The Arkansaw traveler., 1886-03-13

life in shielding her from the secret. A, he is innocent, l am now aping to ten her all She is in the bfeakfast.room Will you wait here for mer' And ,bs heroic girl, walking firm and erect, lek the room.
 Once slene, l gave way to my despair. ing thoughts. Constance would, knew soon animate her mother with her ovn blind confidence, a confidence which felt would not be shaken until the tern. ble tragedy was complete, until my evi. dence had assisted in sending Claude Fancourt to his doom. And would tbs tragedy end here1 Could Constance give her hand to the witness against he, brother2 Could the fond mother pas, through that terrible ordeal and liveF IL was an appalling darkness tried to leok into saw nothing there but desuuc. ton.
 Presently heard from the adjoining room the sound of violent sobbine They were weeping together, and a. though knew that 1t would afford relief to both, 1 was constrained to place my hands over my ears to spare myself the torture of listening to their woe.
 After an absence of an hour Constance returned to me. pale, and with grief stained face, but perfectly calm.
 Mamma is better,' she said quietly. i've want to go to our poor Claude"
 explained that for the present it would be impossible, but that should use all my exertions to get them admitted be. fore the trial. That he would be com. mitted did not allow her to doubt for a moment.
 As we stood together at the gate be. fore lett, she twined her arms around my neck and siad:
 "Ralph, you are all that we have. depend entirely upon you. We mss work hard for him"
 "We will, dear" replied, land hope for the best and should we fail we will go far, far away, and live only in our mu. tual love-"
 She drew herself away and interrupted me passionately.
 "SAould we fail l How can you sug. gest such a thing2" Then she coHtinued mora calmly. "Where innocence is de. tended by love there can be no failure. Claude has been wild and wayward, but we can love him no less for that. Go, Ralph; the lives of my brother and my mother, my happiness. and our love may depend upon your exertions. God speed you !" and with parting embrace she re entered the cottage.
 And so walked drearily back to town, knowing that my fate was sealed. Con. stance could never be mine if her brother was found guilty.
 On that day Fancourt was brought up at the police court and remanded, pend- ing the examination by the procurator fiscal. The inquiry took place on the following morning, and l was obliged to be present, and to tender my evidence and witness all the sickening details. A post mortem examination had been held, and the doctor engaged deposed that Stokes had met his death by the fall on to the pavement, by which his neck was broken. The face was too crushed and dis6gured to enable him to say whether the deceased had received any blows upon it before his fall.
 The result was that Claude Fancout, whose only defence was the simple state. ment that he was utterly ignorant as to how Stokes met his death, was formally remitted for trial upon charge of willfil murder to the high court of justiciary.
 ln the meantime, although in despair, 1 had not been altogether idle. When the procurator fiscal had finished viewing the scene of the murder. 1 drew the old landlady aside, and after some difficulty, and a decided tendency to extortion on her part, it was agreed that the room should be kept exactly as it was, and that 1, having had lock put on the door, should retain the key for as long as | AA A1A 4S& AIa ,k a al rent per week in advance. What my ob- ject was in making this arrangement at the time should have found it impossi. ble to explain, unless, indeed, it was the necessity l f.lt of doing something. Alter the committal succeeded, with the assistance of the friendly inspector, in gaining access to the prisoner for Con- stance and myself Mrs. FAncour was anxious to accompany us, but, judging that the excitement could have no good results for her, we succeeded in dissuad- ing her from going to him for the present
 The meeting between brother and sis. ter was very affecting one, notwithstand- ing the natural constraint imposed upon the former by my presence. Bat Con- stance soon had her feelings under con- trol.
 "You have never met R alph," she said, introducing me. "He is to be my bus. band"
 Fancourt turned, and half extended his hand, that hand on which had seen the dark stains of blood, but before I could accept it, which in the presence of that loving sister 1 must have done, though it had been with a shudder, it was hastily withdrawn.
 "No man can take my hand" said Fancourt, drawing back with a proud gesture, until my innocence is proved 10 the world"
 "You know that could never doubt your innocence, Claude" said Constance.
 The unfortunate man appeared to be much moved. He sank upon . chair, buried his face h his hands, and spoke without looking up.
 "Constance, you are indeed well named. Your loving confidence in me now when | have done eo murh to for.