OCR Text |
Show 8 ll I Hidden Treasure magazine seqion II David Wliitelaw 3 I ! f f JEfflk Serial of Love I "The hero, with a leer that wrinkled up hit full cheekt, had slipped an arm round Stella t wairt and had kitted her not on the cheek, but full on the lipt. The lips! With a muttered oath, Robert rote from hie teat. He wat betide htmtelf with anger and telf loathing." (Se-e Chapter IX. of "Hidden Treasure.") (Copyi i'jht, 1920, International Feature service, inc.) CHAPTER I. The Soldiers of Fortune. THE front door of No. 9 Mortimer Ton-ace, Regent s Park, thul to with a bang that was muffled in the fog which had descended upon the metropolis In the early morning of November 14, 1907, and two dejected de-jected looking men made their way down tho little box bordered path and beneath the dripping branches to the garden gute. Their coats were buttoned tightly up over their evening even-ing dress, for the early air of a November morning Is apt to strike chill to those whoso night houra have been spent In the heated atmosphere of the card room. At the end of the terrace, where It Joins tho outer circle of the Park, the men stopped. "I believe ho'.-i playing the same Kuine as we are, one of them said sourly as he puffed angrily at his cigar, which had gono out. Tho other gave a little laugh. "Looks like It. A hundred aDd fifty last night, a hundred hun-dred and ten Thursday and eighty four to night If I hadn't had that 'flush' at the end It would have been a good deal more I can't say. Eddie, that I congratulate you on your 'pigeon.' You used to bo able to pick em out bettor than this." "There's nothing like feedlDg your bird up before you pluck him. Vivian, and It's best to" " Make sure that he Isn't a crow, eh?" I The elder man shivered slightly, and, having relit his i cigar, held out his hand "Well it's the fortune of war, anyway 1 leave you hero, don't I? I'll pick up a stray cab at the bond. Good night." The younger man stood where Eddie Haverton had left him The acute depression which be had kept in check was now settling dowu upon him like a black mantle, and ho cursed the luck which had tempted him to take a hand iu Eddie's little game The fair-haired young fellow, who was now counting his gains in the Mortimer Terrace house, had seemed such an easy prey when Eddie had introduced them In the West End bar, so willing to be fleeced. It wasn't often that Haverton made a mistake For all It seemed so easy, the sharpers had spread their net no less carefully than usual In turn they had brought Into pluy each trick or ruse of which they had knowledge, but all to no purpose tlio small, mild-faced youth always held the cards, and after each night of play the dawn had found him with a goodly little pile of notes and gold on the groen topped table before him. The biters had not only been bit. they had been masticated. As Vivlnir Ronton stood there In the damp fog an Idea entered into his active brain, a suggestion that he should ! return to the room he had Just left and by some plausible tale work upon the feelings of the mau whom they had been playing' with Hubert Baxenter had seemed a decent sort of fellow, and he know him to be in no need of money. Perhaps. he might consent to lend a little of the 1 F '. ' lEC'EM ' JISASU1E I IContinurd from Fint Paqc. gold he had won To Bddlfl Hav r-ton, r-ton, perhaps, (hp loss of a few hundreds hun-dreds meant very little, with Vivian it was everything-No everything-No one, save himself and his creditors, knew how hard pressed lie was, and that the few coins which he fingered in his pock 1 as he stood in Indecision were all that lay between him and a deb! pn-rumbored pn-rumbored destitution and Vivien Ronton was not the man to he in tha condition long The fog. moving in slow wreaths, nung round him In a heavy s' illness, ill-ness, broken only by the sound of some cab bearing a be!;id reveller homewards, or tho peevish chatter of an animal in the Zoological Car-dens Car-dens near by. Another and more Minister idea crept into the evil hrnin of Vivian Renton. Why should he not return to No. 9 and tap the little fair haired man on the head? He knew him to be alone in tho house that night, and he could blDd and gag him withO'.. "Variously injuring him. The fog was J- in his favcr, and he would be out of the co'iniry be fore any hue and cry could bo raised. He tinned on his heel, a:id, with his chin hurled i'i his muffler, slowly retraced his steps. The man who had shut tho door upon Eddie and Vivian returned to the card-room and, mining himself a brandy-and soda, the first he had tasted that night, sank into a leather arm-chair and chuckled softly as ho puffed at a cigar. The furnishing of tho mom showed refinement and taste. MOT timer Terrace was a row of detached de-tached stucco residences, the rooms of which strangely belled tha small erterier appearance of the houses. The room in