Pittston Gazette

              EHtaltlixhtHl 1H50. ( VOL.XUVIIINo.il I Oldest Newspaper in the Wyoming Valley. PITTSTON, LUZERNE COUNTY, PA., FRIDAY, OCTOBER 22, i8g7. A Weekly Local and Family Journal. s vl.oo per Year "l in Ailvani'®* J nere is tnus absolutely no cause whatever for her aet, while the little, trembling prayer that 1 may never know the cause is just what one might lock for. If there were any real facts behind, she would know that I must find them out, but this—this trouble might- be hidden. Then her conduct last nisfht—all is consistent with that one terrible thought. When I think of it, I declare I am like a madman myself!-' he exclaimed, and then he began to strido from one end of the room to the other in impetuous haste. pamcu to it had been given, with sev eral other things, to Beryl. that was why 1 went nome. ion remember you brought home two of those daggers from America and that one of them whs given to papa? Well, I have been to feteh it, aud I thought that if it were placed where the other ought to be, supposing, as we fear, it is not there, it would help to turn aside suspicion, for a time at any rate." A^/wcmONT.BA\ / S3 ■•so™ ~ co*re« c. HT i sv rnc AUTHOW commission of the crime If she could have gone to her now mean. — in what sense do you mean and helped her, Beryl felt that she left?" he asked, changing the form of would do so cheerfully. It was a fear- ''is question. some deed to havo wrought, but Lola "I mean only that she has left the had been driven to bay. \ manor and that for the moment I do Beryl had been glad thus to have an ; nnt kllow where she is." opportunity of fending off some of the Inspector Borderham concealed the dagger is from our collection of curios at Leycester Court." elusion. There is not a man in England who if he knew what we know would not think what we think. I don't understand the thing. I can't, except on the one supposition that she is mad, and it breaks my heart to think that." He paused, but Beryl did not break the silence. HAY Before either of them said a word Mr. Gilford continued in just the same Lusinest-like way and tone: "Are you sure?" asked the inspector, unable to conceal his intense surprise at the turn to matters which this answer gave. "There is oue other tiling I should like to have done, more unprofessional still, bet 1 dared not go so far. 1 v\anted to biiuH away the dagger. This murder's been done with a dagger that has enough character in it to liaug a repiment of soldiers, i don't suppose that there's another like it in all the blessed country. But I couldn't touch it, you see, because the doctor would see in a trice that some oue had been tampering with the body after death, for the reason that any boy student could tell when a dagger had been taken out of the wound hours after death. Then there'd have been no end of awkward questions for me to answer as to what I'd been up to. So I had to leave it." "I am comparatively certain,"answered Beryl. "At least I am so certain that I shall be surprised indeed if it is not. This," touching the bracelet, "was given me by Sir Jaffray's wife when she returned from America, she having an Almost exact duplicate, and this," pointing to the dagger, "is the dagger you gave to papa, Jaffray, unless, of course, it's the fellow which you kept for yourself. But surely we can settle that easily. I tbink I know some little marks on it. Let us go and see whether the other is in its place or not. It was in the blue room, you know." saspicion which had threatened her, impression which this fact made upon "The thing is all so horribly complete! I have talked it over and over with Gifford, trying to get from him a suggestion that may point in another direction, but all his ingenuity cannot offer a hint that the evidence doesn't utterly smash. It is perfectly clear that she left the manor house before this man was killed. It is quite as certain that he wrote to her the letter telling her to meet him. It is clear again that she got the letter, and that she did go to see him, and just as clear that she was there and dropped that bracelet in the struggle with him and used that dagger, and then on the top of ail comes this absolutely inexplicable flight. It would all be different if only she were here. If she would come here and lay her hand in mine and tell me she knew nothing of all this, I would believe her and hold out for her innocence against the whole world, mad or sane. But she doesn't come. And yet I hate and loathe myself for harboring the thought that, mad or sane, she could even think of taking this man's life. And the strain of it all is enough to kill one." r-lOR OF «»♦»«» *» ■? HOADLE.Y3 SECRET jTCRlf OfnpOimO« 5'UANU Host MAND'«- o O «D OLD niLL AWTtRY ecr "You are a true friend, Beryl!" exclaimed Sir Jaffray, taking her hand and she vowed to do all she could to lim by stooping over bis noteboo* ana help ber in any way. Tbo sin had been grievous, but the punishment had been swift to follow making an elaborate note. "This is very surprising intelligence, Sir Jaffray," lie said at length. and terrible to bear, and so far as lay "It is a very painful fact, inspector," .Soon after this Mr. (4ifiord was ehowi in her power Beryl vowed that she replied the baronet. would lighten rather than increase it "Will you tell me under what cir- He was going to speak to Sir Jaffray when he caught sight of Beryl ami stopped abruptly. Tbe question was, however, where Lola had fled. It was clear that she must have gone away during the night cumstances she left and whether you connect the fact in any way with—with the. man who is dead?" shocked aud frightened iieryi till sne CHAPTER XIX. "HEAVEN HELP ME! 1 BELIEVE SHE'S could not trust herself to speak "Havoyou any news, Air. Gifford?' asked Sir Jaffray. "You may speak uu reservedly before this lady, Miss Leyces ter." after she had been seen by Sir Jaffray. Her course up to that time was plain enough to Beryl. The Frenchman had manifestly begun to torment her in consequence of his failure to get Beryl herself out of the way. In the middle of "Certainly I do not," answered Sir Jaffray promptly and firmly. "I cannot say today exactly what are the circumstances which have led to her leaving the manor—I shall be able to do so in a day or two, of course—but I am cer- Sir Jaffray did not notice anything more than that she was inucb affected by the news, aud after a moment's break ho continued: mad!" Nothing came of Sir Jaffray's discovery in Ash Tree wood to help in unraveling the puzzle. He had not had the wood searched and had contented himself with searching it alone for some hours. He was unwilling that the discovery of Lola's atrange conduct AwW be made in the presence of a number of the servants, and he resolved, therefore, that as ho could not bring them to the place without telling them what they were to lock for he would not do anything till it was at