The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1907-02-28
Madame Midas
BY Fergus Hume
CHAPTER xxx-(Continued.)
BY Fe-SrfS Hume

CuaI Il Eli AAA--t Continued
My husband" she said, in whisper.
AliveF said Cation, turning to the
nan at the window.
L should rather think so" said Vii
ners, insolently. advancing into the room
L don't look ike dead man, do l p
Madame Midas sprang forward and
caught his wrist.
So you have come back, murderer ~
she Missed in his ear.
What do you mean" said her hus-
band, wrenching his hand away.
Mean" she cried. vehemently; you
know what / mean. You cut yourself of
entirely from Lac by your attempt on my
life. and the theft of the gold; yeu dare
not have showed yourself in case you re-
reived the reward Of your crime; and so
you worked in the dark against me. I
knew you were near, though / did not see
Fou: and you for second time attempted
my life"
II did not" muttered yiliers, shrink
ing back from TIE indignant blaze of her
eyes II can prove
You can prove" she burst out, con-
enptuously, drawing herself up to her
hali height. Yes, you can prove any
thing with your cowardly nature and ~
Ing tongue but prove that you were not
the man who came in the dead Of night
and poisoned the drink waiting for me,
which was taken by my nurse You can
prove-yes, you shall prove it, in the pris-
sner's dock, ere you go to the gallows.
During all this terrible speech Villiers
aad crouched, half terrified, while his wife
lowered over him, magnificent in her an
ger At the end, however, he recovered
himself little, and began to buster.
Every man has right to hearing.
he said, defartly, looking from his wife
20 Gallon; Il can explain everything.
Il have no doubt you viii prove black
. white by your lying" she said, coldly,
r<returning to her seat; Il await this ex-
planation''
Thereupon yilliers sat down and told
them the whole story of his mysterious
disappearance, and how he had been made
fool of by yandeloup. When he had
ended, Cation, who had resumed his seat
and listened to the recital with deep in
terest, stole a glance at Madame Midas,
but she looked as cold and impenetrabie
ever
II understand now the reason Of your
disappearance" she said. coldly; ''but
ludt - HOt the punt WdAA " hho"
he reason you tried TO murder me sec
ond time
II did not" returned yilliers, quietly,
with gesture of dissent
Then Selma Sprotts, since you are so
particular" retorted his wife. with a
neer; ''but it was you who committed the
crime"
"who says didfv cried yilliers. stand
ing up. You aske. me who committed
the crime; look at that door," pointing
to. the door which led into the hall, 'and
you viii see the real murderer of Selma
Sprotts appear"
Cation and Madame Midas turned sim
nItaneously, and the seconds seemed like
hours as thev waited with bated breath
for the opening of the fatal door. The
same name was on their lips as they
gazed with intense expectation, and that
aame was-Gaston Yandeloup.
The noise of approaching footsteps, a
rattle at the handle Of the door. and it
was flung wide open by the servant There
stood, meet, apologize and smiling-the
fast-living bank clerk. the darling Of so
ciety, and the secret assassin-Barty.
He advanced smilingly into the room.
when suddenly the smile died away. and
his face banched as his eyes rested on
viliers He made a step backward as If
to fly. but in moment Kilsip was on
him.
al arrest you in the. Queens name for
the murder Of Selma Sprotts," and he
slipped the handouts on his wrists
The papers were full of II next day,
md Villiers' statement, together with Bar
TVS confession. were published side by
side.
OF course there was great excitement
over fs. discovery of the real murderer,
especially as Barty was so well known
in Melbourne society, but no one pitied
him. In the days of his prosperity he
had been obsequious to his superiors and
insolent to those beneath him, so that all
ae gained was the contempt of one and the
hate of the other Luckily, he had no
relatives whom his crime would have dis
zraced. and as he had not succeeded in
getting rid of Maiame Midas, he intended
to have run away to South America, and
rad forged a check in her name for a
large amount in order to supply himself
with funds. Unhappily. however, he had
paid that fatal visit and had been arrest
ed- and since thea had been in a state of
abjecf fear, begging and praying that his
life might be spared. His crime. how
ever. had awakened such Indignation that
= the law was allowed to take its course.
so carly one wet, cold morning Barty was
Delivered into the hands of the hangman.
his mean, pitiful little soul was
launched into eternity
Kitty was Of course, released. but over
vhelmed with shame and agony at all her
cast life having. been laid bare, she did
not 90 to see Madame Midas, but dssap-
pcared-
VaudeIoup, for whom a warrant was
ant for the murder of Lemaire, had also
disappeared. and was supposed to have
gone to America
Madame Midas suffered severely from
the shocks she had undergone with the
discovery of eseryone's baseness. She
settled a certain income on her husband,
ON condition she never was to see him
again. which offer he readily accepted,
and having arrar ged all her affairs in
Australia. she left for England. hoping
to find in travel some alienation, if not
forgetfulness, of the sorrow of the past.
A good woman-a noble woman, yet one
who went forth into the world broken
hearted and friendless, with no belief in
anyone and no pleasure in life- She, how
ever, was of too fine nature ever to sink
into the cynical Indifference of a nissan
thropic life, and the wealth which she pos
sessed was nobly used by her to alleviate
the horrors of poverty and TO help those
who needed help. Like Midas, the Greek
King. from whence her quaint name was
derived. she had turned everything she
touched into gold, and though it brought
her no happiness yet it was the cause of
happiness to Others, but she would give
all her wealth could she but once more
regain that trust in human nature which
had been so cruelty betrayed.
CHAPTER XXX.
Such a hot night as it was-not a
breath OF wind. and the moon. full orbed.
dull and yellow hang like a lamp in the
dark blue sky. Low down on the
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