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CHAPTER IV. HABEL BREAKS ODE ENGAGEMENT. On the afternoon of the day follow ing the morder I made my way to D Vere Gardens. The previeras evening liad gone there foll of blissful excite mont I was going thereto ask Mane Fenton to be my wife, and as I scarcely doubted what ber answer would be, '. vas in the seventh beaven of prospective happiness. Now, the day afterward, 3 entered the house absolutely dejected nd broken down, for I knew her broth er to be a jiurderer. The police wert ea bia track and at anymomest bi might bf* rested. ^orld of trouble V TOS in store for my darling. The man who opened the door eyec as with marked curiosity. My devotion te Mabel was too obvious to have es caped notice below stairs. The visit 'J fae police that morning to make in quiries had naturally aroused great ex wtemenfc in those regions, and now not ly waa I regarded as the favored suitor of his young mistress, but I had all tho additional interest of beings suspected murderer. He ushered me into tbs drawing zoom. It remained just as I remember ed it the previous evening. There r/as **he bowl cf roses from which my love .lad taken the choicest bloom to fasten -os my coat, a treasure which I had in wardly vowed to hoard forever, but which had been lost in the brutal fray -lost, crushed and trodden in the mire. There was the book Mabel had been reading when I entered, and by its side the paper knife with which she had toy ed before I made her hand my captive. Asd there was still that subtle odor cd violets, which would linger in my mern - cry, inseparably connected with that scene. But sow the fron trou of dainty .skirts told me of my darlmg's approach. The handle turned, and Mabel stood be fore me. "Mabel!" "Bascas!" For one sweet moment all else but oar love was forgotten is cse long, rap turous embrace. Not 24 hours had elapsed sisee I last held my deatrest in my arms, but what a world of agony f-v sad happened is that time ! I looked into her eyes, so full of un told happiness for me; I kisred the lips . tot spoke but of sweetest love, and for the moment ail the pending misery was forgotten in one long, fond rapture of bliss. Never had Mabel looked so unspeak ably lovely. Her red gold air rippled and shimmered is the clear sunlight -and waved and clustered round her white forehead. Her." deep blue eyes loosed.into mine in trustful faith. Her .pouring lips invited kisses, disclosing pearls of rarest beauty, while the color ea her cheeks came and west in concert with the heaving of her breast. ~"Oh, Duncan, my poor boy, how shamefully they have treated you ! How could they suspect you? How dare they arrest you?'" "Their suspicion was nothing. You did not doubt me for a moment?" "Duncan, how could I?*' She started from my embrace and seid herself erect. "Though all the* world were against ' you, you know I could not for ose mo sent doubt you. " I drew my dear one to a seat, still holding her hand in mina "Tell me, Duncan," she said, with gentle sympathy, "tell me all about it" So I poured into her ears all I dared tell her cf my experiences after leaving her the previous evening.' I touched as lightly as possible on my finding the body of the murdered woman, scarcely mentioning the mas who stood over her. As I told of the fury ol? the mob her lit tle hand tightened in mine and the color left her cheeks. When I spoke to her of the long, dreary night at the police sta tion, her eyes betrayed her sweet com passion, and when I breathed tenderly all my thoughts of her in the darkness asd gloom that had shrouded me she nestled almost imperceptibly nearer to sae, and again for a moment I forgot the coming agony. When 1 described the weary waiting in the morning, the arrival of my friends and my ultimate release, she broke in eagerly : "Ah, Duncan, it was so unfortunate George was away when the. police came ! I know how sorry he will be that he could not be the first togo to you ! How indignant be will be at their suspecting you!" Ob, the untold irony of her words! All tn* time my mind was forlornly groping for an answer to the monoto nous question which X knew must come sooner or later and which would tell ser what I would give worlds that she should know first from another. X listened as with womanly care she prayed me to tell her if I had rested and eaten and a hundred other things which tender love alone could suggest ~I listened, and 1 suppose my answers were lucid, but all the while I seemed to know nothing but that he-the brother she worshiped-he, my friend, was guilty of this ghastly crime! As in a fearful panorama, I saw the murderer captured ; I witnessed the trial ; I heard the hum of the crowded court ; I saw t^e judge, the black cap, and I saw the gallows looming behind it all. I seemed to be still talking and listening, yet my mind worked cut these horrors regard less of my will, and gradually a night mare's spell seemed to creep over mo. She was talking about George now. "He has been awfully worried lately, Buscas. You yourself know something --JJ-- ? nw-ncttiaei- - ol tlie reason, bot not aJI, I think.