least olear that Lola djfl not mean of her own will to return. "Yes, I havo news and some of it ftrauge and startling enough. In the first place, let me ask you what were the relations between your wife and the Frenchman, M. Turrian?" "What was it like?" asked Sir Jaffray, who now had come to expert that every answer the man pave would only incriminate Lela more and more. He was right in this ease. She spoke quite naturally and coolly and led the way to the cabinet. "She did not come to dinner yesterday, leaving word that she had gone to you at Leycester Court—you'wrote to ber in the afternoon, you know, asking ber—aud I was acting on a sort of impulse when I rode to the Court last night to see if she wus them When I got back, this letter was waiting for me. Read it" the interview between the two Sir Jaffray had appeared and turned the tain there can be no more connection than that of a coincidence in time." "It's locked. Do you know who has the key, Jaffray?" she asked. "There is the dagger. I knew this was ours. " Beryl started at the question aud looked eagerly at the man. "it's a smallish affair, but vt ry deadly, 1 should say. The haft is a singular reddish kind of porpoise or alligator hide, with three rings of horn running round it to give the holder a firm grip, and these rings are cf different colors, while tho steel which shows up the La k of it is studded with tiuy hrouze ki.obs, and the extreme cud of it is of hrouze and tuade for all the world like-one of those slouch hats which the. cowboys iu the wild west aie peuerally pictured us wearing, only, of course, very, very small. I never saw such a thing before, and I should know it again out of 60,- 000." Frenchman out of the house. Then be« bad written to Lola to meet him, aud "Did lier ladyship leave before or after this M. Turjian?" Sir jaffray produced the key, and the dagger was taken out and examined closely, first by the inspector and then by Mr. Gifford. she, fearing possibly some violence or "After. She did not go until the ear- "They were only those of acquaintanceship. Years ago she had been a music pupil of his, and when he came to this neighborhood some time since I asked him to come to the manor house and subsequently invited him to stay here. That is all, save for the scene 1 told you of yesterday." maybe moved by a desire for re- ly evening, leaving word that she was verge, had taken her dagger with her. They had met by the cottage, and in a going to Leycester Court. It was some time before dinner. The man bad been After that they went up stairs and looked for and of course found the bracelet among Lola's jewelry. He pave Beryl the letter, and the girl read it carefully and slowly through twice, and knowing what she did the misery aud suffering in which it had been written seemed to strike right to moment of passion she had stabbed him and killed him. Then, when making off, she had Dried to leave the wood and had been frightened by tho appearance of Sir Jaffray. gone some hours." "Had there been any communication between the Frenchman and her ladyship?""None to my knowledge. There has "I was sare of the bracelet, of course, and almost sore about the dagger. But now do you mean to tell me they have any sort of connection with this terrible deed?" she asked the inspector. He reckoned, moreover, tbat as she had not left the immediate neighborhood of the manor it would not be difficult to find her whenever it should prove necessary to search systematically. Beryl thought it best to let him speak freely and without interruption. ber own heart "You mustn't mind my questions, Sir J affray, please; but, tell me, would he be likely to write to her?" "Certainlv not." Owing to his trouble with the restive horse, ho had been unable to follow her been somo whisper to that effect, but I do not attach any belief to it whatever." "It is the saddest letter I have ever read. Poor Lolu!" she said as she re- at once, and she had thus hidden and managed to evade him, slipping out of the wood in the darkness and away jjruiiaujy 10 some railway Marion, iimi was the manifest reason of the conduct which to Sir Jaffray had seemed like the planless and purposeless wanderings of a lunatic. "Will you tell me what were the relations between her ladyship and this French gentleman? Were they cordial?" "On the contrary, my wife objected very strongly to his coming to the He explained how they bad been found and then exclaimed in the tone of a man absolutely puzzled and bewildered:"There is only the one thing that I have often mentioned to yon that I can't fathom—whether there was any sort of understanding between Lola and that brute. I have thought sometimes—in fact, Gilford suggested the idea to me— that he may have had some kind of hold over her, something that—but, there. I won't try to think in that vein. I wish to heaven I'd had the beggar out and shot him before he caused all this trouble! turned it to him and noticed how,he seemed to be eagerly expecting some opinion. When the morning came and he had been home about a couple of hours, he began to expect with feverish impatience the arrival of the private detective to whom be had telegraphed. Lie wanted to feel tbat the matter was in skilled hands. "Do you know the handwriting 011 that envelope addressed to her?" "Well, I can't understand it!" The letter had touched her keenly and roused to vibration every chord of sympathy in her nature. It had, moreover, strengthened a resolve she bad already made—to bold her peace absolutely as to all she knew. Ilia's piteous prayer that Jaffray might never know the truth should be held in absolute regard by her. Not a word should pass her lips. "Yes. It is that of—Pierre Turrian." The words came slowly, as if by force. "That scoundrel has dared to write to her." Neither .Sir Jaffray nor Beryl dared to look at one another during this description, and at the rlose neither said The baronet utood hi the ijrcnt hall, Iteryl beiuij tuvi or three *£(/»« above him. and pressing it. "Let us go at once and put it there. It was always kept in that old oak cabinet in the blue drawing room." Soon after he went away. Then Mr. Gilford turned to Beryl, with a look of indescribable cunning and shrewdness'in his eyes as be said: a word "It was found in her room last evening, and this letter may have been the inclosure. It was found in another place." Both knew the dagger only too well. Like the bracelet, it had been bought when on the wedding tour in America, and the fellow to it had been given by Sir Jaffray to Beryl's father, ami it was at the present moment in tlie collection of arms at Leyoester Court. Beryl's heart bled as she thought of what Lola must have suffered during the night and since the moment of the terrible deed by the wall of the ruined cottage in Ash Tree wood. When the reply to his telegram arrived. it was to the effect that Mr. Gifford would start for Walcote at tbe