Smyrna times., 1869-01-06
WHOLE NO. 724

a thought seized me that sent me tearing
through the bushes and brambes with frantic
speed. 4 few seconds more and had caught
Mrs. Forester by the wrist
What would you DO, weman?" / exclsim-
ed breathless
She made no answer-only fell fainting at
my feet.
When | got back to the house found Mu'-
ray alone i'll the dining room, paying the clos
est attention to a second bottle of the 81
Chateau Margaux, to better appreciate which
the lamp had been brought in, 50 that he
might cXaminc the marvellous beauty of its
color. Charlie was coSeted in the smoking
room with his farm bailiR; IL short, the Op-
portunity of an interview alone with Murray
which | 50 much wanted presented itself. l
was not slow to take advantage Of it, and fling
ing myself into an armchair close to him,
poured out glass OF wine, and settled com
fortably to my task 1t was pretty plain that
he was anything but pleased at the prospect of
a tetc-d ttte, and seemed not altogether easy i'll
his chair
81 was thinking Of taking stroll in the
garden he said half-risng from his chair.
"A pity to leave such excellent tipple," [
replied !" besides it's rather chilly. DO you
know" | continued, Il have been thinking of
that observation you made the other night,
when | said We had met b fore, and upon my
word L believe | was right after all. have
such capital memory for faces that | cannot
imagine myself mistaken"
Indeed" he laughed roughly: "you seem
to have great confidence in YOURSELF unfortu-
nately, as | told you, in this instance you are
! quite wrong"
"Weu perhaps I am, y was my answer, as
! drew my chair a little nearer. 1.-The strang-
est part Of my error was that | tanoied you
were one Of two men | defended at Reading
some four years ago. for conspiring to cheat
young undergraduate out Of his money by
playing with loaded dice"
He was far too much on his guard to make
any sign; he only said, with smile, you
certainly paid me great compliment" But |
saw that he was drawing away his right hand,
which had hitherto been resting on the table,
1t WIS a remarkable case" | continued,
chiefly from the way in which the roguery
was dctected. The hand Of the man who was
manipulating the loadeI dice was, as yours
might be, on the table, to all al pear lnceS in
the most innocent manner possible, with
that, as if to give him occular demonstration of
the way in which the cheat had been effected,
| took hold of his hand and hold it on the ia
ble,-" when q stranger who had been sitting
at the further end of the room came quickly
to the side Of the rogue, and i'll an instant
more had pinned his hand with a carving fork
to the mahogany" | felt that had carried
the play on long enough, and quickly inserting
my finger at the top his 8 love | tore It down
the back. He jumped to his feet and so did
|. You are that man" said I. whose
hand was so pinned to the table, and that scar
is the evidence should call if it were neces-
sary to prove it. Therefore sit down and hear
what else have to say.
He glared viciOusly at me, lifted his fist as if
he would have struck me, and then sank into
his chair again.
" \ man who could try to rob a poor silly
boy by such dsgrlcetul means | continued,
could hardly be expected to have any pity on
a helpless woman; but fortunately have been
: a witness Of your endeavor, ON more than one
occasion, by threats and menaces to extort Il
, large sum of money from your host 5 wife, and
: that by representing to her that her first huS-
band was alive, and at OtagO. III New Zealand,
! when you knew as we'll as do that he was
dead, and has been so this two Years.
e Z" He is not dead" grOwled Murray.
: " He is dead, | replied, land your own
r pocketboOk proves it..
As said this | held up to him the wallet
that | had stumbled upon III the plantation
walk in one of the pockets of which, among
numberof other exceedingly suSpicious-l looking
y documents, | had found certificate Of the
r death OF Authur Bernard.
4 But as | have been very long time in tel
Y ling my story-barrsterS are pruverbialy long
e winled, you know must hurry to a conclu-
r sion.
V The morning following our interview, Muir
. ray, with many excuses and regrets, found him.
| self unavoidably compelled to return to town.
# As he got into the phaton that was to take him
= to the station he kindly whispered in my ear.
5. "I'l live to pay you out for this yeti"
is promise that | somehow or othe- fancy he will
t, fulfill some day. TIL then am content to for
|, get all about him. As for Mrs Forester, tho
r clouds upon her horizon have lifted she has
buried a sad and painful past, and lives in a
ii present loved as dearly and tenderly as ever by
is Charlie, who knows nothing, and who never
It SHALL unless she, as | have advised her, has
: the courage to tell him all, even to the extent
= that her first husband, Arthur Bernard, was
h the co conspirator who stood at Murray side
e in the felon's dock. have every hope that
n she will do this, for the confidence between
husband and wife should be as clear as the day
J. at noon.