San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1889-08-07

back, his eyes sparkled and he launched Oh a
flood of the gayeSt talk-yet always of a
world that felt was before my time. In
deed, as he ratified on, the feeling that this
must be some Rip Van Wrinkle restored from
a thirty years sleep grew stronger and
stronger upon me- He spoke OF Bleakirk
and displayed knowledge of 1t sufficiently
Observation-Disclosures even-yet of the old
friends for whom he inquired many names
were unknown to me, many familiar only
through their epitaphs in the windy ceme
terry above the cliff. OF the rest, the pretty
girls he named were now grandmothers, the
young men long since bent and rheumatic;
the youngest well over so This, however,
seemed to depress him little. His eyes would
sadden for a moment, then laugh again.
swell, well, ;" he said, wrinkles, bald heads,
and the deafness of the tomb-we have our
day notwithstanding. Pluck the bloom of
it-heyi a commonplace of the poets"
"But SIR" put in as politely as | might,
"you have not yet told me with whom have
the pleasure of lunching"
Gently, young sir" He waved his hand
towards the encircling moors. 1--WE have
Toasted more Homerico, and in Homer, you
remember, the host allowed his guest four
teen days before asking that question. Per-
NIT me to delay the answer only till | have
poured libation on the turf here. Ali per-
ceive the whisky is exhausted; but water shall
suffice May trouble you-my joints are
stiff-to fill your drinking cup from the brook
at your feetF'
took the cup from his hands and stopped
over the water AS did so, he leaped on me
like cat from behind | felt a hsieous
no IF tba Har
leaped up, ythe sunshine turned to blood
then to darkness With hands spread out,
stumbled blindly forward and fell at full
length into the beck.
When my senses returned, became aware,
first that was lying, bound hand and foot
and securely gagged upon the turf. second
ly, that the horses were still tethered, and
standing quietly at the foot bridge, and
thirdly. that my companion had resumed his
position on the bowlder, and there sat watch
ing my recovery
Seeing my eyes open, he raised his hat and
addressed me in tones Of grave punctilio
Believe me, sir am earnest in my regret
for this state of things. Nothing but the Sc
verest necessity could have persuaded me to
knock the son of my late esteemed friend
over the skull and gag his utterance with a
/
lays my sense of your hospitality under sus-
picion. Upon my word, sir, it places me in
a cursedly equvocal position!'
He took pinch of snuff, absorbed it slow
ly, and pursued
1T was necessary, however You will
partly grasp the situation when | tell you
that my name is Teague-the Reverend Will
lam league, Doctor of Divinity, and former
L. l., 6 IL L.
His words explained much, though not
everything The circumstances which led to
the Reverend Williams departure from
Bleakirk had happened some two years be-
fore my birth, but they were startling
enough to supply talk in that dull fishing
village for many long day In my nursery
| had heard the tale that my companions
name recalled; and if till now had felt hui
initiation, henceforth felt absolute fear, for
knew that had to deal with mailman.
81 perceive by your eyes, SIT, he went on,
that with part of my story you are already
familiar; the rest am about to tell you. 1t
will be within your knowledge that late on a
Sunday night, just twenty-nine years ago,
my wife left the vicarage house, Bieakirk,
and never returned; that subsequent inquiry
yielded no trace of her fight, beyond the fact
that she went provided with small hand bag
containing a change of clothing; that, as we
had lived together for twenty years in the
entirest harmony, no reason could then or
afterwards be given for her astonishing con
duct. Moreover, you Will be aware that its
effect upon me was tragical that my lively
emotions underneath the shock deepened into
a settled gloom; that my faculties notorious
ly eminent in a short time became ciOuded,
nay eclipSed, necessitating my removal-I
will not refne-to a madhouSe Hey, is it
not so?"
nodded assent as well as could Ec
paused. with a pinch between finger and
thumb, to nod back to NE. Though his eyes
were now blazing with madness, his demeanor
was formally, even affectedly, polite.
My wife never came back naturally, sir,
for she was dead.
He shifted little on the powders, slipped
the snutfbox back into his waistcoat pocket,
then, crossing his legs and clasping his hands
over one knee. bent forward and regarded
me fixedly
Il murdered her, he said slowly, and nod
ded
A pause followed that seemed to last ar
hour The stone which he had strapped in
my mouth with his bandanna was giving me
acute pain. it INSTRUCTED, too, what little
breathing my emotion left me, and | dared
not take my eyes off his. The strain on my
nerves grew SO tense that felt myself faint
ing when his voice recalled ME.
Il wonder, now"-he asked as if it were
riddle-'l wonder if you can guess why the
body was never foundr'
Again there was an intolerable silence be-
fore he went on.