* YJ know he is infatuated with some wem; j beneath bim in position, bet will t( I yon all now that yon are one of ns. " j She added these last words with c i licious shyness, and I could but ki I her bin sh es. She continued: "I know, if not all, at Jeast mo than any one else, for George has mai me his confidant, and I have stood i for bim against my father and mothe who are naturally very angry wi' him; for, after all, the girl is a servan and we have always had such hi \ ideals of the wife George would bril home to ns. This is how it all can j about Last year George went fish ii wita a friend to a picturesque villa; on the Wye. It was little better than cluster of houses, half a dozen milt away from the nearest railway statioi and the only accommodation was to I had at the village inn, wMch stood c the banks of the river The only otb visitor there was a lady, who kej closely to her room and who they hear was an artist. They only met her casna ly in the inn, and she excited very li tie interest in George so long as h: friend was with him. "When be was left alone, howevej George, ont of sheer curiosity, and han ing nothing better to do when not fis! ! ing, tried to find out more about he: ; and it was not very difficult for him I become acquainted with her. She ws I not very well off, it appears, and ws j painting Christmas cards and dollie ! and doing fancy work to eke out her ii I come. George could not very weil as I at first why she was there, but he gs ti j ered she had an unhappy home life an ! was trying to earn her own living. A the days passed on they became bette acquainted, and George ended by bein hopelessly in love with her. He told m that much as she seemed to enjoy hi society she never encouraged any thin more than ordinary friendship, an when he attempted to say more tha this would warrant she stopped him a once. Poor boy, he must have been ver, far gone, and one evening he would nc be gainsaid. He confessed to her ho^ much he loved her, and begged her t marry him. She was awfully kind t him, but he told me she would not sa; anything. " 'Tomorrow I will give yon rn; answer,' she said. George went awa; from ber in a state of blissful suspense As he had not said 'No,' his hope were raised ; but when morning cam she had gone. She had packed up he things in the nighttime and had g on by thc early morning train, leaving m address or clew as to her whereabouts There was a note for George. He open ed ic eagerly, but it simply con tain et the words: 'Goodby. 'Tis better sa ' "George was almost heartbroken. Hi tried to follow her, and, indeed, trace* her to the neighboring junction, bu I there all clew was lost. He was an ut I ter wreck when he came home, and om j evening, in a burst of hopelessness, h< i told me all about her. Of course I wa terribly sorry for bim, and I must con fess my sympathies were drawn toward I the woman. The months passed anc ! George could not get over it, but he j had long ago given up all hope of seeing her again. One night he burst into mj room in a fiush of excitement. " 'Mabel, have seen her again-J have seen her V "Poor boy! He looked so happy 1 could not bot be glad for his sake. 44 'Tell me all about it.' " 'I saw her on the top of a bus, ci all places. We were sitting next to one another, It was dark. I didn't notice her, but she knew ma I felt my neigh bor edging away from me and noticed her head turned in the opposite direc tion. This aroused my curiosity. I obliged her to turn, and there she was j -my darling!' And George, quite over come with emotion, buried his face in his hands and wept like a child. " 'She got down -at Hyde park cor ner, ? be went on, 'begged me to leave her, but I wouldn't. I was not going to lose ber again when I had only just found her. I made her tell me where she was living before I would ga She is'- And George hesitated. " 'Well?' I said interrogatively, j " 'She is a lady's maid at Spiegelei sen's.1 " '.Oh ll I said, and I'm afraid I shud [ dered. It was not only that she was a 1 servant that made my heart sink in dis may, but because I felt she had been sailing under false colors when George first met her. He had told me she was a lady, and her conduct at the inn iaad confirmed it, but now I felt she was a sham and that George's passionate Jove had been given to a probable adven turess. "I tried to convince him of this, but he was so infatuated with her that he would not see it. He even begged me to see the woman and intercede for him, but I could not doit. I couldn't pretend to believe in her, even for his sake, and eo things went on. He never faltered in < his devotion to her. "At last George and myself were sadly estranged. He did not tell me mach then, but I knew he was unceasing in his attentions and that he was still hoping to get her to change her opin ions. He was ready to risk anything for her sake. He was utterly infatuated, and you can guess, Duncan, how all this has made us very unhappy at home. "News of such things cannot be kept back for long, and mother heard of it from somo malicious friend. "Tnere is little more to add. George is ceaseless in his attentions to her. He waits for her coming out, and she can not escape him-he is sure of that-but she will not listen to his words of love For one sweet moment all else but our love was forgotten. and begs him to leave her alona All this has made me very anxious about George I never now what this mad ness of his may impel him to da Even his not being at home last night has ?alarmed me, though once I should not have thought anything about it I won der where he is?" 