Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-12-16

| up and down stairs, or as she wandered
through the quiet garden. Hutchinson and
Hervey were completely forg
O'Brien had more than once made casual
allusions to that private business which had
mainly brought him to London, and Scott
had felt such curiosity as may be pardoned
when it springs from desire to serve. One
| evening, as the three were sitting on the
! lawn after dinner, it required
to him again, this business, and
he wondered whether it was such as might
offer any impediment to his hopeful castle
building.
| O'Brien smoked in silence and Catherine
watched the stars, trooping forth in nlyriads
upon the darkening summer sky.
"By-the.by," remarked Scott, tenta-
lively, THAT affair OF yours you have once
or twice alluded to-I hope it is progressing
satisfactorily"
O'Brien looked round eagerly at the
| first word; then he threw away his cigar,
though it was but half burned out, and
turned his chair to fully face Scott
circumstances are combining to favor
me, " he said, "better than 1 ever dreamed
possible, and after 2n years patience, 1
seem on the verge of attaining my hearts
desire" He paused-.a long. intolerable
pause it seemed to Scott-before he added
"Justice to a criminal and vengeance for a
crime" IA
Catherine, too, had begun to listen the
moment O'Brien began to speak. Already
sensitive to every change IN his voice, her
eyes opened in terror at his ferocious tone.
"You think 1 speak vindictively, Miss
Scott?" he asked her. Il am vindictive-
it runs in my Irish blood. We love and hate
warmly and for ever. and there is man
to whom l owe a debt OF hatred hard to
paw"
Scott leaned forward with interest.
what was this crime?" said he.
"Murderl' came the curt answer "And
the victim was my only brother, Michael
O'Brien.'
1t had grown almost too dark for the men
to distinguish each others faces, but Cathe-
rine cried out with indignation:
'Oh, your brother! How wickedv' And
the murderer at that moment would have
found scant mercy at her hands.
'Yes, it was cruel piece OF work." be-
gan O'Brien; "for this man and poor Mi.
chael were friends. Yet he murdered him,
and spread the report that Michael, in a ct
of caprice, had joined an outward bound
ship and sailed for America"
But how did the murderer escape if you
knew of the crime?" asked Scott from his
dusky corner.
"The story is rather singular 1 made
the discovery in this way. One day 1 was
taking lonely ramDle along the shore
this occurred down at Hardsmouth, the
cliffs on either side of the town rise ab-
ruptly, and the coast is solitary and danger
ous-out perhaps you may know those
parts?"
81 do" said Scott; ID was there on bust.
ness some six years since"
well, 1 was rambling about there one
day some months after MichaeI's disap-
pearance-I should explain had come pur-
posely up from the South to join my brother
in business, only to find to my surprise and
grief he had gone abroad, SO it was told me
Il was wandering along the shore dIscon-
solately enough when, rounding a promon-
tory, l was surprised to find the little cove
beyond full of crows, either walking over
the sands or flying heavily in the air. Dis
turbed at my approach, hey rose and settled
on jutting out portion of rock some 20 or
80 feet above my head. There, wedged into
a cleft, 1 saw what appeared to be bundle
OF old clothes. Boylike, must climb to
discover what this might mean. shouted
to scare away the birds. They tapped their
ugly wings in circles round my head. Some.
thing sickening hung out from the bundle
1t was 4 halt eaten and decaying human
hand, the flesh hanging in tatters, the bones
showing"
"Oh," murmured Catherine, "how dread
fulp'
SIN few seconds more I discovered to
what this ghastly relic belonged. The bum
die of clothes concealed the body of poor
Michael, whom 1 had last seen six months
before, full OF life and vIgor-whom had
loved, who was the only relation had in
the world"
''That was terrible discovery" said
Scott sympathetically, "yet what leads YOU
to suppose 1t was murder? Might not
your brother have metwith a mIsadveuture?
The cliffs round Hardsmouth are notorious
ly dangerous, and on dark night a man
walking along the top might easily miss his
footing and be blown over"
'Such was my own impression at first;
but as 1 lay there upon the rock, innu-
merable scraps of evidence presented
themselves to my mind which
together convinced me it was the work
of murderer. II would not interest you to
hear all the details by which 1 roughly ar
rived at the theory which have since elab-
GRATED during many years Of painful retro
spect. This man, this friend of Michael's,
had cause for hating him. Perhaps Mi.
chae had won the affections of some girl the
other coveted. for my brother, as remem.
ber him, Miss Scott, was a most gay and
lovable fellow-as different as possible from
the man you see me. Perhaps thereupon
the false friend laid a trap to entice Michael
along the edge of tie cliff at night, and
then, suddenly springing upon him una
wares, flung him over. He trusted to the
solitary nature OF the spot to keep his secret
-for 20 years ago the coast down there
was still more sparsely inhabited
than it is at present-and, but
for that chance walk of mine, the
remains might never have been found until
they were past recognition"
Human nature is vile," said Scott; s'no
one knows better than ] how deeply man |
may fall, but such cold-bIooded treachery as
YOU describe this man guilty OF, 1 am 10th to
believe in. Is is not more probable to sup
pose the two may have quarreled, come to |
blows, and the perhaps"
"My brother have fallen over accident |
ally?" said O'Brien, concluding the sen-
tence. mo; had it been accidental, and !
the men struggling, both must have gone
over together. and if one saw the danger in |
time tn save himself. he would have saved |
his friend. Besides the report so sedu- |
lously spread of the victims departure for
foreign parts proves conclusively the guilt |
of him who spread it,
"But what did you do?" asked Catherine |
eagerly.
"At this point my own adventures be- |
gin. 1 hung there, clinging on to the |
rock, and turning things over in
my mind when boat came in sight |
a few yards from the shore. l hailed the |
three men who were in her. who at first |
seemed little disposed to stop; but, after
consulting together, they turned her head |