Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1909-02-04
CHAPTER XII.
Bonhoit Hume Is Mysterious.

lHdL swept over MIN DIT llldC IeuoOlJ
whispered question which shattered
hi ssense of fancied security, Stephen
Ruthen felt as if the solid ground
had slipped from beneath his feet.
Il haven't betrayed you, parson-
but aren't you going to speak now?"
Stephen Ruthen reeled-came back
to himself with a cold sweat breaking
out all over him. The blind man
knew!
His lips moved; his parched tongue
was inarticulate. The words would
not come.
IF young Mr.. Lathom hadn't been
arrested I shouldn't have spoken even
to you, parson," went on the organ
list, nervously, excitedly; Il haven't
forgotten all I owe to YOU" There
was a depth of feeling in the old
mans voice that made it pathetic.
con my way to Fellsgarth today
called at the rectory TOTO tell you
what it was in my mind to do, but
you were out. Parson,' he broke out
vehemently, with young Mr.. Lathom,
that I've known since a lad, arrested,
I couldn't keep silent any longer. III
never believe the lad did it-and it
wasn't Lathom whom 1 met near the
Stone Cross that night. l had to
speak. | couldn't betray you, parsOn
but I've known all along it was you
l met that night-you, and with you
the woman who came to you in the
vestry after that week-night .sarv-
ice'
Stephen RutEen found his voice at
last. Every nerve in his body sud
denly became tense.
What are you driving at, Grale?"
Even now in his forced self-control
his voice was unsteady. you say
you met a man and a woman, and
that the woman did not speak. Yet
you profess to have recognized her
you, a blind mani"
mo, she didn't speak, Mr.. Ruthen;
only we blind folk learn to sharpen
the other senses left to u.s." the other
man answered. with quiet conviction.
Il knew there was a woman there,
just as l knew it in the vestry. She
didn't speak in the vestry, but
wasn't mistaken then, was l? I felt
her presence, I heard the light rustic
of her cloak. And there was a faint
perfume clinging about her-it was
that same perfume that l detected as
l passed close by her that made me
recognize the woman in the roadway
Even if | hadn't heard your voice,
should have known it was the same
woman he said, in a tone that adj
mitted of no argument.
Stephen Ruthen's jaw was set and
square.
'The lady you speak of was i'll in
bed on the day you profess to have
met her; like all the village, you must
The doctor was called and a nurse
procured on the night before the cir
cumstance you refer to. That is easy
of proof. Her room has never been
left day or night; nurse has always
been in attendance. And do you mean
to assert that this lady would leave
her bed, leave the house, in her cri-
teal state on a stormy winters night?
Really, Mr.. Grale!" And he tried to
force a laugh. 1t sounded strange
and unnatural in his own ears. And
you also maintain that | was there ."
"Parson, I wasn't mistaken i
couldn't be Mistaken said the blind
man, with quiet obstinacy.
The agitation in the voice that had
accosted him in SO strange and per-
emptory a fashion on that night had
not disguised for him Stephen Ru-
then's voice. And why should the
speaker have displayed such agita-
ton?
Then, do you mean that you think
it was 1 who killed Philip Hume ?"
said the rector, in oddly-strained
tones; cor that l was ever present
when he met his death?"
Then his choking, pent-up feeling
swept him away into a passionate
outburst:
"Grale, you've known me a long
time. Will you believe me when 1
say this? l swear to you solemnly
that | neither killed Hume nor did
see any one kill him. That is the
truth. You must believe it,"
1--WE known you for a long time,
parson, and I've always known you
too for a good man. But whoever it
was stopped me"-he spoke doubt
fully, as though the odd conviction
was not whoever it was,
he was not alone. There was a
woman. And those two knew some
thing, were frightened of something.
The man who seized my wrist was
shaking all over as if in mortal fear
Parson," he whispered, earnestly,
chose two, man and woman, could
tell how Philip Hume died! And
there's mans life an innocent
mans life-in the balanced"
OlGpuou TtuIuSu saw Tie Vcueu iii
passioned appeal in the words-ther
personal appeal.
I'll cannot help YOU" he cried
The situation was becoming unenll-
rable. "You won't be convinced that
the woman in your mind was danger
ously ill in bed On that night; the
doctor or the nurse can prove it.
have no more to say. You mus look