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Show 1 ;. f ' F ; , , SYNOPSIS Sir Oliver Tressilian, renowned for his exploits on the Spanish Main, is betrothed to Rosamund Godolphin, but the marriage is opposed op-posed by Rosamund's brother, Peter. Pe-ter. By repeated insults Peter finally provokes Oliver to threaten murder, and when Oliver's young half-brother, Lionel, kills Peter t on unwitnessed quarrel over a woman suspicion falls on Oliver. Even Rosamund believes him guilty alert Inquiry in that glance. ( i ter Lionel jot up sudOaly- J . ? "Let us take a turn CfcitiiJ ep- , I f tain." said he. The captain's eyes narrowe. He scented business. There was 1 something plaguily odd about this i . . young gentleman's manner. He , towed off the remains of bis sac. , , slapped dowa the pot and rose. ; I "Toot servant. Master Tree- I sillan," paid he. ' i : Outside oar gentleman nntother- ; ed his horse from the Iron ring to ' ; I i which he had attached the bridle: t f L ... :.A i. reached in this affair. II that happened, hap-pened, in what case should he find himself? The answer to this was a picture beyond bis fortitude to contemplate. contem-plate. The danger of Ms betel sent to trial and made to suffer the extreme penalty of the law would be far greater now than if he had spoken at once. The tale he could then have told must hare compelled some attention, for he was accounted ac-counted a man of unsmlrched honor and his word must carry some weight. But now none would believe be-lieve hhn. They would argue from his silence and from his baring suffered his brother to be unjustly accused that he was craven-hearted and dishonorable, and that If he had acted thus it was because he had no good defense to offer for his deed. Thus he came to the dread conclusion con-clusion that in his endeavors to screen himself he had but enmeshed en-meshed himself the more inextricably. inex-tricably. If Oliver but spoke he waa lost. And back he came to the question: What assurance had ha that Oliver would not speak? The fear of this, from occurring to him occasionally, began to haunt him day and night, and for all that the fever had left him and hia wound was entirely healed he remained re-mained pale and thin and hollow-eyed. hollow-eyed. Indeed the secret terror that was In his soul glared out of bis eyes at every moment. Coming one afternoon Into the dining-room, which was ever Sir Oliver's favorite haunt In the man- and asks him to explain the traxl of blood found leading from the body to his doorway. Feeling bound to protect Lionel, Oliver can do nothing but protest his innocence. Btt he goes to the justices and asks them to draw up a document attesting attest-ing to the fact that he bears on his body no mark of recent wound; that therefore the trail of blood, obviously that of the murderer, injured in-jured in the encounter, was not lis. This document he takes away to hold in readiness until needed. A few weeks later Lionel learns from Jasper Leigh, a pirate sea captain whose ship is lying in the harbor, that the queen has been petitioned pe-titioned to command th8 justices to bring Oliver to trial which they had previously refused to do and he fears that should Oliver clear himself his own implication would follow. Oliver, meantime, goes to Rosamund to lay the proof of his innocence before her, but she refuses re-fuses to see him. Lionel tells him of the petition to the queen. leading his horse he turned sea- , . ward and strode down the road -, :' ; that wound along the estuary to- " i 1 ward Smithlck. ' J A sharp breeie from the north j was whipping the water Into white .; peaks of foam; the sky was of a i. , hard brightness and the sun shone i brilliantly. The tide was running J. out, and the rock in the very neck "( of the haven was thrusting its - black crest above the water. A . cable's length this side of it rode , , the black hull and naked spars of , . the Swallow Captain Leigh's ship. . Lionel stepped along in silence, , very gloomy and pensive, hesltat- ,j i ing even now. And the crafty ' mariner reading this hesitation and anxious to conquer It for the sake i: ; of such profit as he conceived 1 " j might He In the proposal which he j '. scented, paved the way for him at i ! last. ! , ' "I think that yell have some j , J matter to propose to me," said he J slyly. "Out with it, sir, for there J never was a man more ready to J curve voil." n . 