Show A F FELONS loveo LOVE DY HINRY HENRY W CHAPTER XIII A few hours afterward the coach same lumbering up to sullivans door where william luke was visa standing anxiously watching for or its coming directly the driver descended from the he box he seized him by bl the arm good evening sam be exclaimed there Is something I 1 very much wish 0 o ask of you well go ahead ma mate te we have out only Y lan on minutes to liquor up in 1 I will liquor you up more than you an drink in the next fortnight cried luke it if you tell me truly what I 1 want to know what Is it blaze awall did you or did you not on the night I 1 traveled up with you here ring a letter to tom baynes the cook tt it 1 I 1 I bring a letter to tom baynes cheed the man pausing for a moment 0 o consider no that I 1 certai certainly tily did not lot who says as I 1 did then its false screamed luke he had no such letter calling him tway iway and there was some reason tor for its tearing fearing to meet me face to face it certainly Is very odd admitted vir ur hall to luke when he presented himself again the next morning at the it tation atlon and you say that the driver bain jones positively denies having brought up a letter for baynes on that night light yes sir replied luke on that or tny my other occasion well baynes must have told me a lo lc for I 1 remember distinctly his saying the driver and there was no one imong the passengers whom he was akely to have known no they all went on to mount you are certain quite certain I 1 was the only one who stayed behind at sullivans then I 1 must own it begins to look very mysterious said mr hall 1 I hink you have some grounds tor for your after all thank you tor for saying that sir re arned luke 1 I have felt that you must hink me quite mad upon the subject dut ul I 1 cannot help it there Is some hing in me which seems to urge we me in n I 1 dont know what it Is but what ver it may be it his has been strong dough nough to enable me to keep from the arink and that Is what I 1 have not had he pluck to do this many a day then nurse the feeling said mr air hall it if it keeps its hold upon yoli yoi t will bring you more good than all he discoveries you may make or even he one thousand pounds reward 1 I feel that sir and with heavens delp belp ill never touch another drop amen to that cried mr air hall whatever searches you may wish to snake make luke he continued you are it perfect liberty to make them at your elaure on and about the station but I 1 tear you will find nothing by which you will trace your brother we le arched every nook and corner would you ou think it a liberty sir if I 1 were ere to ask of you rather a strange tavor not at all what is it it Is permission tor for me to occupy baynes hut certainly why not but what teems much more to the point to me Is the advisability of telegraphing to sydney and throughout the country to detain tom baynes and his wife As a justice of the peace I 1 can have him ir rested upon suspicion of having been concerned once raed ned in the disappearance of your brother you can then see the man it if your suspicions prove incorrect very well we shall all feel eel more satisfied it any rate accordingly mr air hall telegrams to sydney adelaide melbourne let and a number of other places through which he be thought baynes would have probably passed meanwhile luke took possession of the baynes hut the place was very much in the same state as when it had been last occupied the charred logs remained upon the hearth and th the e furniture it if the bedstead table and two benches could be called furniture was there just juat as it had been left william luke retired early from t the he gossip of the mens hut ile he was as tar tired ed of hearing the same old stories of 0 how mrs baynes had lived in rigid seclusion and what a capital mate tom baynes had been A roll of blankets had been given out to him from the tha store and as he entered the hut lie he lighted a candle and surveyed the scene it was quite a warm night but he shivered as he looked around A small heap of brushwood lay in one corner by the chimney so he thought he would light a fire kneeling down he removed the logs which were there charred in the center just as the flame had died out and smoothed the white ashes away with his hand to make room tor for the dry scrub again he shivered feeling a strange chilling sensation as though some awful thing were about to happen to him its the drink he said aloud 1 I thought I 1 had got over it maybe I 1 yet I 1 am nervous the matter with me outside the hut was a pile of 0 chopped wood so carrying carry leg some within ho he soon made a cheerful blaze then having drawn one ol of the wooden stools close up to the fireplace he sat down and commenced to smoke his thoughts hew flew rapidly back over ove r all the strange incidents of the put past two years of 0 his bis life it seemed as though it were but yesterday that he entered the service of old mr hughes at aroyles Fr oyles all the good intentions and resolutions which he had then formed came vividly before his mind how earnestly he had determined to give up the drink and how honestly he had meant to lead a new life then he thought how bow small were the tri trials als over which he fell an old mans temper and crotchety ways the everyday every day worries of 0 most servants lives have not all servants he reflected to fit themselves in as it were to their employers ways and habits babits Is it not a part of 0 their servitude to try to study their masters little foibles and then do they not have certain advantages are they not as a class totally emancipated from all the responsibilities of 0 life which tall fall as aa a rule to the share ot of the smallest householder what are taxes queens or parochial gas or water rates to the average domestic servant their anxiety co concerning n these things begins and ends end 8 in carrying the unwelcome