Richland beacon., 1888-12-22
CHAPTER, III.

Rock FALL wien the first tdings OF the
murder of old Turner reached tueir ears.
post late again. exclaimed the BarG-
net, with as much carelesSne>i as he
could assume but glancing around i'm
patiently in search of the letters. al
though Sir Godfrey lad lived through
half century. now that, for the first
time, he had given away his heart, he
was experiencing rs much anxiety To as
certain Eis'fate as though he We're q Lid
OF twenty.
Il don't know IL it's true. SIR re-
sponded the butler, as he handed round 6
dish Of outlets, but they do say, sir. tina;
old Turner was murdered las night on
the road between UlthOrpe and Hull
''Old Turner murdered?' echoed Sir
Godfrey, who could Ina done such a
thing? And with what motiye!'
The butler paused moment, then gave
the rest Of his information.
1.-THE mail-bags have been robbed, sir.
! haven't heard the whole tale, sir. hu
there's some talk o. all the parcels and
registered letters being missing.
Sir Geo rey looked startled. and glanc-
ed across Mt his nephew. who. however
had b IS eyes fixed upon the table cloth,
and made n sign.
''PCor old Turner, To think OF his
meeting with such a fate By-theway.
then, those cheques of yours. Allan,
suppose. Will he among the stolen proper
ty? We had better give Information az
once to the police as it nay be mean;
Of tracing the criminal. | suppose tina!
the letters Were registered b - Good
gracious nan. why, what is tie matter
with yOl?''
1t was no wonder that he kej, for the
young fellow had risen hastily from his
seat, his very lips white, and was now
standing gazing wildly into his unc.r $
face.
II never sent che lres at all" he own
ed. Il got the bank people to give me note
as it really seemed |, IS bother. OF course
have the numbers of hem. But
Sir teOIie pushed back his chair with
murmur Of inien irrilati n.
ideally. Allan, yOa are incorriIib'c
he sail. '.Les' bother 10 risk Thousand
pounds by trusting bank-notes 10 tn post
than t. draw three or four cheques? Well.
bring the numbers with you. and let Us be
OF at nee. There is n time TO lose that
is clear.
At that point a fresh difculty arose,
lOl tbC nv III va tHpSt StiDt mum
bers was nowhere to be found nov tina il
was wan cd Allan was ccrta n that h.
had taken down the nUmbcrs upon a sliI
of paper which he lad aftcrward, pla g !
in his pocket-bOOk; but, search Is he
would. that document was not fort.cUm-
ing
And the odd part OF The affair is that
the book has not been out %. my posse
Lii Il al,
"iiXcept indeed that l hap. ehed to lcay,
1t in TIE hall at the Nicarage inside til.
pocket OF my great c0at"-wlth surrep
tit Gus glance at his uncle, which m gin
mean almost anything.
Sir Georrey, however, heeded nei hel
the words nor the look. TIE ind gnatiol
he was feel ing against his nephew allow.
al of no other thought.
''lf tine money has gone you will moi
have a creature but yourself TO blame
lie said sternly. AS to what yoa will d.
in that case do not preteni o b. able I,
give an opinion. Of one thing only am
altogether certain, and that is that | shall
not pay for the fruit of our folly
Allan thust his hands into his trou er
pockets, and listened with a dogsed eX
preston upon his face.
''Well," he exclaimed at last- 1t is o
no use waiting here, sir. 1t will at any
rate lie well to give information to III,
police about the matter. There's the dog
cart at the door. Are you going to |
iOrpe?"
At the small police station, where, il
the room usually appropriated to the II J.
of some drunken laborer or suspecte,
poacher. there now lay stark cold form
decently covered with a white sheet
good deal of excitement prevailed, 10
did the tidings brough, by the Barone
tend to lessen the commOtion.
There's detective already upon tn
road from London, the district inspector
informed Sir Geo rey. ''Of course we II
doing all there is to he done 80 | don
sec the need Of his arriving. ONeycr
let's hope. as he is coming, he may do
some gOOt''-whch was clearly more thai
the speaker saw his way to expect
"iiave you any clue?" questioned Allal
anyiousiy. - T course, if the fellow
could he taken at once. he might have th'
property still In his possession, whici
would be great thing
The officer rubbed his grizzled head
The Hull police is on the sent, AMI al
watching the docks and the ralway-sta
tion," he declared, but as 10 clue
Sir Godfrey moved away with an i'm
atient eXclamatiOn; then, with one foo
upon the step Of the dog-cart, he turnc
| again towards the INSPECTOR.
Il should like to see the London ma
when he arrives. y he remarked. I'm til
meantime, Davis, l will wish you goo
morning. Old IDIOT" he went on. address
ing his nephew as soon as they were agaII
upon the road. ''Of course it is natura
that the sharpest men in the force shout
not lie sent to place like this; but real
such incapables as he ought to be pension
| cd off,
Allan Bertram laughed a little sarcasti
cally.
If all The stupid men in ENGLAND wcr
10 receive a government pension sir
| might come tribe heavy upon the taX
payers, lie retorted. But may | AS
why we are going in this direc ion?'
How else should we reach the bank
| Happily everyone is not as needless a
| youare, Allan. Why's he noticed tn
sudden change that passed over IL
| younger mans countenauce-''cO yo
| really me1ig that 1t had actually never oc
CURED toyou that we should he sb,e t
obtain the numbers of the II les there =
Allan answered not q wtra, e.,t ST
Geodre5 smiled iath6r griirly.
xAr.I,-, A