1 SYNOPSIS ntiver Tressilian, renowned " 0-ioitt on the Spanish ' betrothed to Rosamund but the marriage is op-"Kosamund's op-"Kosamund's brother, l'e-takes l'e-takes "T opportunity his antagonism. A "Zitstit finally provokes Oli-'" Oli-'" On hearing of witnesses. '.Ltsn t kUl him, but the U ol Rosamund deters htm. ?jM, however, Oliver's young 'inlW, Wn,1 accomplishes 'vnUd have liked to do, imtdf wounded in the en-i en-i Uff Peter, Lionel relates, in j jftlow anger over a wom-'"ii wom-'"ii affronted him and drawn ' U had killed merely in jfe. Terror-stricken, he a promise from his broth-'.. broth-'.. t,gf the affair a secret. Sus--,! "P"" Oliver, who un-"- naly protests his innocence to ':mvl and her guardian. Sir '.j (tfflijMW. They tell him a ..-, Mood, undoubtedly that of I'ntnUnr, has been found to I :ii,m the dead body to his ray. I CHAPTER V (continued) :( returned home with hell in jbeart. Hb knew not what the .,n(jht bold in store for him; iKhwunls resentment against anund that there was no room is bosom for despair. They ..-jd not hang him. He would s: them tooth and claw, and yet jiel should not suffer. He would .! care ol that." And then the ' .;fbt ot Lionel changed his id little. How easily could he .-I ihsttered their accusation. :t easily have brought her to her -id knees Imploring pardon of .:! By a word he could have i It, yet he feared lest that i must Jeopardize his brother, j Ike calm, U11 watches of that jj! &s he lay sleepless npon his and aaw things without heat, y.i crept a change into his men-. men-. attitude. He reviewed all the :tjce that had led her to her ::!tsioD8, and he was forced to :!e5 that she was In some raeas-jistifled raeas-jistifled of them. ras a heavy cross to bear. Yet Lionel's sake he must bear it : what fortitude he could. :;! must not be sacrificed to his -t. for a deed that in Lionel ; :iuld not account other than :M. He were base indeed did J : much as contemplate such a : i escape as that. Ported the Justice', decision or he declared. Sir Oliver thanked him, protmi, ing thai It was kind In him and fa Master Balne to take each a Ttew but for the rest vowing that he had had no hand In the affair, oowotot much appearances might point to Dim. When, however, It came to hta knowledge two days later that the. whole couutryaid. was in a ferment against Master Baine as a conae-quence conae-quence of the attitude he had takan up, Sir Oliver Bummoned the par. son and straightway rode with him to the Justice's house at Trttro, there to afford certain evidence which he had withheld from Rosamund Rosa-mund and Sir John Killlgrew. "Master Balne." he said when the three of them were closeted in that gentleman's library, "1 have heard of the Just and gallant pronouncement pronounce-ment you have made, and I am come to thank you and to express my admiration of your courage." Master Balne bowed gravely. He was a man whom Nature had made grave. "But since I would not that any evil consequences might attend your action, I am come to lay proof before you that you have acted more rightly even than ,you think, and that I am not the slayer." "You are not?" ejaculated Master Baine in amazement. "Oh, I assure you I use no subterfuge sub-terfuge with you. as you shall Judge. I have proof to show you, as I say; and I am come to do so now before time might render it impossible. I do not desire It to be made public Just yet, Master Balne; but I wish you to draw up some such document as could satisfy sat-isfy the courts at any future time should this matter be taken further, fur-ther, as well It may." "I assure you. Sir Oliver, that had you killed him after what happened hap-pened I could not hold you guilty of having done more than punish a boorlRb and arrogant offender." "I know, sir. But It was not so. One of the pieces of evidence against me indeed the chief Iteat is that from Godolphln's body to my door there was a trail of blood." The other two grew tensely interested. in-terested. The parson watched him with unblinking eyes. "Now it follows logically, I think, inevitably indeed, that the murderer murder-er must have been wounded in the encounter. The blood could no possibly have been the victim's, therefore it must have been the slayer's. That the slayer was wounded indeed we know, since there was blood upon Godolphin's sword. Now Master Baine. and you, Sir Andrew, shall be witnesses wit-nesses that there is upon my body not so much as a scratch of recent date. I wMl strip me here as nnked as when ii. -t 1 had the mischance 8YNOPSIS Sir Oliver TressUian, renowned lr his exploit, m the Spanish betrothed to Rosamund odolphtn, but the marriage is opposed op-posed &y Rosamund's brother, Peter, Pe-ter, who takes every opportunity to manifest his antagonism. A stinging sting-ing tneult finally provokes Oliver, " the