| Show pip 11 fl T AW 11 T A L R AE U 14 S T r V NIS D C T is by y A L ilert author of min io own ra familiar millar fri t rid etc j ry A 2891 fry by 0 basaj a f t ru tt hia t n y oom 0 tp pasly v a 0 copy p V r ig d q A ht 8 t f 0 0 I 1 6 y 8 3 1 r 0 40 8 i A in 1 0 A CHAPTER VI VII I continued for some ome reason ted burritt remained rei 1 I tie d behind I 1 II 11 let them go first ho he said to himself in the meantime those who had been to view the bod in the vestry returned it was wait evident from their manner and the short time they had been absent that no identification had taken place ted burritt with his heart beating wildly now turned in the same bama elroc tion on the extemporized bier a body lay the lower limbs of which were covered with a cloth leavic L the hie face and the upper part of the body ex posed to view ted burritt saw that it was aas the fao fae of at a man of about fifty years of ago age with features that must have acon handsome in their day but which in death wore an expression of expectancy the ex of one who recognized the full horror of the fate that awaited him it was the face of his own father CHAPTER vill VIII dr jeremiah cartwright A tow few moments elapsed at the end of which time the door of the vestry opened arain this time to admit a small middle aged gentleman Kent leman whose somewhat imposing itoman nose was surmounted by a pair of gold rimmed tentacles tet acles and whose civil garb had an almost military cut and preciseness about it lie jle cleared his throat and rave gave a tharp sharp little cough like a double knock I 1 beg your pardon my dear sir air I 1 hope I 1 m not disturbing you but I 1 tod burrett rose to his foot feet and seemed all at once to wake from the apathy t f grief which bal over 1 rome come him when he realized that hla his worst fears had been surpassed and that hla his beloved parent had met with a horrible death such as the most abandoned criminal might have shui dered at ills eyes were bloodshot hid ble half hair tossed teamed and tumbled as ai though had been clutched at and dishevel k t y mus muscular Lular fingers ills dress asty and disordered and he ha haggard unwashed appear in spite of these drawbacks other ejaculated under lite hla breath A fine fellow seema seeing uncommonly cut up too rather unusual thing in these days seems to be something 1110 genuine feeling here and I 1 like ilko to see bea ul ill I 1 like to see eee ul having arrived at the tha conclusion ot of these theme remarks some ot of which balot we have beena distinctly audible had the hooper chosen to lend land an aa car in their direction he be continued out loud dy by theby the by let me introduce mv soli self my aly name a cartwright jeremiah cartwright su rheon etc late ot of the tha 1 ted burritt turned toward him with so like an app ap tarance of in terest and the doctor seeing this went vent on yes yea I 1 ve TO been on the spot ever since the accident took place youve hard how bow it was ot of course it was an aa awful sight bight and what made it wore more so BO was the tact fact that little or nothing could be done to help tho the groans and shrieks were something alfr aw vi 4 what ye more the front of the train iraln wao waa co irli tely enveloped la in a black pitch ilie smoke binok from the burning oil which as ou know had t exploded from the through which the flames leaped and it was quite an hour toro they had bad burnt themselves out ard even then the baat heat was so BO intense eiB was no BO opportunity ot of ap the carriages for some onie hours bourn after that and when we vve did lie he pause I 1 impressively and throw threw out alit hands bards when we did there was nothing left but smoking skeletons of fit nen men women and children yen yea sir air children and in some som instances as ou way may have seen tor for yourself not even thail ted burrett uttered a groan as aa the dotto doctor wound up in a breathless condition gasn wasn aan t it itt said bald the laefer recovering himself in no time dut but you layl laying alg hand band on the young mans shoulder you gie ghe w wy ay yoki you know just con consider filder e e other poor I 1 folks the chulch Is 1 af full 1 I 1 of 0 them they roani matil of them have nothing left of their dead but a few 4 abes a mindful MIld ful ff ir black bla cli dust what is ismore imore in most cases uey ey ill not edow cilar handful dij r ta rj As r ot of dust or how many of the ashes lahea they may claim as their own compare your came with theirs and I 1 think you will III agree with me that you have a great deal acal to be thankful for you ell can havo have our dead decently in with hla his name nama upon his bla bead stone led raised lite ills head which was sunken between hla his shoulders you are ara right he sold eald I 1 have a great deal to be thankful tor for even yet that a right said the doctor resuming his brisk every day tone that a the way to look at the matter IV III the by lowering his voice again I 1 may as well tell you that I 1 was one of the party who helped to find the poor gentleman and he motioned with hla his head toward the corpse yes yea as the other made a sudden step toward him he be was in the fourth carriage from the engine a first class clasa carriage it was waa and he was the only occupant this carriage was thought to be empty as aa no cries were heard and it wita waa generally believed that whatever passengers it might have contained had made their escape before the flames reached it of course the supposition in IH that he was disabled perhaps killed hilled outright by the effects of the coll co llalon slon for the car ariage was much da damaged magid and wo we had sumo some considerable difficulty in extricating him the young man nodded his head bead and an expression of relief spread itself his countenance I 1 I 1 should like to think that ho he said I 1 it would bo be a great alleviation it if I 1 could believe lie he perished like that instead of enduring the agony of that other hideous death and as aa he alicke he bh aal st act his teeth together depend upon it that was the truth of the matac ro attEr r rejoined the little doe doc tor iia might have been struck senseless sona oless by a blow upon the head at any rate I 1 shall and out