Show A r E 4 L 0 NS L 0 V E 40 BY ill HRNRY we CHAP TEIl I 1 it Is some come fifteen years or more since the quiet bundrum little village ot of Bled gemere nere became famous tor for a briet brief period on account of the vom rom mission of a dreadful crime Sled gemere nere Is an out ont of the way spot in sussex having to this day no railway station within nine miles and boasting only two gentlemen a residences and a vicarage for nearly thirty ears the parson had preached and his parishioners had liate listened ned there had been squabbles bles between the vicar and the squire about chancel rights there had bad been good seasons and bad nine day scandale had been cherished and nursed nu rael but never before had bad the holer baler people of the village been so eo utterly startled tart led from their dreamy every day existence as they were on that memorable ot of the of july 18 about halt half a mile from the squire a house and on the opposite side elde of the village there was a pretty old man mall stan blon called aroyles which had been occupied tor for it a considerable time by art an elderly bachelor named hughes very little was known of him although when he be first came into the neighborhood he brought with him introductions to the squire from whom he be rent rented d the house considering that he be lived almost entirely alone he be kept up it a some somewhat shat large establishment occasionally an elderly maiden lady named mim who ft ho was mas supposed to bo be his niece came and bald him a three or four months visit but I 1 the old man was of such retiring habits that he could not endure for any length of time any Inte reference in his was wao of life so altos Pye crofta crofts visits visit invariably terminated in a 86 stormy eruption on his part caused by some fancied liberty he be imagined her to have taken in the ordering dering oi of the household or by some grumbling on the part of the servants sei who by no do means relished her trespassing tres passing upon their preserves mr hughes ement his time chiefly among his books and coins ot of both of which he prided himself upon having a large and valuable collection ills ilia household consisted chiefly of 0 a butler a footman a a cook and two maid servants besides two out of door doo r wen UM the hie coAt hinsin and gardener in euch a dull spot it if wa was wai i no MB eab task to get indoor men servants to remain the tha matter malster of the house very seldom entertained and even deplored living laving to preside at the two or three annual dinner parties at which the squire the vicar and the local doctor accompanied by their respective wives were his bla chief and generally his only guests these dinners indeed but slow affairs for the only post poet diversion ever offered was an inspection of mr hughes hughea coins which ere displayed in their glass cases all around the drawing room after the departure of the gu greets elsts these trens trena urea were re deposited in the great oaken cabinets in the library to lie by until the next festive occasion among them were many valuable antique gold and silver pieces and it was a common of the squires squire s when he dined at aroyles Fr oyles that he would mould not like to keep eo much bullian in his house tor for fear of waiting asking up isome come fine morning and finding ills his throat cut habit however bad become a second nature and the possession of theao coins caused mr mir hughes no anxiety they were not things people could steal he always declared as the real value consisted in their antiquity and it would be a hard matter to limpose of them but you might melt them down the squire suggested melt your grandmother down I 1 mr hugh had replied irritably as AB it if the very motion of melting down such treasures for the sake cake of paltry dross were offensive oHen alve to him alm it la is niece necessary seary in order to follow the revelations contained in throe these pages to be b particular as to the description scrip tiou ot of the inmates of mr hughea a establishment at the time the narrative tho the cook mrs voting was an elderly woman who had been five years yeara in her present situation the two matda maids bar saraa and anne dodson were is ei stera leters both young women omen and natives of the village of Sledge maie mate the tha footman edward edmard bartlett was a youth of nineteen and had lately all engaged with an excellent two years character from his hie former master the butler william luke was a man of ivr r forty years of oge age who had entered mr hughes service about the ame time as a bartlett la in of the difficulty he had ha d experienced in obtaining ats mr hughes lad taken luko luke into his ble bervice without a character charac tei the man maa had bad been dle charged by his late employer for imp and suspected pilfering of wine but mr hughes liked him h looks and after cautioning him blim as aa to his future behavior con tinted to engage hl n of I 1 and the gardener it is lc arcely neta sarv to say bay any bauge bK Uge at tb time i ot of the drafta eident ei rent about to be diiro sil ed proved to be la in their houses bouse wim khadr respective and chil 6 on the of jelv 18 nir mr hughes gase gaie one ot of hla his solemn dinner parties As usual the coins were displayed after dinner and the old gentleman held beld forth with more than his ordinary zeal upon their hestor hl hI stor value and afta the guests chests had taken their departure inks I 1 uke the lutler butler assisted by edward bartlett removed the cases under mr hughes and placed them in the cabinets in ili the 11 arary where they were mere ordinarily IL ept it was supposed that mr hughes did not retire until long after mian midnight ight ile he was waa in the habit ot of sitting up late and jotting down the occurrences of the day and writing out orders for or the servants to carry out on the following morning lie ile was heard by the cook to be moving about abou down stalls after the clock struck one an and d the under housemaid anne dodson declared in her evidence that she heard her master come upstairs and go into his bedroom just as the treat great hall clock chimed the three quart quarters irs atter after one this witness moreover moi moie cover over declared that eke bhe was suffering from toothache on that night might and could get it no rest so she ahe was waa trying to read bersel j to sleep deep hearing mr air hughes step on the stairs she looked at hw box watch and was waa astonished to find that it was BO 80 late soon afler after aih aids the clock below struck two and this tact fact impressed the time upon her mind |