hearing of witnesses, to threaten to kill him, but the thought of Rosamund deters him. In a quarrel over a woman Oliver's young half-brother, Lionel, kills Peter tn self-defense, and is himself him-self wounded. Lionel extracts a promise from his brother to keep the affair a secret. Suspicion fastens fast-ens upon Oliver, who unavailingly protests his innoeenve to Rosamund nd her guardian. Sir John KiU-Wrew. KiU-Wrew. They teU him a trail of blood, undoubtedly that of the murderer, mur-derer, has been found to lead from the dead body to his doorway. Far from proving his guilt, however, how-ever, this actually establishes his innocence, for he bears no mark on his body of recent wound. He lays his proof before the justices. Convinced of his innocence, they draw up a document to that effect and give it to him to hold in readiness readi-ness until needed. CHAPTER VI JASPER LEIGH If that Christmas was one of sorrow sor-row at Godolphin Court, It was nothing less at Penarrow. Sir Oliver was moody and silent in those days, given to sit for long hours staring Into the heart of the Are and repeating to himself again and again every word of his interview inter-view with Rosamund, now in a mood of bitter resentment against her for having so readily believed his guilt, now in a gentler sorrowing humor which made full allowance for the strength of the appearances against him. His half-brother moved softly about the house now in a sort of Belf-effacement, never daring to intrude in-trude upon Sir Oliver's abstractions. abstrac-tions. He was well-acquainted with their cause. He knew what bad happened at Godolphin Court, knew that Rosamund had dismissed Sir Oliver for all time, and his 1 heart smote him to think that he should leave his brother to bear . this burden that rightly belonged to his own shoulders. The thing preyed so much upon bis mind that in an expansive moment mo-ment one evening he gave it tongue. 'Noll." he said, standing beside his brother's chair in the fire-lit gloom, and resting a hand upon his brother's shoulder, "were it not best to tell the truth?" Sir Oliver looked up quickly. bJ a- i, ..I YNOPSIS Sir Oliver Treszilian, renowned for hit exploits on the Spanish Main, is betrothed to Rosamund Godolphin, but the marriage is opposed op-posed by Rosamund's brother, Peter, Pe-ter, who takes every opportunity to manifest his antagonism. A stinging sting-ing insult finally provokes Oliver to threaten to kill him, but the thought of Rosamund deters him. In a quarrel over a woman Oliver's young half-brother, Lionel, that night kills Peter in self-defense, and is himself wounded. Lionel extracts ex-tracts a promise from his brother to keep the affair a secret. Sua. pienn fastens upon Oliver, who unavailingly un-availingly protests his innocence to Rosamund and her guardian. Sir John Killigrew. They tell him a trail of blood, undoubtedly that of the murderer, was found to lead from the dead body to his doorway. This, however, actually establishes estab-lishes his innocence, for he bears no mark of recent wound. He lays his proof before the justices, who, , convinced of his innocence, draw up a document to that effect and give it to him to hold in readiness until needed. Between pricking conscience and fear that his brother will reveal the truth, Lionel becomes be-comes so distraught that Oliver suggests a sea expedition for both of them. CHAPTER VI (continued) Lionel looked up, his ' eye brightening. Then a thought occurred oc-curred to him; a thought so mean that again the color flooded Into his cheeks for he was shamed by it. Yet It clung. If he sailed with Oliver, men would say that he was a partner in the guilt attributed to his brother. He realized to the full the contemptible con-temptible quality of his thought and hated himself for conceiving it. But he could not shake off its dominion. do-minion. It was stronger than his will. His brother observing this hesitation, hesita-tion, and misreading It, drew him to the fireside and made him sit. "Listen," he said, as he dropped Into the chair opposite. "There is a fine ship standing In the roads below, off Smithlck. You'll have seen her. Her master is a desperate adventurer named Jasper Leigh who is to be found any afternoon in the ale-house at Penycumwick. I know him of old, and he and his ship are to be acquired. He is ripe for any venture, from scuttling Spaniards to trading In slaves, and so that the price be high enough we may buy him body and soul. His is a stomach that refuses nothing, so there be money in the venture. So here is ship and master ready found; the rest I will provide the crew, the munitions, the armament, and by the end of March we shall see the Lizard dropping astern. What do you say. Lai? 