Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1893-08-11
A TERRIBLE SECRET
The Curse Of the More
lands.
By LEON LEWIS
CHAPTER lX-(Continued.l


sailed in the yacht with you from CAL
sutta are dead?" ne asked quietly.
~Quite sure, sir, or they would have
turned up during my stay at Cape
Town"
"That don't follow py any means,' de-
s1ared Radd. "Any one of tho men in
the yacht, If saved, may have kept in
The background purposely, with the in
sention of watching you in secret and
seeing what You would do"
The suggestion made Hillington SO
uncomfortable that he could not help
neving uneasily in his chair.
did only your companions about the
yacht know that you were bound for
The Elms?" continued Radd.
"No, sir. No one save Colonel Ridley.
He of course had cOnversed with me
freely about everything here. He has
even spoken TO nc about you," and the
speaker ventured to smile little queer
5y. CAS- you have seen by the COlOnefs
last letter, I have long been his alter
cgol"
"But arc you sure, Mr.. Hillington-
perfectly sure-that the Colonel Is dead"
absolutely, my friend-absOlutely.
Did you see him thrown from the
yacht into the water?"
II did. We were thrown overheard at
the same moment"
Radd started so violently that Killing
son could not help looking inquiringly at
him.
"Its those rats again." he said, by way
of explaining his sudden excitement.
"But let us suppose that the Colonel was
no more dead OF reaching the water than
you were, Let us suppose that he
reached the shore, as you did, Couldn't
ne have taken that later Peninsular and
Oriental steamer, and been here last
MOylday, or five days ahead of you?"
why, certainly" admitted Hillington,
Instantly adding: "But l know he's
deadl There was no chance for him!"
The conviction of the bookkeeper was
of that absolute character which points
at least to a supposed certainty, and it
was evidently as agitating as deep, for
hc again made nse of his salts.
The curious gaze Radd had for several
minutes been turning upon the guest
had row become in itself q curiosity, it
was so knowing, so accusatiye, so very
significant.
He had dovetailed the fingers of his
hands, and was unconSciously working
shem in a way which showed that he
was very cOnterted-very
"You told me not long since" he re-
sumed, "that the Colonel fell just as you
were stricken down senseless at his
feet"
T-I dido" stammercd Hirington,
with a start "Did l say that?"
"And now you say you saw him thrown
overheard! Here is manifest discrep-
ancy. But of course" he added, sneer-
lngly, "you can explain it."
81 can. My insensibility was very
brief"
vi should say So" remarked Radd,
still more sneeringly, "for you to have
recovered your consciousness between
the moment wnen you were picked up
from the deck and that when you were
pitched overboard-very short, indeed"
The confidential book-keeper whitened
at these words to his very lips, and sat
as if stricken with dumbness, his eyes
staring as wildly as if he had seen the
accusing angel beside him.
"I-I don't quite understand you, Mr..
Moreland," he calculated, at the end Of
q pause which lasted nearly minute.
mo? Then l shall have to speak still
more plainly, in order, as l have suggest
ed, that you may tell your story in such
81 way as to command the belief of my
sister-in-law and niece. Unless you can
talk to them better than you have talked
30 me, they'll make you great deal OF
trouble"
"Of what nature, may l asl?"
"Why, they may say that you are the
Colonels rObber and assassin" blurted
Radd with the same audacity with
which he had previously talked to Vance
Wyevllle. "You, the confidential book
keeper, who has long known that the
Colonel intended to sail to America with
q couple of millions, and who converted
bis fortune into paper money that it
might be easily transported. You, who
told the Colonel that a score of the worst
villains in Calcutta had taken steerage
passage in the 2. e. o. steamer, with the
intention of securing his millions at any
cost, even if they had to burn or scuttle
the ship. You, who have had every Op-
portunity of cOnSpiring with your fellow
clerks or others, and who may be The
chief conSpirators of all the outlaws and
pirates there are in the case, and even
have in your hands at this moment the
victims millions"
These sentences, rapidly and sternly
uttered, had seemed like so many sledge-
hammer blows upon the head of Agnus
HillingtOn.
He sat as if stunned.
Once or twice he put his hand implor-
ingly, as if to shut off the torrent of ac-
cusatiOns assailing him, but otherwise he
had remained motionlesS, so completely
was he taken aback by the logic and
daring of Radd.
"Yes, this is what the ladies might say
to yOu," added the crafty accuser, with
smiling triumph as he remarked that
lIillington seemed barely alive, "and
what they certainly will say if should
become their prOmpter."
The confidential bookkeeper from In
lia made no attempt to resent or refute !
the terrible accusations Radd had heapcd
upon him.
He had broken down completely, as all
rascals do when some superior rascal
shows them the flaws and inherent weak
neSseS of their situation.
But there was such significant "if"
I'm the closing words of Radd MOreland |
that Agnus IIillingtOn would havo been |
poor fool indeed not to have caught at
it as drowning man catches at life
LTcscrVer
"You-yOu don't mean to ruin mel" he |
faltered, as wild of eye as ghastly OF /
micn.
"Ruin yOu?" blurted Radd. "For
rbocn honoft tn like tn knowl For Mrs |