the front where the men had been playing was 6nuare and lofty, with loir; wlndcws reaching nearly to tho celling and g.ving on to 11; tie Iron-failed Iron-failed balconies Heavy red curtains cur-tains hung in severe lin- 1 f :u brass rods and, between them, circular convex mlrrcr chov. ed Ihe gleam of the fire in the Adam Are; place and of the candles which g it-terd it-terd on the baize-covered card-table. card-table. The furniture was Sheraton, the pictures few but choke, and on the mantelpiece a steel faced clock pointed to a quarter to two No. 9 had been in the possession of tho Baxcnters for moro th 1 a century and had descended 1 father to j;on, as had tho oM n-ioned n-ioned solicitor's offices in the Strand. The present owner ot 1 business and the house had come into his inheritance early, and, his mother's death following so closely upon the accident to the Scotch express which had robbed him of his father, for the first tine In Its history No. had a bachelor owner. Thero were rooms on the. 1 tors above, sa red and unused, their furnishings shrouded in dust-sheets and holl.md coverings They were waiilr.g, perhaps, for a woman to come and reopen them, a woman under whose hands the house in Mortimer Terrace would again take on the mantle of home, and would gie life and brightness to the forsaken for-saken apartments. For the moment, mo-ment, however, the ground-floor flat, and the kitchen below, sufficed for the needs of the owner an 1 his mode.-' household, Hubert Baxn-ter Baxn-ter was not yet thirty, and for hint the world was a playground and the wanderlust still claimci him for its own. He ro'-e from his chair, and. opening the folding-doore, paa 1 through Into his bedroom His eyes rested lovingh upon tho scratched and he-labelled leather of his kit-hag, which, together with his golf clubs and camera, stood ready for removal in a corner and spoke eloquently of holiday. He discarded his dinner Jacket for a much-worn Norfolk and. re turning to tho fire, he threw away his cigar and selected a briar fr. .a the rack, then took his place again In the chair. He drew the stark of notes and gold to him. and from a drawer in tho bureau at bl right hand took out two similar heap-Putting heap-Putting them together, ho ran roughly over the total amount three hundred and fifty pounds and fifteen uhllllngu. Ho sat for some moments arranging the sovereign;-, and half-sovereigns symmetrically on their mats of bank noti Hubert Baxenter was still smiling cynically as he took a seat at the bureau and drew toward him note-paper note-paper and envelopes With a pair of scissor he carefully snipped off the die : unk beading aud commenced com-menced to write: "To tho Secretary. "Suburban Hospital, "LoDdon. 6 W.: "Dear Sir 1 am enclosing herewith here-with the sum ot threo hundred and fifty pounds in bank notes for the furtherance of your extension scheme. They have been won by me at cards by means of cheat ing. The condition, however, arc peculiar. "Tho sender (who wishes to remain re-main anonymous) Is the possessor of an adequate fortune, a somewhat some-what .small physique, a bland and trusting expression, and a sense of humor. These, individually, might not call for notice, but collectively they commend him to the observation observa-tion of certain men who live upon what they are pleased to t-Tm their wits save the mark! Two of thee gentry have late'y been giving giv-ing hirn their attention, and the enclosed amount Is the result. "The eperienco has bern a delightful de-lightful one to me, and, really, their pitiful tricks would not have deceived de-ceived a child. Why don't theso pecple learn something fresh?" The writer leant back .-Mid read his facetious letter with a smile of satisfaction. His favorite hobby in life had always been watching and exploiting the doings of ihc. underworld under-world of the great metropolis. With his insipid expression aud innocent in-nocent blue eyes ho ?eenie:l a ready prey to the sharks ever on the look-out fcr victims. He loved to enter Into the licts with these gentlemen, gen-tlemen, to watch with amusement their well-worn tricks, and at tho right moment checkmate them. The Suburban Hospital Extension Fund was not the first charily wh'eh had benefited by h 3 methods. Hubert took up the notes, changing chang-ing the gold into other notes to make up the amount, enclosing them in the envelope, and sealed it. The odd fifteen shillings he put esido to give to the crosrir.g-sweeper crosrir.g-sweeper at tho corner in tha merging merg-ing Personally he did not intend "Quick as thought, Vivian was upon him, a chloroform-pad, part of the to benefit by so much as a penny ' v ! man's stock-in-trade, which he had Pice. I whipped from a little tin-case in his -why! wlffittSl "COmeth . Pcket' hcld over the sIici' The young solicitor wheeled , tor's mouth and nose." round in his chair as hi heard the