'Tis surely Oltrer'B arrest on a chair Ktv dar. But the justices ha' rfos4 to be driven by his lordship, answering an-swering that they hold their oSkc direct from the Queen and that In sach a matter they are answerable to none but her Grace. And now I hear that a petition bo gone to London to the queen hers ell, hogging hog-ging her to command her justices to perform their duty or quit their office." Lionel drew a sharp breath, and with dilating eyes regarded the mariner, but made him no answer. Jasper laid a long finger against his nose and his eyes grew cunning. "I thought I'd warn you, sir, m as ye may bid Sir Oliver look to hissell. 'Tis a fine seaman and fine , seaman be none so plentiful." i Lionel drew his purse from his pocket and without so much as looking Into its contents dropped it Into the seaman's ready hand, with a muttered word of thanks. He rode home In terror almost. It was come. The blow was about to falL and his brother at last would be forced to speak. At Penarrow a fresh shock awaited him. He learned from old Nicholas that Sir Oliver was from home, that he had ridden over to Godolphin Court The instant conclusion prompted by Lionel's terror was that already the news had reached Sir Oliver and that he had instantly taken action; for he could not conceive that his brother should go to Godolphin Godol-phin Court upon any other business. busi-ness. But his fears on that score were very idle. Sir Oliver, unable longer to endure the present state of things, had ridden over to lay before be-fore Rosamund that proof with which he had taken care to furnish himself. He could do so at last without any fear of hurting Lionel. His journey, however, had been entirely en-tirely fruitless. She had refused pointblank to receive him, and for all that with a humility entirely foreign to him he had induced a servant to return to her with a most urgent message, yet had he been denied. He returned stricken to Penarrow, there to find his brother awaiting him in a passion of impatience. "Well?" Lionel greeted him. "What will you do now?" Sir Oliver looked at him , from under brows that scowled darkly in reflection of his thoughts. "Do now? Of what do you talk?" quoth he. "Have you not heard?" And Lionel told him the news. Sir Oliver stared long at him when he had done, then his lips tightened and he smote his brow. "So!" be cried. "Would that be why she refused to see me? Did she conceive that I went perhaps to plead? Could she think that? Could she?" He crossed to the fire-place and ' stirred the logs with his boot an- serve you. as "The fact Is." said Lionel, watch ve ' ; ing the other's face with a Bidelorviet glance, "1 am in a difficult positirfour Master Leigh." I(,t f'1 ' ! "I've been in a many." lau;s will ; the captain, "but never yet ir'Stm; ; through which I could not : ! Strip forth your own, and hi can do as much for yon asvror?.m i ! wont to do for myself." prior ' V ' "Why. it is this wise," said lio(.& ! ji other. "My brother will assurt0f a ; hang as you have said if he Muiis i ifi i '. CHAPTER VI (continued) The morrow a blustering day of late March found him again at that ale-house at Penycumwick in the company of Jasper Leigh. A course had occurred to him. as the only course now possible. Last night his brothor had muttered something of going to Killigrew with his proofs since Rosamund refused to receive him. Through Killigrew he would reach her, he had said, and he would yet see her on her knees craving his pardon for the wrong she had done him, for the cruelty she had shown him. Lionel knew that Killigrew was absent from home just then, but he was expected to return by Easter, Eas-ter, and to Easter there was but a week. Therefore he had little time in which to act, little time in which to execute the project that had come into his mind. He cursed himself for conceiving it, but held to it with all the strength of a weak nature. Yet when he came to sit face to face with Jasper Leigh in that little lit-tle inn-parlor with the scrubbed table ta-ble of pkiin deal between them, he lacked the courage to set his proposal pro-posal forth. They drank sherry sack stiffly laced with brandy by ! 