CHAPTER XI—PAUL READS THE RIDDLE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2818, 18 March 1908, Page 87

CHAPTER XI— PAUL READS THE RIDDLE.

ENIUCSK: Herriot was far too schooled in the art of selfrespect to ©how any surprise at the announcement that met Irim at the doer of the "Wilderness" farm. Mrs Beakin — suck -\rae the name of the -sister to -whom John Benjamin ' had referred as "Dinah" — looked as if ehe expected him to collapse in amazement, he merely remarked 1 : "Perhaps Miss Harden had occasion to change her plans, or was delayed' in her attempt to reach -this out-of-.th«-way spot. If ehe arrives later I shall be glad if you ■will communicate -with your brother at the inn." The good -woman eagerly assented, and as-.ehe evidently had not heard of the hat foand on the bank of the «tream and of the consequent excitement in the -village, Herriot did not deem it worth hk while to enlighten her. But as he retraced his eteps along the woodland paths he recognised "that an entirely new phase had been Introduced into "the "subject jnatter of his investigation. The scheme for withdrawing Mildred from Paul OBlythe'6 (persecution had broken down somewhere. But at -what point? At the finst iview it seemed that it .must have been aSter ithe .girl .had <laid the false trail on the liver bank and in the course of her midnight journey through the woods to the "Walderneas." Bat ifferriot -was ever prone to mistrust first .impressions and obvious conclusions. ~ (ponkl it bfi thfst tihe weight of gathering ; Suspicion and the prospect .of indefinite exile to that gruesome asylum m the clearing /had <toven her to seek reality inetead «f ipnetenee, 4hat she Jhad =aotu-> ally drowned iheraelf Tather -than faoe ithe futnpe? Or had the same -dasad inducedher jpartiaily *d .caeory *out the -deeegxtion - oonßCTred at "by Benjafield, substituting, ; however, a wider *ft%ht for the solitude of Mre ©eaMn's dreaiy homestead.? j in revolving these questions ilerrioi ' felt Tiimself at a disadvantage in not Jhasring seen Mildred Harden. He bad only

the word of an adoring lover to go npon that >she -was incapable of tho crime, a« yet unofficially, attributed t<>, hcr..^ TJ?-^ ' had been nothing in Norman's version of the story of the. &taf' night inconsistent with her r^uilt. On the contrary, as one used J& weighing the value of evidence, R.erriot wondered at the leniency of the ' rustic jury in letting her down so lightly. "It's quit c on the cards that she hit the 0 patyr over the head with a decanter, aw .small blame to her if he was misbehaving- himself," Herriot reflected. "Inwhich case her conscience or her fears may well have driven the poor thing to suicide, or to a more distant refuge than the 'Wilderness.' " When Herriot emerged from the woods into the water meadows, the men were still busy with their drags and grappling irons at the river, but in the interval they had moved considerably down stream, and nearer to the village, so that they were some distance off when he first saw them. He had a small pair of field glasses in his pocket, and drawing back into the shelter of the trees, he stood for a while surveying tbe scene. Even as he looked a new figure came into the focus of his glass, and at once diverted his attention from the group he had been watchin.g. This newcomer was a tall man in dark clothes, who was arriving at the opposite end of the water meadows from the direction of the village. ThougK his ultimate object must have been to join the searchers, seeing that he [ had left the footpath, he seemed in no hurry to do so, but strolled slowly .towards them along the bank of the river. The .glasses were good ones, and something furtive in the manner of the man's approach and "n his way of looking at the busy crowd, more -especially at tne policemen, rivetted Herriot 'b attention. Suddenly he saw the man, withdraw some object from his pocket and cast it into the middle of the stream, after which he quickened his pace and walked more boldly up to the group. Herriot could not descry what the object cast into the riveT was, but !he distinctly saw that its colour was light "blue. The whole impression stamped on his mind was that the tall man had thrown the blue thing into the river unseen by the search party, and that he had adroitly seized on the right moment for doing so. "That is curious," Herriot muttered, as he -replaced his field glasses and resumed his walk. Knowing that if a stranger were twice to ipa« a soene -of such without showing a natural curiosity about it •he !would be sure to excite remark himself, he quitted Jhe ,path and went over to the river bank. When lie came up the tall man. ,he had been watching was talking to 'the police inspector, but turned sharply at his approach and favoured him with a <keen scrutiny. The cruel under-jowl and hawk-like features of this individual did not favourably impress the skilled cha-racter-reader, who now -saw him at close quarters lor the -first time. "I fear there has been an accident?" said Heaxiot, affecting the inquisitiveness of a pedestrian tourist. j The inspector, -perceiving that -he had a well-dressed gentleman "to deal with, waxed graciously communicative. They I did not know yet, he ea'd, whether there had .been an accident or a suicide, or whej ther the whole thing had been what he tersely described as "a plant. " The young lady 'who Tvas missing, he added significantly, wa6 the governess from Monkswood ■Chase — the same whose name had been in the papers in connection -with the inquest on Sir Bevy 6 -Blythe. Herriot felt the eyes of the tall stranger ■on him as he listened, and he made up •his mind rapidly. He wanted abjifre all thingp to see Paul Blythe, and he also wanted an excuse for showing an impersonal interest in the startling series of events that wer© happening in the village. If he was not mistaken, this tall, blue-chinned man was as keen a physiognomist as he was himeelf, and had noticed his eager attention to the inspector's words. The role he would play would furnish the pretext he desired. "By Jove, but this is a piece of luck !" ha exclaimed excitedly. "I don't know if 1 ought to tharik you or detest you, inspector, for spoiling ,a .well-earned holiday. T am on the staff of the Daily Lynx, and my chancing to this, .spot while on a walking tour will furnish me with what we newspaper men call a 'scoop.' " Tihe inspector redoubled his civility to the supposed! Tepreeentative of a great London daily paper, and furnished particulars which Herriot had already procured from John Benjafield. While pretending to take notes of the information he. stole a glance at the man who had aroused his suspicions, and congratulated himself on the success of his ruse. The veiled hostility had, to all appearance, given j>laoe to indifference. "That is splendid !'' he said, putting away his spurious notes. "I shall take care to mention the intelligent zeal -with which the case is being conducted, Inspector Ah, Inspector Bryson ; thank you. I wander if you will add to -my indebtedness by telling me if I am likely to find Mr Paul Blythe at tine Chase? A^ brief interview TO'ith him -would put a nice finishing touch io a good day's work." The police officer, bridling with pleased anticipation over liis iavourable "notice," was <mly too willing to oblige. '5 cannot say myself,, sir. but fios is Mr Sturge from the -Chape — Lady Blythe's mental attendant. -o>e is just from the house, and would be alile- io tell yon," he replied. Caspar Sturge iiad turned -away, and was watching the nnen with -the drag-nets and grappling-books, but at the sound of his -name Tie about with an alacrity which suggested that ie had not lost the f-hread of the conversation .^ "I -feeg tpaipd 011 ' Brysan?" he said ! -suasraly. "Oh, yes, I saqpect the gentle;man will find Mi BVythe at home. At any j xate he was iJhere -when I came out hoif ' an hour ago." Herriot {hanked his informants, and having inquired his nearest way to €he