front gate open and the1 1 run ning of step on the gravel. Then roso f;-$r Sra as a knock sounded at tho door. - , CHAPTER II. Tlie Crime in the Card-Room. FOR a moment after Hubert had opened the door he peered out into tho fog, not recognizing the features of the man who stood on tho doorstep; then the volco located him. "Sorry to disturb you, old man, but it' urcent. I think I've drop-pd drop-pd a small envelope somewhere. I had it in my clgaretto case. Do you mind having a look? I think it must have slipped out when I took my last cigarette. The young solicitor drew back invitingly "I haven't noticed it," he said; "but, then, I haven't looked. You know where you were sitting: come in. You'll want another drink, too. utter this fog. Sorry I can't put ' you up my man's away and I'm nil packed up. you know." Together the two ineu entered the cheerful room, and Vivian crossed at onco to tho place whero he had been sitting, and falling on his hands and knees mado as Ihoitgh to search beneath tho table. Unobserved by his host, he deftly placed a small, folded piece of paper under the chr.fr which he had pushed back. Then ho rose to hi3 feet. "Don't see it anywhere, Mr. Baxenter; Bax-enter; perhaps I " The ru-o succeeded beyond tho man's wildest hopes. As Hubert turned from mixing h;3 v'ritor a vfjktekeysand-eoda h:j eye lit upon the paper which Vivian had placed beneath the chair Putting tho tumbler on the tat rte he bent down. Quick as thought) Vivian was y " ' ""V r ' ' .1 ' ' ' " . A k ' vi 1 f f'-'' V 'ji- "''Vi " CefWjasVV - J upon him. a chlSroform-pad. part of the mans stock-in-trade, which he had whipped from a little tin case In his pocket, held tightly over tho solicitor's mouth and nose, Hubert Baxenter was no weakling weak-ling in spite of his slight stature, and. had the fight been a, fair one. ho would have given a good account ac-count of himself. Taken unawares ns he was, his case was hopeless, and in a few moments the drug had done its work and the solicitor was lying, an inert figure, upon tho white bearskin rug before the fire. Vivian roso unsteadily to his feet and reached out for tho decanter. Scoundrel a.- he was. he hesitated to touch the glas which his victim had prepared for him. He had no animosity against the man lying there on the rug in fact, he regretted re-gretted that force had been necessary. neces-sary. But time was short; the money he had risked so much for must be found and escape made from tho house before daybreak. With feverish fev-erish hands Vivian turned out the bureau and the drawers of a ped- c uri i-t-,,nr,i . m r estal desk which stood !n p, reoaai by the fireplace. His eye passed" many times over tho envelope addressed ad-dressed to tho hospital; a safer Mding-pLace it would have been difficult dif-ficult to find. An hour passed and the searcher, who had extended his attentions to tho bedroom, came back through tho folditig-doorM. His face plalnl denoted h:s non-succesn. Th n hta eves fen upon the figure upon the rug. and, the Norfolk jacket with Its big pockets prompting him. ho fell upon his knees and slid a hand out cautiously toward With a cry of horror he leapt to his feet and tottered blindly to a chintz-covered Chesterfield. Tho fear stood out In llttlo beads of moisture on his forehead and the gray eyes wero fixed in staring terror. "Dead!" He breathed tho word hoarsely to himself, and called weakly upon his Maker. How long he sat thero ho could not have told; he muxt beve fallen into a trance of sorts, for. when he came to himself it was to see tho Inc. Grra: I first gray of the dawn edging Its way between the slats of the Venetian Vene-tian blinds, and in its light a candle can-dle which had outlasted its fclows burnt with a cream-colored flame. Tho face on the white rug stared up gray and still. From the clock on tho mantlc-plece mantlc-plece a single chime cut into tho silence of the room and tho man on tho couch tumped up with a stifled oath. He leant across tho tody of bis victim and Eaw that tho hands on the steel faco pointed to half-past five. The fog outside had lifted somewhat and he told himself that he had put off hl3 escape es-cape too long. He shuddered at the calm horror of the room. The ticking of the clock seemed to him so loud that he felt It would bo heard by people outside. Tho sounds seemed to call out mur der tick tack mur der tick . Ho crossed tho rocm hurriedly and blew out tho flame of tho candle, and stood there in thfgray light, trembling pitifully. Ho heard the tread of a policeman on bis beat, and for ono trllaln Hl-Vit rtrsrrrrd. ten?e moment the light from a Inn tern llasned on tho window and across the celling. Thero would be workmen about and milkmen on their early rounds. Tin y would take notice of a figure in evening dress which was seen ll aving a house at that hour, and would remember it afterward to his undoing. He called to