The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1905-10-18
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CHAPTER XVII.
Continued.

was startled, not only by the publica-
ton of the news of this confession,
but by the mysterious disappearance of
Mr.. Pardon and Mile. Rosalie. They
had both been seen the night before by
Mrs. Pardon, the lady of the house,
Mile. Rosalie at about II o'clock, and
her husband at 1 or 2 o'clock in the
morning. Her husband was then in
his study, and by cunning questioning
II myself went to see Mrs. Pardon, at
her request, to endeavor to find the
missing gentleman)-by cunning ques-
,tioning, I say, I learned from Mrs. Par
don that when she last saw her huS-
band in his study, at that late hour in
the night, he appeared to be greatly dis
turbed in his mind. She ascribed this
to his having been completely upset
by the dreadful murder which had
taken place in his house; did not
agree with her, but I did not tell her
so. I was greatly put out by Mr.. Par
don's disappearance, because he had
offered large reward for the appre-
lhension of the murderer Of Mr.. Will
mot, and he had promised me, notwith-
standing that Samuel Fleetwood had
voluntarily given himself up, that this
reward should be paid. Up to this
moment it has not been paid, but I
still live in hopes.
"Of course, the natural conclusion
people arrived at was that there was
something not exactly proper between
Mr.. Pardon and Mile. Rosalie-begging
your pardon for speaking so of your
wife"
mot at ALL said Stanmore, blandly;
81 happen to know the lady,
"The natural conclusion, then, was
that these two had run off together,
and that they both were no better than
they should be. As I did not agree
with what Mrs. Pardon told me about
her husband, so now I did not agree
with the general verdict pronounced
upon the missing pair. However, l
kept my opinions to myself, for the rea-
son that had an idea that the reward
offered by Mr.. Pardon for the discovery
of the murderer of Mr.. Wilmot would
one day find it's way into my pocket.
How is that perhaps you will ask,
when Samuel Fleetwood had confessed
to the crime, and the gentleman who
had offered the reward had disap-
peared, partly because he wished to
save his money" Well, now, you will
Sr,I- CTR rvh T fa1 q
had my doubts as to the genuineness
of Samuel Fleetwood's confession. 1t
seems that he had given the clergy
man private letter, which he implored
would be conveyed to his master, and
that he had placed a most eXtraordin-
ary and unnatural Importance upon the
safe delivery Of this document. The
clergyman informed me that Mr.. Par
don had called upon him in the even
ing in state of great agitation, and
said that the letter had not reached
his hands. Now, the clergyman was
positive that he had inclosed it In a
packet, containing, besides, letter
from himself and copy of Samuel
II
delivered to Mile. Rosalie.
II kept thinking to myself, What
could be in this missing letter? and I
was not at all satisfied with things as
they stood. I was confident that there
was mystery which it might pay me
to clear up. Another circumstance led
me to this conclusion: 4 man of the
name, Of Redwing, who had been taken
on by Mr.. Pardon for a few weeks to
assist the gardener, had also disap-
peared. What was there singular in
that?' you will ask. Well, begging your
pardon again, Mr.. Stanmore-I had
seen enough to convince me that Mile.
Rosalie and Redwing were lovers. 1
caught them more than once in Ivy
bush Lane kissing and embracing.
There was but one conclusion to draw
from that.
'"This, gentlemen, is how matters
stood on the day Of the disappearance
of Mr.. Pardon, Mile. Rosalie and Red
wing The first thing to be done was
to track them.
But here 1 found myself at fault.
The fact is, I did not feel myself quite
justified in spending a large sum Of
my own money in the search, and it
was, I dare say, because of this that l
did not succeed. After some time had
passed gave up the idea, and left the
force, as have told you, with the in
tention Of starting business on my own
account.
"Then came your visit to my COM
Tade. The suspicion of some strange
mystery in connection with the mur-
der of Mr.. Wilmot revived. You sup
piled my comrade with funds, and with
these funds we set to work. I'll not
make my story too long by telling you
all about our operations. 1t will be
satisfactory to you to know that we
tracked two of the three missing per-
sons-A1lle Rosalie and Redwins. She
had not gone away with Mr.. Pardon;
she had gone away with Redwing.
They had passed some time on the Con-
tinent, in France and Italy. and it was
when they returned to England that we
got fairly on the scent. From that mo-
ment we never let it escape us. We ac-
eompanied them everywhere in vari-
Gus DISCUSSES; we slept in the lsxt
rooms to theirs wherever they put up.
We overheard their conversation, and
took it down in writing. Putting all
we heard intelligibly together, it makes
a strange story. Your divorce is all
right, Mr.. Stanmore, but there is some