Show t THE FATAL REQUEST OR F0UNDQUT By AI Hnrrla Author 01 Mine Own Familiar Friend etc Vopy rIll h t 1111 by U a 11 11 l lubitahtnp Oompany 0 o t > r I y H t JIOI b1l Stria t II 8tn t tit CHAPTER XVI To Be Left Till Called For Three weeks later and tho curtain rising discloses the same scene It Is the second Interview between Mr John Sharp and his now client So you had my letter sir sold the former I hope you didnt think I was wasting tlmo But the fact Is you gave mo rather a large order I do not care how much tlmo you take over tho affair so long as you bring It to a successful lssie Tho question Is what have you been doIng do-Ing What have you discovered And do you think that you are on the right track trackYou You shall see for yourself sir I said the detective To begin with I had to discover at which hotel the i two gentlemen put up I went first of all to tho Lord Warden before trying tny of tho others and in tho visitors book I found a couple of entries en-tries both under the same date April 2ith James Ferrers andS Burrltt At this remarkable confirmation of his suspicions the young man could not restrain a violent start which Mr Sharp received as a tribute to the profession in general and himself in particular I had not expected that you would discover It so easily murmured his client It almost seemsbut never mind go onl with eagerness That was the name of the gentleman gentle-man who arrived first and secured a private sitting room mentioning at the same time that ho expected a friend from London who would remain re-main for the night and would require a bedroom Between six and seven a gentleman did arrive who Inquired if anyone of tho mine of Ferrers were stopping there Tho waiter told him yos that a gentleman of that name had arrived by tile boat that morning morn-ing and directed him to the door of L I I t n I 5 1 4 ra J f fir r z 1IP7 1 III Packages and cases with the Initials J F1 tho private sitting room Tho waiter I also informed mo that they dlnod together to-gether at the table dhote and seemed to all appearances on the most amicable ami-cable terms The next morning they breakfasted together in their private room and loft by tho 430 train In tho afternoon The waiter mentioned a circumstance which I take to be of considerable importance which was that ono of the chambermaids told him that from the appearance of the bed she believed that tho gentleman in No 37 moaning the one who had crossed by that boathad slept with a pistol or something under his pillow pil-low Ahl you see tile importance of that bit of evidence Tho next thing I had to do continued con-tinued Mr Sharp was to discover the boat by which the gentleman who gave the name of Ferrers had arrived ar-rived This was easily done I found that ho had crossed from Calais by the Black Eyed Susan that there had been a large amount of luggage which had all been sent ont to London Lon-don to await the owners arrival As soon as I ascertained this fact I came back here directly I obtained permission per-mission to Inspect the luggage depot and He paused for the sake of effect Oo on go on exclaimed the other I found a number of large packages pack-ages and cases marked with the initials ini-tials J F still waiting to be claimed From the marks and directions upon them I made out that the party they belonged to had come from America that ho had visited Paris and afterwards after-wards crossed to Dover via Calais Now either ho will claim his luggago and by that means render detection a mere matter of A B C or ho may decide de-cide to relinquish his property whatever what-ever Its value as being after all less precious than his own safety I incline in-cline to the latter view myself His listeners face clouded Then it all depends upon Ills appearing ap-pearing to realm the luggage A good deal depends upon that and everything depends upon nothing occurring to excite his suspicions Above all things wo must keep quiet and If the police authorities should pay you a visit for the purpose of making Inquiries into tile matter you will remember to bo cautious and not give them the least hint or we shall have It proclaimed in all the papers that tho police have a cluo and that will put our man on his guard at once oncTed assented to this and asked But have you discovered anything relating to tho past anything to I show why he left England and wont to America Mr Sharp referred to another of tho document beforo him I have been hard at work over slnco my return re-turn to town trying to pick tip the thread At last It occurred to me to try and find out the photographer tho ono who took this photograph selecting it from among tho other articles ar-ticles beforo him Somewhat to my surprise I found tho same firm 1 still carrying on business I explained matters and found them very obliging rnd willing to give any assistance In their power Of course It was too much to expect that they would 10 member anything about a customer who came to thorn HO far back as IS58J but they referred back to somo of their hooks and triumphantly they found tho name and an address Hero It Is Mr John Sharp handed him another paper which had an address written on It and continued I wont to this place No 23 South Street Penton vlllo There happened to bo a card In the window announcing apartments to let for a single gentleman I saw the landlady an ancient party and led her back by degrees to tho date In question and found that sho did remember a Mr Ferrers or somo such name who was with her from fifty eight to sixty But after that date ho loft her and went to the West End to live and she did hear What was tho question short and sharp which toll from tho others lips She did hear continued Mr Sharp though how