The Arkansaw traveler., 1888-09-08

DOCKS. My lOfd nad taken the 1urnl- ture; my lord had taken the books 1; my lord had taken nothing but his rights.
 Retreating softly to the door by which had entered, and rattling the handle, I advanced fresh into the room.
 "Will your lordship allow me2" I said, after had in vain coughed twice to gain his attention.
 He turned hastily and looked at me with 8 face full of suspicion. Some surprise on finding another person in the room and close to him was natural, but possibly also there was something in the atmosphere of that house which threw his nerves of their balance.
 "Who are you?" he cried in 8 tone which matched his face.
 "You left orders, my lord," ex- plained, "with Messrs. Duggan & Poole that a clerk should attend here st eleven. I very much regret that some delay has unavoidably been caused"
 "Oh, you are the clerk !" he replied ungraciously. "You do not look much like lawyers clerk"
 lnvoluntarily l glanced aside and saw in mirror the reflection of tall man with thick beard and moustache, gray eyes, and an ugly scar scanning the face from nose to ear.
 "Yet hope to give you full satis- faction, my lord," murmured, drop ping my eyes. "It was understood that you needed a confidential clerk. i"
 "Well, we'll, sir, to your work I" he replied irritably. "Better late than never; and after all it may be prefer able for you to be here and see it duly executed. Only you will not forget, , he continued hastily, with glance at the papers, "that I have myself copied four-well, three-three full folios, sir, for which no allowance must be made. But there! Get on with your work. The handwriting will speak for itself"
 l obeyed, and wrote on steadily, while the earl walked up and down the room, or stood at window. Up stairs sat Mrs. Wigram, schooling her. self, dare say, to take this one favor that was no favor from the man who had dealt out to her such hard meas ure. Outside casual passer through the square glanced up at the great house, and seeing the bent head of the secretary, and the figure of his com- panion moving to and fro, saw, as he thought, nothing unusual; nor had any presentiment-how should he?- Of the strange scene which the room with the dingy windows was about to witness.
 l had been writing for perhaps five minutes when Lord Wetherby stopped in his passage behind me and looked over my shoulder. With a jerk his eyeglasses fell, touching my shoulder.
 "Bless my soul !" he exclaimed. "I have seen your handwriting some- where; and lately, too. Where could it have been?"
 "Probably among the family papers, my lord," answered. q have several times been engaged in the family busi- ness in the time of the late Lord Weth- erby."
 "Indeed." There was both curiosity and suspicion in his utterance of the word. "You knew him?"
 "Yes, my lord. I have written for him in this very room, and he has walked up and down and dictated to me, as you might be doing now," lex plained.
 His lordship stopped his pacing to and fro, and retreated to the window on the instant. But I could see that he was interested, and I was not sur prised when he continued with trans parent carelessness. "A strange coin cidence. And may I ask what it was upon which you were engaged2"
 "At that timer" I answered, looking him full in the face. "It was a will, my lord"
 He started and drowned, and abrupt ly resumed his walk up and down. But l saw that he had a better con- science than had given him the credit of possessing. My shot had not struck fairly where 1 had looked to place it; and finding this was SO, I turned the thing over afresh, while pursued my copying. When I had finished asked him-I think he was busy at the time cursing the absence of tact in the lower orders-if he would go through the instrument, and he took my seat.
 Where stood behind him was not far from the fire- place. While he muttered to himself the legal jargon in which he was as we'll versed as a lawyer bred in an office, moved to it and, neither missed nor suspected, stood looking from his bent figure to the blazoned shield, which formed part of the mantelpiece. If I wavered my hesitation lasted but a few sec- onds. Then, raising ,ay voice, called sharply, "my lord, there used to be here"
 He turned swiftly and saw where I