The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-12-04

Warlock to the window she looked on the
ill-lit street. Suddenly voice which filled
her with dread said softly, Kate Kate
come down. Then she knew that what
she most dreaded had happened for the
speaker ought to have been safe in a South
The house was quiet, the Evertons were
in the parlor behind the shop. Passing into
the bedroom where the child was quietly
slumbering, she took a hat which lay on the
bed and went softly into the street by the
private door Of which she had the key
In his sailor dress, bearded. haggard and
Dronzed, she scarcely recognized in the
fugitive her husband, Hugh Warlock, whom
she had not seen for six years.
We cannot talk here she said.
Side by side they walked down the quiet
street and passed into the gloom of the
castle grounds, where the darkness swal-
lowed up their figures.
How did you get here?r she asked.
We'll. you see grew tired of my profess
sional labors at the Cape" he said and
took ship home for change"
You escaped?'
We'll, yes. one dark night when they
We're shifting gangs il occurred to me to
brain the warder with his own carbine.
found my way down to the quay, where
kaffir boy gave me some old clothes 1
managed to hide myself in the hold Of an
ocean tramp then getting up steam. In due
time l appeared on deck and the captain
had the good sense TO allow me to work nv
passage home under the unpretending name
of Brown. But somehow or other the police
nave been given q clew, and there is a
warrant out for the arrest of poor Brown
who landed at Southampton on Wednesday
from the Storm Queen. But after a change
why the aforesaid Brown should not vanish
into thin air. as the ghosts used to in the
classic studies of my boyhood."
The woman loathed him, but could not
hand over her child's father to the police
and probably to the gallows.
You don't seem glad to see me, Kate"
he said, after pause.
1T would have been better for us both
had you died in Africa, she said.
~sui eide in the family" he answered,
venient it might be to you; so you see I've
turned up, like the villain in a melodrama
As usual the villain wants money. You
must let me have some. The ill-used wife
you know, always plays a generous part as
counterfeit. Virtue balances vice I'm
pounds might enable me 10 be off to Amer
ica where my family need hear no more
CT me-
y will give you the money if you will go
Thanks Kate; should like it at once"
Stay here; l will fetch it."
"A moment How is our daughter"
She is well. She thinks her father died
before she was born"
Il suppose you intend to keep up the fic-
ton. What brought you here?"
A morbid curiosity to see the place where
your terrible family took its roots
That's coincidenee; somewhat SINH
lar impulse brought me. Perhaps the
knowledge that the parson here is a remote
cousin VINO might be willing to save no.
lie KJ1SFndn from the na0RInan, may also
have been an inducement. But now, Kate
if you will get me the little loan you kindly
offered I'll make another virtuous start in
life
Pale with terror, sick with anxiety she
left him under the shadow of the thick
bushes and hurried back to her rooms. In
the passage the landlady met her in some
excitement.
Rodgers. the policeman, has been here,
ma'am, to inquire whether we've seen any
thing of sailor man named Brown. There
is q warrant out for his arrest. Someone
answering his description was down at the
Goat half an hour ago. He called himself
vicar. / said we hadn't seen no sailor man.
SO Rogers went off to make inquiries at the
1T was fortunately too dark for Mrs Ev-
erton to see the agitation on her lodger's
face.
Il will consult them at the vicarage," she
said. Then she ran upstairs, took some
money from her writing case, and hurried
back to the silent space filed by the in
tense darkness, that rustled, as it seemed
to her, with strange horrors. The masses of
black suphurous clouds seemed to be sup
ported by the dim outline Of Hubert's
Tower. The hot. fitful breeze stirred the
parched leaves. Far away. on the southern
horizon, CLEANS of sheet lightning and the
rumble of remote thunder heralded the
storm.
Hugh Warlock stood under the bushes at
the base of the ominous tower, and heard
of the search that was being made for him
with perfect GOODNESS.
You must get me a change of clothes
tonight" he said. It's the only chance
Meanwhile, can hide here among, the
ruins. There's no time to lose Dressed de-
Gently, in London or Liverpool, | shall be
Kate Warlock's senses seemed edged with
pain. Ruin and disgrace passed her in on
every side. Her one hope was with her
friends in the vicarage, whose garden gate
opened on to the castle grounds.
wait here" she said. Then she CROPPED
her way to the path which privet hedge
thick and high shut in on every side. At the
further end the lights from the open French
window of the drawing room fell with a
comforting CLEAN on the black yew tree
She advanced into the bright circle whence
she could see the vicar and his son in ear
nest conversation Hearing her timid, fall
ter1ng step on the gravel they turned and
saw her, and then, with an effort, she
Il have come to consult YOU" she said,
turning to the vicar. / am in great
trouble: The man they seek is my husband,
Hugh Warlock, and your cousin. | was
nineteen when met him in Rome. He had
been cattle-ranching in America. Like a
blind, infatuated fool insisted on marrying
him against the wishes of my friends. A
year afterwards I learned that he had al
ready wife in America l left him, but
not before he had spent nearly all my
money. Then he went out to South Africa
and enlisted in a police corps under an as
sumed name. But he was expelled for in
subordination, and at last was sentenced to
ten years penal servitude for dealing in
stolen diamonds But about six weeks ago
he murdered his guard and escaped. He is
The agitated woman told her story in
breathless haste
Il thought our wretched kinsman died at
the Cape said the vicar, dismay and Won
der finding expression in every line of his
Wrinkled face. All his genealogical enthu-
siasm had vanished under this wave of
Everyone thought so but myself" said the
young woman. But he tortured me with
the truth"
Justice may take its course said the
vicar, finding no help in his philosophy. 1t
seemed to him that this last direct heir of
the Warlocks inherited all the criminal pro-
pensities of his ancestors. AS psychologist
cal problem it might be interesting, but as
a personal fact it became tragic.
But his son interDosed.
This is no matter for you to deal with,
sir" he said. my first duty is to you. !"
And he took the trembling hand of the
woman. Il will go and see him with you.
Something can be done"
DO whatever you like, said the per
turbed antiquary so long as l don't
BILE of action.
Come said the younger soldier.
Then the two stepped from the cheerful
room into the inky darkness. Neither spoke.
but the woman chung to his arm. 1t seemed
as if there was a dread pause in the sullen
brewage of the night. Even the CLEANS of
lightning on the horizon had ceased.
mendouS effort. The threat was whispered
in the ghostly noises of the black trees ana
the Kissing rustic of the parcned foliage.
But suddenly, as they moved over the
uneven ground, the pent-up storm burst
with a terrific crash. Hubert's Tower on
the hill seemed the center of the roar and
terror Every zig-zag, flash of binding