Henderson daily dispatch., 1937-01-20

her four-month-old child, which
she abandoned on the Common and
then threw herself into the
Thames. No relations came for
ward and the baby was placed in
an orphanage."
Reid's face had suddenly gone
very white, and his knuckles
clenched. my name is John
Escott," he said quietly, land /
was brought up in an orphanage-
the Victoria Memorial institute"
To the surprise Of everyone
present, James said quietly, Eyes,
sir, the moment first saw you /
thought there was a very strong
family likeness, although it was
so long ago. I saw it at once, and
was disturbed for my masters
safety" "
The tension was relieved by Sci
den, who laughed. 81 see now,
James, you thought that Mr.. Reid,
as we called him, had come to take
revenge, and you watched him
carefully"
Reld broke in with:
Il believe both Hucks and Col
onel Graham recognized me from
the likeness, that is, if I am really
the person in question, for they
both asked questions about Escott,
and seemed anxious to know about
me-"
I'VE will go into that later"
Selden remarked. Lets hear the
end Of James story"
1T was only when we came
here, sir, and 1 found that my
master had suddenly got rich, that
suspected something. Then one
night, when I asked him to release
me from his service because I was
uneasy in my mind about it. he
told me in his study that he and
Graham had stolen the money!
from Escott, Graham had thrown
MIN into the water, and that it
weighed on his conscience. He
swore that he would only use the
income and keep the money intact
IN case they could trace the. child
OF Mrs. Escott, and made me swear
tnat l would never breathe a word
OF what had happened. 1 had been
with him for years, and 1 was
ueeply attached to him, and |
swore to him that would keep
the matter secret if he would hand
over to me the entire control of
the money, which he did. saved
enough to pay back what Colonel
Graham had taken as his share.
mat is why Sir Henry left it all
TO me. held it in trust sir
hoping that one day we should
ma the nearest relation to Mr..
Escott or the child."s
You were connivins at a MUIR
GER, Selden said sternly.
Know, sir. I make no ex-
cuses, but apart from my sworn
word of honor, if had gone to the
police with this story, there was
no evidence, and both these re-
spectacle gentlemen would have
said 1 was lying, or trying to
plackmall them. Mr.. Escott was
oead. and / couldn't bring him to
LIE by saying anything. 1 know
rye done wrong, but / could not
oetray my master, and if I said
anything about Colonel Graham it
would bring him into it. We have
tried TO make what PREPARATION we
1t Is quite evident" Selden
commented, "that the two servants
must have had strong suspicious.
out they lost touch with Graham
ana Severinge, and had to earn a
living. Hucks found went to the
States as a boxer of quite good
second-class. When they returned
they must have set about finding
the men they hated, and discovered
tnat they were living in luxury
After all these years their f1imsy
evidence would have carried little
weight, and they devised this cum
ming plan, one getting into the
Abbey as a servant. and Hucks
taking the public house. For years
they waited"
(TO Be COntinued)