A ^^^o A =^=^ n: =^= n 1 m O 4 NOi 3 OJ 9 8 n 7 — ( 6 ii Fhiup Woolf mj), ^f^-xt* y::^ WHO IS GUILTY WHO IS GUILTY BY • PHILIP WOOLF, M.D. CASSELL & COMPANY, Limited 739 & 741 Broadway, New York Copyright, 1886, By O. M. DUNHAM. Press of W. L. Mershon Si Co., Rahway, N . J. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. PAGE. THE STORM 9 CHAPTER n. THE DISCOVERY, 21 CHAPTER HI. A WARNING, 37 CHAPTER IV. A BEGINNING, 4I CHAPTER V. ON THE TRAIL 50 CHAPTER VI. AN EXPLORING EXPEDITION 66 CHAPTER VH. WISDOM AND BEAUTY, 78 CHAPTER Vni. WEAVING HEMP, 86 VI CONTENTS. CHAPTER IX. PAGE. A LEGAL OPINION, lOO CHAPTER X. A NEW ARRIVAL Il8 CHAPTER XI. A LECTURE AND A SURPRISE, .... I34 CHAPTER XII. MISS CHURCHILL ON THE TRAIL, . . . I48 CHAPTER XIII. CUNNING MATCHES CUNNING, .... 162 CHAPTER XIV. MISS CHURCHILL RECEIVES A WARNING, . . \^\ CHAPTER XV. A VISIT AND A DISAPPEARANCE, . . . I95 CHAPTER XVI. LIGHT AND DARKNESS, 207 CHAPTER XVII. DISCOVERED AT LAST 230 WHO IS GUILTY? CHAPTER I. THE STORM. LESBIA VILLA, where the mutilated body- was found, is in Cypressville, and Cypress- ville is a fashionable summer retreat within a few miles of a great city. It was a pleasant morning in early autumn ; a gray, gusty morning with filmy clouds speeding across the gloomy sky. The distant hills and the ocean were enveloped in a trail of mist which, in the hollows of the woods, was changed to a thick fog. The invigorating, blustering wind, blowing inward from the ocean, was plowing furrows through the mist, tearing it into shreds, and tossing it in the air as invisible vapor. The trees quivered in wild ecstasy, regardless of the fact that their leaves were changing color, and that each wind- puff whirled about their dead companions in a wild, Macabre dance. A pleasant morning ; not- withstanding its threats of rain and its premature 10 WHO IS GUILTY? chilliness, especially pleasant to two persons who stood on the lawn before the large and quaint Queen Anne house, known throughout Cypressville as " Woodbine Cottage ". It was in the days before lawn-tennis had become a fashion, and the man and the woman were concealing their deeper feelings under the mask of the useful but unex- citing croquet. The woman was young and pretty, with unusually bright eyes, and with a certain wildness in her gayety suggesting an intensely nervous disposition. She was, seemingly, indifferent to the game, or she had not full control of her arms, for she struck her ball recklessly and always sent it wide of the mark. The man was tall and strongly built. His eyes were blue with a mild, amiable light in them. An elaborate blonde mustache and side whiskers orna- mented his face, and his manners and actions sug- gested those of a soldier. He was, in fact. Captain Travers of the British army, on a furlough for the purpose of restoring the health that he had lost in India. He had been introduced to the inmates of the cottage several weeks before by his friend Doctor Dubois, and in the cottage he had remained an honored guest ever since. The covert, tender glances that he cast at his companion indicated that the athletic warrior was in love. An unusually bad shot of the young lady loosened his tongue. •* Really, Miss Gower, you are not well this THE STORM. 11 morning," he said with great solicitude. " You are awfully nervous and your face has lost all its smiles. I hope that the letter you received a while ago didn't contain bad news ! " " It was a common-place enough letter, Captain Travers," she answered with a forced smile. " But I am not well this morning, and I fear I shall not be able to accompany you in the visit to our friends as I intended." " Then I won't go either ! " " But you must," she said firmly. " We have been accused of selfishly keeping you and Doctor Dubois to ourselves. The open-air party was given on your account." ** It's a beastly day. Miss Gower, and the end of the season, and I prefer to remain here." " You must obey me, sir," she answered with a light laugh that ended in a sigh. " I will retire to my own room and try to forget my headache in sleep." " You do look awfully pale," said the sympa- thetic captain. " Hadn't you better see the doctor ? " She started and shivered. " Any thing but that ! " she said wildly. " I mean," she explained with a forced smile, " I have a horror of being regarded as an invalid." "But if I must go, I should like to hear the doctor's opinion. See, he is coming down the steps now ! " " And I refuse his prescription in advance," she 1 2 tVHO IS G UIL TV? said hastily, throwing down her mallet. " Good morning, Captain Travers, and I hope you will have a very pleasant time." With the words she waved him a farewell, and with a whispered " God bless you ", disappeared in a direction opposite that in which the doctor was coming. The doctor was small as to height, hardly touch- ing the rule at five feet three inches. He was forty-five years of age, but was prematurely bald, and the coarse, gray hair that fringed his skull was as rigid as steel wire. His cheeks were closely shaven, but a wiry, gray mustache curved upward under his eagle nose and overshadowed a large mouth ornamented with the whitest and strongest of teeth. Shaggy, coarse eyebrows projected over a pair of bright, penetrating gray eyes, and marked the base of a high, narrow forehead. It was a ruddy, smiling, intelligent face, indented with the furrows of thought, and winning the admiration it deserved. For Doctor Dubois was a world-famous man, an honored member of all the important scientific societies foreign and native, with a multi- tude of distinguished friends, hosts of grateful patients ; vain, tender-hearted ; a great admirer of women, and fully appreciating his own talents. He was dressed in a suit of formal black, and his one eccentricity was revealed in a narrow, blood-red necktie that encircled his neck. He approached the captain, watch in hand. " It's ten o'clock, Travers, and time to be off." THE STORM. 13 " Miss Gower has refused to come ! " " That is no excuse for you ! Mr. Morris has refused to come ; that is no excuse for me. You are going and I am going," he said authoritatively, " and we intend to smoke a cigar on the way. Light up and cheer up." " She has changed awfully of late," sighed the dis- consolate captain. " I once thought I had a chance, but I'm afraid I must give it up. The bloom has faded from her cheeks, and all her energy has changed into nervousness." " I will listen to you as we walk, Travers. We must not lose time. Come ! " They walked over the sloping lawn, and emerged into a quiet little lane overarched by trees. " What was her excuse for not coming ? " asked the doctor, after a pause. " A headache." " Morris was more honest. The truth is, that the people we are going to see are unexpectedly honored with the visit of a man whom Morris and his niece dislike. Why, I don't know or care. This man is a Mr. Hugo Addison, who returned from a long pleasure voyage in his yacht, after he and his yacht were supposed to have been swallowed up in the waves. This individual is to be a guest of our friends ; I believe he has even the intention of giving us all a little trip in his yacht. Be this so or not, he is the real cause why Morris and his niece do not accompany us, although I am ordered to give a more diplomatic excuse for their absence." 14 WHO IS GUILTY? " But she is really ill, doctor." " She will recover ! " was the dry answer. " Poor little thing ; it worries me awfully ! " " You will recover, too ! See here, Travers, I can only spare myself a few days' vacation. Let me beg of you not to overwhelm me with your confidence until we return to the city." The captain accepted the hint and remained silent ; but he thought only the more. He walked onward with a shadow on his face and gloom in his heart. They both received a very hearty welcome at their journey's end from the jovial Mr. Tenterden and his guests, who, despite the theatening weather, were also engaged in the unstimulating game of croquet, and gay words and gayer laughter defied clouds and piping winds. The women of the party had thrown shawls or wraps over their shoulders on emergmg from the house ; but as their blood became warmed by exercise these were carelessly thrown aside or sen- timentally carried by happy cavaliers. The natural joy of hearty youth was increased by the knowledge that the season was nearly at an end, and that in a few days, the great dusty city would absorb these pilgrims of summer and fashion, and the little village be surrendered to dust, desolation and the vulgar aborigines who were neither rich nor fashionable. The doctor avoided the tempting snares that were set for him, but the helpless captain was appropri- THE STORM. IS ated by a vivacious blonde with an elaborate head of red hair, and a pretty but insipid face. Miss Selina Carlyle was doubtless very attractive ; but she only wearied the moody captain. " I really didn't expect to see you, Captain Travers. Your friends have kept you so cruelly secluded that I thought I should never see you." " I came over here with the Indian malaria in my blood, and seclusion was what I needed." " Yes, but they might have amused you with some company," continued the very pert young lady, " though I suppose, under the circumstances, they would find it difficult ? " " May I ask why ? " " Don't you really know ? " she asked, with an affectation of great surprise. " Forgive me, then ! your seclusion has been very complete. But I really fear we shall not be able to enjoy the yacht voyage after all, it does so look like rain. But I suppose you don't care ? " " I fear, not greatly." " But they say that Mr. Addison's yacht is such a great curiosity. He has been away a year, and he gathered odd things from all parts of the world, till I am told it is a perfect little palace. And how strange it was ; all his friends really mourned his death, supposing the newspaper report was true, and that he had been drowned, and none of us knew that he was in the land of the living, until he himself appeared with the happy news. I suppose you don't know him, Captain Travers ? " l6 WHO IS GUILTY? " I have not that honor." " Of course not. How absurd to ask ! But I know you will like him ; he is such a perfect gentle- man ! And so chivalrous ! Always doing some charity or delighting his friends with some delicious little surprises. I am so glad you have come ! " " Miss Gower is ill, and at first I had no intention of coming without her." " I didn't know she was invited! " said Miss Selina, with a little spiteful, cattish purr. " One can see that you are not curious. But do tell me about India and tigers ! I perfectly dote on both ! " While the captain was suffering this martyrdom, the doctor was quietly walking about, exchanging a few pleasant words with all the pretty women, and honoring the men with an abrupt nod of the head. But his was a social, not gregarious nature; and where one or two would have amused, a greater number of chattering people only bored him ; and he crept away to enjoy a cigar in solitude. Leaving the lawn, he entered a quiet little path that led downward to the gate, where he was sud- denly confronted by a gentlemanly man who had seemingly been running, for he was out of breath. A tall man, with russet-colored side whiskers and mustache ornamenting a pale, excited face. " Pardon me," he gasped, " but can you tell me if Miss Gower is here ? " " She is at her home — Woodbine Villa ! " " I have been there ; but was told that she had gone out." THE STORM. 17 " She is not here ! " said the doctor, with a shrug of the shoulders. The man paused irresolutely, then murmured, with a frown : " It will be too late, too late ! " and, turning on his heel, disappeared. " A madman ! " said the doctor quietly, puffing away the incident in a cloud of smoke. As the morning wore away, the expected pleasure- trip became the topic of general conversation, and its liberal, agreeable owner, of general commenda- tion. When, in the afternoon, the women retired to prepare for what promised to be a boisterous voyage* a few of the more active men descended the bluff leading to the shore, and walked out on the private dock to smoke their cigars and to watch for the expected yacht. Among'the idlers on the dock were Doctor Dubois and the wearied captain, who would have faced a score of tigers rather than again submit himself to the society of the vivacious but spiteful Miss Selina Carlyle, whose wearisome conversation had made him disgusted with the world in general and himself in particular. There had been several light showers in the after- noon, of a few minutes' duration each, but now a heavy storm, was threatening. The doctor glanced up at the sky and while holding his hat on his head puffed vigorously at his cigar. " A breezy day, doctor ! " said the stout man standing beside him. l8 WHO IS GUILTY? "■ Too breezy for a trip on the water, Mr. Ascham; at least for me. I shall lie in the veranda on the least windy side of the house, and leave sea-sickness to my friends." " It would be a shame to desert us when we most need you, doctor. But, I say," he added, suddenly, turning to his friends, " look yonder, and tell me if you recognize the figure pulling away so lustily in yonder row-boat. If it isn't Tom Merton I'll eat my head ! What do you say, Ascham ? " " I say it is Tom Merton, and it looks as if he were pulling away from some of his creditors." " Yes ; and I am hanged if he isn't going aboard the sail-boat yonder, that has been hovering around here the entire morning. Look ! it is sailing down toward the city, and will have somc^of its sails ripped in its hurry to get along ! Doctor, if a body is fished up and lands at the morgue, look in its pockets, and if you discover bad cigars and lots of unpaid bills, call it Tom Merton. But, I say, isn't it a little late for Hugo ? He was to be here with his yacht at one, and it's nearly four." " The threatening weather is holding him back, and Tom Merton is a fool to brave it. But come, doctor, let us beat a retreat before the squall reaches us." They had hardly reached the veranda, where the women had already gathered, than a vivid flash of lightning cut a flaming zig-zag path through the black clouds, and was almost immediately followed by a loud, reverberating peal of thunder. The entire THE STORM. 1 9 landscape was concealed under a ghastly, greenish fog, through which the forked lightning cut its way. The wind had died away, but now suddenly rose with a shriek from a new quarter, bringing with it a rain that poured down in sheeted masses to the earth. The storm passed as suddenly as it had appeared. A bright blue sky was overhead, and a warm sun- light shone down on the soaked earth. There was a sudden cry of '* Max ! " " Max ! " as a tall figure, with strongly-marked and strongly-lined features, walked up the gravel pathway and ascended the steps leading to the veranda. The new-comer was unknown to Captain Travers, who was attracted by the characteristically firm, handsome face. "A good leonine head that," he said, turning to the young woman near him, *' with its gray mane and honest eyes. Pray, who is it ? " " That is Mr. Hugo Addison's servant and devoted friend." " You didn't come up through the storm. Max, surely ? " " I obeyed orders ; which were that the yacht ' should reach here by a certain time. I have lost three hours from the storm." " Is your master aboard ? " •" No, he had an appointment in the village. Last night he sent me down to the city for the yacht — it has just been scraped — he said he would meet me here." 20 WHO IS GUILTY? " But we haven't caught a ghmpse of hhii all day." " He said he would come," repeated the old man firmly, " and come he will. Please inform him that I am waiting his orders in the yacht." But the afternoon passed away, and still the man for whom all waited did not appear. " This is very strange ! " said the burly Mr. Ascham, consulting his watch for the twentieth time. " I think I'll drop over to Lesbia Villa to see what the matter is. Doctor, would you like a little walk ? " " I do not object ! " " May I also come ? " asked Captain Travers, anx- ious to escape from his sad thoughts. " By all means," nodded the doctor. " Come, we shall have a pleasant little promenade at least. They tell me that Mr. Addison's house is delight- fully quaint." CHAPTER II. THE DISCOVERY. IT was a large, quaint house of many gables, built on a terrace, and surrounded by many acres of rich cultivated ground. Facing the street the ground was laid out in lawns and flower-beds ; facing the narrow lane at the back was an extensive orchard and kitchen-garden. To the right, from the street, was a glass house of large dimensions, coQtaining not only tropical plants, but fruit trees of full height, and rare shrubs that would not bear exposure to the changeable climate. Unfortunately, evidences of neglect were every- where : grass was growing in the pathways ; the statues on the lawn were overgrown with moss ; the basin of the marble-fountain was filled with dust and dead leaves ; windows were broken in the hot-house ; boring-beetles had eaten to the hearts of many trees, and the canker-worms were busy in defoliating many more. The house itself defied all regularity ; numerous miniature roofs shot in all directions from the main roof ; angles and gables were everywhere, with quaint windows peeping through the woodbine and ivy ; with chimneys in impossible positions ; with 2 2 WHO IS GUILTY? roof edges running almost to the ground, when they should have been high in the air ; with abruptly-ending balconies, seemingly having no supports ; a veranda that twisted and contorted itself like an ungraceful snake ; possibility defied, impossibility converted into fact with the result — a building that satisfied the utilitarian and the artist at the same time, even if it had been planned by an inspired madman ! " He must have employed a great many work- men to keep the place in order," said the doctor, pausing at the gate to admire the picturesque scene. " He did employ a great many before he went away. But he has been absent a year and, as you see, the place has suffered from a year's neglect." " It looks lonely enough despite its attractions." " It will soon look busy, as I am told he intends to alter the house and improve the grounds. At present it is cheerless." They pushed open the rusty iron gate, ascended the broad grass-grown path, and finally paused before a massive oak door, the rich carvings of which had gathered additional beauties from age. " Old ocean approaches pretty close," said the doctor, gazing downward on a broad stretch of water that, toward the left, was only separated from the boundary of the estate by a narrow belt of sand. " He has a poet's love for the ocean," answered Mr. Ascham, " and for books. The entire floor, on both sides of the door, he has devoted to his THE DISCO VER Y. 23 library ; and in the library we shall find him absorbed in some old book, after his long absence from them, and perfectly oblivious of the passage of time." Mr. Ascham spoke with a surety he did not feel ; and the hand that raised the heavy knocker was slightly tremulous. The blows fell slowly and sol- emnly, and were heard reverberating from the many angles of the hall within. They were repeated again and again but they brought no human response. " None but the dead would fail to hear that clat- ter," said the captain impatiently. " Have a little patience, Travers," answered the doctor. '* And while waiting, admire the sunset in the ocean yonder. I'll wager you never saw a prettier sight in all your travels ! " " It is beautiful," said the captain, after facing the dazzling west for a few moments in silence. " By Jove ! you can see the twilight conquering the light." Mr. Ascham was growing alarmed as well as im- patient. They left the veranda, and now stood in the path- way, looking up at the house. " All the windows are closed, on this side at least," said the doctor. " We have had our walk for nothing ! " The captain had left his companions and dis- appeared around an angle of the house. In a moment he returned, with a startled face, and the 24 WHO IS GUILTY? words : " There is a window open on this side, and, by Jove ! I don't like the appearance of things." A narrow flower-bed skirted the side of the house, to which the captain drew his companions' attention. There was an open window some ten feet from the ground, and beneath this window the flowers were crushed down as if by some heavy iDody falling on them. " Look there ! " exclaimed the now thoroughly excited captain, pointing to a mass of ivy that had been pulled from the wall. *' What do you call that stuff on the bruised leaves, doctor ? " " Blood ! " was the calm answer. " I am not a detective, gentlemen ; but the hand that grasped that ivy was covered with blood. It would be wiser to summon the authorities ! " " Hang the authorities ! " said the impetuous captain. " While we are waiting for red-tape to arrive some poor fellow may die. At any rate I am going to run the risk and enter the house. I won't sneak away, fearing for the consequences, when my friend's friend may need my aid ! " This gallant speech was gratefully acknowledged by Mr. Ascham, to whose natural feebleness of age were now added excitement and terror. " It's easy to climb in at the open window," con- tinued the captain, "and in I'm going." " Don't disturb any thing within or without," whispered the cautious doctor. " If a crime has been committed, what seem trifles to us will prove of the greatest importance to others. Climb in THE DISCO VER V. 25 from the other side — on the side opposite the blood marks, captain." " All right, doctor, and here goes ! " The captain was tall of figure and strong of limb, and the window was almost within reach of his outstretched hands. He grasped the ivy with one hand, made a leap, and easily caught hold of the window sill with the other hand. In a moment he had pulled himself up and disappeared from his friends' view. In a brief space he reappeared at the window with pale, perspiring and horrified face. " A dead body, doctor ! " he gasped. *' Dead and covered with blood ! " Mr. Ascham staggered at the words and caught hold of a tree trunk for support. The doctor was calm and undisturbed. " Open the door, captain," he said quietly ; " perhaps I may be of some use. The door is to your right as you are facing us ; around the angle." The doctor, drawing his trembling friend after him, passed around to the front of the house, and after much hesitancy from the inside, the oak door was finally opened. The sun had set, and the interior of the house was dark and gloomy. " Wait where you are, Ascham," said the doctor with authority. " You are not in a condition to come with us, and you will be of use afterward. Show me the way, captain ! " " It's right here," said the captain, pointing into 26 WHO IS GUILTY ? the large, dark room on the right side of the hall. " Near the window ! " Yes ; near the window the body of a man, with its pale, blood-dabbled face turned upward to the ceiling ! The doctor stooped down beside it, raised the stiff head for a moment, gently dropped it, and then rose to his feet. " We are too late, captain," he said quietly. " He has been dead some six hours, and died from a pistol bullet in his brain ! " " Suicide, perhaps," said the captain, conquering his own fear in the presence of the calm doctor. " Suicide ? Impossible ! The wound is from behind and above. He was murdered, captain, brutally murdered ! " " What is to be done ? " " We are trespassers, and must wait for the law. Nothing can be done until the law, personified by an intellectual coroner or deputy, puts in its ap- pearance. We have gone so far and must now continue to the end. Escort our helpless friend home, and then as quickly as possible notify the authorities. My punishment shall be to wait here until you return." "Your place is not here, doctor; when the wretched news is told them at the house, who can say what may happen ? Besides, sir," continued the captain, with frank cordiality, " the trouble may not be all over, and in that case the world can spare me better than you — " THE DISCO VER Y. 27 " I thought " " I have been on too many battle fields to fear t/iat, doctor ; for the rest, I can walk up and down here smoking my cigar." " Perhaps your way is best." " I know it is," he added firmly ; '* but relieve me as soon as possible." The doctor nodded, and supporting the de- pressed Mr. Ascham, who had not opened his lips since the fatal discovery, disappeared in the ever- deepening twilight. Alone, Captain Travers carefully closed the oak door between him and the silent object in the library, and then slowly paced up and down the veranda, puffing out clouds of smoke, gazing out- ward toward the east, where a serene full moon was rising and filling earth and heaven with its soft silver light ; yet the air was damp and, in the cool night-breeze, was condensing into mist. Beyond was the village, with here and there a dot of cheer- ful light shining through the trees, which the ever- thickening mist was surrounding with a ghostly halo. Under other circumstances it might have been interesting to watch what promised to be the clear- est of nights resolved into a blanket of fog, through which the moonlight quivered and was shorn of its brightness before it touched the earth. The change from full light to gloom was startling in its rapidity. Seemingly but a moment before, he had seen the outlines of the very ropes that hung from the masts 28 WHO IS GUILTY? of the sleeping vessels moved up and down in the throbbing waters. Now the vessels were invisible and the ocean was undistinguishable from the fog that rested on it. It was doubtless very interesting, if other thoughts would not obtrude themselves — especially the thought of a warm, cozy house that was awaiting him. He had come to it a lonely stranger but a few weeks ago, yet it now seemed like a home to him, and it held the one only woman whom he had ever loved. His half-frozen blood warmed as he busied himself with the memory, and built his air- castles. A serious, thoughtful, shrinking woman, who rarely smiled, whose happiness was suggestive of tears rather than laughter ; resolute yet timid ; with large, flashing, yet pathetic eyes that seemed to claim the sympathy that the small lips were too timid to ask. He loved her, and he was vain enough to believe that the love was not all on one side ; yet he had not ventured on open confession, for even the slightest hint as to his feelings had stirred her into unaccountable emotion. It seemed as if she yearned to know what she was forbidden to hear : as if fate had arranged that the world of her imagina- tion were never to be converted into the world of reality. The wave of destiny maliciously floated her toward the shore that she was never to reach, raising for her a gorgeous palace that was to be her tomb ! The dead man and the living woman ! The one was lying with a pistol-bullet in his brain, the other THE DISCO VER Y. 29 was probably awaiting a living man's return in the drawing-room of a well-known house. Two days ago she was at the piano, soul and fingers engaged in a Beethoven sonata, when the dead man's name was pronounced, with the news that he had returned from a long journey. Soul and fingers ceased from their labors ; the rosy flushes died away from the soft, rounded cheeks, and a pale, haggard face was turned from the music to the bearer of the news. Again, that very morning, before the storm, the living woman had refused to meet the man that was now removed from the world and its troubles. Remembering this — why had the memory lain latent to this very moment, and v/hy did it start so suddenly into prominence ? — remembering this, how would she be affected when she heard that the man was dead ? Was he an old friend ; was he ? — His reflections and promenade were both suddenly interrupted by a strange sound that seemed to come from the library. With hushed breath and cautious step, he retired into a shadowy angle near the doorway, and listened with a certain superstitious fear pervading the more dominant belief that the murderer had returned to the scene of his crime ; and yet with the stern resolution to bring him to account. He listened ; but although all his energies were concentrated in the act — and, as a successful hunter, he had a practiced ear — he could not hear the sound repeated. " It was mere fancy ! " he muttered, " but for a moment I could have sworn it was a foot- so WHO IS GUILTY? step. Bah ! I am worse than a fool to expect that they would return so long after the crime was committed ! " Instinctively following the hunter's habit of con- cealment, he remained within the shadowy angle. His thoughts again wandered to the old subject which now troubled his heart and aroused his jeal- ousy — the relationship between the living woman and the dead man. " Poor fellow ! " he murmured, " he is powerless now ; but for her sake and my sake I hope she didn't love him. It will ruin both our lives, for I will never consent to be a second lover to my wife I " He paused, listened, and then exclaimed, in wild excitement : " I am not mistaken this time. Somebody is cautiously walking in the dead man's room ! " There could be no doubt of it — somebody was walking over the waxed and uncarpeted floor ; the footsteps were light, but they could be plainly heard. " His shoes creak like patent leather ! " said the captain, growing more resolute as the danger seemed lifted out of the region of supernaturalism. " Now he is stopping ; now he is walking again ; now he is opening a drawer ! He must have learned the situation of things by heart, for he is working in darkness. I wonder if I couldn't creep around and get a peep at him if he comes out the back way ? " To reach the ground it was necessary to cross a THE DISCOVERY. 31 broad band of watery moonlight, and the captain wisely hesitated. " He isn't a fool, and he has posted companions to warn him of approaching danger. I knew it ! " he exclaimed, as a soft, shrill whistle sounded in the distance. " There are two of them, at least ! Shall I venture in the dark, unknown house, or remain here ? " Then he added, after a pause, " I will take advantage of the light first. I'd give a good deal if I could only peep around yonder angle. I'll stalk the devil ! " He dropped on his hands and knees, and, keeping as much as possible within the shadow, crept slowly forward. On the side toward which he was going, the veranda abruptly ended at an angle made by the projecting wall of the house, and it was fairly well protected by a climbing wistaria vine. Reach- ing this useful screen, the captain arose, and peeped through the leaves. From his position the side of the house was outside the line of his vision, but the narrow, curving pathway was in full view. Standing out in bold relief was a human figure, with upturned, intent face — the face of a handsome man, with a large, russet-colored mustache and beard. The man stood in earnest expectation. Suddenly he faced about, bent his head in the atti- tude of Listening, and then disappeared over the grass, in the direction of the conservatory. A few minutes later there was a muffled report, like that of a pistol ; but whether it came from the land or the water it was impossible to judge. 32 WHO /S GUILTY? " A handsome face and manly figure for a mur- derer," thought the captain, " but I shall know it again ! " He turned to his old post by the door and again listened. For a few minutes all was silent ; then the sound of light footsteps was again plainly heard. " I wonder if I could throw myself unawares on the other as he comes out of the room. I have grappled with the more dangerous Hindu thief; why not with a native ? It's a pity I have no weapon ! " His instincts were stronger than his reason, and he cautiously opened the front door and crept into the black hall-way. He had made the same journey once before on that very evening, and he knew that he had only to creep into the angle on his right to be within reach of the doorway leading into the library. He walked forward on tip-toe, and had the satisfaction of reaching the angle made by the walls, without producing any suspicious sounds. His satisfaction was greater as he heard the sounds- of the footsteps still within the room. What surprised him was the boldness and indif- ference of the intruder. To commit a crime is one thing ; to visit the scene of a crime a few hours after committing it, another. The wretch must have been strongly assured that his guilt would not be discovered, to venture so boldly on the scene ! And yet, there must have been some urgent necessity to return ; but what could be accomplished in the dark ? and how could he venture in the same THE DISCOVERY. ^-i^ room, with blackness and his victim as com- panions ? The captain employed his hands and his brain at the same time ; he felt along the wall until he came to the opening of the doorway, across which he stretched his arms as a bar to any one coming out. It was a bold maneuver ; but it was not pleasant, even to a brave man, to stand in utter darkness, with the expectation that any minute he was likely to come in contact with an armed murderer. Very unpleasant to imagine that his oresence was sus- pected, and that in the room beiore him a pair of villainous eyes were glaring in his direction, and that the muzzle of a pistol was pointed the same way. The atmosphere around him was chill, moist and heavy, a charnal atmosphere suggesting decay ; the walls were damp, and unaccountable puffs of cold wind swept down on him from some invisible region above. Every sense was at its fullest ten- sion ; his strained eyes saw whirling figures of their own invention, imaginary odors nauseated him, and in the intense silence his brain invented sounds for his ears to hear. But the pattering of light footsteps came nearer and nearer ; the cause passed so close to him that he could feel its warm breath stirring his beard. Evidently pausing to listen. Now they sound again, and he can hear the rustling of garments. Now ! A yielding mass of some material is in his arms, the forehead of a warm face is pressed by the contact against his own ; there is a light exclamation of alarm uttered by a 34 ^^^O IS G UIL TV? soft voice, and he is so startled by the difference of the reality from the expectation that his arms unconsciously relax and the soft burden escapes from them. Recalled to himself, he stretches out his hand and grasps the fleeting thing. There is a slight struggle, the warm flesh again escapes him, and he finds himself alone in the darkness with a gauzy material in his hand. To follow the vanishing footsteps in the darkness which they thread with such certainty, is an im- possibility, and, with the beaded perspiration on his forehead, he returns to the veranda and the mist. What he has so strangely grasped is a woman's silken scarf. He gazed at it a moment with horri- fied eyes, then wrapped it up and thrust it in the breast-pocket of his coat. During his short absence the mist had turned to fog, completely filling the hollows and spreading out in curious spectral streaks over the water. As far as he could gaze he saw nothing but this monotonous sea of mist, which blotted out the earth and dulled the cold, blue serenity of the heavens. Horizontally he could barely distinguish the outlines of objects a few feet away ; the limit of the veranda from which he had gazed a short time ago had vanished from sight ; the rails of the balcony before him had also vanished, and for a short time, in his exalted state of feelings, he felt like the sole survivor of a shipwreck drifting aim- lessly in a desert of waters. " A nasty business ! " he murmured, turning his THE DISCO VER Y. 35 eyes from the desolate earth to the cold heavens. " I wish I was out of it, and would give a great deal if I never had been in it. Poor devil ! " he continued, referring to the figure that had escaped from his grasp. " Perhaps she had nothing to do with the crime, antl perhaps my testimony will put a rope around her innocent neck. Thank heavens, I did not see her face ! But she was dressed in some soft material that no poor person ever wore ; her skin was soft and velvety, and by the faintest sug- gestion of violet perfume in her silky hair she was no vulgar servant. If she is innocent, I hope she has received sufficient warning to vanish into space ; if guilty ! " Captain Travers did not formulate the wish even in thought, but stared impatiently at the mist and prayed for relief. He had not long to wait now ; in a few minutes he heard the sound of carriage- wheels in the distance, and soon after four specks of moving light appeared in the mist, each light surrounded by a curious halo. The lights ap- proached closer and closer, and in a short time resolved themselves into bull's-eye lanterns, each one held in the hand of a policeman. The guardians of order ascended the steps and came to rest on the veranda. " I suppose I may go now ! " exclaimed the cap- tain eagerly. " A carriage is at the gate and it will take you back," was the answer given by the leader of the relief party. 36 WHO JS GUILTY? •' Thank you, Mr. " " Sergeant Oakum," was the reply, delivered with great dignity. The captain did not wait to hear the answer, but plunged into the mist and soon reached the carriage, that received him and then sped away in the darkness. But quickly as it sped, the captain's thoughts traveled faster, adjusting themselves to the rhythmic rattle of the wheels. " How will she receive it ? How will she receive it ? How will she receive the news of his death ? " As the carriage stumbled over a length of stony road his thoughts drifted into other subjects ; but when it speeded along the level ground with its old rhythm, his thoughts rushed back into their old channel. " How will she receive it ? How will she RECEIVE IT ? " CHAPTER III. A WARNING. CAPTAIN TRAVERS reached Woodbine Cot- tage at the moment when the church-bell was striking the hour of ten. He was cordially wel- comed by his amiable host, Mr. Morris, the uncle of the gentle Miss Gower ; and by his friend, the doctor. Mr. Morris was a stout, florid-faced man of sixty, who inherited a very large fortune at a very early age and who, in consequence, enjoyed life to the. full bent of his capacities. He was hospitable, charitable and obstinate ; a bon vivant and a self- lover. He had sailed quietly through life, carefully avoiding the disagreeable, and carefully clinging to the agreeable. He feared anxiety more than he feared gray hairs, and had a greater interest in his stomach than in the fall of dynasties. He was a comparative new-comer in*Cypressville, wherein he had built himself a most luxurious house, which was at the service of his friends, and especially of the doctor, for whom he had a warm friendship and admiration. He had never married, and, until he received his niece in his house, had maintained an uncompromising bachelor's hall, from which 3S PFHO IS GUILTY? every species of womankind had been sternly excluded. He warmly greeted the captain on his return, but Travers was not in the mood to enjoy his live- liness. The claims of courtesy satisfied, he retired to his own room. He was tired and wretched, but when the doctor entered, in accordance with his custom, to indulge in a little friendly chat before he went to bed, his presence was a welcome relief. " I sent you lielp as soon as possible, Travers," said the doctor, sinking into an easy chair. " And I have notified the authorities. The village is con- sidered a part of the city and a city coroner attends to it. So we were compelled to telegraph to the city, and received an answer that a coroner and a detective would both be forthcoming early on the morrow." " I do not care for this ; rather talk to me about Miss Gower ! " The doctor became grave. ** Are you in love with her ? " he asked. " Deeply, irrevocably," was the frank answer, " although I have never told her so — in words ! " " So much the better, Travers ! You regard me as a friend ? " " You have saved my life ! " said the captain gratefully. " Then, Travers, as a friend, I should advise you to pack your trunk and vanish into space ! " " What do you mean ? " gasped the captain. A WARNING. 