Year: 1869

lip at me and dismissed me from your presence
with contempt when | asked you to be my wife.
have not forgotten that-and never shall
never never But sooner or later you must
hear me-mark, you must! ElSe--' he Il
paused an instant, and continued, " | won't
threaten but remember Arthur Bernard
lives ~


At this juncture Charlie entered the room,
but not before Mrs. Forester had had time to
collect herself; while Murray, without appear
ing in the least disconnected, went on making
some commonplace remarks about the weather.
As for myself, this interview, OF which L had
been an unseen spectator, had naturally enough .
aroused varied emotions, and before putting i'll /
an appearance at the breakfast table, | thought
it best to take walk round the garden to in
dulgc in few moments reflection. The con-
fessiOn is somewhat humiliatng, but | have al
ways been rather fond of interfering in other
peoples affairs, and in the present instance,


having seen and heard all | had, | felt exceed
ingly reluctant to let the matter drop. The


mystery attaching to Mrs. Forester was not


very difficult to unravel-at least in the main


feature. AS for this Murray and the influence


he appeared to possess over her, | had long


since made up my mind that he was villain


who would stOop to any device, however con-


temptible, TO ensure the success of any evil


enterprise in which he night be engaged. |


determined to use every endeavOr to defeat him


in his pr 9sent scheme, though let it not for a


moment be supposed that any heroics was


mixed up in this resolve. | looked at the


whole matter rather as a game Of chess, in


which by hook or crook L must checkmatc my


adversary. When | reached the breakfast


room the trio seemed to be on the best Of


terms with each other-Charlie cheerful and


unsuspicious as ever, Mrs. Forester playing


nervously with tiny piece of toast which she


made pretense to eat, but never touched, and


Murray eating and talking with equal earnest


ness.


"Oh yes" he said, as I came in, your


wife and I, Charlie, have discovered that we


are old acquaintance Curious isn't it,


Wheels within wheels! What fools we are to


fancy our world to be such huge p'ace!'


looked at his face as sat down at the ta-


Bile more closely than | ever had before, and
again the old thought of last night came back


to me. Then my eyes invOluntarily settled on
his hands; they were still encased in light
gloves do not know what it was that
prompted me, but joining in the conversation,
| said


"You are quite right: | often stumble


across people | never expected to see again
mere passing acquaintances. Do you know, ="


L continued, last night when you arrived


fancied we had met before, though you then
had no beard and mOustache."


could have sworn, and did so to myself at


the moment, that his hand trembed as he


raised his cup to his lips; but moment after,
as he sat it down again. he was perfectly calm


and COOL while In nonchalant tone he replied:
6 | must say you have the advantage Of me,
2 as | am not aware that we ever met before in
e deed, | am quite sure that we never did. Be
, sides, | have wore a beard moustache ever
: since one or the other would grow


3 "Why, when you were in Paris you were as
clean shaven as priest on a feast, day" burst
in Charlie quite innocently; but Murray, with
e out taking any notice of the observation, turn
9 ed to Mrs. Forester, and commenced talking
4 to her about something quite different.
Slowly, but surely, conviction was growing
upon me that made me pay considerable re-
t spect to my impressions of the night before,
e and determined me to be more watchful than
!, ever. My only fear was that Mrs Forester,
] in the weakness of her terror, would take some
e desperate step, when after all, as | firmly be-
y lieved, there was not the slightest ground foI
alarm.


In the course of the next twenty four hours.
b by dint of pertinaciOus listening and watching,
0 l found that Murray's protestatiOns of affec-


ton cooled in proportion as he ingeniOuSly
G limited that his silence might be purchased foI
: a reasonable sum-a suggestion that his victim
d caught eagerly at, only to be more crushed by
Y the revulsiOn of feeling that followed when she
b reflected how utterly impossible it was fer hel
e to obtain the two hundred pounds he modestlS
d asked. He was treading on dangerous ground
a this same Murray; even as he stood there
y might have handed him into the custody o
s. the nearest constable on a charge of endeavor
:, ing to extOrt money by threats and menaces
is Looking at it from legal point of view, thi


would have been'an excellent course to adopt
Is but it was the exposure that was to be avoided
l., and therefore it was necessary to adopt differ
i ent tactics.


10 For three days watched-with what a tria
lr to the patience can readily be imagined-thi
e, human spider torturing the poor fly he had go
rs into his web he cool, courteous and insinuat
< ing, as he worked out his scheme; she grow
er ing weaker and weaker, and losing all strength
20 and courage, only to find it again to take on'
3, last desperate STEP and thus forever put al
is end to the torture she was suffering.


Yet all this while her husband seemed to no
g. tice nothing amiss with her, though her eye
IS were often red with weeping, and her face wOr
l a settled look of melancholy and despair No
I'd that he failed in affection or tenderness, on
s. he was one of those men who, in the goodneS
s, of their own digestiOns and the smOOthness O
in their life stream, look upon dyspepsia as
J." popular delusOn, and cannot understand VIII
st any one should be unhappy. 1t was the even
no ing of the fourth day since Murrays arrival


and after dinner, | left him and Charlie dis
th cussing bottle of "a Chateau Margaux an
It. their old Paris days, and was wandering dow


side path that led to the plantation, when
d, suddenly trod on something Looking down
Is. ward, saw that it was q pocketbook Of some
VS. what bulky dimensions. There was only on
Ir- thing to be done, namely, to pick it up, Ill
m. clasp it, and examine its contents, which
We need scarcely add faithfully did. The inve:
" tigation having been satisfactorily accomplish


ed, I placed the pocketbook in my pocket, an
he strolled on into the plantation, again to reheC
p on what my next move with Mr.. Murray shoul
ng be- knew the game was in my hands now;
[ my only trouble now was how to play it will
le- out making disturbance. Still what was t
he be done must be done quickly. As came
ln- this determination, | found myself Standln
4 | by the side of small lake that lay in Ii
nd midst of the plantation; almost at the san
be moment heard groan as of some one in di


tress. Turning eagerly to the direction fro
lce whence it seemed to come, through the dus
At which was now growing into darkness, l sd
DIS. the Autter of white dress near to the head