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Show I i(BR"fatal REQUESTl I 1 FOUND OUT M 1 By A. L. Harrla Author ol"Mln Own Familiar Friend." etc B I OopyrigM, tatl, ey Oaiittl Publl t hlng O ttnpany. BBH I O'Ptrlflit, 10 1, 1 y llr ( I t In I I A. fl CHAPTER II Continued. B Mr. Durrltt's face became flushed, B and he started to hie feet with thn HHfl haste and hot Indication which would H hare done credit to one of halt his H years. "James 1" he cried, with pas- H slon, "Is thjs the way you speak? H Is this tho wjy your treat your old H friend? Docs the fidelity of half a M life time count for nothing? Why, Hfl even your name has been preserved H In inviolable secrecy, and at this very H moment not one single soul, besides H mysolf, Is aware of the object of my H louroey, or of the Identity of tho in- H dividual I havo come to meet I -and H this Is all you havo to say to mot I H hud better return home at once, with H wit more delayl" H He was evidently much moved, and H tno other man could not but recognize H that tho emotion he betrayed was gen- H nine. Bo he, too, rose from his scat H and, catching Mr. Durrltt hy tho arm, H ald, "My dear fellow, don't mlsunder- H stand me! Surely you did not tnko H me seriously Just now. It Is not that H I doubted you for a moment, Silas; H but He passed his hand over H his eyes, as though to clear away H loncthlng which obstructed his vision. H Thon, alter a moment's hesitation, ha H sontlnucd: "I only landed In tho old H sountry this morning, and It has H brought It all back again all the H ihamo and sorrow, all the suffering H and romorso It seems as fresh as fl though as though It had all happonod H resterday, Instead of twenty years ago. H t cannot but real I re the fact that. In B 'Plte of my wealth honestly B earned, too, every penny of It, I swear H I am a pariah, an outcast. No, don't H interrupt me. I tell you" with a bit- H lr, mirthless laugh "I feel mora like H a returned convict than anything olso." B Jainosl" exclaimed Mr. Durrltt, "you shock raol you grieve me more than I can say I I " lilt friend Interrupted blm. "You I" isssssli B he sneoreJ, "you aro the Immaculate Hq citizen the man without a past! Htf, iWbat havo you to do with such an ono Bu' I?" There was a bitter sarcasm HfN , in his tone, a morbid Joalousy In bis Hu look, Mr. Durrltt refused to recognize W the presenco of cither. M "But you will return with me, will Bl you not?" ho said, "you will let mo In- Bvi troduce you to them and make tholr acquaintance? Take us on your way, Bk and spend at loast ono night undor my Vf roof." BBBt "You are very good, Silas," said his Sf friend. "Ah, If they wero all llko Hb you but you forgot there are others H . who B V Durrltt Interrupted him. "1 H; ' know what you aro going to say and Kmml ' will rellovo your mind at onco. Of all Hv those and they wero not many, six IHr at the outsldo who were Intimately H acquainted with your past history V and," he hesitated a moment, "and H that unhappy affair, not one Is living W besides myself." H' "What!" cried tho other man, In H)' great excitement, "All dcud?" 1 "All but myself," was tho ansv'er, "Tliank God for thatl" burnt from H the other's lips. "Will you swear that Br this la so that they aro Indeed all V doad who aro connected with tho i past, except yourself?" RI Mr. Durrltt bont his head In roply. 1 The strain of the Interview was begin- H ntng to toll upon hlro, together with H tho hurried Journey, and he felt tho Hh need of roposo. ( "Dollovo mo, Jim," ho said, falling Kjj back again Into tho old familiar stylo 1 of address, "you havo nothing to fear. Vj Your secret la safo enough with mo flf cover doubt It." Ho Bpoko kindly, j oven affectionately, but his fatlguo H I was evident, and his friend could not H J but obsorvo It. H 1 'Silas," ho said, "you aro worn out. j We will enntinuo tho subject somo B othor time." H Thoy turned to loavo the room to- Hp gcther. Mr. Durrlntt passed out first; B his companion lingered behind him. l As ho did so, his brief Bssumptlon of H cheerfulnoss fell from him; his