SYLYIA'S SUITORS

New Zealand Times, Volume LII, Issue 12074, 27 February 1925, Page 4

SYLYIA'S SUITORS

A POWERFUL STORY OF LOVE AND MYSTERY.

(PUBLISHED BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT.)

By

Louis Tracy.

-'Author of "There Was No Other Way,”. "One. Wonderful Night.” "The House of Storm," "Rainbow Island," Etc., Etd. » [COPYRIGHT.]

CHAPTER XVI —THE CLOSE OP A TRAGEDY.

• Winter was in the Quarry Wood, and- feeling liis way by trusting to Itartds arid feet, when he heard; and soAtt; saw, Fumeans and . the two eonstadWes coming towards him. The lit—-tle-r detective held the electrit; torch above his head, and was striding- on without looking to right or left. The bitterness of defeat was in his face. Life had turned to gall and wormwood. As the expressive -American phrase has ,it, he was chewing riud. The superintendent smiled. He knefr whnt torment, his friend was Buffeting. "Hello, there!” he said gruffly, and the,, three men jumped, for their i-eryes were on edge. JSo>h, it's you, Napoleon.” yelped Furjjeiiux. "Behold Souit and his amidr corps, come to explain how Sir John Moore dodged him at Corunna ” t'Sou’ve lost your man, then?”. Scotched the job at the moment of viefiry. And all through a ropeeflOF’

'‘■Tush! That ian’t in your line.” “Must I be lashed by your wit, toot' The rope wss applied to me, not to Fenjey. “Tbit don’t meniv to say, sir,’' broke in one of the astounded policemen, “that you think Mr Hilton killed hia own father.’’ “Was it you who got that punch in'the tun mi-?"’ “Yetf sir.’ - ‘lfell, save your breath. You’ll want it When the muscles stiffens? Cri* nom "d’lrh nipe! To"’think ' that 1,. Furneaux of the Yard, should queer tho finest pitch I ever stood on.” “Ob, come now. - Chafles,” said Wir-ter,-‘.l)oli’t cry- over spilt milk,-. YoiiT! 'catch »Fenley. all right befof? the - weather chatigw. What • really happened?” Aware of the paramount necessity of suppressing h.is personal woes. Furneaux at £uce gave a graphic and anc-‘ citwrfc account of Fenley’s imminent, capture and escape. Ke was scrupiiloUely fair, and exonerated his assistants frata any share of the blame, 'if,, indeed, anyone ctttld be held account-:, able for the: singular accident iwhioir prectpitatsd matters • bv a few vital aseonds. Had Fer.ley reached ’he t round before the torch revealed the effective's presence, the latter would, have closed with him instantly',' throwing the torch »?ide and this tabing the prisoner at the disadvantage which the fortune of - var had brought to bear against, the- law. Furueaux was wiry though slight, and iio WJtffct oerbainjy have held !bis mean unpit reinforcements came, nor WouM thp constables’ lamps have behn cx- ; tinguishod during rhe melee. “Then he has vanished, rifle and Winter, when, Furneaux bad made an end. l ‘As though the earth had swallowed him;* a thousand years ago it would have done so,” wds the humiliated con- • feseion. “None of you have any notion which, direction he took?” -‘I; received such a whack on the skull that I belipve he-disappeared ..in fire,” c-aicl Furneaux. “My friend here,’' turning to the policeman, who had voiced his amazement at the suggessSsn that Hilton Fenley was a murdeiw, “was in “the position of Bret Harte’s ;negro lectnrer on geology,: whH» this other stalwart thought be hadjjeen kicked by a horse. We soon' reowered. but had to grope for each ether. , J?hen I called the heavens to witness that I was dished.” “That gave us a chance of salvage, anyhow,” said Winter. “I ’phoned the Roxton inspector, and he will block the roads. When he has communicated with St. Albans and some other cen- 1 tree we should have a fairly wide net , spread. Bates is coming from the lodge to take charge of a search party to scour the woods. We want that A rifle! He must have dropped it somey?h«e. He’ll make for a station in morning. He daren’.t tramp theTieouiitry, without a hat and in -a bladf- - euit.” Winter was trying to put heart into his colleague, hut Furneaux was not to be Comforted. The truth waa that the blow’ on fhe head had been a very severe - one. Unfortunately, be had changed his hard straw hat for a soft b5P_ which gave hardly any. protection. Had Fenley’s perch been a few inches lower when he delivered that vindictive thrust. Scotland Yard would probably have;, lost one of its most zealous officers.

SS*i Furneaux said nothing, having te say that was fit for the ears of .the local constabulary, and Winter, suggested that they should return to the mansion and give Bates ’ instnictmns. Then he, Winter, would telephone headquarters, have tho main roads- watched, and the early Continental trains kept.under surveillance FuTneaux, torch in hand,' at once led the way. Thus the party was visible before it entered the avenue and two young people who had bridged months of ordinary acquaintance in one moment cf tragedy, being then on fhe roadway, saw the gleam of light, and waited. “Good!” cackled the little detective, when his glance fell on -them. “I’m glad to see "fh'ere’s one lire man in the bunoh. 1 presume jou’ve disposed of Mr Robert Fenley, Mr TrenholmeP” "J6*.” »aid the artist, “His affafty seem - , to be common property. His brother evidently he was out-of-doors, and now you ’’ Farneaffx woko no at that. ‘ Hi* brother 1 How can you know what' his brother knew?” “Mr Hilton Fenley saw -Miss Manmyself, and mistook mo for “Saw you? Wftcr.?” ■‘About five minutes ago, on the other side of the wood.” “What did he say—quick?” “Ho told me tnat the shooting was the outcome nf your efforts to catch some man hiding among tho trees. - ’ “Of my efforts?” "ne didn’t mention you by name.

