Show THE FATAL REQUESTOR REQUEST-OR F Q U N DO U T By A LHIHTU Author of Mlno Own Familiar Friend etc rropyrro At dear by Oamll PubltnAtAp aompanY fro ght lfOt by S t r t t t A Bm ttA CHAPTER XIIIContinued May my dear she said I dreamt your father had come Mine I made sure I heard his footstep coming up the stairs Hut It was only a dream she sighed On being told of her sons return she at first Decided that she would getup get-up nit the thought of tho exertion proved too mucl foT her Ive broilght him homer mother was the first thing ho said after ho had been kissed and cried over Yes my dear she answered you salll yon lyogld and I never doiibted it but its a sqd sad homecpmlng And hdre the poor idly gave way and wept alujndanty Her son consoleul her to tho best of his ability wondering all tho time how she would take It when she came to know the truththe truth which must come out sooner qr later f The presence pf the dead is always a subject rqoro pr less of superstitious fear to tho less educated classes consequently Ted was hardly surprised sur-prised when he observed a decided disposition on the part of tho domestic domes-tic staff to avoid as much as possible tho upper portion of the house But ho was surprised to find himself giving giv-ing way to a feeling of nervousness of anticipation when he was alone In his room which was situated next to the one In which his father lay in his coffin that night He had a good mind not to go to bed at all but to sit up and read read something humorous Ho sneered at his own cowardice What on earth made him feel like this He had not been afraid of his father living why should he fear him deaddead and lying in his coffin with the lid screwed down and tbo door locked Ho turned up tho gas and chose a volume Tho Innocents Abroad After a short time he was surprised to find himself actually growing 1 tt f I 1 Its no use putting things off sleepy He would shut up the book and go to bed A prodigious yawn followed and bo nearly dropped his book The next m6ment a sound of something some-thing heavy falling brought him broad awake with tho sensation of a cold wind passing through his hair What was It Was it in this room or the next The next moment he gave a short harsh laugh as ho saw that the bullet from the revolver which no had placed upon the bureau had fallen from thence to the ground where It bad rolled some way Ho picked It up and deposited It In A drawer which he locked for greater security I dont want to be disturbed that way again he said to himself My nerves must be awfully shaken to let such a trifle as that knock me over in the way it did I wonder whether it will be any good going to bed after this It is no use trying to read anymore any-more After turning about uneasily for some time he fell into a troubled sleep There was not a sound or movement of any sort In the house and ho had slept on for about two hours when all at once without any warning he awoke What had roused him Tho same voice which ho had heard once before In tho very early morning Ted It seemed to come to him through tho dividing wall And this time as before ho answered back without thinking his senses still half under the Influence of slumber Yes father what Is it And the same voice whether it was only his own brain or came from some unknown source answered him back again Press the spring at the back of tho recess I Ted said his sister compassionately compassion-ately at breakfast the next morning how bad you look Poor boy I Tell mowlth a shudder how did father fa-ther look Do you really think ho did not suffer much Oh I wish I could have seen him once more just for one last look Dear old dad Dont you go on like that May I cant stand it Whats more Ive got to have a very serious talk with you presently What abouUwltb some curiosity curios-ity Its something you ought to know something you must know But itll give you a shock Let us go 1 there into the study I can tell you best CHAPTER XIV An Eye for An Eye The room to which he referred was the one which had been his fathers private sanctum Consequently it was full of memories to tho two who now found themselves alone In it and wherever they turned their eyes they lighted upon some token of his presence or some silent witness of those habits which were Inseparably connected with his name A sheet of writing paper with something some-thing written on it layupon the blotting blot-ting pad and the pen which ho had last used lay beside It with the ink dried upon 1t Everything spoke of the dead His spirit seemed to per vndo tho room which he might only that moment have quitted Teds eye was caught by the sheet of paper lying Upon the writing table ta-ble with something written upon It deco wad the date April 23the day beforo ho left home and beneath It My dear II Not half a dozen words In all and nothing to show to whom It was addressed or why it was left scarcely begun If the blank paper could only speak If tho pen which lay beside It could be made to carry out what the hand had failed to complete He turned to his sister who had sunk upon a sofa by the halfdark ened window and was watching his movements and the play of his countenance coun-tenance with a gradually Increasing sensation of heaviness about the region re-gion of