CHAPTER X.—WHERE MISS MOCRE WAS GOING.

Otago Witness, Issue 2410, 10 May 1900, Page 53

CHAPTER X.— WHERE MISS MOCRE WAS GOING.

I was a relief to cease breathing Ihe atmosphere of an apartment which was contaminated by the presence of Mr Tom Moore. At leost. Ihr.t was what I felt when I was being driven with Miss Adair towards Imperial Mansions. Apparently that was her own feeling. "Nice sort of brother that. He's a man." " But what a sister ! She's a woman." She seemed to suspect me of a satirical intention.

" I don't fancy, iur Ferguson; that ail Avornen are built exactly on Bessie's lines." " Would that they Avere. Miss Moore is of the stuff of Avhich our mothers should be made."

She looked at me a little sideways ; I was conscious of it, though I myself looked straight ahead.

"Are you married, Mr Ferguson?" J do not knoAv why she should have asked me such a question at that particular moment, nor why the blood heated my cheeks. I answered shortly : " No ! lam not so fortunate." " Ah ! I shouldn't be surprised if you were so fortunate, a little later on."

Her tone conveyed a world of meaning ; though what was its significance I could not tell. I .suspected her of hinting at> something which 1 should resent ; but how to set about the discovery of what she meant I did not know. She continued :

' Suppose — I say suppose, just for the sake of argument — suppose it turns out that Bessie has killed this — man, I wonder what would happen?"'

"I decline to suppose the impossible." " But how can you say that it's impossible? You're not in a position to jadge; 3'ou know nothing of her character, her disposition. She's a stranger — to you." " I know enough of her to be sure that she is incapable of anything uiiAvorthy.'"

"But how do you 'know? — my dear sir, how? From Avhat you tell me she hasn't said -an intelligent thing co you ; she's been in a condition of ' non compos mentis' ever- since you set eyes upon her. After an hour's exchange of coiwersational bonbons with a lunatic woman, hoAV can you tell Avhat she's like when she's sane?" " Miss Adair, if you are coming as Miss Moore's friend, be her friend ; if not, I rn'll stop the cab — you shall go back again."' She Avas silent for a second or two. I suspected her of Stirling a smile. " Thank you. You need not stop the cab." She looked at me, mischief in her eyes. " I believe, Mr Ferguson, that you're a Scotchman."

There is Scotch blood in my veins'; I did not see why she should charge it against me as a fault. I told her so. She laughed outright. ' Miss Adair was a charming wqinan, but I will 'own that I Avas glad wlien.ws reached our destination. She Avas in a provoking mood ; as she showed by the remark she made as she got out of the cab. ' " Noav to interview this ideal conception of Avhat our mothers should be." I did not reply. I followed her into the lift. " The top floor,' I 'said. Bin as Aye were passing the first floor, she started from her seat. " There's Bessie !" she cried.

From where I sat, as I turned my head, I was just in time to see my last night's visitor vanish round the corner of the staircase. We were ascending. I told the lift-man to return. When he had done so, and we were out upon the landing, the lady Avas already some distance along the corridor. She had passed my rooms, and was moving rapidly towards No. 64. ' "Where is she going?" asked Miss Adair. '• Bessie!"'

Her call went unheeded. Apparently ih& other did not near. She continued to hasten from us, as if she were making fc-r a particular goal, with a well-defined purpose in view. I thought it probable that the dead man's body was still somewhere in'his chambers, and that certainly all the plain evidences of the tragedy Avould be studiously left untouched. "Quick!" 1 exclfiimed. " She> doesn't know Avhat she is doing ; she is going to Lawrence's room, where he lies murdered. We' must stop her before she gets there." We huried in pursuit, but had only gone a few yards when someone caught me by the -arm. I had previously realised that someone else was standing in the corridor, but my attention had been too much, engrossed by Miss Moore to permit of my noticing who it was. T now perceived that it was Hume. He gripped my arm with what seemed unnecessary force, his countenance betraying a degree of agitation of which I had not thought him capable. "Ferguson!" he cried. "Miss Adair! What is Miss Moore doing here?" His recognition surprised me, even at such a moment. "Do you know her? " "I believe I have that pleasure." His words sounded like a sneer, they were so bitterly uttered. "But what's the meaning of it all? I spoke to her ; but shs passed without a sign of recognition. What's the matter with her? She looks ill: where's r-hu pfoiug? " "She's going to Lawrence's room." " Fcrcrusou ! " Tho increased pressure of his gidsp showed that lus strength was greatci than I imagined. '" What's she— goh).^ there for?"

