444'), POgrbete whom lee orallut7
nor weenies, only a poriels pried.) To the action cauld 134VO draegod so far from
mule way Petrov may be delleed as neither b =Waist lona? aud ,uirte
town nor country, only A emburh. Not many geweretione tive *lottery in tri
mum yeere so it Was an independent oil- nee iaad been AS unevoutful As Met
lege on the Thames, with & very dietinct b rooks; which intilt their nests in the
individuality of its own and no morel mom around Successive dynitioa of
of ini importence, but it is now virtuelly rldiug, hard drinking country gentleaunexen by that mighty eapitel whin, like flouriehed and faded, each erealy like
&mellowing on by one all tte emeller core. redecemor. It was wily among a few
a kiud of geographical /Amuck. keeps
very oldest "emockfrecke" in the ad.
munitieftwithiri reach, Judgieg only by ere Jamb risiege Ono Wt." bue'tred
grece hcrigerowee the trim Miedele Petfliee veeue tntdition—told now nil then by a
and gelds behlnd them, the cermet) In white etnistmes fireside with rearm a knowing
fiend *weeping with measured etrokea einike of the bead—reepectleg, a feerful
over the breed shining river, the gray tragedy that bed token place up at the
church tower looking dowo upon them greet tome" in the days of old game Bees,
from arnid clusterieg alma, the tilt-cov. mere than 300 yore Were. It was whim -
reed seep= plodding along the high road, reel that dm then lord of the moor.
trayed by hio wife anti his most intimate
Chh: owrfulikacettrereattre°PlegragY, orcpthmeIng°r)24twebrinere Weed, bed taken a dresdful revenge unon
of stately treee °Atha further shore throu the guilty pair, the exact nature of vrlstob
which the Bishop of Londons pa nee ball seemed to be be completely a Ingstery to the
revealeite darkred teal, one might illumine tonere of the dory to every one else. AD
nun self miles away from any town, in tee length the existing.. propnetor—a hearty,
very hearten the country. But the perma. Jovial country Squire, who liked nothipg
natant termer of soot thud " drappeth as better that to fill hie home with poets --
the gentle rain from hewn upon the place found even bit& spacious accommodations too
'a‘—nclnevelegBoairtuouteinegneeuvighashteinligalehanautids8- venial' to keep pace with his boundless hos-
ihre:itienaotulet
fled e Pharisoe—ae 'well as the white omni- or perhaps two, to leis house.
itality, end decided upon adding a room,
buses that come rumbling across Putney Accordiegly 4 London architect wail flume
Bridge with the fatal word "Bane "con. inoned to aurvey the promieea and direct.
opionously painted on. their sides, are a the prepmed additions. The expert came,
tweon na and the great oity which an Amer- sundry numeral:mute, seed to his patron,.
and efter going over the house and making
sufficient rembader how few miles lie be.
loan tourist defined as "just like New York with an air of mingled imprint and amuse -
only bigger and uglier and the oysters not ment "It eeeme to we sir, that you are
giving yourself a good we,
of unnecessary
trouble, for you are probablynot aware thee
there hi a room in your house which is still
in this house rnan and boy, over 50 years,
unoccupied."
"Impossible.," cried Squire. "I've lived
and neither nor my father before me ever -
knew of any rooms in this house except thooe
that are in use every day."
"For all that," replied the architect, con-
fidently, "I'm positive that I canned he
wrong. According to the measurements
that I have just taken there is a certain.
pose that an of eternal unrest which is one space within the walls which is still unac-
of the most marked and terrible features of counted for. In fact, I feel so sure of what
London. These are clerks and shopmen I say thatif you will allow me to go over
from the city, mantuamakers from Regent
street, bartenders from the Strand, obvious-
ly enjoying their brief holiday to the utmost
but as obviously enjoying it against time,"
and -taking their pleasure in the same rush.
ingt bustling way in which they do their
business.
