The Dickinson press., 1894-10-06

Jacques. Hc regarded 1t with evident
perplextty for a little. and then with
trembling head and Frightening eyer
he poured out a stream of uncOuth,
unintelligible sounds-in the midst of
which a hand tried the latch Of the
door. and then . knock sounded. After
inquiry I admitted John, who stared
bewildered ut his masters occupation.
As son as Jaques caught sight Of him
his voluble utterance increased in vehe.
me2ce. I did not interfere; there was
Just a possibility that the faithful old
servant would find some meaning In
the sounds that were unintelllgibe 10
me. But he did not.
"Eh? What?" he repeatedly demand
ed. At length, cXasperated, he ex-
claimed. '.Ha' done, master, wi such
gtbberish! What's got you now?" and
looked at me with some suspicion.
I explained quickly to John what We
were about. aud told him his master
had just read what I had written; that
we wanted to know when he had seen
bis nephew last.
"Th' day he went away, to be sure.
l remember wccl; he gave me a SOW
creign to get some things"
But said l. I'VE think he may have
seen him after that"
"Ec. how could he. IL he wasna to he
SEEM"
"Tllat's just what we want to find
out" said 1.
"Wccl," said John, did Master Paul
bring him aught: he'll remember that
fast enough"
l seized at once the suggestion, and
taking the paper from JaQues (who was
now silent again l wrote:
"NWhat present did Paul bring you
the last time?"
He considered my question, looked at
the travelling rug about his shoulders,
and then glanced inQuiringly Mt John.
Nay, MASTER" said John, into his
ear; The brought you that long afore {"
To make sure he understood the con
tradictiOn, l wrote under what I had
already written, mo: not the rug"
Again he mumbled and looked Mt
John. and evidently strove to rouse his
feeble recollection. After some NO.
mepts' anxious waiting, his mouth
worked, an odd laugh came from him,
and his eye sparkled, and he wrote in
strokes as difficult as before:
1.-The papers-on the bed"
Here ut last was something worth
attention; "the papers"-what papers?
! read the answer aloud.
May" said John. there's no papers
In th' bed. Happen he meaas he was
In bed at tn Time
If that were SO it Tailed with my
suspicion of a midnight visit. Where,
then, were these papers? Were they
newspapers or documents? John knew
nothing about them; If Master Paul
ever brought a newspaper it would be
sure to be burnt for kindling." The
while I was cross-questioning John,
jacques looked first ut the one and then
at the other, and occasionally tried to
carry his look yer his shoulder. Birley
was the first to notice this.
Turn his round" said he.
We turned him round, chair and all.
At once his eyes were fixed on an old
oak cupboard, of q kind common in
Lancashire cottages. that was fastened
in one of the angles of the room. I
asked John whether there were any
papers there; he did not know; we
might look. I stood on a chair, and
turned the key which was in the lock,
and opened the door. I saw only some
CupS ullll SuUCcAS VI SldChCU Cl1l1ld, IWU
or three tea-pots with broken spouts,
and other damaged specimens of crock
cry ware-nothing like paper, or papers.
Standing on tip toe, however, I no.
ticed Il ru!l Of something pushed well
lack on the top shelf. With eager,
trembling hand ! reached up ind for
= ard and brought 1t out. Its upper
{ zee was covered with black dust. It
was tied about with string. In a mo-
ment 1 had the dust off somehow and
the string cut. and thee lay before ne
the front picture page of the well
known Paris comic" paper-"Le Jlnr-
nal Amusant." Eagerly I looked up In
the orncr for the date. I read, and
read again to make sure that I was
right-"11 Mars, 1882"
"Thauk God!' 1 exclaimed, sinking
into a chair. I'VE are right; he did
come home"
INN M roNmvNuCn