the heart May said her brother its no use putting things off it only makes matters worse so listen attentively to what I am going to tell you and behave be-have like tho good little girl you can beIt It was ten minutes later and the room looked Just the same and yet there was a difference The empty chair the Dradshaw lying opon upon the table and oven the wastepaper waste-paper basket had become objects to be regarded with bated breath and a sense of shuddering awe Murdered That dreadful word which suggested such hideous possl bllltles to tho mind of the hearer She had listened In silence and horror hor-ror as he repeated tho suspicions which were now certainties as far as he was concerned And noir you see May ho concluded what we have to do Is to find the murderer track him step by step and then He paused significantly And then In an awestruck voice from his solitary listener Thenthnt depends was the grim reply You know what the Bi ble says in the case of the slayer She shook her head Thine eye shall not pity but life shall go for life eye for eye tooth for tooth hand for hand foot for foot Its dreadful to hear you talk I It frightens mo sho murmured Frightens you does it was the angry reply Perhaps you would like to sit quietly down and do nothing No no she hastened to answer But I thought the police Just listen to her was the scorn ful interruption The police Leave It to them Indeed What do they care No I dont know what I shall do I have thought of a plan and I believe I know the man to go to some one Ive heard of and who will help to put me on the right track They turned to leave the room together to-gether He gave another last lodk round before closing the door Then turning to his sister as ho put the key In his pocket You will have to break this to mother Oh must I HOW dreadful couldnt you Of course not hastily Its your place to do so and I couldnt think of taking it upon myself Very well she answered meekly if I must I must How she did It she never know but bomehow the words Were spoken and the dreadful truth revealed tars Mrs relief Burritt > partly to her dauth seemed hardly capable of realizing It Hc8 deUldeadr sho cried hysterically It doesnt make any difference to me how ho died What does It matter he Is dearldeaddead 1 so long as rat The noxt was the day l of the tune ralIt It wall numerously attended either out or respect or curiosity and as he H reviewed tho troop of friends acquaintances that assembled J tho gravo tho son of the dead I wondorea for a i instant wheth wcro possible for that one false fr pal to be among them J But i tho idea wail rejected as J ph formed Hooked In vain forl tWa who corresponded with the desl f th tlon of the tall thin elderly M Bi with a driedup look and grey trfl rja tache and who walked with a guess when last seen by the guard er It was exactly nino oclock on I ma night of the funeral when Ted I i rltt put the key In the door andl fv milted himself Into the room vm Ono had been his fathers study fl ihrl jiillfc j carried a lamp in his hj tuff which Jie placed upon the writing are ble Everything remained as It I hvf been on that former visit the < fuel difference lay In the fact that 1 clan film of dust was a little thicker ul Is the various contents of the room I rill He was about to seat himself In 1 the old leather chair in which his fail leer had always sat when apparej fled changing his mind ho pushed It hi by against tho wall and looked roi ice for another which ho drapged I Wile ward I good He took the sealed packet from I aw breast ppcket I and placed It on J table before him It was sealed I c In a sheet of blue paper and I Wqu dorsedY I era Papers found by me after the I had cldent on the person of the Jate Sll re Burrltt Esq and preserved Intact is Jeremiah Cartwright M D et II4t It was of considerable bulk J bF Ted knew that his father was In J I to habit of carrying about him a nj can ccllnneous assortment of rtoctimetl Wil of no particular importance For < so la tJme ho hesitated to break the se s Thermo might be after all sometlil Alen there that the dead man would wino wi-no other eyes but his own to lo I a i upon something not exactly direr F Ir t Itable he would not acknowledge th rchii even to himself but something wh b he might have wished kept prira Jag and which no ono else should se to pry Into If that were the case k Yc He cast his scruples on one sl < Uric broke the seal and tore open t adh wrapper At the first sight of t cur contents thus revealed itch to view t ° stn young man uttered an exclamation It hI dismay for the first document wbl 1 met his eye was burnt and brown a reduced almost to tinder Tho Were they all alike If so the d tin tor would hardly have taken the pal vat to preserve them so carefully a tl With delicate manipulation he 9 c moved the topmost paper and platt It on one side But with all his carf the edge crumbled and broke away his hands I Beneath Oils one was anoth I equally injured but below this ngaj r was a paper only partially singed that an Idea of Its contents might I arrived at after careful Inspect From a font words that met Us e < I ho made It out to be a Mil ot ladl and put it aside with the others T bt rest ho spread out before him on ta table di To be continued to Ic |