'it I "'Noll, he said, 'were It not best ! to tell the truth?'" sion of Penarrow, Lionel round his half-brother in that brooding attitude, atti-tude, elbow on knee and chin on palm, staring into the fire. This was so habitual now in Sir Oliver that it had begun to irritate Lionel's tense nerves; it had come ueiter cnan to sit moping nere in 'his place of gloom." "I'llI'll think of It." said Lionel. ; but so listlessly that all Sir Oliver's quickening enthusiasm perished again fit once, and no more was t-aid o the venture. But Lionel did not altogether reject re-ject the motion. If on the one hand he was repelled by It, on the kj u ,., grily. "Oh! 'Twere too unworthy. Yet of a certainty 'tis her doirig, this." "What shall you do?" insisted Lionel, unable to repress the question ques-tion that was uppermost in his mind, and his voice shook. "Do?" Sir Oliver looked at him over his shoulder. "Prick this bubble, bub-ble, by Heaven! Make an end of it for them, confound them and cover them with shame." He said it roughly, angrily, and Lionel recoiled, deeming that roughness and anger aimed at himself. him-self. He sank into a chair, his knees loosened by his sudden fear. "You you will tell them the truth?" he said, in small, quavering quaver-ing voice. Sir Oliver turned and considered him more attentively. "A God's name, Lai, what's in thy mind now?" he asked, almost roughly. "Tell them the truth? Why, of course but only as it concerns myself. You're not supposing sup-posing that I shall tell them it was you? You'll not be accounting m Lionel's suggestion instead of the more cusloniai-y mullt-d ale. Yet not until he had consumed best part of a pint of it did Lionel ford himself he.-mened to brniu'hnii; his loathsome business. Through his head bummed the words his broih-' broih-' er had said some time ago when first the name of Jasper Leigh had passed between them "a desperate desper-ate adventurer ripe for anything. So the price be high enough you may buy him body a:;d soul." Money enough to buy Jasper Leigh was ready to Lionel's hand, but it was Sir Oliver's money the money that was placed at Lionel's disposal by his half-brother's open-handed open-handed bounty. And this money he was to employ for Oliver's utter ruin! He cursed himself for a filthy, contemptible hound; he cursed the foul fiend that whispered whisper-ed such suggestions into his mind; he knew himself, despised himself and reviled himself until he came to swear to be strong- and to go through with whatever might await him Booner than be guilty of IS? "rownmg. "Art mad?" quoth he. "The truth would hang thee. Lai." "It might not. And in any case you are suffering something worse than hanging. Oh. I have watched you every hour this'week past, and I know the pain that abides In you. It is not Just." And he insisted in-sisted "We had best tell the truth." Sir Oliver smiled wistfully. He put out a hand and took his brother's. broth-er's. " 'Tis noble in you to propose It, Lai." "Not half so noble as it Is In you to bear all the suffering for a deed that was my own." "Bnh!" Sir Oliver shrugged impatiently; im-patiently; his glance fell away from Lionel's face and returned to the consideration of the fire. "After all. I can throw off the burden when I will. Such knowlertce as that will enhearten a man through any trial." He had spoken in a harsh, cynical tone, and Lionel had turned cold at his words. He stood a long while In silence there, turning them over In bis mind and considering the -Iddle which they presented him. He thought of asking his brother bluntly for the key to it. for the precise meaning of his disconcerting disconcert-ing statement; but courage failed him. He feared lest Sir Oliver should confirm his own dread interpretation in-terpretation of It He drew away after a time, and soon after went to bed. For days thereafter the phrase rankled In his mind, "I can throw off the burden bur-den when I will." Conviction grew upon him that Sir Oliver meant that he was enheartened by the vwledze that by speaking if he ness was a studied tacit reproach aimed at himself. "Why do you sit ever thus over the fire like some old crone?" he growled, voicing at last thij irritability irrit-ability that so long had been growing grow-ing in him. Sir Oliver looked round with mild surprise in his glance. Then from Lionel his eyes traveled to the long windows. "It rains," he said. "It was not your wont to be driven to the fireside by rain. But rain or shine 'tis ever the same. You never go abroad." "To what end?" quoth Sir Oliver, with the same mildness, but a wrinkle of bewilderment coming gradually between his dark brows. "Do you suppose I love to meet lowering glances, to see beads approach ap-proach one another so that confidential con-fidential curses of me may be muttered?" mut-tered?" "Ha!" cried Lionel, short and sharp, his sunken eyes blazing suddenly. sud-denly. "It has come to this, then, that having