THE EVIL GENIUS.

Auckland Star, Volume XX, Issue 57, 8 March 1889, Page 3

THE EVIL GENIUS.

BY ELIZA A. DUPUT,

Author of " The White Terror," " Warning

Voice," "The Secret Chamber," &c, &c

CHAPTER XIX. A EARREN DISCOVERY

Crossing the back gallery, Mr Wilkms entered the rear hall communicating with the vestibule. From this a door opened into ft handsome room, meagrely furnished with a camp bedstead, a plain writing-table, washstand and chairs of black walnut. A faded carpet covered the floor, and a wide, oldfashioned sofa stood between two largo windows, which had been opened to admit the evening air. . Wilkins strode across the floor, and in the farthest corner tbrew open, a door, which gave admittance to che tower which Mr Horton had added to his house, to _bo first used as addressing-room for his_ wife, and after her death to be converted into a library. It was an octagon room, chiefly lighted through a ground glass dome, for the narrow slits of windows, filled with coloured glass, were more ornamental than useful.

A circular table, on which was a reading lamp, with its bright green shade, occupied the centre of the .floor, and several heavily carved chairs were drawn up near to it. The book-eases were built in the wall, with doors tiLed in with small squares of glass set in fantastic arabesque patterns, and over each one was a niche failed with alternate busts of American and foreign celebrities. Washington and Franklin, Mirabeau and Napoleon were there, and over the door was that of the man Mr Horton believed the noblest Boman of them allAndrew Jackson.

Mr Wilkins talked a great deal, and explained to Inez many things in his clumsy fashion, but she scarcely listened to him. Her thoughts were in that book-case on the left' hand, and she was glad to see that a flight of steps used for mounting to the highest shelves was in the room.

She asked

' Can I gain access to all these cases, Mr Wilkins ? I have quite a list of books which my father wishes me to take to him, but 1 utterly forgot to bring a trunk to pack them in.' ' Oh, that's no matter, Miss. We can find a box, I guess, to nail 'em up in. But if you mean to take many of 'em away with you, I'd like to have the order of Mrs Hawks to prove that I only did whab she wanted done. 1

'Of course; that is but right. Here it is. You know my aunt's writing, and if you choose you can keep the order.' Inez produced the few lines written by her aunb authorising her father to send for any books he might desire to remove from the Oakland library, and after glancing over ib Wiltuns said : 'It's all reg'lar, Miss. I knows Mrs Hawks's writing well enough, for she often sends orders about what's to be done on the place. Them doors ain't got no locks on 'em, except one, and I see tho key is in that.1

He pointed to the very case on which the attention of Inez was fixed, and went on :

' I don't know why that one was kept locked any more n the others, for the books in ib ain't any more valuable than them that's on the other shelves ; but I s'pose 'twas a fancy of the old master's. I've heard tell that he was a notionate man.'

Inez glanced over the books, and saw that the. upper shelves were filled with Greek and Latin classics, and the lower with standard works in French and German. She said :

' Those volumes are more costly than English books, and that is the reason, I suppose, why they were better taken care of.'

' Mebbe so, Miss. And now while you have some daylight left, .I'll leave you to look out what you want, while I attend to my chores. You can jest lay the books out on the table, and I'll pack 'em for you in the morning before I go out to my work.' •Thank you; IVill nob detain you any longer, then. I can easily attend to what brought me here without any assistance.' Wilkins nodded, shuffled out of the room, and when Inez could no longer hear the echo of his steps, she sprang to the sbep ladder, and after some effort succeeded in drawing it near enough to the case in which her investigation was to be made to enable her to reach the top shelf with ease.

It was the work of a few moments to remove four large volumes which filled the corner so minutely described by her father, and in a painful flutter of excitement she stooped forward and felt for the spring she had been assured must be found there.

Ab one point she found a crevice wide enough to' permit the lingers to penetrate an inch below the edge of the shelf, and after moving them carefully over the space, to her surprise and delight they came in contact with what seemed a small protuberance.

