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Show JS1SM iSBBs bbsI I THE FATAL REQUEST I I OR FOUND OUT iBJ, By A. L. llnxrle Author of "Mlno Own Familiar Friend." etcl BM Copyright, tal, by V ait ill J'uMiain? Company. BB 0 o p y r 0 A , l l o , b.yStrtit J B m I t A . jBI CHAPTER II Continued. i BB Mr. Durrltt's fneo becamo flushed, SB nd ho Htnrtcd to his foot with tho BB hasto and hot Indignation which would BB linvo dono credit to one of half his Bfl years. "Jnmos!" ho cried, with pas. BS slon, "Is tl'J tho way you speak? BB Is this the ?y your treat your old BB friend? Does i'o (ldellty of half a BB llfo tlmo count for nothing? Why, BB sven your nnino hax lieou preserved BB In Inviolable Bccrvcy, and at this Very BB momont nol one Blnglo soul, besides BB myself, Is aware of the object of my BB lournoy, or of tho Ideality of tho In- BB dividual I havo come to mojtl and BB this Is all you have to say to me! I BB hiuTb'ottor return home at onoc, with- BB tut moro delay 1" BB Ho was svldontly much moved, and SB tiioblher man Could not but rccognlzo BB tli at tho emotion ho bfitrnyed was gen- BB ulno l So ho, too. roje from his soat BB and, catching Mr. Burrltt by tho arm. BB ald, "My dear follow, don't mlsundor- BB stand mot Surely you did not tako BB me sorlouBly Just now. It Is not that BB I doubted you for a moment, Silas; BB hut " Ho passed tils' hand over BB ins oyos, as though to clear away BS omcthlng which obstructed his vision. BB Then, after a moment's hesitation, he BB continued: "I only 'landed In tho old BB country this morning, and It has BB brought It all back again nil tho BB Jhamo and sorrow, all tho suffering BB nd romorse It seems as fresh as BB though as though It had all happened BB fCbtcrday, Instead of twonty years ago. BB J cannot but rcallzo tho fact that, In BB iptto of all my wealth honestly B jarnod, too, ovcry penny of It, I swear BB I am a pariah, an outcast. No, don't BB Interrupt mo, I toll you" with a bit- BB tor, mirthless laugh "I fool moro llko BB a roturncd convict than anything olso." BB jnmosl" oxclnlmcd Mr. Burrltt, BB "you shock mo! you grlovo mo moro BB than I can say! I " BB I His friond Interrupted him. "You!" oxcltemcnt caused by tho meeting with tho old friond ho had not seen for so many years. At any rato, whatever tho cause, thero was no doubt as to tho effect; for ho found It Impossible to sloop, or to do anything any-thing but toss from sldo to sldo, ns hour aftor hour wearily woro Itself away. By somo peculiar action of tho brain, ho also found himself compelled to rovlow all tho past sccnos of his llfo. nnd montaliy, step by step, ro-traco ro-traco tho path ho had trodden during thoso fifty yearn or so, which wont to make up tho sum of his oxlstcnco on this planet. At last. In despair, ho roso, and going go-ing to tho window, looked out upon tho night. It wns a very moonlight night too much so, In fact. Thero wail something nlmost weird and ghastly In Its effect. So ho dropped tho blind with a crash, and went back to bed ngaln, hoping that, this tlmo, ho might bo ablo to Bleep. Hut It was thot snmo thing over again. Only this' tlmo his thoughtH concentrated thomsolves upon his family and his homo llfo. Ho remembered, remem-bered, with a sonso of romorse, that ho had been a little only a little Irrltoblo at breakfast that morning, nnd that ho had spoken rather Fharply when interrogated ns to tho purposo of his sudden expedition. Cortaln of lib friend's sayings had grated upon his car, and caused a chill fooling of dissatisfaction and ro-grot. ro-grot. "Thank Godl" ho had said when ho hoard of tho doaths of thoso others, cut off, moro than ono of thorn, bo-foro bo-foro they had attained tholr proper Bpan. Mr. Biirritt turnod uneasily In his bed ns ho roflccted upon this, and ro-mombercd ro-mombercd that ho was tho only ono loft who know all. Tho only ona his friond had to fear. To fcarl Surely that was not tho right way to put it? BBS "What brings you here! ' BB) ho encored, "you arc tho Immaculate BBS citlzon tho man without a past! BBS What havo you to do with such an one BBS as I?" Thoro was a bitter sarcasm BBS in his tone, a morbid