Show 1 J1 = Cl THE FATAL REQUESTOR REQUEST-OR FOUND OUT I I I i By A L Hnrrl Author of Mine Own Familiar Friend etc Copyright 1891 by Oat lit JubttiMng Company 190R A Smith CHAPTER XXVContinued The train started on the Journey which was to end In Its destruction and mile lifter mllo sport away In si l encc Once more the feeling of restraint re-straint had settled down upon us ant his tlmo heavier than before Then I remember a sudden awful nevertobeforgotten crash followed by cries and shrieks such as have rung In I my ears ever since I found myself Hung violently forward for-ward against tho opposite side of the compartment amid the smashing of woodwork and with tho presentiment of some awful doom upon me I was half stunned but recovering myself found that I was not much hurt Then I remembered my companion and turned my attention to him Silas I cried Are you hurt But before ho could reply another sound was added to the awful babel of cries and groans all around Fire < fire we heard shrieked invoices In-voices mad with terror mingled with agonizing cries for help Tho atmosphere atmos-phere became stifling a sickening insupportable In-supportable odor was wafted towards us and clouds of thick black suffocating suffocat-ing smoke began to drift past Silas I shouted In mad terror to my friend come exert yourself If you wish to escape Instant death And I caught him round the body and tried to compel him to move but In vain ho only gave a scream of agonySave Save yourself he groaned I cannot can-not stir and I think my leg Is broken I was almost demented and tore at the shattered woodwork which made his prison with my fingers but only to Increase his agony without freeing him from his horrible position And already the atmosphere was like that of a furnace and hell itself seemed to be open I could not save him but I might save myself I knew the door on the other side was unlocked so that I might attempt to escape that way I prepared for flight but before I had taken the first step I was stayed by my friends voice James ho cried and the roaring of the flames almost drowned his voice which was sharp and shrill with horror put mo out of my miser Savo yourself but shoot me through the brain first Quick quick It was the most merciful death and without pausing a secondwhIch on that awful day might have meant a human lICeI drew the revolver placed it to his tomplolIy God from the renderand pulled the trigger Even as 1 hoard the report a thin tongue of flame curled upward through tho splintered flooring and without even looking back without even a glance at the face of my friend I forced open tho door and sprang from the now burning carriage with the smoking weapon still grasped In my right hand In doing so I trod upon some smouldering timber and wrenched my ankle severely so that for a long time I was lame A few hours later and I was conveyed con-veyed to town together with a company com-pany of the other survivors and as soon as I reached my destination my strength forsook me and I was prostrated pros-trated for days by a nervous illness the result of my late terrible experience experi-ence When I recovered It was to find that there was a hue and cry already after methnt tho partially consumed corpse of a first class passenger had been discovered shot through the head and that all the evidence pointed to I tho crime having been committed by n fellow traveler who had made his escape es-cape during the terror and confusion of the catastrophe and who was being eagerly sought for Since then I have had to submit to the ordeal of seeing myself confronted by the reward of one hundred pounds offered for my detection and have Jived In dally and hourly fear of being charged with the committal of this crimeIf crime It can be called ot which I was guiltless In thought If not In deed It Is this which Is killIng kill-Ing me and I do not regret It Sometimes I regret nothing not even tho shot which took my best friends life and branded me with tho brand of Cain CHAPTER XXVI Or Jeremiahs Little Bill This was all The reader drew along ap long shuddering breath 11 p My God he whispered voice and everything necmlng to fall him for the moment in I the face of the revelation which had burst upon him My God To think that I should know the truth at last But how marvelous How utterly beyond be-yond the realization of my wildest dreams I Not for an Instant did It occur to him to think tho narrative false It was too astounding and what was more it agreed sc exactly with all tho i strange anil hitherto mysterious circumstances cir-cumstances which had attended tho tragedy And the man ne had wronged wrong-ed tho man he had hunted down and would have betrayed to death believing believ-ing him to bo tho vilest of his species whose whole nature ho had read falsely by the light of his unjust suspicions sus-picions His eyes were closedho seemed to be hardly breathing Had ho talntedorwas this death Was he to be left alone and In tho dark with a dead or dying man He rushed to the door and dashed out of the houso In search of a doctor doc-tor James Ferrers was not dead but the nearest medical man on being summoned to the house shook his head over tho case Heart ho said briefly Get him to bed I do not think he will ever need to get up again By this time tho whole household was roused and tho sick mans daughter daugh-ter was hanging In speechless grief over her fathers unconscious formAt form-At one tlmo It was feared that ho would pass away unconscious but tho untiring application of restoratives was at last productive of some effect and two or three hours later the dying dy-ing man opened his eyes He saw his daughter kneeling beside be-side his pillow and not far