Show THE TH E r ATAL ST 0 R F 0 V N D 0 V T hy fly W A L it karris arris author of mine own f ar friend etc t oh C t 8 s i 1 ti av y 0 a i i f I 1 t publishing company bompa n V 0 oo 00 0 p v y r I 1 ay iy v A t I 1 0 9 h b y S B 9 tr r f s f t t 8 in I 1 9 A uw mem CHAPTER continued today Is tuesday there ta Is a lit tle tie shabby braer book somewhere among my belongings I 1 will put it onre nee and for all out of m power tu procha procrastinate further by fixing upon a certain date and swearing to carry out dut on that and no other the purpose which has been in my mind so long ions to day as aa I 1 have said Is tuesday on friday then without further delay I 1 will insert my duplicate key in the lock of that door first of 0 all as pertaining certa ining that it will N III fit an I 1 make what dr would describe as a felonious entry Alean meanwhile while I 1 have to consider perking she has not shown me so much open animosity since my return but it will not do to count upon this she may be only as she would mould no doubt herself express it biding hei time I 1 you don t deceive mo me she sat said when I 1 crept down stairs like a thief in the night and wag mas nearly discovered through her instrumentality what was ag the threat she employed toward me on that memorable occa sion elon ill III find out what aou ou are up to as ag sure as names name s maria ann perkins perking and she Is a woman moman N who bo looks as though she file would not mind to w what hat she put herself or what time elapsed so go that she could avenge herself for her fancied wrongs 4 since writing the above lines some hours bours ago I 1 have made another dis covery my master has remained shut up tip in his private room for the greater pa bajt t of this time and 1 I in ac corrance cor dance with alth my position as spy have hung about the door on the chance of hearing some sound however slight or catching sight of his face as he left tile the room I 1 I 1 have often wondered as to the manner in which he employs himself on tb thise se occasions when he remains locked in this chamber for hours today there has been no loom for doubt lie has been writing on and on ceaselessly evidently lie he uses a quill and wiltes a hean hea hand for I 1 could plainly hear the sound the pen made in traveling over the paper liere here is another subject tor for consid conald oration I 1 ile he has made his bis will and row he la Is writing writing apparently something of import ance once too I 1 heard the un able sound of the tearing of paper avas as he dissatisfied with what he had written and tearing it up tip did he find the composition of the document difficult dim cult and if so for whose N hose ee w was as it intended that so much time aud and trouble were vere lavished upon ita it if lie he la is now occupied in writing letters of an undoubtedly private na ture shall I 1 be In trusted with the task of carrying can aing them to the post when hen completed or if the N work orl upon which he has been engaged is of some other description what nhat will become of it t when nhen finished and what will he do with the pieces of paper which il liell he has torn upa nill they be committed to the flames or cimpl to the waste anasto paper basket baskett 9 alch ANh anchich hl ch ich said the cook at dinner the next day Is the conly word ord a will egg the company no offense bein meant and not nothing agin nobody feell ns bein things as Is not to be kin trolled strolled by the best of us and better be low in sour mind than in our la is my motter but when it cornea comes to not a woid nord being spoke for five min nits aits by the hitching clock makin allOl allowance lance for its being tenta two minnies fast by time it do seem as someone fighter hinter fire re in a friendly sort 0 wa vay ilon how much longer she would mould have hae rambled on in the same ley it si iq im possible to say had not another note been struck b the parlor maid who remarked that miss agnes badat hadn t seemed particles parti cler ler cheerful the liast day or so the oung man EdN edwards ards seemed as though his attention was arrested by this trivial remark and glanced across the table yes added the parlor maid ad dressing herself to him as she per calved that what hat she had said had somehow or other interested him I 1 ve caught her sighing to herself more than once late latela as though she shed d something on oil her mind P r aps with alth a sudden inspiration araps shoo 0 o in love folks folh gene generally rally sighs a 11 leal eat when they re in love and she directed what ought to have been a killing filing glance at tho the good looking young man opposite olp 01 osite her and breathed a sigh on her own account it apparently missed its ita aim but something in this last remark seemed to excite great derision in the breast of perkins ns the housemaid in love loiel she exclaimed exclaim ed I 1 ila ha ha I 1 I 1 like that and she too sent a glance which might in a sense have been described as killing if I 1 oka could kill kil lacross across the table in love indeed with withering contempt who with I 1 like to know you forget never been bich alch a thing as a oung man as shed look at or touch with the tips of her ainge fingers ra there was a strong malicious ern cm phayla on this inside the door once since thy ve been living here ahl said the parlor mald maid faill showing show in an inclination to hold her own I 1 p raps not but how about before that well replied the housemaid suddenly showing an inclination to go over to the enemy and side with her rhal and InNar invariable lable opponent to the batters lat vast nast astonishment I 1 don t say as you mayn t be right anyhow whether whet lier ashes in love or whether she isn t it s no good if he aint her equal for you may be suie sine her pall never hear of her marrying beneath her and quite light too put in the cook who thought it was nigh time she introduced another of her expert ances unekial marriages is most always ata ala A ays a failure as as bin proved over and over again but for all that with a startling and ins antane ous change of tho the subject I 1 should like to know why that there will as I 1 elded to up should be called a testament 1 which I 1 thought there was but ON two 0 the hold and the new I 1 lor cook died tile the housemaid NN with ith a sniff how bour mind do run on that will anyone would a think a as s it was as the only