THE BURCOTT TREASURE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LV, Issue 13967, 28 September 1918, Page 3 (Supplement)

THE BURCOTT TREASURE.

BY H. DE VISME SHAW.

(COPYRIGHT.)

CHAPTER XVlHContinned.) "Dear me, dear me," the lawyer said, rising hurriedly from his chair. "Never mind dear young lady—never mind me. We lawyers are so üßed to this sort of thing.. Why, never a year passes without someor i Veaking down like it in this very room—over a family trouble generally. Now I have just to run up the street to 111 my cigar-case. I shall be back in tea minutes—and then I shall expect you to ask me to luncheon when we reach Burcott Hall." By the tim> he returned Hespera had quite regained her composure. It »"as past one o'clock when the party reached Burcott Steeple. Walters had jirived shortly befrre. It was decidod not to interview him till the meal was over. Then ho was told that Hespera wished to see him in the library. The little man—who looked all the world better for his sea-trip—bowed in turn to Hespera, Valentine and Jarrow, and then immediately produced a long blue envelope from his breast pocket. " This is the agreement, miss, signed and witnessed," he said as he handed it to Hespera. She, Valentine, and Jarrow made a oarefu] and most minute comparison of the signature on the agreement with five or % 6'x signatures known to be those of Hugh. In no respect could they detect the slightest dissimiliarity. If a forgery, the work ihnwed absolute perfection. "I want you to tell me," Jarrow said to Walters, "how Mr. Burcott wrote the signature mean did he sign his name jlowly. and carefully, or did he dash it off carelessly, as most people do their signatures?" "He just took his pen and dashed it off, sir," was the answer. " Surely no one but Hugh could have written it if it was dashed off like this!" Ht;pera said. '• Strictly open minds are necessary at •'lis stage, Miss Burcott," the lawyer angered ; " sufficient practice would enable ?...yone sifted in that way to acquire such ax'pertness that he could write another person's signature, without a flaw, as easily and as quickly as he could his own." While he was speaking, the footman entered the room with two letters which had oora« for Hespera by the second post. At Walters glanced at them he saw that one was the letter he had posted in Winnipeg Why, that is the letter I wrote before the (tarement was signed, miss!" he laid. it could only nav< caught the mail which was carried by the boat I crossed in. Then you have heard nothing Jet, miss, about how I was assaulted and he first letter stolen?—unless somebody . picked up the first letter and posted it." "I have had no letter from Canada except this one," were her words. " Perhaps you would not mind reading this letter, Miss Burcott," said the lawyer. "We should then know exactly how we . jtand."

. Hespera read the letter aloud. When -' ... gha had finished, Walters, at. Jarrow's ■>• request, gave an amplification of the brief '<■'."statement Hespera had read, a minute "■■■'•■ account of all that happened from the : tiin» he left the Winnipeg hotel with the : V'letter in his hand till he recovered con- - :•' sciousness In the hospital. It seems to ■ C me quite certain," he said in conclusion, ' ".-"that the person assaulted me for the '.i'purpose of getting the letter and reading what I had written, to Miss Burcott." -sft "It is the only possible assumption at 11 the present moment," Jarrow said. "And -'now let us have the fullest and clearest m I account yon are able to give -A all the 'conversation that took place between .\ ' yourself and Mr. Burcott.' '■'"■.'' \ Walters gave, what was to all intents and purposes a verbatim report of every- ; thing that had been said on both sides. ' ./He was going 01 to desoriki how he bought a camera for the purpose c/ bringing home .[ 'with him a photograph of the man "whose ;t Identity had been in dispute, when Jarrow c stopped him with a gesture. . "One moment, Mr. Walters," he said; •:.':?>" let us first get a dear grip of all :.';SJthat touches personality. In your own i mind yon feel no doubt whatever that the flfpn'an' was'- Miss Burcott's brother?" "Not tie slightest doubt whatever, '.sir. .He must be Miss Burcott's brother. ■: A could swear to it." ..;); "Was this vour first impression when ..'?;;yen saw him? 1 ' '. ''--, The little man seemed taken aback by -/:,'' tie question. He thought for a few mo- ,;£;■ asnts. Then, as though weighing every word, he said :— : ";• " No, sir. I mu*t say that was not my rOßrst impression. Thinking it over now, toy first impression was'that he was Mr. - v-'Preston and not Mr. Burcott." ''„•'' "Ah. Now if you had left him then • „• 1 and there without speaking to him, and ~ 'had come straight back to us here, would -.' "you tell us you. had seen' Mr. Burcott mai Mr. Preston?" Again he hesitated. Then he said: — '.;{:; "I think it is certain, sir, that I should .:■'- have told you he was Mr. Preston— :.J know I should have felt 'sure he was v (Mr. Preston. tvi*'' "And with this now in your mind, ?v are you still convinced* that he is Mr. glfj Burcott after all? Identification is often a • .',. .very tricky thing, you mistakes are '-""':. frequently msd?." . m "Well, sir, I can only say it does not • ";: In the least alter my opinion. Of course, ;-.' he was changed in appearance, just as :• jury thinnish. clean-shaved man would be if he had got stouter and grown a beard. •Knowing all he knew about Mr. Burcott'B ;'"..'.' ■affairs, the hundred pound cheque being .<■•■ , Li all ready even, and even/thing put together, I feel absolutely certain it could nave been nobodv else." ;• " And now, Mr. Walters do not imagine I am for a moment doubting any- . 'thing you say, or weighing your conviction's lightlv—what do you think when I ! •tell you that while you were actually in Winnipeg, Mr. Boper saw & man in Norwich he was prepared to rwear was Mr. Hn?h Burcott?" He staTed at Jarrow in astonishment. 1 -."In Norwich Mr. Burcott in Norwich!" h« said. " Yes, Mr. Roper is as certain he saw Mr. Burcott in Norwich as you are certain ■that you saw him in Winnipeg." "Did you speak to him. sir?" the little man asked, turning to Valentine. - " No, but I heard him speak," was the answer. , "Had he Mr. Burcott'B voice, sir?" " No, he had not. He spoke altogether ''differently." "Then, with all respects to you, sir, Mo you not now think you mistook another man for Mr. Burcott?" "' " There is necessarily a mountain of , Houbt on both Hides, Mr. Walters," Jarrow Interposed. "The voice may have been assumed by Mr. Burcott in England just as Mr. Preston in Canada may have assumed Mr. Burcott's voice—which, from what you said to us once, you know he would easily be ablo to do. Tn everything with the exception of speech, in every feature and every gesture, the man Mr. Roper saw was Mr. Burcott. Leaving his voice out of the question, can you say as much about the man you saw in Canada?"

