The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1887-08-27 00:00:00

ET THE
Author of "The Heiress of Adger:tow litratage

CHAPTER XXL

NO DOUBT.
Confusion now has made his masterpiece.
Most sacrilegious murder bath broke ope
The Lord's anointed temple, and stole thews
The life o' the buiIding.'—SHAKZSPZARE.
PFLEN'S swoon was not of long duration; she re.
covered soon, and begged them to let her alone, and not
talk to her. _ _ _ _ _ _

'lt was like seeing Frank's dead body,' she said,
piteously, when Mrs. Churchill would have tried to
comfort her. I don't think I ever realised it till
now.'
There could be no doubt now. Frank Hatherleigh
had been foully murdered, and thrown over into
Girton's Hole, his watch and chain being caught as he
fell on the rough edge of the stones, and the piece of
his coat being doubtless torn away in the same fashion.
Where was he? Would the terrible depths of the pool
ever give up their dead? Would he be found in time
to come, mangled and disfigured, in the foul water?
or would the pit keep him as it had kept many more
secrets, and only yield them up at last, when the
secrets of all the earth shall be made known?
All Milford seamed to be one great gossipping place,
for the events of the murder and the subsequent
discoveries were on every tongue; and in the midst
of the talk, the day after Mr. Jarvis left, Horace
Gaylord got up, and made his appearance at Mrs.
Churchill's house. There was no stopping him; he
should go mad, he said, if he lay there any longer,
and his landlady was obliged to let him have his own
way and go out. He was not far from Fern Bank, and
how he got there he never knew, the road seemed to
swim and undulate as he walked along, and strange
shapes flitted before his feverish eyes.
The excitable Mary, who °plied the door to him,
gave a little scream that brought her mistress into the
ball to see what was the matter.
It's Mr. Gayford, ma'am,' Mary replied. I thought
it was a ghost; he's more like one than anything
else.'
Mr. Gayford ; nonserse !' Mrs. Churchill said,
incredulously. She had been at Mr. Gayfords
lodgings in the morning, and had been told that he
was still very ill. But she was soon undeceived by
hewing a feeble voice say, Mary is right. lam here;
et me come in, or I shall go mad!'
She gave him her arm across the hall, and took him
In to the dinhig-room, and made him sit down on the
couch.
'H )w could you be so imprudent?' she said, what
were they thinking of to let you come out?'
I shou'd have died lying there,' he said, excitedly.
' I came to you to hear all there is to be told. You
will not keep me in the dark, will you?'
I don't know that there is much to tell,' she replied
pievaricatingly„ All is gossip and uncertainty as
yet.'
No, it is not,' he replied quickly. 'I have heard
more than they think I have in the last two days. I
can't think what made me make such a fool of my-
self ; I was overdone, I suppose; I had not slept for
how long, I wonder—ever since the night. Ah ! I
must not speak of it, or I shall go mad—mad! and
then---,
He stopped and looked at her suspiciously; she was
w•rutinising his face eagerly.

'I am not so weak as they say. If they had only
told me everything, and not shut me up and said I
was ill, I should have been better. I heard the boys
calling the papers in the street, just now. They have
found my poor boy, have they not?'
Ah, no, Mr. Gayford ; and lam afraid they never
will'

Not in that pool—not there ; nothing ever comes to
the light of day again that goes down there. It sinks
down, down, till— Don% mind me, Mrs. Churchill
have thought and dreamed alone till my brain is
turned. finV7 is she—Miss Ramsay ? How does she
bear it? Mr. Jarvis told me something; I don't re-
member now. What does she Say? What does she
think?'
'She is as calm and good as can be expected,' Mrs.
Churchill replied. 'She is very much upset to-day;
she was asked to identify Mr. Hatherleigh's watch.'
Where was it? Where did they find it?' s.ked
Horafte Gayford, grasping her hand with a grip that
made her wince, it was so fierce. If they found the
watch, can they not guess who did it? Oh my poor
boy! I will have revenge on his murderers yet!'
Vengeance will come, be sure of it, Mr. Gayford,'
Mrs. Churchill said, convinced that his brain was
wandering., and wondering who she should call to her
assistance. She was saved the necessity of ringing
the hell, for the door opened suddenly and Helen
entered. She was very white, and there were red
circles under her eyes. Her fortitude had given way
at last. _