earliest moment and would arrive about midday. "I think you're one of the cleverest women I ever met in the world, but you made one mistake—there was no dust, not even a particle, on that dagger. But he didn't notice it. I was watching him." They went at once to the room and found the dagger gone, as they had expected, and the cabinet locked, but with the key in the lock. It ran as follows "She says in her letter," he said, harking back suddenly to the thought which he had started and left and taking from his pocket Lola's last letter to him, already thumbed and soiled from constant reading, "that sbe was within an ace of telling me when something I said stopped her. What a tactless, blundering dolt I must be! If I hadn't checked her, all this misery'and tragedy and ruin might have been saved. Oh, how I have cursed myself for that clumsiness!" he cried angrily. "I see no need for self reproach." said Beryl. "It would have been better if she bad been led to speak, but"— Sbe left the sentence unfinished, and Sir Jaffray looked at her as though to question her. Lola had solved the difficulty in her own way, and if orly she and the Frenchman could disappear altogether it might be the best way out of a maze which had offered to beryl no key. Yun must be by the cottage by Ash Tree wood at the north end of the park ut U o'clock tonight. P. T. The girl went in to Lady Walcote undecided how much to tell her of all that had happened. Feeling bib anxiety in some degree lessened by this fact, Sir Jaffray went out to make inquiries about the movements of Pierre Turrian and to find bun and drag from him the truth as to whether he had any connection with Lola's flight. In a moment the dagger which Beryl had brought was put into the place of the other, the out lino of tho weapon showing on the plush lining exactly the spot where it. had lain. There was a dead silence in the room as the man rtad out tbe words of tbe letter, and each of the hearers seemed to hear the other's heart beats. Mr. Gifford himself seemed to fC el that there was son e strong reason for the silence, and he made haste to break it. And then, without giving her time to reply, he hurried away after the inspector.The old lady welcomed her warmly. She loved the girl, and now in the time of the sorrow and trouble wliich had fallen on the house she was infinitely glad of the comfort of her presence. It seemed to her that Lola, liuding herself in the midst of difficulties from which there was no escape, and which were closing fast round her, had accepted the inevitable and bud chosen flight as the only alternative. "I must go. There's a lot to do. I thought I'd better bring these two tilings here," he said, pointing to the bit of lace and the little gold trinket, "and I'd have-bad the other if it hadn't beeu that it would have been seen at once. I'll keep this bit of lnee. I shall want that, and you'd better say nothing about it. I suppose you want we to go on with the matter, Sir Jaffray?" And he looked up as if waiting for instructions.Sir Jaffray locked the door of the cabinet and put the key in his pocket with a sigh of relief. CHAPTER XXII. "There is more behind. You must please to prepare yourself for a shock. Sir Jaffray. and you, miss, too. That letter was picked up within 20 yards of the cottage mentioned in it, and close to tbe wall of the cottage was fouud— the body of this Frenchman, Turrian, with a dagger plunged right through bis heart." "THE MYSTEBY OF WALCOTE MANOR." The murder of Pierre Turrian soon spread over the whole country. It contained those incidents which attract and hold popular attention, and for some days following the discovery of the body all the newspapers everywhere dealt with it. But there was not a sonl anywhere who could give tbe remotest or faintest belp in tracing the Fr&pcliman. He might have vanished completely off the face of tbe earth at tbe moment of his leaving the manor lodge gates so utterly had all trace of him disappeared. Tbe servants who, in obedience to Sir Jaflfrav'B order had turned bim out of the place said tbat he walked away in the direction of the village, and that they bad watched him till a bend in tbe road had hidden him, and after that tbey had seen nothing whatever of him. "This is a sad house, Beryl," she said after she had kissed her and made her bring a stool and sit rlose by her knees. "I have been sitting alone here thinking till my poor brain reels and is dizzy with it all. How is Jaffray now? Where is he? He has been like one distracted. Oh, Beryl, how could she treat him so?" "I thought your wits would help me, Beryl," he said, feeling very grateful to her. "You were always a clever counselor." "I do not know, air. I don't rend my mIslrcttf letters." "Can you help me with a supgestion, Beryl?" asked Sir Jaffray after a long silence in which he had seen the girl was thinking closely. house, and, to my infinite regTet, it was by my wish aud invitation and quite against her wish that he came to stay here." "I have had another idea," she said. "That little gold filigree ball was taken off one of tlit pair of bracelets of which Lola gave me one. I have brought it with me, and I should like to put it back among her jewelry, as it will destroy another of the links which seem to have had such effect upon Mr. Gifford. Even if the rest of the bracelet should be fruud and this is here among her jewelr* 'here v tso connection Shown. " The disappearance of Sir Jaffray's wife, the garbled accounts of the manner in which Pierre Turrian had left the manor bouse, the apparently complete absence of any conclusive proofs of how the deed was done and the social position of the people interested made "The Mystery of Waloote Manor," as it was termed, a nine days' wonder."There is evidently some influence driving ber to this deed. Have you no idea what tbat can be?" she asked in reply. Sir Jaffray and Beryl interchanged a lightning glance, and Beryl's pulse seemed to stop for a beat and then go bounding on with double force as the news was told. "Who saw him last when he left "There is much that wo cannot yet understand, dear," answered Beryl soothingly. "Do you know Jaffray's thoughts? He fears that Lola has for the time gone out of her mind." here:" "Yea, you must go through with it. Sift it to the bottom." "Two servants. I told them to turn While be was thinking what to reply the police inspector was announced. "None whatever. My mother seems to think that there may be some connection with the fact that the Frenchman, Turrian, and I had a quarrel yesterday, and he left" And be described briefly the facts. him off the premises." "Can I see them?" "Excuse my troubling you again, Sir Jaffray," he said—he had already been once that day at the maDor house— "but I am on my way to the adjourned inquest, and I thought you would like to know that I have arranged to complete the inquiry this afternoon and not have another