Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1886-10-23
five MILLION POUNDS.

Five MILLION POUNDS.
II see you know something about it, he
continued. "Well, it is just as I thought 1t
would be. They never meant the girl to
share with them. She was to have all the
kicks, while they got all the ha'psnce 1t
would have been different, though, il she
had listened to me-"
u don't want either to throw doubt upon
your story or to seem to accept 1t without
furtherinquiry; but,Imust ask you to tell
me who. in your belief, Miss StancliRe Isl"
ibid Inot tell you just now2 No. Well,
she is the daughter, I am told, Of apoor old
parsonsapamed Sheldon, who died at Mel
bourne twenty years ago. His wife lived
twelvesor eighteen months after him, and
then shSl died, too, and Daisy was left a little
child, without a friend in the world. It was
then, as I've said, that Mrs. Branksome
took pity on her, and adopted her. She wa
a good woman, was the doctors wife, and he
never dared to carry out his plot about
Daisy until she was gone. God knows
whether he did not help her off in the end.
He was.equal to il. At all events, as soon
as. she die !, Branksome goes to poor old
MGulsverer. and tells him the whole tale
thstale5he had made up-how he had kept
the secret $ofs Daisy's real birth until then,
partly because of his promise to her mother.
and PARTLY for his w.fe's sake, as she would
neve.' have rar;el with the girl. Mauleverer
swallowed the bait whole, and from that
time Branksome had complete command, not
only over Daisy, but over the old man also"
"How have You got to learn all thls!"
"rhat's my business" he said in sullen
tones. But Immediately some swift fear OF
the consequences Of giving me offense took
possession of his mind. "If you must know,
/ Learned it all from an old servant Of Drank
some's whom Igot hold of. always sus-
pccted there; was something wrong, md after
Branksome :quarrelei with mt, and got me
dismissed by Mauleverer, I wormed the truth
out of the old woman"
Harding and I were so much astounded by
the extraordinary revelation thus made to
us that neither of us felt capable of carrying
Gregson's examination further. Strange as
it may seem, we had no doubt as to the
truth of his story. Rascal as the fellow un-
mistakably was, he had told his tale In a
manner which compelled our acceptance of
it. l sat %bewildered, almost paralyzed, BY
the nature of his statements. Daisy not the
niece of Mauleverer! And Branksome the
head of a gang of scoundrels, whose dia-
bolical plot against the life of the millionaire
had only now been carried out, after years
of careful preparationl It seemed incredi.
BILE, and yet in my heart I felt certain that 1t
was true.
Harding was the first to recover the full
use of his faculties.
"Will you be good enough" he said. ad'
iressing Gregson, ito give us your opinion
if you have one, as to the way in which MIR
Mauleverer was murderedT
II thought you knew all about that. DAISY
Stancliffe gave him the poison instead OF hi
powder that night"
By a look Harding warned me to keel
calm. "Do I understand" he pursued, "that
in your opinion, Miss Stancliffe-for so.
think, we may still call observation-disclosures
thepoison knowingly"
"Why, put it to your own sense, sir
Somebody gave the old gentleman his dos
that night. It was not done by Branksome
Or by Flinter, or by Fosdyke, nor by Mr.
Fenton here. Who did it, Not any of tn
English servants at Great Lorton. There
none of them in the secret, am sure. Dom
you see it must have been done by the gir
who had been brought up for that very pun
pose-ever since she was a baby!"
"No!" I cried, regardless of Harding's or
pealing glance. II not see it. God onl,
knows how the thing was done, but if Mis-
Stancliffe was the accomplice of these vii
lains, she was an unconscious and an limo
cent one."
"Then will you tell me how the thing wa
done? Why, you know yourself that neithe
%Branksome nor Flinter had been near th
hall for weeks before the old man died; an
they were a thousand miles away when til
dose was given"
'Iput my hand TO my forehead YEARLY.
"Ah, if I could only tell you how it we
done! have thought, and thought owe
everything till my brain has grown giddJ
There is only one theory that has ever
chance in its favor, and Of that, alasl If
be the true one, we can never obtain I'll
proof"
Sand what may that theory be-" aske
Gregson, with an air of interest.
hesitated us to whether toreveal my ide
to,him. 1t was one which had occurred
mo moro than once during tho long sleeple!
watches of the night; hut l had said notl
ing of it to any one, chiefly, I think, becau.
it was but, and in the nature of things neve
could be anything moro than, a theory. Vi
less a miracle We're 10 happen, no proof of /
short of tho conf s>ion Of the criminal
could ever be adduced. Still, it might i
well to hear Gresson's opinion of it
"May it not Ii; We been possible" I sais
"for a powder containing strychnia to ha,
been secretly substituted by Flinter for OF
containing Mr.. Mauleverer's proper med
cine? In that case Flinter might be able
prove an alibi, although he was really IL
culprit; and Miss Stancliffe may have give
the poison to Mr.. Mauleverer, although pc
fectly innocent Of any knowledge of /
nature"
I heard q low chuckle and looked u
Bielski had entered the room while I W.
speaking and had heard my theory:
~ beg your pardon, gentlemen. Iknocke
twice, but l could not make you hear IN
You'll excuse me, Mr.. Fenton, but I shoul
like to tell you that you have got on the rigl
track at last. As soon as Mr.. Harding to-
me the facts 1 saw the trick had been dol
in that way. But lori What a pity NJ
Belmore didn't bring it out before the jury
3, n Xe3GN
:-.5a 3 %M
- M/ kN1H~l,