away his old friends son who by some means had asserted and maintained a right to remain In the sick room The doctor seeing that the patient had regained consciousness for a while before the end stood aside so as not 1 f = Ill 1 Lt II II I I I i I c I j I Id I iii ff I iIj 5I 0 iil I I have nothing to forgive was the broken answer to Interfere with those last solemn moments The dying mans gaze rested upon tho young man who In obedience to a gesture approached and bent over hImwith a strange Intensity and his lips moved Do you forgive he murmured close to the others ear so that tho words might bo heard by nono but him for whom they were Intended I have nothing to forgive was the broken answer You acted for the best and I bless you for It A look of peace fell upon the corpse like countenance upon the pillow and he turned his eyes again upon his daughter Dont grieve much for me my child said he and when I am gone He gave a deep sigh his eyes closed and his head fell a little to one side The doctor pressed forward This Is the end he said and avery a-very peaceful one But It was not quite tho end Once more tho dying eyes opened and fixed themselves upon tho pale remorseful face of the young man who had once hoped to seo him expiate his deed upon the scaffold Then ho turned them rom him to tho bowed head of the girl who knelt with her face hidden upon the other sldo of the bed and back again His lips moved for tho last time but no words Issued from them lIe tried again and this time though there was no soundIt seemed to tho other who had his eyes fixed upon them and his ear strained to catch the lightest whisper that the motion of the lips might bo translated Into the words ° Keep my secret I wlllI will he answered and even as ho uttered these words tho end came S S Tho next day Ted Burrltt returned homo unexpectedly The first thing ho did was to write a brief summary of events to Dr Jeremiah Jere-miah Cartwright who In spite of the very short tlmo which had elapsed since his last visit again mndo his ap poaranco at Magnolia Lodge ostensibly osten-sibly to hear further details but more particularly to carry out a deep laid scheme of his own And what do you mean to doeh I mean about tho young lady Oh you neednt look as though you dont understand what I am talking about Ive not forgotten what you told mo about her What a beautiful blush I And the little gentleman chuckled hen all at once became proternatur ally firiT Bythoby ho said ly and with a noticeable tendeJ avoid his friends eye about thor th-or mine Ted looked surprised Bill he repeated Yes bill continued the d You didnt suppose I was going 14 t you off did you You havent Iorj t V ten what I sold a little while about sending one In have out Tho young man looked and felt plussed I have made up my mind to Itl In kind What I moan Is continued l1n Cartwright that Instead of recelvS payment for whatever services 11 l lIt have rendered In ready moneYIJif i willing to take It out In some o article And what might that article ht i was tho natural but still perplexed IM qulryYour Your sister was the brief t much to the point response J l By Jove was the exclamatloj1 tng j called forth followed by you t ej1 mean it p l Dont I though I was the deJ J mined reply Ive been meanlnjT fU for some time past Whats ntr ItUt Ive sounded tho young ladYI da iEHlfJ mean with a stethoscope and ji J wasnt half so much surprised as t j iiil seem to be en The brother1 of the young lad qei question burst out laughing f n i I suppose I shall have to give and I may as well do It sooner t later A S S 0 ami About three months later a get cauj man in the most Irreproachable alii aiie called at tho residence of the Iri il li James Ferrers Esq of BelmtT Houso Hampstead and requested seo Miss Ferrers That young lady who had descend to encounter her visitor quite in IgntjN anco as to his Identity was confoun6jSP beyond measure to discover In tap I supposed stranger none other tl tH that same Individual whom she bjtlg first met at the Royal Academy vjfft Jo who had afterwards occasioned hertftj greatest perplexity of mind by doW ling the part of the young man Vlt S5 waited at table and cleaned the pliafSS i Only he had grown tho lovellea u v moustache and it seemed perfectly fcpjc I possible to imagine for a moment ttHi I he had ever done such a thing t f0 1 polish the forks and spoons and mal S himself useful generally 1bl Ted plunged at once Into the obJeaBr of his visit gl I should have called much sooner W r he remarked with a compassions P glance at her deep mourning but w afraid of Intruding upon your relit OlJ mont I have a statement to raakej an explanation to give which I cant Be withhold any longer no He came nearer to her andoh tb a presumption of the creature actual n l ventured to take her hand o Do you remember being at 11 Iionl Academy ono day lost June and drOi onl ee ping your catalogue in Did she not But she made t audlblo reply and the explanation th Th propitiously commenced was contlnu VIe without any interruption beyond an o casional stilled exclamation on Ib part of Its recipient pIt p-It Is not necessary however to n Lt port the whole of what passed durl 3 l the interview A certain nortlon UUI Ii of It need bo referred to as being dl some interest 11 And you really mean to say saif Miss Ferrers to the young man yoi I really mean to say that you fell In lortl with me then and there and took tti situation and put up with everythln just for the sake of being under tt same roof with me He looked at her strangely for i moment before answering What other reason could there ban been he asked She clapped her hands together fejj delight Whatever will the girls at scha say to this Tho End |