The Conshohocken Recorder, February 15, 1895

              THE RECORDER.
NO. 1401 CONSHOHOCKEN, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1895.
•1.00 FER YEAR
BU! i., i>.....>,.. vi-ry wuii, aua wiiuu
Francis oama book went to the conti-nent.
'He was unable to bear the right of
hi- i iother's ipplni --. " said Aunt So-minster
ill detei t the abaenoe of Felix
and so gneaa what haa taken place."
"If yon go down to Murshminster,
you'll find Felix buck again In his old
place."
"Then Paris:" I queried uneasily. I
was beginning to seo I had been duped.
"Yon forget Mr. Felix of Paris has
gone to Italy and loft no address. It's
all safe there, and as he said he was
going to the east for six months or so
there will be plenty of time for the pre-tended
Francis to marry Olivia."
"You don't believe that Felix of
Paris has gone to Italy or the east?"
"Of courso not I believe he arranged
all these matters to baffle your prying
and then calmly returned to Marshmln-ater."
"But the manager of the hotel?"
"He is in the pay of Felix. You'll
get nothing out of him. Now, I am cer-tain
that is the explanation. Are you
not surprised ut its simplicity?"
"Yes, Iain. It is astonishing I never
thought of it before. "
"Columbus and his egg onco again,"
•aid Itorlok grimly. "Woll, what are
you going to do next?"
"To dr.. i i Marabminitsr and find
out the movement! of Felix on the
Bight aftK r tin; murder."
"Quito BO, but first satisfy yourself
on tlio subject of Francis. "
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"What day of tho mouth wan yon at
tho Fen ban?" continued Merrick.
"On the 10th of Juna"
"Good! Francis there told you that he
had just arrived from Chile. Now
Ibid out what boat he came by, look up
his name in (he passenger list and as-certain
tho date on which the truo Fran-cis
arrived in England. That point es-tablished,
you can prove tho false Francis
to be an impostor."
"An excellent idea," said I, atarting
to my feet. "I'll Hee abont it at once.''
"And mind," said Merriok, raising
his forefinger, "I expect to be kept fully
•dyked of the case."
' "Never fear, doctor. Yon are excel-lent
at solving puzzles. When I find
anothor nut, I'll bring It to you to
Brack."
"Do! I take great interest in this
■ort of cases. I ought to have been a
lawyer instead of a doctor. "
"I'm thankful for my own sake yon
•re the latter," said I, shaking his
hand. "Goodby, doctor I am greatly
Obliged for the kind interest yon have
taken in tbi- c -..'
"Pure selfishness, I assure yon, "re-plied
Merrick, and so I took my leave.
Before searching the shipping lists I
Bent two telegrams, one to the manager
of the Hotel dea Etrangers, asking if
Mr. Felix Briarfield was still there; the
Other to my Aunt Jane, inquiring
whether Mr. Francis Briarlield was in
MarahfflinBtar. This business having
been dispatched, I took a hansom to the
city and saw a merchant of my ac-quaintance
Hu was an old friond and
willing to oblige me in every way.
"Chambers, " said I when in his offloe.
"I want to find out a ship that arrived
in London from Chile during the pres-ent
month."
'During June," said Chambers.
TMC AUTHGgt
•".llua puts tno matter beyonfl an
uouoi, said 1, making a note of this.
"If Francis Briarfield did not arrive in
London till tho 6th of this month, ho
cannot be tho man now bearing his
name at Bellin Hall."
I was now perfectly satisfied that
Merrick's idea was correct. In order to
confuse and throw me off tho scent, Fe-lix
had followed me to Paris and ap-peared
in propria persona. But for the
doctor's suggestion of the shipping list
I should not have been able to prove
this, but now I hold Incontrovertible
evidence in my hands to prove that Fe-lix
was trading on the marvelous resem-blance
between his brother and himself.
Francis had arrived in England on tho
6th of June, he had met me at the Fen
inn on the 10th and had there been foully
dono to death by his brother through
a third party. But I was now on the
trail and hoped to run to earth both the
unnatural brothor and his vile tool. I
felt like the hero of somo wild romance.
