The Story-Teller.

Ellesmere Guardian, Volume XI, Issue 1019, 15 June 1892, Page 3

The Story-Teller.

E SOARED FROM PEN A h SERVITUDE. : . — , — «.. . TO^p BT &% PX-PETECTIVE.

- ; PART 11.

; Having obtained svpretty .ft CcU rate knowledge of the 4 pdopte prinr-jpaijy con . cerned, I approached the bp -P anaVorder lini? a fine cigar, left my « impedimenta' until dinner tune,:: Th. 6n i proceeded up to Holmhurst HallH.on'e of the ; grati bst old buildings it b PjS eyCl . been ray "jot tp , see. ; ::. ..• ; , ..»•-■• • •■■• •.

„ I ™J neg1 M by a .hutlerjn'flolemn blacky who g ron broaght Mr Lancelot, ?™ bazo1 4 to me m the gloomy lookm«? library.^ There wag a , furtive i oo k j n 1 ia . gentleman's half closed eyes that -«•«& not m- kgepins^with his affected John Ball bluntness of manner and speech. When he looked at my card he started, ;bufc quickly recovered himself. 1 You ace the officer who witnessed ; the* •accident ?* he said eagerly. '' .

* Was it an accident ?' I asked.

' What else could it be tf.*Vas his ques tioning reply.

' fThat is my business to, find out,' Ire turned, slowly; and. then Is.aw.howlblundefed m, Jetting :the telegraph operator inform tne Tunbridge people that an officer had witnessed the tragical mci dent, . H ',

; f I Hope you will sneceed, 1 , .prooeodeii l l\lr, Brab^bn. ' May I ask .what you

; * Keally nothing more than this/ I relumed. «An express train travelling at an unusually rapid rate'; an illurain ated carriage, with the reflections of several figur.es, and the ; sharp ping of a sm^ll bored pistol explodine. 1 ■. 'j Was that all ?' a«iked Mr Brabazon, Almost triumphantly, as he turned from nje; to the deep embrasured window, rubbing. his thin brown hands thj^*wh i iU > ' % a inanhef ' whioh I could not "help considering of a self-congratulatory •nature. ;■/..,:'• <:• 'O'f-i

; '-That was alt,' I repliVd, quietly •, bo* .1, f^lt that ibhia ojari w^s.eQttcealiDg'sGnie.' thing from me, !«iud ili determined to watch him closely,- '■"■■. .. • •;. • .* ; *| Kindly let me see jjhe corpse.?!,! aßked; »nd withorjfc antjther!; word', Mr Bribaedn cond opted ; we ir^to a fine : qld oa^-wainscpted apa^menti ■ enrpund: ; the -i^aH ,. pf ' ,which wer/8. , placed deep old' fa'sfiioned settles, formed of the darkest, 1 oak, beautifully carvwd— The uncle iwitb trembling 1 h ; and irirried,, down tbe white cambric • "cloth which covfered the face 1 ; ' and firnr as I am m self' control, I could not help uttering a cry; of surprise which brought a .look of j apprehenisqri if not. absqiuie ? fear \ tnce I more into Mr Brabazon's eyes. The cause was this .; „ ; 'The bullet had entered the dead man's head under t^te lef tear.' , ~ t ■,: W hen 1 ' the train pass', "and cau^t, a glimpse: of the- fire from .-the pistjol, Captain Brabazon -stood between his pncle and his mfc. i; The former was ;x>n bis left hand, and his wife on his. right handfside. j, " t V : .-'ii • ' ; *|Who"fired I the (atal shot?'. was the firi«i questioh Lasbed myself, and without ihesitation I mentally", replie^^ : -; • r ' Lancelot Brabazon.' Muob. as; I, disliked the man and convinced as I was of his guilt, I pro fprpceeded as calmly as possible to ask him: for; such^ information as he could give me of the occurrence.

