Weekly commercial herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1884-18??, 1886-01-29

INC ADVICE IN respect OA NY JOuAH'J
New York. Do not trouble to answer tnS
shall take my chances Of finding you anu
IS / shall have nothing else to do 1t viii no1
inconvenience me at all il it should be IN
convenient for you to remain at home
Yours very truly,
JOSEPH NoRBURY."
"Providenco or the devil has a hand In
ihisln Needham exclaimed. III cannon 10
providence, for providence has written IL
Town hard and strong, and engraven II on
he mountain stone, Thou shalt do no mur.
ler.' Satan then9 Or Fatel Or Destlny'
Two lives hang in the balance. Fate, OF
Destiny, or providence, or the devil kno"
It. They claim the right to elect which IS 10
DO the victim. He is picked out from
millions, and under marvellous circum-
stances, and brought to London in the nick
If time. The circumstances which Will
attend his removal, his substitution for
mother, are made to fit into the occasion.
Every detail Of the affair is molled for
ne. 1t is as if, like the patriarch Of old,
lad found a ram caught in the tbicket,
.eady to take the place of this other sacrl-
ice: or the dagger that pointed the way to
Duncan's chamber; or like the omen that
9uCOuTlRJu luIQuln ia "hoO - w W S
,nd3 Will not the unseen ministers claim
me and dam me at last? There's the rub'
But sufficient for the day is the evil thereon
will 90 on--Fate continuing propitiora-
I | swing for it,"
His face was livid now, his lips fixed AMI
,ruel, and he paced his chamber as he had
lone before, tigerishly, pausing now anu
then to mutter and talk. Presently he too&
The razor from ms coat pocket aud put IL
into the pocket of his dressing gown.
81 will dress later, " he said; Nolan will
be tired of waiting"
Then he thrust Norbury's letter into his
pocket with the razor, washed his hands,
brushed his thin hair, and tightening the
waist band OF his dressing gown, glided
catlike into the dining room, where he
found his confidential solicitor walking
about impatiently, one hand in his pocket,
the other swinging his eyeglasses about.
Il have kept you too long, pray excuse
mel said Mr.. Neelham; 81 did not go to
bed until very late"
81 should judge so, for all the years l
have known you l have never seen you in a
dressing gown before said Nolan.
"And you shall never see me again in one
IL my appearance SO offends you. lsuppose
you are thinking at this moment what could
have induced my constituents to call me
fopF'
"No, my friend, l was not thinking O.,
anything so'frivolous. l have received by
this morning post a very strange letter
im~pugning the reality of the ~Broadwood
trust and mortgage deeds. l have accepted
service of writs for fifty thousand pounds,
ovJ thn n;t,v ~hi, ,,,Cr-fnr taiGp of nntbinP
but your financial ruin. They say that you
cannot last twenty-four hour3. What is to
be done! Can / do anything! | am only
here to ask these two questions"
"Thank you, Nolan; your sympathy
touches me-" sail Needham. 81 feel as if l
had lost my hold on things and on life; that
is o fact.n
"You look it,'' said Nolan.
81 am i'll; but l shall pull through"
"You never lacked courage. Look at the
difficulty straight i'll the face; your honor
is intact; you nave only been info. tlnate, -"
II hope YOU may always think so. Per-
haps that strange letter you speak Of may
undeceive you, who knows9 But, my dear
Nolan, wait. Monday morning may DO
wonders for lis. think it will. You will
take breakfast"
mo, thank you, l cannot stay"
Eyes, you can, you must, dear friend. |
ave business OF the last Importance to
peak about"
MI. Nolan did stay to breakfast, and re-
NAMED until late in the afternoon. He did
not return to the city, but was driven home
In Needham's carriage. On its return Need
ham said to the driver:
John, l want you to catch the next train
TO Leighton Buzzard. Idon't mean to drive
to the station. Put your horses up and 90
yourself. l have a message for you to
Dick and some medicine for the horses.
And james"
YES, sir" said the footman.
II wish you to go with John"
Eyes, sir"
90 shall not want you hero. 1 am going
Jut tomorrow"
Eyes, sir.h
"You will stay all night at Leighton
Buzzard and meet me, both of you, with the
'og cart at the leighton station, at the first
train on Monday"
Eyes, sir"
Mr.. Needham looked at his watch.
''You have two hours to put up YOUR
horses and go to the station. When YOU
arc ICdAJ 4 h1NO q OOOp1o AOl y Ou.
YES, sir" said the two servants to-
gether.
They took q bottle down to Leighton.
with a note from the master; but it wa not
the bottle which had been delivered at PORT
and place with so much ceremony the day
before. John, however, was instructed not
10 open the parcel until Monday morning.
when Mr.. Needham would instruct him in
the use Of it.
When the two men servants had gone.
Mr.. Needham (having asked John TO leave
the stable key on the study table, went into
the yard and smoked q cigar there-a very
unusual thing for him to do. He went into
the stables, and patted the cob which he
used for city work in his single brougham.
Then he examined the harness and the
b~rougham, s~trolling in and out of tho
stables, the harness-room and the coach
house. After a while he carried the cobls
harness into the stable and put it on. He
peeped out into the yard to see if he WIS
noticed. No, all was quiet. Ho then ex-
amined tho %brougham, came back and
looked at the traces; vent back to the
coach house, returned to the stable. I'M
harnessed the cob, patted its neck, replaced
bhe harness; then picked up the cigar he
had laid on u window ledge. and went back
to his room,
II might do it some other way" he said
TO himself, 'did not fate and circumstance
point to the one way-my way-the a I
was going myself. My own plans are laid
they are simple and natural, and l see them
in detail from first to last. On the eve of