Evening star., 1924-04-18

He shrugged iInpatiently; her re-
monstrance seemed to throw him out
of temper. "Oons"" he cried. Il came
as soon as was ever possible, and, de-
pend upon it, l am not come too late.
Indeed, l think ! am come in
the very nick of time" He drew
sheet of paper from an inside pocket
of his coat and slapped it down upon
the table. There is the where withal
to hang your fine husband he an
nounced in triumph.
She recoiled. "To hang him." she
echoed. With all her aversion to Mr.
Wi1ding it was plain she did not
wish him hanged.
AYE, to hang him" Richard re-
peated, and drew himself to the full
height of his short stature in pride
at the-thins he had achieved. Read
She took the paper almost rnechani-
cally, and for some moments she
studied the Grabbed signature before
realizing whose it was. Then she
started.
From the Duke of Monmouth"
He laughed. Read it," he bade her
again. though there was no need for
the injunction, for already she was
deciphering the Grabbed hand and the
atrocious spelling-for his grace Of
Monmouth's education had been no.
toriously neglected. The letter, which
was dated from The Hague, was ad
dressed To my good friend w, at
Bridgwater." 1t began, Sir" spoke
of the imminent arrival of his grace
in the west, and gave certain instruc-
tions for the collection of arms and
the work of preparing men for enlist
ment in his cause, ending with pro-
testations of his grace's friendship
and esteem.
Ruth read the epistle twice before
its reasonable nature was made clear
to. heretofore she understood the
thing that was foreshadowed. Then
she raised troubled eyes to her broth
er's face, and in answer to the Ques-
ton of her glance he made clear to
her the shrewd means by which they
had become possessed of this weapon
that should destroy their enemy, Mr..
Wilding. q
Blake and he, forewarned-he said
not how--of the coming of this mes
senger. had lain in wait for him at
the Hare and Hounds, at Taunton.
They had sought at first to become
possessed of the letter without vio-
lence. Butt having failed in this
through having aroused the messen-
to follow and attack him on a lonely
stretch OF road, where they had robbed
him of the contents of his wallet
Richard added that the letter was
no one OF several sent over DY
Monmouth to some friend at Lyme for
distribution among his principal
agents in the west. It was regret
table that they should have endeav-
ored to take gentle measures with
the courier, as this had forewarned
him, and he had apparently been led
to remove the letters outer wrapper
which, no doubt, bore Wildings full
name and address-against the chance
Of such an attack as they had made
that letter Ito my good friend w."
backed by Richards and Blake's evil
dence of the destination intended for
it, would be more than enough to lay
Mr.. W;lding safely by the heels.
II would to heaven he repeated In
conclusion, II could have come in time
TO save you from becoming his wife.
But at least it is in my power to
That" said Ruth, still retaining
the letter, "is what you propose to
do?'
what eIse%'
She shook her head. 'Tt must not
be, Richard" she said. It'll not con-
sent to it,"
Taken aback, he stared at her, then
laughed unpleasantly. odds my life!
Are you in love with the man? Have
you been fooling us?"
no party to his murder"
Murder, quotha! Who talks of
murder"
Her shrewd eyes searched his face.
How came you by your knowledge
that this courier rode to Mr.. Wild
ing?" she asked him suddenly, and
the swift change that overspread his
countenance showed her that she had
touched him in a tender spot, assured
her of the thing she had suddenly
come to suspect suspicion which
at the same time started from and
explained much that had been mystic
rious in Richards ways of late. "You
had knowledge of this conspiracy"
she pursued, answering her own ques-
ton before he had time to speak,
because you were one of the con-
spirato
"At least / am SO no longer" he
blurted out.
@I thank heaven for that Richard