adjournment." "That is certainly what I wish, inspector."CHAPTER XX. "There's not much to sift now. The man who puts his hand on the owner of that dagger aud that little bauble there and this scrap of lace won't have any difficulty in finding the murderess of the Frenchman." As to the clothes which be had left at the manor, he bad said tbat be would send for them either tbe same day or the next, but no sort of message had been received. PlEItRB TrmUAX'B ML'RDKR. "No; it is not thf-t," said the old lady decisively. "You don't think that, I am sure. She has deneived him. She is bad, Beryl—bad to the core. She comes of a bad stock and is bad herself. That Frenchman is mixed up in this in some way. I never liked him—always suspected him, with his handsome face and his lying tongue." In reply Sir Jaffray raug tho bell, and the two men were summoned and questioned by the inspector and then sent away. Sir Jaffray was for the moment so shocked by Mr. Gifford's terrible news that he could not trust himself to speak. Beryl listened closely. xou arc rignr, eertaiuiy 11*11®, t»- claimed Sir Jaffray. "Let us go to her room and put it there." "Could you tell me how Lady Walcote Wiis dressed when she left here?" was the next question. Popular suspicion fastened on the fact of Lola's disappearance as strong presumptive evidence of her guilt, and in many papers the fact was commented upon in a manner which left no doubt whatever of the writer's opinion. It helped to make the problem much rlearer to her. The Frenchman had evidently told Lola what Beryl had told "Wait, please!" he exclaimed impatiently, with a wave of tbe hand, when the detective was about to continue. His two hearers shuddered at the words. The man had thus vanished, leaving no trace behind him, nor was there seemingly any one who had set eyes on him after he had left the manor. "I'm not at all sure that you're right," said Sir Jaffray, "butyou must find out at any cost. Of course," ho added, with some hesitation, "you understand that you are acting privately for me, and you have no need to tell anything of what you find out to any one else. Your fees will be paid by me." They went up without saying anything more, aud after searching ineffectnally among Lola's jewels for the bracelet they put Beryl's among them. "No, I cannot. I did not see her after about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, but her maid may have seen her, and, if you like, you can see her and question The recollection of his adventure on the previous evening, when he had Been Lola close to the scene of the murder, flooded upon him, together with the fear he had mentioned to Beryl that Lola was mad, and, thongh he fought hard not to draw the inference which the facts suggested, he could not resist the conclusion which was forcing itself upon him—that Lola was mad and perhaps in some frenzy had been driven to do this desperate thing. The inquiry had indeed been somewhat hurried over in deference to the expressed wish of the baronet, while that course also fell in with the inspector's own desires. He had been pleased enough to get the utmost publicity given to the case and bad himself secretly helped to insure this end by spreading some few unimportant but telling details.A little before noon Mr. Gilford arrived, and in a very businesslike, shrewd way absorbed the circumstances as Sir Jaffray told them. ■jllr "She loved Jaffray," began Beryl, when Lady Walcote burst in bitterly: A bue and cry was started all over the country, and portraits of Lola in all degrees of unresemblance appeared in all manner of daily and weekly papers, while pen portraits of the most conflicting kinds abounded everywhere. tm "What shall wo do about the mother, Jaffray?" asked Beryl when they had locked up the jewels. her." "Yes. as Delilah loved Samson 01 Jael Sisera and as Circe used to love the fools she turned to swine. Women don't elope from those they love and with those they hate, do they? Nonsense, child! When you've lived as long in the world as I have, you'll learn to know falsehood when you see it and lies when you hear them. Sho never loved Jaffray, never." He rang the bell and sent for her, but when she came she could throw no light on the matter of dress. The latter, half unconsciously, mnrio the story as favorable as possible toward Lola, and his listener soon saw thifl. "I will not tell her more than is necessary; but, if there is to be any real trouble through this, of course she will have to be told. I am afraid for her, aud She will feel it the more keenly and brood on it so much because she is alone." The man's eyes gleamed in an instant with a sort of restrained avarice. "I did not see my lady after I gave her the letter which was brought for her." "If Lady Walcote knows nothing of this most puzzling mystery, why does she not come forward and explain her conduct?" asked one writer. "It is not we, who but point out the facts, who do her injustice, but sbe herself in not making publio an explanation," suggested another. "The law of this country very rightly holds all persons innocent until they have been proved guilty, and it is far from our intention," insinuated a third,' 'to attempt to reverse that proper attitude in the present case, but Ludy Walcote and those friends who are advising her in this critical time must see that she and they are accepting a very heavy responsibility in not clearing up exactly her relation to this most inscrutable affair." "I have done my best. Sir Jaffray. I know the extreme paiu and trouble which may often be raved by a little silence. If you will tsense me now, 1 will go. Yon know all so far. I had better be out and doing, because the police make such mistakes at times." "Excuse me. Sir Jaffray," he said, interposing et one point, "but it ia absolutely necessary that yon should tell me everything. I want from yon every fact you have observed and every circninstance that is connected with the ok, whether yon think it does or does not affect it. Speak quite unreservedly, please, or call in some other help." "What letter was that?"cried the inspector sharply. Bat now the publicity was getting much greater than he wished, and the comments were taking quite a different form from what be wanted. The papers were trying the case and were handling him rather roughly in the process. Moreover, the details published were such as could not fail to put tbose implicated, however dense, on their guard and to keep them posted as to the actions of the police; hence the inspector's eagerness to stop the whole thing and by limiting as much as possible the scope of the inquest to hide the intentions and plans of the police. "I do uot know, sir. I don't read my mistress' letters. I know uo more than that I think it was the letter contained in the envelope which I found in her ladyship's room in the evening and gave to this gentleman," pointing to Mr. Oifford. "Tell