CHAPTER XII.-STRANGE WISDOM.

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

CHAPTER XII.-STRA NGE WISDOM.

Two hours later Herriot was speeding ■back to London in a -fast train, not much the wiser for his journey into tie country. At the same time, what he had seen and heard on the river bank and in the library at the 'Chase nad •convinced him that in the Monkswood mysteries he had stumbled on a case after his own heart, a problem of grim tragedy, with human .passions and human cunning as its setting. As he lay back in, his couneT seat and reviewed the day's doings, the fate of Mildred ■Harden appealed to him as the first consideration. On the surface it 1 seemed a mere supplement and corollary of the socially more important murder of the dissolute -old baronet, but in this instance lie tfert that the Tulinec of Euclid must be reversed, and that the less contained the .greater. In plain language, lie was assured that if he could explain the' tru«-story -of Mildred's disappearance he ■ would be in a fair way to show at whose J hands • Sir Bevys Btythe came -by his death. . ; i And the interest in tire girl's -fate was • enhanced by the uncertainty about it. ! There was no doirbt that Sir Bevys <was ' .as dead as -the proy<erbial door nail. That, Mildred Harden <wes Scad Hersriot had '. very grave doifbte indeed. [ The blue scarf incident fascinated "bun as

the very heart and core of the mybtery. T In striving to penetrate its true sipmiti- | cance he marshalled hie facts m oidcrly aTray from Mildred's fiiat confidence s.t> John Benjaneld on the day after th« murder down to the present time. If the girl was to be believed, Paul Blythe had «eized upon the circumstances of his father's death to press .his unwelcome attentions from the very moment when he had discovered .her alone wit-h the body, offering, as she had informed the innkeeper, w preserve silence aTjout ncr presence in the dining room if she would yield to his miserable -advances. These despicable terms she had indignantly refused, yet for all that Paul Blythe had slurred over his evidence at the inquest, presenting Mildred's attitude and conduct as favourably as he could to the jury. What was the -reason for this? Not mercy, surely, Herriot thought, if he had read Paul's character aright. It was more probable that in ihe interval he had heard of Norman's return to England, and that be -relied on the suspicion that -would naturally fall on his halt-brother in order to drive a still harder bargain with Mildred. Whether or no Paul had heard of Norman's return before or after the inquest it was certain that he had formed the design of Titißsing Norman's peril, and "that • the fear of having to yield to him in order to save her lover had driven Mildred to. devise the scheme fox her disappearance | connived at by Benjafield. 'So far matters were fairly intelligible, but her failure to arrive at the "Wilderneßs" showed that that scheme had miscarried, and -every1 thing subsequent to that was chaos. She | seemed to have got as far as the river bank, and then to have deviated from the original programme either by drowning herself or by seeking some more congenial refuge than the lonely cottage in I the woods. Be this as it might, there was no doubt in Herriot's mind thart Paul Blythe desired it 'to be believed that the girl was ! drowned, and that he "had taken artificial means to establish that .theory by .the incident -of the blue scarf. He i(Herriot) ;had .with his own eyes seen rthe tall, darkchinned, iurthre*yed Caspar Sturge cast it, probably TV-sighted with a nrtone, into the -stream, whence it "had been almost immediately iisbed up. Tie "had lieard 'Sturge report the success of his stratagem to his employer, and .had been, struck with the zest with which the Jafcber had accepted the scarf as conclusive evidence of drowning. "Which goes far towards persuading me' that She is not drowned," he muttered as the train steamed into Waterloo. "But why do those rascals at Jhe Chase want her to appear to be drowned? Their action draws their sting against Norman, -by furnishing evidence of her conscience-stricken guilt. Yea the who n e case -bristles with indications thai, the ruin of Norman is their ulterior object." But to reconcile those two divergent phases of the Monkswood tragedy was at this istage beyond the power of «yen , Kenritik Herriot's .genius. Gould he .have knoiwn the truth he would .hay« taken the nsxt train back into tihe country instead of calling a hansom and driving off to Fleet ■street. It had occurred to him on the way up that bis future usefulness might be greatly helped if he sustained the delusion in the aninds of Paul Blythe and Caspar ; Sturge that he was a newspaper man. Luckily he hod facilities for doing -so in -a personal friendship -with the chief news editor of the ©afly Jjynx. Arrived at the offices of that .powerful organ, he found has busy friend in his sanctum. "Yes, Blanchard, you can do rsomething for me," he said in answer to the hasty greeting and inquiry. "I am interested in the Monkswood case — 'have just come from there, hi fact. I presume you have heard of the supposed drowning 1 of the governess — the principal witness at the inquest, who was somewhat under a cloud?" "We got the bare fact through by wire from out local correspondent ialf an hour ngo — the finding of the hat this morning, ■ and later the discovery of a scarf belong- - ing to the missing girl," was the reply. "Well, I can go your local man one better," said Herriot quietly. "If you will allow me I -will embroider his bare fact into a telling article descriptive of the scene on the river bank, <with an interview "with Mr Paul Blythe thrown in. And it will be all just as it happened, with nothing to pay." l '"It sounds like good business — for us," " Blanchard laughed. "I have no doubt of your ability to write up the scene with every fidelity to detail ; but what is your , game, Herriot? You must forgive me ;f"; f " 1 ask you that." With certain reservations Herriot told him the trutl— that in order to -pursue his ' inquiries he had .posed ac a member of the staff of the Daily Tiynx, and in that capacity had induced Paul Blythe to igive : his views, or rather the views be washed . to impress on the -public. But he did not confide to his friend, the news editor, any of the problems that were vexing him, nor did he impart the information that he had derived from John Benjafield. Still less did he refer to his conviction that' the scarf -had been deliberately '^planted" in the bed of the stream by Sturge for the search party to fish up. "On thinTcing it over," lie concluded, "I see that I shall best attain my ende by sus- , taining the Action of my connection with the omniscient amd almighty Lynx. I may ; want to go down there again, and the same incognito would come in useful. You take my point? If the article that Mr; Paul Blythe is expecting to see to-morrow •' does not appear he will know me for an impostor." Blanchard nodded jis satisfaction. He , woulfl get an exclusive bit of "copy" without Jiaving to pay fox it, and he wonl3 put the (Some .Office expert .under on obligation which he -would set iaal <to re- ; mind bam ctf on some future occasion' when 'was -early .news jof .some ?Prea- 1 sury pxosecution to be Stained. "Right : yon axe," he said. "Sit down and &nock off the article now, if you like***

