Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-10-31
He drew a cigar-case from his pock

He blew out a cloud of cigar smoke
and watched it curl in delicate rings
above his head.
II knew her-a mere trifle-years
ago. She was then at swordpoints
with her father-in-law. Now. how
ever, they seem to be harmonious"
"The child reconciled them. God
frey Greylock gives her a handsome
income"
"Ah! 1t was somewhere in this vi
cinity, was it not, that her husband
killed himself?"
Mercy Poole's face changed
He was found dead" she answered
He puffed silently for a moment
then broke into a laugh.
II have good cause to remember that
fellow! When heard Of his demise
was, as Mr.. Samuel Pepys would say
nightly pleased"
| What" cried Mercy Poole.
"Oh, l owed him grudge, you see!
The very day before. his suicide he
gave me the soundest thrashing ever
received in my life"
A blank silence followed the frank
confession. Then Mercy Poole started
up, outrageously tall, from her chair.
He gave you a thrashing the day
before he died?" she repeated, slowly,
bending her black looks on Regnault |;
"and you held a grudge against him
for it?"
YES"
That sounds sinister, for Robert
Greylock did not commit suicide-he
was murdered"
rs that so?" he answered, in en- un-
moved tone. who murdered him."
mo one knows"
And probably no one cares at this
late day." drawled Regnault, knock
ing the ashes from his cigar.
Yes, there's one who cares; even
after seventeen years"
Then, by Jove! Greylock was more
fortunate than his fellows. A shorter
period suffices to blot most Of us from
the memory of our nearest and dear
est"
She clinched her strong, brown
hands.
"The hour will come when that deed
will be sifted by Gods justice, and the
murderer brought to the light of day.
Great is thy faith, oh, landlady!"
laughed Regnault. Murder will out
is an exploded proverb. In these lat
ter days men have consigned it to
well-merited oblivion. The ways of
| Justice are now so crooked that 1t is
hard to pursue the guilty among them.
The murderer who has been able to
elude detection for seventeen years
must be a consummate IDIOT to allow
himself to be caught now!"
With masculine violence Mercy
Poole brought down her hands on the
chair from which she had arisen.
| See hereI you told me your name,
sir, but 1 have forgotten it,
"Regnault."
IT'S a strange one to me-"
without doubt, madam"
| Where were you" she demanded,
steadily, ION the night of Robert Grey
locks death?"
He stared, then laughed.
Are you trying to fix the fellows
murder on me, woman? I was many
mile from this place at the time 1t
occurred, and faith! though I detested
Greylock with my whole heart, his un-
timely taking off proved to be the
greatest misfortune Of my life. No,
MOI" with a shrug of the shoulders, Il
give you my word that 1 was not the
person who killed him."
You evade my question:" she cried;
where were you, 1 say, on the night
of his death?"
That's no concern Of yours, land
Ilady-you force me to be discourteous
against my will. Now" rising, with
prodigious yawn, and tossing away his
cigar, the hour grows late, and I'll
get to bed"
STAY" said Mercy Poole; lust one
thing more. If the public hadn't been
so quick to believe the suicide story
there was a person who would have
fallen at once under black suspicion
nothing could have saved him, you
may be sure
He did not want to ask the ques-
ton, but her eyes compelled him.
who was that?"
The man who ran away with Rob-
ert Greylock's wife,"
He kicked Ravaillac and Charlotte
Corday out of the way, and walked
to the door.
Poor devil! I'll warrant he was
we'll punished for that folly" said
IRegnault, airily. He must have been
an enterprising fellow to kill the hus-
band in Blackport, and elope with the
wife from Boston, at one and the same
hour. Madam, it is plain that you are
no detective"
He beckoned suddenly to Polly. She
followed him quickly into the pass
age.
DO you know the road to Greylock
Woods, girl?"
Yes, sir"
Il wish to send a message to the
young lady there"
"I'll take it. SIR
Bless you, my dear! For your sake
I'll forgive that fellow with the fists
your lover 1 suppose-who assailec
me in this place tonight"
She shivered back step.
nt lnVpr-6On'1
say that"
He is a precious idiot, then," saic
Regnault, gayly. In the morning
will put into your hands letter which
you must deliver to Miss Greylock her
self-no other person, mind! 1t viii
not be safe for you to play any tricks
unon me"