Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1886-10-09

Dus IL must not % supposed that veto,
Harding had formally devoted himself I,
my service In the task In which I was en-
gaged-were idle during the two days o
waiting before I was admitted to an inter
view with Daisy. Idlei how could we b
idief 1t was now the 9th of December, an
l had already been warned that the day o,
which the m~artyrdom Of my darling was I.
month. But three weeks were given TO NJ
therefore, in which to establish her n
cence. Even Harding-good, kind, never
to-be-forgotten friend declared that neithe,
for food nor for sleep must one moment Of
that precious time be wasted unnecessarily
what, then, think you, wa my frame Of
mind?
Within . few hours Of the passing of thu
sentence Harding was in London. where he
secured the services of the most eminent pri.
vate detective Of the day. The special mis-
sion of this man was to find Gregson. Ny
work on that dark day on which the trial
ended was of a different kind. Putting all
remembrance Of the last few weeks aside. ]
went to Branksome and Fosdyke and an.
pealed to them to assist me in the task I had
undertaken. ~
Dr.. Branksome was just the same as he
had ever been. Yes, I bitterly reflected, he
was just the same; as easy, cool, pleasant in
his manner, now when Daisy was lying
under sentences Of death, as he had been on
that first morning Of my acquaintance with
him, when he did the honors Of the yacht
for her and for me. I could not bear the
thought of this cynical %sel6shness. I had
been angry against him when I first knew
that he believed Daisy to be guilty. Now l
despised min for his heartlessness and would
willingly have turned my back upon him for.
ever, If it had not been that I felt he might
give me help in the work Of saving nv
darling.
But very soon I found that this was not to
be- I again told him my conviction that
Flinter was the real ~instigator of Mr.. Mau.
leverer's murder, and Il repeated the reasons
which led me to think so. It was the first
time that Fosdyke had heard the story Of
my finding the book on eForensic Medicine"
on board the yacht, and of the way in which
it opened at the pages dealing with poison
ing by strychnia I thought he seemed
startled by my statement. It had no effect
upon Branksome, however.
II see what you wish me to do, Fenton.
You are anxious that I should find a victim
for the gallows in the place Of poor Daisy,
and you suggest Flinter for the purpose.n
@And is that the way in which you speak
Of the girl whom you have known since she
left her mothers arms, and whom you pro.
fess to loves" I cried, in my indignation.
"Dr. Branksome, If anyone had asked ma
what I thought of you a few weeks ago, I
should have said you were one of the noblest
and truest men on the face Of the earth; but
if anyone were to put the question to me
now, / should be forced to tell him that I
had found you to be false as a friend, and
mean and heartless as a man-one who can
sit here in the full enjoyment Of every luz
ury"-I had found the two at dinner-awhen
the child who has looked up to him a. q
father is lying in the condemned cell! Aye,
and who can even answer the prayer that
he would join in the attempt to save her
from her doom, with a cold sneerl"
He heard me without moving a muscle of
his face, and when he repl;el be spoke in
his usual voice. 1t was just as pleasant and
equable in its one as it had ever been.
II wish you success and Godspeed with all
my heart, Mr.. Fenton; and for the sake Of
Daisy l forgive your injustice towards my
self. But l tel you this, sir, plainly: I have
been convinced of her guilt by the evidence
laid before the court; and while I am willing
to join you in making every effort to obtain
for her the mercy Of the crown-nay, Mr..
Fosdyke will tell you that I am already TAX
ing steps for that purpose am not pre-
pared to try to a v her, whom I believe to
be guilty, by throwing her sin upon another
whom l know to be innocent"
What could do in appealing to Q man
whose very cruelty was founded upon his
love OF what was right I could not answer
his logic, and I saw that it would be useless
to upbraid him. But in my heart I hated
and despised him.
@Then," l said at last, seeing that no help
could be hoped for here, II shall act for my,
self, and if I have to spend every farthing I
have in the world and to devote every day
that remains to me of life to the task, You
may depend upon 1t that / shall yet con.
found you all by proving her innocence"
OF my interview with Daisy, when at last
I was admitted to her in the condemned cell
at the old Castle, I shall say nothing that
does not bear directly upon the subsequent
events. She was changed greatly when saw
her; but she declared that I was far more se-
riously altered than she was. And probably
she was right; for I had nothing of that
noble courage and resignation which had
borne her up through oil this time Of agony.
But I dared not spend the precious minutes
in lovers talk. had other work to do for
her sake.
My first business I felt must be to get
from her her own theory, II she had one,
regarding the murder; and to prepare her
way for that, I told her freely all my own
suspicious. and the story of my abduction,
of which she had only heard for the first
time during the course Of the trial.
"And you really believe that my uncle
caused you to be spirited away in that fash.
ion! Depend upon it, dearest, you are en-
tirely deceived. My uncle was innocent"
"Then who could have originated the plott'
"Flinter must lave done 80. Let me tell
you oil I know about him. He has been en-.
ployed for nearly eight years at my uncle's
chief station at Wangoora-ths place where
We lived. I am told that he had been in
some serious trouble, and that my uncle, who
was usually one of the kindest as well as one
of the most simple-hsarted men, befriended
him. Very soon after he came to the station
as an ordinary shepherd he saved my uncle's
me wIieh ne way nearly In crossing
q swollen river on our run. That, you may
be sure, was never forgotten by my uncle
Aio very quickly RAISED MIN TO one OF Cne
chief posts on the estate, and at the time tina,
| came to live at Wangoora, six years ago
he was the constant companion Of my uncle
IN his journeys. and had evidently secured
his confidence"
"But you spoke of him to mo as danger
GUS"
ayes; he is dangerous, and bad, too. ]
very soon discovered that. But I cannot fol
q moment imagine that he would have
plotted against his benefactor's life. HI
had everything to lose and nothing conceiv'
able to gain by my unc,e's death"
That was perfectly true, and It was tn.
one great stumbling block in tho Xax of my