Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1896-08-27

| just now"
He took up a partly read letter and
| turned toward them with a gesture
half-cynical, half-deprecating. He was
standing with his back to the writing
table and leaning slightly against it.
! Neither of the other two men could
match his GOODNESS.
/ do you imagine, John Magee," cried
! Mr.. Hovesdean, with flashing eyes
! that now I have you in my power, l
/ am going to let you go Gnhurt? Do
! you imagine that the police are not
! anxious to clear up the mystery of that
/ iron chamber at Hellside, and that you
! can possibly escape detection? You
/ need hope for no mercy from me, man.
/ The world who has known John Massin-
I ger, gentleman and man of fashion,
shall know also John Magee"
Not if l do not choose" Massinger
answered, calmly. See how idle your
| boasts are, Richard Hovesdean. A
touch of my finger upon the trigger of
this delicate little piece of mechanism
and your tongue would Wag in your
head no more"
He had drawn a tiny revolver from
/ his pocket and held it out at arm S
! length. There was a moments breath
less silence. Then he laughed softly
mockingly-an his arm fell to his
side.
Bah I will not hurt you,' Massin-
ger said. only let it be a lesson to
you. Now, if you please, go! And re
member this, Richard Hovesdean, and
you, Lord Marlborough, you may go and
put your heads together and worry the
old women at Scotland Yard and do
your best to weave a net for me, but
you will fail. Mark my words, you can
neither Of you do me any harm. | am
the controller of my own destinies.
Lord Marlborough, you perhaps will I'M
derstand me-"
He bowed to them with a peculiar
smile upon his lips and touched a bell.
A servant held open the door and the
two men passed out into the street.
Lord Marlborough was thoughtful. Mr..
Hoyesdoan also was silent until they
had crossed the square,
THAT IS one of the most eXtraordi-
nary men whom my life has ever
touched" he said. IF the thing were
not absurd ] should almost believe that
he was speaking the truth when he said
that we could do him no harm. Come,
let us go to Barings"
x =
That was an eventful day for Lord
Marlborough. Before it's close his lands
were free again, his horses back in
their stables and his banking account
larger than it had ever been before
Sadie had been carried off by his aunt,
Lady Mary; every minute had been full
of pleasant hustle and excitement. And
amid it all Mr.. HOvesdean and he had
spent some time at Scotland Yard, and
together they had seen a warrant
signed for the apprehension of one
John MasSinger, on the charge of con-
spiracy, with the dim suspicion of
greater and graver crimes as yet in the
background but soon to be made clear.
Mr.. HOvesdean drove away silent but
eXultant. Lord Marlborough said moth
ing, but in his own heart he knew quite
we'll that that warrant would never be
executed He knew the secret of
Massingers calm defiance, and not
withstanding everything he felt a GER
tain vague sympathy with the man who
stood to his guns and looked out upon
death with the philosophers smile
half of defiance, half of welcome.
And on the morrow the whole world
knew what he could very wen have
foretold. A short paragraph in the
morning papers told the story 1t was
head ed:
PAINFUL DEATH OF MR. JOHN
ELTfRINHGAM MASSINGER. NJ P
I'VE regret to have 20 announce the
death Of Mr. John Birmingham Massin-
ger, M. P. for the western division of
Worcestershire, under very painful
circumstances, which appear to leave
little doubt that the act was of his own
cOmmittal. Deceased appears, accord
ing to such particulars as have become
known, to have returned from a small
private dinner party which ne had been
giving to few friends at the Epicur-
can club at late hour last night, and
early this morning he was discovered,
still in evening clothes, lying on the
floor Of his library, quite dead, with a
recently discharged revolver clenched
in his right hand. The bullet had
penetrated his heart and death must
have been instantaneous. Deceased
had evidently spent some considerable
time tearing up and burning a quantity
of private papers, but no cause for the
unfortunate act has yet been alleged.
MIR. Massinger was, we believe, the
only surviving descendant Of an an
cient Worcestershire family and besides
being we'll known in society had
achieved a considerable reputation IN
the house as brilliant debater and
shrewd fnancier. He was also a con-
tributor to several high-class reviews
on current topics and the author of a
very successful volume of verse. De-
ceased was never married"
The world never knew the whole Sc
cret of Mr. Massinger's sudden disap
pearance from it. But Lord Harbor-
ough knows it, and there are certain
very distinguished men Of the world in
whose company he never feels quite at
ease, and whose calm, set faces some
how stir up a crude sense of repulsiOn
! in him. He has never again crossed
the portals Of the Epicurean club. Why
should he, indeed! The man whose
wife is everywhere admitted to be one
of the most charming and popular Of