'At this moment there was a sound of hurried footsteps outside the door, which was abruptly opened, and Mr. Fenton appeared, holding a morning's newspaper in his hand. He was in a state of great excitement and "did not seem to notice my presence at all. "Mabel," he said, "the murdered woman" "Well, father?" "She is Harriet Staples!" "No, no, father; that cannot be!" "Here it is. Head for yourself- " Mabel took the paper from him in j silent horror, and then he turned to me. "Brett," he said, "it is most ex traordinary that you were mixed up in this affair. There is no need to keep the matter from yon now. The woman who has been murdered was a flame of George's. The lad was infat-uated with her. Now thank God that is at an end. But how did the poor wretch come by her death? What were you doing there? Why were you arrested?" The old m*m gasped out his words in a whirl cf excitement. These questions were most natural under the circum stances, but as they were hurled at me I again felt my equivocal position. Were I to tell him all I knew, just as it happened, I should expose the crim inality of his own son-Mabel's brother -and yet did I hesitate I imperiled my own reputation. Al! the answers I had carefully pre pared for these and kindred questions vanished from my mind and left it a perfect blank. I felt that the old man was waiting for my reply, yet I could noe speak, and ali the while my atten tion was rooted elsewhere on one of those trivialities that stand ont incon gruously on the most momentous occa sions. As I looked at Mr. Fenton and beyond him my eye was caught toy the perpendicular lines on the wall paper. Between two of the lines a fly was crawling along the center with absolute precision. All the while, when I ought to have been collecting my thoughts for some sort of an excuse to my prospective father-in-law, I was wondering to which side the fly would eventually incline. "Duncan" came the voice again, *'it was George you saw titerePy but on it went with unerring precision equidistant between and it fascinated me. The silence grew in the room, and at last Mr. Fenton did not choose to wait longer for his answer. He began to tap the carpet with his foot, and then he said impatiently: "Well?" "I think it is going a little to the left, " I said mechanically. "What?" He was getting indignant now, and mechanically I pulled myself together and told him what I had already said at the police station, hiding just as much, confessing just as little. "Stabbed, you say?" "Stabbed to the heart." "Then the ruffian who did the deed was one of her many friends, I'll be bound. Depend upon it, she was carry ing on with two or three. I told George as much; but, fool that be was, he wouldn't believe me. Perhaps he'll think more of his father's judgment in future. Yon seem to have had a rough time of it, Brett. It's most unfortunate you should have been mixed up in the affair, and it is a remarkable coincidence it should be so, after all the other trou ble she has caused us. But what about the murderer? You say he was still standing over the woman when you came up Couldn't you have secured him?" "I came across them quite suddenly, and, as you may well imagine, my thoughts were elsewhere. Itali happen ed in a moment, and before I could ful ly grasp the situation he had gone." "What was the man like? The papers say he was decently dressed. ' "Yes, I think that ho was so; bat be had gone in a moment. " The old man gazed doubtfully at me. I am not au adept at lying, and he felt there was something I was endeavoring to conceal. He looked at me with keon, critical eyes and left the room. For some moments after the noise of the closing of tho door there was dead ! silence in the rooin. There -were the tick j iDg of the clock on the mantelpiece and the sounds of the busy world outside, ; but above all the shrill voices of the newsboys could be heard calling out, "The tragedy in Mayfair!" There were I violets in an Indian bowl on one of the tables and the scent of them seemed sti fling. I longed to rush to an open win dow for relief, but there stood Mabel, with the newspaper held mechanically before her. She had not stirred a hair breadth, and the fly on the wall paper still kept between the lines-right in the center. I held my breath. I dared not break the silence. Suddenly the paper dropped. Could that be Mabel's voice, so hard and cold, that seemed to speak in some far dis ! tance? ! "Duncan, was it George?" I The fly had gone to the left after all. I knew it would. I did not dare to re ply nor even look at her. j "Duncan, "came the voice again, "it was George you saw there!" "It was," j "And you believe him to be the mur derer?" She drew herself up to her full regal height, her eyes flashing and her hands clinching and unclinching in sup pressed indignation, while her whole frame seemed to quiver with excite ment "You believe him to be the mur derer?" she repeated. "What else could I think? I found him there bending over her with the I broken dagger in his hands-his own Venetian dagger which used to hang over the mantelpiece in his room. Look for yourself. The dagger is not there now." "You found him there! Were you not found there, too, with her watch in j your hands? Did I rake you to be a I thief? You found him there indeed!" "I think you must admit"- I began. "Admit, Duncan! I admit nothing. I leave that to you. " Suddenly a thought seemed to flash across her. "So, Duncan, it is owing to your ad missions that George is now being hunt ed. To free yourself you have cast sus picion upon him-upon my brother! \ This is the way you show your love for I me? Love! Do you call this love?" The fly still crawled on the wail, but j it had hopelessly lost its track. I was quite calm now. The worst had come, and more than the worst; but, at any rate, I could speak quite \ openly. "Mabel," I said, "will you listen to me for one moment? 