"My business is lo plop her going at all; net to star.*.! hoie «»uh\v&vln e j idiotic questions."'

I hrnko from him. The delay, lvicf though it had' been, -was sufficient to baffle my intentions. Miss Moore had arrived at No. 64. A policeman \va.» "without, seemingly acting as guardian ■ ox the portal.

."Is this the ivoin in which Mr Edwin Lawrence vms killed ? "

Although I was still at some distance from her, I could heor her ar-k the question with the direct simplicity cf a iictlu child. The officer stared at k*r a; if he could not make her oufc.

"Yes, miss, but yoii |'»-t gV in , r VJ?fI orders are to admit r»o tfi-e Avithout mstr'uci tions. What's your n-"ae and your buw'\ ness? " " ' " Let me pass ! ' Putting out her arm, and touching him ou the chest, she Avaved him aside Avith nn imperious gesture, as if she Avere .t sovereign queen. In. an instant she Avas through the door. I Avas on him directly she had passed from sight. " " ■ '"You idiot! Why did you let her enter? " *

The man seemed bewildered.

" Let her? There Avasn't much letting about it. For a lady she's about as cool a hand as ever I saAV."

He perceived that my intention was to folioAV. " Now then, none of that ! You can't go in there! Don't you hear me say

" You ass ! "

I must have taken him by the shoulders more vigorously than I intended ; he went spinning doAvn the passage until the wall brought him to a standstill. Then I Avenb after Mi&s Moore into the dead m . i' s room, Miss Adair and Hume hard upon my heels

CHAPTER XI.— IN THE ONE ROOM

—AND THE OTHER.

Edwin LaAvrence was one of the most finical men I li^d ever met on the subject of draughts. A properly- ventilated apartment &et him shivering, bA'en. in the middle of summer. Ths lamtest susjucion^ of a healthy current of air made him turn up the collar oi his coat. i\o room coukl b?~too stuffy for him. All his dooi\> and Avindows he screened Avith heavy hungingg. Behind the curuiins Avhich veiled the entrance into his dining room I lingered, for a moment, to glance betAveen the A'oluminous folds, ilisri Moore Avas standing about the centre of the room. Something in the expression of her lace, and in htr attitude, caused me to hesitate. I checked the ad- > A r ance of Miss Adair and Hume, avlio pressed on me .behind. "Wo it ! " 1 Avhispered. " I Avant to sco Avhat she is going to do."

I would rather have been unaccompanied ; Hume's society in particular I could have done Avithout. But I could hardly s induce him to AvithdraAV Avithdut disturbing the girl Avithin. That, all at once, I felt indisposed to do. At any and every risk I Avanted light ; to. bring her back into the full possession of her reason. It needed but a brief glance to perceive th.vt, in her present environment, she might pass ttirough some sort of crisis which Avould bring about th.c 'result I so ardently desired. The cons-.to.ble had followed us into the room. He showed a disposition to require our retreat. I took him by the fchouider :

"Be still, man ; you Avill do your duty beat by holding your tongue." He perceived that there Avas reason > in what I said. He held his tongue, and

1 held his shoulder.

Miss Moore Avas looking round as if something in the appearance of the .room struck' a chord in her memory, and she Avas endeavouring to discover Avhat it was. She put her hand up to her forehead Avith the gesture Avitli Avhich I had become familiar.

" i have been in this room before — surely I have. I se&m to knoAv it all quite well ; but I can"t think when I saAV it, or lioav. I can't make it out at all ! " , She Avas glancing about her Avith beAvildered eyes as if seeking for some familiar object Avhich would serve as a, clue towards the solution of the puzzle. At last something arrested her attention ; it Avas the tell-tale stain upon the carpet. She Avas standing Avithin a yard or tvo of the spot on v/hich 1 had discovered

Lawrence lying. His body Avas gone, but his blood remained behind — a lurid disfigurement of the handsome floorcloth. She. stared at it.