On returning to my rooms in Duke
street I wrote off at onco to Merrick,
telling him of my success in proving
tho identity Of Francis with (he man
who had been slain at the lone inn. It
now remained for me to go down to
phia sontlmentally, "Poor young Pianl
I have no doubt bli heart i>- broken. He
actually left Marshminstar before his
II ither arrived from America, so as to
spare himself the painful right of their
happinesa "
I saw by this conversation that my
surmise waa correct Fells had fallen in
lore With Olivia while his brother was
in America, and selfishly determined
not to givo her up bad devised tho idea
of passing himself off as Francis. With
this in his mind ho had gone to Paris
and pretended to stay there, then reap-peared
to Marshminster as Francis, al-leging
an earlier return from Chile as
an excuso. When Francis really return-ed.
Felix asked him to bo ut tho Fen inn
so as to rid himself of his brother be-fore
he could see Olivia.
Whether he intended to kill Francis
or to merely explain matters I could not
toll, but at all events Francis had been
murdered, and I firmly believed that
Felix was morally guilty of the crime.
The suppression of the letters, the sub-stitution
of himself as Francis and the
dexterous manner in which he had rid
himself of the corpse, according to Mer-rick's
theory, all showed me that I had
a dangerous and reckless man to deal
with. But after the clover way in which
he had baffled mo in Paris by resuming
his name I was prepared for any vil-lainy
at his hands. He had committed
himself so far that ho could not draw
back and was compelled to follow crime
by crime in order to bolster up his po-sition.
Ho was going to town with the evident
intention of evading me. Donbtli BS ho
thought that, deceived by lii,. [■]
at tho Hotel dea Etrangi re, I had quite
abandoned all, idea of meddling in the
Marshminster and there make inquiri. - atr.titi 1Jut for Merriok 1 should cor-ns
to the movements of Folix on th
night in question.
I felt confident that I _ could pur,
such a search without hindrance, as hi
would be quite satisfied that I would
now r. si after the Paris episode. No
man in his senses would search for a
lead man when that man had been con
dusively proved to bo alive. So Felix
doubtless thought and rejoiced in his
oleverness in thus putting an end to
my inquiries. But mark how ironical
is fata Felix advised me to consult a
doctor about my hallucination, as ho
ohose to call it I took that advioe and
saw Merrick. Merriok had nullified all
his plans by solving the riddle with
which Felix was trying to baffle ma
It was hard on Felix to thus be the
means of pointing the way to his own
destruction. But then fate is so ironical.
That afternoon I roceived answers to
my telegrams. The first, from Paris,
stated that Mr. Felix Briarfield had
started for Italy; the seoond, from
Marshminster, informed me that Fran-cis
Briarfield was staying at Bellin
Hall.
"No," said I, on reading those tele-grams,
"Felix Briarfield did not leave
Paris for Italy, but for Marshminster,
and Francis Briarfield, poor soul, is not
at Bellin Hall, but lying in the Essex
marshes "
That night at 5 o'clock I left for
Marshminster.
"Well, there's no difficulty about that
What is her name?"
"That la one of the things I wish to
find out; also the names of the passen-gers."
"Come with me to the Jerusalem,"
•aid Chambers, picking up his hat
"You'll find there her .name and agents.
Go to the agents, and they will supply
yon with a list of passengers. What's
up now?"
"Nothing particular," I answered
carelessly. "I have reason to believe
m friend of mine returned from South
America this month, and I want to
make certain."
"Well, if he came under his own
name, you'll have no difficulty in doing
so. Here's the Jerusalem!"
This is, it is well known, a shipping
Blub for the convenience of merchants.
It tells them all about ingoing and out-going
vessels, gives information regard-ing
cargoes and in fact supplies all kinds
Of knowledge useful to those who have
argosies afloat Chambers was well ac-qnainted
with tb mode of procedure,
•o I let him do all th work It was
now the ICthoi I ■. , and as Francis
had Informed me ho bad arrived during
the month ■'. • waa not D nch diffl
culty in fludin | what I wanted.
