Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1891-01-22
at wsss


mo doubt, sir. The police authorities
and regular press agents would have
taken good care Of that point
Strange that no American paper has
mentioned the matter, so far as 1 am
aware, " exclaimed Radd. "Was there a
report in the Cape Town papers?"
eyes, sir; full details. I furnished
them myself"
Again Radd smiled as singularly as
guardedly, while HillingtOn uttered
sigh Of relief, vigorously wiping a food
Of perspiratiop from his face and fore
head, which had become quite flushed
under Radd's leading questions.
Il suppose handbills were printed and
posted, offering a reward for the assas-
sins?" was Radios next question.
ayes, sir" replied Hillington. ave
even sent them away in the mails by the
thousand to all parts of the worldl"
"HOw large was the reward offered?"
give thousand pounds, sir!"
Indeed? So much?" exclaimed Radd
with unmistakable interest. %Was this
your individual offer, or that of the
police authorities OF Cape Town, or both
cOmbined?"
at was my individual offer!" replied
Hillington, his flush deepening, and
shade of anger and annoyance beginning
to appear in his bearing.
"I wonder such an offer did not make
the circuit of the globe!" declared Radd.
STRANGE we are all still in ignorance of
it on this side of the Oceani But how
did you expect to pay such a large re-
ward in case it should be claimed?"
"Why, out of the ColonePs millions.
Naturally, the bulk of the reward was
offered for the return of the money!"
Sand the balance? How would you
have paid that-if I am not firing you
too much with all these questions?"
"Out of my own money, sir-my saw
ings for the last ten years"
"Ah, you have made yourself COM
Portable, have you, in the service OF the
Colonel?"
"Well, to some extent, Mr.. Moreland,"
answered the newcomer. "The Colonel
has been paying me five hundred pounds
a year. Being a single man, I have
saved the bulk Of my salary, and have
invested it to excellent advantage. A
small bequest was left me by an uncle,
and 1 took good care of that. 1 have
also bought and sold several pieces of
real estate advantageously. In short,
have made my way upwards, and am
worth about S5O,O0O."
"Quite handsome sum for a man Of
your age. Mr.. Hfllington," remarked
Radd, speaking as carelessly as if he
handled the amount named every day.
"None of the rewards offered were
claimed, however,"
"No, sir"
Radd cleared his throat vigorously at
this point, as if all he had said previously
had been paving the way to more rigid
investigation.
"Haye you any documents referring to
this great tragedy, Mr.. Hillington?" he
suddenly asked. "Any handbills, the
Cape Town papers, or what not?"
oceans of them, sir-oceans! One of
my trunks is partly filed with them.
But why do you ask, Mr.. Moreland?"
ain your interest, simply" and Radd
fixed such glance upon the confidential
boOkkeeper as hunter fixes upon rep
tile he is about to destroy. @You have
come here with very strange story,
which you will soon have occasion to tell
to my sister-in-law and niece-to a
couple of ladies, warn you, as sharp as
the teeth of one of your East-Indian
tigers! Please bear in mind that you are
not dealing with two foolish old women
who are ready to believe the first lie you
may choose to invent"
GLte?" interrupted Hillington, turning
pale with anger, as he sprang to his feet.
ado you mean to say am lying?"
Certainly not" replied Radd. "Sit
down, Mr.. Hillington, and don't be so
ready to take offense where none is in
tended. I am merely warning you that
you must gather up all yolr documents,
proofs, or whatever may bear upon the
fate which has overtaken your late en-
ployer, and be ready to offer due con-
firmation of all you say, which Of course
will cover the whole period subsequent
to your departure from Calcutta!"
"Ah, yes-thank you'll comprehend, "
returned Hillington, who had grown de-
cidedly nervous, as he resumed his seat.
81 will act upon your suggestion and be
ready"
"Otherwise," insinuated Radd, with
that confidential air he knew so we'll how
to assume, "the tales you tell may fall
under suspicion. For instance, no one
in Cape Town knows any more about the
outlaws from Calcutta, 1 suppose, than if
they had never existed?"
"Well, 1 suppose not" answered Hill
lington, seeing that they have not been
captured"
ain other terms, you are the sole au-
thority for all that relates to the Colonies
death. All the Cape Town people know
of the tremendous battle in Table Bay is
what you have told theml How I'M
fortunate that you are the sole survivor
of the schooner-yacht in which the
Colonel sailed from Calcutta! What a
dreadful misfortune it is that you do not
have a single witness to confirm your
horrible storyl"
Agnus Ellington sat as if paralyzed,
with glare in his eyes like that of a
hunted beast of prey.
"But you were saying you spent sew
eral days in Cape Town, MIR. Hillington,
continued Radd, without seeming to no.
tice the confusion of the newcomer.
about how many?7
"I was there five days, or until one of
the steamers of the Union Navigation
Company sailed for Southampton, when
I took passage in her. She proved to be
the Africa, the very slowest ship of the
! feet, and in every way the most uncom-
! Portable ship was ever in. She is sc
! slow that she is jocularly called the
Skinner of the Seas. The passengers
could never tire of making jokes about
her speed, and hardly a night passed
/ that some one did not request the cap
tain to hang out lantern astern to warn