39 " I mean your love is not of the malleable kind. According to my belief, it is only fair-weather love. Of course you will not take my advice ; but having relieved my conscience, I will relieve your anxiety. Question me ? " " Is Miss Gower really ill ? " ** You shall hear. After the interrupted game of croquet this morning, Miss Gower locked herself in her room, refusing admittance even to her maid. From ten in the morning to three in the afternoon she was invisible to human sight. At the latter hour she opened her door, asked for a glass of wine and a biscuit, and again retired. I returned here, after leaving you and telegraphing to the city, and found the household in confusion. It seems that Miss Gower maintained such resolute silence that her maid became anxious, and, with Mr. Morris's permission, forced her way into the room, only to find her mistress lying senseless on the floor, dressed and with bonnet on her head, as if she intended to take a walk. Like the most sensible of maids, she undressed her mistress and lifted her into bed. I entered about this time. The exact cause of the insensibility I could not discover, but I learned that our fair friend was accustomed to taking bromide of potassium for her very frequent nervous spells ; and in the present instance I knoiv she was under the influence of opium. I roused her from her stupor — it was not dangerous ! — and waited until she fell into a more natural condition. She was too weak to be subjected to a long cross- 40 PV//0 IS G VIL TV? examination, and too nervous to answer my few questions with clearness." " Are you sure — " began the excited captain. " I am sure of nothing," said the doctor, rising. ** I've given you my advice, and answered your question to the best of my knowledge." " As a true friend, what would you advise me to do ? " " Have I not already told you ! Get rid of your malaria and love at the same time." " But—" The doctor walked toward the door, then turned to say : " The pythoness has spoken and the fire is extin- guished. Good-night, Captain Travers ! " CHAPTER IV. A BEGINNING. SLEEP that night was an enemy that Captain Travers could not conquer ; he tossed about in his bed, occasionally falling into a condition of momentary unconsciousness, only to return to the real world with a wildly-beating heart, a perspiring body, and a vague but painful feeling of impending horror ; of a whirlpool of evil that was to attract him within its dangerous circle, toss him around as a toy, and then swallow him forever. It was a relief when the night passed away. He rose, dressed himself in the early dawn, and pulling back the window curtains, inhaled the fresh morn- ing air in an ecstasy of delight. With equal pleas- ure he welcomed, later, Doctor Dubois, who had passed an excellent night, and entered his friend's room with a beaming face. "You look haggard and pale, Travers; evidently you have not passed a pleasant night ! " " A beastly night, doctor. I've been thinking over your words, and they have been piercing me like burning arrows ! " " They were not spoken lightly ! " 42 WHO IS GUILTY? " That's what upsets me, doctor. I have long since learned to honor your true manhood, severe love of truth and noble principles. Only I wish you would be more explicit." " My dear fellow, if you were in my position you would appreciate my friendship for you in speaking even as I have dared to speak. However, I have determined to put you in a way of thinking for yourself. I am to meet the coroner by the first train this morning and superintend \he post mortem. You shall go along with me, and if what you learn adds to your sleepless nights, blame your own fool- ishness, and not my anxiety for your welfare." "At least it will distract me from my horrible thoughts ? " " You will find it more exciting and less laborious than pig-sticking, and you will be able to compare our police system with that of your own country and France. One of our best detectives has been sent up to unravel the crime. So we will drink a cup of coffee and eat a roll without disturbing our host, and then rush off to business before the vil- lage is awake." " Have you any news of Miss Gower ? " " Her maid, Percy, has kindly prepared a break- fast for us, and we will receive her report at our ease." They descended to the dining-room, where a most temptmg breakfast awaited them. A very attract- ive young woman, dressed in simple but becoming attire, greeted the captain with a respectful cour- A BEGINiYING. 43 tesy, and welcomed the doctor with a smile that showed the tips of her small white teeth. " You are the good genius of the house ! " exclaimed the doctor, seating himself and casting an approving glance over the table. " I see you have not even forgotten my chicken croquettes. You are thoughtful, even though at the cook's expense." " I did not wake her, doctor, it was so early," answered the young woman, in a soft, musical voice, and with a modest blush in her cheeks. *' I made them myself, and you must excuse me if they are bad ! " " They are perfect ! " said the doctor with enthu- siasm, after having tested them, " and the coffee has an aroma that would tempt an angel." Miss Percy filled the doctor's cup with the tempt- ing beverage, and then waited on the captain. During her graceful services, while not neglecting the stranger, she was particularly attentive to the doctor, anticipating his wants and meeting his hearty commendations with a grateful yet blushing face. When her services were not required, she discreetly withdrew to a distant part of the room ; yet her large, soft, black eyes still rested on the doctor, and before he had time to formulate a wish she had tripped forward in anticipation of it. A dignified, lady-like maid, as even the indifferent Captain Travers was compelled to admit, undoubt- edly born to a station above that which fate had thrust on her ; but if this were true, she raised the 44 ^^0 IS GUILTY? humble situation to her height, rather than sunk to its level. Her hands were small, narrow and white, and would not have disgraced the heaven-protected aristocracy of his own land ; her tall figure was plump and graceful, and her small lips were full and of a delicate color that would have shamed a pink rose. Miss Gower must have been strongly assured of her own charms to place them in con- trast with those of her dainty maid. The doctor was too intent on attacking the deli- cious food to waste his time in conversation, but when stomach was nearly satisfied, conscience returned to its throne, and with an amiai^le glance at the young woman, he asked : " How is Miss Gower ? " " She passed a quiet night, and was slumber- ing very peacefully when I left her." " There was no return of the nervousness ? " " None, sir, since you left her." " I forgot to ask you yesterday ; is Miss Gower in the habit of falling insensible to the ground at odd intervals ? " " Since I have been with her, she has had three or four attacks like the one you saw." " May I ask how long you have been with her ? " "'About three months." " Did she ever speak about their cause ? " *' She was very kind, friendly and considerate to me," answered the girl, warmly, " and she trusted in me as a friend. I can not betray her confidences even to you, sir." A BEGINNING. 45 " I have no wish that you should do so. At least you may tell me whether she suspected the cause to be organic disease." " She knew, doctor, that she was not troubled with any ailment, but great nervousness. At times it drives her almost insane, and if she tries to escape from the horror she only does what any body would do under the circumstances. She is a kind, noble and self-respecting lady ! " " I suppose, then, there is no need of my seeing her before I leave ? " " She sleeps peacefully ; she is in no pain, and nervousness is not so rare with woman ! " Her attractive seriousness ended in a more attractive smile. " It is unnecessary to disturb her. If you have finished, Travers, we will light a cigar and then there will be time enough to take a leisurely stroll over to the station." ** I must change this sack for a coat first," said the captain, rising. " I will be with you in a minute." When he had retired the doctor glanced sadly at the fragments remaining on the table, as if regret- ting that anticipation had been greater than per- formance. " May I pour out for you another cup of coffee ? " The maid was beside him, glancing down on him with questioning brows. " I regret to say, that I can not answer your ques- tion with a ' yes ' ; but I thank you just the same." 46 WHO IS G UIL TV? The doctor was fond of the fair sex, and was a favorite with them ; and this continued attention from a pretty woman flattered the vanity which even the wisest scientist can not suMue. " Shall you be late ? Pardon my question, but if you shall be detained beyond the dinner hour, I should be honored if you would allow me to have something ready on your return," " I do not know at what hour I shall be allowed to return." " It is more difficult," she returned, with a smile, and little shrug of the shoulders, " but I am ob- stinate, and the supper shall be ready whenever you are ready for it." The return of Captain Travers recalled the doc- tor to the business before him, and in a few min- utes the two men were walking briskly through the cool morning air. It was but a short distance to the little wooden structure that was dignified with the title of " station ", and it was reached in advance of the train. To kill time they walked up and down the wooden platform that was showered with the pleasant rays of the rising sun. But few words had been interchanged during the journey ; and it was not until the doctor had lighted his second cigar that he worked himself into a conversational mood. " The croquettes were a work of art, Travers," he said, simply putting into words the idea that had occupied his thoughts since breakfast. " It requires brains, and education even, to cook properly." A BEGINNING. 47 " Miss Percy has undoubted talents in that direction." " If I were a little younger," said the doctor, with a laugh, " I should imagine that I had made a very favorable impression on that young lady's heart ! Since I have been here she has been as thoughtfully attentive to me as if . You must supply the omitted comparison, Travers." " She is very attractive." " And very good," said the doctor gravely. " I am wrong even to jest on such a serious subject. She is young and unprotected, and it is unworthy of an honest man to make light of her thoughtful attentions. She is fond of reading, and I lent her a few books. She is fond of study, and I showed her the way to gain the most profit from her un- employed time. Her gratitude takes the form of warming my slippers, and preparing little delicacies for me. But I suppose you are puzzled by my seeming indifference to the poor fellow in the deserted house. I have promised the coroner my assistance — his deputy is sick — and when business comes, business will receive all my attention. While waiting — it won't be long, judging from yonder smoke — I am in the mood to forget my profession and its anxieties. And, alas ! my work will soon begin again." A black spot in the distance, a defiant shriek of escaping steam, a metallic rattle, and in a moment a train at rest in the hollow below. It disgorged two passengers, and had sped away 48 WHO IS GUILTY? before they had reached the top of the wooden stairs that led to the station above. One of the new-comers was a stout man dressed in rusty, baggy clothes, who slowly puffed his way upward ; the other, who carried a small black case in his hand, was a tall man, dressed in a well-made but sober suit of gray, and who leaped rather than walked up the stairs. Both greeted the doctor with friendly warmth. " Captain Travers, allow me to introduce to you Coroner Crabbe and Detective Sharpe, our future collaborators in the cause of justice and morality." The fat coroner nodded his hea.d, half in deference to courtesy, half in the utilitarian act of inhaling a huge pinch of snuff. The detective raised his hat and acknowledged the introduction with a pleasant smile. Captain Travers glanced, in surprised perplexity, at the detective, whose profession was not indicated by his appearance or manners. He had a vague consciousness of having seen the face before, but was unable to recall under what circumstances, and finally dismissed the idea as one of his many unre- liable fancies. It was a handsome face, the eyes intelligent, the mouth sensitive, yet resolute, and the shaven lower jaw firm and square. The hair was black, and a thick black mustache ornamented the upper lip. He was tall in figure, well-made, and with a sug- gestion of latent strength in the somewhat delicate looking limbs. A BEGINNING. 49 " I have brought your instrument-case with me, doctor, as you ordered." " I never doubted your memory ! Now you must do me another favor ; I want you to take charge of my friend. He is a benighted foreigner, and I am an.xious to convince him that oicr detectives are superior to the fossil products of effete monarchies." " I am at the captain's service ! " They left the station, the doctor and coroner leading, the other two walking more slowly behind. " May I be critical at the start, Mr. Sharpe ?" " At the start and always. Captain Travers." "Was it, then, wise to leave the tragedy so long in the hands of local incompetency ? Much maybe done in a long night, especially in way of escape ! " " You are right in theory, but wrong in fact. ]\tore has been done than you imagine. The vital point just now is //d^/ the murderer's escape, but to discover who the murderer is. But please inform me what you know of the case. It may be of some help." The captain explained his connection with the murder, but refrained from even hinting at his per- sonal experiences in the old house ; and although the gauzy shawl was in his pocket, he made no mention of it. By the time his narrative was ended they had reached the scene of the tragedy, and the detective paused to gaze at the old house that was bathed in the morning sunlight. " A fine old building ! " he muttered. " It looks as if it had concealed many secrets in its time ! " CHAPTER V. ON THE TRAIL. A PICTURESQUE building surely; but even in the glow of the sun and with a warm sky above it, sad, chilling and desolate. The coroner, engaged in a warm political discussion with the doctor, had already disappeared. The detective followed more slowly. As he pushed open the gate and entered the grounds, a man emerged from the bushes, and raised his hand to his hat. "Any news?" *' Nothing, except we caught a man in the grounds last night." " He wouldn't have been there if he was con- cerned in the business. I'll examine him by and by. Come, captain ! " To his companion's surprise, the detective seemed acquainted with the grounds. Without a moment's hesitation he passed around to the side of the house, and paused beneath the window through which the entrance had been made on the evening before. After a thoughtful silence, devoted to a critical examination of the ground, he said : " Let us seek for facts. I think I've already dis- ON THE TRAIL. 5 1 covered a few. Please stoop down here beside me, and see if I state them correctly." The detective was already on his knees before the narrow bed in which flowering plants were struggling for existence in the midst of a flourish- ing army of grasses and weeds. " Listen, Captain Travers ; I measure this flower- bed — I suppose that was once its object — and I find it to be just four feet six inches broad. On the outer edge is a line of old-fashioned box — I believe fashion uses tiles for bordering purposes now. In the center here, is a hydrangea that was once a fine shrub, but is now dwarfed into insignificance ; beyond, against the wall, is a flourishing colony of chickweed. The hydrangea, as you see, is crushed to the ground, as if a heavy weight had fallen on it ; and to the front here, to the extent of about three feet, the box edging is dragged forward, over into the pathway. These are undoubted facts, are they not ?" " I dare not controvert them," said the captain, with a smile. ** Good ! Now look ; to the right and to the left of the hydrangea are comparatively open spaces, where plants and weeds have died for lack of mois- ture, and light, probably ; and in these spaces are the undeniable marks of footprints ; here, here, and here are the outlines of boot or shoe heels indented deeply in the still moist earth. Now, if you please, we will go over some old ground, with you in the witness stand. When did you and the doctor start out to hunt up the dead man ? " 5 2 WHO IS G UIL TY? The captain had been busied with the problem all night, and having a short time ago told the story, had no need to search for his facts. " The yacht was expected at one o'clock, and I remember the servant saying that the storm had detained him some three hours." *' That makes it four o'clock. Shortly afterward you started off ? " ** Yes ; and I knoiu that we did not reach our journey's end until after six o'clock." " Let us give our enemies the advantage by calling it six. Now, when the doctor examined the body how long did he say he had been dead ? " ** Some six hours." " A more detailed examination may alter this ; that is, make the time longer not shorter. But accepting it as an approximation, we are brought to the conclusion that the murder was committed about twelve o'clock noon. Now listen ; these heel marks in the dirt were made after or during the storm ; they could not have entered so deeply into the hard dry soil, or if they had, the rain would have at least effaced their sharpness. If you look, carefully, you will see that the nail heads in the heel are still sharply outlined ; am I right?" " There is no question of it ! " " Therefore these marks were made in the soil after the rain had ceased. Preparing for such an emergency, I instituted inquiries in the city last night, and I learn that it began to rain here — that ON THE TRAIL. 53 is, the heavy shower you described began at ten minutes after four and ended at about five o'clock. Therefore these footsteps were made some four or five hours after the murder. Am I indulging in dangerous theory, Captain Travers ? " " In very excellent reasoning, and I suppose we may conclude " " Please hear me to the end," interrupted the detective. " The flower bed has something more to tell. The hydrangea, as I have said, is crushed down to earth as if a heavy weight had fallen on it ; but if you look you will discover that the crushed-down portions are covered with mud ; mud in heavy masses ; suggesting very plainly mad-cov- ered shoes as the cause of the disaster. I therefore conclude that the plant was also thrust down in the soil, not before, but after the rainstorm. Now look at the ivy that runs up the house near the window. \\\ one place it is torn away from the wall as if yielding to a heavy weight. Tell me, what do you see on those exposed leaves ?" " Blood ! " said the captain. " Some one with a bleeding hand has grasped it. Doubtless the mur- derer himself." " That would be the hasty conclusion of ninety- nine sensible persons in a hundred. But consider for a minute ; the blood-stained leaves are fully exposed ; the blood lies thickly on them. If it had been there at twelve o'clock, don't you think the rain would have washed it away ? My reputation on it, Captain Travers, that blood was deliberately 54 ^^O JS GUILTY? placed there after the storm, and consequently long after the murder. " " But with what object ? " asked the puzzled cap- tain. " With what object but that of leading justice astray ! of distracting attention from the guilty party to the innocent ! But before coming to a conclusion on this point, we will re-enforce our argument. How tall are you ? " " Five feet ten inches." " Good ! now come here toward the ivy and stretch out your hand. You see it just overreaches the blood-stained leaves, by about an inch. The bleeding hand, then, you might say, belonged to a man of about your own height." " It at least seems probable ! " " Let us accept the conclusion for a moment, and say that the murderer was a man five feet ten inches high. Now look at the foot-prints. Could ' you walk in boots that gave such a small impres- sion ? Let us test it by measurement. Please lift up your foot. Lo ! The broadest part of your heel measures two and a quarter inches ; the broadest part of the sole of your boot measures three and a quarter inches. Now, look ! " with the words, the detective, measure in hand, was on his knees again before the flower-bed. " The widest part of this heel impression in the mud measures one and three-quar- ter inches ; the widest part of this sole impression measures two and a half inches. The length of your foot is ten and a half inches ; the length of the ON THE TRAIL. 