face V changed and darkened, and tho whole B expression altered. Bj "All dead but one," ho whispered to LL9 himself-"and that one " Tho sen- hj tence was !eft unfinished, Hj CHAPTER III. ' Midnight Reflections. B' Mr. Durrltt passed a very restless H iilght. Perhaps his dinner had dls- Hhr agreed with blm. More probably It L-J .v waa tbe resultant Mio agitation and ilVaVaVakk jHBBHHBBJHHjHHJHftBgwgHggttgaMajaajajga excitement caused by the meeting with tho old friend ho had not seen for so many years. At any rato, whatovcr tho cause, thero was no doubt as to tho effect; for ha found It Impossible to sleep, or to do any thing but toss from slda to side, as hour after hour wearily wore Itself away, Dy somo peculiar action of tho brain, ho also found himself compelled to revlow all the past scenes of his life, and mentally, step by step, retrace re-trace tho path ho had trodden during those fifty years or so, which went to raako up the sum of his existence on this planet. At last, In despair, he rose, and going go-ing to the, window, looked out upon tho night. It was a very moonlight night too much so, In fact. Thero was Homcthlng almost weird and ghastly In Its effect. So he dropped the blind with a crash, and went back to bod again, hoping that, this time, he might bo nolo to sleep. I) ut It was the samo thing over again. Only this tlmo his thoughts concentrated themselves upon his family and'hls homo life. Ho remembered, remem-bered, with a senso of remorse, that ho had been a Uttlo only a lltUo Irritable at breakfast that morning, and that ho had spoken rather sharply when Interrogated as to the purposo of his sudden expedition. Certain of his friend's sayings had grated upon bis car, and caused a chill feeling of dissatisfaction and re-grot. re-grot. "Thauk Clod!" ho had said when ho heard of the deaths of thoso others, cut off, more than one of them, bo-fore bo-fore they had attained their proper span. Mr. Durrltt turned uneasily in his bed an bo rellcctod upon this, and remembered re-membered that he was tho only ono left who know all. Tho only ona bis friend had to fear. To fcarl Surely that was not tho right way to put It? B- "What brings you here?' To fear! Could It bo possible that his old friend bcllovcd that he had causa to foar him? Dut what had been bis own words on trfb subject? "You can ruin mo, Silas, In tho oyes of my child, as well as In thoso of the world, whenever you plcaso!" Tho question was, bad he, at the tlmo, really meant what ho said? Had ho, for an Instant, bcllovcd him capablo ot such baseness as this? If so good heavens. It was a dreadful thought would he not havo still greater reason to exclaim, "thank dodl" when he heard ot his death? Ho scarcely dared to breathe It to himself, but tho Idea, having onco occurred, oc-curred, clung to him, and refused to bo sot aside, but returned ngaln and again In spite of his steadfastly rejecting re-jecting It ns unworthy and dishonorable. dishonor-able. At the samo time ho found himself him-self wondering whether his friend, tho object ot thoso painful thoughts, who occupied an adjoining room, was also lying awalto and Indulging In unprofitable unprofit-able reflections,. Or perhaps ho was more plonsantly employed In thinking of hla daughter: anticipating tholr meeting and picturing hor as she would bo after fivo years' separation. Whatover else he might, or might not be, ho was evidently an affection-1 ate parent, dovotcd to this ono child. Mr. Durrltt was gottlng sleepy at last. No doubt It was something which ho had eaten at dinner that had upset his digestion and filled his mind with all these morbid fancies. Thero was othlng llko Indigestion for making ono see everything In a bad light. Then ho slept, and as ho slept he dreamed a dronm. Ho thought bo was lying on the odgo of a precipice n precipice which wont sheer down many hundreds of feet. Dut although ho occupied such a dangerous position ho felt no uneasiness uneasi-ness at first, only a little gentle surprise sur-prise as to what ho was doing thero. und a Uttlo wonder ns to what