The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1888-10-13

house in Noting Hill, was sitting ia
his parlor at q little after 8 O'Clock
In the evening, when a servant came
In to say that a Mr.. Bailey wished to
see him:
iShow him in at once" said Heath,
WIG tSse from his seat and went to
the door to meet him: -.
"Well,," said Heath, in his
usual gruff va; when he had closed
the door, which he did very Carefully
Ia If be. were afraid that some one
might be listening outside.
.tMr. Oswald's dead, Sir Died at
5 O'Clock this evening. I only heard
of it within the last hour, and l came
on at once to tell you"
For moment there was silence,
during which the little man stood
twirling his hat in his hands.
At last Heath said, "Are you
Quite certain of this?"
"Quite certain, Sir" was the an.
sWer: 81 have it from the servant in
the house. i had been expecting the
the news all day, and directly Mrs.
Wilmot told me l thought I'd make
assurance doubly sure by seeing the
Servant myself. As / told you, l
knew her before she Went TO live in
St: Pauls road: l told you how l
heard from Mrs. Wilmot everything
that went on in the house."
"Well, well, that will do. Here is a
sovereign for your trouble in coming
here. Lock into my Office next week
and l shall pay you, What We have
arranged; when l have the formal
proofs IF his death, Goodnight"
Goodnight, Sir, thank YOU" said
Bailey, as he left the room;
Bailey was d nondescript character
who was occasionally employed by
Heath, sometimes as a broker, some.
times as a private detective. In the
present instance, by virtue ofhis hav'
Ing some relatives living In st. Paul's
road, he had been engaged to bring
Mr.. Heath the earliest intelligence Of
Robert Oswald's death. When he
had E6fle Heath walked up and down
the room for s61ie minutes in silence
At length he muttered to himself.
Zone hundred and two Thousand
pounds in hard cash, made at last
/ shall sell everything own within 6
fortnight's time-furniture, bills, pic
lures, eli. They will fetch another
six thousand; but, whatever they
bring, they shall be sold at once.
am determined to enjoy my wealth
While I have time, and to do that
must cut the life 1 have been leading
at once. Yes, my pile is made.
have at last what years ago l said
would make, and l shall be out o
England this day fortnight. What
may l not do yet, with over hun
dred thousand pounds and the brains
and knowledge which possess
Good heavens, how suddenly the last
ten thousand has comet What 6
lucky chance 1t was that threw thu
| young fool into my clutchesl man
aged him properly, there's no doubt
But yet it was a lucky chance that
brought him to me. Still it's strange
the presentiment have always haC
about him. Oh, bother such non
sensel what have l to do with pre-
sentiments? l shall be believing il
ghosts and hobgoblins next! Yet
seem to be sorry instead of glad, anC
there is that fear of some impending
evil which | seemed to have every
time I saw him. What on earth cal
this be?"
The last question was caused by
sharp knock and ring at the hal
door. In a few seconds the servant
came in with a telegram. Mr.. Heatl
looked at the envelope nervously be
fore he opened it. At last he tool
out the tele gram, which he read two
or three times over, us if he doubted
the evidence of his eyesight. Their
he put the telegram in his pocket
whispering to himself in trembling
voice as he did So
"What can it be? What can it be"
The telegram which evidently
caused him SO much uneasiness was
as follows:
"Mrs. Oswald, To James Heath, Esq.
St. Paul's Road. Stanhope Terrace
Camden Town, Noting Hill
cit is of great Importance that
should see you tonight. Robert Os
valid died at five o'clock this evening
Please come here at once on receiv
ing this telegram"
"Could it be some conspiracy tC
get me into the house and murder
me9" thought Mr.. Heath, as hi
walked about the room, with the
telegram in his pocket. ooh, non
sense! need not be afraid of that
They are very respectable people ii
the house. No, depend upon it, it il
either that the mother wants to beg
or borrow from me; or that there il
some screw loose about the policy O
assurance. Curse it! Like my usua
luck. But had better be off there
at once. What curious authorize
tive way she telegraphs in, though. ,
He left the house, and, hailing the
first hanson he met, was driven rap
idly to st. Paul's road. A servant
opened the hall door before he could
knock, and having asked if he was
Mr.. Heath. conducted him up stairs
to the drawing room. Though il
was just $50 O'Clock, and getting
rather dark, no lamp or candle was
lighted in the room, and as Mr.
Heath entered he could just discern
through the deep twilight the figure
of a tall woman who was sitting by
one of the windows dressed in black
She rose as he entered and asked hin
to take the chair which was few
yards from where she was sitting
From the position in which sh'
sat, and the darkness of TIN
room, Mr.. Heath could no
discern her features very clearly
and to tell the truth he felt exceed
ingly uncomfortable. He was prett.
well case-hardened of course; few mel
had more curious experiences, ant
some of the scenes he had witnessed
in the pursuit of his vocation wer'
not a little appalling. But just al
Il O.. s,f ov1prI-