Of historioel memories Putney has fewer
than many of the neighboring suburbs,
but in is not without interesting essocia-
tins of its own. One such at least it pos.
sesses which would doubtless outvie all the
glories of Westminster Abbey in the eyes of
enthusiasts like those whonnade a special
pilgrimage to Farnborough in order to be-
hold the hallowed spot whore Sayers and
Heenan battered eaoh other's fame out of
all semblance of humanity 25 years ago.
Between Putney and Mortlake lies the fa-
mous "University course," on which the
picked oarsmen of Oxford and Cambridge
fight it out every year for the supremacy of
the river, and a walk of two miles up etream
brings one to the very spot where, in 1829,
the Cambridge crew struggled manfully on
till their boat annually sank beneath them.
But the bown Woolf offers to its visitors
other associations of more ancient date and
not inferior interest, even when coupled
with the one great disadvantage that nobody
min bet upon them. Half way up the High.
street, in atrange contrast to the trim mo-
dern shop fronts and plate•glass. windows
on either aide of it, appears an antique man-
sion of dark red brickwork, over the opacious
front of which the clingiqe ivy has trailed
itself so thickly that in many places the
masonry ie completely hictd.en, and the
small lozenee-paned casements of the upper
story look out from a frame of living geeen.
High upon the ridge of the steep rentiled
roof stance half a dozen of those tall, gaunt,
brick chimney otacks beloved by all our
great-grandfathers,. forming a striking foil
to the fresh green leaveo of the noble trees
behind "them, while an oldefashioned sun
dial stares out from between the two tipper of a man and a 'Woman!) WhoSe distorted
windowe of the aide wall overhanging the attitudes told but too plainly in what fear-
courteard, , which is separated from bhe, fulagonies they =we have died.
street by a heat, wooden gate, on whose ---------etnennamemenew-----
weather-stained posts appear the words, Professor Wagner 'says steamed potatoes
" bairfear House " are the hest,
so good.
These, however, are not the only charac-
teristic features of this boundary line be-
tween the land of plows and the land of
paving stones, Oa the spot wbere the two
districts meetethe two oppoting tribes that
inhabit them meet likewise. Every train
that comes up the river bank on Saturday
afternoon or Senday morning disgorge into
the quiet, old-fashionee High -street of Pun
new a crowd of sallow, keemeyed, jaded -
looking men and women, who seem to carry
about with them even in this place of re.
the house once more I am willing to stake
my professional reputation that I point out
the very spot where the missing room is to
be found."
The air of perfect conviction with which
the man spoke staggered the Squire, while
his wife, delighted at the idea of such a
romance in her own house, declared that
she was absolutely dying to see the "Blue -
beard's Chamber.' The guests with whom
the house was overflowing as usual unani-
mously agreed that the mysterious room
ought to be unearthed forthwith ; and when
the expert started on hie second round he
beaded a processien comprising the whole
population of the house. Many of the
younger men, little dreaming what they
were about to see, cracked boyish jests
about buried treasures and imprisoned
ghosts; and there was a general buzz of ex-
citement when the arniteet, tapping the
wall just above the great staircase announc-
ed that behind it lay the long-looti chamber.
A few blows from the pickaxes of two
sturdy laborers laid bare an oaken door
clamped with iron, which was speedily
burst in. Through the gap crept a damp
stifling, sickening odor, at whioh the gay re-
velers shivered and drew back as if from the
chill breath of the grave. There was n
momentary pause, EInd then the biggest of
the workman thrust himself through the mer•
sterious doorway with a define oath, only
to come staggering back the next moment
with his bold, bluff visage as pale as death.
Then the Squire himself, with a look
of very unwonted gravity upon his jovial
face, foroed the rusty door wide open.
Within lay a small oak -paneled chamber,
richly furniehed in the style of the sixteenth
century, but the dust lay thick on the carve .
ed chairs, the costly hangings were faded
and mildewed, the silver plates and goblets
on the table looked dim and tarnished, In
the two further corners of this living tomb
lay tvvo human skeletons, (seemingly those
A
v .
'!