The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1886-12-17

awaited ON the platform. The detectiv,
looked somewhat haggard and excited wher
he greeted me-
aMr Harding herey' he said. IT am GLAD
Of it. Iwant you both. have somethine
very important to lay before you" Il 4
We hurried to my room, where Harding
! awaited US. : Breakfast was on the table; but
Bielski seemed little disposed to eat OF drink
untilhe made his great Communication tt
US. The instant the waiter had left the room
he addressed us.
Gentlemen, it is all right Tho young
lady Is as Innocent as dove. aud in forty
| eight hours she'll lie as free as we are You
were right Mr.. Fenton, IN your guess at the
way It was done; and now can prove it,
What was it that made the little detective,
| with his shrewd. keen face, stop suddenly in
the middle of what was evidently meant
to he a long harangues II was simply the
sudden springing to his feet OF Harding,
whose hands the next moment held mine.
and were violently shaking them. while,
with voice curiously unlike his usual one.
he casped out; "Oli fellow--so glad--God
bless your
| N And II But shall not weary the reader
with any analysis of my emotions 1t was
dark December morning; ah how unlike
that bright summer weather in whica Daisy
and had first met aud learned to love each
other But whom hose woods fell from the
detectives lips, The summer sun shone out
again, and the birds sang IN my heart, and
the very heavens seemed 10 be opened above
me.
II don't wonder at your being upset, gem
tlemen. / feel a bit queer myself; but, you
must really comnose yourselves and listen to
hat - Ali II L \ Il.
story to tell before. Lor bless mel I'll never
believe in c'ever men again. Every one of
them is alike. They play their game so
beautifully that you think there can be no
catching 'em; and then, 10 and beholdl you
Z find that all the time they have been playing
your game. too, and in the way that you
least of all expected"
Having delivered himself of this eXordium
Bic ski took from his pocket small parcel,
from which he duly extracted tho little
memorandum book i had found ut Great
Lorton Hall.
"This book, gentlemen, is neither more nor
less than the diary of Francis Branksome.
Esquire, Md, for nearly thu whole of the
present year. And In it DR.. Branksome has
set down. all as plain as q pikestaff, the
whole history of his own proceedings during
that time, and of the crimes which he has
committed, including the, murder of Mr..
Mauleyerer, and the plan by which the sus-
picion Of that murder. was to be thrown up
on Miss Stancliffe."
A cry Of horror broke from the lips of
Harding. For my part, ] sat spellbound
and silent
II never saw anything in my life beforeto'
compare with this, gentlemen, continued
the detective, shaking his head emphati cally.
II have seen a many queer things in my
time; tutnever any thing like this Here's
a clever man, an educated man, a man who
thinks thathecan take in every body around
him, and that we ore all nothing more than
chessmen to be moved about by him at his
pleasure--aye, and man who does move
people about just as he pleascs for year
after year; and yet this clever man is such
fool that he thinks he can Put his secrets into
writing, and prevent anybody discovering
i'em, simply because he mixes up two sys-
TENT of short hand, and makes one of his !
own out of tem, in which to keep his diary
Bieski looked round as though to ask our
opinion ON the subject.
II remember" said Harding, IA case of a
murderer lin Paris who was convicted
Through diary in which he lefs record of
all his crimes"
'Do you indeed, sira Well, all / can say is
that 1t Is the first time I've come across such
O. case. But now, gentlemen, L must tell
you what the diary says 1t took ms and
my mate all day yesterday and down to
three o'clock this morning to translate it;
and we shouldn't have got done with it vet
If it hadn't been that luckily this clever DIR.
Branksome had chosen for his cipher two
systems, both of which my friend happened
to know
Thereupon Bielsld produced large batch
of manuscript and he began to turn over
the pages, most of which saw were covered
with his handwriting.
any friend deciphered. and I wrote down
as he read it, he explained to us. II am
not going to trouble you with the early part
of the story, though there Is plenty that
shall have to deal with afterwards I'll keep |
straight to what concerns this case Here is |
the arst extract after he has seen you, Mr..
Fenton. ARRIVED Scarborough six a m.
Went ashore at eight, and Joined the boss and |
Daisy at Grand hotel The old man very |
well; appears to have got over the attack Of !
bronchitis. Looks as II he might live twenty
years yet Had the usual business talk with |
him, and settled everything satisfactorily. |
No suspicion Of Fosdykes game Fos-
dykes game" said the detective breaking |
number of ,Mauleyerer's bonds into portable
and transferable securities. The rogues
were determined, whether the man lived or
died, to dip their hands into his pockets |
Found TO my disgust that Daisy has made |
che Acquaintance of young man named |
Fenton. I suspected something from her
manner Of speaking of him. 1t seems that |
he protected her from that brute Oregon at |
York railway station, and she repays him |
by falling in love with him. j made an
of observing them both closely |
There is no doubt that he Is fond of her, and |
find that he has got an infu nee over her |
whichI must destroy as speedily as possible. |
A commonplace, inoffensive young man, but |
in my way, and therefore to te got out, Of
It'p IN Ill 80 yFTEHlttfI
This extract affords fair sample Of the
perfect frankness with which Branksome |
had committed his thoughts to paper Thero
was notg the faintest attempt in the diary at |
II he told lie, he said so |
straight out; IL he committed any CRIME,
trivial or great, it was described with cynical |
plainness OF speech IL tho whole of that
extra ordinary volume were to be published |
L would be one OF the most interesting psy-