me, please," he said after a long pause,, "when was the body of this man found?" "My father is much better. If you like, I will stay with her tonight and much of tomorrow, but I must drive back first and tell papa." "No; you are quite wrong," answered Beryl in a firm, clear tone, "and some day you'll be the first to own it." "I found it myself. Sir Jaffray, less than an hour ago." He took his hat and went away, and Sir Jaffray and Beryl remained aghast at the story to which tbey had listened and all that it threatened. "You will take one great load off my shoulders if yon will," said Sir Jaffray, inexpressibly thankful to her. "I don't see why you should take her "How long do you think the man had been dead—today?" part." " You can question me as you please," Sir Jaffray answered, "and consciously I will not keep back a word." "The day will come when yon will do the same, dear," answered Beryl sweetly, smiling and stroking the old woman's hand, "for I have never known a heart in trouble to turn to you for sympathy in vain." "Very well; that will do. Thank you," said the inspector, dismissing her. Burying hit fare in hix hand*, he yielded "I can't say exactly. That's a matter for the doctors. But I should think 18 to 24 hours abont or something of that sort. My view is that the time of the murder might very well be about 10 or 11 o'clock last night, might be before or might be after, but I expect that's what the doctor will say." Sir Jaffray was standing by the window leaning against the side shutter and pressing his head heavily against his hand, while Beryl sat quite still in her chair by the table, pressing her hands together feverishly in her lap and feeling so chilled that she trembled violently."I will go to her now," said the girl quietly, "and will tell her all that need be told and us gradually as possible." to the rviih of mental pain. him, had probably tried to force her to join him in seme wild and reckless scheme, and when she bad refused had in his exasperation attacked her with violence. And question him the man certainly did, but the fullest story of the facts did not seem to help them far. They had reached the bottom of the staircase. The baronet stood in the great hall. Beryl being two or three steps above him, with ber band on the balustrade, in the act of turning back to go to Lady \Calcote. When she had gone, he turned to Mr. Gifford. " What envelope is that? You didn't tell me." "It is a strange case. Sir Jaffray, a very strange one," was all the verdict Mr. Gilford would give at the end of the interview. "You don't anticipate any foul play anywhere?" "I have no sympathy for the woman who wrongs and shames my son," was the angry reply. His ambition was to burke tbe inquiry at tbe very moment when public curiosity waa at tbe highest fever point and then suddenly and as if by a kind of police magic produce the culprit and the evidence of guilt To do this he was prepared to go to quite unusual lengths. "Didn't I? Well, that was stupid! I meant to. She gave me an envelope addressed iu an ordinary hand and with nothing in it, and I tore it up, thinking nothing of it." He told the lie well, with all the air of a stupid man who has been caught committing a blunder and thinks to face it out doggedly. These were only somq of the comments, while the reports of every incident tbat could be got hold of were greedily sought for and used, and at the inquest a small regiment of reporters appeared. "Where is M. Turrian?" she asked. "No one kuows. Ho has disanDeartd absolutely." "It is terrible!" exclaimed the baronet and relapsed again into silence. "She must be mad! It is the only possible cause," burst from Sir Jaffray like a moan of f ain. "Your presence in the bouse is a great comfort, Beryl," said the baronet. "I can't thank you yet as I "You have no strength to close your heart against the plaint of genuine and desolate misery." "Here is my wife's letter," he answered, pointing to it. "But for that I should certainly have dreaded it. This, however, points clearly to the fact that ■he left me voluntarily, though why I can't for my life understand." It seemed impossible for Beryl, knowing all she did, to resist the open inference which these two facts prompted. It appeared as certain as anything could be now that the two bad gone away together, the man having probably forced Lola to do what he wished, possibly as a revenge for the horsewhipping. Mr. Gifford began to get fidgety, and he glanced now and again at Sir Jaffray nnd tapped with his fingers on the table and on the cover of the notebook ho held in his hand. Then a knock was heard at the door, and Mr. Gifford came back into the room again, shut the door carefully beh »d him and advanced right into the middle of the room before he spoke. Lady Walcote shook her head and made as if to reply again sternly, but, meeting Beryl's eyes, said nothing and contented herself with the unspoken assertion of her sternness. would." But when all was said and done and questioned there was nothing came out that really damaged Lola except the one fact that she bad gone away under circumstances which no one could understand"I am sorry for all the trouble that has come to you, Jaffray," she answered, pausing to look down on bim. "If I can help yon, of course you know I will. There is no need for any mention of thanks between such old friends." "I don't think we need to go into anything more now but tbe barest facts," he continued. "We6hall have the medical evidence of the cause of death, tbat the wound could not have been self inflicted and that the blow must have been struck by some one else. That will be enough to warrant the jury giving a verdict, and that's what we want" "There's a great deal to do, Sir Jaffray," he said at kngth, "and time is short if I'm to be hot on the trail. And I've more to tell you, if you please, which I think you ought to hear." "You made a bad blunder when you did that, Mr. Gifford," said the inspector severely. "You should leave these things to those who are able to understand what is important and what is not." "You say the wood has not been searched except by you, and in the dark too?" "Excuse me, Sir Jaffray, but there's a point which you'll perhaps like to /.ave put very plain to you. I don't ask *.ny questions about the ownership of •.hat dagger, but of course you'll see Chat a great deal must turn on it. I don't kuow whether yon think that the grave complications which would certainly arise if it were proved to belong to any one particular can be in any way avoided, but if that can be done it should be done, aud that without a minute's heedless delay. I thought I'd mentiou the point; that's all." And without saying any more be went away "You must banish all that hardness," said Beryl after a pause, "and collect all your strength of endurance. There is more trouble than even this flight of Sir Jaffray's wife. This Frenchman