55 footmark here eight and a half inches. If these impressions were made by the murderer, he had a foot that would cause even your aristocracy to envy him." The captain did not answer, but he thought of his adventure in the deserted house, and of the tell- tale evidence that still remained hidden in the breast pocket of his coat. " We have still one further bit of evidence, Cap- tain Travers, in this box edging. In its neglect it has grown twelve inches high, and a man could step over it. But supposing he pushed his way through it, would he have thrust it forward in an unin- terrupted line to the extent of three feet ? I leave you to your own conclusions and return to the ivy to see if there are the same footsteps at its base, although I do not expect to discover any thing definite, as the grass grows very thickly there." The detective carefully studied the grass, and then gently parted its waving plumes with his hands. He suddenly uttered an exclamation of pleasure, as from the base of the ivy, deep down in the grass, he extracted a handkerchief matted together with blood. " Our murderer is excessively idiotic," he mut- tered, carefully unfolding the handkerchief and studying it with an amused but puzzled expression in his face. He handed it to his companion, with the words : " Look in the corner, captain, and tell me what you see ? " " The letters G. D." 5 6 IV HO IS G UIL T Y ? " The letters G. D. and no mistake. The owner of the handkerchief, if not of the blood, has for the initials of his name the letters G. D., and if he com- mitted the crime his idiocy deserves the punish- ment it will get." " The end is nearer than you imagined, is it not ? " " It is different from what you imagine ; but this handkerchief will prove an excellent clew. We have only to discover its owner, find out who is his enemy, and the murder will explain itself. But it is time to enter the house now, for they are wait- ing for us, before they enter on their side to befog testimony." They ascended the steps, passed into the house, and immediately proceeded to the library, wherein they discovered the coroner and the doctor quietly seated, and still engaged in their political discus- sion. " You are taking it easy, as usual, coroner," said the detective. " Yes, I always have plenty of time when you fellows are with me ! But I'll go now and rake up a jury, and look around for witnesses." " It will eat into your week's holiday, coroner." " Yes, if I allow it ! But I think I'll form a jury and then adjourn for a week, to gather evidence, you know ! " The coroner winked, while inhaling a pinch of snuff, and then waddled out into the hall-way. In the meantime the detective was examining the ON THE TRAIL, 57 room, which was long and broad, occupying the entire angle of the house. It had but one door leading from the hall, but as a recompense, the three sides of the square were pierced with numer- ous windows, between which were tall bookcases filled with books. The floor was uncarpeted and of polished oak. Under a brass chandelier hanging from the center of the painted ceiling, was a desk covered with papers, and near it, resting on a Persian rug, a curious carved revolving chair. Heavy curtains were drawn before all the windows, except the one which was open, and from before which the curtain had been drawn back. Thick du.st was everywhere ; it lay on the polished floor ; it whitened the bookcases and the books, it encumbered the rich curtains in which the moths had eaten holes ; it lay on sofas, chairs and foot- stools. The walls were stained and streaked, and the frescoes on the ceilings had lost their color and had crumbled away in patches. Lying on the ground, in front of but a few feet away from the window, was the dead body, dressed in sober black. The face was handsome and refined even in death ; undisturbed by suffer- ing and with a frozen smile on its pale lips. The massive, curling brown hair was matted together by the same fluid that formed a pool just under the head. Detective Sharpe, having finished his superficial survey of the room, kneeled down beside the rigid, supine figure. 58 WHO IS GUILTY? "You have examined it again, doctor?" " Not thoroughly ; that will come when you are through with it. But I can answer general ques- tions." " What, then, if you please, is the direction of the wound ?" " From above, running backward. My present opinion is, that he was stooping down in front of the window, let us say, picking something from the floor, when the unsuspected murderer, facing him, and just as he was rising, fired the pistol, killing him almost instantly. I slrall find the ball some- what near the occipital foramen." ** Probably hiding behind the curtain yonder. I find nothing in the pockets but this case of cigars ; and these three letters, which I will read in a min- ute. His valuable hunting-case watch is untouched, but there is not even a penny of money in his pockets ; nothing indicating a struggle. As you say, doctor, the death must have been instantan- eous. You can have it now as soon as you wish." " The sooner the better." When assistance had been called and the body removed to another room. Captain Travers addressed the detective with the words : " Facts are less abundant here than outside ! " " No ; but they are, perhaps, more perplexing," answered the detective, without raising his eyes from the letters he was reading. " The coroner now can run his useless course as soon as he wishes. When he reaches the verdict of " died at the hands Oy THE TRAIL. 59 of some person or persons unknown to the jury," justice will be less trammeled in its actions. In the meantime look here ! " The detective had drawn forward the curtain covering the open window, and pointed to a brass-curtain hook on which was a small blue-silk bow, such as at that time orna- mented the skirts of a woman's dress. •' If our murderer was a man, captain, he was hiding behind the curtain and wore a woman's dress ; and in coming out of his hiding place left this tell- tale ribbon on the hook ! A woman was surely in the room. Do you see the marks of her footsteps in the dust yonder ? We have pretty well destroyed all traces here ; but look toward the upper part of the room, where we have not walked. Here the impression of toe-point and heel-point are so plain that they will give me the opportunity of measuring the length of the intruder's dainty foot. It measures eight and a half inches, the same length as the tell-tale imprints in the soil without." " But I think your reasoning is wrong on this point, detective. As a woman stands, the point of her shoe is raised above the level of the ground." " But my conclusion is still the same. You will notice that the impression I measured is closer to the book-case, the toe pointing toward it. The toe impression is very strong, and it suggests that the party who made it raised herself on her tip-toes to reach one of the books in the case. And if you will look, you will see that on a 6o WHO IS GUILTY? certain shelf the books are displaced ; if you will raise yourself beside me on this chair, you will find that there are impressions of finger-tips on the dusty shelves. If you are curious, captain, here is the very book that was consulted. Don't disturb the finger-marks on the top." The detective had withdrawn from the case a compact duodecimo volume, bound in crimson cloth. It bore no title on the outside, and on open- ing it he discovered that it had once been a blank- book ; but the pages were now filled with a close, but bold, legible writing. " It is a memorandum-book, and here, where it so suspiciously gapes open without an exploring finger turning the leaves, a large number of pages have been torn out. Were they compromising to our intruder ? And if they were so, was that the only reason why she paid a visit to this deserted library ? I will confiscate the book and .study it at my leisure." The detective thrust the volume into his pocket, and then stood gazing thoughtfully out the window. " Were the letters that you discovered on the dead man of any importance, Detective Sharpe ? " " One of them adds the complicating element of which I spoke a little while ago. It is from the Tom Merton whom you saw in the row-boat, and it is, seemingly, in answer to one written by the dead man. You shall judge for yourself." The detective unfolded one of the letters that he held in his hand and read : ON THE TRAIL. 6 1 " My Dear Hugo : — " Your foreign trip has puffed you up ! If I borrowed money of you I intended to repay it. I'm hard up and will meet you at the appointed hour at Lesbia Villa. Don't keep me waiting and don't disappoint me. Tom Merton." " The envelope shows that the letter was posted in the city on the 12th — the day before yesterday. Tom Merton will need looking up. Just now we will interview the interloper found in the orchard." The detective gave his order, and in a few min- utes a disreputable, ragged tramp was thrust into the room by an unsympathetic policeman. Detect- ive Sharpe eyed the wretch for a few moments in silence, then said : "Answer my questions, if you can, without lying. Your name ? " " Ralph Price." " What were you doing in the orchard ? " • " Eatin' the apples wot nobody claimed." " At what time ? " " Maybe 'tween four and six." " What did you see ? Tell me all." " I see a woman pass out on the balcony, and popped in agin' like a jack-in-the-box. She was dressed in a whitey yaller dress, and a white thing was wrapped around her head so I couldn't see her face. I went ter work on the apples, forgettin' all 'bout her, and the next 1 saw of her, she was jist outside the walls of the place, runuin' quick, scared like. She'd left her shawl behind her. Leastways 62 WHO IS GUILTY? it wasn't on her shoulders, but her face was still covered." " You couldn't see the front of the house from the tree ? " " No ! " " What else did you see ? " " Nothin', and I didn't know nothin' till the ' cops ' catched me as I was comin' out the gate." ** You didn't go in the house yourself?" " What fur ? I ain't reached hookin' gas-pipes yet." " Take him away and keep him in charge till I'm ready to dispose of him," said the detective, turning to his subordinate. " I shall want to question him more closely by and by." " Do you imagine he invented the story of the woman?" asked the captain, when the tramp was removed, and with a certain tinge of remorse at his own silence. "There is an undoubted element of truth in the statement, and when I explore the house I shall probably discover the shawl of which he speaks. But it is necessary, before I go further, that we should learn the result of the post mortem. The evidence will complete what I call the circum- ference of the circle. It is my habit to accumulate a mass of facts, before I work on the inner history of a crime. It saves time and prevents premature conclusions." The smiling face of Doctor Dubois appeared in ON THE TRAIL. 63 the door, and, a moment after, the doctor's little figure entered the room. " Have you finished ? " " The important business is over, detective, and I'm very much of the opinion that the criminals depended for their safety on the stupidity of a deputy-coroner. They never thought an old gray rat who knows his P's from his Q's would be in the business ! " " Have you discovered any thing new ? " " Nothing except the victim is dead ! But while I amuse myself examining a specimen of the blood yonder under a microscope, do you amuse yourself by looking around the room for a stray bullet. You will most probably find it embedded in the wall or woodwork." The disciplined detective asked no questions, but immediately began his search, while the doctor placed the little microscope he carried in his hand on the desk, drew back the curtain opposite, placed a drop of blood on a glass slide, examined it for a brief moment under the microscope, and then, with hands in pocket, sauntered to one of the bookcases and amused himself by reading the titles on the backs of the books. After a brief interval, he turned and said : ** You have discovered it ? " " No ; but I will have the room explored inch by inch." " I am not particular, as I only suggested the search to put your mind in a proper condition to 64 WHO IS GUILTY? appreciate my discovery. Now, please step here beside me. Here is a pistol which one of your men discovered in the bucket of the well, and which I took from him as he was sneaking along to give it to you ! " With the words, he drew a pistol from his pocket and placed it in the detective's hand. " You will observe, detective, that one of the barrels of the revolver is discharged," " No doubt of it, doctor ! " " Very well. Now here is the bullet that I extracted from the brain of the dead man. Com- pare it with the intact bullets in the chambers." " It is smaller in every way, doctor, and belongs to a different weapon." " Exactly ; and thereby demonstrating that the pistol with which the murder was committed is still to be found." " The criminal was not wise," said the detective, with his eyes resting on the weapon in his hand. " You'll be interested to hear, Captain Travers, that on the handle of this revolver is a silver plate on which are engraved the initials G. D. It's curious how very anxious this G. D. is to get himself hung. But tell me, doctor, does your microscope say any thing." " It has a very strong objection to speak just now. By and by it may say something valuable. But I strongly advise you to look for the other pistol." " If it is to be found, I will find it. In the mean- Oy THE TRAIL. 65 time the captain and I are going on a little explor- ing expedition." " Good. I shall remain here till five o'clock ; but, I warn you, I will not miss my dinner, even for my friend Travers." CHAPTER VI. AN EXPLORING EXPEDITION. •* WOU think the criminal is a woman?" asked 1 the captain, when the detective, after giving a few orders, passed down the veranda steps and was walking briskly toward the village. " That is my present opinion, and if I am com- pelled to change it hereafter, I shall feel as if I am not fit for my business." " Is it not possible that you may be mistaken and hasty ? " " They say that every thing is possible, and I may be mistaken, but if every fact we discover does not strengthen my belief, why, my vanity is greater than my prophetic vision. If I could only interview the mysterious G. D., at this moment, a large amount of valuable time might be spared. And yet, if the mysterious /le is the enemy of the mysterious s/ie, we shall be landed in a maze." " You are speaking as mysteriously as a prophet, detective." " I am trying to solve the one puzzle that per- plexes me. We must either suppose that our G. D, is the most foolish of fools, anxious to throw a noose around his neck, or we must suppose that he AN EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 67 is innocent, and the real guilty party is endeavor- ing to throw the blame on him. Accepting the lat- ter alternative as the more probable, I boldly assert that no one but an impulsive, rash woman would have the audacity to so boldly prepare a trap for an enemy. She has committed a murder ; but even the crime has not brought her discretion. She does not here show ordinary cunning ; she forces under the eyes of the law what a male crim- inal, with the same object in view, would force the law to look for. No one could miss finding the handkerchief ; nor the pistol. And here is another point ; she had the pistol in her possession and discharges one of its chambers, and then uses another pistol with which to commit the murder ! We have to do with a passionate woman. Captain Travers, who cares more to accomplish her object than to plot for her own safety." " May not both man and woman be guilty ? " " I have thought of that theory and rejected it. The initials so boldly displayed are enough to con- demn it in my eyes, though, of course, I shall not neglect it in my investigations. If both are con- cerned, the man is deeply in love or deeply indebted to the woman. But we need more light on the antecedents of the dead man. One of the letters found in his pocket is seemingly from his lawyer, a Mr. Thomas Terms, whose office is at 40 Myrtle Avenue, and to Mr. Terms we are now going." The lawyer's office was easily found ; it was on the main street of the village. An upright post 68 WHO IS G UIL TY? upheld a large square of wood bearing, in gigantic letters, the worthj^ man's name. Unfortunately, Mr. Terms was absent, busied with some matters connected with the murder, and would not return to the village until late in the evening. A sallow- faced young man, with faint indications of a red mustache, gave the information with cheerful alacrity. This young man was Mr. Abe Clayton, the lawyer's clerk, and under the skillful question- ing of Detective Sharpe he was readily induced to tell all he knew of the past history of some of the people involved in the tragedy. In Mr. Clayton's opinion the object of the murder was robbery. It seems that, two days before, Mr. Addison had drawn ten thousand dollars from the bank, or rather Mr. Terms drew it for him, on one of his checks. In requesting the lawyer to obtain the money for him, Mr. Addison explained that he intended to use it in renovating the old house. Mr. Clayton expressed the confident opinion that the murder was committed on account of this money. Questioned as to whom he sus- pected as the murderer, Mr. Clayton displayed a wily reticence, and refused to be " caught ". He insinuated, however, that Mr. Addison was a " softy " who, when in the village, was always fol- lowed by a lot of " beats " intent on borrowing money, and that it was one of these " beats " who had committed the murder. On being asked if he knew any body whose name would fit the initials G. D., Mr. Clayton winked vigorously, and ex- AN EXPLORING EXPEDITION. (>() pressed the opinion that " Geoffrey Draper was the chap to toe the mark ! " Mr. Clayton believed that Geoffrey Draper had " left the village for the season ". Further questioning drew out the facts that Mr. Draper put on the " airs " of a gentleman, but that he was a fraud. He had once been the friend of the dead man, following him everywhere, but that finally the disgusted Mr. Addison had publicly insulted him, "kicked him down-stairs and given him the dead shake ! " According to Mr. Abe Clayton, Draper accepted the insult and appeared among his friends as quietly as ever. Mr. Clayton concluded his rambling account by brand- ing Geoffrey Draper as " a calf's liver with diluted water instead of blood in his veins. However," he added, forgetting his pride in his officiousness, " if he hasn't left the village, and you'd like to see him, I can give you a lift. Most of his valuable correspondence is directed to the care of our P. O. bo.x, and here are a couple of letters for him which you can take up to his house. Its number is 27 on this street, a little distance below here. If he's gone, you can send 'em back." Detective Sharpe gratefully accepted the mis- sion, and retired from the presence of the young man, after expressing the intention of calling on Mr. Terms. He had no difficulty in finding Mr. Draper's house, which was an ugly little brick structure, vul- garly pretentious and repelling. The detective, followed by the captain, unhesitatingly walked 70 WHO IS GUILTY? to the veranda, where a surly-faced servant was lounghig on an arm-chair, smokhig a pipe. In answer to the question, he condescended to give the information that Mr. Draper was not at home, and that he did not know when he would be at home, " But," he added, with a satirical smile, " you kin wait and try your luck. May be he'll be back next minute, may be next year ! " He lazily rose, pushed open the front door, and ushered the visitors into a small but tastefully fur- nished room. " That's a good portrait," said the smiling detective, pointing to an oil painting that had attracted the attention of Captain Travers the moment he entered the room, and from which he could not withdraw his eyes. It was the ** three- quarter " portrait of a handsome man with large russet-colored beard and mustache — the portrait of a face he had seen alive in tlie muunlight in his lonely watch of last night. "That's Mr. Draper," said the servant. "If you've got any thing to say you might say it to the pictur' and save time ! " Detective Sharpe preferred the surly servant as a companion, and he speedily converted him into a very communicative witness, especially when he announced that he was the bearer of a sum of money for his master. The arrival of visitors had attracted a comely woman to the doorway, and the announcement of money stimulated her into saying : AN EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 71 " Then we'll git what's been owed us for the last three months ; and the grocer and butcher and baker '11 git paid, too." The surly man and the comely woman had now to be restrained in their volubility ; but from their diffuse statements the following facts were gained : Mr. Draper was deeply in debt, even to his servants. On the morning before, the servants had demanded their money,' and Mr. Draper said that he expected, on that same morning, to receive the money for a piece of property he had sold, and that on his return from the city all his debts would be paid. He had gone out after breakfast on the day before, and they had not seen him since, though he had promised to return in a few hours. Concerning his habits, the cook had much to say ; a veiled woman or women were coming to the house at all hours in the day or night, and Mr. Draper himself opened the door. He had no other friends in the village but this woman or these women, " for they may a bin many, for their faces was always veiled, and all cats is gray in the dark." Three evenings ago " he had a awful quarrel with the woman what visited him." Cook, who was not