she came by It slio didnt know that ho subsequently went abroad under a cloud And that IB all That Is all at present and not so bad I think And what is to be done now was the impatient question Well sir In my opinion there sonly s-only ono thing And that Is Walt and see what happens CHAPTER XVII At Twelve of the Clock It Is all very well to tell another person to wait but it is not so easy for the other person However Ted Burritt had plenty to keep him employed em-ployed There were all his fathers affairs to be settled and arrangements made for carrying on the business in Timber Tim-ber Lane The words unknown to him which his father had spoken such a very short tlmo beforo his death as to how this event would affect his family fam-ily were fully realized They were at least spared any anxiety as to the future and were not destined to suffer suf-fer those pecuniary trials which often add so much to tho sorrows of a bereavement be-reavement A reward had been offered by the police authorities for any information that might lead to the discovery of tho murderer In what was now generally gener-ally known as the affair of the Dover express Copies were posted up out aide all the different police stations and presented themselves prominently prominent-ly to tho view of anyone who hap pencil to pass by One hundred pounds reward and but for the detectives advice this Burn would have been doubled and trebled by the son of the murdered manWalt Walt and see what happens were the words of the oracle in the person of Mr John Sharp Let nothing be done to excite the alarm of the individual in-dividual under suspicion Ted had written to Dr Jeremiah according to promise and the doctors answer when It came contained the news of an approaching flying visit to London an expedition which was to combine business with pleasure Under these circumstances of course be must bo invited to make Magnolia Lodge his headquarters Tho invitation was dispatched and accepted and In duo time the doctor arrived gold rimmed spectacles military mil-itary bearing and all complete It is hardly necessary to state that he made himself quite at homo In an astonishing short space of time I like your doctor said May Bur rltt to her brother I liked him before be-fore I saw him from what you told i 0 > me about him but I like him bettor coon than I thought I should now Ivo t mot him Later on In tho retirement of tho best spare bedroom Dr Cartwrlght was communing with himself I had an Idea shod be a nlco girl I and I wasnt far out It Id said an Uncommonly Un-commonly nlco girl I should have been nearer the mark Scorns a sensible sensi-ble girl too this ono I should say her waist was quite twentytwo Inches and an appetite to match I And her names Mayl Pretty name that short and sweet At tho same moment that tho doctor doc-tor was pursuing these reflections r TOll Burrltt was Inserting the hoy Into tho lock of tho study door During Dur-ing all this time ho had allowed none to enter the room except hlniHclf It seemed to him to be full of mystorl HUH associations which no outstdo Influence should bo allowed to dU orb Nothing had been moved Ills fathers fath-ers chair pushed back against the wall remained Just as ho had left It on tho last time ho had entered tho room rue pen lay beside the blotting 9 blot-ting pad and tho dust had accumulated accumulat-ed over everything Ho placed the lamp upon tho tahlo and drew up a chair Thou ho unlocked that name compartment com-partment removed the bundles of papers pa-pers as before touched tho spring which opened tho secret recesses und took from it tho burnt letter Again ho took a sheet of paper and e a 1 pen from the lIesleho would not use 1 that other which lay beside him rd 1with with the Ink dried upon ItRlul began be-gan again to write and rewrite tho words which ho know by heart Have not forgotten of twenty years on receiving this letter at onco for Dover expect to reach There Is that botweon us which + not allow you to deny I ask and many you alone can It you rofuso I shall that you us j 1 the criminal of your youth i j = > i After working at this for about half i an hour without being able to add so much as a single syllable to what ho had already deciphered ho throw down his pen I would give anything to be able to discover tho missing words but It is quite beyond time bounds of pousl < t billty And there is no hope this times of any Interventionany guiding in ilueiico to direct meto point out the wayat any spirit voice to speak tome I to-me and tell mo a Taking up tho sheet of paper again on which ho had been employed ho saw to his surprise as ho turned It IT over that It was the same on which his father had written those words t My dear The letter which had never been finished It was strange he had not observed this before Then ho took up the pen which his A father must have last used with the trtvcon ot ink dried upon it mho 4 m-ho put It way carefully ao a relict Or should It remain where it was a j little longer Ho dropped it and gave expression to something between a yawn and a sigh Im uncommonly sleepy ho Bald and yet I dont fed In the least Inclined to go to bed 1 have a sort of feeling as though I l had to sit up for someone He gave a short laugh Suppose I turn in on 1 thn sofa for a bit I wonder what makes mo so sleepy I didnt take r anything at dinner but a little + Ills eyes closed and In a few minutes he was sound asleep A clock outsldo In the hall ptruck tho halfhour without i2 with-out any change taking place In his = i condition Another Interval of tlmo passed and then the clock struck 1 again Onetwothreefourfivo i slxsevenelghtnlne cloven I clov-en twelve As It gave tho last stroke ho started up To be continued |