"What is it?" She stooped doAvn ; she touched it witli her linger tips an odd little tremor seemed to come into her A r oice. '' It — it's dry. Why shouldn't it be dry? What — what is it? " Still stooping, she covered her face with her hands, as if struggling to rouse iier dormant" memory. " It seems to bring something back to me. Something; — something horrid! What- can it be? Ob !"

She started upright, Avith a little exclamation. A neAv look came on her face — a suggestion of fear, of horror. She Avas all at once on the alert, as if in expectation of something of AvMch she "had cause to be afraid.

"This is Avhere Mr EdAvin LaArrence was killed — killed ! " Again that look of puzzlement. "That meant, that he was — murdered! Murdered! He fell like that."

She mads a sudden movement, as if to hurl herself headlong to the floor, which Avas so realistic that I started forward to save her from a, fall. It was only a feint ; in an instant she was back in her original position.

" Leb me see lioav it Avas. He Avas here, and I Avas there."

She moA r ed from one place to another, as if endeavouring to recall a scene in AA r hich she had taken part. It seemed to come back to her in fragments. " I said, ' I'll kill you ' ; because I felt like killing him. And then — then he laughed. He said, ' Kill me ! How Avill you be better oft" for that?' And that made me Avorse. X. made up my mind that —that I'd kill him."

She paused. I shuddered, clutching the curtains tighter. Although I did not turn to look at them, I knew that there was something strange on the faces of Miss Adair and Hume ; that even the constable was moved to a display of unusual interest. A faint Avhisper reached me from the - lady. '

''Stop her! Don't let her go on!" [ Avas conscious of a weakness in my throat, which male my voice sound as if J were hoarcft, 3's I whispei'ed a reply: " I shan't attempt to stop her. I shall let her &;>.a' all that she has to say. I'm not afraid."

I felt her pul! at my con! bleeA-e, ns a dog might do to show its sympathy. Thi< gii-1 Avithin continued. She had pub hei hands up to her brow again*, and seemed battling AA^ith her tr.ipid facilities. Through all that follwti!, in spite of tha emotion which sometimes would grip me hs

the throat, I Avas conscious -of the singular quality of ncr oeaufcy, Avhich seemed to increase ,as her agitation , grew. Strangely out of keeping with the dreadful nature of some of the things she said was the air of innocence which accompanied them. She depicted herself as playing a leading part ' in a hideous tragedy, Avith the direct simplicity of a little child Avho .confesses to faults of whose capital importance it has not the faintest "notion. ■

"Did I kill him?" Did I? Not then, no, • not then. Then he came in, and it be- ' gan all .over again, right from the begin- ' ning ; and — we quarrelled. We both said we Avould kill mm, both of us ; and he laughed. The more we said that avc would kill uiin the more he laughed. And that —that made us worse. Then — then it came in. It! It!" . '

She shuddered. A look of abnormal terror came on her face. She covered her t eyes, uttering cries of panic fear. j

"Don't! Don't! 1 won't! I Avon't! You mustn't make me, you mustn't ! Don't let it come near me! Don't let it touch me ! I can't bear to thmk of its touching me ! Oh !" . j With a gasp, uncovering her eyes, she , stared affrightedly at something which she seemed to see in front of her. '

"What is it? I'm not afraid. Why "should I be afraid? There" is nqthing the matter. I am not so easily -frightened. I said I would kill him, but not like that, not like that. Did I 4-ay I'd kill him? Yes. And 1 did! I did! But I didn't mean to. Did I mean to? l don't know Perhaps I meant to. He says I meant to, and perhaps ne knows. ' She stood staring in front of her, -with blank, unmeaning gaze. Then, giving herself a little shake, she seemed to wake out ox a sort of a dream ; and to be surprised at finding herself where she was. " What is the matter with me? Am I going mad? This is the room, and yet, although I know it, I can't think what room it i.«. Something happened to me here which haunts me ; and though I'm afraid to try to think what it was, I cyn't help trying". Why did I come here? It was very silly, "it was because lie — lie told me "that — iidwin Lawrence was killed here.

