Weekly commercial herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1884-18??, 1885-09-04

jected very much 70 being hurried So It
was that, In spite Of the pressing need for
immediate flight, we were still In London.
The dangerous delay made me nervous,
excttable and ill-tempered. This state Of
mind was not without benefit to our cause,
as my manner as we'll as my looks fully CON
WINGED my mother that my own health was
the sole object of the journey. So, like e
good creature, she set to work in thorough
earnest to get everything ready for our de-
parture.
Tomorrow morning we were to start
l prayed Heaven that it might not be too
late; that the next twenty-four hours might
pass without what / dreaded taking place.
For l knew that by now that CHASTITY object
on the roadside must be lying with the light
Of day on its pale facet
With an effort / opened the mornings pa
per, and ran hastily up and down the col
umns What cared l for politics, foreign
news, or ~money-market intelligence Hero
was the one paragraph which riveted all my
attention The white tomb had given up
its secretI Readi To me those words were
written in letters Of fire!
HORRIBLE DISCOVERY NEAR RoprNc.-
The melting Of the snow has brought to light
what toiall appearances Is q fearful crime.
Yesterday afternoon a laborer walking ON
the highway discovered the body of a gem
tleman lying by the roadside. His death
bad been caused by a pistol shot. 1t is sup
posed that it must have occurred on the
night OF the great snow storm, and that the
body has lain ever since under the snow,
which had drifted to the depth of some feet.
The facts that death must have been instan-
taneous, and that no weapon can be found
near the spot, do away with the theory of
suicide. Letters and papers found upon the
corpse tend to show it to be that of Sir Mer-
vyn Ferrand, Bart. The unfortunate gem
tleman's friends have been communicated
with, and the inquest will be opened to-
morrow
For some minutes sat like one stunned.
Inevitable as it was that the discovery
should be made, the shock seemed scarcely
lightened by the forekno Wedge; the danger
seemed no less terrible. Oh, that we had
started y~esterday-were even to start to-
dayl What might not happen before to-
morrow morningl My first impulse was to
go to my mother and beg her to hasten our
departure; but reflection showed me how
unwise this course would be. l should alarm
heT-alarm Philippal l could give no rea-
son. My one longing was to keep the news
from my poor love. Let her read that para
graph, and who could answer for the conse-
quencesl Looking as a medical mar at her
case, / knew that there was something about
that night which troubled her; some dream,
or semblance Of dream, to which, fortu-
nately, she could as yet give no conference.
Let her learn that Sir Mervyn Ferrand had
ever since that night been lying dead where
she met him, the fearful truth must coma
to her. MOI not a word to excite her sus-
picion. My task was a twofoId one. l had
to save her not only from what l suppose l
must call justice, but also from herself. 1t
seemed TO me that the latter was the hard.
est part of my work; but l would do i'll
swore i would do it. l would keep watch
and ward, to see that nothing reached her
that she heard nothing which could awaken
memories of those mercifully absent hours.
tore the paper to pieces and burned it. l
think of all my dark days that one was the
one | would be least willing to pass again. I
trembled at every footstep on the stairs.
Any man who paused for a moment outside
our windows sent a cold chill over me. And
in the midst Of my misery l had TO wear a
cheerful face, and talk to Philippa and my
mother about the pleasures Of our projected
journey Ali IL we only reached the end of
lit in safety the pleasure would not be alto
: gether imaginary.
Once again I say, IL you canno feel with
me, throw my tale aside. Heaven knows it
is a sombre onel l was breaking the law;
concealing what the law calls a crime; do
ing all | could to save the criminal. But the
criminal was Philippe, and l loved herl l
myself would have stood face to face with
Sir Mervyn Ferrand, and have freely given
my own life II l could have assured his dy-
ing like the dog he was. Why then should
blame Philippa, who had done in her tenn
porary madness what l would have done in
cold bloodi Yet why trouble to ~extenuatel
loved herl Those words sum up every
thing.
The morning dawned. No fatal4messenger
had arrived. 1 glanced hastily at the papers,
which, however, contained no more infor-
nation about the tragedy. Shortly after
ten o'clock we started to drive to Charing
Cross. The rattle of wheels over the stones
seemed to send fresh life through my veins.
We were on the road to safety.