Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1873-08-14

panel from the fireplace, and then
touched a spring, and the panel open
ed. You said that the will giving
this property to your father and his
heirs was to be found there. I was
convinced that you spoke the truth,
but, suddenly remembering your love
of gambling, I suggested that we
should play for it. You accepted at
once. We searched among the pa
pers and found the will. We placed
the will upon the table. and began to
play. We agreed that we wouldplay
up to ten thousand pounds. Your
luck was marvellous. In two hours
the limit was reached. I owed you
ten thousand pounds, and Lad lost
The Mere. You laughed and said,
We'll, John, you have had a fair
chance. At 10 o'clock this morning
I shall expect you to pay me your
debt of HONOR I rose; the devil OF
despair strong upon me- With one
hand l swept the.cards from the ia
BILE into the fire, and with the other
seized you by the throat, and dealt
you a blow upon the temple. You
fell dead upon the floor"
Need I say that as I heard this
fearful narrative, I recognized the ac-
tions of the sleep-walker, and u2der-
stood them all.
"To the end !" said the hollow
voice. "Confess to the end!''
1.-The doctor who examined your
body gave his opinion, at the inquest,
that you had died of apoplexy, caus-
ed by strong cerebral excitement. My
evidence was to the effect that I be-
lieved you had lost very large sum
of money to Capt. Bludyer, and that
you had told me you were utterly
unable to pay it. The jury found
their verdict accordingly, and I was
left in undisturbed possession Of The
Mere. But the memory of my crime
haunted me as only such memories
can haunt criminal, and l became a
morose and miserable man. One
thing bound me to life-my daughter.
When Reginald Westcar appeared up
on the scene I thought that the debt
of honor.would be satisfied if hemN-
ried Agnes. Then Bludyer reap
peared; and he told me that he knew
that I had killed you. He threaten
ed to revive the story, to exhume,
your body, and to say that Aldina
Ringwood had told him all about the
will. I could purchase his silence
only by giving him my daughter, the
heiress Of The Mere. To this con-
sented."
AS he said these last words, Mr..
Maryon sunk heavily into the chair.
The figure of GeoArey Ringwood
placed one ghostly hand upon his
left temple, and then silently left the
room. I started up and followed the
phantom along the corridor-down
the staircase-out at the front door,
which still stood open-across the
snow-covered lawn-.into the planta-
ton; and then it disappeared as
strangely as l first had seen it; and,
hardly knowing whether I was mad
or dreaming. I found my way back
to The Shadows.
For some weeks I was i'll with
brain fever: When I recovered |
was told that terrible things had hap
pened at The Mere. Mr. Maryon had
been found dead in Sir Henry B=net's
room-an effusion Of blood upon the
brain, the doctors said--and the body
of Col. Bludyer had bssn discovered
in the snow in an old oisused gravel
pit not far from the house.
A year afterward I married Agnes
Maryon; and, if all that. I had seen
and heard upon that Sd Of February
was not merely the invention of
fevered brain, the debt of honor was
at last discharged, for I, the nephew
Of the murdered Geofrey Ringwood,
became the owner of The Mere.