"Edwin Lawrence? Wli3t had that man to do with me? Lawrence? I feel as it I ought to know- the name. There were two of them, and one — one was killed. Oh, I remember all! I can hear that horrid noise. I can see the Knives: — the knives! And I can see tne blood, as he falls right down upon his face, and *fche hack, hack, hacking ! - I didn't do it ! I didn't do it ! Did I— do it?" - She looked about her with an agony of appeal which it was terrible to ' witness. My heart- sank within my 'breast." At that moment I could not have gone to her even had I tried.

" "Let me see— how did it happen? He" stood here, and— the other laughed ; and then thete came the knife — the long, gleamins knife — and struck him in the back'; and he looked round, and — I saw his face. j •His face ! What a face ! It w?-< as if i lie were looking into hell. Don't look at me — not like that. I can't help you! It's too late! Turn your face away : don't let me see it ; it isn't fair. It was the devil did it— the devil! It wasn't I. And then it took him by tlie throat, with a dozen hands, and with a hundred knives cut at his face, until, before my eyes, I raw him losing his likeness to a man..* And then it loosed him.', and the great^ knifestruck him from Hie back, and he fell on Ms face — what was his face, and then ths ' hack, hack, hacking! And all the Una that horrid noise.' • ' She held up her arms in an anguish of supplication. " Oh, Lord, in what have I offended that this thing should come upon ins? If I have einned, surely my punishment is greater than my sin ; that you should lay this burden on me, to bear for ever, and for ever, and for ever ! Take it from me, let me wake to find it is a dream-— the j nightmare of a haunted night ! For if it should be true, if it should be true, what is there for me but the torture fires of an 'eternal hell? Have mercy on me, Lord,

have mercy!"' _ ! She broke into a paroxysm of sobbing. Sb.3 shed no tears, tiers were dry sobs ; "but it seemed as if they were tearing her , to pieces. Then they cea-ssd. Again a shudder went all over her, and again she seemed to come back to a curious wakefulness, out of a fevered dream. '•I'm not well; I can't be; I wish I were. It is as if I were two persons, and each keeps losing the other. Can there be two persons in one body? My brain j seems blurred — as if it were in two parts. , When I am using one part, the other--the other's all confus.ee!. it's not as it should be. I feel sure that I haven't always been like this ; something must have hajjpened to make me so. "When I try to ; think what it is, I'm afraid ; and yet 1 can't kelp trying. I know — I know it was in this room it happened ; but what could ! it have been? What brought me to thib room at all? When was it that I came? j

" There's something in my head that [ can't, catch hold of — it keeps eluding me. If I only could get hold of it, J"d understand—l'm sure I should. What would it be that I should understand? I'm afraid to ..think ! It's awful that I should be •pfraid of what would come to me if understanding came, especially as I Avant it so much to come. 1 s=eem to bs haunted ; is it by a vision, or by some thing which really happened? I wish I could £.ifc down and quietly think it out. If I could put the E" ieces" of the puzzle together I might now what it mean*. But. l can't; I'm all restless; I can't keep still.

" Why is it that I am always seeing this man lying dead upon the floor? Why do I seem to be striking at his back? It is so strange. It is not a knife I'm striking with, not a common knife; it is something different — and worse. It comes out of nothing; and, all the time, there's the noise.* It is not I who make the noise, no, I don't speak — I can': — I daren't — it's It. But it keeps on strike, strike, striking, - .and .the blood all comes übqo. aav

cloak. I knoAv I had a cloak on, I remember how it kept getting in my way. And then — he falls. And that's all — until it begins all 0A r er again, and I'm standing in a room, in the moonlight, and he sits up in bed and looks at me — he, my friend."

She held out her hands in front of her, with a pleasant inflection on the final word.