"Here you are," said Chambers, beck-oning
toma "Only one ship this month
from Chili—a steamer, the Copiapo
Arrived on the 8th of June. Dane &
Paxton, 40 Deven ox lana"
I copied this down in my notobook,
refused ('handlers' hospitable invitation
to lunchi i and went off at onoe to
Dever in I had nodifflonltj
in seeing the passenger list of theCo-pinpo,
of tho first names I sei
mv eves on was Francis Briarfield.
CHAPTER VIII.
Tho drama of "Tho Prodigal Son"
was enacted over again when I returned
to Marshminster.' My aunts had great-ly
resented my sudden departure for Pal-is
and announced that they this time
intended to keep mo with them for
some weeks. I had no objection to this
arrangement, as I anticipated a long
and laborious task in ferreting out evi-dence
against Felix. The first thing to
be done was to learn all that had taken
plaoo in my absence, and the informa-tion
was ably supplied by Aunt Jane,
seoonded by her sister. I inquired about
Briarfield and his fiancee.
"Bellin Hall is to be shut up next
week, " said Aunt Jana "Tho Bellins
are going to town and with them Mr.
Briarfield.''
"I wonder they staid here ao long
when the season was on in London,"
said Aunt Sophia, "but It was all that
foolish Mrs. liollin. She ohose to con-sider
herself ill and ao insisted upon re-maining
hero. Now she can't resist the
attractions of town life any longer and
goes next week."
"She has to arrange abont the wed-ding,
Sophia. Yon know it takes place
in July. I wonder if Mr. Felix Briar-field
will be back in time to be best
man. "
"That I can safely say is impossible,"
said I dryly.
"But why?" exclaimed both the old
ladies, scenting new-.
"Well, bo haa gone to Italy and from
'hi roi i to the east," I answered, on-willing
to tell the truth. "1 don't see
how he can r< . vn in time for tho wed-ding
If it takes place in July."
My female relatives looked signifi-cantly
at one another.
"What did I tell you, Sophia?" said
Aunt Jane, in a tune of subdued tri-umph.
"Yes, sister, you are right," sighed
Sophia, shaking her head "Poor young
man1 I thought myself he lovod Olivia.''
"Who loved Olivia?" I asked abarply
"Felix Briarfield," said Aunt Jane.
"When his brother wont to America,
Oe was always with her and no doubt
loved her dearly. I can scarcely wonder
at that as she is so beautiful a trjrl.
"
I 'have done BO. Now that Merriok
saw the matter in the same light as
I did I was di termined to go on, but
rod to give no hint of this to Felix.
When ho left Marshminster, I could
pnrsno my inquiries at leisure. All
I had been too rash in revealing my in-tentions,
for had I not mentioned my
journoy to Paris Felix would not have
been put on his guard and baffled mo so
adroitly.
I had at least gained one important
piece of information, which in itself
was sufficient to break off the match.
The passenger list of the Copiapo proved
conclusively that Francis had not reach
ed England before the 6th of June, and
this shown to Olivia would show that Fe-lix
was passing himself off as her lover.
With such proof I could stop the mar-riage
immediately, but preferred to wait
until I gained furthor evidence impli-cating
him in the murder of his
brother. I believed Merrick's theory to
be truo and quite expected to find that
Felix had ridden out to the Fen inn for
the purpose of hiding his brother's body
in one of tho bog holes.
"By tho way, " I asked Aunt Jane as
wo parted for tho night, "how docs
Miss Bellin look? Liko a happy bride,
eh?"
"By no means," replied my aunt sol-emnly.
"She looks ill and miserable.
But that I know this marriage with
Francis is a love match I should say she
disliked tho idea of becoming his wife. "
"No doubt," thought I, "no doubt
Olivia mistrusts Felix already."
I said good night to my elderly rela-tive
and went off to bed. Instead of
turning in, I lighted my pipe and leaned
out of the window, thinking deeply.