listening, " heard the woman say, ' You must not risk it ! I love you, and you've run enough danger for me.' Then I hear a kiss, and he says, * I'd risk any thing to bring you happiness, my dear.' Then they whisper, and by and by he says, ' When I get the money we'll start out on a new plan.' Then she says, ' Any thing 7 2 WHO IS G UIL TV? but this life ; it's killing me.' And then he kisses and hugs her." Cook had no idea who the veiled woman was, but she had rings on her fingers and came in her carriage. In cook's opinion, her master had got a large sum of money, and then run away with it to escape his creditors, for " he was a wild bad 'un ! " " A woman came last night ! " said the surly man. " I didn't see her face, and I didn't open the door ; but I looked out the window to tell her master wasn't home, and I see she was dressed in a white dress with di'monds flashing in her ears. If he''d\i\n home he'd a let her in." " Of course he would ! " exclaimed the cook, in- dignantly. ** Such goings on, and honest helps can't get their honest earnings. It's a shame, and I ain't afraid to say so ! " The detective had risen and approached a little round table, on which were several unopened let- ters. While speaking his right hand toyed idly with the envelopes. " It's hardly worth while waiting here any longer," he said, with a quick glance at the letters. " I will come again to-morrow, and I sincerely hope that Mr. Draper will be at home to receive the money I bring him ! " When he left the house one of the letters that was on the round table reposed snugly in the side pocket of his coat. " Your theory is stretching to a dangerously thin condition, is it not, Detective Sharpe ? " AN EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 73 asked Captain Travers when they had turned their backs on the Uttle brick house. " It seems so ! " was the good-natured answer. " But I still think it is strong enough to hold the guilty party — or parties ! If our G. D. is a fool, so much the worse for him. He disappeared at a very unfortunate moment, if he is innocent." " And if he is innocent he did a very foolish thing ; for I saw him gazing anxiously up toward the house in which the murdered man's body lay ! " Without further comment Captain Travers de- scribed his experience of the night before ; that is, the portion that related to the man with the russet whiskers. Through a feeling which he could not account for himself, he still refrained from men- tioning the more startling adventure with the mys- terious woman. " So our friend did not run away, after all ! " was the detective's criticism. " That is, we can now be certain that he remained in the village till six or seven o'clock last night. That is something gained, something to lean on. According to the testimony of our tramp, a woman was in the house at the same time. Was it a coincidence, or were both working with one object ? Did they return for something they had forgotten ; or were they seek- ing for something that they could not find ? Was money the only object of the murder, or was it money and something else ? W'hether he shares the guilt, or is innocent, the solution of the mystery lies with the very foolish G. D ! " 74 tV//0 /S GUILTY? " You still hold to the woman theory ? " " Always," answered the detective with assur- ance. " She is the heroine and he only a helpless aid, even if he shares the crime. He may have fired the pistol-shot for money, which she clamored for, but her object was not money. Her safety depended on the murdered man's silence ; he held some secret that would ruin her. To silence one tool, she used another, and I should not be astonished that to her is due the mysterious disap- pearance that puzzles us." " You believe there is another murder ? " " It would not astonish me ? " " You have converted a woman into a fiend ! " said the captain with disgust. " Nature has done so before me ! There is nothing more out-and-out wicked than a con- scienceless woman struggling for her own safety. Think over all the facts of the case which we have thus far discovered, and then tell me what you think ; not of my new, but of my reconstructed theory, which, as facts accumulate, I may have to reconstruct and reconstruct again. I make it larger to embrace all the facts ; but from first to last, the nucleus of our snowball remains the same." " I listen to you with interest and admiration, and if I venture to differ, I use only the privilege you have given me." " I court your criticism, Captain Travers ! Now listen to the reconstructed hypothesis : Suppose there is a woman moving in the upper circles of AN EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 75 life, respected, honored and admired. Suppose that, in former days, she has done something which would degrade her. Suppose that, in some way, the murdered man was acquainted with the fact. But he has gone away on a pleasure voyage without making the fact public. In a little while news is received that the man and his yacht were swallowed up in the ocean. Such a fact was reported in the newspapers of Mr. Addison and his yacht. The woman feels perfectly safe, and rejoices. Let us suppose, now, that she met with a man like our G. D. is reported to be, a handsome, dressy fellow. That he is not her equal, in intellect or otherwise, makes no difference. Some of your own aristocratic fedies have run away with coachmen. We will say that she is smitten with him ; but for some reason, which I hope to discover, dares not openly show her infatuation. Perhaps she has par- ents who know how unworthy G. D. is, and would sternly forbid any association with him. In any case she dares not openly marry him ; and neither possesses enough money to suggest an elopement. While the annoyances naturally incident to such a state of affairs are accumulating, the supposed dead man returns to life. He threatens the woman; — if he loves her he will surely do so ! At least we will, temporarily, suppose that his reappearance places her in a dangerous position. On a certain day he withdraws ten thousand dollars from the bank for his own use. The woman hears of this and uses it as a means of stimulating G. D. to robbery J 6 WHO IS GUILTY? and murder. The fool falls into the trap, and when he has served the purpose of doing what she alone could not do, she quietly gets rid of him ; in what way I am not yet prepared to say. When she has made him vanish, she has so arranged it that sus- picion shall all point to him, even his disappearance adding a finishing touch to the clumsy but not in- artistic work ! If you ask me why she visited the house after the crime, I will answer that it was in connection with the secret. She tore the leaves out of the memorandum-book, and did other things which I will discover when I go carefully over the house this evening. At least that is my rough theory which I give you in accordance with the promise that you should see and hear all I do ^nd think in the working up of this case. Ponder it in bed to- night, and the weakness that you discover I may be able to strengthen when we meet again to- morrow." They had reached the old house by this time. Dr. Dubois was pacing slowly up and down the veranda, enjoyingly puffing at a cigar ; and with hands clasped behind his back. He had plucked a small bouquet of choice flowers, and thrust them in the lapel button-hole of his black frock-coat, and every now and then he bent his head and inhaled their perfume. He greeted his friend with a pleas- ant smile, and glanced at the detective with an amused expression on his face, and in his bright gray eyes. " Is the coroner within, doctor ? " A N EX PL ORING EXP EDI TION. 7 7 " No ; he has gone to the city. The inquest is adjourned for a week ! " " Was nothing done ? " " Yes, a jury empaneled, and the dead body looked at." " No evidence taken at all ? " " None ! " " That is remarkably stupid even for a coroner." " Judgments are as various as tastes," said the doctor gayly, " and talking of tastes suggests that it is almost time to go home to dinner. It's five o'clock, Travers, and if you are going back with me it s time to move ! I suppose, detective, you remain all night here ? " " 1 shall not sleep until I have thoroughly examined the house." " Well, you won't die of loneliness or of lack of stimulation to work." He turned to a tall, gray- haired man, who at the moment came out on the veranda, and said, " Max, this 's Detective Sharpe, who has staked his reputation on bringing your master's murderer to justice. Detective, this is Max Newton, who has sworn to devote his life to revenging his master's murder ! " CHAPTER VII. WISDOM AND BEAUTY. " T AM not sorry to escape to more congenial 1 company," said the doctor, thrusting his arm through that of his friend. " Sharpe is just a trifle of a bore ! " " I hope Miss Gower is better ! " said the captam, somewhat irrelevantly, yet unable longer to sup- press the anxiety that had haunted him all day. " Keep your common-sense, Travers. She is probably out of her narcotized state, and will look very interesting with her pale face and elaborate dress. But don't make a fool of yourself. Listen to the birds, and think your romance." " I will not trouble you now ; but I must have your advice ! " " Keep it till I come into your room to-night. I am in a mood todreamof the luxuries that the little treasure, Percy, has prepared for my special delight. I surrender the nightingale to you ; leave me, then, to the memory of chicken croquettes." The homeward journey was made in silence, both men becoming absorbed in their thoughts. No news waited for them at their journey's end. Miss Gower had remained all day in her room, but, according to WISD OM AND BEAUTY. 79 her maid, was more comfortable, though still under the influence of the drug. The doctor heartily enjoyed the excellent dinner, but Captain Travers sat at the table merely out of ceremony, every moment seeming an hour, and every word irritating his sense of hearing like loud peals from a funeral bell. The doctor and his host spoke of the condition of Miss Gower ; Mr. Morris uttered the belief that she was a confirmed opium- eater and expressed the intention of placing her in an asylum for the cure of the disease, to which the doctor nodded vigorous assent. Captain Travers retired to his room at the first opportunity, and passed several very weary hours in restlessly pacing up and down. The rustling of a dress in the hall seemed to stimulate him to a certain resolution. He approached the door, and as Miss Percy passed by it, on her way to the hall, he said : " Pardon me ; but I found this little thing near the house to-day. Perhaps it belongs to you." With the words he withdrew a small shawl from his pocket and placed it in her hands. " It belongs to Miss Gower," said the maid, pos- itively, " and disappeared mysteriously yesterday. With your permission I will take possession of it in my mistress's name." " Of course," laughed the captain, nervously. *' If it is hers !" " It is hers, and there is not another like it in the country." 8o WHO IS GUILTY? " Then keep it, by all means. Can you kindly inform me where the doctor is ? " " He expressed the determination to write out his report before he retired. Do you wish to see him ? " '' No ! no ! " groaned the captain. ** If I could forget myself I would be happy." The doctor was in the library, where every thing had been arranged for his comfort. On a little side- table near the desk were cigars, a plate of dainty biscuits, and a bottle of his favorite wine. " She is a treasure ! Her unconventional sim- plicity is charming ! She deserves a better fate than destiny metes out to her ! " The worthy doctor yawned ; the wine he had drunk at dinner made him sleepy, and he was not in a mood for the serious work before him. But, scorning ease when duty claimed him, he seated himself at the desk, and soon became absorbed in his work, his pen racing furiously over the paper, scrawling hiero- glyphics rather than words. He was in the midst of an intricate subject, when there was a discreet tap on the door, and in answer to his permission, Miss Percy entered the room. She had doffed her formal attire, and her slender figure was draped in a loose robe. Her hair "had also been released from the restraint of its classical Greek band, and fell in uncontrolled freedom over neck and bosom, a simple blue ribbon partially restraining its rippling wantonness. " I came to see if you needed any thing before I retired," she said, standing near the doorway. PVISD OM A ND BEA U TV. 8 1 "You have anticipated all my wants, Miss Percy, and I shall feel reproached if you dim your pretty eyes by keeping awake on my account." " I never sleep more than four hours ; I have learned French and Italian in the time that I have stolen from sleep ; and when I was a child 1 always studied my lessons in bed — that is, after my maid was asleep. All my energies are most active in the night." " I wish mine were at the present moment. I am compelled to send a long business document away early in the morning, and in my eagerness I write so illegibly that I shall be compelled to correct my spots of ink into readable English." " Would you allow me to play the part of aman- uensis ? " asked the young woman, timidly. " I do not write badly for a woman, and it would be a great happiness to assist you, even as a copyist." ** You could not read a word of my scrawl," said the doctor, eying the manuscript before him. " May I make the attempt? " He handed he a sheet of paper with a smile, and to his astonishment she read it with unhesitating facility. " Listen, please : * You must be particular in every detail. I shall feel disappointed if we do not demonstrate my theory of the case without the chance of an objection. It will not be the firsl time that science has vindicated justice, and re- proved blundering self-assurance. Murder is bad 82 WHO IS GUILTY ? enough ! ' " Miss Percy looked up from the page with a smile of triumph. " You read without hesitation where I myself would have stumbled ! " said the doctor, with unconcealed admiration. " Before you decide you must see my hand-writ- ing." She leaned over the desk so close to him that a stray lock of her perfumed hair fell on his shoulder, and wrote, with a bold, free hand : " * You say, not always wisely, know thyself ! Know others, ofttimes is the better maxim.* " To Professor Dubois from his ignorant, yet devoted friend, May Percy." *' You write superbly, and are very heroic in your desire to help, but the subject is hardly fitted for you to read." With a glance of gay defiance, she seized the pages of manuscript from the table and read them to the end. " There is nothing here, sir, that a school-girl dare not read." " I had not reached the real subject, when you appeared. But you have given me the excuse for idleness." " I am sorry for disturbing you, and for reading your manuscript, for it recalls my father's death, and though the doctors said otherwise, I still believe he was poisoned by his cruel second wife. I have been told — am I wrong? — that there are some agents that may destroy life without leaving any traces behind ? " WISDOM A ND BE A UTY. 83 " In the present state of science that is almost an impossibility. Science is not infallible," said the doctor, admiring the graceful pose of his young friend, and the child-like interest revealed in her pretty face, " but / have never seen the poison that I could not discover. I know a case " — the doctor suddenly paused, then said with dry dogmatism : " No, I have never been deceived ! I have made mistakes," he added, speedily recovering his good humor, " but I have found them out before they caused any trouble. Criminals, even when most clever and attractive, do some little thing or leave something undone, which reveals the cloven hoof. Take the case of Mr. Addison, for example ! " In her interest in the conversation she had placed her little clasped hands on the doctor's knee, and there was an expression of absorbed attention in her face. In a fatherly way, he gently patted her on the head. " This horrible talk will give you the nightmare, my child." " I am very much interested. You were say- ing ? " " You have very pretty hair. If I were younger " " Please do not descend to common flattery," she pleaded, somewhat impatiently. '* Interest me with your conversation," she said, with a fine smile, " and I shall not remember the boldness of your hand. You were speaking of the stupidity of crim- inals," 84 IV HO IS G UIL TY? " I was taking the case of Mr. Addison as an ex- ample of it," he said, toying with a strand of her hair. " The criminal shoots his victim in the skull and then leaves his pistol to reveal his crime. Here you find / will not hesitate. You shall copy my report of the case to-morrow, and you will see that I boldly stake my reputation on the pistol bullet being the cause of death." Miss Percy sighed, as if a weight were lifted from her mind, then smiled gayly, glancing sideways at his bold hand. " I am tired of seriousness, and my recollection of the proprieties is coming back. As you are so very good, I will weave you a watch-chain out of the hair your wisdom so much admires." " I will wear it all my life, and it shall be buried with me ! " She glanced at him with doubtful, then with pleased surprise, and a subtile smile curled her ripe lips. " You teach me I am still human ! " she said softly. He had risen, and she now rose and stood beside him. " You regret your promise ? " " It has not been sealed." With a gay smile, not without its element of sad- ness, he pressed his lips to her soft cheeks. She started back with a flush and frown which speedily dissolved into a troubled smile. " We know each other now ! " she said, in a forced voice. " Farewell till to-morrow ! " WISDOM AND BE A UTY. 85 With a mocking courtesy and a light laugh, she turned and quitted the room. " Little Judas ! She is young to indulge in that kind of treachery. But she is an expert and very attractive, even though her soft hair become a noose that will choke her ! " CHAPTER VIII. WEAVING HEMP. ON this same night Detective Sharpe is weaving a noose in which hemp takes the place of hair. The evening is still young, and he is sitting in the library with the venerable servant, Max, as a com- panion. He has discovered that the old man's frank face is a true index of his heart ; and Detect- ive Sharpe is noted for his thorough knowledge of human nature. With praiseworthy self-repression, Max Newton does not allow his personal feelings to lead him into exaggeration or morbid sentiment. He answers the questions addressed to him with grave unhes- itancy, yet with a calm deliberation, as if his rever- ence of truth were even greater than his agony at the death of a beloved master. He carefully dis- tinguishes between suspicions and facts, and has deliberately delivered the statement, that he would rather prefer the guilty wretch should escape than that his soul should be blackened by even the shadow of a false charge. A solitary candle is burning on the desk, and ca^s a dim light on his pale and seriously sorrowful face. Lying before the detective is the crimson-bound IV£A VING HEMP. 87 memorandum book which he had abstracted from the bookcase earUer in the day, and the conversa- tion revolves around it as a center. According to Mr. Newton, his master had no vices. Mr. Addison was " a large-hearted noble gentleman ". As a child he was sad and self- repressed, and inherited some of the eccentricities of his grandfather " who was haunted with the idea that his enemies were bent on murdering him". Under this fear he built Lesbia Villa, planning " hiding-places in case of surprise, and with mysterious doors of exit for the purposes of escape". The boy Hugo loved solitude and developed such strange fancies that his parents became alarmed, and finally determined that he must have a com- panion who, when he grew to man's estate, was to become his wife. They wrote to one of their dis- tant friends who was poor and burdened with a large family ; and a wearisome correspondence ended by the friends sending one of their daughters to the house. The boy became the slave of the girl, and her presence produced the effects that the fond parents had hoped for. A number of tranquil, happy years passed by, but as the girl advanced to womanhood she became, in Mr. Newton's language, a " thoughtless, heartless coquette ". Fortunately, her adopted parents did not live to witness her complete transformation. " They died," said Mr. Newton, solemnly, " in ignorance of the storm that was gathering over the head of their beloved son, and he inherited their 88 WHO JS G UIL TY ? wealth. The girl, who had been a flirt, now became a prude, and refused to hve under the same roof with her intended husband." The patient Mr. Addison secured for her a little cottage which " he furnished with elegance ". The girl and her maid removed to her new quarters after the funeral of her adopted parents, and Mr. Addison, havmg " a horror of the house in which his parents died ", leased another little cottage for himself at the other end of the village. The girl, according to Mr. Newton, now threw aside all restraint. Mr. Geoffrey Draper had come to the village, and he became her especial favorite. Mr. Addison angrily expostulated with her, but she defied him. In Max Newton's language, " she had developed into a fiend ". In her malice she wrote letter after letter to Mr. Addison, charging him with all kinds of cruelties and absurdities. She refused to see him ; she refused to marry him. Mr. Addison was plunged into the deepest grief by these actions. " His heart was broken," said Mr. Newton, with the tears welling up to his eyes. " He tried to escape from his troubles ; he speculated in stocks, he bought a yacht, and he sailed for a year any- where, everywhere, and I believe he is happier now than when he was alive. As to the woman, she left the house he had provided for her and went elsewhere, and for a year, as I am informed, has been living to please herself." " Where are the letters she wrote to him ? " WE A VING HEMP. 89 " I do not know. But, surely, somewhere in this house." " You can give me no other information on this point ?" The old man hesitated ; a spasm passed over his face, and his eyes filled with tears. " Mine is a sad position, Detective Sharpe ! " he said in a trembling voice. " To revenge my dear master's death I would willingly lay down my own life ; but in avenging it I am compelled to act con- trary to my master's orders. Time and time again he has said to me, ' Spare her, Max, at whatever cost ! If she outlives me, and I have a presenti- ment she will, she must live honored and respected by the world.' If I ever dared to speak harshly of her — I held him in my arms when he was a child, and he tolerated me ! — he would place his hands over my lips and, with a sad smile, repeat : * Spare her now and always ! I love her, Max ! The ideal is grown into my life, and the reality has no power to destroy it. She will repent one day ! ' " " I appreciate your loyal affection to a kind master ; but, at the same time, you have a duty to perform to the world and to morality. I hope you do not wish the criminal to escape." "Not if it were my own sister!" said the old man, impetuously. The detective felt a pleasant glow of satisfaction, and secretly congratulated himself on his own cun- ning and his companion's simplicity. 