Show = THE FATAL REQUEST OR FOUND OUT By A L Harris Author oCMIno Own Familiar Frirmd otc Jopyrgld 1891 by o 0 p 1 r gilt ubllliling Jolllpany I 9 0 b S t II t t f S 171 t 11 CHAPTER XI Continued Know mo Of course he docs ins the reply Didnt 1 buy him of i drunken old Irish woman and mend his broken leg for him And do you Uilnk hoVgoIng to forget that though bo Is only a duck They remained pacing up and down tho garden paths until It was quite dusk the doctor persistently conversing con-versing on cheerful subjects and refusing re-fusing to allow the conversation to toko a morbid turn At nine oclock supper was served onslstlng of boiled fowl and sausages sau-sages Youll take a leg and a wing and a bit of tho breast said the hospitable hos-pitable little man as he piled his visitors plate Youve got a trying day before you tomorrow CHAPTER XII The Other Passenger The Inquiry Into the death of Mr Silas Uurrltt was held at the Wheat sheaf In the long low room usually dedicated to the flowing bowl and the promotion of social Intercourse The same routine having been observed ob-served as on that previous occasion Dr Jeremiah Cartwright was called to prove the finding of the bodyIts position appearance and subsequent removal to the vestry of the old 1 ihurch and his examination of the remains resulting In the discovery jf n wound with two orifices showing that the bullet which had caused It md traversed tho head completely Other scientific evidence followed which Is suppressed Mr Edward Burrltt was then called and went through the form of identifying identi-fying the deceased as his father Mr Silas Burrltt merchant of Timber Lane City aged 50 He entirely nega tived the theory of selfdestruction stating that his father to his certain knowledge had not only never possessed pos-sessed anything In the shape of fire thing about either of them that helped to fix his attention upon them he answered an-swered that the taller and thinner of thn two though they wero both of thorn tall and well growod seemed uncommon pertlckler about picking out n carriage to his mind He noticed no-ticed him looking Into several before ho fixed upon that Identical compartment compart-ment and when he had he beckons to him tho guard and says Look here ho says me and my friend wo dont want nobody oHe gtting Inhere I In-here Wo want this here carriage to ourselves till we get to London Take this ho sajs and dont > ou lot nobody no-body else In whatever So I Fays All right sir and locks the door and thinks to myself Anybody Would think as it II as n couple of honeymooners honey-mooners Instead of two elderly gouts Could he Identify tho body of the gentleman who bad been shot ns the companion of the other He both could and would except that there hud been a sort of a smile on his facu then and he looked very different now In fact ho had struck him the uardIn spite of the Up which the other paity gave hlmns hoing by far the agreoabler and most pleasantspoken gentleman of the two and he had been most uncommon sorry sor-ry that ho had on recognizing the body because you see he had quite I mado up his mind I that ho hud escaped es-caped as well as the other one Doing asked to explain himself said ho didnt see much what there was to explain What he meant was that he thought that If one gent got oft scot free the other might have done the same What did ho mean by the other having got off scot free and what was his authority for speaking as ho didWhy Why It was simple enough Being In the rear of the train he was con scions of nothing until ho found him t i self thrown violently on the floor I Know me Of course he does arms but had always been remarkable remark-able for an unusual amount of nerv ousness almost amounting to horror Iwith I regard to anything of the kind Inconsequence In-consequence pf an accident with a tragical termination which he had onco witnessed Dr Jeremiah Cart wright recalled at this juncture hero stated his firm conviction that the wound had not been selfinflicted which he proceeded to prove to his own satisfaction and the entire bewilderment be-wilderment of everybody else present by the aid of a great many polysylla blc expressions and a torrent of professional pro-fessional phraseology which swept everyone off their feet but which on being filtered down for the benefit of tho unlearned merely amounted to the following facts viz that the edges of tho wound by which the bullet had made Its entrance were torn and lacerated as well as blackened and burnt by the action of the gunpowder gunpow-der that the skin In the vicinity of the wound was blistered the bleeding I slight and chiefly from the orifice of exit and the two openings In the scalp nearly opposite each other Dr Cartwright having brought his evidence to a conclusion now gave place to another witness and one In whoso power it might be to help to unravel the mystery This last was the guard of the 430 train an intelligent in-telligent looking man who with a bandage round his head and one arm In a sling bore tokens of the Injuries he had received In jumping from the train while It was In motion On being questioned as to what he knew of the matter he replied without with-out any hesitation that ho remembered remem-bered the fourth carriage from the engine well and the passengers that it contained In that particular compartment com-partment Was he sure that there was more than one passenger In that compartment compart-ment of the carriage referred to Sure and certain he was There were two of them Ho could swear to it Didnt one of them tho taller of tho two tip him handsome to lock them in so that they might have the carriage to themselves for the journey jour-ney And did you lock them in and are quite sure that they wore both together I to-gether In the carriage when the train started t Certain sure ho was He see them both together in tho compartment as