one as ever was an and d nobody never nener signed their names to nothing beffi e wills there may ave bin answer ed cook majestically but seldom one as the cook were sent for all of a V 11 let me relieve you of those things with ardly time to binse the flour hoff hofe er ands amis to put er name to v which its all very well for some poo peo pie to try and run down wills she added darkly and defiantly and per tends to think small beai of witnesses but times a pl cesman sinan as is haIN Nays a movin of us on and we should mako make our hac cordin just at this point the parlor mald maid pushed back bach her chair and said well she t sit chete gossiping any longer as she d got her work w ork to do which ni was as to dust the masters room where ho he kept ills his papers and books which you don t dare to lay a finger on though for the matter of that thai everything s a always N a s put under tinder lock and key before anyone a allowed to take dust pan and broom to it at this ordinary enough remark t the he oung boung man who had been sitting there very orieth while the discussion just recorded was nas raging round him seem ed galvanized into sudden action and extraordinary civilia civi lit could lie he might he be allowed to be of any assistance in lifting anything to hery heay for her such as er emptying the waste paper basket or anything 9 1 1 I he parlor maid looked at him in surprise mingled with gratification well I 1 nener did she giggled it ou oil aren t just polite all of a sudden I 1 but master he s that part c ler for ab about out that old room of ills hia and I 1 never in know ow but what hes he s got his ee on me araps he would rit like it the oung man seemed inclined ned to press his request but noticing per kins king regarding him in evident per pl plex exit lt as though not knowing what to make of this move lie he checked himself and said no more on the subject but when the parlor maids work mork was nearl completed and she came out of the room with the dustpan and brush in her hand she found him waiting matting patiently outside the booi I 1 let me lot let me relieve you of those things he said with an eagerness which notwithstanding her complete confidence in her own charms she found as puzzling as it was dei I 1 you would haie bae thought by the eager expression on the oung loung mane man x face and the haste with which he relieved her bor of her ver blight burdau do that the dut dust which it contained contain ranst havo have been gold dust at the very least at any rate he ha had hla his wy and hurried oft off with the atti articles cles as M thou though lie ho were halt half afraid that she might change her mind dut but when h sr ar J rived at the basement there was noth ing but dust and flue left in the dust pan the pieces of paper had bad peal pealed ed I 1 that same sa m e night t 1 in n the seclusion of his onn own n room h he e occupied him self in the seemingly N a aln in and useless task of separating bolting and pasting together some morses of writing paper which had bad been torn into the minutest fragments I 1 I was right when I 1 guessed it to bo be no ordinary letter he was as writing he muttered mutt erd this Is only the heading of the document that lie he had been engaged in drawing up but it la Is suf but to enable me to arrive at the purport of its contents I 1 the true narrative and confession of me james fenera fen Ferr era erB ot of the strange tragedy of the of ap ali ah jam james es 1 boners toners en ers ou were NN ere guilty of worse than a crime a blunder when you contented yourself with tearing up that sheet of paper into particles which ou thought were too minute ever to be deciphered instead of burning them on the spott spot I 1 but why has he made this coa co bession fes slon sion Is it merely to relieve his own conscience or has he some other object in view which I 1 cannot at present discern whatever it may be that docu ment that confession of hla his guilt of 0 which I 1 needed no further confirmation cannot have left this house it I 1 la Is no doubt concealed in some secret I 1 drawer or hiding place in that loom of which I 1 possess the means of entry in the duplicate key next I 1 may be settle atle that question as well as others CHAPTER A robbery and a recognition tho the next day being thursday was not destined to pass uneventfully I 1 tomorrow to morrow I 1 said tile 3 oung man who for prudential reasons chose to go by the name of edwards as he ha rose that morning forgetting to take nto consideration the proceedings of to day and their probable influence on tue affairs of tomorrow to morrow it was not very long before he a awoke to a sense of mi mischief mis chiei brooding in the air perhaps it was nas the sight of that pale narrow face opposite to him as he ate his breakfast a face which on this occasion was wreathed w with alth a false smile and characterized by a general air of great complacency evidently perkins was in a high state of good humor so much so that it struck the young m man an with a vague presentiment of impending disaster Ilo however wever he consoled himself with the reflection that there was only one on more day to elapse before he hoped to be in a position to set everyone at defiance and surely in that short time she would be unable to meet t mea with an opportunity for wrecking wreaking wre Are aking h hr r spite upon him after tomorrow to morrow the deluge he thought paraphrasing the words ot 0 the french monarch Alean meanwhile while there was today to be considered if he had only been aware of the fact the chances of tomorrow to morrow were already in danger of being seriously jeopardized b the events of the more immediate present Wha Uha come to Mr larann asked the cook who was as also struck by the change ave 1 I ve never knowel ier er took that way afore Hack shully offered to darn a pair of stockings fo toi me which what with the pre preserving servin and other things my ands Is full and an my toes Is hout which wake make a as while the sun still shines as theres n kno know V in ow long the weather eather w 11 oa 01 ok up Is my motter but lets ope last and nd she s been and called me dear dea to my very face said the parlor mal mak taking up the parable which yo might have kicked aked me down w with ith duster I 1 was that took aback an hardly knew whether ther I 1 was awake 0 dream dreaming I 1 ng I 1 wonder what it means to be continued |