THE YELLOW HUNCHBACK.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13286, 19 September 1906, Page 10

THE YELLOW HUNCHBACK.

[PUBLISHED BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT.]

BY FERGUS HUME. Author of!" The Mystery of a Hansom Cab." "The Golden Idol." "The Scarlet Bat." " Island of Fantasy." " Madame , Midas." etc. :•■";, -~

[COPYRIGHT.] CHAPTER XXVl.—(Continued.) That was the laM that Rupert saw of Helena Berrow. She shortly, when all police proceedings were, ended, sailed for Jamaica and within the year married Mason Clyde. So she passed out of the story, as her nurse and Ruth had. done. Likewise Mrs. Brandy face, who was placed in an asylum, to be looked after in her old age.

Rupert shrugged his shoulders after Mis. Borrow had made her exit, and took his way to tlie room where Evan was dying. Dr. Grant met him, and explained that he was just coming in search ol him. Mr. Berrow cannot live long.'" be said, "as the weapon has pierced the right lung. Miss Marvel is with him, and he wished to see you also." " Is he conscious?*'

"Oh. yes, and is likely to be until he dies, poor little creature. I should not be at all surprised if he died within the hour. He may as well talk to you and Miss Marvel, as he is desirous of doing, as it is useless his saving his strength. He must die, and the sooner the better.'-' "Oh, doctor!" Rupert was shocked. "Don't make anv mistake. Mr. Treffry.

lam not talking brutally. Mr. Berrow has found peace, which means that he has become converted. He is quite ready and willing to die; and, as he cannot possibly recover, it i.« best, as you will acknowledge, that he should go now, when his ..mind is made up that lie will go to hea- ' ven." /

Just then, and before Grant could explain further. Alice put her bead out of the door, and beckoned to Rupert. Her eyes were swollen with tears. "Come to Evan, Rupert," she said, drawing him within ; "he cannot live much . longer. . Hoctor!"

"I shall remain without," said Grout, "as Mr. Berrow wishes to talk alone with you two. Call me in should any change take place." Alice nodded, and with Treffrv went into the room. It was not quite dark, and ai single candle rear the bed illuminated the room in a. ghostly manner, shedding a. weird light on the small, pinched white face of the tiny man in the large bed. He was smiling" however, and held out bis baud as

Rupert stole across the death chamber. ''Death ends all quarrels and pays all debt.«." be said, in a quiet, pleasant voice. "Shake bands. Treffrv." " 1 hope you will get better," said Treffry, grasping the small band as lightly as be could, and with some compunction. : "No. I shall never get better, as (4rati must have assured you." Even now it, is an effort, for me to talk." But I must make everything right, a* I told you 1 would, Alice, when we met on the doorstep, of looker's Rents."

s.''-I. wonder that I did not recognise you then. Evan."

" I don't," replied the dwarf, with a sigh. " Had you loved me. dear, you would, as the eyes of love are keen. Rut I was verylike my poor brother, and—" "Oh!" interrupted Treffry, with a start, "do vou know that?"