the train passed him Just before ho swung himself Into his van Being asked whether thoro was any Jdia Recovering himself he jumped from his van and alighted on his feet but was struck by a fragment of something some-thing and knocked down Ho rose to his feet again though suffering from wounds In the head hand an knee and saw a sight the like of which ho had never seen before With his keys In his hand he ran up and down the line hardly knowing what ho was doing As soon as ho began to get his senses back which bad been pretty pret-ty well knocked out of himhe unlocked un-locked all tho doors of the carriages that he came to though they were already unlocked on one side After he had done all he could ho wont and sat down by the side of the line for ho began to turn faint and dizzy Whllo he sat there he saw a tall rather thin elderly gentleman making mak-ing his way slowly towards him who limped a little as he walked As this latter came nearer he recognized him as being tho same Individual who had given him the tip and told him to I keep anyone else from getting Into the carriage Witness noticed that his face was Ghastly and that ho breathed like a man who had been running a race but naturally put it down to the terrible ter-rible shock and the fright caused by the accident As ho came up to him ho the guard spoke to him and said Glad to see youre safe sir hopo tho other gent Is the same But ho only stared at him In a queer dazed sort of way without making any answer and passed on down tho line At last after some debate tho verdict ver-dict agreed upon was Wilful murder against some person or persons unknown Ted Burrltt and his friend the doctor I doc-tor loft the place together What will bo your next step In the matter asked the latter First to take my fathers body home then to look for his murderer mur-derer CHAPTER XIII Coming Home Early In tho evening of tho same day Dr Jeremiah was bidding his new friend goodbye as ho saw him off from the station The train puffed slowly out of the station and the last view Ted had of the little man showed him standIng stand-Ing at the end of tho platform and waving his spectacles after him He gave him a parting salute out of tho window of tho carriage and then drttr i In his head sank back Into his scat I with a sigh and began to review tho events ot the last few days Wilful murder against some person or persons unknown 1 And ho had to break this an well as nil that went before it to thoso two women nt home A grp vsomo taskWell Well BO much the worse for tho man who bad been the cause of It all So much tho worse for him when the day camo for reckoning up accounts tho day that would see him In tho criminals dock tho day that would place a nooso round his neck And tho > oung man felt that that would bo a day well worth waiting for even though It might bo Indefinitely prolonged pro-longed Hut ho would never rest and never give up until he had helped to bring it about j for it seemed to him that revenge would bo Incomplete and robbed of half Its sweetness unless it wore his foot that helped to dog tho murderer and his hand that helped to Imuy him to n felons doom Oh yes he must be an agent If not tho chief at any rate an important one Ho hoped among his fathers letters and papers contained In a sealed packet which ho carried about his personto como upon something which mlsht help to set his feet In the right track Then the thought struck him If he could find that letter Tho one that came less than a week ago If It had not been destroyed And why should It lme been Unless nnd ho recalled re-called that at tho time distasteful allusion al-lusion of Dr Cartwrlghts unless tUero were something compromising In It But ho rejected the Idea now as ho had then No doubt ho would bo nlle to find the letter It was most probable that It was Included among I thoso other papers which were oven I now In his possession Meanwhile at Magnolia Lodge the days had dragged heavily along Mrs Burrltt having onco taken to her bed a recumbent position being looked upon by her as tho most proper nnd becoming one In which to encounter affliction Immediately upon receipt of the sad tidings had not since sufll clently recovered herself to leave It again Grief she said always had a peculiar effect upon her sntno and she didnt know whether It was tho blinds being down or tho sight of her widows cap but she couldnt help feeling that she was not long for this world Anyhow they must not grieve but be sure and bury her by the side of their dear father All this could scarcely bo said to add to her daughters daugh-ters spirits only there was so much to be dono that she had fortunately llttlo tlmo In which to Indulge In morbid reflections on her own behalf There were letters to bo written dressmakers to bo Interviewed and a host ot other things which must bo done whether the house bo one of I joy or mourning It was about halfpast seven on I Tuesday evening when she heard the sound of wheels She hastened into the hall and mot her brother The first glance showed her the alteration that had taken place In him Ho looked very worn and full of trouble much older and sho thought much sterner She had been In the habit of regarding him as a boy was he not barely three years her senior now ho looked a man every Inch of him A hasty greeting passed between be-tween them and then she went to prepare her mother for his arrival Mrs BurrKt was dozing and her daughter hesitated for a moment before be-fore rousing her As sho stood waiting wait-ing she heard heavy footsteps ascending ascend-ing the staircase footsteps of men who were carrying something of great weight She know what it was They came on slowly past the door of the room In which she was Then after n short time she heard them descending descend-ing the stairs again the door of the house was closed and at the same moment her mother woke To be continued |