For a moment she did not recognise Mrs. Churchill's
vis;tor, for it was getting dusk, and she had come
from a liehted room.
Mr. Gaylord she said, in astonishment as his
vol -e startled her into recognition, and she recoiled in
spite of herself from his outstretched hand.
Speak to me,' he said;' say something to me. My
heart is breaking.'
I am sorry to see you so ill, Mr. Gayford, Helen
said, almost mechanically; her dread of the man was
so great that, even in his evidently feeble statl she
hardly dared to come near him. 'Are you fit to come
out?'
'No; lam fit for nothing but my grave. But I
could bear the silence and solitude no longer. They
will not tell me anything, they say there is nothing to
tell. But I know better. You will not be so cruel ; I
have a right to know. Have they found him? My
poor Frank!'
Helen repeated Mrs. Churchill's assurance that
Frank's body had not been found, and told him quietly
and calmly all there was to tell. He looked at her
with a curious glitter in hill eyes when she had
fin'shed, and said,
Then he will be hung—the murderer will be hung;
there will be no mercy for him, as he deserves none.'
But who is the murderer, Mr. Gayford?' Mrs.
Churchill said; that has to be found out, yet.'
That is clear; they have caught him; the man
that was in the wood that night. I saw him brought
through the town. Ha! ha! they will hang him, and
I eh dl be there to see.'
He laughed again, wildly and meaninglessly, and
the two women listening to him began to fear that
his mind was affected.
'We do not think Barney Grubb guilty,' Helen said,
gently. And Mr. Jarvis is quite sure of his innocence,
and is gone to get the proofs of his alibi for him. He
was not in Surrey when the deed was done.'
Horace Gayford's face turned whiter than ever at
her words.
Who dares to say he is not guilty?' he said hoarsely.
Will he not there, in the very place? Was he njt
seen and spoken to by more than one person? Was
not his stick the weapon that struck the blow ?Nothing
can undo the facts—nothing can make him innocent.
It is waste of time and energy to try it.'
We are trying it, nevertheless,' Helen said as quietly
as before, and Mrs. Churchill corroborated her words.
We none of us think Barney is the man; we must
look for 11;nr elsewhere.'
And while you are looking in other places you will
let the real murderer go. It shall not be, Miss Ramsay.
He shall he hanged, hanged I say—hanged bythe neck
till he is dead. Is not that the formula?'
He started as he saw the amazed and frightened faces
they turned towards him, and spoke more calmly.
I am frightening you by my vehemence, I can
see,' he said; but is it wonderful. Can anyone
blame me for my anxiety?'
.Not for your anxiety, dear Mr. Gayford,' Mrs.
Churchill said, making him sit down, for he was
walking about the room feeble enough, but in a rest-
less fashion that was indicative of mental mischief.
We are all anxious; but this excitement is bad
for you. It will make you ill, and it does no one any

good.
a And I don't want to add to your trouble, Heaven
knows,' he said, laying his head back in the easy chair
where she had placed him with a soothing, motherly
touch, and putting his hand to his forehead. I have
thought and thought, with no one to speak to, till my
brain is failing me. I must see Mr. Jarvis, and talk
to him.'
Everything is being done that can be done,' Helen
said, quietly. She was not afraid of Mr. Gaylord
now. Thera was no uncomfortable influence at work
as far as she was concerned. 'Nothing has been left
unthought of.'
I am wrong, I daresay ; but the days that have
passed since—since Frank was here amongst us, have
been like a year to me. It must not be let drop. My
poor boy's bones will cry out to us from his un-
hallowed grave if we let his murderer escape. He
shall not escape!'
There was something in his manner and words
that jarred upon Helen's nerves, strained as they
already were to their utmost tension, unutterably,
and she rose from her seat feeling that she should
break down again if she remained any longer.
I don't think the criminal will escape,' she said
quietly. It was a very clever plot; but time will
unravel it;' and without touching the hand he held
oat to her as she passed him, she left the room, telling
Airs. Churchill that Madge wanted her.
That lady put on her bonnet and herself accom-
panied the young clergyman to bis lodgings, and saw
him safely into the care of his landlady. He was
certainly not fit to be out alone; he looked wilder
than ever when he bade her good-night at the thor.
She begged him to stay indoors till he should be
b•tter. But he laughed in the same wild fashion, and

!Ai d I har, was impossible.
• I toali have to get out to give my evidence,' he
said No ills as must interfere with that; maybe
so ue that I shall have to give will help on the revenge.
lie eh it be hanged—hanged!'
lie was ertainly mad. No minister of the gosp.l
cou,u have spoken such vindictive words with such
empriat,c meaning if he were not partially out of h s
bonsai. If Barney Grubb's life depended on the
t Istimony of the Rev. Bottum Gsyford, he would hava
short shflft, before him. for the Assizes were very close
at hand—only a fortnight off -and the remand of
wreli would purely end in his committal for trial;
and with the overwhelming evidence against him,
how could the ferryman expect to escape?
Everybody pitied poor Mr. Gayford very much
ir.deed. It was well known how fond be bad been of
his young cousin, sad lOW - -.4r)