Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1899-05-21
CHAPTER XIII.
IN WHICH AM GUILTY OF AN I'M
PRITDENCE


its chambers on the day had annexed
it. to my surprise / had found every
one empty. At first / had not been
able to account for the surprising fact,
as the weapon had not been out OF my
keeping at any time since / had pos
sessed it. But it was not long before
/ had arrived, by deduction, at solu-
ton of the problem.
remembered my period OF uncon-
seriousness at the Spinning Jinney inn,
and the bold front which the landlord
had maintained afterwards when | had
threatened him with the revolver. Hav-
ing once recalled these facts, there was
no further room for doubt in my mind
as to when, where and how, the bullets
had been extracted. The fellow had
replaced the weapon in my pocket, af-
ter making all safe, by way of helping
to confirm the theory of the dream,
which he would fain have inculcated.
Now, ] had my small adjutant in
working order again, and the thought
gave me confidence as l approached
the appointed place of meeting, and be-
gan walking UP and down.
I had given myself much more than
enough time to reach StanhoDe Gate,
for | had wished to make every allow
ance for accident or delay. But l ex-
perienced neither, and / arrived fully
fifteen minutes before the fateful hour
of midnight
Throughout the day l had been hope
full and eager, and the thought of turn
ing the tables upon Mr.. Smith had
frothed in my head like champagne.
But now respondent mood had fallen
upon me. At one moment l believed
that / should be compelled to wait in
definitely and vainly; again l told my
self that I was doubly a fool for not
having engaged some one to help me
see this adventure through.
Twelve o'clock struck as the gateway
disgorged its mouthful of wretches,
who had been my brothers and sisters
in misfortune only three nights ago.
l stood by the curbstone, my eyes alert
for the vehicle which had carried me
away from the world of ordinary real
tiles into the unknown and mysterious
before. 1t was not in sight.
For five minutes, ten minutes. a
quarter of an hour / waited, walking
with growing uneasiness along a short
A~beat which unconsciously selected.
He's made fool of me, for some rea-
son of his own said savagely to my
self, and, turning when l had reached
the limit of my walk, saw a smart han
som separate itself from others of it's
kind speeding in various directions, to
draw up at the pavement where l stood
alone.
Please to get in, SIR" said a decor
GUS voice. History was repeating it.
self.
noting each landmark as we passed it,
that when the night should brighten
into morning the secret of that dark
house am ong the trees should be a sec
ret no more. l stepped into the han
som with only nod to the driver,
knowing well the futility of questions;
but when as before, he attempted to
close the window, unobtrusively laid
my stick beneath.
Thus the air would still circulate
with comparative freedom, and the
glass would not, as he doubtless desir-
ed, be dimmed by my breathing. AS
on that other night, however, our pace
was tremendous--so rapid that | Won
dered we were not interferred with by
the police. Try as / would | seldom
saw name at a street corner, and only
once, towards the last, caught one
which helped me to guess at our desti-
nation.
''Canonbllry -road!" l repeated, with
a sense of triumph; and, recalling in
stantly in that connection the partially
obliterated name upon the garden gate,
/ arrived ar the conclusion that the
house where had been, and was going
again, to meet Mr.. Smith, was situated
not far from the old Canonbury Tower.
In five minutes we had stopped in
front of the well-remembered wall;
and, scarcely had sprung from the
hanson, when the vehicle was whirled
rapidly, as before, round the corner
At the same moment the gate was OPP
ened by some one who did not choose to
make himself visible, and slammed
shut as | stepped in, my hand in close
proximity to the revolver
1t was dark as a pocket inside, and l
could only make out that the form of
man was near me, hurrying by my
side, too suspicious, perhaps, to go in
advance up the walk towards the
house
But, when the front door had opened
to close, again behind us, and we stood
in the lobby, dimly lighted from the
hall beyond, saw that the French Jew
who had figured as the dumb Hassan on
the former visit was nv comnanion