The words he Used were ‘the* police.'He was taking part in the chase, 1 suppose.” \ “Which way did he go?” Trenholme hesitated. Not only Was he not quite conversant with the locality,- btlt his shrewd Wits had. reached a certain conclusion, and he did Hot Wish to he too outspoken before Sylvia. Surely she had borne sufficient for one day. Thereupon the girl herself broke in. “Hilton went towards the cedars. He may be making for the eastern gate. Have you caught any man?’’ “Not yet, Miss Manning,” said tVinTer, assuming control of the situation with a firm hand. “I advise you to go straight to your room ,and not stir out ; again to-night. There will be ,no mote disturbance—l promise you that.”

Even the chief of the C.I.D, can erf when he prophesies. At that instant the two lines of trees lost their impenetrable blackness. Their, foliage sprang into ‘ red-tinted life as though the witches of the Brocken had chosen a new meeting-place, and a Crackling, tearing sound rent the air. “Oh!” screamed Sylvia, who chanced to be facing the mansion, “the House ft on fire!”

They were standing in a group almost where P.O. Farrow had stood at ten minutes past ten . the previous morning. Hence, they were aware of this addition to the day’s horrors before the house servants, who, headed by Tomlinson, were gathered on and heaT thc. ffignt of: steps at the entrance. Every female servant in the establishment was there as well, not outside the door, but quaking in the hall. Macßain was the \Jfirst among the . men to. realise what was happening. ' -He caught the lpud' clang, of- ad automatic fire alarm ringing m his room, and at once calltd the house fire brigade to run out the hose, while he dashed upstairs .into the north com-, dor, from which a volume of smoke Was pouring.“Good heavens!” he cried, on reaching the cross gallery-;' “it’s in Mr Fenrooms!” > ;> i ■ Mr r'etiley’s-roqtns t„ NojJaeed to Jell the '-wHich 1 - rooms he meant. 4,.,.fire wpi raging in the private suite of the dead mail! The residence was singularly well equipped with fire-extinguishing appliances, Mortimer Fenley had Ween' to that. Hand grenades, carbonic . acid gas generated by mixing Water with acid and alkali, were stored in convenient places, and there was a plentiful supply of water from many Tho north afiu south. gfll* leries looked on to an internal courtyard, so there was every chance oi isolating the outbreak 'if it were tackled vigorously, and no fault could be foupd with either the spirit OrThe training of the amateur’ brigade. Consequently, only two rooms, a bedrdßm and adjoining dressing-room, were well alight; these were burnt out completely. A sitting-room, on one side was badly scorched, as was a spare room on the other, but the men soon knew that ..they ’ had checked the further progress of the flames, and were speculating, while they worked, as to the cause of a fire originating m a set of empty apartments, when Parker, Mrs Fenley’s personal attendant, came sobbing and distraught to Sylvia. "Oh, , misi,” she cried,. ‘ oh- miss, where is your aunt?” ■ , “Isn’t Mrs Fenley in her roomr asked the girl, yielding to a sense of neglect in not having gone to see if Mrs Fenley was alarmed, though the older woman was not in the slightest danger. The two mam section of the building were separated by an open space of 40 feet, and The Towers had exceedingly thick walls. ‘‘No. miss. I can’t Imd n©r any* where t” said the woman, well aware that if anyone was at fanlt, it was herself. "You know when I saw you. went back then, and she was sleep, ing so I thought I could leave her safely. ' Oh. miss, what has become of her? Maybe she was aroused by the shooting.” All hands that could be spared from the fire-fighting operations engaged instantly in an active search, hut there •was no clue to Mrs Fenley’s disappearance, beyond an open door and a miss, ing night-light. The electric current wag shut off at the main at midnight, except on a special oirouit communicating with the hall, the courtyard, and Mac-Bain’s den, where he had control of these things., High and low they hunted, without avail, until Macßain "himself stumbled over a calcined body in the murdered banker’s bedroom. ' The poor creature had waked to some sense of disaster. Vague memories of the' morning’s hbr. ror, had led her, night-light in her hand, to the spot where she fancied she would find the one person on earth in whom she placed confidence, for •Mortimer Fenley had always treated, her with kindness, even if his methods were not in accord with the-commonly accepted moral code. Presumably, on discovering that the rooms were empty, some further glimmering of knowledge had stirred her benumbed consciousness. Bhe may have -flung herself on the bed in a paroxysm of weeping, heedless of the overturned night-light and the hayoc .it caused. That, of course, is sheer guesswork, though the glass dish which held the light, which was found later on the charred floor, which was protected, to sdfnh extent by a thick carpet, At any rate, she had not long survived the husband who had given her a pomp and circumstance for which'she was ill-fitted. They were buried in the same grave, and’ Hertfordshire sont its thousands’to the funeral;

(To be continued.)