The times., 1901-05-19
CHAPTER XVII.
CONFF SSION

CHAPTER XVII.
CONFESSION
We were now, indeed although we
knew It not. very near to the end of these
troubles.
/ returned with the satisfaction of
| bringing with me the confession which we
had long known. Still it is one thing to
know of a conspiracy and quite another
thing to have a plain confession by
one of the chief conspira tors You may
imagine that the poet was not long in
writing out full and complete corfes-
sion and in claiming the five guineas of my
cousin. who took the liberty of reading
the document and of witnessing his sig
nature before he gave up the money.
one after the other the victims of Lord
Fylingdales party and of their own wick
! edness came over, so to speak, to the
other side. impelled by rage and the de-
sire for revenge, and made confession.
| The first was our old friend Sam; the
second was Colonel Lanyon. Like tie
| poet, he also fell upon evil days. But,
less lucky than Sam. he had lost his liberty
and was now a prisoner for debt in the
| Kings Bench prison.
This is his confession of his part in
Molly's abduction:
"One morning after a debauch, much
heavy drinking and more losses this gen
! tleman, Tom Rising by name, came to me
| and confided TO me under the oath of Sc
crecy his intention of carrying off that
very night the heiress of Lynn, as she was
called. If he succeeded, he would pay
the whole of his losses the very next day;
if not, he must wait until the money could
be raised In order to effect this object
] he II fn to
| business would take time. But he was
sure of success. lie could not fail He
further described to me the plan he had
formed and the place whittier he would
carry the girl.
by this time 1 had formed a pretty
good guess of my patrons intentions in
coming to Lynn. Accordingly / laid the
matter before him. He considered a great
while. Then he said: Colonel, this affair
may turn out the most lucky thing that
could possibly happen. Be in the card
room in readiness. We viii let the fell
low go off with the girl. Then 1 shall
follow and rescue her. Do you under
stand?"
i understand that he desired the good
grace of the lady and that such res
cue could not fail to procure her favor
unless he had already obtained it But,
said, this man is a bun for strength.
He viii fight for the girl. And he VIII
be Ike mad bull. 1t is dangerous
.' I viii myself, he replied undertake
to tame this bull. Man, do you suppose
that d master Of fence can fear the re-
suit of an encounter with a fellow al
ways half drunk and for this occasion,
which makes the thing more easy, more
than half mad with rage and dlsappoint-
ment2'
you know the rest. The abduction of
the lady was known beforehand by my
nd Ta frb -
it, but he wanted the honor and the
glory of the rescue.
Il know the dispute about the alleged
marriage. / believe there was "A persona
tlon and that ! know the woman who per
sonated your deeply injured ward in the
church. Pay me Gl,22O and l will name
her
The voice Of the third confederate fol-
lowed II was a voice from the tomb
Sir Henry Malyns. the poor old beau who
had lived for eighty years in the world
Of fashion, who had spent his patrimony
and had In the end been reduced to the
miserable work Of a decoy, as you have
heard, was at last summoned to render
an account Of his life. He rcpented of
his degradation as the secret servant of
Lord Fylingdale; he repented of his share
in the deception which led to the promise,
If not the performance, of marriage be-
tween his patron and Miss Molly. And
he dictated to some one who attended him
in his last moments brief note, which
was accepted n the spirit Of forgiveness
Next came the Rev Benjamin Purden,
a. NJ, in a truly impudenJ letter to Cap
tain Crowle, which the captain read to US
ALL
Il have hestated for some time whether
to address you on the subject of your
wards pretended marriage with my late
patron. Lord Fyllngdale. l say pretended
because / am in a position to expose the
whole deception. l can place you IN pos
session of the whole of the facts. They
are simple; they cannot be denied or dis
proved. Your ward was rot In the church
a all; she was not married; her place was
taken by woman who perSonated her,
appearing in your ward s dress-namely,
a pink silk cloak the hood thrown over
her head. |, who performed the ceremony,
was deceived, that is to say, | was told
the name Of the bride, and there was
nothing TO awak IN any suspicious. At
this point, and as proof that part OF this
story is true, l would ask your ward to
write her name in full, and would then
ask you to compare that writing with
the signature in the registers
Are we stupid?" cried the vicar. Are
we struck with judicial stupidity Let us
instantly without any delay. proceed to
this test Molly my dear, get paper; pen.
and ink-so. Now sit at the table. Write
your name as you usually write Ii when
you sign letter"
But l never write any letters" said
Molly.
She writes the names on the pots of
pickle and the preserved fruit said the
captain Come, Molly; you can sign your
The girl blushed and seized the pen. 1t
was not with the pen of a ready writer
that she wrote in clumsy hand, hand
unaccustomed to much writing, her
name, molly Miller"
rs this your best writing Molly"
Indeed sir am ashamed that it is no
better. At school learned better but
have so little occasion to write.
so long as it is the signature you would
use in the church IL will serve. said the
vicar. Come, let US, 10 St. Nicholas at
once and send for the clerk We will eX-
anime these registers. We Will read the
rest OF the letter aftcrward.
The chest was unlocked; the registers
We're taken out; the books were opened at
the right page; the vicar laid Molly writ
ing beside that of the register.
You see," said the vicar. The very
signature proclaims the cheat. We have
been of a verify seized with JudlclaI bllnd-
ness for our sins"
The differences were not such as could
be explained away, for the signature IN