who left yesterday is dead—died suddenly under circumstances which suggest that he was killed by violence." "Well?" asked the baronet after another long pause, as though expecting from Beryl the result of her thoughts. In the smaller circle of those who knew the facts great curiosity and comment were aroused by the dagger and tbe bracelet. It was the latter which made tbe mystery complete, and Inspector Borderhum himself was most bafiled by this. As he said over and over again, he himself bad found the bracelet Not a soul knew of its having been found until be got to Walcote manor and took it out of his pocket and therefore he was most emphatio that the only course was to accept th« "And you are quite certain it was your wife who came out of the place and stood in that hedge gap?" "No. I did nothing until you came." At that moment there was a commo tion iu the hall, and Mr. Gifford entered, followed by a police inspector. "I have no suggestion to offer, Jaffray," she answered quietly, grieved as she saw the half kindled light of expectancy die out of his face, as thongh extinguished by the deep sigh he vented. "Goon,"replied the baronet prompt- "That's all very well, inspector," retorted Mr. Gifford, with well acted warmth, "but perhaps I know as much about the importance of little things as any one else. If it had been the letter itself, I'll give iu it might be worth something, but uot even a provincial inspector of police could make much of an empty envelope addressed, so far as I recall, in a lady's hand. However, if yon cht)ose to thiuk I've done wrong, do it and welcome." And he sneered as if in somewhat contemptuous indifference to the inspector's opinion. "There are three points I marked, and with regard to two of them I've done a very unprofessional thing—very unprofessional—but I—well, I was acting for you, and—well, I cjid it." "Here is Sir Jaffray himself, Mr. Borderham," said the private detective. "The inspector would like to see you, sir, abont this most distressing affair." "Ascertain as that I was on the other side of the road." "What will the verdict be, Air. Borderham?""Is there no end to the scandal which that man brings upon us all?" exclaimed Lady Walcote, wringing her bauds. "How did it happen? Tell me." "Humph 1 Well," he said after a pause of thought, "I'll go aud look round a bit, so as to get my bearings. I'd rather be alone, please," he added when Sir Jaffray rose to go with him, and he went. "1 am so helpless. I don't know where to begin to look or what to do. I know she is close at hand all the time. Oh, I didn't tell you that," be broke off, noticing the start sho gave at the words. "I saw ber last night." And he described his meeting with her at the Ash Tree wood. "If it's convenient. Sir Jaffrey," added the inspector. "There can be but one, Sir Jaffray— willful murder by some person or persons unknown. That's olear. It's the only one that fits the facts." "Well? ' "I was the first to find the body, Sir Jaffray, and I thought I ought to make the most of the time. There doesn't seem to have been much of a struggle at the place, and I gather that whoever did this was standing talking to this man quietly, when, without a word probably, she ups with the dagger." "Certainly, inspector, certainly," replied the baronet. "Come into the study." And, bracing himself for the interview, he ltd the way, followed by the two men, while Beryl went on slowly up stairs. Beryl told as much of the case as she thought necessary and parried the questions which Lady Walcote put to her, aud she was still occupied thus when a servant knocked at the door aud said that Sir Jaffray wished to see her iu the library. ' 'And yon think the inquiry will finish today?" When he had gone, Sir Jaffray went up to his mother and told her the progress of matters and the absolute impossibility of finding any trace of If. Turrian'■ movements. Then he occupied himself in seeing Mrs. Do Witt away and was not satisfied and did not leave her until he had seen her being driven away to the station. again Sir Jaffray hung his head in bitter humiliation. "It really rests with me and the coroner, Sir Jaffray, and, in truth, we both thought yon would prefer to have the matter ended as soon as possible. We can do no good by prolonging an inquest of the kind, and I am simply not going to offer any evidence which will be likely to drag it out Personally I position and look for the person who bad done the deed among those who could have access to Leycester Court For Sir Jaffray himself the time was one of the most distressing trouble, and his disappointment when Lola was not fonnd and did not of her own free will return to the manor was keen and poignantIt wits now Beryl's turn to be utterly perplexed. But Beryl jumped up. As she looked at them across the hall Mr. Gifford, who was the last of the three, turned for a second and shrugged his shouldtrs and lifted his bauds with a gesture which she read to mean that something serious had happened. "There was a letter addressed to my wife on that afternoon iu a lady's baud," said Sir Jaffray. "I myself gave it to her. It was from Miss Beryl Leycester, and I believe I heard my wife say that in it Miss Leycester asked her to go over to see her at the Court. Miss Leycester is iu the manor now, Mr. Borderham, if you would like to see her." "Are you going?" be asked as if disappointed ut her leaving bim. "I want to talk all this over with you. It's got to be broken to the mother, too;" he said. With Sir Jaffray matters had reached a point that seemed to promise an ugly crisis. "It cannot have been Lola," she said "It is impoFsible." "She?" interposed Sir Jaffray " Yesterday I should have said it was impossible that she would ever leave the shelter of my roof, but I have a new and horrible fear, Beryl, which I have not breathed to a soul, not even to the detective who is down hero. It would explain everything, and it makes even the letter intelligible. She has not been like herself for some time now. She has had fits of moodiness and depression, in which sho was haunted by dread of some terrible catastrophe which would overwhelm us all. I have tried more than once to rally her from these when I have found ber so, and generally I could do it with a word or a caress. Yesterday she wm like this when I was with her in the afternoon, the time she speaks of in her letter hen-, and I have somehow come to fear that in some way the scene with that French villain may have unstrung her nerves till—till she has lost her mental balanco and been driven to this rash and fearful act. Heaven help me! I believe she is mad. Beryl." "And just drives it home between his ribs," continued Mr. Gifford without heeding the interruption. "She must have been a rather tall woman, of great strength, because the dagger was driven right home to the hilt—the hilt touches the man's clothes—and I judge she was tall because