Walters thought for a time. The Seconds passed. "Yes, sir," he said at last slowly, "I can say as much and more. In every | feature and gesture as well as in every ' tone of his voice the man I saw was Mr. Buroott. If a thousand people who had | ■known and spoken to Mr. Burcott when I Jie was in the city saw and spoke to the I pan in Winnipeg, there would not be one fc of them who would not swear he was Mr. lurcott. Yon would swear to it too, H miss," he added, turning to Hespera, I '-■-■ ''just as certainly as you would swe'ar ?:; to his watch chain and his seal ring." II "Tho large, old-fashioned wgnet ring, I|C • r-six daws holding a white cornelian W; jtrith the Burcott crest on it?" she said. §p: ;: "Yes, miss. "There's the impression P;•;'. Ef it on that envelope Mr. Jarrow took ' one of his letters out of. I have noticed rthe ring on his finger scores of times in \ the city—l must know it almost as well i\: it you do." . : ; " Tell us about the camera, now, sno '/; paid, as Jarrow asked no question. " Well, miss, it was like this. I thought llltl would get a photograph of him. . When . he looked up and saw me, I got a snapi ! '' ""'■" ' "

shot of his full face. He knew what I had done. I saw his cheeks turn white with the rage he was in. • After just looking round to see there was nobody quite near, he almost ran at me. I put the camera behind my back, but he twisted me round and got it away—and then he threw it on the pavement as hard as he could and stamped on it three times with his heel. It was all flattened out when I picked it up." "A thousand pities there was no one near to prevent it/" Hespera said with a sigh of disappointment. " I think it was, miss," he answered. "I hid no doubt everything must have im\ spoilt, but I picked the camera up V'i.7 carefully—and when I got in I wrapped it. -up in brown paper and brought it Luck : 'h me. Lost night I took it to a f:iei 1 who lives closo to me in Wandsworth, and went into his dark room with him. He broke parts of the case away and got the film out. Although '■■■■> caid he felt sure it was no good trying, I persuaded him to put the film in the developer." " And the full face photograph was all right?" Hespera asked. "Part of it, miss. Most of it was spoilt, but the face came out as clear as any face could. Here is a print of it, miss —done on gas-light paper, so he called it." As Walters spoke, he produced the photograph from his pockot. For r.iany seconds Hespera studied it in silence. Then she oxamincd it under a different powered magnifying, glase which she took from the table. "I cannot Bay, Val," she said with something of disappointment in her tone as she handed him the photograph afod the glass. "It looks like Hugh. If it had boen shown me as the print of a snap-shot I had seen taken, I daresay I should have said it was a good likeness; but with the element of doubt about it, there is something which seems to tell me instinctively that it is somoone else." "To my mind," Valentine said slowly, "th* photograph instead of tending to throw light on the mystery ouly adds to it. If I had never seen the man I saw in Norwich, I should 6ay that beyond doubt the photograph is a photograph of Hugh— with a beard and rather stouter in the face. If I could produce a photograph of the man I saw in Norwich you would all of you say it was one of Hugh, with a beard, but in this case no fuller in the face than when last you saw him in this room. Weighing both sides, I still adhere to my conviction that the man I saw was Hugh. I cannot think otherwise. Time of course may prove which is right—it may prove that Air. Walters is right and I am wrong."