Pressing with all her force on this, to her intense amazement Inez saw the wooden back slide slowly down, disclosing an aperture contrived in the brick wall beyond.

It was a square cavity, formed by removing two bricks each way in the thickness of the wall; but carefully as it had been concealed, .there was nothing in it to repay the excited girl for the trouble of making a visit to the place.

' Poor papa ! What will he say ? What will he do now ?' was her firsb thought; and utterly unnerved by the breaking down of the hope which had sprung to life on finding her lather's vision partly verified, Inez came down from her uncomfortable perch, and sat down to try and compose herself sufficiently to replace the" books she had taken down before the return of Wilkins. .

This she had ample time to accomplish, for the farmer had many things to attend to before his evening's work was finished. Inez had nob permitted herself to hope for a successful result to the strange quest on which she had been sent, yet 'she was deeply depressed by the ineffectual discovery she had made. The receptacle so singularly made known to her father was there, but its contents had disappeared, by what agency it was now impossible to discover. That her aunt was ignorant of its existence she felt assured, for she did not believe that Mrs Hawks would be capable of defrauding her of her just rights ; and if such a document as her father had described had been concealed at Oakland with her knowledge, her conduct could bear no other interpretation, for by her orders it niusb have been removed, to leave the fate of her niece entirely at her mercy.

Inez rejected this suspicion. She scarcely thought of the disappointment as it affected herself ; she was too deeply dreading what might happen to her father when she told her story on her return home.

She regained her composure as well as she could, and began to select the books he had desired to have. A dozen volumes comprised the whole of them, and when Mr Wilkius returned,-they wore laid on the table ready to be removed.

By this time twilight bad gathered round her, and Inez pointed to the volumes, and clearly said: ' Those are all I shall take with me, Mr Wilkins. I must leave to-morrow on the same boat I came over on, and I shall be glad if you will have them packed in time. I will go out now, and walk about a little. Your dog will not molest me, I suppose V ' Oh, no, Miss ; I've taken good care of that, and Nipper's fastened up safe enough. I never 'lows him the run of the place when strangers is about, for he's a dangerous

custoraej. In a lonesome country placa like thisj a good dog is worth a great deal. I lock tjjjj gate to keep stragglers out, and old Nip|knows it's his business to keep things.j£. a ight and square inside the en-: closuwg; That's what he's kept for, and hejs saajb enough to know it, Miss.' i - 'I dig s ay,: replied Inez vaguely, and1 oecupieipwith her own thoughts she moved' dreamily* toward the front entrance, and' descend^ the flight of steps leading into the yati| m ade her way through the tangled undergrowth till she came to a half-ruined summet|ouse which commanded a beautiful view oJliig bay and the aurroundiug countr|f Thia&fe her father had often described to her.|§; ere jj 0 fc^ sa t > T ith her mother ; here he||d won her.cor>ser;t to become his bride ;^j,j here the elopetaent they subsequentl|| Q j a( had been'planncd. J^° knew that her mother's remains had bee|brought back to the home of her youth i|J be laid in the family burying grouudjjind she turned into a narrow, weed-gS n pathway which led across a gentle ll j n to a picturesque valley beyond, in whicjgrose the monuments of the deceased flmbers of the Horton family, en- • closed |k handsome iron railing. The^e erected to the memory of her grandfljpv was the most imposing, and beneatljfc shadow was a plain marble slab bearing^ simple inscription : , ' Sacr|(k thememory of Susan Horton Lopez, born Aiiia)omini ISIO, Died A. D. 1833, aged 23 years, l^uiescat in pace.' A cr^fwas carved beneath, and before , this.syjipol of her faith Inez knelt and; prayed JLently. ;', If thsmirifc of her mother had indeed led ' her hittj'J it must have been to make this ; pious ppimage to her tomb; and with the : eonsoliijfaith of the Catholic, she prayed ■ for the of the souls of the two who ■■ lay the^fido by side peacefully enough, in spite otjjie gulf which had opened between ' them wife livino-. (To be Continued.)