the direction of the blow was atTifledown, whereas if she'd been short tne utmost she couid have done would have b*ou to drive it straight. You'll see my point, sir, if you'll just take this paper knife and watch the difference in its direction if you try to strike first at your 1« vel aud then at some mark above you." The local inspector was a man of some surface shrewdness, and as he was very auxious to find an opportunity of helping forward his own promotion aud thought he could see in this case one that might help him he was resolved to make as much of it as possible. At the same time be bad all an English policeman's respect for a baronet of such wealth aud influence as Sir Jaffray Walcote. After that he was restless and miserable, longing for something to do and fretting impatiently at enforced inactivity nntil in the afternoon, to his immense relief, Beryl Leycester came. She was looking worn and anxious with her nursing, but was in higher spirits, because her father had rallied and was much better. "I shall come back again, bnt I must go home. For one thing I waut to see how my father is," she answered without meetiue his eyes. Then, full of disquiet, she went on to Lady Walcote's toonj. "I am afraid she is dead, Beryl," he said on the third day after the discovery of the murder. "She has made away with herself in her sorrow and * y She went oat to her carriage, and, getting in, told the coachn-ivn to drive home as quickly as possible. In an inconceivably short time she was bark again, and she found Sir Jaffray still pacing the room where she hud left him, lighting down the fears which would force, themselves upon him aH the result of Mr. Gilford's discoveries. CHAPTER XXI. BERYL'S RUSE. "I should," the latter said, and then Beryl was sent for. Before going into her dear old friend's rooms Beryl walked up and down the long, broad corridor for some minutes, plunged in the deepest thought madness.'' While they were waiting the inspector took from his pocket a small parcel and opened it, and Mr. Gifford began to feel much keener interest than he bad yet felt, because he knew that it contained the dagger which be had described and the remaining portion of the gold filigree bracelet of which he himself had found the pendant. "There is nothing to suggest that, nothing more than there was two days ago," replied Beryl, thinking secretly that it could perhaps be the best ending for them all. She had heard nothing of what had happened at the manor house, having been shut np close in the sickroom, and she had come over to carry a stage further the tusk which her knowledge about Lola had imposed on her. She was half bewildered by the rapidity with which these terrible events were crowding one upon the other, and it seemed to her almost impossible that barely two days had passed since she hsul had the interview with Pierre Turrian which appeared to have precipitated all the trouble that had followed. "I have come to ask you, Sir Jaffray, whether you can give me any information as to this unfortunate affair. 1 believe you ideutifv the deceased man." "Yes, there is the fact that she has not come back," he answered. "If, which heaven forbid, she did this deed in her madness and any knowledge came to her afterward of what she had done, she would do one of two things— either come back at once and own the full troth or lay violent hands on her own life. I know her." As he spoke hi." actcd in illustration of his words. "I see what yon mean," said Sir Jaffray without attempting to make the experiment. "But why do you think it was a worn an?" "What have you been doing, Beryl he asked as she entered. "Ob, yes. He is M. Pierre Turrian, a Frenchman or a Swiss, I think—a musician—who has been staying in this country in pursuit of some musical object and for the hist two days has been stopping here in the manor. He left yesterday suddenly." "Can yon tell me why he left?" "I had words with him and told him to go." Sir Jaffray weloomed her cordially. She was just the cool headed, resourceful counselor he wanted, whose ready woman's wit would probably do as mnch to help him in unraveling this problem of a woman's acts as any one else. "I have beeu borne, J affray, Mr. Gifford started an id*a iu my thoughts, aud I have bC en borne to carry it out, ID't us h«- frank with one "I may show you these while we are waiting," said the inspector. "This is the knife with which this man was killed, and this is a bracelet which was found near the body, as if dropped in a struggle of some kind. Do you recognize either of them? I ask because I have been told that they come from the manor here?" Out of the chaos of violence and mystery and death it was with the greatest difficulty that she could evolve any coherent plans and ideas. "For this reason: In the dead man's clutch I found this piece of black lace, torn, I have not the slightest doubt, from the dress of the woman who struck hini the deathblow, and the unprofessional thing I have done is to take that out of the dead man's hand and bring it away with me. Another reason is this: Here is a little, curiously shaped filigree gold keepsake that was never made for any puprose on this earth save to please the eyes of a woman. It looki like an Indian thing or Japanese, am' it's one of those balls that those easterners are so clever in making. There's a hit of a wrench here where the thing seems to have been pulled off with a jerk. That I found lying close to the body, and that also I took leave to bring away with me. Those are my reasons, Sir Jaffray, for saying this is the work of a woman, and I venture to think that any 12 men in the country would find them convincing." another in "No, no, Sir J (iffmy; the tracing will have to be done quietly." don't like working in the liptot in that way, with all the countryside knowing every step yon take. If this thing's ever tn be fornid ont at all. it won't be this terrible business. Have yon any idea of what it all means or of what we can do?" Holding the secret key to Lola's actions and her connection with the Frenchman, Beryl did not for the moment believe in Sir Jaffray's theory of madness. Whatever she might be, Lola was no more mad than Beryl herself. "There is time for her to come back yet Suppose, as you say, that she did this in bier delirium. She may yet be wandering somewhere in the same state and may know nothing of what has happened." "Yon are more welcome today, Beryl, than any woman I could possibly see save one," he said, "and who that is you'll guess n»adily enough if you know the news." "There is only one possible explanation—if this man's thoughts have any foundation—only one. My poor wife liaH gone mad, and all these awful consequences are the outcome. 