" And I can't think of Avhat took place before. I feel that I ought to knoAV who I am, and Avhat brought me here ; but I can't quite lay my hand on it. The people are there, but I can't quite make out their faces, or who they are, or Avhat they want Avith me. They all look at me, and I can hear them clapping. Then it all comes back to the man lying dead upon the floor ; that's where it all seems to begin and end. I wonder if I killed him. I wish I kneAv? It is so strange that I may have killed him and yet noAV knoAv. I know that he deserved to bs killed, but did I do it?"-

Glancing round, her eyes rested on the door in the opposite corner which led into LaAvrence's bedroom. She crossed to ifc. "What's in here? "

; She turned the handle and Avent in. I Avas at the door within five seconds of her ' passing through ifc; * iSiiss Adair, Hume, and the constable still at my heels. We must have presented a spectacle which Avas not without its-comic side as we Avent scurrying across the carpet. But what I saAv as I looked into that bedchamber banished from my mind all thoughts of the incongruous ; it 'must, for the tinie being, luiiVe paralysed the muscles of my body; or I do not think that I should haA'e remained for even so long as I did a silent witness of that piteous scene. One of the first things I realised Avas the presence in the room of Inspector Symonds. He, in company with, a colleague, Avas submitting the contents of the apartment to an official examination. As Miss Moore entered the tAvo men turned and stared — as Avell they might. She, on her pan, paid them no attention ; they ,Avere at her tack, in an alco>& formed by the bay of the window, in AA'hich stood a bureau Avhose dfaAvcrs they were ransacking. Her eyes saw one thing, and one thing only —something which lay under a sheet upon the bed. "What's that?" she asked herself. "What's under tile sheet?" She Avent toAvards the bed doubtfully, as • if uncertain as to the direction Avhich her adventure might bo taking. We- Avatched her, silent. 'The officials, I take it, Arere for the moment too much taken aback by her appearance to knoAV what to make j of her. While for me, that Avas one of the occasions in my life on which I lost my presence of nund. If I had knoAvn what to do, I could'not have _done it; my ner-ves were, all in. a flutter, like so many loose strings. She Avent close 'up to the bed; then stood still, looking down at the something Avhose shepe she saAv outlined. "What is it under the sheet?" ! She lifted up a corner, then let it fall. , " It's the man I saw lying" dead. ' I saw ] her tremble. A neAv look came on her face—half curiosity, half awe. '' I wonder if I should knoAV him if 1 saw him now? If it would all come back to me? I wonder if it would? " She turned doAA-n the sheet so as to pose the dead man's head and face. She stared at him Avith looks of growing horror. The terror of the sight seemed to be gradually forcing itself upon her brain. Stooping a little forward, she began to move ' farther and farther from the bed. Her voice became Ivusky: 1 I killed him; it hacked, hacked, hacked; his blood is on my cloak and ' hand?—the dead man lying on the floor." She stopped. The something on the bed apparently Had for her a dreadful fascination. She seemed to be in two minds as to whether or not to go close to it again, as if she Avould, and yet Avould not. Miss Adair touched me on the arm. i " Stop! Don't let her go to it! Don't!"' Her words and touch Avoke me from a sort of trance. I aAvoke to a clear realisation of the full horror of the situation — I the young girl, Avith lier poor, numbed brain, trying experiments on the man just murdered. i "You go to her,'' -I said. "See if she knoAvs you." It was time some friendly hand Avas interposed. Inspector Symonds and his colleague shovred signs "of intervention on their own account, and on lines of their OAvn. Miss Moore began to turn slowly towards the bed. j " I Avonder if I cguM make out where I , struck him, and Avheve it hacked." Miss Adair moved iorAvard. " Bessie ! ' she cried. The girl turned and raw her, and appeared to struggle Avith ihe darkness which | was in hey brain. The, contest seemed physical a& Avell as mental; she swayed to and fro ; I thought that she Avould fall. J Then reason got the tipper hand, a waA-o of consciousness swept over her. She drew I herself upright, and ran to Miss Adair. ] " Fiorrie ! ' f.he exclaimed. I She burst into tear?—real tears this tirno, not the dry sobs Avhich, a few minutes before, seemed to be, tearing her to pieces. She cried like a child. i 1 —~———