The National tribune., 1884-11-20


make any capture of consequence, they soon
landed in Edinburg with the story of the out
rage. As one of these men made vague state
ment as to May CarnaTon having seen one of
the robbers, went to question her as to his
appearance To my surprise, however, found
her strangely reticent and vague in her inior-
nation She admitted having seen the form
| or shadow of man reflected in the mirror,
but declared that she knew perfectly well that
though he were brought before her that minute
she could not ideiitify him. She had not seen
his face at all, and in speaking of his dress her
tory. She seemed to be indeed so frenzied and
! bysterical that l. thought her mind for the time
| unhinged. The servant girl was quite unfit for
questioning, and I was about to take leave,
after getting a LIST of the articles stolen, when
some one exclaimed in Mays hearing and
| mine:
"Oh, here's Mr.. HeGSderson coming mp the
lane in great hurry some one has told him
what has happened"
Then came puzzling circumstance to both
me and the family. May started up from the
| couch on which she had been reclining and
ran to the window Then, apparently rec
| ognizing her lover, she said with great vehe-
! mence and lll-rcstrained tears
can't See him! | shall not see him Tell
| him not to come in here!"
Every one stared and looked astonished.
May, dear! what can you mean? You
| surely do not want TO be rude to Mr. Hender-
son, above all? He has probably heard you are
| hurt and is distressed on your account"
"Distrcssed!' echoed the young girl with
great bitterness. "Oh, yes, he must be greatly
distressed. Tell him l refuse to see him, and
he may guess the reason"
The message was taken out and delivered in
a modified form By Mrs Carnavon, but so far
from guessing the reason or quietly accept
| ing the refusal, the gentleman insisted so
warmly upon being allowed to see her that he
was at last admitted to Mays presence.
Then the young ladys frenzy returned, and,
starting to her feet, she cried
How dare you come into my presence, sir,
when l have distinctly said l will not see
! you?"
why? What have I done? Why shouldn't
l come into your presence ?" he exclaimed,
! utterly staggered by the cold reception.
! What have you done ?-you know too well
what you have done, and l know too, unhappy
being that am. Be gone, and never dare to
look at me again, or others may know as we'll"
| The artist stared from one face to another
looking more helpless than ever.
Well, this is too much for me" he said at
last. "Will anybody kindly explain what
monstrous fault have committed? Is it being
late for church, and going 4 walk through the
woods instead, that has done the mischief"
"A walk through the woods?" said May,
with whitening scorn. 90 Sir you know you
were not near the wood or, if you were, you
did not stop there"
ITO be sure didn't; went home and had
dinner" he simply returned ''and then heard
about the robbery here and started off at once.
They said you were hurt too"
so | am-heret here!" and as May walled
forth the words she pressed her hand on her
heart and gave way TO bitter tears. Leave
the room, sir-or | will !"
'Al right; obey. But perhaps you'll al
low me TO say that of all the inexplicablc and
unaccountable treatment ever heard of or re-
ceived this is the most astonishing You are
either upset by the robbery or under some curl
Gus mistaken impression in regard to me. l
don't attempt TO explain it. My conscience is
clear; SO j take leave"
had to leave the room too, for the illness
and agitation of May increased as soon as the
young artist had lett. | did not leave the
house. however, bTt fingered to get the doctors
opinion OF the condition of the servant girl.
After waiting for some time was allowed to
see the girl, and found her tolerably sensible.
She did not understand very clearly that there
had been robbery, or how the robbery had
been committed, but she knew that in passing
through the dark lobby she had suddenly been
confronted by q man. yhO first tried to brush
past her and escape, and then swung round
heavy weapon against her forehead and felled
her. That was al she was conscious of till she
awoke with her mistress bending over her and
the doctor bandaging her head
=" But you saw the mans face, did you not?"
asked, after getting by slow degrees at these
facts.
mo very weel : was her faint answer. ~
can ia trae the byre in hurry like, for thot
maybe the hail wad be biln owre into the fire,
and after opening the door, and just rs it was
swinging to ahint tne, / saw pair O. legs wi
licht tweeds on afoAes-mc. l gied kind o. a
squeal, think, for | got fieg and the man
tried TO win by
iOu CoDld not identify him AGAIN then
even if we brought him before your"
"No; i dinua think | could"
You never saw him before | suppese?"
No; but | thought it was Master Hender-
son till he struck me-
:" Mr. Henderson! Do you mean that artist
gentleman who visits hcre2"
Yes; Miss Mays sweetheart"
=" How did you think it was he?"
Because his breeks and coat were the same.
YES mind now the man had velvet coat on,
and ! think he had white hat like Master
Hcndefsoms but I'm no sure"
Here was a startling revelation. Now, /
thought, | understood the excitement and
frenzy of May Carnavon and the treatment of
her lover, which had been SO pulling to her
friends. She knew more than she had re-
realed-had seen tho robbery committed
possibly had recognized the man in the act,
and thus discovered that the supposed gentle
man aud artist was mere adventurer and
mnrderous thief This was the outline of my
swift thoughts as | sat there by tho bedside of
the halfstupeied servant girl. Yes, thrilling
was the discovery, resolved to act with the
utmost caution before even limiting at such u
supposition to another A mere resemblance in
dress was nothing. dozen men might wear
the same kind OF hat and coat. would need
better evidence than that
To be continucdl