mind case in which such evidence. had placed the rope round men's ncks. Besides, there was the body he could not leave it there staring up at him. Ho could Just mako out the shapeless flguro on the white "inare of tho rug. Ho knew that Baxenter bad intended lealng for Paris in the morning, and that h had already sent his servants away the cook to her home, and hit man to execute a commission for him in tho country. After all. per haps the body would be as safe where It was as anywhere. But some forco was working within him. telling him to hide from the coming day his ghsstlv handiwork. Vivian told himself that ho had not meant this it was not the first time he had used thfl EjjN chloroform-nad which ho carried HSl always in its little csso in his HR breast pocket. It had been his in- Ej tention onlv to drug the solicitor, Egv nnd he felt a seething resentment 'B8 against the fato which had mado BrTi him a murderer in spite of him IT ' ' With noiseless steps he crossed tho room and opened the door, looking out fearsomely into tho dim and lofty halL The Rtaircase, wide Vf j and carpeted, led away up Into tho 1 gloom, and, taking his courage in Hfti his hands, Vivian ascended. Tho Irl stairs creaked and cracked like pis- In to! hols through the silence. . Ho passed from ghostly room to gho ly room, the gray dawn giving to tho shrouded furuituro and chandeliers strange and unwonted 1 shapes and gleaming weirdly in the I looking-glasses. Ascending further, fl he found attics crowded with lum- 9 ber. A window grimy with dirt IccT I fjfl oul on to the roof, and Vivian saw i that here was tho hiding place he fig had been seeking. Among tho I Ch mney stacks and hidden by tho ' I I blee, a body might lie forever 111 undiscovered. Mu l!e performed tho task vaguely A .' ' r though in a dream. The bur- A : 1 waa not a heavy one. but it -v seemed an eternity of unreal life E 1 fore Yh i.-ni leanl back against a ffi chimney stack and said that his M labor was over. H ' The fog had lifted with the com- fli ing of the day and the sun now Kfl rhono out haslly. Below him Re- Ik gent Park lay spread out like a R!! gray-greon map. From the Zoologl- cal Gardens came tho roar of the Bl awakening beasts. Two narrows flitted noisily past him, chattering latil: and fighting, and alighting on a H n-.ir-by gable, eyed him narrowly Hl ' with their beady eyes. From the street far beneath him there came the Jingle of milk-cans, and some- '' one was whistling a comic song. jk aw;i!cenfn.T life In all .t L' the motionless figure which lay be-nenth be-nenth the shelter of a stone coping V vian crawled with a shudder bt k through the -ulndo-v and so down to tho card-room. The air Wf h re was chill and tho fire was long M 1 part dead ashes. The man seemed, . v W Jt: 1o mlsfl the flguro that had hren I on the rug. Ho shivered, and had m K). recourse to tho whiskey bottlo KI gain and again. I The tho1I?iit (hit was now upper- I 1 mo t in his mind was that he must I BH eprnd the whole day in this house MBi cf death. It was now close upon ( eight o'clock, and, peeping between the biinds, Vivian saw that the Ufa jlV? of the terrace had begun in earnest, H ; Clerks were li irry ing prist cn their IsSB way to the tu!c itatlon, and the jM postman was at the houso opposite 1 talking through the area railings l O with a pretty servant-maid. He no- F3 tlccd all theso things with a cur- IM ions detachment, I 1-' These clerks, hurrying to their Itw wdrk, would be passing up 'in ien wr o'clock, and after them would -oma the nursemaids with the children flfc and tho ladles off to their shopping. Iiach .tud every one ()f them '.vntiM .Hl notice the man coming from No. 0. ' vl He felt that they would all stop and iH s'are at him. No, there was noth-Ing noth-Ing for it but to wait until dark-cess dark-cess made escape possible. At the fame tlmo, he told him- Hl felf that he was perfectly caf. r B where ho was. Hubert Raxonter B was supposed to have left, and none could suspect the tragedy Bn Whit h had taken place in the nlghk. 11 Bui he must be silpnt, and th blinds must be left down, and ho Hr must allow himself neither fire nor Ht ' light. After nightfall the road K; would be clear, and in the darkness he could leave unperceived. He Mt was glad that ho had removed tho Bf ; thing from tho rug; Lhe long whito JK fur was flattened clown at places B' and ho ruffled thee with his foot B' For some time the man sat mo- vjb tlonless In the xilenco of the dark- Hjp ened room. Tho hours passed slowly and he must have fallen j Jii asleep, for he awoke to And him- 9 self on tho Ch. terfleld with tho fl hi niuuu huu culling nright pat- I I . terna on tho carpet. The clock V JL pointed to a quarter to two. Ho & counted on his fingers that thero g " Uf were five more hours at the least H Vivian was reeling hungry, and, : a making his way down to the kit- hB chen. he found a few