Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-07-24

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CHAPTER XVII.
A HAuNTINQ DREAD.

CHAPTER XVII
A HAUNTING DREAD.
General Conray slept little that night.
He lay still, revolving in his mind the cir
cumstanoes of Robert Conrav's death. They
haunted him with grim distinctness; he saw
again his dead nephew's face; he heard the
evidence at the inquest, and the doubts as
to how he had died.
II had never been satisfactorily cleared
up. Captain Robert Conway, handsome,
distinguished looking young man, who at
this time held an appointment on General
Conray's staff, had one morning been found
dead in the grounds of Tyeford Hall, where
the General lived, with bullet wound in
his throat. He had been dead for hours the
doctors said when he was discovered, and
whether he had died by his own hands or
been murdered remained a mystery, as his
wound, the doctors also stated,
might have been self-inficted. But
no weapon was found near him,
and one witness-an orderly, who was
passing through the grounds with the letter
bag containing the letters by the last post
for the General-stated that about 10
o'clock in the evening he had seen Captain
Conray in the grounds with lady whom
he beliesed to be the Generals wife. But
Miriam Clyde then came forward and stated
that it was she, not her sister, that the or
derly had seen with Captain Conray. She
had met him in the grounds about 10
o'clock, and had parted with him an hour
later, leaving him alive aud well. She
added that she was then engaged to be mar
ried to him, though this fact was known
only to her sister Joan. She was asked if
she had had any quarrel with him, and she
said no. And Joan had confirmed this
statement. But after q while grave sus-
picion had fallen on brother officer of the
deceased, named Hugh Ferrars. This
young man was known to be an admirer of
Miriam Clyde, and was said to have been
passionately in love with her. But General
Conray had disapproved of his suit, and
had forbidden him his house. And from
the morning that Robert Conray was
found dead in the grounds of Tyeford
Hall, Lieutenant Hugh Farrars had disap-
peared. At first this did not attract any at
tention. He had been on leave at the time,
quiries made about him. But these were
ali in vain. He had been staying in town
when he was last heard of, and his luggage
az found at the hotel he had lived at, but
the man himself had vanished. He had
never been seen or heard of since the day
that Robert Conray had died. He had left
the hotel that day, saying he would return
on the following day, but he never came
back. His people were communicated with,
but they knew nothing. His father was
the clergyman of country parish in York
shire, and during part of his leave he had
been at home Then he had gone up to
town, and they had heard nothing of him
since. Presently people began to talk of
him in connection with Robert Conray's
mysterious death. They bad been intimate
friends, but if both had been lovers of
Miriam Clyde here was motive at once for
Robert Conray's murder. AT all events, a
warrant was finally issued for his appre-
hension, but the police were completely
bafaed. No trace of him could be found,
and he had passed away from the knowledge
of his fellow men as completely as if he
were dead. His parents believed him to be
dead, and mourned for him, but General
Conway had never been quite satisfied on
this point True, he might have been
robbed and murdered, and thrown into the
dark waters of the river, rolling noiselessly
through the great city, and hiding some of
its misery and sin. This was the theory of
the hapless country psrson, who came up to
town to assist in the search, and stood hope
lessly on bridge after bridge, peering down
into the Thames believing that his sons
body lay somewhere in its gloomy depths
All this had happened nearly two years
ago, and had faded out of the recollection
Of most people, but General Conray had
never forgotten his nephew's sudden death,
and he lay thinking of it now, and the look
of fear in Joan's eyes when he had asked
her if she were dreaming Of 'poor Robert"
had driven an uneasy pang of strange doubt
into his heart
And to il oan his words had brought abso-
lutte dread. She had told Miriam she was
always dreaming of Robert Conroy, and
now she had spoken of him in her sleep! A
haunting fear OF this had possessed her ever
since his death. What If this grim secret
that the two sisters had hidden in their
hearts SO long, were to be betrayed by bab-
bling words she could not control. Joan
shuddered when she thought of it. She
must not sleep she told herself; she must
lie awake if it killed her. And she did lie
awake; lay pinching the white flesh of her
arms to keep the drowsy feelings of weari-
ness away. Oh! the long. miserable hours!
The General slept at last, but not Joan.
The gloomy November dawn found her
pale, haggard-eyed, but alert. And she
noticed that during the day that followed
the General looked at her more than once
with an expression in his eyes she had
never seen there before. Could any sns-
picions of the truth have entered his heart?
But no, no; Joan told herself this was i'm
possible. Still her nerves felt shattered,
and her sleepless night had wearied her so
that in the afternoon she declined to go out
with either her mother or husband, but lay
down and took the rest she SO much needed.
For she must not sleep during the night.