Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1886-11-17

there was risk in doing 1t, even with the
cipher bad adopted. was we'll aware Of
that fact But there must be an element OF
risk In all things human, and the chances
were certainly O thousand 10 one against
any harm happening to me through the in-
diligence of this little foible. Now. OF
course, all your petty moralists, from your
detective upward, will preach their little
sermon about the blindness with which
Providence afficts all criminals and will
prove entirely to their own satisfaction that.
II ! am great villain am a still greater
fool | deny it. I am no fool; and even
after the lesson I have now bad should
not hesitate once more to repeat-ot course.
under different conditions-ths trdiscrstioo
which has cost me go dear now.
MY dear sir, let me remove any difficulty
that may now lie in your way. II had not
beard from you Of the discovery OF my
cipher, and II, instead Of writing this letter
comfortably to you on board our beautiful
yacht, had been in jail Just now on the
charge Of murder, should havs been COM
pelled in self-defence to put you and all your
friends to an amount Of trouble that think
would have far outweighed the object you
a werss seeking to attain. Moreover. ! should
in ali probability have baffled the whole Of
you. But your appeal TO me last night,
coupled with the fact that shall certainly
rot now be permitted to gather the fruit for
which have waited so long. has caused me
to come to q conclusion Of which think you
ought to hear with gratitude. do not
mean to fight am leaving you foreverI
but shall do what can in departing 10
smooth your way, and to leave you and
Daisy to think not unkindly Of me
~ acknowledge, therefore. in the most
formal manner, that the story set forth In
my diary is literally true. ! murdered
Mr. Mauleversr In the manner therein de-
scribed-by substituting powder of strycn.
MIA for one Of bromide Of potassium. l had
no accomplice in my crime save Benjamin
Flinter. Daisy Is absolutely innocent; and,
though Fosdyke may have had his suspi-
cions, he knew nothing Fosdyke, my dear
Mr.. Fenton is very commonplace sort Of
rogue shall do nothing so absurd as to
attempt to justify or palliate my conduct to
you. l have my own justification, and l
assure you it Is altogether satisfactory to
myself. My digestion is excellent; sleep
perfectly; and I know no more Of re.
preaching conscience than Of disordered
stomach.
"There Is one point on which, by the way
I should not like either you or Daisy to lie
under any misapprehension. Though 1t was
necessary, in case of need, to place Daisy
under suspicion Of being the real murderer
Of Mr.. Maueverer, there was not the slight
est intention Of putting her life in jeopardy.
That was pour doing my dear Mr.. Fenton,
and you remember the hot indignation
which Flinter-who always had sneaking
kindness for the dear girl-showed when he
beard Of what must say was your ine1-
cusable rashness at Trondhjem. We wanted
to create evidence against her, not that we
might fling her into tho dock to take
her chance before jury, but in order that
we might have soma means Of counteracting
the influence which unfortunately you
seemed to have obtained over her, and OF
keeping both her and you In our power.
But then, the best laid schemes etc. am
no mouse. however. even though on this
occasion my plans have gone agley
"Daisy Is the daughter Of gentleman,
man Of birth, refinement and education,
clergyman Of the Church Of England, who
died at Melbourne in 49,. know nothing
OF her family history. save that her name Is
Sheldon; but you may depend upon it that
she Is. In every sense Of the word, lady.
"And now. nothing remains but that l
should say. Bless you, my children, and let
the curtain be rung down upon the play!
You will have Mauleverer's millions upon
which to enjoy yourselves-minus the COM
paratively trivial sum which my necessities
have compelled me to appropriate; you will
have youth, beauty. good conscience, ETC.,
ETC. Really. my dear Fenton. envy you
Pray, when you are happy, bear in mind the
fact that you owe your wife to me.
"And now. farewell! This Is the last time
you will ever hear Of your sincere but un-
repentant FRANCIS BRANKsoME.
This extraordinary letter, which left the
mans character almost as much OF an
enigma to me as it had ever been, did some
thing to clear away any remaining mystery
connected with the tragedy; and it con-
6rmed my darling In the intention which she
bad formed that under no circumstances
would she touch the money of the man who
had taken her as his child. and loved and
benefited her, under the influence Of the
fraudulent delusion impressed upon him by
Branksome Legally, she was full mistress
which we soon found had been greatly
exaggerated She made use Of her powers
over it to transfer the whole sum to trustees
for the execution Of the purposes which
Maueverer had named in the will le never
signed.
And so. though married the heiress Of
the millionaire, got penniless bride. But,
strange to say, | have never regretted that
fact; nor, verify believe, would Daisy her.
self exchange her present lot for that which
she enjoyed when men crowded round her
eager to pay court to her as the inheritor Of
the rich mans wealth. The brightness OF
our honeymoon, which came very soon after
those tragic days of which have written in
these pages, has never quite died out. Nay,
it renews itself from year to year; and We
are fain to acknowledge that We are happier
now because Of the sorrows through which
we have passed together.
Mr.. Fosdyke, the clever attorney had been
too clever for once. He knew nothing Of tho
plot to murder Mauleverer-of that the au-
thorities were fully satisfied; but he had for
gotten certain elementary rules Of his own
property, and SO one day he was struck off
tne rolls, anu cOnSlBHeu LOT tue TeludluueT OA
bis life to poverty and gnominy.
What became of DIR. Branksome and his
accomplice Flinter, is secret which time
las never revealed. The last word that ever
reached me from them was the letter which
the reader has now before him; the last that
was ever seen Of them was on that gray
December morning when the Golden Hawk
slipped out Of Scarborough bay like a
shadow, never more to come within mortal
ken. Various are the rumors that have
heard regarding this arch villain whose dupe
l was along with so many Others. Some
spoke Of him as leading life Of sybaritic
self-indulgence in an isle OF the Egean;
others described him as being q prominent
leader in a revolution in the newest Of the
Central American republics, while there
was one story-to which l myself attached
more weight than did to the rest-which
spoke of the sinking Of a large schooner
Yacht, name unknown. in the English chan.
mel. by bomeward bound p E. O. steamer.
during a dense fog, some four. r.and-twenty
hours after the Golden Hawk left Scar.
borough That yacht was lost. with all
bands, at that time, and that the Golden
Hawk has never more been beard of, are
facts admitted by everybody But whether
It was the vesse! which carried the sin-ladeu
tcul Of Francis Branksome that went down