90 WHO IS G UIL TY? " Let us now return to the letters, Mr. Newton, and please tell me all you know." The old man took a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and said : " A few days after our return here from a year's absence, I received orders to take the yacht down to the city to have it cleaned. Before surrendering it at the ship-yard, I looked around to see that nothing of value had been left aboard. In the waste-basket in my master's cabin I discovered this unfinished draught of a letter." The detective hastily seized the paper and read : " My life and love : " Your letter reached me after my long absence, but its cruelty had no power to prevent the thrill of delight its receipt gave me. I can not, I dare not, accede to your request, which would rob me of my vindication in the eyes of the world. But more — I still love you, even if you hate me in return, and in my love I must have some hold over you. You are free to do all you wish, and with my life and my fortune I will assist you to what jw/ believe is your future happiness, /, your misery. You have been reckless, cruel and unjust ; but I forgive you, and love you, or rather, the ideal which has been knitted into my very soul. But I must keep those letters, not for the world's eyes, but for my own happiness. They have blasted my life, but they are part of my past. To part with them would be to part with my soul. No eyes but my own will ever see them. Even WEAVING HEMP. 91 should your words come true and I meet an unex- pected death — I wish, with you, that the report of my disaster had proved true ! — they are so safely concealed in the secret drawer of my dear mother's cabinet that they will never be found. Threats are useless ; I do not love life enough to fear them. You have ruined it ; but I will not reproach you. What my love can not surrender, your covert threats can not wrest from me. I may die sud- denly — " The fragment abruptly ended with these omin- ous words. " This is very suggestive, Mr. Newton, and very valuable. Do you know where the cabinet is to which it refers ? " " Yes," said the old man, sadly. "We will pay it a visit; but first let me clearly understand a few points. As I understand it, the woman's conduct was so shameless after the death of the people who had adopted her, that your mas- ter refused to marry her." " She refused to marry him ; refused his repeated offers ; and he finally tacitly accepted the inevita- ble as the best. I fear he was so much infatuated that had she, at any time, wished to entrap him into wedlock, he would have yielded even with his eyes opened, as they were. Fearing this, and to escape from her and himself, he forced himself to undergo a year's aimless wanderings in his yacht." " Was he paying for her support all this time ? " " She owed every thing to him till she left the 92 WHO IS GUILTY? house he had provided for her, and then he was compelled to withdraw his support." " Did she ever visit Mr. Geoffrey Draper at his house on Myrtle Avenue ? " " Personally, I know nothing ; but I have heard — you can easily find people who will verify the statement — I have heard that she frequently vis- ited the man, and that letters, which she was par- ticularly anxious to receive secretly, were directed to her in the care of Mr. Draper." " She was evidently very fond of him." " It may have been love, or something else. At least, he was very attentive to her and she to him." " Do you know any thing of his antecedents ? " " I only know him as he appeared here. He was introduced to my master by a common friend, and he was received as a friend until he revealed his true nature. He is without conscience ; and yet, if he was the best of men, what can be said of a young woman who, alone, entered his house at night, as report said she did ? A vulgar gambler ! " " Ten thousand dollars would be a temptation there, surely ! " said the detective musingly. " You tell me that when you went down to the city, on the evening preceding the day of the murder, he had the money ? " " I saw him lock it in the drawer of the desk in the library ; and, at my request, he slept in this house over night to guard it, instead of going else- where. It was to have been personally carried by WE A VING HEMP. 93 me, on my return next day, to the people for whom it was drawn." " And not a cent of it can be discovered ! " said the detective, staring at the pictures opposite. " He was not her enemy, and, as I thought, she had taken advantage of his bHnd trust in her. Did the woman know he was staying at the house ? " " She knew he was in the village, and he had written to her that he would meet her at the law- yer's office on the next day ; that is, the day of his death. But Mr. Terms, the lawyer, can give you more information on this point than I can. He was one of my master's trusted friends." '* What became of the maid that waited on the woman ? " " Her mistress unceremoniously discharged her when she left the cottage ; and, as she had no friends in the country, my master paid her passage back over the ocean, that she might return to her relatives. He was thoughtful and noble in every thing." The detective consulted his note-book, then asked : " Do you know any thing of a young woman called May Percy ?" " Nothing, sir ! " " Have you ever heard of the name ? " " I have heard that a very excellent young woman of that name lived in the village ; but I never saw her. Mr. Terms has lived here all his life, and he can give you information on that point, as well 94 W^O IS G UIL TY? as on every thing else connected with local history." " Will you show me now where the cabinet is ? " " It is in a bed-room that has not been opened since its angel occupant died. The door was kept locked, and my master trusted no one but himself with the key. I fear we shall not be able to get in." " Show me the room and I will have the door forced open to-morrow." The old man seized the light, and, followed by the detective, passed along a dreary hall that dis- mally echoed back their footsteps. They then descended a broad flight of stairs. " The room is at the end of this passage-way. The door is too heavy for us to force without tools." " Let me see it, at least." They paused before a massive oak-door hidden in a gloomy angle. "We shall require no key, Mr. Newton," said the detective, with an oath. " Some one has been here before us, and forced an entrance into the room. See ! the lock is broken, and the door yields to the slightest push ! " " I am dazed, sir ! " " We have been anticipated, and I fear our best card is stolen from us. You must reserve your dis- may and surprise for another occasion. Please show me the way." They entered a huge room whose atmosphere chilled the blood. Nothing was visible in the dim WE A VI NG HEMP. 95 light but the salient points of pieces of furniture. The detective stumbled against a chair, which was massive enough to bear the contact without mov- ing an inch from its place. " The cabmet is in yonder corner, detective, between the two windows." It was a large cabinet, built of heavy, black wood and richly carved with figures and flowers ; a solid, artistic, serviceable piece of work, the art of making which our century seems to have lost. Unfortunately, a vandal hand had marred its beauty ; a panel had been brutally smashed in one of the doors, and an ax, or some other sharp instrument, had chopped away the floor of the little closet on which it opened. " Was the secret drawer beneath this closet, Mr. Newton ? " " Yes, sir ! " " Then I was right," said the detective, after passing his hand into the cavity beneath. " The letters have been stolen ! " " But it was a secret drawer only known to my master," retorted the old man, with superstitious horror. " Your memory is weak. Is it not possible that his adopted sister should know as much of this cabinet as the little boy? She must have seen it a great many times." " You are right," said the old man, in a whisper. " As children, both have played with the figures on g6 WHO IS G UIL TV ? the cabinet and hidden their toys in the secret drawer ! " " The same hand that tore the tell-tale leaves from the memorandum-book stole the letters ; and its owner was thoroughly acquainted with the house and the habits of its master. The robbery is more convincing than the letters would have been. Please hand me the candle a moment, Mr. New- ton." He passed the light into the little closet and studied the wood-work with deep interest. " There is blood on this projecting piece of jagged wood ! " he exclaimed, with smiling satis- faction. " The thief, in her haste to reach the let- ters, has scraped her hand or arm against the sharp point. She has given us some evidence in return for what she has stolen, and I shall make full use of it. We have no further business in this room to-night, Mr. Newton. Let us return to the library." Once more sitting before the desk in the room where the crime was committed, the detective studied the candle-flame for some time in silence, his thoughts busied piecing together the fragments of evidence he had gathered. The servant sat on the lounge a short distance away, outside the dim circle of light. " The robbery is a bad stroke of luck for me, Mr. Newton," said the detective, suddenly break- ing the silence. " Out of those letters I should have been able to weave the rope that would hang fV£A VING HEMP. 97 your master's murderer. We do not even know the nature of their contents." " The wretch has been bolder than I beUeved possible," sighed the old man, in turn rousing him- self from his reverie ; " and all scruples have van- ished. I read those letters, Detective Sharpe, unknown to my master, but in his interest." " I am not a moralist," said the detective, eagerly, " and I am so grateful to your curiosity that I for- give your former reticence. What was their nature ? " "They degraded the hand that wrote them. Openly confessed her shame." " The woman had fallen ? " " Yes ; the first letter was a confession of her degradation, and plea for assistance. The woman humbled herself in repentance when repentance was too late to save her honor. I know my master did not write any answers to these letters, and when I read them I understood the agony, shame and grief into which they had thrown him. Receiving no answer, the woman wrote again, and again ; her cries for mercy gradually changed into threats that, unless her demands for money and other assistance were complied with, she would accuse her noble, innocent protector of being the cause of her ruin, and publicly disgrace him. Fortunately, the first let- ter completely disproved the last, and I suppose this is one reason why my master refused to surrender them. Any other man than Mr. Addison would have allowed the vile woman to rot in her degrada- 98 WHO IS GUILTY ? tion ; he did nothing more cruel than to send her money anonymously. She went to the city for a short time, and when she returned she was all meekness and self-reproach. She wrote a number of letters asking for pardon and mercy, and, at the time, my master was so touched by them, that I was compelled to use force to prevent him rushing to her with the guilty letters, for the return of which she earnestly pleaded. He yielded to my arguments, and it is now my greatest sorrow that 1 ever uttered them." " You have a theory at last, Mr. Newton ? " said the detective, with a triumphant smile. " He was dealing with a fiend ! " answered the old man excitedly, and nervously clutchmg at his white hair. " She was winning her way into respect- ability again, and her past was a menace to her. She needed the letters, and a murder was com- mitted that she might obtain them. Curse her ! " The sudden change to wild passion aston- ished the detective, and he dismissed the heart- broken servant for the night. *' Poor devil, it has used him up ! " he reflected as he stretched himself on the lounge. " That breed of servants has long since died out." He suddenly remembered that he had in his pocket three letters — two given him by Mr. Terms's clerk and one which he had purloined from Mr. Draper's house. He had determined to read them, but he was drowsy, and deferred this piece of ille- gality to a more favorable opportunity. He sank tP'EA r/.VG HEMP. 99 into a condition which was neither sleep nor wake- fulness ; consciousness remained, while his body lost its power of moving. At the same time he seemed to hear the pattering of light footsteps and the rustling of a woman's dress. Was he dreaming ? A strange, yet familiar odor now assailed his nostrils ; yet before it had completely conquered his senses, he saw through his drooping eyelids the outline of a human form. The face was above and outside the line of vision, and he had not the power to adjust himself so as to catch a glimpse of it ; but he saw the attire ; a creamy mull, ornamented with knots of pale-blue ribbon ; he felt a warm breath on his forehead, and hands busied with the pockets of his coat — and then he sank into unconsciousness. CHAPTER IX. A LEGAL OPINION. WHEN Detective Sharpe opened his eyes in the morning, he felt unaccountably drowsy, and when he rose from the lounge his legs were strangely weak in the joints. He stared about him in a vague, perplexed manner ; then, remembering his vision, hastily thrust his hand in the breast pocket of his coat. The mutilated memorandum- book and the three unopened letters which it held had disappeared. Continuing his search, he dis- covered that his own note-book, in which he had jotted down his ideas, suspicions and intentions concerning the murder, had also vanished ! His humiliation was greater than his anger ; he, the great Detective Sharpe, had been openly robbed by the very people whom he was hunting down. They had boldly defied him, boldly chloroformed him, and plunged their blood-stained hands into his pockets. Yes ! and the tell-tale blue ribbon, which he had found on the hook behind the curtain, had also been stolen ! He turned his pockets inside out, and the fact was undoubted. " You shall swing for it just the same, my dear," he murmured, with a vicious grinding of the teeth. A LEGAL PLY I OAT. lOI " Detective Sharpe is not to be despised with impunity ! " Performing a hasty toilet, for the hour was late, he gave some orders to his assistants and then left the house, and in the open air came face to face with Dr. Dubois. " Where are you going, Sharpe ? " " To pay a visit to Mr. Terms." " T'U go with you, in place of Captain Travers, whose experiences of yesterday have sickened him of the entire business. But you are looking pale, Sharpe." " I'm feeling in excellent health, and I know I'm in excellent spirits." " Every thing going on all right ? " " Yes, and I'm in hopes of speedily bringing the business to a happy conclusion. I mean happy for me." " It will add immeasurably to your brilliant repu- tation, " said the doctor, seriously as to face, yet with a secret enjoyment of his own wit. " I will do my best," answered the detective, with much humility. " But I hope the illustrious Mr. Terms is at home this time." Mr. Terms was in his office, and he cordially welcomed his guests; but with a certain distinction. He bowed respectfully when the great doctor's name was mentioned, but greeted the detective with a dignified nod of the head, only accepting him as an object whom he could use as lay figure — to talk to, poke at with a long, bony finger, and otherwise 102 IVHO IS GUILTY ? for his own exaltation. He leaned back in his chair, raised his spectacles from his eyes to his forehead, placed the fingers of his hands together over his shrunken abdomen, slowly twirled his thumbs around, and, in answer to a question, rushed at once into conversation that threatened to be a monologue. " Did I know the lamented deceased ? Who knew him better ? who longer ? who more inti- mately ? I was at one and the same time his legal adviser and his friend. For twenty long years I have known him, shared his joys and sorrows, and guided his youthful inexperience with such stores of wisdom as I possess ! " " And his disposition ? " " Plastic, sir, and amiable. Ready to profit by advice and to respond to the words of affect- ion." " Gay ? " " Gay, sir ; but only in a moral sense," said Mr. Terms, with dignified asperity. " He was young, sir, without the sins of youth ; human clay, if you wish it, but spotless even under the micros- cope." " Then his love for his adopted sister " " Was his first and only love, sir. All his affec- tion centered in her, and when she left him she took all his affection with her. He was rich, and many young women aimed the shafts of love at him ; but, if you will pardon the metaphor, they A LEGAL OPIXIOy. 