Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1886-05-16

, close at hand.
What Rothwcll in his extraordinary
state Of mind may have thought, | know
not, but trembled Ia every limb ms | saw
my father turn his back 10 the white hand
kerchief, aud walk away few PAGES.
Every moment expected to hear Ches-
ham's shot and know that murder had
been done.
But no. The villain may have been too
brave for that. He walked like my father
TO his appointed place, aud the two men
turned aud faced each other.
The distance they were apart seemed
nothing My feeling was that II was ut.
terry impossible for either 10 lre and
miss the other. Why, In spite Of my prom
Use, had ! not given the alarm. Too
late now; too latel My cry, II raised,
might be fatal to the one loved. Unjust
see the wretched tragedy to the end
The men have turned, aud are facing
each other. CHEESEMAN'S back is towards
us. notice he has dropped his stick,
and even In this supreme moment won
der IL he will ever need 1t again. Ny
tather's face we can see: IL Is calm, set
and terrible, as that VI the avenglng
ANGELS. He stands like a rock, without
motion, apparently without feeling Ches-
ham raises his hand, and drops 1t again
On, why does not father fire, aud Kill his
foe? lie cannot miss him AZ this dis
lance. How long have they been stand
ing hereY Is II hours, minutes, moments2
Now Chesham has moved step, two
steps nearer, anotherl He is raising his
hand Oh, my father, frel XIII him ere
he kills you'll ] feel Rothwelps hand seek
mine and grasp it. | can hear his deep,
| quick breathing, and in my heart curse
him Tor not preventing this. II my father
dies, l viii XIII this false friend.
swear i'll
AM Chesham's pistol Is up and
leyeled. The moon rays CLINT on the bar
rel. | can bear it no longerl | bury my
head in the turf and shut my eyes.
II Is overt The shot rang through the
ART Icannot help myself | spring to
my feet. great sob Of Joy breaks from
my heart. My father stands there up
right, and calm as ever. To ell appear
ance unhurt
Rothwell kneels at my side and grasps
my hand iltrcely. But have no time or
thought save for the scene below us. A
sickening thought passes through mel
am TO see man die.
Give him his due. For the only time
In my life admired that man. His miss
had forfeit d his life. He knew 1t we'll
Yet he stood his ground without ninching
He waited for death as boldly as If he had
lived blameless, Il sinless life. Who can
tell what his thoughts were at that mo-
mentI Who can say what he felt when he
saw that stern pale face opposite him, the
face Of II man he had robbed OF happiness,
u fuce that showed neither anger nor emo
zion, and Que that not trace OF mercy
crossec2
His agony of mind did not last long
Sir Laurence Estmere took three PAGES
towards him. He raised his arm, and ap
parently taking careless aim fired. Sim
ultaneously with the report Richard Chess
ham staggered u pace forward, then fell
on his face.
My father did not even glance twice at
the result of his shot. lie threw the pis-
tol from him, walked straight 70 the cliff,
and commenced the ascent. We saw that
he must pass close to us.
"Shall we stop himPn / whispered.
"Not for worlds, Lie down. This way;
he will not see US here,n
We hid ourselves. In a minute or two
my father passed close TO us, He walked
leisurely and calmly as che who might be
enjoying ramble by moonlight. We
watched him until we knew he must have
nearly reached the high road
Ruthwoll's excitement had vanished
He turned to me sadly and seriously.
"Forgive me, Philip, this thing had TO
be. felt II to be fatality"
} could not forgive him yet l felt he
had acted like mailman or u fanatic.
"Let us so down to the beach," l said,
eve cannot leave a man like that
: eyes, we will go down, although we
, can do nothing. Your mothers wrongs
, are avengedn
; "Where win my father go2" asked.
, eve will follow him presently. Harki
. What Is that2n
I In the distance we heard the sound of
I horse's hoois.
"He must have got horse from some
where," said Rothwell. ale must have
been waiting for him. He was certain OF
I returning, you see: Chesham was not.
We shall not find your father tonight
J Let us go down to the beach"
We went down the cliff. ran 20 Ches-
, ham, and raised him in my arms, Roth
. we'll, who knew as much about gunshot
wounds as the best surgeon, iolt his
pulse aud then pointed to u hole In his
clothes, which were wet with blood.
"Rlght through the heart" he said
"We can do nothing for him. He died at
ouce.n
: clay him as he ien," he continued /
} obeyed.
''Find the other pistol, the one your
J father used"
| looked for 1t and found 1t. Rothwell
examined II. 1t bore Chesham's init ais
In silver. Its fellow was tightly grasped
! In the dead mans hand.
RolhWell picked up the handkerchief
which had done duty for the fatal barrier
Tie tied itround the pistol, and with one
: sweep OF hls muscular arm sent them some
sixty yards out to sea.
"Therc Is little rise and fall here,n he
said, "There they may lie till some con.
! vulsion changes land and sea- Come
away, we can do no more. 1t will be
} dangerous to linger"
"Must we leave the poor wretch SOP"
asked.
ayes, What has he done that he should
merit consideration from your fathers
son; come away
He spoke SterBly as one feeling con
tempt for my weakness. His words were
true, The dead man deserved nothing
from me, so followed my friend
We walked back TO Monaco. IL was too
late to dream Of finding my father that
night. went 90 bed, PRAYING that
40 terrible sequence might be the result
| of the nights work NV haunting fear
! was that my father would be arrested for
the murder OF Richard Gresham. III law
he would be guilty.
The next morning we inquired for any.
one answering TO the description OF my
father. We found that gentleman who
gave the name OF Norris had STAYED for
few hours at one Of the smaller hotels.
| N a. 4.