was going to happen. Thon a hand camo up and out ot tho abyss and grnspod him, drawing him nearer and nearer to the giddy verge of the preclplco. and he felt himself dragged slowly but suroly to destruction. destruc-tion. In vain bo clutched at tbo grass and stonos and projections of tho cllf; ho was still drawn on, until, at la. t, he was poised upon the very edge and could look down Into tho depths of the chasm beneath. For n few soconds durlrg which bo seemed to oxperlenco a lifetime ot agony ho remained In thf.t wful position. Then ho felt himself falling- falllnr fro an Immeasurable height and wokM "What a hideous dream," 1 thought "How weird how awful- how real! I would rather lie awak tho whole night through than drean Just such another. I wonder what th tlmo is?" j He folt for his watch and tw matches, and struck a light. Just halt past thrce no more. As he restore-;1 tho articles again to their places, h' thought ho heard faint sounds o movement In the next room. "Evidently t am not tho only res( less person," he said to himself as h lay down again. "I have a companloi In misfortune. Tomorrow mornlnj wo shall bo able to comparo expert ences. Suppose I were to knock at tho wait and speak to him? Dut then I might disturb someone else andi alarm them. "iat would nover do. I expect It must have been tho cucum ber that gave mo tho nightmare I hopo I sha'n't havo another suet dream; If I do, I'll never touch cucum ber any moro as long as I live." Ill eyes closed, and In a few moments hi deep and regular breathing 8howe that he had again fallen asleep. And again he dreamt, and th, dream was as follows: I He was lying In his bed, or at least' so he thought, and, after a whllo, I scorned to him that It became vcn. hard and narrow, so that ho had M room to move In It. It was also verj dark. He tried to turn over upon hll sldo, but found, as In the othor drearr that he could stir neither hand not foot. And what appeared to him a long time, he began to bear sounds over his head. Somotlmes In ono place, sometimes In another, and at tho samo tlmo ho began to experience a difficulty In breathing. And still the sound went on tho sound of somo ono hammering of somo one hammering ham-mering nails ' Tho sound of somo one hammering nails Into a coffin! And with that, all at once, the awful truth broke upon blm. Ho was dead, and they were nailing blm up In his coflln doadl His heart stopped beating as he grasped tbo full horror of tho situation. situa-tion. Thoy were burying him alive! Oh horrlblol horrlblo! In vain ho tried to burst the bondi of tho insensibility In which ho wac held. In vain ho made frenzied off forts to cry aloud. The most frantld endeavors wero unavailing. Ho wat unable to utter a sound or produco the i smallest movement. Then It seemed as though somo ono were trying tc ralso the lid of tho coffin. Thero wai a faint, croaking sound a faint glim mer of light was perceptible overhead It Increased and widened! Oh, Joy! Ho was saved saved! Tho coflln-lld, was raised Uttlo by little higher and higher In another moment ha should bo frool It was done. Ho saw a face bend Ing over him a familiar face tbo face ot an old irlond. Already ho bail ed blm in his heart as his benefactor his deliverer. Then what wero those words ho heard? Words bo haj heard beforo when was It? ' "You can ruin me whenever you plcaso, but now you aro In ny pow. erl" Tho lid waa clapped down' again, leaving htm In utter darkness, The hnmmbrlng began again. Ho made ono last tremendous effort and woke. Woke to find himself sitting bolt upright, with the perspiration streaming stream-ing from him. Woko to find tho man, whoso volco oven now suomed to ring In his ears as ho bont over tho opeu cofiln, standing besldo his bod, In tho faint, gToy light ot morning. "What brings you hore?" gasped Mr. Durrltt. as Boon ns ho had realized tho fact that tho terrlblo ordeal ho had Just passed through was .only a dream. "I couldn't sleep," was tho response, "and I couldn't Ho still any longer, so I camo to see whothor you were awake." (To bo continued.) |