1 03 never hit the bull's eye. He loved once, and never loved again." " Are you acquainted with the cause which drove the lady from him ? " " I a/?i, sir, " answered Mr. Terms, severely ; " and it is not to her credit. You shall hear, Detect- ive Sharpe, and you shall judge ! She was taken from very poor people when she was a mere child, and became more than a daughter to our dead friend's parents. She received the best education and the best care. She was thus cultivated and thus reared with the especial understanding that, ultimately, she was to become the wife of our dead client. But, sir, when she had budded into woman- hood, and her adopted mother had been added to the silent majority, and she presided at the head of the table as the only surviving specimen of womanhood, she developed traits that had hitherto been latent. She always had a violent temper, flying into spasms of rage for any reason or no reason at all ; but now, sir, she grew obsti- nate, spiteful, self-willed, vindictive. In place of preserving the sweet isolation in which she was brought up, she insisted on mingling with the giddy throng ; she insisted on flirting and, as / think, helped to drive her adopted father to his grave. Until two years ago she seemed to have a certain respect for the proprieties ; but then, sir, she threw off all restraint, and this, sir, in the very cottage our revered martyr provided for her. She refused to see him, and, sir," said Mr. Terms, meaningly, and 104 ^VHO IS GUILTY? with terrible emphasis, " she saw others ; and the others was a man ! " " I am carried away by the vivid style of your narrative," said the detective; " but before I forget, you will allow me to ask a few questions ?" " I am at your service. Detective Sharpe." " When the woman's adopted parents were alive I presume she acted with propriety ? " " Not in the way I would have my daughter act ; but at that time, if she were guilty of indiscretions the world was not allowed to see them." *' According to the best of your knowledge, she was content with the conditions imposed on her? " " She was cunning, sir ; for it was an especial clause in the will of her adopted father that, unless she married his son, she was to go out into the world with only enough money to supply her abso- lute necessities." " You saw the will ? " " I held it in my possession four long years, and I opened it. The son inherited all ; the woman nothing ! " ** While the parents were alive what was the relation of the two young people to each other ? " " Ife was all warmth and affection ; she all cold- ness. I have seen him place his arm around her waist and kiss her, and I have seen her struggle against this very natural affection with signs of horror and disgust in her face. Once, sir, I unwit- tingly entered a room wherein the young couple were, and I heard her threaten to kill herself if he A LEGAL OPINLOM. 105 continued to honor her with his love ! The word honor, sir, is mine, not hers. No, sir, she never loved him ; she wanted to be a rich man's wife, that was all ! " ** Now, Mr. Terms, discarding all gossip, I would ask you what you personally knoiv of the woman's conduct after she left the house of her adopted parents ? " " Well, sir, I know that a man named Geoffrey Draper visited her at all hours, and I knoio that she visited Geoffrey Draper at all hours. It was vile, unpardonable, wicked!" said Mr. Terms, indignantly. " Who is this Mr. Draper ? " " A nonentity who appeared here some years ago — I think it was the same year in which our hero's parents died. Where he came from, except the slums of the great city, I don't know ; but, for a time, he was very intimate with our distinguished martyr. He is a plausible, well-dressed fellow, and has hired a house here ; but all the money he owns he earned at the gaming table or borrowed from his friends ! " " Are there gambling houses here, Air. Terms ? " asked the doctor, speaking for the first time. " No, sir ! " answered Mr. Terms proudly. " Cypressville is above such immorality ! " " Then," continued the doctor, "this man Dra- per did 7iot indulge in his evil propensities here ? " " No, sir ; he played an evil game in a city of evils." *' Then," persisted the doctor, "you have no per- Io6 WHO IS G UIL TY? sonal knowledge that this man Draper was a gam- bler?" " It is not likely ! " said Mr. Terms, somewhat disconcerted. " But every body knows he is a gam- bler, and / know that his being a gambler is one of the causes which led to a rupture between him and my murdered friend ; for this fact I had from Mr. Addison's own lips ! " " It is very strong evidence," answered the doc- tor. " Forgive my questions." " They honor me ! " " Once more, Mr. Terms," said the detective. " Was the final rupture due to the woman or the man now dead ? " " You shall hear, gentlemen, and what I now repeat I had from the lips of Mr. Addison himself, and he was above exaggeration, as he was above all other faults ! In this very room he told me of the shameful actions of the woman with strange men." " With strange men, or a strange man ? " again asked the doctor. " I see I must be rigidly scientific in my language in presence of a scientist," said Mr. Terms. " To be accurate, then, Mr. Addison, with tears in his eyes, complained of the woman's conduct with this Geoffrey Draper. He told me he had spoken to her and she had boldly defied him. Later, after she had closed her door against him, he came to me asking my advice. The woman, sir, had the audacity to charge him with being the cause of what resulted from her own shameless conduct ; A LEGAL OPINIO JV. 107 in other words she was using her own disgrace to levy black-mail against an innocent man. On my advice he kept all the letters, while refusing to answer any." " Did you see these letters, Mr. Terms ? " " No, but my friend told me of their contents ; and if immorality and black-mail were hanging matters, the letters would have supplied the rope." " Did Mr. Addison ever make a will ? " " You are coming to the vital point ! Some years ago he did make a will, which I drew up for him. That will is now in my possession, unopened, as when he delivered it to me." " What was its nature ? " " He left every thing he possessed, and without a restricting clause, to the woman whom he expected to become his wife." " Did he never alter it ? " " I am coming to that, sir, and I beg all your attention. Time and time again I begged him, in the cause of justice and morality, to alter the will ; but with a sad smile he always put it off, saying, that if he should die his kindness would be the woman's greatest punishment. He was infatuated with her to the end ! Before he went away on his long yacht-voyage, I again argued with him, and he laughingly said he would discuss the subject when he returned. I indignantly urged : ' But if you die, sir, the heartless woman will inherit every thing, and go on her way rejoicing.' ' It will be a test of heaven's desire,' he answered. *If I die, lo8 IV/IO IS GUILTY? I am satisfied that it is heaven's intention to save her in that way. If I live, I will take it as a sign that heaven wishes to punish her, and I will alter the will ! ' " " He was a crank, like his grandfather ! " was the detective's irreverent comment. " He v/as weak when he should have been strong. But let me finish. He returned, and two days before he was murdered he came to me, and I drew up a new will at his request, in which he gave to his 'adopted sister', as he called her, only enough money to bring her in a modest income ; the rest was given to a number of worthy charities. This new will was to have been signed and sealed on the very day he was murdered ! " " Of course the woman was not acquainted with this new phase in her destiny ? " "Yes, sir, she was !" said Mr. Terms, impressively. " He was too honorable to keep her in ignorance. As she was aware of the provisions of the first will, he deemed it his duty to notify her of the change in his intentions, or rather, to be accurate, he deputed me to write to her. Here is a copy of my letter." Without pausing in his speech, Mr. Terms had opened a book, and was ready at the proper time to read the following letter: " Madam : " I am requested by my client, Mr. Hugo Addison, to notify you, that it is his intention to modify his A LEGAL OPIXION. 109 will. He sacrifices his own feelings to what he con- ceives to be his duty. He intends to sign this new will on the morning of the 13th September, and he would be pleased to see you or your deputy on, or before, the morning of the said day at the office of the undersigned, that no injustice may be done." " That was the letter, but the new will was never signed, for foul murder swept him into the grave, and the woman still inherits all his wealth and pos- sessions. The value will be enormous, too, for he speculated lavishly." " This woman is Tsliss Gower, the niece of your friend ]\Iorris," said the detective, gravely, to the doctor. " I hope, detective, that you appreciate the value of my communication," added Mr. Terms, impres- sively, " and if I have been the means of helping justice and moralit)-, gentlemen, I shall feel more than repaid ! " *' He is an impressive piece of parchment !" said the doctor, when they had emerged into the open air. " I suppose you mean to arrest Miss Gower, now ? " " What else cati I do ? " ** You have reached your conclusion quicker than I have. But, if you please, let me ask you a ques- tion, Sharpe. Of what do you suppose the lamented hero died ! " " Of a pistol-bullet in the brain ! " " As our friend Parchment would say, if a false I lO IVHO IS G UIL TY? conclusion were a crime, you would be hung, Sharpe. Your supposition is entirely wrong ! Let me inform you the bullet was fired in the man's brain after he was dead ! " " Are you sure ? " asked the detective, with uncon- cealed surprise. " You forget who is delivering a judgment now ! " " Pardon me ; but the announcement is so unex- pected that it dazes me ! " " It is nevertheless true, and what is more, Sharpe, is, that the blood which was under the dead man's head was not human blood ! The parties who committed the crime were very anxious to have it believed that he died from a pistol-shot — why, I don't pretend to know ! — but they bungled their work outrageously." " Of what then ^/V the victim die." " I can not answer, and that is why I have not mentioned the subject to you before, although I took the coroner into my confidence. I believe he was poisoned, and acting under this belief I have sent portions of the body to the city to have them prop- erly analyzed." " What poison do you suspect ? " " I can not say, as I am not acquainted with the symptoms in life, and there are no characteristic symptoms after death. Probably a narcotic, from the absence of inflammation or erosions. But a poison of some kind surely. If Miss Gower is guilty, she must have forced the poison down her A LEGAL OPIXIO.V. Ill victim's throat, and then killed a number of chickens and used their blood, after shooting her victim in the head, after he died of poison. She wanted to make sure that she would be found out ! " " But the same objections may be urged by the murderer, whoever he or she maybe." *' You are not clear-witted this morning, Sharpe. Go back a few steps ; recall the blood on the ivy, the blood on the handkerchief, and, especially, the pistol with the initials on it, and the chamber discharged of a bullet, which was not the bullet discovered in the dead man's bra '.n. What is the conclusion of common sense ? " " What I have always maintained ; that is, that the guilty party is trying to force the crime on another, with whom she was once intimate." ** That is clumsy. Suppose, how, that there was a third party, who knowing the past history of the dead man and living woman thoroughly, committed the crime. Suppose, also, that our G. D. was deliberately seized on as a pointer to fasten the crime on a woman who was innocent of it. Suppose the third party argued somewhat in this way: * I will throw G. D's. blood-stained handkerchief in the ivy ; his pistol in the well. The clever detectives will discover these objects, and they will imme- diately know that a man committing a crime will not leave such evidence behind him. The detectives will say, some one is trying to fasten the crime on an innocent man, and they will infallibly be guided to the woman. She will receive all the attention, 1 1 2 IVIIO IS G UIL TY? while I dance in security in the background. She is innocent ; but her past history, related by the exaggerated tongue of scandal, will condemn her past all hope of saving ! ' It is not my business to find out who this third party is. I only wish to show you that your theory is not necessarily the right one, and to ask you to be careful before you affix an indelible brand on a woman who, in my belief, is more sinned against than sinning ! " ** Your theory comes in most opportunely," said the detective, after a thoughtful pause, " and I promise yoii that I will not be hasty in arresting the suspected party." " If I am right, Detective Sharpe, all the evidence that may be hastily gathered will point toward the woman whom you suspect. If she is guilty, she deserves her fate ; but sweep the ground thoroughly before you strike. In the meantime, I give you my personal guarantee that the woman shall remain in her present abode until such time as you are fully satisfied of her guilt or innocence." " Your assurance relieves me of a great anxiety, and I will spare until the last moment. Only I must do my duty ; I must examine her room " *' I will help you by taking you to her house. She is probably absent, for I have given orders that she pass the day in the open air. I will not intro- duce you as a detective, for the reason that she must not be degraded at the present time ; but I will give A LEGAL OPINIOy. 113 you ample opportunity to make a thorough search." " I can ask nothing more ! " " But my liberality will not end there. Keep your eyes and ears open and you will discover the beginning of the path I have cut out for myself. When you have reached the end after me, I shall expect your thanks for having prevented you from adding fresh griefs to the grief-burdened life of a misjudged woman." " You speak positively ! " " And you know that I never speak lightly. All I ask is, that you will exercise your cunning, skill and experience. A false step on your part would probably make me a companion victim to the murdered man. You look incredulous ? Wait to the end before you deliver your judgment. I give you my word, Sharpe, that if it were not that I feel my honor engaged in the business, I would leave you here and rush off to the city never to return to this place again ! " " I meekly admit, doctor, that you surprise me. But notwithstanding your doubts, I am proud to believe that you will find in me a valuable aid. I must satisfy myself as to the suspected woman, whom, I frankly confess, you have not entirely cleared in my eyes ; but I assure you that no wrong shall come to her through me, until I have first given you my reasons and my intention." " I repeat your words in saying that I ask nothing better ! This is the house ; you are a friend of 1 1 4 U'JIO IS G UIL TY? mine from the city. That is all that is necessary ; the rest you may leave to me." The doctor had whispered this caution before the front door of Woodbine Villa, the bell of which he now rang. As he expected, the smiling Miss Percy appeared in answer to the summons. " Is Mr. Morris in ? I have met an old friend from the city whom I am anxious to introduce to him." " He is not at home, doctor. He is out with Miss Gower in the carriage." " Has she recovered her senses yet ? " " I fear not ! " was the sad answer. " If he should return please notify me. Come, Frank," he said, turning to the detective, " I am at home in the house of my old friend, and we will have a smoke and a lounge in my own room." He loitered behind his friend to whisper to Miss Percy. " I will meet you, my dear, in a few minutes on the veranda." She nodded and covertly squeezed the doctor's hand, then vanished into a neighboring room. The doctor rejoined his friend and both ascended the stairs. At the top of the first flight, the doctor pointed significantly with his finger toward a cer- tain door, and continuing his journey, entered a room on the floor above. " Stand at this window, Sharpe, and when you see me conversing with the woman who opened the door, commence your investigations in the A LEGAL OFIJVION. 115 room indicated. No one is home, and you will not be interrupted. When you have finished, meet me on the veranda." Miss Percy was waiting for the doctor, and on his appearance rushed to him with a pout. " I thought you would never come ! " " You are impatient, my dear ; I have not been in my room above ten minutes. I decoyed my friend into taking oflf his boots, I forced him into an easy chair, gave him a cigar and unceremoni- ously left him ? " '' Who is he ?" she asked, boldly. " A good enough fellow in his way ; but with an unfortunate habit of saving hotel expenses by thrusting himself on his friends. He has been here a week, and discovering that I was in the same village, seized me as a means of extending his acquaintance. I would not have brought him here if I knew Mr. Morris were at home, and I intend to get rid of him before Mr. Morris returns. Have you copied my report ?" " In my best hand ! " " You are an angel. But can we not take a little walk under the trees?" Miss Percy consented, and having put on her hat the cunning doctor led her away from the house. Under the shadow of the trees the cunning doctor became very communicative. He saddened the woman by informing her that he must soon return to the city to attend to his professional duties and then to his domestic affairs. He was 1 1 6 WHO IS G UlL TY? an old bachelor, and his house was at the mercy of careless servants. He was very rich, and it was a temptation. Ah ! if he only had a young, energetic and trustworthy housekeeper ! If he could obtain the right one, she should receive a large salary and a future of ease and comfort be assured her. After a certain hesitation, the blushing Miss Percy delicately hinted that she would not be averse to accept the position herself. She had no friends and no claims on her, and her obligations to Miss Gower would end in two weeks and she be free. The cunning doctor, having stimulated the woman's ambition, now cooled it by announcing that he would think over the matter, and at the earliest opportunity give her the result of his matured thoughts. Miss Percy acquiesced in the inevitable with a sigh, and there was a short silence broken by the woman saying : " The happy future opened to me makes me for- get my present duties. You told me that in her narcotic condition, Miss Gower might do some mischief. Consequently, I have been unusually watchful, and I discovered this pistol under the mattr^s of her bed." She handed him a small revolver mounted in silver. " You ^re a treasure in every way ! " was his enthusiastic comment, as he took the pistol, " and if I can only persuade myself that it will be for your good — But, see, I have forgotten my friend, and he has grown impatient and come for me. Slip into the A LEGAL OP IX 10. V. IT7 house, get me your copy of the report, and I will post it, get rid of the bore, and return here as quickly as possible." Miss Percy smiled, entered the house, but soon reappeared with a long, sealed envelope, which she delivered to the doctor. She watched the t.wo men disappear in the distance with a thoughtful, resolute expression on her handsome face. " If I could only believe him ! He is vain and foolish, and the thought is a horror ! From house- keeper to wife ! I have conquered greater difficul- ties, and he is my slave already. If I could only believe him, the bad, evil-minded man ! " CHAPTER X. A NEW ARRIVAL. 'I'^HE doctor and the detective, in the meanwhile, 1 were engaged in an animated conversation " Did you discover any thing in the room, Sharpe ? " " Yes ; I found the mull dress, and from the ashes in the grate I raked out a few scraps of the papers that were stolen from me." '' She was foolish not to burn them to the last fragment ! " said the doctor, meaningly, " But I suppose she left those scraps to make sure that you would find them ! " " I guess this is the weapon, at last ! " said the detective, taking the silver-mounted revolver which the doctor had drawn from his pocket. " Yes ; and you will notice that one of the chambers is discharged. It is another piece of foolishness on the part of the woman you suspect." " Miss Percy found it ? " " Yes ; under the mattress, and innocently brought it to me to take care of." " She is a tall, graceful woman, doctor ! " "About the same height and build as her mis- A NEW ARRIVAL. 