."I'have just been explaining it to him," said Alice, arranging the pillow of the dying man. ■ ""Yes," assented Evan, sadly; "I. never guessed that Ben was my elder brother when I saw him in Whitechapel, although I '< believed • that he was a cousin, as Miss Tudor-Stuart stated. As he also was deformed and tormented by the world, I brought him to Chadston with the intention of helping him. I thought we two deformities could help one another. Had he lived. I* should have made Ben my dearest, and best friend, seeing that I cou'.d not gain your love, Alice. I was weary of my stepmother and her plotting. That was ■why 1 remained unknown for so long as the* hunchback. There is no hunch on my back now,jTreffry," added the dwarf, with a faint smile; "that'was false, like everything else." "But, Berrow," said Rupert, anxiously, "why did you change clothes with Ben on that night?" . "To trau Mrs. Berrow. I suspected that she was making mischief, along with Mason Clyde, seeing that they both came from Jamaica. I was always suspicious of my stepmother, as I told'you, Alice, and I thought that she might plot to get rid of me. When I left you, my dear Alice, I went to the High-street, with the intention of seeing Clyde about' Mrs. Berrow.'When I saw her and that muiattress entering the ■office I. suspected that they were up to no goo', and so I decided to watch and see what their game was." "Mrs. Berrow only came to see me, and to make a last appeal," was the reply of Treffry. "So I know now," came the quick response, "but I .did not know then. I fancied thait if .1, appeared as myself Mrs. BeiTow and the nurse, who was very .sharp, would act a part, so I changed ray clothes with Ben. While watching the office I saw him at my elbow, as he was going to the miserable cellar in Tooker's Rents, which he called his home. His presence suggested the disguise, so I went to the cellar, and we changed clothes. I came out as Ben, : and Ben appeared as me. I made, him watch the o*ce, so as to prove an alibi should anything have gone wrong." "You did not expect murder?" "I expected everything, seeing that Mrs. Berrow and Cleopatra were together, as I knew how unscrupulous and dangerous they were. ~ I left Ben in my < lollies in the High-street, and stole.round by the -alley to Clyde's office. I looked in at the dusty window at the hack, and saw Mrs. Borrow and the nurse listening at the door." "They were listening to my talking to Clyde," explained Treffry. "Yea. Then I saw them leave the room, and I tried to get in at the window, as I thought I would listen to what they were saying to Clyde, whom I knew was in the next room. The window was hard to open, and I fumbled for some time with the catch. Then I heard a cry, and, climbing down, I ran into the High-street. T saw that Ben was lying on the ground. J never thought that he was dead, and I did' not dare to go near him in "my disguise. Then I saw Mrs. Berrow and Clyde and Marvel come out. They went to the body, and then I learnt that Ben had been stabbed."

"Did you know by whom?" "No. *T fancied that Cleopatra might have stabbed him. thinking that he was me, so as to clear the way for her mistress in. getting the estates. But I was not sure. I went, to Tooker's Rents, to Ben's cellar, and thought over the matter. I knew that, as Ben, I could watch Mrs. Berrow, and unmask all her plots, so I decided to allow Ben to be buried as me, and to unmask Mrs. Berrow and her accomplice, as Cleopatra undoubtedly was. I thought it was st."

"But why did you accuse Rupert?" asked Alice, curiously.' The little man put out his hand. " My dear, ' he said, solemnly, "I was mad with love for you, and seeing that, as Ben, I could not marry you, I decided that Treffry should also he unlucky. I never .saw 7'reffry leave the body—that was a lie. Marvel was made by Clyde to say the '■same thing, so as to inculpate Treffry, and make him obedient to the will of Mrs. Berrow. Everything was wrong and false. But I have made amende. Do you know why, I. tell you all now," why I wish to make you happy? Because I have found peace in religion, because my eyes have Iwen unsealed. Ah! it is worth while having suffered cold and hunger as the hunchback to gain the peace I now have. T love you still. Alice, but I cau bear to see you" marry Treffry, to have my money, and to be happy, that is true love that seeks its outlet in sacrifice." There was a silence for a few minutes, while Alice's hand stole into that of Rupert's. Then she put a pertinent question.. "Why did you make the will in mv favour?" > '"Because I wished to trick Mrs. Berrow." "And the codicil'/". asked sTreffry. "That was l to trick her also. Seeing that.l had given Alice money to leave England, she would never have suspected

the existence of the second will. Had she done so she • would have torn down the

Manor House to find it. And it was in the Manor House ' ;

" In the library— "In a book," finished Evan, faintly, for his strength was failing greatly. " Yes, when I decided to give you up, Alice— and that was after I found peace went to the library and got the will, and placed it on Felton's table, disguised still as the yellow hunchback. Then I returned to the Manor. No one suspected that I was in the house, as I know of several entrances which are unknown to the servants, and, indeed, to Mrs. Borrow also. I saw from the top window that you and Treffry and the others were coining, and wondered what was happening. I then stole downstairs, and listened behind the small door of the library, which led into my study. I had the key of it. There I heard all, and from that* door I came to save you, Alice, from the death blow which that woman would luTe dealt. That is all the story. Forgive me, Alice, and you. Treffry?" "There is nothing to forgive." Rupert assured him. ''Live, Berrow, to be our friend."

