The Bowbells tribune., 1900-01-19

II understand" remarked the cap.
tain. Anything else?"
Yes, one more thing, l answered,
speaking very deliberately and fixing
my eyes full OH his face. ''To how
many persons and to whom did he
communicate the fact that the missing
heir was coming home by the Wal
rOa?'
Fer some moments Captain Arne-
wood stared at me blankly. pencil in
hand. The question had clearly sur
prised. if not startled him; but, al
though l am good physiognomist,
and had the advantage of taking him
unawares. 1 could detect no positive
indication of any guilty fear upon his
pale, thin countenance. What 1 read
there was rather an expression of sud-
puzzled; but 1 waited for him to
speak without appearing to notice his
hesitation.
''That seems to me a very clever
question:" he said, at length, with
poor attempt at a smile. "if it can be
answered with any sort of accuracy.
But I'm afraid it can't. The Arne-
wood succession has been ordinary
club gossip in Dublin for months past,
and everyone knew that old Basil's
grandson was returning to claim his
Inheritance"
"Very likely" rejoined. quietly;
'but that is not the point. Did every
enc know he was returning by the
Wairoa?''
Again the same anxious, worried
look, and the same hesitation in reply
ing. My reference to the Wairoa evil
dently struck some chord in Captain
Arrewood's memory which Jared his
shaky neves sorely. He pressed his
hand to his left side, as though in sud
den pain, and walking, with obvious
effort. to a sideboard, helped himself to
some brandy.
'It's nothing" he said, family de-
clining my proffered arm. l shall be
all right in minute or two. suffer
from weak heart-actiOn.'
His prediction proved true. The at
tack of faintness passed off almost as
quickly as it had come on. l am not
much of doctor, but could see that
the incident was no mere device to
avoid an awkward topic, and that his
explanation was the true one. Yet, al
Though person suffering from heart
disease is liable to be stricken down at
any moment, l could scarcely suppose
that there had been no casual connec-
tion between the recent attack and my
reiterated mention Of the Wairoa
There was >.eleton H. the clCS,;
somewhere. But what that particular
skeleton was had yet to discover.
Now. it was obviously my cue to
keep my suspicious to myself. l ac-
cordingly dropped the Wairoa entire
ly. ard confined my remarks to the
subject of heart troubles. All invalids
! love to talk of their ailments. Captain
Arnewood was no exception to the
rule, and I soon had him entirely at
his ease again. wanted to under
stand my man better.
give always known that my heart is
all wrong" he explained. "but it is
only within the past month or so that
it has caused me any serious trouble.
1 had occasion to cross over to Ireland
on business for about fortnight, and
I was ill during almost the whole Of
my stay there. Since my return to
London I have been ever so much bet
ter; in fact, the twinge had just now
more than week."
"And yet you propose starting for
Dublin tonight"
"I cannot help myself" he rejoined.
II am bound to put in an appearance
as the new owner of the family es-
tates. But I shall cut my visit as
short as possible, can aussure you.
have come to regard Ireland although
I am an Irishman myself as a verita-
BILE graveyard. And yet, up to the time
of my last visit, I liked the country,
and the climate suited me we'll
enough"
"That's rather strange" remarked.
''Did you take medical advice?"
Eyes; but the doctors, as usual, dis
agreed. The nearest approach to an
intelligent explanation I could get was
that the damp air favored certain
rheumatic tendencies, which. in turn,
reacted upon the heart. Anyhow, and
whatever the reason, Ireland no Ion
ger agrees with me, and I shall not
stay there day longer than I can
help. literally dread going there at
J ALL
/ For the first time I began to enter
tain some slight misgivings as to my
exciteable clients sanity. The differ
ence in climate between Dublin and
London, within a week of Christmas
could scarcely be so greatly to the dis
advc ntage Of the Irish capital as he
seemed to imagine. Indeed. the very
reverse seemed far more likely, at this
particular season. And yet. his dread
Of Ireland was very real. Why? Was
it merely one Of his fads? Or was the
cupboard that contained the skeleton
situated in the Emerald Isle?
While 1 was endeavoring to think
out answers to these questions the
captain chatted away freely. and al
lowed him to talk himself to stand
still. then assisted him to draw up
short memorial for the Home Secre.
tary. and left him contentedly writing
out Il fair copy of the document. He
exacted promise that I would keep
him informed. by means of a daily re.
port. of the progress Of affairs; and
he undertook to obtain replies from
the solicitors to the two questions l
had proposed. Finally. he wrote a
oLon1, in e., Of Jo G. IN,