Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1906-02-15

! make. point better than hislself,
pulled III the nag and adds ls,.ss;
captain Sercombe ing' | asked =
/ If in the most cordial manner
no, sir replied Hood. He's FL
ing, sir, ] believe, down the valley
s'Have you received your legacy yet:
l asked
eyes, sir; thank you, SIR said Hood
every acceptable, sir, from my poor
MASTER
Il wonder what made him leave you
that?' / asked,
= have wondered myself, sir" he
he seems to have been pretty eccentric,
as you might say. in his manner Of
leaving
Look here, my man. said /, what
were you doing that Tuesday after
noon by the stream yonder when your
master met with his accident?"
Hoods luminous eyes rested on mine
| for an instant, but he never moved
muscle. II was with my poor mas
ter" he said.
laughed Assisting him no doubt, !"
said dryly.
"No, sir; struggling with him." came
he answer, pat as you please. I star
ed at him in amazement at the effront-
cry of the admission.
upon my SOUL" said /, 81 am not
sure but ought to give you in CHARGE!
You admit you were robbing your mas
ter
mo, sir" said Hood quietly. "You
came too soon, sir
/ shook my reins with an oath. l
could make nothing Of the fellow. Hood
stepped back as the horse SHE'D.
saThank you, sir; good afternoon, sir"
said he ciyilly, and I struck my whip
into the tanks of the animal and rode
of without SO much as nod.
1 was utterly COMPOUNDED by this
genteel, civil spoken sc6undrel, with
his impassive audacity. 1t began to
dawn upon me now in what relations
these men had stood. The legacy at
tributed, as no doubt did the recipient,
to piece of eccentricity on Kesteyen's
part. But l had more than an inkling
now of the plan of treatment which he
had adopted Hood knew too much,
and he was bound to keep up appear
ances with him. Kesteyen had good
idea of the danger with which he was
threatened, had probably discharged
the man with that knowledge, and yet
up to the close he must needs keep his
secret by faint of his former kindly
relations. / remarked several 0cca-
sions upon which Hood had made an
appearance in our conversation, and
now recognized the way in which his
name was treated.
/ rode into the reach Of forest beyond
Llanellan and presently came out up
on more open spot, where the trees
hemmed in a piece of ground tufted
with bush and bracken. At a turn of
4 the road beyond me saw figure,
seemingly that of a clergyman, walk
ing to meet me. AS / made this mem
tai observation and without note of
warning there came the crack of
gun, and bullet plowed a ridge in the
grass before the horses belly. The
beast reared and came down upon his
launches, nearly throwing me, and I
was aware that the man in front was
running toward me, shouting. As I
steadied the horse my eyes went in an
other direction and lit upon Sercombe
| stalking easily toward me, with gun
upon his arm. The two men came up
to me about the same time.
81 hope there is no accident = gasped
the clergyman. SercOmbe put out his
hand.
| s.Good afternoon. Mr.. Morgan" said
i he. .'How do you do Greatorex?" he
continued coolly No, | am glad to
say there's no harm done, is there.
Greatorex? But it's all my fault. This
Internal underground diverted the shot.
/ hope it did not scare you too muchy'
he asked, smiling at me.
1 was too much astounded and far
too indignant for words. Il thought
I'd got the hare all right" he resumed
| amiably to the clergyman. Lucky for
| you, Greatorex, as well as for me-"
And then turning to me, 'Do you know
Mr.. Morgan, the vicar of LlanellanY
My friend, Mr.. Greatorex, you know
lately succeeded to the castle yonder.
A fine property. / envy him"
His impudence was startling. Here
was a man who had just made bare
| faced attempt upon my life flor that
| was how conceived it,, and he was
engrossing the conversation upon
j friendly terms and in the most cheer
full spirit between his intended victim
and the stranger who had all but actu-
ally witnessed his atrocious act OF
treachery. The bare audacity had left
me gaping at the outset Of the en-
counter, but the very process Of his
easy talk served to give me my wits
again, and was able to meet him up
on his own terms, which | did, deliv-
ering a long, keen glance at him.
4 81 am afraid you are an Indifferent
sportsman, Captain Sercombe," said |
after / had acknowledged the introduce
ton tremendously you do better
| al T csnn