The morning times., 1896-12-27

with books. ] understood it TO be Ii
brary. A man sat reading alone, with
lamp beside him.
SO sudden had been the removal that I
knew not when or how il came. The man
at the table arose as he entered and beck
oned him to n seat opposite. He made some
mute request, which / neither heard nor
coInprehended. knew only that the man
was 6bdurate. MeekIy he urged his .peti-
tion, and still he appeared To refuse him.
There was anger on both their faces. In a
minute the stranger raised his hand and
dealt the other a blow across the table.
He struck him 10 the floor The blood
streamed from his face, yet once more he
gained his feet and stood confronting him.
The blood ragged in his OWL veins, ana he
struck out with all the force Of great
strength. This time the man did not rise,
and he stopped to look into his face.
/ struggled to break away from the sick
ening nightmare OF blood. but was pow er-
less. 1 IL oked@ again, now. Cnly uICn the
face OF the vanquished, and II was not the
same. knew that it was the face of the
man besiGe which now beheld. Pale and
distorted iU looked, the eyes bursting from
their sockets and the lips foaming in final
throes. About his neck was rope, tight
ened So that h Z could not breathe knew
all this and more. The sensation grew
upon me. He choked, he gasped the lights
went out.
No it was / that chokCd. The blood
surged through my brain like an Atlantis
current; 10000 whirlpools burst wildly
around me, bearing me down, down To un-
utterahle depths, while the weight Of faith
oInleSsoceanslay uponme. Cries and lamtH-
tatIons oSe upon every ham--utteT, neart-
rending cries from the uttermost abysses.
Weird faces mocked at me, and called me
name at which strong men grow pale ana
the legions Of hell treInble.
Darkling lay, oppressed and utterly con
Founded, Ii seemed. for long ages OF I'M
measurable time. At length light broke in,
the tunult subsidized, the voices became
gradually less; suddenly the phantasma
FADED from the darkened pane, giving place
to fierce, Iurid light, ana with a start
L broke away u : the train snorted into the
great terminus.
The train came to a stop 1 rose and
looked at the opposite seat The man had
already alighted for the carriage door stood
open. Not word had passed; j made only
dim conjecture Of things; sat with my eyes
upon the place he had occupied / knew
that what | had seen he had seen also;
| knew that hideous secret had sudden
ly passed into my keeping l started up.
Did he know this?
The gray dawn lo0med in the eastern
sky, faint and far away. 1t was 4 o'clock,
and | shifted the fresh morning air hun
grily il greeted me outside the station.
as yet untainUed with the fumes froIn-the
myriad chimneyS Of the metropolis
The morrow was Il blank
News of a great trial permeated the
London newspapers and struck activity
into the movements OF the newsbOys as
they fitted fither and thither, proclaim
ing loudly the startling revelations Of
the late edition. The name Of Sir Walter
Ferris was blaZOped at every corner in
the glsring capitals OF ObtFuSive placards.
In the vicinity or the old Bailey an expeC-
tant crowd bruited the names Of the two
malefactOrs to be tried that day for his inur-
der.
Inside the nlonotoaous ORDEAL OF cross
examination was going forward The
events OF the two previous days trial point
ell unmstakabiy to the Judge summing up
before the court adjourned that afternoon.
1t transpired that on a night anterior BY
some weeks to the present stage OF affairs
two men were surprised at their work q
burglary in the mansion of Sir Walter Fer
ris, at Norton Heath, by the gardener who
had been led 10 visit the house by sounds Of
hurried footsteps outside his lodge little
before midnight on entering he study
whence the sounds cf breaking glass attract
ed him. hc GcpOsed IL having discovered
his master lying apparently iusenSibIe on
the floor and two men engaged in riflng
gave chase, and. raising an alarm, brought
20 his assistance the butler and two other
servants. one ofthc men succeeded IN neScap-
ing through the library window. hut the
other was eventually cverpuwcrcd and Sc
cured
on medical assistance being called II il
was aSCeTtaIncd that Sir Walter had sue
Cumhed TO u blow OF the head from ore OF
the burglars. Bat at this phase the case
"A a SDpcr or .lTTgSr -Ta1r
compleXity- Medical evidence went To
prove that but one blow had been dealt.
Sir Walter had been the victim Of "a single
thrust. Who, then, Of the TWO men incrlnl-
mated was responsible for the blow for he
surely was the murderer?
on this point the evidence was entirely
lacking, as, without positive denial Of the
assault each persisted ia maintaining his
own innocence. The only light that could
be brought 10 bear upon the mystery was
the PLAN assertion. perhaps lot altogether
trustworthy. of the burglar captured in
the library, that he ha d seen his cOnEa a1iOn
deal the deceased a blow with a jimmy.
Whether cOuntenanCe should be extended
to N impeachment Of this Kind was now a
moot point. However. it, hearing was this.
That whereas Bland, the man Subsequent
ly taken at Victoria. protested that no
violence had been used. he was in the ma
ture of facts. less tO be believed than the
other. to whom. however. credenCe was
ultimately given
The counsel. wcaricd out. at length re-
tired to wait the judges summing-up
The progress Of the trial had worn the
afternoon far away, but the importance
OF the final uffiCe obliged his IordShip 10
defer adjournment The jury found the
man guilty of wilful murder. Amid onli
nous silence the judge then adjusted the
black cap. the insignia of death and pre-
pared to pass sentence.
''Stopr'
A voice sounded through the hushed
court, huShed and sepulchraI At the
same instant a man, pale and breath
less, dashed through the Gordon of Of
fiCials ranged in the doorway, and. rush
ing straight up to the court, stood con-
fronting the Judge with hands uplifted
in depreciation For moment the 81
lence was intense. He staggered up to
the foot of the bench and then sank
down upon his knees, while the sweat
coursed down his hrows In great drops.
like the workings of his agony. Recov-