Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1894-11-20
THEL0NE INN
By FERGUS RUNE.
tCopyrish,. ie,. ty the Authorl
CHAPTER VI.

/ two days reviewing thu strange events
In which hal lately bcn an actor. Al
one moment it was In my mind to aban'
don what certainly sccmci to Ia a
hu,slos. search. for I could but sco II
Wa matter of great difficulty to lay
my hand on the assassin IL Francis II
would be BITTER, I thought. 81 place the
matter In the hands 81 the police and
let them thrash IL out for themselves
Two reasons prevented my taking this
ignoble course
Ono wa. that Francis Brairiield had
bccn n college friend. and ! was unwill.
ing that his death should go unavcng.
~i. The story of his love for Olivia
which he had told me at the inn, CON
tanned the elements of strange 10
nance iitly cappsl hy his tragic end ]
felt CERTAIN that Felix. through his hired
bravo-for could call str.nt by no
other namc-had encompasscd the death
Of his brother. Felix was passionaioly
In love with olivia. and the unexpected
return ~ Francis not only threatened to
take her away from him. but also "a "
veal the scoundrvlly fashion Ia which
b. hal t-.ha,.sL AZ one blow Felix
would lo~c her love and respect There.
fore his motive for a,crting such ca
tastruphe was u strong one That ho
,hould determine un fratricide was a
terrible thought. but there was no other
oourSo left a. him by which o. secure
the woman hc loved and the psIect be
valued IL was the mad action ~ u
weak. pas-ionato man, such n ] knew
Felix to b. Too cowardly himself Ia
strike the fatal blow. he hal hircd
strnt o. carry out his plans, and the
death hal ,-cn duly accomplished.
thOugh Ina what way was quite unable
to ssy. Il was sufficient for mc "a
know that Francis was dead, and ] N'li
myself called upon to a,enge his death.
The other motive was PERHAPS the
.trung,r One 10 detective fever was q
bachelor. had god income and
nothing 90 do Therefore this quest was
one ~ great interest 20 me- l had often
hunic.l beasts. but this man hunt was
much moro powerful incentive 10 ex'
ci,cmcnt could hardly slccp for think
ing Oi the case and was constantly en-.
gagged In piccing together the puzzle
A. yet hal no clear clcw "a follow.
but the iir.t thing o. H. settled was the
identity ~ Felix at Marhminsier with
Felix at Paris Once | established that
point and pruyci conclusiycly that fc'
II, hal never left England. ] would IL
IN position "a pru~ocuio the search in
tho ncighborhOud ~ Marhminstcr
own that there was an additional
rason In the piquc I felt at the scornful
disbelief Of Olivia She evidently con.
adcr,d my story purc fiction. and tile
strange disappearance ~ the curI~a frum
the inn Confirmed her In this belief lr.
ritatol by such contempt, Twas asrc-olNcd
to bring home the crime to Felix and
,o prove conclusivcly to her that he was
ma-lucraiing ~ her lover, the dead
Francis II would hra cruel blow when
assured ~ the truth. but u Wa bcit'r
tina, ,hc should suffer temporary pain
than drag out u lifelong agony chained
Ia q man whom knew Ia bo proili.
gate. a liar and murderer
AZ the end u two days ! confirmed
myself In the resolution to hunt down
the criminal and decided as the first step
o. go a. Paris Lca,ing Victoria by the
night mail. I arrived In the French cap
ital next morning Anxious to loso no
further time. l FASTENED at once Ia the
Hotel drs Etrangcr-, In the Hue dc ~
IIun0rc and there took up my quarters
Recovered from the fatigucs IL the jour
ncy, 1 Iartook 81 luncheon and then
made inquiries about Felix Briarfieli
To my surprise. ! not only di-co',rrd
that h. was In Paris. but that hc Wa
Ina the hotel at that moment
"lIas he b.cn staying here for any
length II timcy' ! askci the manager.
For six weeks, monsieur, and nov
talks % going TO Italy" was the aston
ishing reply.
To lay that was surprised would
give hut u faint idea ~ what felt
That the assertion ~ Olivia should thu.
pruye true was almost impossible 81 Ia
lief II Felix was hcrc and hal bceii
here for the past six weeks. II could
not Is~sibly h. he whom ] hal met a'
Marshmins,er Assuming this to b" the
case, who was the man ~ the Fen inn
who called himself francisi My heal
was whirling with the endcayor q
grapple with these thoughts Suddenly
an idea flashed into my brain which
might possibly account for the mystery.
Can IL be," thought |. that u ws
Felix whom ! met ai the inn-Felix,
who tried 10 pass himself oh as Francis
aDi then invented that lying story PR
hap- be- was not dead. as thought. but
merely plunged into trance When lie
revived, seeing the uselcssness Of fight
ing with Francis, he fied back To Paris y
All this time I starci hard at the
manager In reality was puzzling out
the mystery and not paying any atten'
tion 20 the man before me. He, hovev'
or, grew weary under my regard ana
moved uncasily.
"Mr. Briariield IL now In his room.
monsieur Shall ] take TO him your
carly'
'.If You please" answered mcchan-
ically and handed IL TO him In few
moments q waiter came with message
stating that Mr.. Briarfield would IL
Glad To See me followed the man In
a stat. Of the utmost bewilderment and
found myself In the presence Of Felix
before knew what 10 say or do lie
was 10 like Francis, whom Thought
was lying dead at the Fen inn-so like
the man who passed rs oliyia's lover
that for the moment could do nothing
but stare at him. Yet he could be
neither II the two. for one was dead,
and the other had left behind ai
Marshminster.
"How are you. DenhamY he said,
somewhat surprised at my strange con-
duct "And why do you stare 10 steadi'
ly at mei"
care you Felix Briarfieldi" ! gasped
"As you sec" he answered. raising
his eyebrows 'Surely you know me
well enough To dispense with 70 foolish
question" J."
"And your brotherf'
"He Is ut Marshminster. believe
with Miss Bellin. to whom he IL engag'
ed. Why do you ask 30 strange n ques.
tioni"
sat down ON the sofa and buried my
face In my hands Either i was out OF
my mind or the victim Of some terrible
a. -~-s.s,Is. haI st,al