Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1897-03-14

chance remark of Pallant anent lHs PoS'4
billtv of the clock being wrong the chance
evnlanation of Meg, which proved 'ha'
Tho clock was an hour fast the morning
after the murder had taken place; the
memory Of her own remark to Joad about
her sleepless night; and the coIcius'olI
that the old man had put the CLOCK "loi.e
for purposes of his own. the ihleIeil~e ~
he drawn from these facts was that hau
baan in the house on the night OF the sec
o,d Of Aup1,st. II he had been in the
ho,,se Il was probable that he had killed
Fdarmont since Allen and Lady BurVlLe
fine only other people who had been pres
emf AZ the same hour-were innocent II
had been proved by sundry scraps Oh eIi-
dsnce that the murder had been commit
ted n obtain scraps of the manuscript
Their fore if Joad were guilty ne must
bava hidden the fruits of his crime
Where? In the cottage, without DOUBT.
The 'front.' door of the cottage was locked
co Dora went round to the back She
knew that load was in the habit OF hiding
the KEY of the back door under the water
butt and sure enough she found it there.
10 opsn the door and pass into his study
was the work Of a moment So here she
was in the stronghold of the enemy. But
where was the manuscript?
The room was not very large, and lined
on all four sides with books. 4 writing
desk Uttered with papers stood before the
single window. and a few chairs were
scattered round. There were also horse
hair sofa. a small sideboard Of vanished
deal. three or four china ornaments and
little clock on the mantelpiece. The floor
was covered with straw mating but
what the pattern Of the paper was like no
one could tell, for it was hidden complete
" by the books. The whole apartment
looked penurious in the extreme and very
untidy Books lay on chairs and sofas,
and the fireplace was filled with torn up
letters. newspapers, and hastily scrubbed
manuscripts
THE books first" decided Dora, after a
look at this chaos.
There was no mead 10 go through them
one by one, for dust lay thicky on bind
ings and shelves. She mad only 10 glance
to see those which had been disturbed
within the last few weeks. Those that
had been taken down she examined care
fully. but could find no trace Of the man
uscript. She looked on the top Of the
bookcase. went down on her knees to
search the lower shelves. and still found
nothing. At the end Of an hour Dora had
gone through the whole library Of Joad.
but had come across no trace Of the wish
ed for paper He had hidden it-always
presuming that it was in his possession
more cunningly than she had thought.
Now for the desk"
Another hours search in drawers. and
pigeonhoes, and blotting pad likewise re-
vealed nothing Dora empti5d out the
whole paper basket, and sorted every
scrap: still she was unsuccessful. Then
she lifted portions Of the mating, removed
tn cushions of the chairs, searched the
sideboard and dived into the recesses Of
the sofa All to no purpoH..
Perhaps he has not got il after all,
thought Dora, disappointed "or he has
burnt fl"
Burning suggested the fireplace. But
she saw that there had not been fire for
months in the great. II then struck her
that Mr. Joad might have taken an idea
from Poc's "Purlolned Letter. and have
hidden the manuscript in some conspicu-
Gus place. The fireplace alone was I'M
searched. so she went down on her knees
and turned out the disorderly mass Of pa
pers. Her patience was rewarded at last.
From under the heap she drew forth
crumpled mass of paper. foolscaD size. and
spread il out carefully. Then she uttered
n cry. THE Confession OF Julian Dargill,
better known as Julian Edermont,' she
read. "Ahl / was right, Here is the sto-
len story of the pas. and load is the man
who killed my guardian
(To be continued)