Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-04-21


| courage
Tbsr a knock sounded at the outer door
| ~ ,ba room and Lovedale called TO the
| Lnoct.r IN come I'm. The listener recog-
nized IN. voice OF the Captains servant.
You rang, srF
"yes I desire your presence here. Major
| yardIey has brought an accusation
AGAINST me which he shall find reason to
repeut. / have asked him to repeat II
| I'm the hearing Of q witness
.Jn plaIn English. Field" said Yard
10y 1--WE told your master that he's a
swindler. I've charged him with doctor
| ing n lot OF receipts IN order 10 TOD "A
poor devil Of a gentleman who lent him
money years ago, when me was well-to-
| d."
"You threatened my life" said Love
| dale
"Tbreatened your life" shouted Yard
| lev. your lfel What's your life worth?
I'd as lief run you through as look at you
| 40 far as that goes. Thatu do, Field.
! you can CO.
The door closed. and the listener slipped
| again with a keen relish. Yardley thun-
| dered for a good five minutes. and then
| sat down I'm silence to the receipts. After
| the noise the stiffness seemed phenome-
| nal. and It lasted till Sanford began to
| nod. and slipped once more to keep HIM
| self awake.
sTu take these" he heard Yardley say,
land you'n soon know whether L have
courage enough to carry out my charge.
| Goodnight sir"
Then Yardley walked gown stairs and
| out OF the house and Lovedale came into
the bedroom TO call out his hidden guest,
| Sanford arose and entered the sitting
| room. blinking at the brighter light there
| you can CO. said Lovedale quietly
| "All right" Sanford answered. Hand
| over that flyer"
| You'll get no more flyers out of me,
! said Loyedale. "I'd never have paid you
cent except to keep Yardley quiet. You
can 90 now. and go to the devil. You're
well on the way. and the sooner you
reach him the better"
I'm not going without the money,
Sanford said. Hand it over"
Not l." answered Loyedale Go and
starve. Go and die on your native dung
| hill. Go and do what you like, but don't
come here again, or I'll give you in
charge"
He was down with the last words on
! his lips. He was lying amongst a heap Of
/ cushions on couch beneath the curtained
window. Sanford had an Eastern dagger
in his hand-the manned right hand. with
which he had not grasped anything for
| three years or more. He remembered
| that the weapon had been lying on the
table before him, and that ne had pushed
| IL with his fingers. but he did not re-
| member having taken IL up. Lovedale's
| face was a chalky white and awful TO
look at. He gasped once or twice. and a
/ tide OF blood welled up over his shaven
| 10 ushf ~
His head fell like the disjointed head of a
toy Mandarin. Sanford took hold of his
| hand and lifted it, IL dropped back a
! dead weight on the cushions
| The main thing i'm Sanford's mind was
| a stupid wonder that he was not deeply
moved by this disaster. He thought that
| Unexpectedly and accidentally 10 have
killed man ought to have been a shock
| ing thing to him. He looked back for the
/ impulse which had prompted the blow,
and he could not find it.
The cash-boX still lay where Lovedale
had set ii down. and Sanford took five
sovereigns from II, neither more nor less.
| He had a little difficulty I'm counting
them. When he was satisfied that he had
I the sum he had demanded. he slipped the
money loosely into his waistcoat pocket
and went down stairs. The street door
was open. and he left the house unseen.
III.
He had not walked far when he be-
gan 10 feel sick and giddy. He knew he
had been drinking heavily but he was
persuaded that he had never been more
sober i'm his life. People stared at him
when he got into the well-lit quarters
Of the town, and a horror began TO set
tie down upon him. With each beat Of
the pulse which rioted IN his temples.
surrounding objects became black and
bright alternately. Passers-by sprang out
Of thick darkness and flashed back into
nothing. Their faces writhed at him.
4 stream OF strenuous eyes and faces
flowed against him, and among them
Lovedale came with a red stream gulp-
ing from his lips. Sanford paused in a
tremor of anguish. and the dead man
went by. Then he came again. Then
again-then again. Always the face San
ford had seen az he lay huddled on the
sofa. When he had gone by hundreds
of times Sanford steeled himself, and
flung out disdainful hand against him.
you're a phantom" he said aloud. "a
beastly delusion. There's no reality about
you
People began to hustle him. and he
moved into a by-street TO escape them. A
few boys followed for awhile, but soon
left him. He knew perfectly well what
he was doing and where he was going
He was making for an underground rail-
way station, on his way home. and he
had a house in view, where he was going
TO supply himself with tobacco. and
where, perhaps. he would take one more
whiskey before turning in TO sleep off
this feeling OF discomfort He would
give II no grayer name, for he able
to keep ii at arms length, and 10 look at
M "a
lie called at the house lac knew. and
passed the time OF night with the bar
man. who was familiar acquaintance
II pyas Lovedale. however who brought
the drink he ordered. He accepted it
with a steady hand. and IL was the bar
man who took the money.
Had YOU there" said Sanford, triumph
ing in this victory.
BEG pardon, sir" said the barman.
Nothing. nothng!" Sanford an
swered composedly. Il was thinking"
He looked towards the door, for no
particular reason; and there was Love
dale reckoning TO him. He noticed the
gesture. noticed with his painters in
stinct the pose and coloring OF the figure
and looked with a sane and balanced
mind at the Illusion.
IF believe in YOU" he muttered, 81
should be mad"
LOyedale beclyoned him again with inn
peratiye impotence.
mo" SAID SANFORD "if ] took you in
earnest there's no knowing what might
happen"
Il say. governor" said the bar-man. III
1 was you | should toddle TO my little
bed"
WHY" asked Sanford, secure in his own
sober sanity: "ls there anything odd
about me?''
You're a talkin pretty queer" the
man responded.
-, 80, 80 confora. sr Itya a o,ood