biscuits and fcS r. fre-hed hlmrcif with these and a vj glass of water taken from the tap g As ho drank, a rh.idow foil across the window and the tumbler all but M dropped from his nerveless fingers m He stepped back carefully to tho door. and. ascending to the bed- M roem window, peered cautiously over tho blind. T o men wero at work Jn the E arden, and Vivian watched them "5 With a cold clutch at his heart. Suppose they had a key to the H A house and were to come in' But I 1 rarer judgment told him that it I bMbI was hardly likely, and that they were gardeners and would use the HE side doer. Nevertheless, their pres. Iff, enco was an added teiror to tho W Imprisoned man. The tick-tack of BF the clock came througn the foldinc H doors. It still spHlcd out mur-dcr. M (Continued on x-rt fagcj - 1 Hi nmmmnwnwmnmmBBWtBn .. MB B si sHiiiiiiitinste km ttZMM. BBBH I m ' I iii frpninwrt rvm Preceding Pngr) I 1 but not loudly only very slowly, ! like a long drawn out whisper. lie went back to the room facing ' the road, and, crossing to the bureau, casually picked up the en-!, en-!, j velopo addressed to the bosplfal The peculiar crackling noise given h out by its contents awakened his I curiosity and caused him to open it :( H--v' "e Eave a ,itt, asP of pleasure an he thought how useful this wind-i wind-i fall would be in assisting him to m' leave the country, and. again, more to pass the time than anything else, fell to examining the drawers of the desk and bureau. There were many papers, legal and private, and a few jewels these latter of no great value and I barely worth the taking Vivian decided to leave these as being I articles ea9y of identification. A glance at the numbers of the bank V note? told bim that they had most ly been won from Eddie and himself, him-self, and no one would ever know tliey had left the possession of their original owners. ' i It was about four o clock when 'MhT he made his great disc-oven He was putting back into its place a little drawer to the right of the pigeon-holes in the bureau. when, unknowingly he must have released some hidden spring, for '-""" another drawer, cunnlnglv con cealed In the panelling at the back sprang out. Vivian's nervous sye tern was already shattered by the work of the night and he fell back, his heart beating strangely, and it was some moments before he could bring himself to touch the papers which he saw exposed There were but two. One was evidently the last will and testament testa-ment of the man who now lay dead on the roof, the other a parchment parch-ment yellow with age and creased with much usage It wa folded lengthwise and wan endorsed in an angular handwriting Vivian Ren-ton Ren-ton took this over to the light which came thinly through the blindt At first, as he read, he showed no particular Interest m the matter Bel forth In the cramped, faded calig-raphy calig-raphy on the parchment. It was when he had reached the second folio of the document that a look of interest came into the keen eyes After that he read to the end without with-out rnislng them. And. when he had finished, be - dropped down in the easv chair and sat, the parchment Sheets hanging down in his listless hands, his eyei fixed, unseeing, on space From the street outside came the movement move-ment of the life of tbe afternoon, the rumble of vehicles, the shrill laughter of children. The onlv eound within the room was the eternal ticking of the clock. "If I only dared " The man in the chair breathed the words jll " A fortune In it, perhaps jH an a l0!:t en,ily at one stroke! If I only dared 1 " He rose to his feet and took a blottingpad from Its place on the j JM desk, and. choosing the spot where .ti the waning light was strongest. jjjSSS placed It on his knee and com- 'JSnJ menced to write. Word for word ijm he made a copy of what he had been reading a very rough copy t'jt partly in a shorthand of his own ,PP for the light would not last long now and he dared not risk a candle The scheme, if what was nebu louslv forming In his brain could he called that, necessitated, above all. that the original document should be returned with the will to the 6ecret drawer in the bureau. It was necessary that, when the heir to the dead solicitor came to take possession, they should be found intact in-tact and should show no signs of having been tampered with It was all but dark when Vivian BB put away his fountain pen. and. folding what be had written, placed HaiJ it in his breast pocket, together K9 with the top sheet of the blotting flKfll pad He experienced a little diffi- culty in replacing the drawer, but Stm at ast he told himself that all was H as he had found it and that 'o. 0 jfcTl Mortimer Terrace showed no signs HA, of his stay The bank notes were EjR safely in his possession, and notb- ; ing remained for him but to take the first opportunity of leaving the flH house. I He noticed with a keen