The Portland daily press., 1898-04-05
AN IMPORTANT DISPATCH.
(Chapter XII.


Pike, the postmaster, who had lett me for
moment to give some instructions to his
suboruinates Ely mind was nlied by
gloomy thoughts, rs l reflected that all
this national terror and excitement had
been produced by the dastardly and al
NEST miraculous ingenuity Oh soMe uH'
known persOn.
But was he unknown? Was it not more
than probable that the person to whom all
this waa due was Dudley Ogle, the man
who lay Iifeless withous single sorrow
ing friend to follow his body to the grave?
Sometimes I felt entirely convinced OF
this; at others l doubted it. Ii Ella
spoke the truth, as it now appeared, then
il was plain hat Dudley had been the
victim of a terribly cruel and crafty con-
spiraoy that eliminated in his death.
Might not this be SO, argued wltnln
myself Yet the words and ACTIONS OF
Ella were all go remarkable, SO yelled by
an impenetrable mystery, that any en-
citavor to eluoidate her reasons only puz-
zied me the more, driving me almost 10
the verge of madness.
Truth to tell l loved her with fond,
passionat8 love, and had, only aJGer
months of trepidation and uncertainty.
succunlb. in obtaining her osclaIatlon
that che reel procate6 my affection ana
her pTomise o be my wife. Yet WITHIN
month of my newborn life in happiness
supreme, all these untoward events had,
alas occurred, sitting my JOY. replacing
confidence by doubt, and driving me TO
despair.
While I stood there alone Lord Warn
ham hastily approached the post-ofnce
window with telegram, and. seeing me,
exclaimed:
"Ah! / want you, Decides. One hour
ago | sent kilograms everywhere for you.
| Come with me to my room.
| He handed in his telegram, and together
we went along the corridors to his own
priyate room, where, In an armenian,
with some papers in his hand, sat the
| Marquis of Maybury, Prime Minister OF
| England. We had met before many times
when the byarly elderly peer had been
guest at WaYnnam Hall, and on many oc-
| ossions had acted as his secretary when
| he had been alone.
ssWel!. Deedes.' he exclaimed gravely,
looking I'D Suddenly from the papers.
"Lora arnham has explained to me Uhe
mysterious theft OF ;he secret convention,
and [ am anXlous 10 see you regarding
it,
The Foreign Minister seated himself at
his table in silence, with folded arms, as
the world renowned statesman proceeded
to question mo closely regarding the
events OF that memorable day when the
document had been so ingeu1ously Stolen.
"Haye ron not the aliehbest clue TO the
at last, stroking his full grey beard.
tRemember that England's honor and
her future depends absolutely upon the
issue OF this serious complication. Ii
YOU can furnish us with any information,
it is just possible that diplomacy may do
something even at the eleventh hour.
| You see we have lost the original of the
convention, and this, If produced in
Petersburg, is sufficient evidence against
| us to upset all our protesta tions.
81 have told Lord Warnham all l
know" [ answered calmly. "To him I
have OK Explained my suspicious.
ssThat this friend Of yours called Ogle,
who died mysteriously on that very same
day. was the actual spy" he observed.
Some of the facts certainly point to
such conclusion; but, now tell me, did
Ogle enter your room at the Foreign
Office on that day z"
"Certainly not replied 'No one is
allowed in my room except the clerks
could he have seen the envelope stick
ing out Of your pocketg
could not, because on placing 1t in my
pocket, q deep one, I took precaut1on to
notice whether it were visible.
tsThen, if such 10 the case, l maintain
that Ogle could not possibly have known
what designation you had written upon
| the envelope, I" the Premier observed, adj
ding, "Did you meet anyone you knew
you were in Ogle's company
"No one whatever ! said.
| 81 know the Ship. AT which table did
you sit?''
inner room beyond the bar. l sat in the
corner, with my back to high partition.
| Therefore the envelope could not possibly
have been extracted from my POCKET with
ont NV kn0Tiadrs ~
"Then 1 should like to hear your theory
of the affair, - said the Prime Minister,
his dark penetrating syes fixed upon me.
"It is so remarkable answered,
"that L am utterly unable to form any
idea how the thstt was accomplished.
| "You believe, however, that Ogle WAS a
spy. .,. 49,, ), , s,,d "Ana fnr-
thor, have grave suspicious that he was
IL -dered.' -
"Ah, that was alleged at the inquest :"
his lordship observed. cat present the
| police are sparing noseffort TO determine the
cause of his death, and to find out who
manufactured the duplicate of Lord Warn
nam seal"
"Ihe seal picked up from among the
contents Of Ogle's pockets was not the
identical one Used to secure the dummy
envelope" I said quickly.
~ am fully aware of all the facts, The
answered rSGfGr COtulp. my uoslIO 10 w
find out sometime fresh. Even the police
seem utterly baffied. Who is this young
| woman Ella Laing, who at the inquest
alleged murder?'
''Ihe daughter of Mrs. Laing, of Point
street,
"Do you know her Intimately"
"She is engaged to be married to me,
replied.
"It is apparent that she was
very friendly with this Ogle. Surely you
| can induce her to tell you something
| about him. "
"She knows but little more than what
| l already know. He lived with me at
Shopperton, and had few secrets from
me. "
"Did You ever suspect him to be a
spy ..,.,.,.,. IL ,.a n,ont,
Of money of his own, and was in no sense
an adventurer.
"Tell, ;" exclaimed the Premier, turn
ing to mis- colles gae at last. "IE is ex-
| traorGinary extraordinary.
Lord WarEham nodded acquiescence.
and said: Eyes. there is a deep and ex-
traordlnary mystery somewhere; mys-
terry we must, for the sake of our own
/ honor penetrate and eIucidate. -