The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-09-14


he wasn
WHAT was her cousins manner
"Whitcombe. l don't know whether she
is alive or dead now; but she was alive ten
years ago, know, for one of the servants
who had been with him in the kitchen told
me he had seen Fred Whitcombe, and that
he was doing well, and he had been to dine
with him, and he had got five or six chill
dren. / don't know that he said she was
alive, but if she hadn't been he would have
mentioned it.n
"Well, l am much obliged to YOU for
your information, and l have no doubt
Morson's brother will be able to tell me
where he is, if he is alive. 1t is curious q
man like that going to Australia. One
would have thought he could have done
better at home as a courier"
well, one would have thought so, sir.
heard HIM say, over and over again, that it
was good life, and a jolly one, and that
you could line your pockets well, especially
when you were travelling with a fool; the
drawback was the uncertainty-you might
be employed for three months and then
have to wait six before you got another
But | know ne had saved a good bit of
money. and that he had a sort of hankering
to go out to one of the colonies. | nave
heard him say that man who knew about
them, and used to make small fortune out
nothing; and with two or three good sires,
such as can always be picked up here pretty
cheap, you ought to be able to coin money.
/ know he had laid by a goodish lot of
money, aud / expect he went in for horse
breeding out there"
A few minutes later Robert Harbut was
bowling over in a dogcart to Woodstock.
He declined to take the reins, as he wanted
to think over what he had heard, aud was
driven by one of the stablemen, who soon
found that his companion had no desire to
talk, and therefore, after a few attempts,
subsidized into silence.
Robert felt that the information he had
gained was to a certain extent satisfactory.
There was no reason for supposing that the
man was dead. Had he been so, the proba-
bility was that the porter would have heard
Of it.
Upon the other hand it was nuisance
that he was so far away; he would be not
unlikely to prove trou blesome, and the por-
ter had said that he was deep fellow, and
had limited that he was INSCRIPTIONS. He
knew, of course, that Algernon Corbyu was
by no means improbable that he had kept
himself acquainted with what was going on
in England. If he had learned that Mrs.
Corbyn was dead and as he did not leave
England until two years later no doubt be
had learnt that, and that the child was be-
ing brought up at st. Malo; he would see
that he had in his possession a secret that
was worth money, and one which he could
sell either to the girl herself OF could use to
extract money either from Algernon Cor.
byn or from his successors TO the property.
Lastly, and this worried Robert more
than the other point. whose were the in
quiries which had been made by the porter
for Thomas Morson, a short time after Mr.
Corbyn's death. OF course, it might be OIL
some matter entirely unconnecte1 with the
present one, but it was certainly singular
Who else could be interested in this bust
nesss If any one else were interested h
evidently knew more than he himself did
for he was acquainted beforehand will
Morsons name. Well, he should be able tx
judge, to some extent, by the manner Of
Morsons brother whether he had been ques
toned on the subject before. If he refusedtt
give him his brothers address IN Australia i
would be proof either that Thomas Nor
son had some special reasons for charging
him to keep his address secret or that sucl
reasons had been supplied by the man VIII,
had first visited him.
So deeply was Robert Harbut thinking
over the matter that he was SURPRISED wher
then the trap drew up suddenly before I
butchers shop in Woodstock.
He at once climbed down and went in
The butcher came out from the parlor be
hind, and as he entered, Robert looked
keenly at him. He answered pretty closely
to the porter's description of his brother
He was a spare man with a shrewd anC
rather shifty face.
"I want five minutes chat with you
MIR. Morson, if you can spare the time,
he began. IA matter upon which / au
here is connected with your brother, arc
might be Of considerable advantage tt
him"
Robert. who was watching the man, saw
an instantaneous change III his face when ht
mentioned his brothers name. The eye
closed a little and the lips were pressed
tightly together.
"Step inside, sir" he said, and he led thu
way 20 the back room.
THAT is not SURPRISE" Robert said *
himself, she has been warned that in
quiries may be made, and perhaps bribeo
to hold his tongue. AT any rate, he is going
to hold it."
My brother, sirg' the butcher went OF
as he closed the door; 81 don't know tina
there is much can tell you about him. HI
went away from England a great many
years ago."
"l es, so l have heard,n Robert said, "ht
went away to Australia"
The man was silent for a moment as i
rejecting whether he would in any way
cOlutulO HlHlS6lL ny dQIulbLlHR UnlS, Du
concluded that it would be better not t.
deny it.
YES" he said, slowly, "he went to Aus
tralia, and there, for aught | know, he ha
been ever since.n
Can not you give me his address9"
"No, sir" the man said, decidedly, 'ht
moved about and where he is or what hal
become of him l cannot say
lis it long since you heard of himG"
"a long time since. and now l can't say
where he is, am sure"
perhaps you could find out" Rober
said, quietly. 81 should not mind paying
ego for the information"
mo, sir. l don't know that | could fine
out no how" the butcher said, doggedly.
THAT is unfortunate, because 1t might
be worth good many hundred pounds Il
him."
The man was silent.
perhaps, now" Robert went on, ''you
may hear from him ere long. Here is my
card and address; you might let me know
if you should hear. 1t will be worth, as ]
said, twenty pounds to you. Perhaps YOU
have one of his letters by you. The post.
mark might be of assistance"
II never keep letters when / have onct
read them. As l have told you, haven't
heard from him don't know how many
years, and amt likely to hear again; but
should | hear from him, which may be
three or four months, or maybe in three or
four years, will let you know. There is
no reason why my brother Thomas
should want to hide himself, as l know
on. y