Could it be possible that Olivia had dis-covered
the imposture? If so, why did
she tamoly submit to marry a man
whom she must know was guilty of his
brother's and her lover's death? More-over,
if she was assured of this, she
must also have condemned tho deception
at the Hotel des Etrangers. Her con-duct
seemed strange, yet I could not
bring myself to believe that she knew
the truth. If she did, she was as bad as
Felix.
"She must think that he is really
Francis and that Felix is in Paris," I
thought "Surely sho would not will-ingly
go to tho altar with a i u ll v> u m
sho knows to be a villain. \ .! He has
thrown dust in her eyes a id made her
believe what he pleases I must save
tho poor girl from such a fate Perhaps
in spite of outward semblance she in-stinctively
feels that Felix is not Frau-ds.
Women have their in tinets. I
know of no other reason why she should
look pale and ill."
My cogitations were cut short by
Aunt Jauo kj.ocklug at the door and
telling me MOt to waste the candles. 1
wasr.scdto rlnso little idiosyncrasies
nf my aunu, so I uiswerod that I was
p;-.t out the light at
but t'.: i i . thi night was pass-ed
ia II • k rul Rl it . Truly I had a
bad ..-■ ■. . |' . . :, . tive I'M r.
I' lh ■ IKxl . ■ days 1 kept very
aui , as I w •• g io rouae the
■OBpicions of Foli Al length my aunts,
who entertain' 1 no H i pit Ion of my de-
■ignu, informed me thai he had gone to
London with Mrs. ami Miss Bellin.
The coast now being clear, I ventured
out and began to work out my carefully
laid plans.
In the first place, I went to Bob Fun
dy to hire a horse It waa my intention
to ride out to tho Fen bin and thorough
ly examine the rooms, aa I fancied I-Y
lix might have hidden the corpse in t! ■
honsa From Fuudy I gained a pieoo of
unexpected information.
"Want to rido to the Fen Inn. sir."
NUU uu, ucruiuuiug nis neao. -wny,
whatever'*- come over that old ruinf
Every one seems to bo going thera "
"What do you mean, Fundy?"
"First Mr. Briarlield and D " you,'
said Fuudy. "Blest if I can undi rstand
it, though, to bo sure, he rode there at
night, and you go in the daytime. "
"Did Mr. Briurfiold go to tho Fen
inn at night:' 1 asked, sc< ing I was on
me eve of learning something impor-tant.
I had not forgotten Morrick's
i theory.
"That he did, sir. Ho rode there two
I nights over a week ago. "
"Curious," said I, with assumed care-lessness.
"It is not an attractive place.
I daro say ho only rodo a little way out
of tho town. "
"No, sir," said Fuudy decisively.
"He went to tho Pen inn. He told me
so himself, as I noticed his horse was
done up. Look here,"added Fundy,
opening his daybook. "See, on the
10th of June he had a horse and on the
11th. Both at night and did not return
till midnight"
I mounted my horso and rode away,
thinking dec ply. If Felix had gone to
the Fen inn on tho 10th, then I felt
sure that he had actually murdered his
brother. Hitherto 1 believed that Strent
was the guilty party, but now, thanks
to the evidence of Fundy, I saw that
Felix had committed the crime. He
had also ridden to the inn on the 11th
in order to conceal the body. Merrick's
theory was thus proved to be correct.
Link by link I was putting the chain
together. I had proved that Francis
had not arrived in England till the 6th
of Juno and so made certain of the
identity of Felix. 1 had discovered that
Felix was at the inn on the fatal night,
and also that he had concealed the body.
Now I wished to discover how the mur
dcr was commit! d.
Tho Fen inn was quite de • rti d and
as evil looking aa ever, l;
sear. him:. I ih.covered in .
dead body of my friend cloth .-.
which I bad Been folded i a
side the bed, were also go: •. and there
was not the slightest thing Ii fl to excite
suspicion.
"Ho must havo hidden the body in
the marshes," I thought after a vain
search. "I'll see If he has left a trail. "
Struck by the leasibility of this idi a.
I went out at the front door and ex.
ined tho ground. It was moist and mud
dy owing to the incessant percolation
of niarsl-v water Thojjillh leading/ri.
I To be continufd ntxt week.)
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R U A
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TO THE;
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