satisrnc-' ffffi tion that with the coming of night kji the fog had again settled downover Hn the district, and although not so Wr3 dense as before, still would serve as a curtain to cloak his departure rHf. buttoned his coat closely round! his throat and felt his way out into the hall He had his hand on the latch, when he started back and stood niotionlees with fear. There came the creak of the gate and then footsteps on the gravel path. Vivian had. for the moment, lost all power of movement. Had the person coming up the path possessed a key, the game that Vivian was planning would have had but a short life. The steps came to a stand on the lop of the flight of stone stairs that led from the door to the garden. To the man on the mat (ho time seemed an eternity; his nerves were in no fit condition for this. There was a rattle at the door and, with a wave of relief flooding over him. Vivian could Just discern a white envelope a circular being be-ing pushed through the letterbox. He nearly shouted with laughter as he heard the postman's steps die away down the path It was a small matter in itself, out Vivian Ronton returned to the room he had left and drank off the HU i remainder of the whiskey. He told himself that he must pull himself together; It was not usual for him to be frightened at a shadow. Rut then Vivian Renton had never killed a man before. An hour later th man closed the door of No 9 Mortimer Terrace sof'lv behind him and walked quietly out Into tho darkness. CHAPTER III. The Parchment. FOR some time Vivian, having made sure that be had been unobserved, walked on. his brain teeming With the scheme which had suggested itself to him as he read the parchment. Carefully Care-fully he weighed the pros and cone, oblivious to the direction In which his steps were taking him so th"t they look htm away from the house In Mortimer Terrace. It was only when the tog-chilled air ate Its way into his verv hones that he remembered remem-bered that he had not had a decent meal for twenty-four hours. Looking up. he saw that he was at the foot of Haverstock Hill. He hailed a cab that was descending the slope from Chalk Farm Station and wa.-. driven to the boarding holism In St John's Wood whgre he had been living for the last few weeks His landlady, he told himself, him-self, would not think It (u range that he had not returned tho night before; be-fore; her patrons were for the most part men recruited from the ranks Of that Bohemia in which hours appear ap-pear tO have no meaning and whose goings and comings were only regular In their irregulait; There was little llkel.hood of his crime being known for some c in-slderable in-slderable time but Vivian was far two well versed in the ways of criminals to take any chances. He allowed himself time onl to make a necessary change in his to. let, bundle bis few belongings Into B kit-bag, pay his bill and shuk the mud of the metropolis from his feet. The fog still hung thickly over London as he made his way to Charing Cross and took his seat In a corner of a first-class smoker in the boat-train This Inclemency of the weather, together with the fact that a Dover mall boat bad been forced to put back inio port the night before, after being in collision colli-sion with a barque, was no doubt responsible for him having the carriage car-riage to himself. He took a paper from his pocket when th.e train was well under way. and commenced to read what he had copied from the parchment that was now lying hidden hid-den in the bureau drawer in Mortimer Morti-mer Terrace. "Statement of Adam Baxenter, Solicitor, of the Strand. London, Lon-don, pertaining to the trust of the Marquis de Dartigny of the Chateau Chauville made this 15th day of August In the year of our Lord, 1 SI 2 "I, Adam Haxenter, having by God s grace now reached tin advanced ad-vanced age of eighty-two years, and feeling that my bodily Strength is waning, think it hut right that I shouid place on record re-cord the strange circumstances which relate to the small chest which reposes iu the corner of the strong room of my Strand offices. "For, In future ages, should no one lay claim to this, a son of my house might bo tempted to look into, and which Cod forbid even dispose of its contents. I have given ray word to the nobleman noble-man who entrusted the chest to me that I will hold It intact and, moreover, make provision that It remain so, even after my death, that the soals shall not be broken until claimed by one who shall prove his right. "For myself, I fear greatly that the seals will never be broken until the Great SealH of tho Revelations Reve-lations themselves are rent asunder, and all secrets are made plain. "It Is cow nearly twenty vears since tho Marquis do Dartigny came to my office. I can call to f , J i.' 1 1 I breathed the word j . j mind clearly the occasion. n was a misty afternoon In October, and bade fair to