Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-09-11
S H R { W SBU R Y"
BY STANLEY ]. wEYMAN.

copyrighted. 1897. by Stanley ]. weyman)
Written for TIE Evening Star.
chapter XxXII-Continued From Last
saturdays Star.
He was so righteously indignant at the
presumption of which 1 had been guilty
in attacking the family that though it was
his own indiscretion that had led me to the
point. made haste to mutter an apology.
and doing this with the better grace for
the remembrance that Smith was now
powerless. and his wicked plans abortive,
I contrived presently to appease him. But
the ferment which the discovery 1 had
made wrought in my spirits moved me TO
escape as quickly possible to my room.
there TO consider at leisure the miserable
position in which, but for Smiths timely
capture must have found myself
suspicion of the truth i had entertained
before, but this certainty that the man L
was to be trepanned into perso9at1ng was
my benefactor and that in the plot his own
mother was engaged. filled me with as
much horror. when | considered the neces-
sity of complying under which L might
have lain, as thankfulnesS when / reflected
on the escape 1 had bad. Nor did these
two considerations. overwhelming as they
may well appear. account for all the ag1ta-
ton I was experiencing Mr.. Martin, IN
speaking of Nine. Montercy's origin, had
mentioned Hertfordshire, and the name.
bringing together two sets of facts, hither-
to 50 distant in my mind that l had never
undertaken to connect them. had in Hash
presented Smith and madam in their true
colors. Why / had not before associated
the Smith / now knew with that Tenn
plar Smith whom l darkly remembered as
Jennys accomplice in my early troupe,
why / had not recognized in the woman
ccarsely handsome features the charms
tEat thirteen years before had fired my
boys blood and brought me to the loot OF
the gallows, Is not more difncult TO ex'
plain than why this one mention Of Hert-
Yorkshire sufficed to raise the curtain; ay,
ard not only to raise II, but to set the
whole drama so plainly before me that L
could be no wiser had l followed every
scene in madam's life, and beer witness Oh
hershameful debut under Smith s protection,
her seduction of my lord and her period OF
splendor had attended her In her final
declension. when a discarded mistress sne
saw no better alternative than marriage
with her former protector.
How greatly this Identification of the two
conspirators increased the loathinR IN
which / held their schemes, as well as my
relief upon the reflection that those schemes
were not futile l will not say. Suffice 1t
that the knowledge that but for Smiths
arrest / must have chosen between playing
the basest part in the world and running
a risk whereat 1 shuddered filled me with
thankfulness Unreasonable; thankfulnesS
which / did not fail to pour out on my
knees, and which was in no degree lessened
ty a shuddering consciousness that in that
dilemma. had providence not averted it,
/ might, aye, should, have played the baser
part
No wonder that a hundred narrowing
recollections crowded on my mind; or that
under the pressure of these the tumult of
my spirits became so powerful that / pres
emily seized my hat, and hastily escaping
from tie house, sought in rapid movement
some relief from the unpleasant retrospect.
Crossing the green park. 1 chose a field
mt hot led hrr -
Fulham; and gradually the songs of the
larks and the spring sunshine-for the day
was calm and serene-leading my mind into
a more cheerful groove. 1 began to dwell
rather on the fact of my escape than on
the crime from which I had escaped; and
contemplating the secure career that now
lay in view before me- 1 was not long in
seeing that thankfulness should be my
strongest feeling. Turning my back on
smith and his like. I began to build nv
mouse again, saw smiling wife and babes
and days spent between my home and INV
lords papers; and then a green old age and
shppered feet tottering through the quiet
shades OF library. Before turned / had
roofed the house with an honorable head
stone. and felt the tears rise in generous
sympathy with the village assembled to do
the old man honor.
In word. tasting the full relief of
emancipation. 1 became so gay and light
some that even the smoke and din of LON
CON when l re-entered it. failed to subdue
.uSueli numor- could nave sung;
L could have laughed aloud Let the dead
past bury its dead, For Ferguson, Smith.
the Montercy-a fig! Who had come off
best after all? And of their fine pIottings
and contrfvings what had been the upshot?
They had failed and had triumphed: thew
were prisoners: 1 was free and safe.
Near the garden wall of Buckingham
mouse there was a bear dancing and a
press or people round it. / stayed to
watch, and in my mood found the fun SO
mueh 10 my taste that threw the man q
penny and went on laughing. A little