Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1892-11-25
The Sandycroft Mystery.
by t. w. sPEIGHr.
CHAPTER VI-CoNr1NUED.

Hoor. between the center table and
the writing table lay extended on
Its lace the body OF a man with out
stretched arms and clenched hands
Quitting his hold on the port ere.
Roden sprang forward. and going
down on one knee. managed not
without difficulty. to turn the body
over on its back. His first glance
had shown him that the murdered
man was Captain Darvill--for MUIR
dered he had been without doubt In
the struggle his wRistcoat had been
torn open. and just over his heart his
sh ri was saturated with blood which.
when koden lifted him up was still
oozing slowly from the wound. and
there. little distance away. lay the
weapon. a foreign looking dagger
with damaskeen haft with which
the crime was doubtless accomplished.
This then. was the result OF the
quarrel, OF the beginning OF which
he Bosworth. had been an unseen
witness! That Darvill was stone
dead, and not merely in n faint from
loss of blood, there was not room for
a moments doubt The CLASSY star.
ing eyes the blue tightly drawn
lips with the teeth showing between
them and the fast-clenched hands
told their own tale. Still, as mat
ter OF orm Roden felt FOR the pulse
which beat no longer AID daobled
his sleeve with blood while satisfying
himself that no IA ntest ilutter of the
heart was percepuble. Then he stood
np feeling sick and giddy. The ter
rible d scovery he had just made had
opened wide iloodgates which he had
deemed closed forever, and the
first rush OF thought all but swept him
away. Darvill was dead and Emma
was free! In those few words lay the
key TO everything. Fate, after its
own ready fashion. had solved Il prob
lem which but half an hour before to
two human beings at least had
seemed incapable of solution. For
the dead man it was impossible to
feel one grain OF pity. and Roden
made no pretense 10 himself OF doing
so. Darvill had been q speciouS
thorough paced scoundreL and the
world would be we'll rid OF him
He would go back TO his room and
leave the inevitable discovery to
others. 1t would be as we'll he
thought to take W tn h m the weapon
by means OF VIII Oh Darvill had come
to his end. 1T might or It might not
be missed from its place over the
chimney p zee. but. in any case its
absence would not help to simplify
the invest CATION. but rather the re-
verse and it seemed 10 Roden that
what whatever tended to complicate
the affair would lessen the likelihood
OF any suspicion being directed toward
Ivor 1t is TO be borne in mind that
he had no time TO argue any feature
of the case pro and con and now that
he had dec ded on getting away. If
possible, unseen every minute was Of
the utmost importance. Phipson or
she colonel might enter the room at
any moment All he could do was 10
act on his immediate impulses leav-
ing after consequences to tade care OF
themselves.
He picked up the dagger not with
out a thrill OF repuision replaced is
in its sheath and dropped both into
the side pocket OF his coat After
reflection convinced him that 1t would
have been wiser on his part 10
have replaced the dagger in its
position over the chimney-piece In =
stead OF taking it away with him. and
that in acting rs he did. he commit
ted blunder.
He turned up the lamp on entering
his room and then saw with "a sense
Of great surprise that barely ten m n
ute- had elapsed from the time OF his
leaving the tower tall that OF his re-
turn so short the time. and yet the
events so momentous! A different
Roden Bosworth had come back to the
tower from the one who had left it a
little while before BY the light OF
the lamp he saw. what he had not
noticed be ore That one sleeve OF his
coat and part OF its facings were
dabbled with blood A tremor shook
him from head TO foot as he stripped
Off his coat and flung it from him. In
one corner OF the room was a wash
stand. at which he now proceeded to
rinse his hands. While thus engaged
the thought came to b IN: why
should | not go off for a week on one
of my sketching expeditions and so
get clear away from the bother that
will begin a few hours hence and end
goodness only knows when? IL I'm
non est they can't call upon me. and
i shan't have TO get into box and
swear this, that and the other. They
are used ut the Croft to my sudden
fights 10 M goings and comings
without notice so that my absence
will seem nothing uncommon De-
cidedly the most sensible thing can
do will be to take my sketch-book and
make myself scarce until the affair
has blown over and can come back
In comfort"
His mind was made up. Having
changed the clothes he had on for
su I OF tweed. he slowed away few
indispensab es in knapssck and got
together such sketching materials Us he
thought he might re uire not forget
ing to put his modest stock OF gold
into his purse. The blood stained
coat he locked up in a cupboard
where he afo,ad hia old oonvaaaas and