voluntarily done this thing to shield me, you now reproach re-proach me with it." "I?" cried Sir Oliver, aghast. "Your very words are a reproach. D'ye think I do not read the meaning mean-ing that lies under them?" Sir Oliver rose slowly, staring at his brother. He shook his head and smiled. "Lai, Lai!" he said. "Your wound has left you disordered, boy. With what have I reproached you? What was this hidden meaning of my words? If you will read aright you will see it to be that to go abroad is to involve myself In fresh quarrels, for my mood Is become short, and I will not brook sour looks and mutterings. That Is all." t!"iertwo Brw tensely interested. The parson watched him with "king tyes." "Master Lionel nodded, nervous- j ly fingering the Jewel in his ear." him here. He is lost if they bring I him to trial. And in that case, faith, I am lost too. It dishonors a j 1 man's family to have a member of j it hanged. 'Tis a horriblo thing to ! , have happen." "Indeed, indeed!" the sailor j agreed encouragingly. I "I would abstract him from this," pursued Lionel, and at the same ! time cursed the foul liend that prompted him such specious words to cloak his villainy. "I would abstract ab-stract him lrm It, and yet 'tla 1 against my conscience that he should go unpunished, for I swear i 1 to you, Master Leigh, that I abhor the deed a cowardly, murderous deed!" t "Ah!" Bald the captain. And lest that grim ejaculation should check his gentleman he mado haste t , . add; "To bo sure! To be sure!" 1 Master Lionel stopped and faced the other squarely, his Bhouldors to his horse. "I'll be quite plain and open with you, Master Leigh. Peter Godolphin Godol-phin was my friend. Sir Oliver l no more than my half-brother. I ' would give a deal to the man wDo would abstract Sir Olivor s;:retly from the doom thatlyfljgs over him, and yet do the tning In such a way that Sir 01iver should not thereby escape the, punishment ha deserves." The captain lc jfced grim. Ha laid a finger upn Master Lionel' velvet doublet : jn line with that 1 false heart of h j8. "I am your iban," said he. "But j : the risk Is gret. Tet ye say that ye'd give a deii" ' "Yourself sKall name the price," said Lionel qtllckly, his eyes burning burn-ing feverishly bla cheeks white. "Oh, I MSn contrive It, never fear," said the captain. "I know to a nicety What you require. How . say you n'jw If I was to carry him , overseas t'-o the plantations where 1 they lack tollers of Just such thewg ' aa War t iTO; B Continued) ( j , ) ' i capable of that?" "What other way Is there?" Sir Oliver explained the matter. The explanation brought Lionel relief. re-lief. But this reWef was epheme ral. Further reflection presented a new fear to him. It came to him that if Sir Oliver cleared himself of necessity his own implication must follow. Had he but gone with these fears of his to his brother, or had he but been able to abate them sufficiently suffi-ciently to allow reason to prevail, he must have been brought to understand un-derstand how much further they carried him than was at all Justified Justi-fied by probability. Oliver would have shown hhn this, would have told him that with the collapsing of the charge against himself no fresh charge could be leveled against any there, that no scrap of suspicion had wver attached to Lionel or ever could. Bat Lionel ' dared not seek his brother In this matter. In his heart he waa ashamed asham-ed of his fears; in his heart be knrw hlmaalf for a era-van. He realized to the taU tbe hldeonaneas . ot hia selnahness, and yet, aa be-; be-; tore, ha n not strong teytmgh to - oontroor tL In short, his lora of - himself was (raster than nil Km i of hia broOMr, or of twenty brota-1 brota-1 art. snch baseness; the next moment that same resolve would set him shuddering again as he viewed the inevitable consequences that must attend it. Suddenly the captain sot him a question, very softly, that fired the train and blew all his llngorlng self-resistance into shreds. "You'll ha' borne my warning to Sir Oliver?" he asked, lowering his "voice so as not to be overheard by the vintner who was stirring beyond be-yond the thin wooden partition. Master Lionel nodded, nervously fingering the jewel in bis ear,, his eya shifting from their consideration considera-tion ot the seaman's coarse, weather-tanned and hairy countenance. "I did." he said. "But Sir Olivor la headstrong. He will not stir." "Will he not?" The captain stroked his bushy red beard and enraed profusely and horribly after the fashion of the sea. " 'Od's wounds. He'B very like to swing if be bides him here." "Aye." said