The Douglas independent. [volume] (Roseburg, Or.) 187?-1885, 1879-10-18


Brashear had come to Beamis Point
He went to his room, there to await
the sounding Of the dinner gong. 1t
rang at last. and with strangely futter-
ing heart, John repaired TO the dining
room, and the first person to be intro
duced to him was Mr.. Oliver Pierce, of
Brooklyn.
The fellow was manifestly in the last
epoch of respectable intoxication, and as
he lolled about the room, eating, gestie-
ulating and talking all in breath, John
had no meagre opportunity to study his
rum-biossoming physiognomy.
His intuition told him the fellow was
the one he sought. His face was COW
cred by struggling beard of several
weeks growth, he was quite dark, and
Johns height ito hairs breadth.
That afternoon John telegraphed Big
gerton substantially as follows:
t'UNcLE AMERIcUs:-Eyery is in
excellent order, and awaiting your
pleasure. JOHN"
It was twilight when he again entered
the room, and scarcely had he done so
than he heard some one fumbling at the
door-knob. A second later the door
swung quickly open, and leaning against
the panels was q woman. Quite tall
woman she was-certainly several inches
above the accepted height of her sex.
Her face, outlined by the dense shadows
of the hall was strangely prepossessing;
she had full, regular features, q damask-
rose sort of complexion, and pale gray
eyes, under dark, curling lashes.
Mr.. Liel was the first to regain his
composuIe.
lis there anything can do for you?"
At the first sound of his voice she
shrank back still further in the shadows.
She had not seen him until he spoke.
Eyes" she articulated, family, in .
veivety contralto voice, though should
never have intruded had I known you
were here. The door of my room has
become locked during my absence, and
your key and mine are counterparts of
each other
John stopped forward and wrested his
key from its lock, then passed into the
hall accompanied by the lady. Her
room lay directly opposite his own, and
it was the work of scarcely moment to
! insert the key and tnrn the lock into its
rightful position. Then, with faint
murmur of thanks, the lady passed
| within, closing the door behind her, and
making to him an impromptu Peri on
the outer edge of modern paradise.
He stayed there second or two listen
! ing to the fall of her receding footsteps,
then turned about, and was sanntering
across the narrow hall, when suddenly q
man staggered with drunken force against
| him. just then q momentary simmer
| of light burned upward from the titful
flare of the hallway lamp, and, lying hall
senseless in his clasp, John I4iel saw the
figure of Philip Brashear.
! He led the fellow few PAGES, then set
him on his feet. and watched HIM with q
keen sense OF satisfaction stagger against
the door of room farther on and sink
| into heavy sleep across the threshold
John felt more interested in his myste-
rious visitor next morning than he did in
/ either Brashear or his breakfast. He
watched for her until his eyes tired OF
their vain expectancy; and. despairing al
last of seeing her, he questioned mine
host about her, and had his trouble for
| his pains. Mine host knew absolutely
nothing beyond the meager fact that her
name was Spear; that she came from New
Haven; that she paid her bills with un-
sommon regularity, and kept exclusively
| to herself.
| So John had to content himself that
day with watching the movements OF
| Philip Brashear, and congratulating his
vanity upon the CONQUEST he had won
over his old enemy-Fate.
Towards evening he saw the door of
Miss Spears room slightly ajar, and ven
| tured in with neatly y-worded pretense OF
having mistaken the apartment for his
own. Miss Spear was manifestly sur
prised, and unquestionably displeased.
! However, she went through the formula
| of a half-hour's chat with becoming
show of good nature. When he went
away, she told herself that she must sub
NIT to his well-meant overture; for suspi-
cion was precedent she did not care to
establish inst then.
So time ran blithely away, and spring
merged itself into summer, and John
stood in hourly expectancy of orders
from his chief. He had been at Beamis
Point month now idly watching the
movements of Bra. helr, and playing the
agreeable to Miss Spear.
| Even to himself it seemed strange that
he had never told her of the mission that
brought him to Beamis Point; fear of the
| shock upon her nerves that would most
probably attend the revelation had alone
kept him from making it. No woman
had the strength of character to maintain
q strict cornposure knowing herself to be
/ beneath the same roof with criminal,
he urged.
And so things coursed along very
pleasantly, until over the wires sped the
| following words:
| John Liel: VIII be with you to-
morrow. UNCLE AMERIcus."
The missive set John to thinking, then
/ to planning. First of all he decided that
Miss Spear must not be compromised by
so much as a sight of the affair. He
would tell her everything and have her
leave the house until all was over. He
slipped out of his room and along the
hall until he faced the door of the cul-
\ prit's room. Peering in, he saw the fell
low lying prone upon his bed sleeping
off the effects of his spiritual potations.
| Quick as thought he snatched up the key
| lying at his feet, and quicker still locked
his prey securely within. That done, he
went to Miss Spear.
A stiff wind had crept up over the sea,
| over whichIa storm was brewing Miss
Spear was leaning before the window,
resting her head upon the jam. He found
her so as he entered the room in answer
to her bidding There was no time to
lose, and he told her everything of Bra
| shears crime, of his fight to Beamis
Point, and, lastly, of his being even now
an inmate of the house. He meant to
tell her, too, just which inmate he was,
but she did not ask, and he thought it
| needless
A transient cloud fitted over Miss
Spears face; then she paled to the roots
of her dark hair
..And you-you have been watching
his movements all along2"
.All along"
She put her lips together rigid1y, as If
to stife an utterance that had risen to
them.
s.And they are coming TO arrest him?'
Precisely"
The wind crept still higher, though
the storm had abated somewhat in its
fury. Miss Spear, reaching forward,
pushed down the window, then crossed
the room in d blind manner, and paused
before table under whose cover an OBJ
long parcel lay hidden. A second later
she turned about, retraeing her footsteps,
her hands pinioned at her back.
stYou shall never live to see Philip
Brashear takenr'
She sprang suddenly forward, world
of hatred glowing in her steely eyes.