The record-union., 1896-04-26

petrators of these secret murders were
seldom found out.
Several months passed away. The
cares of business were beginning tC
press on me, and / had little time in
which to speculate on the late mysteri-
Gus events. / had my first important
case in hand, and it required every mo-
ment and every thought. l was glad
when the courts rose and the long vaca-
ton came to bring me a brief holiday.
l had won my case, and had gained no
small amount of present fame and fu-
ture gain by doing so. About the sec
ond week in August 1 travelled down to
Hull; and thence took steamer to STAY
anger for month in Norway. Coming
back by the same route, / found it ne
cessary to stay a night in Hull, and AS
I had never been there before. l spent
the evening in looking round the docks
and quayS of that ancient port There
l came across a further link in this re-
markable story. Wandering along the
pavement of the quay, which runs from
the town to the river. l paused to look
in at the window of one of those little
dirty shops where marine store dealers
gather together all manner of odds and
ends, and what was my surprise to see
the portrait which had once been hidden
III my office,
/ paused and looked again through
the dirty window. No, there was no
doubt about it; that was the portrait.
The gold frame was gone, and there
were marks on the edges of the picture
which seemed to indicate that it had
been roughly removed. The face, how
ever, was unmistakable. / had been too
much struck by it at first sight to forget
it's wonderful beauty.
On entering the shop a dirty looking
man, evidently a foreigner, came for
ward from some den in the rear, rub
bling his hands and asking what he
could do for me.
Nothing particular" / answered. L
just wish to glance at your stock of Gu
riosities. l am rather fond of picking up
rare articles"
He answered that I was welcome to
look round, and went on to say that he
had some beautiful things in the way
of binocular glasses and chronometers
il I was thinking of taking long Voy-
age. While he chartered volubly about
his goods I was leaning over the little
partition which separated the shop
from the window, examining the por-
trait from a better point of vantage. l
had no doubt whatever as to its iden-
tity, and determined to buy it at what
ever cost. After some haggling, L pur-
chased the picture and Turkish dag
ger for one guinea.
When 1 reached the hotel I went up
to my room and examined the portrait
carefully. 1t was a small canvas,
stretched on a frame twelve inches by
nine, and across the back, probably
with the idea of keeping out dust and
dirt, a stout piece of rough canvas had
been tightly stretched and stitched.
There was nothing to show that any eX-
traordinary history attached to the pic
ture. l returned to London and locked
up the portrait in my office safe.
Time went on, and as my practice in
creased 1 took more rooms in the house
in Parchment Passage. Some of them
were much more suitable for private
office than the one in which the portrait
had been hidden, but 1 determined to
remain in the latter and devote the
others to my clerks. l had half-su-
perstitious feeling that if ever the mys-
terry of the previous tenant came to be
solved, it would be in that room.
1t was about two years after the muir
der. and circumstances then required
that I should stay late at the office. l
was engaged in settling some difficult
business with a client, and he remained
with me until half-past O'Clock. AS
l was about to turn out the lamp which
burned on my table, / heard some one
coming slowly up the staircase. l had
left the private door of my office open,
and could hear the sound distinctly.
I turned up the light again and waited.
At first I thought the steps were those
of my client, who had possibly forgot
ten something and was returning, but
another moment told me they were not.
He was a young, active man, likely to
come up three steps at a bound; the
man now climbing the stairs was evil
IDENTIFY neither young nor active, for he
came up slowly and apparently with
some difficulty
went to the door and looked down at
the landing. The gas still burned there,
and it shone on the figure of man who
was climbing the last flight of stairs.
He was a tall, well-built man of fine
stoop of his shoulders suggested hard
ship and privation. 1 could see very
little of his face, but I noticed that his
beard, which was of unusual length
was gray almost to whiteness. He
seemed to be we'll dressed, and I made
up my mind that his intentions were
peaceful.
The stranger accosted me in very
good English Somehow I had made up
my mind that he was foreigner. After
he had explained his business, which
was to find Alexis Vitrefsky of No. 3
Parchment Passage, a light began to
break in upon me. The man he was in
search of was the previous tenant! Per-
haps the mystery of the portrait was
about to be explained.
WAS the person you are in search of
a Russian?'' asked.
Eyes, yes" he answered eagerly.
Certainly, Russian. A man of about
my age, but perhaps younger in ap-
rearance. I have had things to make
me look old"
"Will you come in nloment?" / said
and led the way into my Office. 'F err
haps L can give you some information. ="
I'gave him a chair and he sat down.
Now that the lamp light fell full on his
face, / saw that he was an extraordi-
narily handsome man, and that evident
suffering and privation had not robbed
rim of his good looks.
II shall be very grateful for any in
formation respecting Alexis" said he
And thank you in anticipation. Per-
b,o nc ou0hf tO toll Won who T ON r
am the Prince n
He mentioned a name which made me
stare with establishment. Prince u