CHAPTER XVn. STILL DEEPER.

"To sura up the situation," Jarrow said after a brief pause, the photograph —I should like to say wo all appreciate your smartness in thinking of taking it, Mr. Walters— not at present help us in any way. It may be a photograph of Hugh or it may be one of Preston. You, Mr. Roper, feel certain the man you saw in Norwich was Hugh, while you, Mr. Walters, feel equally sure that you saw and spoke to him in Winnipeg. At present, the only useful, if vague, conclusions we can form* are those based on probabilities." "Will you give your view as to probabilities Valentine said. '•' Certainly," the lawyer answered,—' "although the new matters now introduced cover only very little ground and do not bring- much grist to the mill. Mr. Walters—" He paused as he glanced at Valentine and Hespera. Valentino was not slow in interpreting Lis meaning, "Miss Burcott and I have talked it "ver ; " he said. " Mr. Walters, standing in the position'of confidential agent to her, is already familiar with bo much of this wretched affair that we have no wish to keep him in ignorance of anything. We both feel that we are justified i:\ relying on both his confidence and discretion." "I would cut my right hand off rather than breathe a word about anything to anybody after all Miss Burcott's. kindness," the little man said emphatically. "My present view as to probabilities," Jarrow went on as though there had been no digression, "is that the weight of deductive evidence is in favour of the Winnipeg man being Hugh. Preston in Canada could not have communicated with Hugh in England between the time of the first interview with Mr. Walters at the office and the assault for the purpose of securing the letter; would Preston, knowing how the slightest slip of his might affect adversely the structure of such a delicately woven scheme, take upon himself the responsibility of robbing Mr. Walters of the letter without Hugh's knowledge or approval? I cannot look upon it as possible; such an action might be absolutely fatal to that part of the scheme— and there must be such a part— aims at making us take a certain view of certain thinss. Therefore, believing the idea of robbing Mr. Walters of the letter to be an idea which only at the eleventh hour came into the mind of the man in Canada, I cannot help believing that this man in Canada is Hugh." "Begging Mr. Roper's pardon, sir," 1 Walters said, " I feel sure you will find in time that you are right." " Possibly. We shall see. For the prelooking at Hespera—" we assume at every point, and are in all ways guided by this assumption, that the man in England is not Preston, but Hugh. It is not necessary for me, Mr. Walters," he continued, noticing the puzzled expression which had come into the little man's face at these words, "to enter into what would be a long and also an undesirable explanation. I suppose you have heard everything about this very sad murder of poor old Gooch?" " I heard everything about it directly I got here, sir." "The old man's crutch," Jarrow said, as he wrinkled his forehead and half closed his eyes, "was, so I learned this morning, not found with the body It is in existence somewhere. The police will make a more or lees perfunctory search for it. It is quite sure Gooch was not killed up by the ditch— could never have been lured to such a spot. He was murdered elsewhere. Where he was > murdered, or very near it, the crutch in all probability is hidden. I have a particular reason—which, as there may after all prove to be nothing in it, I will not enlarge upon— wishing the crutch to be found bv someone other than one of the police, Save I your permission, Miss Burcott, to ask Mr. Walters to undertake the search ?"

'• Certainly," she answered. "I will work at it from morning till night, miss," the little man said. "Then please start immediately," said Jarrow. " There are still a few hours of daylight. And mark these words carefully: if you should happen to find anything at all—anything at all, mind you— besides the crutch, and possibly the old man's hat as ,well, you are to hand it to me before a word is said about it." 1 "It shall be done, sir. H you will excuse me, miss, I will start this very minute," and he turned and hurried from the room. " And now, will you two young people come with me?" the lawyer then said. " I want to examine for myself the place where the body was found.' They left Burcott Hall without loss of time. Crossing the stile near the cottage in which Gooch had lodged, they kept to the footpath till they reached the field partly bordered by the ditch in which the body had been discovered. As they entered the field, their eyes fell on the figures of four men who were making their way in the direction of the ditch. They were the inspector, a policeman, and two men in plain clothes, one of whom was leading a couple of bloodhounds.

The inspector turned and saw them. Signing to his subordinate to go on with the others, he waited till Valentine, Hespera and Jarrow came up to him. "You are just in time, Miss Burcott and gentlemen," he said as he saluted them. "Colonel Luoas from Cambridge has come down with his bloodhounds. The chief wired 'and asked him to. He is going to try if they can hit off a line of scent."

(To be continued on Saturday next.)