Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1886-08-22

out of the room. went out into the street,
where the snow was lying, and walked up
and down bareheaded, regardless Of the
cold, trying to collect my thoughts and re-
alize what it was that had happened.
And my first clear idea was one of which
at the time felt ashamed, of which am
even more ashamed after the lapse of years.
forgot all about Mauleverer himself and
only grasped the idea that at last the OBJ
stacle which stood between Daisy and my
self had been removed. There was moth
ing now to prevent our marriage.
! Nothing? Yes. remembered myself.
! There was the dark shadow OF Mauleverer's
gold. Even now-from his grave / ielt
well assured that with his dead hand he
would strive to keep US asunder.
The thought of Daisy had quickened my
intellect, and saw that there was at least
one step which ought to take. l went
back to the little room where | had left
Branksome and Fosdyke. found them
engaged in conversation of the most earnest
description, carried on in those low tones
which, when the shadow of bereavement
lies heavy on n man, he naturally adopts.
They looked up when l entered rs though
they scarcely relished my intrusion. Eos
dyke at all events could scarcely conceal
his impotence. | made a hasty apology,
and seizing my coat and hat left the room.
/ Five minutes later | was in the telegraph
Office writing n message to my darling, IN
which l expressed my sorrow At hearing
the news of her bereavement, and my hope
that within few days we might meet
again.
As waited while the clerk checked the
message, my thoughts We're naturally busy
with that solemn event. which had in a
moment robbed Mauleverer of all his
wealth and reduced him 10 the common
level of our poor mortality, He had been
dead now just week. Probably this was
the day of his funeral. My imagination
took wing across the the storm-tossed
Northern sea, and | saw in fancy the fune-
raj procession starting from that gloomy
old hall among the Yorkshire woldS, with
one slight girliSh figure, draped in black,
! following the coffin of the man 1t whose
riches all the world had wondered. 20
my darling" | cried in my heart, why
am not with You TO helpy you to bear your
sorrow, and 10 drive away that sense oi
I loneliness which is never felt 10 keenly rs
by the side of an open grave"'
And then, like flash OF lightning, there
darted through my brain the remembrance
of the words spoken to me by Gregson in
the railway carriage, and all of the sinister
portents that had attended my visit 20 the
! hall Up TO that moment had regarded
the rich mans death rs any other person
would have done who had read the para
graph in The Times But now, in an in
slant saw il all. Fool that I was, not
to have seen it sooner, Mauleyerer had
been murdered,
! Murdered, but how and by whom? One
man there..was whom | suspected above all
Others. But he WAS here, more than n
| thousand miles from the spot where the
evil deed had been done. Even il | could
have been told by revelation from heaven
that Fhnter had slain Mauleverer, should
have had to acknowledge that the thing
was impossible. The arm of the assassin
may be long: but ii cannot reach across
! hundreds of leagues of stormy sea in or
der To strike Its towards blow. Yet while
/ | reflected on all the perpleNing contrLdic-
! tory facts, my conviction that Flintcr WAS
guilty grew, until il took possession of my
whole frame. and quite suddenly the cX-
/ PLANTATION OF the difficulty which had
/ troubled me became clear Ia my mind. He
had an accompliCc-S one whom he had
| left behind him ut Great Lorton and
! through whom he had slain the man hc
protested 10 love with SO dog like fidelity.
All Mr. Flintcr." ] said 10 myself,
with bitter smile on my lips, you little
thought what Il ptlall YOU were digging
| for yourself when YOU lured me on board
| the Golden Hawk. If had never been
your prisoner, | should never have been
able to c0niound you AZ am about 10 do
] took up one of the blank telegraph
forms on the table of the little Office, aud
wrote hurrcdly as follows:
Chief Constable, Barton, Yorkshire:
If Maulcvercr symptoms are apparently
those of epilepsy, | strongly urge post
mOrtcm examination. Have grave reason
TO suspect foul play. Return to England
Immediately. FENTON,
Yacht Golden Hawk
When in the dark after days recalled
| the moment when penned the lines which
were destined 10 influence in 80 terrible a
manner not only my own life, but the lives
my agony cried aloud 10 God for forgive !
ness for the evil had wrought unwittingly. |
! never failed to re- member one fact. That |
was that seemed To have written that IA !
tai message under the inspiration Of some
will outside my own II was done in an ,
instant, before ! had even attempted To |
weigh the act itself or its possible consc-
qucnCcs; and was once more under the |
roof of the Hotel d'Anglctterre before ! |
fully realized the step which | had taken. |
There is no need Ia dwell upon our hur-
ried departure from TrOndhicm. Drank !
some had recovered his cllmncsS and self |
possession before we sailed that evening, |
but il was evident that the terrible event /
of which we had heard 80 Unexpectedly |
filled him both with sorrow and anxiety. !
He was very friendly in his manner 10 me;
but neither he nor Fosdykc was now dis
posed to tighten the passing hours with the
gay sallics Of talk and story which had
been so frequent before The spent the
greater part of every day deep in cOnsulta-
ton with each other in BranksOme's pri-
vate statc-rOom, and soon found that
Flinter was not unfrrquently admitted 10
their confidence.
We had been three days at sea. In an
other fOur-and-twcnty hours We ought to
he at Hull and in few hours more
would see Daisy. was counting those
hours rs paced the deck after dinner un-
der the frosty starlit sky, when was told
by one of the stewards that DIR. BrankSOme
wished 10 speak to me AT once.
| found him in the handsome cabin
which was nOminally set apart for the pri-
vate use of the owner Of the Ship. To my
surprise Fintcr was with him rs well AZ
FOsdyke. | was struck by the extreme
gravity Of Branksome's face when enter
ed the room. Fosdyke seemed TO bc wor-
ried and nervous; while as for Flintcr, he
received me with scOwl Of hatred that he
made not the slightest attempt TO conceal.
"Mr. Fenton," said Branksonc, who
was standing and whose stately figure
seemed 20 MI the whole cabin. 1t has come
to nv knowledge, within the last hour,
and by the purcst accident, that You dis
patched 4 message by telegraph from
Trondhjem, after hearing the terrible news