1 liavo been thinking aud thinking and thinking about it all until I am almost mad myself." And ho threw up bis bands with a gesture of despair. "It. is horrible, horrible beyond belief, horrible! Aud I feel as helpless as a child." "Can you tell me what the quarrel was about?" He broke down then at the free utterance of the thought that had been forcing itself on him, and burying his face in his hands he yielded himself up helpless to the rush of mental pain that overwhelmed him. At this moment Beryl entered the room, and Sir Jaffray and Mr. Gifford had their heads bent down examining the two articles closelv. Continued on puge 'ont. "I can, if necessary, but it was a purely private matter." "I should like to know." "Very well, theu; I will consider about telling you." of tbe Globe for f rheumatism! ■ NEURALGIA and similar Complaints, I and pn-parcii under the stringent jfl KEDICAL LAWS.J| prescribed by eminent physiciansy£R| ■A) DR. RICHTER'S ■PAIN EXPELLERl I World renowned! Remarkably successful! ■ ■Only (tenulne with Trade Mark " Anchor. ■ t. Ad. Rlchter £ fo., 21» Pearl St,, Deu York. ■ 3( HIGHEST AWARDS. I 13 Branch Houses. Own Glassworks. KOc. Endorsed & rwownii'nricd 'oJB Fl r,-er & Peck. 30 l,ur,erne Avenoe. W. C. Glick, 5»i North Main St. J H Honck, 4 North Main St Pittteton, Pa. DR WCF . ER'8 I "ANCHOR" STOMACHAL beat for I The girl flashed very slightly at tho words, for old time's sake. "What news? Yon look as though it were ill news. Yet the girl shuddered atthealterna tive belief which this necessitated. "The whole country is ringing with news of the man's death. She could not fail to hear of it if she were alive. I tell you she is dead, and if her end were peaceful it iR best so." He sighed heavily. "It is an awful thing that I should ever have to say that about her, but I would rather see her dead than mad, and she must be one or the other, or we are all ont of our senses." "I wanted to ask you, Miss Leycester," said the inspector, leaving the matter of the dagger for a moment, She recalled the story which Pierre Turrian had told at the dinner table and the incident wbich he had afterward denied—that Lola had in truth thought and sought to kill him by stamping on his hands when be hnng helpless clinging to the rock ledge at her feet.5 Beryl sat watching him infinitely moved at tho sight of his laboring trou- The inspector received the answer with a bow. "It is the worst it coulil be." She saw on looking closer into his face as he spoke that he was haggard and ill. "Tell me, is Lola with yon at the Court?" "about the letter which you wrote yesterday to Lady Walcote. Can yon tell me what was in it?" ble, but thinking that perhaps even that belief, which she did'not for a moment share, was more merciful than a ; knowledge of the truth would be. She herself could read without diffl( culty the meaning of Lola's fits of depression and fear of impending trouble, and she sighed as shu recognized in it all the evidence of the straggle through whicn snenad passed and the gathering clouds of doubt and misery which had beset her. ! "If you read the letter, Beryl, in tho light of that suggestion, yotj will see," said Sir Jaffray after a long silence, j "how everything seems to fit in with it. ! All that the poor girl says is so vague as to be in reality incoherent. Then it is plain that it is no interference with her love for mo which drives her away. "Well, I have thought of one thing that we can do," said Beryl, "and I have been home to prepare for it." "Do you know of any one who knew him at all, and who might under any circumstances have a grudge against him?" "I asked her to come to see me," | replied Beryl. "Did she come?" "No, nor did she answer me in any "At the Court?" exclaimed Beryl, starting in surprise. "What is it?" asked Sir Jaffray eagerly. "No, of no one. I should think I was as hot against him as any one could be," said Sir Jaffray, with a grim smile. "I horsewhipped him yesterday, 1 may say that I returned home in time to find him insulting my wife, and, 111 fact, assaulting her, and I horsewhipped him and turned him out of the house. That is the whole matter." Beryl did not answer this at once, but sat thinking out the problem as it showed in the light of her own knowledge.If she was mad, it was only in the sense of being goaded to momentary madness of passion in which she might have driven this dagger into her persecutor's heart, as she had before crushed his fingers iii ber paroxysm. If she could do that— "There is no need to answer, "said Sir Jaffray despondingly. "I had a last faint, flickering, wild hope that, affor all, she might be with you or that you might know something of her. Would to God you did! She has gone Worn here, run «»way—been driven away, rather, by Rome means which it baffles as all to understand." "It is not necessary to believe all that Mr. Gifford says and seems to j think, but we may act as though what he believes is correct and do what we can to make any proof much harder. You heard what he said about the dagger, and we know to whom it really belongs, and wo know what people will think if it is found out that such a weapon were ever taken from the manor house." way." "She left word here that she was coming to you, and you are sure she did not come?" "We may all bo out of onr senses in that respect, Jaffray. We may be judging her without cause," Sir Jaffray took up the little trinket and held it close, as if to scrutinize it. "I am quite sure." Beryl looked olosely at the three men and saw that the matter had reached some sort of It was an awful deed; but, knowing I the man, Peryl could not bring herself to say it was at all an impossible thing for Lola to have done, and her feeling for the unfortunate victim of this villain's cruel cunning was much more I that of pity than of censure. "I would to God that I could think so!" he extfluimed, with fierce energy. "I would give my life to feel sure of it, but I can't Beryl, I can't. 1 have tried to piece the things together that you and I know and to find in them anything but the proofs of her deed, and I can't Look at the things as I will, the? lead me nowhere but to one con- examination. Both he and Beryl knew it But there was no need for any closr "Will it be convenient for me to hcij Lady Walcote presently?" well crisis. "Then as to the weapon, Sir Jaffray, and the bracelet. Can you recognize He paused a moment, and the surprise, mingled with the whirl of confusion which her own knowledge of the ianer facta produced in her thoughts. enough "No, I urn sorry to say. For the present it is impossible. She lias left the them?" manor." "They are mine,H interposed Btry. "Left the manor!" echoed the in- j speaking steadily and clearly. ' Ai speetor in manifest surprise. "Do you i least that bracelet is mine, and that It was the pendant of a gold fil bracelet, one of a pair which had bought in Mexico when he and Were on their honeymoon. The lgree been Lola "How can they help fiudiug that ont?" burst in 8ir Jaffrav. com- | "I havo been thinking of that, and j Nor did bir pity stop short at the