Jealousy In his BBS look, Mr. Burrltt rofuscd to rccognlzo BBS the presonce of either. BBS "But you will return with mo. will BBSl you not?" ho said, "you will let mo In-. BBS, troduco you to thorn and inako tholr BB acquaintance? Take us on your way, BjBt and apond at least ono night undor my BS! roof." BBS' "You aro very good, Silas," said his SB' friend. "Ah, It they wcro all llko BBS i you but you forgot thoro aro others, BBS' who" . SB! Mr. Burrltt interrupted him. "I BBji know what you arc going to say and Bfl' will roliovo your mind at onco. Of all BBS J thoso and they wero not many, six BBS! at tho outsldo who wero Intimately BBB acquainted with your past history BBS and," ho hosltatod a momont, "and BsB that unhappy affair, not ono 13 living BsB besides mysolf." BsB "What!" cried tho other man, in BBS great oxcltomont. "All dond?" BBS "All but mysolf," wns tho answor. BBV "Thank Cod for that!" burnt from BBS tho other's lips. "Will you swear that BBS this is so that thoy aro Indeed all BBS! dead who aro connected with the BSB, paBt, oxcopt yourself?" BBV Mr. Burrltt; bent his hond In roply. BBS Tho strain of tho interview was begin- BBS ' nlng to toll upon him. toguthor with BBS ' tho hurried journey, and ho felt the BBS need of repose BBS "Bellovo mo. Jim," ho Bald, falling BBS back again Into the old familiar stylo BBS of nddross, "you havo nothing to fear. BSSj Your secret Is safe onough with mo BSB' nover dpubt It." Ho spoke kindly, BBS, oven arfootlonately, but his fatlguo BSSj was ovldent, and his friend could not BBS but observe It. BBS "Sllai," ho uaid. "you aro worn out BBS We will continue the subjoct somo BBS othor tlmu." BBS' Thoy 'turned to loavo tho room to-BBS to-BBS gather. 'Mr, Burrlntt passed out first; SB his companion llngored bohlud him. BBS1 As ha did go, his brlof assumption' of BBS' cheerfulness fell from him; his faco BBS changed nnd darkened, nnd tho whole BBS expression altorod. BBB "All dead but ono," ho whlsporod to BBB' lifmsol5-wand that one" Tho sen-BBS sen-BBS tonce was loft unllnlshod. B CHAPTER III. BBBBBE M- .in BSSJ Midnight Reflections. BBB Mr. Burrltt' passed a very restless BBS night. Porhaps his dinner had dls- BBBJ agreed with him. Moro probably It BBS was. tho result of Mio ngltatlon and To fear! Could It bo posslhlo that his old frlqnd believed that ho had causo to fear him? But what bad beon his own words on tho subject? "You can ruin mo, Silas, in tho eyes of my child, as woll as in thoso of tho world, whenovcr you pleaso!" Tho question was, had ho, at tho tlmo, really meant what he said? Had ho, for an instant, bolleved him capablo of such basoness as this? If so good heavens. It was a dreadful thought would ho not havo still greater reason to oxclalra, "thnnk God!"' whon he hcaid of his death? Ho scarcely dared to breatho it to himself, but the Idea, having onco occurred, oc-curred, clung to him, and rofuscd to bo sot asldo, hut returned again and again in spito of his steadfastly rejecting re-jecting it as unworthy nnd dishonorable. dishonor-able. At tho same tlmo ho found himself him-self wondoriug whether his friend, tho objoct of theso painful thoughts, who occuplod ah adjoining room, wns nlso lying awako nnd Indulging In unprofitable unprofit-able reflections. Or perhaps ho wns moro pleasantly employed In thinking of his , dnughtor; anticipating their meeting and picturing her as she would be aftor five years' separation. Whatovor olso ho might, or might not bo, ho was evidently an affection-ato affection-ato paront, dovotod to this ono child. Mr. Burrltt was getting sleopy at last. No doubt It was something which ho had oaton at dinner that had upset his digestion and filled his mind with all thoso morbid fancloa. Thero wns nothing llko indlgostlon for making ono sou everything In a bad light, Thon ho slopt, and as ho slept ho dreamed a dream. Ho thought ho was lying on tho edgo of n precipice a precipice which went shoer down many hundreds of fuot. But although ho occuplod such a dangerous position ho felt no uneasiness uneasi-ness nt first, only a llttlo gontlo surprise sur-prise as to what ho was doing thero, and a llttlo wonder as to what