develop into a foggy night. In fact, link-boys were beginning to ply tholr calling; call-ing; I could see the light of their torches from my window "I was about to depart for my homo when a hackney coach rumbled up to my door. I answered an-swered the summons myself (my clerks having already departed), and saw on the step a tall, aristocratic aristo-cratic figure, which a moment later I learned was the Marquis de Dartign, I drew aside to allow him to enter, and I saw that he was followed In by the driver of the coach, who carried a small oak cheBt, about a foot square and clamped at tho corners with Iron. "My visitor, having ascertained ascer-tained that I was at liberty to receive re-ceive him. paid the driver, who mounted his box and drove off into the fog "I am, of course, unable here to sot down the exact words which passed botwoen the Marquis Mar-quis and myself I can only tell the story In a general wav, and It was a story which held me spellbound. spell-bound. I can see now the figure of my v i s 1 1 o r leaning forward In his chair, his face pale, lined with sotow and yet possessing an unbending dignity beneath his misfortunes. He was dressed Blmply but elegantly, and ho spoke English with difficulty. It was this, no doubt, that made his story long in the telling, and candles had been lit before ho left my office. ' Marie Hrlssac de Dartigny, sleur of Chauvllle-sur-Blols. was, as I suspected on first seeing him, an emigre from the furies of the Revolution Tho storm had left him untouched, and he bad remained re-mained quietly In his chateau, hoping for the reaction that was so long In coming. With the exe- (0) 1020. International I cutlon of lyOul. tne old aristocrat's aristo-crat's hopes died, and rather than leave his country be decided to await what he now saw was inevitable in-evitable and to die. if need be, in tho home of hl.-i ancestors "It was only when hlH son un officer In the Petit Peres, who, after taking part In the defence of the Tuileries, was proscribed sent, under the care of her English Eng-lish nurse, his little daughter, a maid of about four, to her grandfather, grand-father, that the nobleman began to reconsider his decision. Still, he delavcd the ovll day of departure. depart-ure. Gaspard de Dartigny. the son. had put himself at the head of a band of desperate young men, mostly, like himself', officers offi-cers In hiding, who bet amo in their turn the terror of the Terrorists. Ter-rorists. Deputies on their way home from the sittings of the Convention, officers of tho Public Pub-lic Safety all came under the notice no-tice of this band of rovonge. They were les. merciful in their methods than the Tribunal Itself. They neither gave nor expected quarter. "Ho had, at last. Insisted on his father taking the little lrl Into safety, and had himself furnished fur-nished them with forged passports, pass-ports, and detailed one of his baud to escort thorn to the coasL They were fortunate in evading the revolutionaries and reached Fecamp, whero a boat was in readiness to tako them over the Channel. They avoided the main ports, and were landed under cover of night at the little hamlet ham-let of Rottingdeun. a few miles east of Brlghthelmstone. Here they had taken a cottage and had so far been unmolested. "Gradually my visitor led Up to tho matter that hud brought him to my office, having been recommended recom-mended to me by a friend of his In Paris whom, however, he omitted to name. Ho wlahed to fcaturo 8rvlcc Ino. Great nrlt leave In my care the small cbst he had brought with him. The gallant old gentleman, having heard that his son had at last been laid by the heels, had decided de-cided to return to France. The chest, which contained many valuables and the key to the hiding-place of the rest of his wealth, he did not think wise to leave In tho care of a woman and child Personally, he had no fear for his own safety; he had known Robespierre Rob-espierre when the Tiger of the Revolution was a lawyer In Arras, and had on more than one occasion occa-sion befriended him. He thought that he had but to Intercede with the strongest and most powerful man in France to bring away his son into safety. Little did he know of tho change the Revolution Revolu-tion had made In Maximilllan Robespierre' "I put the chest in my strong room. It was to He thero until he claimed It, or. failing him, he would leave word as to its whereabouts, where-abouts, and he instructed that the chest should be given up, and the trust come to an end. only when anyone giving the motto of the family as a password should appear ap-pear and lay claim to it "The last I saw of the poor Marquis do Dartigny was that evening when we parted at Charing Char-ing Cross, I to go to my home In Regent Park, ho to return by the coach to Lewes. I can see bim now as ho bowed with an old-fashioned old-fashioned courtesy and strode off into the night, taking upon his benl shoulders the hardships of a Journey and the dangers of Paris, In the hopes, which 1 now know were vain, of saving his son. "I had the stonr a year later from a client of mine, who had boen In Paris during the vears 1793 and 1794. Finding himself caught In the whirl of the great upheaval, my friend stayed in the city, accumulating details with the view to writing a history when ho should return to England. Eng-land. His credentials enablod him to see a great deal of tho innr workings of tho Tribunal, and ho spent many days in the atn Itlchts ReBcrvrd. Maison de Justice and at the sittings sit-tings of the Convention. "It was from him that I learned news of the Marquis and hi.