" No. I have given my life for Alice's," said the dwarf, in a drowsy manner; "good-bye! You will have the money and the house : only forgive your enemies, as the Lord tells us to. Forgive Tait " I'll allow him an income, and give Pollv sufficient money to marry Teddy Smith," said Alice, quickly. " And Miss Tudor-Stuart and your misguided father."

" I'll send Miss Stuart to London, with enough to live on. and my father will he pensioned'off. And then Oh. Rupert!" Alice uttered a cry as she saw the change coming over the face of the dying man. "He is going; call in the doctor!" Hut it, was already too late. Grant entered hastily with ' restoratives, only to find that Evan Berrow was dead. He heaved his last sigh with the hand of the woman he loved clasped in his own. He had fulfilled the task set to the greatest love, and had given his life for her he loved best. .

There remains little more to add. Evan was duly buried, and Mrs. Borrow took her ill-omened shadow from the walls- of the Manor House. An inquest was held on the bodies of Ruth and Cleopatra, and they were also buried, so that everyone speedily forgot the strange case which perplexed Chadston for so long. Captain Tait. who was considerably shaken by the dilemma in which he had been placed by his greed, gladly accepted a yearly sum of money from Alice Marvel, and retired to Brighton, where he lived a ouiet life, interspersed with various flirtations. He was glad, in his selfish way, to be rid of his daughter, for she married the young reporter, and, thanks to the influence of Rupert, a better post was procured for him. Also. Alice, with characteristic generosity, fitted up a cottage at Chadston for the "young couple, and gave Polly a, complete outfit, for her wedding. So Polly, poor girl, was happy, after her years of trouble and sorrow.' But she and her. father see very little of one another. Captain Tait thinks that Teddy is vulgar and that Polly lias deteriorated, while the happy pair find that the captain grows even more selfish as he grows older.

Miss Tudor-Stuart wished to live again with Marvel as his wife, but ultimately was persuaded to accept a yearly income aud retire to London. She sometimes went to see Mrs. Rayner in the asylum, but managed to lead a happy enough life in a small cottage at Chiswick*. • She goes to the theatres,, and sniffs at the performances, and dresses in the gayest of dresses and the brightest of colours. So she was another person'. whom Alice had made happy. Marvel said very little when taxed with his iniquities. He'moaned that Alice would be better without him, that he had been misunderstood all his life, and that he would go to Australia to start a new life, if Alico would allow him three hundred a year. This she did, and went to Tilbury to see the last of the weak father who had at once been kind and good, evil and harsh. As the vessel moved down stream Rupert, who was beside his beloved, tucked her arm within bis own.

" Now, my darling." ho said, very resolutely, "dry those tears. You have wept enough, and have done enough for others. You must now consider your own happiness and mine."

" After all, he is my .father, Rupert." " I daresay. But you have done all that a daughter could do for him, so you have nothing to weep for. Let us go back to Chadston, and in a few months we will be married." Then 'we can' live at the Manor House, and try to interest ourselves in doing good. ■ We have had a bad and stormy time, Alice dear, but the clouds have passed away and the sun shines out ouce more." ...,'., *' Thanks to Evan." Yes. dear. Poor little chap, I shall never forget his kindness. And to keep his memory green, Alice, we will hang up in the library that oilskin coat and sou'wester.' We must, never forget in our happiness the yellow hunchback, who was our good fairy." And they never did. [the END.]