The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1875-06-02
CHAPTER vi.
wALTERs' RING.

The long and carefully conducted inquiry
was over at last, and the result made public.
No tangible suspicion could be brought to
bear upon any one who had been at Der
went Lodge on the night of the fancy ball.
Mr.. Vernon Aubrcy's conduct, though
strange in some respects, was not considered
to warrant any accusation being brought
against him. Upon Sybil Derwent not the
slightest tinge of doubt seemed to rest, so
calmly had she borne herself, so carefully
had she answered all the queries put to her.
By an almost superhuman effort she had
thrown of all traces of the agitation that
racked her during her interview with
Charles Malcolm; but when courteously dis
missed by her questioners, she had quilted
their presence only to sink on the threshold
in O. swoon that lasted so long as to alarm
every one who witnessed it.
Still, there was nothing particularly
strange in this. Any woman of sensitive
temperament might have succumbed in the
same manner after going through such
irving scene. 1t was well known that Miss
Lindsly, the pretty hciress, for whom Mr..
Walters had renounced his allegiance to
the beautiful Sybil, had been i'll and nervous
ever since his death, and was now entirely
confined to her room. So the verdict ar
rived at gave satisfaction to almost all who
heard it-i.e., that the young man had died
by his own hand Mr.. Derwent's conjecture
had been accepted; and it was generally
believed that to still the excitabiity from
which he frequently suffered, Walters had
possessed himself of this poisonous mixture,
and had, without so intending, swallowed an
overdose on the night in question.
When we say that the verdict gave satls-
faction, we except Charles Malcolm, and the
astute solicitor he had employed. The
former, though relieved by SybiPs escape,
had not lost his conviction of her guilt; and,
the latter, as soon as they were together,
and alone, began to inveigh against the
thick.headedness of the police who had been
occupied in investigating the affair.
civ dear Mr. Malcolm !" he exclaimed !;
"they have been no good-literally no good
Mt all Those Vyners were not looked after rs
thcy oucht to have been, although they had
really great reason to be bitter against MIR.
Walters, while a young man who had assisted
in waiting at the ball, and is said to be in
some way connected with them ,and was over
heard to utter threats against your cousin,
has not been looked after or examined at all. !"
"Why did not you see to this" Malcolm
irately demanded.
because have only just learned these
facts, from overhearing two of Mr.. Der
vents servants discussing them. Moreover,
an important commission has been entirely
overlooked. Of the broken phial which con-
tanned the poison, every fragment has been
found but where is the stopper that secured
itp-what has become Of that?"
Malcolm suggested that cork might
have been used, which was easily trodden
underfoot, and so lost. But MIR. Cayson
shook his head.
az am convinced that the contents Of this
little bottle were secured with q stopper,
which, no doubt, was of the same peculiar
make and tint. Where, then, can this be ?
Is it still in the possession of the person who
administered the poison ?"
"Thcn you think, with me, that the ver-
dict is a mistaken one; and that my cousin
did not commit suicide ?" Malcolm abruptly
queried.
"My dear sir" replied Mr.. Cayson, with
emphasis, &C. am as certain as am OF the
coming of quarter-day, that our unfortunate
friend never attempted his own life. If l
had not known him intimately, and studied
his character, might have decided as those
gentlemen have done. But, firstly, Mr..
Robert Walters was the last man in the
world to take the trouble of carrying medi-
cine about with him under any circum-
stances, and especially when bound for a
fancy ball. Secondly, his love of the
good things he possessed was too strong to
induce him to throw them up without cause.
And, thirdly, 1 have seen him, with all his
high spirits, turn faint when he ran pen
knife into his finger, and go three streets
out Of his way to avoid meeting q funeral:
No, no, Mr.. Malcolm, he was not the sort OF
q young man to take his own life, though
who took it from him I AIN puzzled to con-
lecture. In fact, it's very mysterious
affair and here he helped himself to
pinch of snuff-"a very mysterious affair.
and I should like to see my way clearly
through it. I should, indeed!'
IT was some few minutes before Malcolm
made any reply. Divided between his solemn
sense of the request Walters had enforced
upon him, and that lingering attachment
to Sybil, which he was ashamed to acknow-
ledge. even to himself, he was greatly
troubled as to the course he ought to pursue.
/" Surely he said at last, his indecision
audible in his voice" surely enough has
been done; and I may solace myself with
the thought that men wiser than am have
made most careful researches. Why then
should 7 not accept their verdict as the
world has donep Walters could not foresee
what he was entailing upon ME, when in
hasty moment he bade me aEenge him
This deed, like many others, may be destined
to remain a mystery and is it not species
of fighting against Providence to persevere
in these efforts to unravel it Z?
"But you have not made these efforts IN
O vindictive spirit towards any suspected
individual" the solicitor reminded him.
"I have not, indeed!' said Malcolm,
earnestly. "Yet am sick at heart of the
position Walters request places me in, and
long to feel that have done enough
eff you can think so, why, by all means
Lot the matter rest" Mr.. Cayson remarked j;