119 tress," answered the doctor, carelessly, but with a malicious sparkle in his gray eyes. "A resolute woman," said the detective, thought- fully. " My prize, Sharpe ! She has consented to become my housekeeper, and I'll wager she is dreaming at this moment of an infatuated old dotard, and the ease with which she can make him her husband, or eat into his fortune by the noble trick of black-mail ! The darling ! She is greatly interested in poisons, and I allowed her to copy a make-believe report ! " " I will pay her my attentions by and by. Just now I am going to Geoffrey Draper's house. Will you come ? " " No, thank you, I must leave you here and return home." The doctor parted from the detective with a perplexed, troubled countenance ; his shaggy brows were knitted, his lips compressed. Even his analytic intellect was troubled. He lighted a cigar, and with the first puff of smoke his face brightened. " It is worth while to give these over-praised detectives a lesson. Sharpe is an average specimen of the best, and a pretty muddle I prevented him from producing. I could give them all points ! " he thought, warmed by the stimulating glow of egoism. " I suppose the woman-detective for whom I have written is equally stupid. She ought to be here to-day, and at a glance I can read her quali- 120 WHO IS GUILTY? ties. It was lucky for them all that Doctor Dubois was enjoying a vacation in Cypressville ! " These and similar thoughts removed the last shadow from the doctor's face, and he reached Woodbine Villa in excellent spirits. Mr. Morris had returned ; but Miss Gower had remained drowsy and silent during the journey. She was now in her room, reclining on a couch, attended by the devoted Miss Percy. The maid was bright, smiling and attractive ; the mistress dull, passive, preternaturally pale. She lay with her bright, glassy, staring eyes directed to the ceil- ing ; her lips were dry ; but a clammy perspiration oozed from her forehead, and moistened the soft hair that clung to it. Notwithstanding his brave assurances, the doctor was anxious, and he sat down beside the half-conscious woman with a heavy heart, although he had forced a smile to his face. '' She is wearied by the long ride, doctor," said Miss Percy, with a pitying glance toward the invalid. " I fear so, my dear," he answered, absently, " and I also fear that she has been too cunning for us, and taken another dose of the vile drug." " She has not been out of my sight since she returned." " Even under your Argus-eyes, my dear, it was easy enough for her to swallow a pill or two, and you not be the wiser." " Can they make laudanum up in pills ? " she asked, in mild surprise. "You are not wise in these matters, ]\Iiss Percy, J NEll^ A RRl VAL. 1 2 1 and it is not to be expected you should be. Laud- anum is opium in a liquid condition, dissolved in alcohol ; in its solid form it can be readily made into pills. Then, again, as morphine, it can be injected under the skin." " But it must hurt one terribly to use it in that way, doctor ! The very idea sets my teeth on edge ! " " The pain is trifling, and when people are infat- uated, like this wretched woman, they do not con- sider It. But we can easily learn if she has changed the mode of taking it." While speaking he had rolled back the loose sleeve of his patient's robe, and he now gazed at the white, faultless arm with a sad expression on his face. " The mark is here, my dear, to condemn her ! To gain speedy forgetfulness, she has used the hypodermic syringe, and this little puffed up spot indicates the point where the syringe was pushed under the skin ! " Miss Percy studied the spot with much interest. " She is incorrigible, doctor ; but how was I to know in my ignorance ? I never heard of the thing before." " Of course not ! " said the doctor, kindly. " But her cunning is only foolishness this time. In her haste she has forgotten me ! Another day of this work will kill her ! " The doctor gazed down at the pale, sunken face, and was so deeply absorbed in his thoughts that, for the first time in his life, he paid no attention to the dinner-bell. 1 2 2 WHO IS G uiL T yy " Dinner is ready," suggested the thoughtful Miss Percy. " And I am not dressed. But wasn't it the door- bell ? There, listen, it is ringing again." There could be no doubt of it. The door-bell was rung vigorously, and then there were the sounds of voices in the hall ; especially the loud, laughing voice of a woman. *' It is some visitor, doctor ! " This was the undoubted truth, and a few minutes later, Mr. Morris himself appeared to announce the fact. ** Doctor, one of Miss Gower's friends has, unan- nounced, come here to see her." " She can not be seen," said the doctor, with affected anger. " Send her about her business ! " " But she has brought her trunk," answered Mr. Morris, helplessly, " and she means to stay." '* And you needn't put yourself out the least bit on my account ! " said a voice in the hall. " I couldn't resist calling on my dear Oriana ! " A very stylish young lady unceremoniously entered the room, with much rustling of silks, and elaborate sparkle of jewelry. A handsome young lady, self-possessed and graceful, with remarkably bright, piercing black eyes. Mr. Morris introduced the intruder with dismal formality. " Doctor Dubois, allow me to introduce you to Miss Churchill ; Miss Churchill, Doctor Dubois." " And is this the dear man whom I have heard so much about," she exclaimed, with shrill volubility. A XEIV ARRIVAL. 123 " Doctor, I am delighted to become acquainted with you. My friend, Mrs. Pope, is never done speak- ing about you, and I have been really dying to see you ! And this young lady ? " she continued, turn- ing to Miss Percy with a smile. " A relation of yours, Mr. Morris ? " " No ; Miss Percy, the maid of Miss Gower." " How very stupid I am, to be sure ! Quite ridic- ulous ! I am ashamed of myself ! Excuse me. But really, you mustn't put on ceremonies with me. I saw, as I came by, that the dinner was on the table. I have dined, and I couldn't touch another mouthful ! I shall feel perfectly at home here, and I hope you won't let the soup get cold on my account ? when dear Oriana wakes she will show me my room, and we shall get on lovely ! " Mr. Morris shrugged his shoulders, and, as he turned to leave with the doctor, beckoned to Miss Percy. " She acts already as if she owns the house," said the doctor, ** and if she does not talk us all to death we are lucky ! " " What can I do, Dubois ? She is an old friend. I told her Miss Gower was ill, but I could not send her back to her home three hundred miles away ! May I ask you, Miss Percy, to have the blue-room made ready for the bold invader ? I am sorry to trouble you ; but she came so unexpectedly that she has put me at my wit's end." " There is no trouble, Mr. Morris," answered Miss Percy, graciously ; " a little dusting and a 124 iVHO IS GUILTY? little arranging and all is ready. Pardon me if I suggest that the dinner is getting cold, while the young lady seems fully able to take care of her- self." " Miss Percy speaks like an angel ! " said the doctor. " I am hungry, Morris, too hungry to change my attire ; and the wordy young lady is fully able to take care of herself." The young lady in question vindicated these encomiums ; for when Mr. Morris visited her after dinner he discovered that she had changed her traveling attire for a gorgeous full evening dress, and she was sitting in her friend's room in smiling content, amusing herself by turning over the pages of a fashion-book. The doctor had gone in search of Miss Percy, who, he discovered, had betaken herself to her own apartment. He sent a message, which brought her to the library, with a frown on her fair face. " You are out of humor, my dear ? " " Miss Churchill would provoke a saint ! She takes me for a servant, and amused herself with ordering me about, until I gave her to understand my true position." " Mr. Morris tells me that she is the daughter of a farmer who suddenly became rich. She is anxious to dazzle an old friend with her gorgeous attire, and her knowledge of the world picked up in a few months' travel in Europe. I gave you credit for more discernment, my dear. She is only one of the vulgar rich, not worth a sensible woman's anger ! " A NE W A RKI VAL. 125 " She is very aggravating ! " " She is very rich, and that, in the eyes of most people, would excuse her." " She asked me if my mistress had not taken just a little too much champagne, as it always affected her in that way ! " " And most of her life she has drank nothing but cider and weak elderberry wine ! She will become tired of this quiet little place before the week is out." " Not more tired than I am. It is a dull, tire- some hole ! " " The shoddy woman has put you out of humor with it." " I hated it from the first. I shall leave it when my quarter's services are ended," she said, de- terminedly. *' You have positively decided ? " " Positively, sir ! I have made up my mind to follow you, even if you change yours." "Am I so fickle ?" *' You are a man, and you will forget me when you have turned your back on the village." " Never ! " he answered seriously. " You only look on me as a higher species of servant," she persisted. " Ah, my dear, and can you read my heart ? " " I know my own ! " she said, sadly, " and I know that having sunk to the degradation of a servant, I can never again rise to the station in which I was born ! " 126 WHO IS GUILTY? " If I did not know better, my dear, I should say that you are in love ? " " Is it a crime ?" " No ; a merit in a pretty young woman like you! An old man like me can only look on and sigh with envy." " You are no^ old," she said, impetuously, " and if you were, what has love to do with such matters? You are wise and you are good, while the young of your sex are foolish and wicked." " You flatter me, my dear ! " " If you knew me better you would not say so." " You are very amiable, child ! " " Child ! " she repeated hotly, " I am a woman ; free to do as I like ; to love where I will ; to offer my life, my soul, to him I love. Oh, if you were less wise and more human ! You can never have loved ! " The situation was becoming dangerous and yet very attractive ! The doctor was exercising his diplomacy, and his gallantry at the same time. Unfortunately he did not hear the approaching footsteps in the hall, while Miss Percy's .senses were sharper than his own. " You will teach me, my dear ! " he said, while putting a fatherly arm around her waist. He drew her toward him, and, intensely amused by his own cunning, kissed her on the forehead. It was fine gallantry, and the tableau was charm- ing ; but it surprised Mr. Morris, who stood at the A NEW ARRIVAL. 1 27 doorway, and announced his presence with a dis- creet little cough. At the sound Miss Percy flushed a deep crimson, rose, put her hands to her face, and rushed out of the room ; the doctor, a picture of confusion, rest- ing motionless on the lounge. " You are coming it strong in your old age, Dubois ! " said Mr. Morris, with a chuckle. " She is a little fiend ! " answered the doctor, drawing a long breath. '■'■ Willing to compromise herself to get me in her power ! " " She is a mighty pretty maiden, Dubois ; may I congratulate you on your conquest ? " " If you knew all, Morris, you would be more serious ; and if Miss Churchill does not relieve me soon, I will strangle the little devil with my own hands." Miss Churchill was seemingly more intent on making herself at home than in troubling herself with the doctor's affairs. She insolently ordered Miss Percy from the sick woman's room, express- ing the intention of attending herself on her friend. She closed the door after the indignant maid and locked it, shrieking through the key-hole that she " didn't want any poke-noses around ! " This done, she seated herself near the table, reading from a book of poetry. From time to time she consulted her watch ; at a certain hour she rose and approached the bed on which her wretched friend tossed and moaned in a semi- conscious state. She opened a little hand-bag, 128 WHO IS GUILTY? took from it a bottle and a spoon, and poured a spoonful of the bottle's contents down her friend's throat. Pausing a moment, and with her intelli- gent eyes carefully watching the result, she re- peated the dose. The restlessness of the patient was stilled, and she sunk into a placid sleep. A condition of things that had not obtained for many days. Miss Churchill again returned to her book of poetry. Near midnight she dropped into what seemed to be a deep sleep, and snored with a vigor that told well for her health. Before plunging into unconsciousness she had, with rustic caution, turned off the gas, and the room was in shadow, save for a few arrows of moonlight that struggled through the half-closed blinds. Had she been awake, she would have heard the rustling of a woman's dress in the hall without, and a light hand turning the handle of the door. But Miss Churchill slept like a farmer's daughter, and her unromantic snoring maintained its rhythm with the regularity of a piece of classic poetry. A hand, or an instrument, was now busied with the key outside ; there was a sharp, metallic click, and the door itself was softly opened, and a pair of bright eyes glanced into the room. The bed was in shadow, but a ray of moonlight fell on the lounge and revealed a woman's form stretched out at full length. The door opened wider, and a figure glided silently into the room, paused a moment near A NEW ARRIVAL. 1 29 the lounge, and then, with noiseless feet, ap- proached the bed and leaned over it. At the same instant there was a flash of brilliant light as from an electric arc, a dazzling light that blazed in the intruder's face, and caused her to start back with a little shriek. She turned instinctively toward the lounge, but the figure on it still lay motionless, snoring with classic regularity. The light-flash was only momentary ; it blazed up and then ex- pired, leaving the room in its original gloom. The intruder stood for a moment the victim of fear and perplexity ; her heart beat violently, and there was a tremor in the usually firm lips and hands. She did not again approach the bed, but retired from the room with the same noiselessness with which she entered it. When the door closed behind her, Miss Churchill ceased snoring and quickly rose from the lounge. In an incredibly short space of time she had cast aside her outer silken garment, beneath which was a simple dress of an inconspicuous color and fashion. She now seized a bonnet, to which a wig was attached, and pulled it down over her soft black hair, arranging her toilet in the dark as skillfully as if she were standing before a mirror in a full blaze of light. She then opened the door and peered anxiously out into the hall. As if in answer to some mysterious summons, the doctor, in shoeless feet, entered the room. " I have given her the medicine, doctor," said Miss Churchill, in a whisper, " and she is sleeping I30 WHO IS GUILTY ? well. Your electric light was also a success ; in all probability it saved a life. Wait my return here ! " She left the room, glided down the stairs, passed through a window that she opened in the library, and crouched in the shadow of the veranda, near the front door. Strange as the house must have been to her, she never hesitated in her actions, but moved about as if she had lived in the building since childhood and knew every one of its angles. But even her haste indicated deliberation and fore- thought ; astonishing qualities in a farmer's daughter and a woman of fashion ! She crouched in the darkness as if the part of spy were the busi- ness of her life. Her patience was as remarkable as her calmness ; she remained for a long time as motionless as a statue, and when the door opened not even a sigh of relief escaped her. After an interval, she followed the figure that had cautiously made its exit from the house, and which was now speeding along in the shadow of the bushes ; the figure of a woman, running, rather than walking, as if goaded onward by her own troubled thoughts. Her road led her in the direction of the old house in which the murder was committed, and she never paused in her journey until she reached its bound- ary walls. Here her footsteps stopped, and she glanced up at the gloomy building that seemed floating in an ocean of mist ! The pursuing Miss Churchill also paused, with eyes directed toward the cupola, from which issued a light, the only A NEW ARRIVAL. 131 evidence of life in the dreary building. The light flashed, disappeared, flashed again and then myster- iously vanished. The figure standing in the moon- light paused irresolutely, and uttered an exclama- tion of disappointment. It then turned its back on the house and for a short distance retraced its steps. It rested for a moment beneath a huge tree that overhung the roadside, and its hands seemed gliding over the gnarled, scaly trunk. It came out into the light again bearing a paper in its hand, which it opened and read in the moon's rays. It tore a fragment from the paper, seemingly wrote on it with a pencil, after which it returned to the tree. When it again reappeared, it continued its journey uninterruptedly to the house from which it had emerged. Miss Churchill followed until the door of Woodbine Villa closed behind it, when she retraced her steps in the direction of the mys- terious old tree. The distance she had to walk was over a half-mile, and the object she sought was surrounded by hundreds of similar companions, but she walked toward it in a bee-line, never hesitat- ing, never pausing, never swerving from the straight line. Reaching the tree, she, in turn, ran her hands lightly over the trunk ; but she discovered nothing ; no suggestive projection, no cavity, nothing indicat- ing the trysting place of lovers, or of knaves. Per- plexed, yet with energy unabated, she renewed her search. Higher up the trunk, just within reach of her outstretched arm, the branches diverged, and in the angle thus formed there was an old bird's-nest 132 WHO IS GUILTY? of the last year. Miss Churchill was interested in this object, and in the midst of the dry grass, and mud and feathers, her exploring hand discovered a scrap of paper. This she eagerly seized, and, thanks to the bright moonlight, mastered a portion of its contents. On one side, written in a woman's hand- writing, were the words : " -Danger ! Spies ! Must see you ! To-morro7v noon ! " On the other were a few disjointed words written by a man. It was the fragment of a short note, and was meaningless in its present condition. Miss Churchill's sharp eyes deciphered the words : " /. A thoroughly delicious book . . . the interest in the story is unflagging, and is absorbing enough to hold the reader's attention to the last page. — Boston Courier. POYERTY CORNER. ("A Little World.") By G. Manville Fenn. i vol., i2mo, cloth, new style. Price $i.oo. The characters in this exciting drama are strongly individualized and cleverly sustained. — Mail and Express. There are touches of description in " Poverty Comer," as well as entire characters, which the author of " A Christmas Carol " need ...)t have been ashamed to own among his happiest efforts ; while as a (?• •/ the book hardly could have been improved. THE PARSON 0' DUMFORD. A Story of Lincoln Folk. By G. Manville Fenn. i vol., i2mo, cloth. Price $i.oo. This delightful story is in the well-known style of this favorite author. There is plenty of incident, without any exaggeration or straining after effect ; the language is pure and terse ; the descriptions both humorous and pathetic, extremely spontaneous, and the several characters are well and distinctly drawn. CASSELL & COMPANY, Limited, 739 and 741 Broadway, New York. NOVELS BY WILLIAM WESTALL. THE OLD FACTORY. A Lancashire Story. By William Westall. i vol., l2mo., cloth, new style. Price $i.oo. There is an old-time fragrance in this delightful story, blended with modern freshness. . . . Oh, that more of our novelists had as masterly an execution \— Evening Post. The story abounds in incidents and is a wholesome one. — Christian Inteili^encer, RED RTVINGTON. By William Westall. i2mo, cloth, new style. Price $i.oo. The plot is so intricate and the story is so rich in adventures and episodes, that a brief summary gives no idea of the contents of the book. — Publisher's IVeekiy. There is more of incident and adventure in this story than in many a volume five times its size. — School Jourtzal. RALPH NORBRECK'S TRUST. By W^iLLiAM Westall, author of " Red Ryvington," "The Old Factory," etc. i vol., i2mo, $i.oo. " This story abounds with exciting incidents, the characters are well drawn, the plot is well constructed and the story well told, holding the interest of the reader to the end." — The Commonwealth^ Boston. CASSELL k COMPANY, Limited, 739 and 741 Broadway, New York, THE WORLD'S Workers. A SERIES OF TERSELY WRITTEN BIOGRAPHIES OF THOSE WHOSE LIVES WERE FILLED WITH NOBLE AND INSPIRING EXAMPLES. Each Volume Contains a Portrait Frontispiece. i2mo., ORNAMENTED CLOTH, 128 PAGES. PRICE PER VOLUME, 50 CENTS. Sold Separately or in Sets. General Gordon. _ - By the Rev. S. H. Swaine. Abraham Lincoln. - - - By Ernest Foster. Charles Dickens. - - By his Eldest Daughter. Sir Henry Havelock. | Colin Campbell. Vin i Volume. By E. C. Phillips. Lord Clyde. ) David Livingston. _ - - By Robert Smiles. George Muller I j Volume. By E. R. Pitman. Andrew Reed, j •" Richard Cobden. _ - . By R. Cowing. Benjamin Franklin. - - By E. M. Tomkinson. Handel. - - - - By Eliza Clarke. George and Robert Stephenson. By C. L. Mateaux. Dr. Guthrie. ) Father Mathew. V In i Volume. By Rev. J. W. Kirton. Elihu Burritt. j Florence Nightingale "1 Catherine Marsh. I j^ ^ y^j^ g Lizzie Aldridge. Francis Ridley Havergal. ' Mrs. Renyard. J Sir Titus Solt. I j Volume. By J. Burnley. George Moore. | •' -" Turner the Artist. - - By Rev. S. A. Swaine. CASSELL &L COMPANY, Limited, 739 & 741 Broadway, New York. o p^ \^ THE LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Santa Barbara THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE STAMPED BELOW. ^