Evening journal., 1892-10-24

tention and caused him to clap it to his
ear instead. What he heard sounded to
him like an inarticulate cry. as it might
be, Of surprise or fear, followed, the mo-
ment the tube touched his ear, by the
words, 'Oh, Harry, Harry-this from
your Close upon which came a groan
then dull thnd as Of some heavy body
falling, and last of all, after brief
silence, but very family, what seemed
like the clashing Of door.
For few moments longer Mr.. Orde
stood with the tube glued to his ear like
a man stupefied, but no further sound of
any kind reached him. Then his wits
came back to him in some measure. He
gave the signal he had been on the point
Of giving before and waited, with sick
ening suspense impossible to describe,
for a response. But none came. Again
he signaled, and again he waited; but
with like result, or rather with no re-
suit at ALL The tube dropped from his
fingers and he sank into his chair utterly
dazed and confounded.
What had happened to his friend?
Had he been the unwilling auditor Of
tragedy in which Lumsden had played
the part Of victim? If nothing had hap
pened, why had the latter failed to re-
spond to his summons? But the need for
ascertaining, beyond the possibility of
doubt, whether his fears had any foun-
datiOn in fact was a spur TO immediate
action. He rang and ordered hanson
TO be fetched with all speed. While
waiting for it he signaled again through
the instrument, hoping against hope to
hear his friends CHEEKY "Halloo" in re-
turn, but the silence that ensued was as
the silence Of the grave. 1t was with
heart replete with foreboding the most
dire that, few minutes later, he found
himself on his way to Saint Augustine's
alley, in which narrow but important
thoroughfare Lumsden's offices were
situated.
But quick as he had been in reaching
the scene, the tragedy which had been
enacted therefor nothing less did it
prove to be-had already become public
property. The premises were in charge
of the police, while the alley itself was
blocked by surging crowd of men and
youths, each and all anxious to CLEAN
the latest particulars Of crime so
startling and mysterious, for it is not
often that merchant of the city Of
London is murdered in his own office
broad daylight.
On the oblong mahogany table, at
which he had sat for 50 many hours
every week day, lay the dead body Of
Edward Lumsden, terrible wound on
his left temple, as if caused by some
blunt instrument, revealing to all pres
ent the nature of the foul play to which
he had fallen a victim.
The particulars of the affair, so far as
they had yet been ascertained, were as
follows:
1t had been Mr. Lumsden's practice
to charge himself with the care of the
establishment during luncheon time,
which was limited to half an hour,
when, as a rule, he and an Office boy
wero the sole occupants of the ground
floor, which comprised a couple Of rooms
-Lumsden's own Office and much
larger one for the use of the staff. On
this ninth Of June. about five minutes
after the half dozen clerks had left in a
body, the Office boy, Houghton by name,
was sent by his master with note to
the head Of a firm some distance away,
and, according to his own account, was
/ gone Just quarter Of an hour, during
which time it must have been that
/ Lumsden tried to open up a communica-
ton with his friend by telephone. On
the lads return he was hoIrihed at find
ing his masters body stretched lifeless
on the floor. It was evident that Lums-
cen had been struck down while seated
close to the telephone waiting for the
signal that Orde had returned. Appear
ances led to the conclusion that the safe
had been hurriedly rihed Of whatever
notes and gold it might have contained,
the door being open and the floor Uttered
with documents Of various kinds. So
far all inquiries had failed to elicit the
slightest evidence Of any one, either a
stranger or otherwise, having been seen
TO enter or leave the premises between
the time of Houghtons quitting them
and his return. And there, for the
present, the affair rested.
AS the dead mans Oldest friend il
now became James Orde's unenviable
duty 10 break the terrible tidings to his
wife and family.
CHAPTER Il. -.