-, gallant gal-lant son and a pathetfc story It made. ( was present when Gaspard de Dartigny and his lieutenant, de Perancourt an officer who had served with Pumouriez appeared before tho Infamous Fouquler-Tln vllle. The trial was a farce, and the two soldiers who bad been responsible responsi-ble for the sudden death of so many of Tlnville's friends, were as good as condemned as soon as they ascended the gradines Gaspard Gas-pard made an heroic figure, my friend told me; he had been wounded in his capture, and his head was ringed with bandages. He laughed nt his Judges and listened lis-tened to tho farcical formula of the law with a sneer on his lips. "As sentence was pronounced, a commotion had taken place among the horde of ferocious Parisians behind the barriers. An old man forced his was to the railing and called on tho judges for mercy for his son. They say that for a moment tho look of a great love shone on tho face of the condemned man then, seeing his father's danger, and seeking to save him, he turned on him with an oath, demanding of the Judge who this drunken citizen citi-zen was who dared to claim kinship kin-ship with the de Dartignys, nsk-ing nsk-ing why be was not at home with his children a remark which must have conveyed the Intended message for, before action could be taken, the mob, some of whom were kindjy at heart, closed round the old man and he made bis escape. Gaspard. they say, cursed him from the gradlnes, and mounted the tumbril an hour later with a smile at the success of his ruse, at th success of a heroism that surely had no equal iu that period of'heroes. "On bearing this, I mado up my mind to journey to Rottlng- dean to search, out, if possible, tho remaining member of the de Dartigny?, the little maid who had accompanied her grand father In'o exile. T had no dlffl- culty In hearing of them; the host of the White Horse Inn told iM me the tale. The English nurse, it seems, died suddenly a week or two before Christinas, and the little girl, left friendless, had been adopted by the wife of the medical man who had been sum- moned, too late, to attend to the nurse. All my efforts to trace the doctor have been unavail- ing; it appears that he had been, merely staying at Brighthelm- stone for his health, and had been driving through the village nt the time of the nurse's selz- ure. He had boen seen about the neighborhood for a week or two I afterward, then disappeared, lak- log the child with him JH "The man also told me that. shor'ly after the new year, tho sLl old man v. ho had brought the child to England appeared again in the village making Inquiries. He was distraught with misery and suffering, and. on hearing of the disappearance of his grand- child, his brain seemed to glvo way. He would speak to no one. but for weeks luninted the cliffs, pacing to and fro. muttering to himself and shaking his list out over the waters of the Channel. j Then, in the gray light of a Feb- j ruary morning, two fishermen . came upon his body washed up on to the little stony beach. "I can only surmise that he had lost bis reason under the weight of his sufferings, else he would have communicated with me God rest his noble old soul! "And now, for the past twenty years the chest has remained in my strong room unclaimed. Somewhere In the world is that little maid. She will be a woman by this, perhaps married, and eometlmcs I think that some day, when j and ray son yes, and my Bon's son will be dead, the mys- ten may come to tho light. "Until that day I enjoin my heirs to respect the trust. The given word of Adam Baxenter J j given till tho end of time. "(Signed) 1 "ADAM BAXENTER." On the parchment beneath the old solicitor's signature were four endorsements, each with a note to the effect that the chest was still unclaimed. Arthur Baxenter had Signed in 1MB; Archibald Baxenter 1 in 1846, Edward Baxenter In 188o, and Hubert Burr Baxenter In 1906, Tho latter was evidently tho sig-l.ature sig-l.ature of the man who now lay di ad upon the roof of tho house in Mortimer Terrace. (To Be Continued Next Sunday.) StBtBHKKBUiitUSSSSKSntJS: BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBI J v- - B R&jjf HI HHfl HHlVII |