Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1900-02-08
CHAPTER Nv. ,(continucd.,

Ssilu hCy N4lulA 1cSS lllillt IL MScA. plO
viding l am not detained through the
inquest
THAT will mainly depend upon the
evidence you may give" he remarked
with a volume of dry meaning in his
tone. perhaps, less said the better
in this particular case. You may be
sure that neither coroner nor jury will
be anxious to prolong the inquiry dur
ing Christmas week.
II understand" I said, 'and shall
say as little as possible. Many thanks
MI. O'Brien, for your timely advice
Subsequent events fully confirmed
the old lawyers forecast, so far, at
least, as was concerned. My evil
dence was as terse and brief as could
make it. 1 was an inquiry agent, EN-
ployed by deceased to probe the mys-
terry of his Cousins violent death. l
was explaining to him the results of
my inquiries so far, when he suddenly
fell back in his chair and expired.
Was the nature of my statements such
as to cause unusual excitement? Yes;
the more so as deceased took a very
strong personal interest in the matter.
Had l formed any opinion as to the
cause of death? Knowing deceased
to have a weak heart, and judging
from the suddenness of his demise,
at once attributed it to heart disease.
l was heckled a little as to the i'm
prudence Of unduly exciting a person
so afflicted; but there my share in the
matter ended, and 1 was absolved
from further attendance, subject to re-
call at days notice.
The medical evidence was, however,
by no means so easily disposed Of.
Two doctors who had previously at
tended deceased. expressed no sui
prise at the suddenness Of the death.
DR.. Redwood. on the other hand, insist
ed that death had been accelerated by
means Of some drug having specific
action upon the heart. The coroner
sided with him; and the inquiry was
adjourned for ten days to admit of an
exact analysis of the remains.
This was how the matter stood two
days after my departure for London
and upon the eve of the meeting ar
ranged between James Blogg and the
stranger at the old house in Rodney
Averue. OF the stranger had neither
heard nor seen anything more. He had
not again called at the Shellborne Ho-
tel, finding his mission probably frus-
trated by Captain Arnewood's death.
Mr.. Philip Blake had taken the de-
mise of his relative with characteristic
GOODNESS. Greatly to my surprise, he
had entirely changed his hostile atti-
tude towards me, and had even gone
the length Of rendering sort of half
apology for his previous incivility. He
had done his utmost to avoid attend
9,,, Al,1 al, y, 1.oca
ga bit of BORE" but, nevertheless,
called upon to appear, he had stated
quite frankly his motive for seeking
private interview with deceased as his
pressing need Of check, which the
latter had given him. This was, of
course, wise admission, because the
counterfeit bore his name ard had
passed into the hands of the law Off
GERS. incidentally, it had also sup
piled the only diverting incident in the
dreary inquiry. He had. he Informed
the coroner, cashed the check in ques-
tion almost Immediately, or, at all
events, before news of Captain Arne-
woods demise had reached the Ma
tional Bank; and this instance of
smartness had half-amused the jury.
TO me, of course, the incident had con-.
veyed deeper meaning. In conjunc-
tion with the disappearance of the
stranger, it seemed to intimate some
connection between the latter, Mr..
Philip Blake, James Blogg and the two
dead Arnewoods.
Such, then, was the position upon
Dec 26th, the evening Of the Hateful
meeting which, if 1 played my cards
Alright, and with ordinary luck, seemed
destined to solve the mystery of Luke
Arnewood's death. But I had yet to
decide upon a plan of action. With
Billy as guide it would, doubtless, be
easy enough to effect an entrance into
the house, either before or after the
arrival Of the confederates. had to
take into account, however, that l
should have two men to deal with,
both probably armed and sure to offer
q desperate resistance to capture. That
had no legal right to seize them, no
matter how compromising their inter-
view, was detail intended to ignore;
but could not ignore the fact that !
would he helpless single-handed. To
whom could apply for help?
Once more the name of Inspector
Trail suggested itself. had but to
see him and the difficulty would be at
an end. But again I revolted at the
idea of seeing the fruits of my labors
carried off by Scotland Yard. AS a
very last resource, might have to
fall back upon Trail; but vowed it
should only be when all other means
should fail me.
/ might hire the services of a couple
of prize fighters or DULLES; but even
they would perhaps draw back when
they realized that burglarious entry OF
q house formed part of the job, and
any hesitation on the part of my as
sistants might ruin all my plans.
Il While I was puZzl;ng over this awk-
ward Detail, i stumbled across q, dirty
looking letter addressed to me, which
Il had somehow overlooked. 1t was
from the little lewsvendor, and ran as
follows:
s.Honord Sir:--Hoping this will reech
you in time as ! have important news
to tell YOU. It's abowt Tom and I can
,find him eny tl.ne but not after tomor-
row. Honord Sir, hoping to see you at
the Crown and Sceptre, Barrow Street.
5Cierkenwell any time between 9 and
- tonight thursday. II don't see yoA
81 yvIll pay my respex tomorrow. Your
- 81, .,<s,,. -, a !, tss