The Bowbells tribune., 1900-02-23
CHAPTER x1x-(Continued.)

SCCuIcu ~ SIoN SlcstIcl. IL IJiSN
sertions We're true (and l saw no rea
son to doubt them) the murdered man
was simply an imposter who had per-
sonated the real Luke Arnewood. and
that. too. with considerable clevernesS.
The thing was. obviously. quite possi-
BILE. One had only to suppose him in
innate e1ough with the real man to-
learn his true parentage, to have access
to his papers, and to have seen my ad--
vertisement. \ clever scoundrel would
quickly see his chance. The subSe-
quent correspondence. backed up by
the stolen documents and the photo
graph. would follow. as matter OF
course. No one over here knew Luke
ArneW God; the game seemed safe
one to play. provided the real man dill
not subsequently turn up. Had the
adyer tUle er taken this risk, 0! WAS Like
ArreWood dead:
1t flashed across my mind that the
man who had returned by the Wairoa
had caused himself to be tattooed. on
board by Il q,lartermaster. He had
chosen the initials l.. A. for his arm.
and the running Il. y. (wood) upon his
breast clearly IN imitation OF the man
he was DerSOnating. And now these
very same letters, with precisely the
same DESIGNS. were fohnu upon thc'alm
and breast of the imbecile digger.
whom DickN had pulled out Of the
shaft! Taken in conjunction With the
fact that Nat Rainsforth had. that very
day, been tracked to within 4 mile or
so of this very shaft. the conclusion
seemed as Inevitable as it Was start
ling. Rainsforth must have watched
his opportunity to push Dickys protege
down the Shaft and had left Queens
land in the full belief that his victim
was lying dead at the bottom Ana.
moreover. the evidence seemed to mil
| cate, very strongly that this reSuscit;f-
T ed victim was the real heir To -Afile'
wood Hall. Well. if all this were i'll
| deed so. the vengeance OF Heaven nil"
| already Overtaken the Wouid-he muir
derer. Was it still my duty 10 hHNt
down his slayer. or did my task eh'
here?
thought of my premise to Madg"'
| that answered the question. Her brotn-
| ther was still wanted for the treek
street murder. and even though III.
sane, a criminal lunatic asylum Whll''i
still be his doom. upon tn" inning "i
the ccroner's jury. :" far as . i'fl'l.
| and Grudyrry were concerned 'anh
| HHWkIlS ~ w.. wv. W. '''> iAA''. "
| thatl, the case might. perhaps. be !r-
rnrllcl as concl;;dpl. But for mr. it
would end only with III" fuliil!m"nt OF
my mission.
[ needed help. Why not take the
| kindly little Strong Man entirely into
nv confidence: He was sitting oppn-
site to me, also deep in thought.
'Mr Dicky." said. abruptly. light
ND your pipe. mix yourself some gros.
and listen to me. l need your advice.
| and it may be l shall need the help of
| those strong arms of yours Il few hours
| hence"
':Botl are at your service. sir. he an
| swered. "And. by the way mot that it
matters,, my real maine is Dirk VAN
Ston.'
Without further preface. l told him
| all the main facts of the case. as
knew them. supplemented by such
| plain deductions as seemed to arise
| from his own narrative. He listened
intently. but never put in word until
I had finished
"And yet have heard men say there
is no God" was his comment. "Why.
blame me. if His hand amt plain to be
seen throughout the whole piece! =
"You'll pardon me. sir. but can't hard
" realize vet the wonder of it all Ned
a gentleman of family and fortune!
Nat Rainsforth (who. no doubt. tired
to kill HIM murdered here in London.
and poor. silly Tom suspected of the
crime! 1t just fair daZrs me to take it
! all in. Just ut first.
81 quite agree with you there. Dirk.
| l assented. I'VE must accept the facts
| as they are. though. and see If we can
not bring everything to satisfactory
| termination. SO far as l can judge.
| the N Getting at the house in Rodney av-
enue between the stranger ana blog3
| Is almost certain to result i'll converSa-
| ton of compromising character: not
| .mpOssihly. the whole scheme OF the
murder may leak out. especially If they
should quarrel. We must contrlve TO
| :,c present, or. at Ill events. within ear
shot at the interview, and we must be
DrcpSpG, if need be. to seize the two
ccnfeder,tes Ore of them is a power
f,,l man. and both nav be armed
"Very COOL" said Dirk. quietly: tine"
we lad better go armed, also. But
think if l once get my grip on tins
Blogg I shall need nothing more than
niece Of cord to tie him Up with. Car:
rou manage the Othcr?
"Yes." | answered. "you may safely
leave the stranger to me-
"May as Just one question:. he in
quired, Il little awkwarlly. Would it
not he simpler. and even safer. to leave
the arrest of these two villains to the
police?"
eyes" answered, sit would. and In
spector Trail would only be too pleased
to have the job thrown into his hands.
But my personal pride and-well.
great many rcasons-impel me to see
the thing through without police help
"say no more. sir" reioined Dirk
''Your reasons. whatever they are. are
more than sufficient for me. Only tell
me at what time and where I am to
meet you tomorrow and I'll be there
fully prepared. to the minute. Luckily.
we don't show tomorrow, ard can
take day off without any reference to
the boss. AS for Ned and Tom. it'll be
a sort of Sunday for them. and they'll
be as right as trivets until get back
every we'll. Dirk" said. "Meet me