The Washington herald., 1912-02-18

never nave maITicd any one else. one
died, and left this one child, whom for
her sake have cherished and cared for.
l could not acknowledge the paternity
to the world, but l gave him the best
OF educatioDs, and since he came to
manhood / have kept him near my per-
son. He surprised my secret, and has
presumed ever since upon the claim
which nc. has upon me, and upon his
power OF provoking a scandal which
would be abhorrent to me. His pres
ence had something TO do with the un-
happy issue of my marriage Above
al, he hated my young legitimate heir
from the hTst with a persistent hatred.
You may well ask me why, under these
circumstances, still kept James under
i could see his mothers face in his, and
that for her dear sake there was no
end TO my long-sufferinR. All her
pretty ways too-there was not one of
them which he could not suggest and
bring back to my memory. / could
not send him away. But / feared SO
much lest he should do Arthur-that
is, Lord Saltire--a mischief, that l dis
patched him for safety to DR.. Hux-
tables school.
James came into contact with this
fellow Hayes, because the man was a
tenant OF mine, and James acted as
agent The fellow was a rascal from
the beginning. but in some extraordi-
nary way James became intimate with
him. He had always taste for low
company When James determined TO
hdnap Lord Satire, It was Of this mans
service that he availed himself. You
remember that ] wrote to Arthur upon
that last day. Well, James opened the
letter and inserted a note asking Ar
thur to meet him in little wood called
the Ragged Shaw, which is near to the
school He used the duchess name,
and iE1that way got the boy to come.
That evening James bicycled over-I
am telling you what he has himself con-
fessed 10 me-and he told Arthur,
whom he met In the wood, that his
mother longed to see him, that she was
awaiting him on the moor, and that il
he would come back into the wood at
midnight he would find a man with a
horse, who would take him to her. Poor
Arthur fell into the trap. He came to
the appointment, and found this fellow
Hayes with a led pony. Arthur mount
ed, and they set off together. 1t ap-
pears-though this James only heard
yesterday-that they were pursued, that
Hayes struck the pursuer with his
stick, and that the man died of his in
juries. Hayes brought Arthur to his
public-house, the Fighting Cock, where
he was confined in an upper room, un-
der the care of Mrs. Hayes, who is a
kindly woman, but entirely under the
control of her brutal husband
We'll, Mr.. Holmes, that was the
state of affairs when / first saw you
two days ago / had no more idea of
the truth than you. You will ask me
what was James motive in doing such
a deed. | answer that there was a
great deal which was unreasoning and
fanatical in the hatred which he bore
my. heir. In his view he should him
sell have been heir of all my estates,
and he deeply resented those social laws
which made il impossible Al the same
time, he had definite motive also. He
was eager that / should break the en-
tail, and he was of opinion that it lay
IN my power to do so. He intended to
make bargain with me-to restore
Arthur II | would break the entail, and
so make il possible for the estate to be
left to him BY will. He knew well that
should never willingly invoke the aid
NhN PeliNN against hdy
he would have proposed such a bargain
to me; but he did not actually do so,
for. events moved too quickly for him,
and he had not time TO put his plans
into practice.
What brought all his wicked scheme
TO wreck was your discovery of this
man HeideggeE's dead body. James
was seized with horror lat the news II
came to us yesterday, as we sat together
in this study. DIR. Huxtable had sent
a telegram. James was so overwhelmed
with grief and agitation that my sus-
picions, which had never been entirely
absent, rose instantly to a certainty
and taxed him with the deed. He
made a complete voluntary confession.
Then he implored me to keep his secret
for three days longer, so as to give his
wretched accomplice chance OF saving
his guilty life. yielded-as | have
always yielded-to his prayers, and in
stantly James hurried of to the Fight
ing Cock to warn Hayes and give him