that when I 1 nit ty it was waa tho the face fac of his hl own eatherl make rny my examination of the remains I 1 don t know whether you care to stop while 1 I no in anaw answer er to a violent estial bitae a of the head bead well perhaps its it s better not and you think tod ted burritt inquired that the examination will III show you how my father tied died I 1 the doctor nodded hla his bead you remain for the inquest I 1 suppose r when 7 began tho young man dut but the garrulous little gentleman did not allow him to finish monday ra morning orning twelve he jerked out I 1 ou oil 11 find and the place very bull nil but very likely you oil it 11 be able to got get a bed somewhere it not come to me and I 1 II 11 put you up 11 ted burritt Burrl tt moved by this generous offer on the part of a stranger bt ranger thanked him in a few broken but heartfelt words lie made his way back to the statton and found that another train had ad just arrived bearing 6 still further load ot of anxious grief stricken la in a ile iio wrote rote w out a ma silage and consigned it to one of the clerks not one ona of whom had bud bad hla his hand band off the instrument till all night on tho the una line groups of men under proper superintendence were still busily engaged in searching among the heaps of debris As ted burritt stood and watched them at their work suddenly the thought hashed flashed across his mind again his fathoms friend driendl what had bad be come of him CHAPTER IX A startling discovery the which ted burritt sent to hla his sister was as follows laie found my lather father am remaining until after the inquest break tho the news newa gently having disposed of this duty it occurred to him that he be would be the bettar for a wash agh and a meal thoro thore was an unassuming little inn ina not far from where he stood it looked clean and noting inviting to thi the weary young fellow and ana thither he bent his bis steps only to find that the modest little hostelry was almady besieged bealek ed by those be b e errand had been the same mama as ashi hla sowo lie ile vaa told by the land lord himself almost before he be had time ame to frame the inquiry that they were fill ur up j t as je avy hayloft loft but it was waa just possible that he might find and someone la in the village who might b be able to take him ahra la in mine aline host strongly 1 recommended recommend od the to go at AB wore ware old eta 11 mother other r room aimala mail urchin who he wa aut about the abe door was wa by bt the th p prospect oi of to haw he way to athe the old dat damai neo cottage having seen the room a funny little place up under the roof in which he c could barely stand upright but which spotlessly clean as it was seemed a very haven of rest to the worn out young man and haying having expressed him nell melt as satisfied and paid five shill ings ingo in advance as a token of oc good glod faith the old dame departed in search tl t new laid eggs from her own hena bens to serve erve up for her now new lodger a 8 break fast I 1 in a the meantime the young man threw himself into a chair with a heavy sigh which the good old soui oui heard as she shut the door upon him sho she returned to the room in about aboul halt half an hour a time with a tray whick contained contain cit the homely but excellent country faro fare fhe bhe had prepared and finding no notice taken of the knock with which she announced the arrival arelva of f breakfast pushed open the loot looi art and it entered she found the new lodger fast a sleep on hla his chair with his aeao resting on the table and depositing her tray thereon also stood regarding him with motherly solicitude poor ioor dear oung gentleman she murmured to herself if a dont don t look dead beat ill jest put the breakfast by im so as aa a can see it when a waken akes she left the room closing the door behind her and still the young man slept on in spite of hla his constrained at and the hardness of his bis pillow another half ball hour passed at the tha end of which time another step was waa heard ascending the crazy cray little wood en ea stall case a firmer step but at the same time lighter than the other and another anothy r voice this time a masculine one might have been hoard heard to say eay all right mrs binman don t you trouble will announce I 1 which the speaker proceeded to do first of all by the application of hla his knuckles which proving ineffectual was followed by the lifting of the latch and the appearance ot tho the figure of dr jeremiah emiah cartwright upon the threshold lie ile too contemplated the sleeping figure doubtfully he re marked halt half aloud asleep achl hi good thing too gone through a lot worn himself oit ait hullo what a this eh all got cold cohl tool too better wake him up after abill all ihla ibis he be did very gently and too teo burritt started up rubbing hla his eyes then recognizing the situation bitu atlon as well as the personality of if the indi vitual who nho confronted him oil oh lord I 1 be cried with a groan 1 I d forgotten all a about out it but tell me what the exam the tha doctor interrupted him with a gesture what a that I 1 see look ing at tho the viands through hla his gold teab eggs but ter cream brown bread my news newa will keep our breakfast break tast wont or rather has been kept too long al ready sit down at once and dispose of the tha contents of that tray or you don don t got get another word out af pf me tod ted was astonished to find how hua bun gry he wai A as and had bad soon cleared tho the board though at the same time he found it rather embarrassing to feel that he was an object of interest to an aa individual in gold rimmed spectacles who stared at him persistently through them and kept up tip a running commentary under hla his breath all the timo some of the ejaculations too which caught his ear were decidedly of a nature to arouse curiosity on the part of the hearer who now and ther could not avold avoid overhearing such frog frag ments as these mysterious affair should like to get at the bottom of it talk about sensational incidents Incident st wonder how hall take it etc and now sald eald the oung man turning round upon him tell me what Is the result you have arrived at to be continued |
