Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1900-08-29


stopped before a gate "a. hedge.
EThereS were. no other traeks;Sno trace
Eof any body could wesShnd. But we
diddlscoyer n new Jack knife which
might, however. have belonged to dny
one. ~ s@.ft%$. -" IS
| Here we were entirely at fault. In
| the hope Of discovering something that
I might lead TO establishing the identity
Of thessupposed victim,I had inquiries
made in. London of all the. diamond
merchants ard big jewelers.. But none
hat sent any one travelling with val
uables, and advices from Amsterdam
| informed me that no messenger was
expected there with stones or gems
from. London. L,' &sss 81 90
Twas sorely puzzled, and hardly
knew what to do or to think, when I
received a telegram. from Scotland
Yard saying that Robert. Ryan, who
| had broken jail q few. days before,
was described as. having an anchor
tattooed on the wrist of his left hand.
Here was O. clue indeed! We wereno
longer hunting mere. hand, but a
man.. had not been advised until
that moment that Ryan, who had
been an officer in the navy, but was
sentenced to four years for forgery,
had escaped from prison. But I:knew
a lot about him. and this knowledge
suggested; to me that She would, seek
his erstwhile sweetheart the; moment
he felt he could safely do SO. But the
same knowledge ofShinl precluded me
from thinking that he could have com:
mitted a murder for mere gain, unless
good gracious, the whole case seemed
to be clear as day tome! The mere
name cleared the whole. mystery.
Robert Ryan had always protested
his innocence Of the charge Of forgery:
But the evidence was dead against
him. I had seen him in custody on one
occasion; though itwas not my case,
and he had darkly limited that cousin
Of his had worked up the whole charge
against him to separate him from his
fiance, whom the cousin loved and he
said to me that when he had regained
liberty he would be able to prove that
/ he was the victim of Jealousy, and
that he had suffered for another's
crime. .,~s;..u
The story. thought could not believe
it, interested me so much that was
led into making few private inquiries
as to who the cousin could be; and,
finally, Idecidcd that the only person
possible was Herbert Ryan. And now
it rushed across my mind that the two
Ryans might be,the persons Of the
mystery; Robert. the hand under the
seat; and Herbert; the writer of the
messages: Possibly, Herbert had not
recognized the hand, and honestly be,
HeFed the hiding man had designs upon
property she <carried. g0r he may have
recognized he ahands = and sfeared the
anger OF his cousin. In any case,
Robert belief that his cousin had put
him in prison was ample motiyeifor his
seeking to murder Herberts
g wired up my suspicious to: the. yard,
and set out for the place where I be-
Iieved Robert Ryan's sweetheart was
staying, for had reason.to know the
charge against him had not; changed
her, as have explained.
Il reached the house in the afternoon,
and was Informed that the young lady,
Miss Duncan, was out. mentioned
ati1ne when 1 would return 10 see
Miss Duncan. and went away. But I
did not go far. . ). -7sg+-;e- 9,l
Making sure that no one was watch
ing, crept round the,walls OF the gar.
den which surrounded the house. and
listened Cor the sound,.of any voices.
RutJ could hear no one-no sound but
the distant sea beating upon the beach.
EIthought might as Rel1 have a look
afsthe stretch Of blue watersfto while
away the time before going back to see
Miss Duncan. So l Wandered sover the
downs towards the edge of the steep
cliffs. AS stood OF the; edge OF the
ciiR caught sight OF two lonely
figures slowlyswa1king on my left;
One. Was4that of a woman the other
was that OF tall man. 80. q ~.
Fancying I,could giess who they
were, and noticing they were coming
IN 1y,. direction. J. threw myself down
lest they should see me silhouetted
against the sky.sI Iwatc he'd them draw
nearer. Then they turned andretraced
tiistr. steps. Once I sawsthe woman
throw out her hand impetuously to
the man, who. seized It and pressed it
f6;lhis lips. sss
There was now little or no doubt in
Fsnny mind as to who they were, and
walking along the cliffs until Iscame
tosa place where the deseentwas fair
Iya easy. { made my way slowly down.
Reaching the hard beach, stayed
in hiding where could watch them.
Issaw them turn again and Scome
ieisurely towards me. Icopldshear the
marmur of their voicesoye the babble
of the sea, but could not4catch their
words-they talked In undertones.
AS they drew up near to where I
stood I jumped out and ran towards
them. The man started at my ap-
proach, but made no attempt to elude
me.
Robert Ryan," I cried, 'T' arrest
you" go
"It is of little consequence" he re-
piled, coldly. "But I would rather
have surrendered myself. am now
IN possession of evidence which will
prove my, innocence and that I was
unjustiy punished" - ,5...
.That. is not the only thing. for which
we want you," 1 said. "You are sus-
pected of having murdered atgentle-
man between Cliffe and Port Victoria "
+ ELS dead Z" he cried.ga ,s
s.lYe have reason to think So"
Heslaughed lightly, put rather; an
evil, unnatural laugh. - sss
s'ssI don't think so" he sadd. ~ was