Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1907-06-29

view DeIUIe. L lOTCeu Stll hpoIl
him now And he admitted the perfect
truth of the story | had heard. You
ask how that woman came TO know of
it. Well, so did /. As l told you, she
had sunk as low as possible. 1t seems |
she made practice Of asking her com
pani0ns whether they knew aught o. !
the Daintrees, because she suspected |
our guest of some shameful secret, but |
never of killing Blaydes. and she had |
always the thought of repaying Claire !
the good turn of which Claire must tell |
you Well, at last-call it chance or
fate or what you will-but at last she
hit upon Il trail that led to the truth.
She discovered an old gamekeeper who
had actually seen the deed and been
pensioned to keep It secret, but hlaS bed
it in his dotage. And then she came to
Avenue Lodge"
Once his tongue was loosed and it
was seen that the subject excited the
Convalescent much less than had been
feared, Mr. Harding would speak of it
with apparent freedom. Yet the case
had aspects which he sedulously shun-
ned. And toward the end of the voy-
age he became visibly troubled and
depressed. but at last one chilly north
cru night, wl>en the western islands
had been left aStern. he took Tom by
the arm, and his hand trcmbled.
Erickson" said he, Il was once
your enemy. | am now your friend.
In the near future l am to be some
thing more and | cannot face it i
humbuS and Il hypocrite. You remem-
Der those letters you gave me back
without Il question? l have waited for
| that question all these months. That
| you have never asked it that alone
shows what you are. 1t makes it the
harder to have to tell you the kind of
man | was. But l have made up my
mind that you shall know
And he confessed that he had been
guilty enough of the bribery all but
brought home to him and yet not more
guilty than Il hundred others, many of
them in higher places, as he said with
perfect truth, but little bitterness. The
voyage out had purged him of self es
TEEN ana arrogance; the hOmeward
voyage was rearing better qualities in
| their place.
Yes, it was a true bill-' he sighed.
True also that my money had siienc-
ed the witness who refused to speak
true that l have made it worth his
while to go TO prison. But letters had
passed between us. Blaydes got hold
of them. He was on his way 10 me
with those letters in his pocket-to sell
them to me for fancy price-when he
met his death. DO you recollcct the
first lawyer who came to see you about
the defcuSe:"
Tom started, but said he did remcm-
Der.
lie came from me. And he not
only assumed your @uilt-as l fear we
had all assumed it-but he wanted tC
know where you had put what you had
taken out of the dead mans pockets
You were only to tell him that to Sc
cure the best defense money could OBJ
tain. Instead Of telling him you threw
him out of your cell. You We're quit,
right. l was we'll served. After tive
years, Erickson, l tell you that l al
SOrry-Sorry,'
Tom implored him to say no more
There was more, however. that mus
be said.
Before your trial" continued Hard
ing, Il was almost mad with anxiety
Every hour | expected those letters t,
be found. Daintree knew well enough
what was the matter. The letters wer
; in his own possession. but he obtained
: my confidence, wOrmed it out of IN
one night, and from that hour m
: soul was not my own. He began b.
l dragging me to your trial.
He told me you dragged him there,
at was the other way about. l III
: ashamed to say it. but it was the othe
T way about. | want to hang mysel
when l think of that time l remen
Der him haunting me by saying l ougi
: to sympathize with you because de
served to stand in the dock myself
lie who had done the murder fC
which he saw you condemned, / fee
y sure he only kept the receipt in orde
if necessary, TO use the letter that wa
Il written on the other side
mo, no." said Tom. Il prefer to b.
lieve he was always thinking of son
u means of the receipt without incrm
mating himself. 1t would have been
keeping with his character. lie had
kind heart in many things, and wis
we We're leaving him in his quiet gray
= instead of in an asylum. l cannot he
feeling grateful to him even now. I
gave me back my manhood and my Ii
- erty, even if it was he who first toe
- them away. Above all, he gave II
!. back Clairer'
!, .
Is There was one addition to the HON
II ward bound party who must not
II forgotten. This was i manservaI
i with a withered arm, who grew CT;
il and ultimately died in Thomas Eric
" sens service. His was the secol
lie death among those passengers of Il
N Florentia whose fate concerns til
a chronicle. Lady Starkie was the fiji
|