The parjticurarshe'gave me,. amounteJ to this— -that wtiife he was reading he heard the .bridegroqm and bride com' menoe quarrelling, m what he considered; a playful way. This chaff, however; brought on something more serious,, he ilancied, for tire young people seemed "to.'. grow really angry. . At last— playfully,' h6'imagined~Mrs Brabftzon. opened.. a neat leather caae containing a brace of two elegant miniature revolvers.. Draw, jrig one «he vowed' she 7 would ishoothiiti, if hie did not^retracfc ' gome 4 ihlng ' he had said.- fie refusad • tjtte altercation grew fiercer, and then ho— the uncle— rose to interfere. ,.. To. his, horror^ a. shot was firedj his 'nephew, uttered a: cry, and twisted bright round m hia- uncle's armsiThenhe heard anofchei 41 sabfc,'; and .the 1 blood gushel over Mrs Brabazbui His-—' uncle's^eqn, and the ; furnjtqre of the, carriage, i^duding\the ptjora'an on which the young couple had been ;Beatfld; It| appears that Misa Raxworthyj -thehousekeeper, who sat in' the extreme end of the carriage,. was asleep all' the- tinie. I saw Mrs Brabaztfn later on,' anfl could gather nothing^ more from the! poor woman thanfthis^-thatCsy § cWd" not explain the occurrence at ajl^ Her husband and herself had ■ been drinking champagne for days, and eating very little^ i'They were- '' chaff iii'g' ■tofeekher^'' and she had no idea how sHe drew the | pistol or how the shots came to be fired. f It became, pay duty to search -out the poor woman's antecedents. She toelonged to a.rat.her good -family living m Mecklenburg square. Her steprnpther told me she was of 'a most Violent tern per,' and 1 that she prophesied she would" come, to the gftUows/ ,-"she ra n f aw *y. from home. Jo Mcsraa jan/lctrW^, bui* returned once or twjca m. iragS. i The last time she returned, t^e doqr;was?shut : . m be| face and tHey hear,d nothingj more s pf hex until a friend recognise^ her m the bkllet^t : a very r aisfel'litk'D!^ estab" 1 lishment. .: : '•■;-.. -■ ■„.-«« »'.v i^i ;• "?v.i j Toj such a s6ur piece c of ;as . ;(M& ! -precious fetepmbthe'r, thW ; name(d if as no dpubt' disWputabfei'j Most piebple '■■.. differently ? and tf? ■proceeded there to find that Miss Madeline Afarmqrßy.wa.s.-; considered a good natuiied 8oul ; . although consideiedßprnewhat|hasty; ■' Hastiness there meant tnat" oa one occasion, be^g offended with ft

\ e Mf<fr dancer, she attempted to stab tier i» ihp arm with a stape dagger. When I returned to Walmerhftm ther* 1 was a snrprise m store for me. Jt turned out that Mies Raxworthy had not been agtaep, after all, and that she distinctly s w Mrs Brabuzon fire the shot th'ot killed hf>r busbar This 'stafement Master Walter Bi 11 *^^' 1 .

after some hesitation, corrobornted, «"d then to close up the matter effect n*i}v, .Lancelot Brabagon avowed that hfl had

kept silence hitherto for the sake of the tpodr young woman. It was plain, however, that her hand had fired the

Fatal shot. The quarrel, he now said, wad not chaff. Indeed, the youn? brir)ej?roQinihad: affirmed thai he already possepsed sufficienj; evidence to procure a' divorce from bis month old bride, and that sho £ofc up m a violent rage and swore that he would never live to repeat the! accusation and firefl.-' ; ? Madeline Brabazon was tr'ed at the assizes, found guilty of ropns'auphter and sentenced to ten years' penal servitude. ? , My.- ev.idftncfl wa,s ; said |0r be ,, for, ,'lhe, d^feniie, ahd';Jf:am su^e it was meant.to be • for -I helipvecl tjpr' not guilty," and was as much affected as toe prisonpr herself when nn opposite verdict was returned. Thare was one feature m the evidence whioh I thought shou'd not have been overlooked by judge, jnry or counsel.

Tbs cftSe df^reVolvers^ %a§ a-. pt?s?nfc fr'ora the bridpgronm two days before the horpe journey. They proposed farget shoiotiner on, retupninor hom^. ■ The ipoxv chase included a case of cartridges conJtairiin!? seventy two. Six barrels of one pistol were charged still, and two of th<? other had been fired. One tiny bulle* was found m Captain Br.abpzou's^ekull ; tbe other was imbedded m tlto WodHwork of the saloon carriage, just over the portion m wbich I saw Uncle Brabazon standing. This accounted for twelve cartridges, but thirteen of them had been abstracted from the cartridge pouch, «■■■- t : fC!ontinued tn nw next isaut.)