documents relating thereto upstairs what does it signify to them whether coals are nineteen shillings or twenty five shillings per ton the english servant can rest with a tranquil mind undisturbed by visions ot of blue slips of paper threatening distraint unless certain moneys due to her Maje government are paid before a particular date not only Is a servant a perfectly irresponsible person so far as all such matters are concerned but he ran can exact as much civility from his employer tor for the time being as aa his employer can from him these thoughts flowed through lukes mind as he gazed into the blazing log fire and they caused him to wonder at his own tolly folly at not having had the sense to know when he was well and comfortably provided for at last rousing himself from his reverie with a shrug of the shoulders he threw another log or two upon the fire then he pulled out his watch only halt half past nine how slowly the evening had gone ile he could hear the noise ot of voices and laughter down in the mens huts they at any ra rate te seemed to be tree free from care and again his thoughts wandered back to the day when his great trouble tell fell upon him why should he of all men have been chosen to bear such tribulation other men had been given to drink and had bad continued in their ways until death had bad claimed them tor for Us its own other men ay and gentlemen bred and born thousands upon thousands of them yet they had not suffered as he had bad suffered oh why should he of all men be singled out tor for such tearful fearful punishment on account of this widely pre availing human weakness how many men had bad he not known who were perfect slaves to the vice even in his boyhood when a page he had grown accustomed to seeing his young masters come home the worse tor for drink then by hearing such incidents laughed at and spoken lightly about he ha had d grown to regard them as matters ot of course master charles precious tipsy last night A good job tor for him the missus see him such remarks had otten often been made by his fellows in the servants hall and to his halt half educated mind it seemed from the way people spoke about it that it was rather a grand thing to get tipsy and that the man who took kindly to his liquor was by no means a tool fool CHAPTER XIV and so as he grow grew in years drinking became a confirmed habit in him dy by and by he found it was almost a necessity until he be had stimulated himself for the day he was wretched and almost incapable of attending to his duties Bli B night tight he was generally intoxicated arid and on such a night while sleeping off the fumes of his intemperance he had fallen a victim to that horrible accusation the noise of the men in the huts had bad ceased A great stillness seemed to have set in and the very silence roused luke to the tact fact that he had yet to go to bed having piled more wood upon the fire he be proceeded to make himself comfortable for table tor for the night upon the wooden bunk or bedstead which had been made with rough planks and uprights driven into the earth there was an ample arnele supply of at dry tern fern and heather which had served as a mattress for the previous occupants ot of the hut this luke had proceeded to shake up so as to render it more comfortable for it was hard and closely pressed from being in use tor for some borne time in doing so he be suddenly shartel back what was that at the head of the bed A snake seizing a stick he advanced carefully holding the candle in his bla left hand no it was no snake it was a piece of 0 stather a broken waist belt tatting taking it up he carefully examined it and upon the inside he beheld plainly marked in ink R L 11 the anuw of his brother how had it come there bob luke had been in the hut then and the belt had been broken probably in a struggle j whatever had been lone done with his body supposing him to have been in murdered nur dered and the things he be had bad upon him seem ed cd as great a mystery to luko luke aa ever but this piece of 0 belt had no doubt been overlooked by his assailants lanta and there it seemed as i a witness against them luke searched carefully amongst the th fern tor for some additional evidence but could find nothing at last worn out with thinking he be lay down and tell fell asleep for five fire or six hours the weary eary man mail slept soundly the fire had burned down to a few shouldering ing logs and the tallow dip which ho be had bad left led alight had long since expired the morning breeze blew keenly through tin ills crevices of 0 the slab walls though the th sun had not yet risen when william luke moved painfully in his sleep then he commenced to struggle and cry out strange things whatever his dreams may have been i they caused him to clutch and tear at the sides of the bunk and strike out wildly in the air while beads of 0 perspiration pi ration silent proofs ot of his minds agony bedewed his distorted features at length as aa if his soul could bear the torture no longer he leaped from the bed with a yell and shouted yes yea bob what Is it here I 1 am what waa it that you said then he be came quite awake ile he struck a match and lighted another candle seeing no one in the hut he listened but he be heard nothing still vividly impressed with the idea that he had heard his brothers voice he be opened the door and looked all around outside no one was waa there several times he called out hallba Ha lloa bob bob luke its me bill your brother bill do you hear no answer came at last he went back into the hut and sat eat down to wait for or daylight day light in vain he tried to remember what it was he had dreamed but all he could recall was that he had hear his brothers voice calling out for help its that horrible drink I 1 got the better of 0 it yet ho he murmured to himself 1 I am shaken to pieces with it and cant sleep in peace to be continued |