The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1894-08-10
CHAPTER. NIII-(Continucd

! and at once. while the old man was
| alert, or ii would still be no more
than failure. HIS question must be an
| sWcfed and in few words-in what
| words! Fhc dusk was drawing on:
| Birley lit the gas. and drew down the
blind, and | wrot.. in large, clear let
| ters as in my question
'Hc is lost: help us TO find him
| He clutchcd the paper in his own
! hand when ! presented it. and eagerly
pored on the words. He raised his
| head and uttered some rapid sounds.
shook my head and wrote again
Write. And again he compelled his
pen to form words,
lost where"
] wrote carefully. While my head
| throbhed and my fingers trcmblcd with
the desire to make haste:
| I'VE do not know"
| There / paused: we had reached the
turning point Of our journey If jacques
| had little knowledge OF the passing Of
time Gas he very likely hadl. if he re-
! membered or noticed but few of the
| details OF any occasions Gas he proba-
| bly, did, in what way could the queS-
! tion best be put. or approached.
! whether he had seen his nephew on tho
i. night Of March 16, 1892?
| / appealed to Birley. pointing out the
| hopeleSsnesS Of expecting the paralytic
| to remember dates. His fa 20 lcngthcn-
| ed. neither hc nor | had reckoned sre-
ficicntiv with this in our haste 10 bring
Jaques into condition for in luiry. To
! ask point-hlank the question. When
cid YOU see him last" would be utter,
fruitleSs folly. What then: The old
man fer some moments watched me
| narrowly: then his eyes became dis
engaged. and he seemed slipping away
! into dull forgetfulness. The fear of
losing our chance stimulated me: ! add
cd at a venture 10 what | had already
written and presented to the old man:
We think YOU saw him last
The effect of this answer to his qIfcS-
! tion was not at once apparent in
Jaques He regarded it with evident
pcrpleXity for little and thcr with
| trembling head and Frightening eyes
he poured out a stream of uncouth.
unintciligiblc sounds in the midst of
which L hand tried the latch Of the
door. and then a knock sounded. After
! inquiry ! admitted John. who stared
bcwildered at his masters occupation.
As son as Jaques caught sight Of him
his voluhlo utterance increased IN vehc-
mcnce | did not interfere. there was
just a possibility thar the faithful old
servant would find some meaning in
the sounds that We're unintslligihlc to
me. But he did not
"Eh: WHAT" he repeatedly demand
cd. At length, eNasperated. he eN-
claimed. "Ila' done master. WI such
gibbersh. What's got You noW: and
looked 1T me With some suspicion.
| explained quickly TO John what we
We're about. and told him his master
had inst read what | had written, that
we wanted to know when he had seen
his nephew last.
"Th day he went away. to ho sure.
l remember weel. he gave me SOY
ereign to get some things
But. said I. we think he may have
seen him after that.
"Ee. how could he, II he wasna to be
seem
That's just what we want to find
out" said |.
.Wecl." said John, did Master Paul
hrin. him anght: he'll remember that
fast enough
| seized at once the suggestion. ana
taking the paper from Iaques (who was
now silent again) | wrote:
What present did Paul bring you
the last time:
He considered my question, looked at
the travelling rug about his shoulders.
and then glanced inqniringly at .'olln
NAV. master" said John. into ms
ear: "he brought YOU that long a1ofe
70 make sure lie understood tho con-
tradiction. | wrote under what had
already written. No: not the rug
Again he mumblcd and looked at
John. and evidently strove 10 rouse ms
feeble recollection. After some no
ments' anxious waiting. his lnou'h
worked an odd laugh came from flnl.
and his eve sparkled. and he wrote III
strokes as difficult as before:
THE papers on the bed.
Here at last was something worm
attention. .the papers papers
I read the answer aloud.
"Nav." said John. there's no papers
in tn bed. Happen he meals ne WAS
in bed at tn time.
If that were SO 1t tailed VITA MY
s,,spicion of midnight visit mere.
then. were these papers! Were thev
newspapers or documents. .lollil knew
nothing about them: il Master pa'li
ever brought 4 newspaper II Wouia ~
sure to he burnt for kindlng. ne
while | was questioning Iehh.
J,nucs looked first at the one and then
ot tho other. and occasionally tfled 10
carry his look over his shoulder. bllley
was the first to notice this.
..rurn his round" said he.
yo turned him round. chair and all
A. once his eyes were fixed on an oid
a,l- cunboard. Of kind common III
Janoo shirn cottages. that was fastened
~ ono of the angles Of the room.