wan going to hnppon. Than n hand camo up and ofit of tho abyss and graspod him, drawing him nenror and nearer to tho giddy vorgo of the proclplco, and ho folt himself dragged slowly hut surely to destruction. destruc-tion. In vain ho clujohod at tho grass and stones and projections of tho cliff; ho was still drawn on, until, nt last, ho was poised upon tho very edge and could look down into tho dopths of tho, chasm boneath. For a faw soconds during which ho Boomed to oxporlenco a llfotlmo of agony ho romalncd in that awful cosltlon. Then i lo folt hlmsolf falling falling from aa Immeasurable holght dnd woke! "What a hideous dream," , ho thought. "How weird how awful-bow awful-bow roall I would rather llo awake tho wholo night through than dream Just s,uch another. I wonder what tho tlmo Is?" Ho folt for his watch and tho matches, nnd struck a light. Just half-past half-past three no more. As ho restorod tho articles again to tholr places, he. thought ho heard faint soundslotj movement In tho noxt room. "Evidently I nra not tho only rest-loss rest-loss person," ho said to himself as ho lay down again. "I havo n companion In misfortune. To-morrow morning wo shall bo ablo to compare experiences. experi-ences. Supposo I wero to knock at tho wall and speak lo him? But then I might disturb someone olso and alarm thorn. That would never do. ' I oxpect It must havo beon tho cucumber cucum-ber that gavo mo tho nightmare I hopo I sha'n't havo another such dream; if I do, I'll novor touch cucumber cucum-ber any moro as long as I live." Ills eyes closnd, and in a tow moments' his deop and regular breathing Bhowod that ho had ngaln fallon asleep. And again ho dreamt, and tho drenm was as follows: Ho was lying In his bed, or at least, so ho thought, and, after n while, it seemed to him that It becamo very hard and nnrrow, so that ho had no room to move in it. It was also very dark. Ho tried to turn ovor upon his side, but found, as In tho other dream that ho could stir nolthor hand nor foot And what appeared to him a long time, ho began tq hear sounds over his head. Somotimos In ono plncc, sometimes in another, nnd at tho samo tlmo ho began to oxporionco n difficulty In broathlng. And still tho sound went on tho sound of somo ono hammorlng of somo ono hammering ham-mering nails Tho sound of somo ono hammering nnlls Into a coffin! And with thnt, all at onco, the awful truth broko upon him. Ho was dead, and thoy wcro nailing him up In his colli n dond I Ills heart stopped beating as ho grasped tho full horror of tho situation. situa-tion. Thoy wero burying him allvo! Oh horrible! horrible! In vain ho tried to burst tho bondi of tna insensibility in which ho wat held. In vain ho made frenzied of forts to cry aloud. Tho most frnnth endeavors wero unavailing. Ho wat unablo to uttor a sound or produco the smallest movement. Thon it Boomed as though somo ono woro trying tc ralso tho lid of tho cofltn. Thero wni n faint, creaking sound a faint glim mor of light wns porcoptlblo overhead It increased nnd widened! Oh, Joy I Ho was saved saved! Tho coffln-lld M iuiouil Illtlu b Illtiu hlnW and higher in another moment ho sfiMld bo froo! v It was dono. Ha saw a faco bond Ing over him a familiar faco tho faco of an old friond. Already ho hailed hail-ed him in his heart as his bonofactor, his dellvoror. Then what were thoee words ho heard? Words ho had heard before whon was It? ' i. "You can ruin mo whenever you pleaso, but now you are In my pow er!" Tho lid was clapped down again, leaving him In utter darkness. Tho hammering began again. Ho made ono last tremendous effort and woke. Woko to find hlmsolf sitting bolt upright, with tho perspiration streaming stream-ing from him. Woko to find tho man, whoso volco evon now scorned to ring in his ears as ho bent over tho opon coffin, standing besido his bed, in the faint, groy light of morning. "What brlugs you hero?" gaspod Mr. Burrltt, aa soon as ho had rcallzod tho fact that tho terrlhlo ordeal ho hud Just passed through was only a droam. "I couldn't sloop," was tho response, "and I couldn't lie still any longer, bo I camo to see whether you wero awake." (To bo continued.) " . - |