A DAUGHTER OF MYSTERY.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 5668, 16 August 1905, Page 2

A DAUGHTER OF MYSTERY.

[All Rights Reserved.] bt R. NORMAN SILVER CHAPTER LI. (conrinuod.) An hf.ur afterwards he was wisiiirbet. and ordered to i eliow a waHlei. i irroue/t passages aiul corridors ii© wa' led into the cohhie-stoned yard of Hie prison, and commanded to fall into a lino ooiisistiii" of a varied assortment t,f hinnauity under remand, some decently. some miserably c 'lnd. ••'A hat the dickens is this for.' asked the Captain, but was merely warned not to talk. The lino of men swayed in tlie morning sun that stole satin, down from the high walls and towels about them. Presently there cam© out into the prison yard a couple of fellows in cniliau tcHiimo. With them was a vour-e an 1, simple dressed, very neivous and pitiful. ' The three came befo:o the Waiting rank and Lie girl smdied it- To Julius Blake she was absolutely unknown.

.V single second sho stood and then pointed—at the Captain himself. One of the civilians wiif'nlly mistook her and touched the Captain's neighbour on t ho chest.

"This man?” ho queried, but the gir. shook her head and with a reluctant linger indicated most nmmstnkably Julius liiake. Without knowing why, llie Captain trembled: there was something at onoo so pititul and shrinking about the innocent young figure. Puzzled and indefinably anxious, Julius Blake was again escorted to Ins cell. A trifle later in the day lie was recalled a second time to the outer world, put into a cab with the same two civilians whom he had seen in the morning, anti driven under the frowning archway of the prison into the I roe air.

The Captain sought to question Ins escort, but his inquiries proved fruitless. All that bo succeeded in learning was that they wore bound for Row .StrooL Ho could not help connecting (ho sudden journey with bis.experience of the mornmg. “There's something wrong somewhere,” he told himself; T don’t know the girl from Eve—it's a case of ini.slaken identity, that’s what it is.” But ho was terribly uneasy all the same.

As the cab sped along Julius Blake gazed with a novel interest at the sunny streets and the moving crowds, so indiffeient to their greatest boon, liberty. A pair of line roans bowled by, a smart victoria behind them, a pretty woman in it with a gay parasol. .V sense of Ids fettered condition seized upon Hie Captain, and lie could have shrieked aloud. Ho put up his chained bands to Ids eves: life had boon sweet after nil. He 'pitied iumself; under bis grey moustache ho gnawed at ids lip. ills custodians regarded him impassively.

‘ Can't you say something,” !m cried out suddenly; ‘give me a cigarette, one of you.”

The detective on his right sighed—the love of tobacco is a masculine bond! —’Offered him tho Header thing and iit it. Julius Blake drew in ’ the while smoke hungrily.

“Toll mo,” lie asked, “what won the Jubilee Stakes?”

“Asterisk,” said the fellow who had given him the oigarotto. “Where was Impudence ?” demanded the Captain. “Third,” he was answered. “Curse my luck!” said Julius Blake; “1 should have backed it both ways.” He said no more, but finished his cigarette in silence. At Bow Street he was put in a room at the roar of til© Court. Tea minutes later Jio was entering the dock. Astonished, ho gathered the significance of what was going on. He was being liberated—no evidence was to be offered; the charge was withdrawn. The magistrate seemed oddly indifferent, he thought; not a word about there being no stain oa bis character. Well, what were tho odds, so long as ho was fro©? Ho went out of the dock a trifle dazed—the whole thing had boon so unexpected’. As lie reached the floor, on© of tho two civilians who had accompanied him in tho cab—the man who had given him the cigarette—touched him on the shoulder.

“You are my prisoner, Captain Blake,” ho said; “I am an inspector in tho Berkshire County Police, and 1 arrest you on a warrant.”

“What's the charge nojv?” snarled the Captain.

“Murder!” answered tho other, producing the document. “You are accused of murdering the Honourable Hector Sanderson, of Capetown, South Africa, on November the second of last year, in Ducio Park—look out, Bob,” h© interrupted himself to warn his assistant. The two men caught at Julius Blake’s tottering body as it pitched over. He had fainted. CHAPTER LII. A GREAT SHADOW LIFTS. “What are yon thinking about, Angela dearest?” -'lts Armstrong asked the question from tho depths of a wicker loungechair that stood on tho lawn at Cedar Ledge. The pleasant shade of the tall tree from which the villa took its title swept across her as sh© sat with her book in her lup. Angela stirred in her hammock—a fresh young figure, all white muslin, save for tho roses crowning her hi" Leghorn hat. “

' Ll'—of Frank, dear All’s Armstrong,” she said softly. Her. hostess smiled a little sadly. “Oh, you young married people!” was tier tolerant answer. Angola abandoned her hammock and came to settle hersell upon a cushion at the elder womaiiis side.

T am very selfish,” she whispered • i ka'p on forgetting your trouble in my own happiness.” "Not my trouble,” said Mrs Armstrong* siowly ; ‘-the little tragical last act to my drama, tho end of inv troubles. Thank hea.ven that Vivian did not succeed in spoiling your life • thank heaven that lie failed to blot hi.s own as deeply as he wished. You

have married a good man, my dear, be very glad all your days/' Angela sighed and fell into a reverie. When sho roused it was to cry out joyfully. "Here they are, Mrs Armstrong 115I 15 she exclaimed, and springing up. ran ac-ro-e ihe sunny garden toward', the wirl:et-gate. Mrs Hannibal Skinncr had entered it and was Hying no les> eagerly towards Angela. Dottio hugged her friend ecstatically.

"I camo over alone,” sho said. “Mr Orme and Hanni had to stop at the station for something or other—to telegraph about your luggage, Angela, the boxes that went wrong, yon remember them, coming from Bourncmomh. Viioy are taking a fly here—our husbands. not the boxes/’

Angela noticed the tremor in Dottie’s usually linn tones, but attributed it to embarrassment at airs Armstrong's presence: sho began to put the visitor at her ease with that poison. Mrs Armstrong chatted pleasantly—.die liked Hannibal Skinner. But she was astute enough to perceive that Dmlio had something on her mind, and wondered what it might bo. (To bo concluded.)