Lionel, "if he bides." Be felt bis month turn dry as he poke; hia heart thudded, but its tbnda were softened by a alight ln-aanalbOtty ln-aanalbOtty whlck the llqnor bad piodnced la bina. Be uttered the word la so cn-Etona cn-Etona a tone that the Bailor's dark exrm p red at htm from naaer bla free, i j s&ijdy eyebrows. Thar waa I "Jasper laid a long fingr against his nose and his eyas grew cunning." cun-ning." other he was attracted almost despite himself. He went so far as to acquire the habit of riding daily over to Penycumwick, and there he made the acquaintance of that hardy and scarred adventurer of whom Sir Oliver had spoken, and listened to the marvels the fellow had to tell many of them too marvelous to he true of haz-I haz-I ards upon distant seas. But one day early tn March Waster Jasper Leigh had a tale of another kind for him, news that dispelled from Lionel's mind all interest in the captain's ventures on the Spanish Main. The seaman bad followed the departing Lionel to the door of the little ban and stood by his stirrqp after he bad got to horse. "A word in your ear, rood Master frassnian," said he. "D'ye know hat la being concerted here against your brother V "Against my broth erT" -Aye tn the matter of the km in ol Master Peter Qodolphtn mat arrtstmaa. Seetns that the Jtie Ocas wx&d not mora of their etras. some folk ha petitioned On I swilirniuit of Corn-wan to cmttiini Ossm to snnt a wanmat tv St ; ''lie did not contemplate it, ' W, ind went in terror dur- iayB, a terror that kept sleep and so fostered ' 1 him that on the second "let that grim affair he had . ' a ghost, hollow-eyed ilk!' Slr 01iTer remonstrat-alnl' remonstrat-alnl' "ad la snch terms as ; rt into him anew. More-; More-; "fa was other news that '"r his terrors: the Jus-Truro Jus-Truro bad been Informed - event and the accusation VtU maiIe; bnt they had re" .Wat-blank to take action in -atwr. The reason of it was , " of them was that same Ul0I'y Baln6 Wh hSd 'tLthe affront "Bored Sir t declared that whatever .(J""4 t Master Godolphin (jeiee was no more than h?' 00 more than he had U ku""1 Wn"ett. nd ho gave decision that his con-' con-' Hri ' man of honH' 'would to teTO "ny "ar-Oawnrtabta. "ar-Oawnrtabta. - l2eT"r thU news ' slw the par- V mM" had suffered such "LM QodoJahin-g hands, and rytln Gospel and of M. aatlrely ann- i to stray Into this world, and you shall testify yourselves of that. Thereafter I shall beg you, Master Baine, to Indite the document I have mentioned." And he removed his doublet as he spoke. "But since I will not give these louts who accuse me so much satisfaction, satis-faction, lest I seem to go In fear of them, I must beg, sirs, that you will keep this matter entirely private pri-vate until such time as Its publication publica-tion may be rendered necessary by events." They saw the reasonableness ot his proposal, and they consented, still entirely sceptical. But when they had made their examination they were utterly dumfonnded to find all their notions entirely overset. over-set. Master Balne, of course, drew up the required document, and signed and sealed it, whilst Sir Andrew added his own signature and seal as witness thereunto. With this parchment that should be his buckler against any future need, Sir Oliver rode home, uplifted. up-lifted. For, once it were safe to do so, that parchment should be spread before the eyes of Sir John Kmigrew and Rosamund, and all might yet be well. chose he conld clear himself. That Sir Oliver would so speak he could not think. Indeed, he was entirely assured that Sir Oliver was -very far from Intending to throw off his burden. Yet he might come to change his mind. Lionel sought to assure himself that his brother was a man of stern fibers, a man who never lost control con-trol of himself. But against this he would argue that what had happened hap-pened In the past waa no guarantee of what might happen tn the fn-tnr,. fn-tnr,. that a limit was set to the endurance of every man be be never so strong and that It was far from impossible that the limit ,1 gir Olirer's endnranee talent fef He advanced and set his hands upon his brother's shoulders. Holding Hold-ing him so at arm's length he considered con-sidered him. what time Lionel drooped hii head and a slow flush overspread his cheeks. "Dear fool!" he said, and shook him. "What alls you? Yon are pale and gaunt, and not yourself at aJL I have a notion. ITl furnish furn-ish me a ship and yon shall sail with me to my old hunting grounds. There is life out yonder life that will restore your rigor and your seet. and perhaps mine as well. Hot say you. now?" |