Cbiise, left, the pearclie_i^t<s- "t Ilie1 lieu i quest. As_lk- crxi.!>T^i tij-e stile out of -the water meadows he looked back, and saw that the next cast of the drag would embrace that section of ike river into which Sturge had thrown some article unknown. That in'jident puzzled him all the way to the Chase. He had found no satisfactory explanation for it when he rang the bell at the grand entrance under the portico and asked for the new master of the house. Inventing a name foT the occasion —"Mr Ransom, of the Daly Lynx"—and apologising for not having a card with him, Herriot had to remain in the hall while the footman went to ascertain if his master was visible. As he waited, a young girl, who had just arrived -at the age for wearing her hair " up" and her dresses "down," came out of one of the rooms,' and, seeing him standing there, ran impulsively towards him. Her eyes were red with weeping, and she spoke under the stress of great emotion. "You have come from the river? There ; is news of her—of Miss Harden, I mean?" she blurted out. "I have just seen the searcih party at work, but they "had found nothing when I left," Herriot replied. And noting the girl's -evident grief, he added sympathetically : "It is much too soon to lose hope yet-" . ' • "Lose hope!" was "the wild rejoinder. "There never was any to lose. Mildred Harden is dead, and that brute of a brother of mine drove ier to it." And, bursting into tears, the angry hoyden fled up the broad staircase, shaken with a sorrow that was obviously unaffected. Herriot had only time to note that the missing governess had under that roof at kast one genuine friend in her pupil when the footman returned and conducted 'him to the .smoking .room. Paul Blythe was lolling in an easy chair by the fire, and did not trouble to rise to receive his visitor or to ask him to .sit down. He was .sucking at s, foul pipe, and the dregs of a brandy and soda stood at his elbow. • "You've come .about this drowning affair, I suppose?" be drawled, after a hastily-averted glance at Herriot's impassive face. . "If you would be so good as to enlighten me. Our readers would be very interested to have your views," returned the pseudoscribe, doing bis utmost to conceal the avidity with which he was studying the sallow, washed-out young man, whom it was hard to accept as Norman's half-, brother. "My views —yes! It might be as well to—l aaean, of course, my views will necessarily carry more weight than all the silly j*w that .goes on in a place like this," said iPaul with an. -eagerness thati left it quite clean: to his hearer -that he 1 was going to jump at the chance of, as he thought, putting himself right with the' public. "Well, first and foremost, I don't believe that Miss Harden killed -my; father." "But about her disappearance--this dxs- • covery of iher hat by the stream?" Herriot' persisted. "There is am idea, aSroad that she put the hat there lieneelf as a blind, and that she has run away to avoid' awest." "That's that fool Bryson's cackle. Get that idea out of your head once for all. She isn't the sort to go in for deception, said Paul with an air of conviction that somehow did not Quite ring true. "I'm open to bet a. level fiver that .ehe has drowned herself because she knew the police were trying to fix the thing on to' her. And they would have, too, if I hadn't—well, between .you and me, and not for publication, toned down my evidence at the inquest." Herriot nodded, chuckling inwardly at the thought that there would he no trouble in preventing publication of the confidence. Aloud he asked, "You have, perhaps, grounds for suspecting someone else of the crime?" The question seemed to cause Paul some embarrassment. He was still "hesitating • over bis answer when there came a tap ' at the door, and Caspar Sturge entered i hurriedly. It was gone like a flash, but i a quick gleam of intelligence passed between him and his employer. "I am afraid there is no doubt about the drowning, sir," he exclaimed, without I looking at Herriot. "The drags have brought up a blue neck-scarf which has been identified as belonging to Miss Harden. It was found some distance down the stream from where the hat was lying, and the police think t3iat the body must have been carried right away." "Then the chances are that it won't be recovered," remarked Paul with an air of ! clinching the matter.