The Dickinson press., 1894-09-22

Mr.. I.icroiX had called and paid q
terms charges for his daughters Elm
ishin.,'' education, on Wednesday,
March the fifteenth. eighteen hundred
and Ci:it-tWO.
CHAPTER VII.
Tao Shadow ON the Wall.
On Saturday Freeman and his wife
returned home; they had been absent
for what is known as a parsons fort
night" in which, that is, IL Sunday
only is included. He called on me in
the evening. /. of course, o turned
tho the I.acroiN inquiry.
NO so" said he, shaking his head.
lie had gone about to all the stations,
ana h'd been stared ut, almost ieered,
for expecting railway porterS, guards
and S'E:ll-iik. persons to remember Il
l:uan W:lom they might have seen, or
m;.liG not have seen. more than if
teen months brforc--especially since
there did not seem 10 have been .ny-
thing particular about the gentleman
to attract notice. He had been rather
better received mt Kings Cross. There
my friend introduced him to the SUPER
intendent OF passenger traffic, and he
had promised to push inquiry as far
as he could and to write the result.
$50 you see" said Freemln, up to
the present the result is absolutely nil,
and I'm afraid nil it will be to the
end Of the chapter, with the trifing
addition Of waste of time and vexation
of heart. l know, my dear fellow"
said he, how Interested you are in the
mattcr-that it is, so to say, a point
YOU would give anything to make;
but do consider, now, it's hopelessness.
The poor lnan Is gone-disappeared
without a sign. as many men do dis
appear, aud"
"He is not gone without a sign. Look
at that" showing him my recently ac-
Quired palpable evidence, the return
ticket and the schoolmistress's note.
Some feeling of triumph in me was
surely eXcusable. l told him how I
had come by the ticket and what l had
learned from Louise. And that" said
/, Il take as the strongest possible
presumptive evidence that soon after
March 18th Mr.. Lacroix was in La
croix lane"
ut is very remarkable, certainly"
said he; ut makes me ready to believe
with you that he really did come home.
Still, you know, it is miles away from
actual proof"
~ know that" said I; "but it con.
vinces me at least that the mystery is
no longer in London, but in Timper.
ley"
Il Think said he, "after all you are
a better detective than / am"
l am afraid l was proud Of myself;
but Il long humiliation soon began
which sorely tried all my hope and
fortitude.
The end of my six months curacy
was almost at hand, but, since my re.
cent discovery, I was resolved l would
still remain at least in the neighbor'
hood of Timperley. I went first to the
rector, who was not we'll enough to re
sumo his duties, in the hope that
might prevail upon him to let me con
tinue to fill his place for some time
longer. I was surprised, and somewhat
piqued, to hear that it was entirely ont
of the question, because another curate
had already been engaged.
"A young man from st. Bees" said
the rector. "Mr. Steinhardt says We
must have no more clever men in Tim
perlcy. I would have liked you very
we'll to stay, but you know-you see
1t can't be. If 1 can do anything fol
you"
l said, since I could not stay in Tim
perley, l wished to get a curacy some
where in the neighborhood. The rector
looked at Inc in a way which made mt
doubt whether I had been wise to tel
him my desire. However, he answered
he would see what he could do.
Steinhardt, II was evident, expected
me to 70 away, back to the south prob
ally, since I disliked Timperley 81
much, but I metaphorically shook ~!
Croydon evidence at aim and more or
stinately resolved not to go away
There. happened at that time to b.
several curacies vacant in leigh:,orini
parishes or districts. ! applied first To-
one. With the result after some ;imt
ct having my application declined. ant
tsun for another. with the ann result
I was disappointed and puzzled; l knew
l had been reckbned successful In Tim
perley. and 1 could not understand TIL
cOldness and reticence of the re- lies
received. But l was >oon startled int
the perception of their cause.
Louise and I had got into the habi
of meeting frequently las I have al
ready hinted) at the cottage of ole
JaQues. We We're still waiting f0l
news from Kings Cross, and We dit
rot know whether the letter was to bt
sent to nc or to Freeman or to Mis-.
Lacroix. Louise met ME n mOrnin.
In great alarm and hurriedly told mi
the expected letter had come, but ad
dressed to Mr.. Lacroix! That Stein
hardt therefore had opened it, natural
ly expecting to find It a business com
munication. He brought it to her, ant
asked If she knew what it meant. Sh'
read it. 1t was short, and to this effect
The guard who had had charge of thu
3 o'clock express on the evening 81
March the 10th. 1882, had been fount
and ~interrogatcd: he could not remem
Der any one answering to the descrip
ton Of the missing gentleman. III
might or might not have Travelled b!
that train, but 1t really seemed inlp0s
sible to ascertain ut that distance Of
time.
"Oh," said she, in q terrified voice
MI. Steinhardt looked terrible! HI
asked me it ! had written telling som,
to ask such questions. ! answered
at once, NO; but Mr.. UnWip has
Mt once, oh, Irwin; Ill make shOy
work Of him So, please do be care
full! l could see in Ills eyes how crue
he might be. l said, Surely there |
no marin in trying to find out what la
become Of my poor father?' Oh sal
he, mo harm ut all-nOne ut ALL nm,
: went away"
could not but regret this very much
F; I was disposed ut first to blame Fret
e man, but on consideration I saw thu
l my self should nave provided aga,ns
; such a contingency as this. 1t was ca
I ] tainly a serious and unfortunate ma
I ter to have reused Stainhardt's sm,
ninicns at TINT stN0e of lhr inuMiry