Northern Weekly Gazette. — 1902-11-29 (Stockton-on-Tees, Cleveland, England)

NORTHERN WEEKLY GAZETTE.  "You need not assure me, my boy, I can quite believe it. It is most extraordinary how little power of reasoning, intelligent people like your,Jelf possess on such matters." But, Mr Glassington, I refuse to believe—" "What ?" "That my father or my brother would lend their hand to such a vile murder," protested Norman with energy. Glasinglon chuckled quietly to himself.  "Dear me! dear me!" he said, with a touch of gentle sarcasm. "Pride of race already! How long is it since you discovered, my boy, that you were the son of an earl? A week? And already you feel called upon to defend the honour of your name! The murder is vile, I grant it—cold-blooded murder; no self-defence in question; and an old woman bordering on seventy. But after all, do you call that a worse cr;mo than the robbing of a defenceless baby of everything it should have owned in  to him and ask the railway perrter, 'Was this the man?' But this is only one very small indication. A hundred will crop up now. The case in my hands is already as clear as daylight." "But, surely, you cannot, even in this country, suddenly arrest a peer of the realm, or his eldest son, upon a charge of having murdered an old woman. After all, when proofs are sifted before a magistrate, and clever lawyers begin to argue over them,. they very often prove to be very much more vague than they seemed at first. Such a scandal would bring the entire detective system into glaring discredit; and though I know nothing of these things, I don't believe you would ever get a warrant for the arrest of Lord Fulford or Viscount Etesling,-ton, however persuaded you might be of their guilt." Again Glassingtan chuckled quikly to himself. His kindly grey eyes tinkled with suppressed merriment. "Yes, my boy," he said, "you aro quite right! We do not do things in that way. We  NOVEWSPII ^c% /qr.  "That you will not give up all hope." "I am afraid that does not depend upon me; we cannot force ourselves to hope,, can we ?"  No! But we need not give way to despair." "I won't do that, Mr Glassing-ton," said Norman, quietly. "You need have no fear that I shall act tha part of a mord coward."  " You see, my boy, I must warn you. So many things may happen. You and I cannot guess how these two men will act. One of them is a clever scoundrel. I do not know which. Until I have looked at both their faces I cannot say which of these two, father or son, had the strength of mind, the oold-blooded villainy, necessary to commit such a crime. Whichever is the criminal it will be from the other that you will obtain justice." "Justice ?" said Norman, with another shrug of the shoulder; "as you say, many things may happen which we cannot foresee, but one thing is absolutely certain; and that is that justice will not come my way." "I think you are wrong. Under mortal terror a man miln be comp:fled to do much." What, for instance? Supposing, even—mind you, I only say supposing— that my brother committed a crime; do you imagine that by any chance my father would be more ready to give me back my rights, after I had been the indirect ca-use of bringing hi.s other son to the gallows?" No, but I " Then again, Mr Glassington, you have left one powerful factor out of 3.our argument; and that is, that if wait) of those two men did not -brink from a crime in order that the secret might be kent, he would face his own death with equal calloui:ness before ho allowed that crime to be revealed— and, remember, that death would not be upon the gallows."  "Suicide, you mean. That is, of (-nurse, possible; but you must let me act. I have an idea that we can force Lord Fulford's hand yet. How easy it would have been for you, my boy, if only you had told me all this before! While Mrs Butt lived, your case was as clear as daylight. I should have known how to find her for you. We could have forced her to speak, I am sure; whereas now--" Norman rose and took his loam,. Glassington did not try to detain him. He wanted to be alone to think. He saw the solution of the mystery which had puzzled him for so long, but another had cropped up—darker still, and involving terrible osequences to those who had attempted to baffle justice for so long, and to defraud an innocent man of his rights. "Lord rulford and his son have known how to guard their secret well," he said at last. "But by heaven, I will know how to wrench it from them yet."  ,--,t ..._ ~ , ,-- ~,,, , 0-r----1 E', 1 , /... ' 1 .1, 6,1: I /7 i f i 1 / ' \\l # , 1 fr' 1 iiilliiii t \ I \ 1 iil 1 r .-"."-~ ke,..,---•-•.= , "-tt 1 ‘,146, tior ,--- i ' 1 -..!-..-f.7,..,-% VI «I • ..._..------- -m---,-.---.0 1 I ' 1 e' -,............111 A_...--...-- -'Jr Ali, 1 -----.= 1 . "•%..... i I t • 1 ; ,