1 am absolutely ! innocent of casting any suspicion upon George. His name has never passed my lips in connection with the capt I said nothing about the murderer St the po lice station, save that I should know him again if I saw him. You must see from that paper that George has brought all the suspicion upon himself by run ning away and by trying to get rid of the dagger. Even now none but yon and I have the faintest suspicion who the man described is. He may still ! escape." "Escape! What do you mean? Of course he will come forward and ex I plain why he was there. You were ar rested for the crime and released, and George will have as good a reason as you had for being there." As she said this Mabel grew calmer, ; for she saw her cruel suspicions of me j were unjust and unfounded. "Mabel, " I continued, "can't you im- | I agine my feelings and understand the \ agony I have suffered since I saw George there and my desire not to be the bearer of this horrible news to you? ! Why, just now your father has left me i with suspicion because I would not speak openly of the man. I could not have believed you ever could have doubted me so or said such cruel things. " "Duncan, forgive me," said Mabel, now white and trembling from the ter rible tension of the past few minutes, j I knelt at her side and kissed her cold ! hands, calling her by every endearing [ name. j "Forgive me, darling," she said t again, for a moment touching my fore head with her lips. "I must have been mad for the moment to suspect you you of all men-of such madness. But it was all so horrible-so horrible!" ! And at the recollection tremor after tremor passed over her frame. I drew her gently to me, and in my arms tried to make her forget all but onr love. "Oh, Duncan, where do you think i George is nov/? Cannot you find out?" Together we read the account which ! traced him to Manchester. I "Manchester!" she reflected. "We I know no one there. He could have had I no motive in going there. Why did he go, do you think?" "To get them off the scent, I sup posa Poor chap, he'll have a fearful task to keep out of their hands." "Duncan, you must go and find him out Tell him to come back and answer this dreadful charge-this calumny." "It would be madness, Mabel. His only chance is to get out of the country as fast as he can." "Leave the country without clearing himself?" "To clear himself I'm afraid would be impossible." "What! Dare you still believe him guilty-believe that George murdered the woman he loved so devotedly?" I was silent. Her unshaken belief in George was pathetic. "I hope he did not, " I said. "But at any rate, Mabel, darling, we have still one another. ' Whether George is guilty or not, you are miue." "No!" cried Mabel, springing up. "If George is guilty, I can never be your wife! You shall not marry the sister of a murderer!" CHAPTER V. THE NET DRAWING IN. I "If George is guilty, I can never be ' your wife !" ! With these words still ringing like j a deatliiuell in my ears, I left De Vero ! Gardens. What a change from rester ! day! Then I left the same house abso ' lutely happy, for had not Mabel prom ised to be mine? But now there was a j condition attached to her promise which I it seemed impossible should ever be fnl I fiiied, and her words doomed rae to a life of wretchedness, for onless her brother were innocent of this great crime she conld not be mine, and did I not know him to be gnilty? Filled with these gloomy thoughts and forebodings, I walked through the park, scarcely heeding whither my feet took me, and I poshed forward utterly unconscious of th6 passersby. Suddenly a voice greeted m6-a voice that before I recognized it seemed to carry with it unpleasant memories. I looked up, and there was the polies superintendent of the previous night-Jewell, I now knew his name to be. "Well, captain," said he, with evi dent determination to talk, "I hope you are feeling none the worse for our night's hospitality. I'm afraid it has told upon you, though, judging by your looks, but I hope you sea that I was simply doing my duty and was obliged to carry out the letter of the law." "Thank you, Mr. Jewell. I've no doubt I shall be all right again after a night's rest Of course, I know you on ly did your duty, and it would bo ab surd for me to bear you a grudge on that account Have you any further traces of the murderer?" "Well, yes, we have," replied the officer. "We have received some rath er singular information-information which I think will interest you." I was burning with anxiety to know if there was any more evidence against George, so I listened readily enough. "On occasions like these," began the superintendent, somewhat sententious ly, "we are often indebted to the public for most valuable information, without which indeed, I must confess, we should many a time be at a loss. The discovery of the missing part of the dagger last night was due to such a cause, for a stranger brought it to Scot land Yard. Then, thanks to the con ductor of the Harlesden bus, we bave traced our fugitive to Manchester, where for the moment our clew ends, though no doubt our friend Caminada there will already be able to supplement our information, and at 1 o'clock today we again received from an outsider a most important piece of news. We had previously found out that the murdered woman was a lady's maid at Mr. Spiegeleisen 's, and had also learned that she was the object of the attentions of a young gentleman of position. " TO BE CONTINUED. Successful Physicians. We honrtily recommend Br. 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