Half an hour 1 it' i iTovriof. w<i= driving westwauN ujvwmta ins ciuniber.s. c mscious that, at> he* mil it to hiinse'J. ho had "made the best of a bad job." The Morikswood mystery was still a mystery — ■ two mysteries, indeed, in place of one, but at least he hod left the door open for his return to .the village should it, aa seemed only too .probable, become 'necessary. When 'he entered his sitting room Noi* man Blythe, pale arid (haggard, rose from a chair, holding fa crumpled Globe in hia hand. "I have been waiting an ihour, and thought you'd never come," he said. "Have you seen this?" Herriot glanced at the stqp-prees Hen* to which the shaky fore :: finger pointed. It was the "bare iact" of the local penny* a-liner which he had just elaborated into a flowery article at the Daily Lynx office. "Yes, I have seen the telegram, and, more than that, 1 have seen the things that it refers to," he said. "Now, sit .you down again, and 'listen' to me. I gran^ you that mischief is .afoot at Monkswood, but 1 do not believe that your girl is aft the. bottom of the river." And •whence "had narrated the history of his Say's doings, and repeated what? he hod learned from John Benjafield, he proceeded to state the deductions he 'hod formed — that Paul Blythe's ultimate aim; was to connect Horman with the murder} of Sir JJevys, and that he and his minion, Sturge, together were working to create | an erroneous belief in Mildred Harden*! suicide. "Which meand that they know whe«s( she is, Ken !" cried Norman, starting up* "That they have .her in their power." '1 think that is not at all improbable,'* replied Herriot coolly- "But nothing i& to be .gained >by getting excited about it« On the contrary, »we -.shall want all ouK wits if -we are to 'beat Mr Caspar Sturge, who, df 1 am mot mistaken, is supplying the brains for whatever wickedness you* half-brother is up to." "But if they know where' my darling is they should be watched" night and day. They are i aure to go to her, one or T>othl of them, to enforce that scoundrel Paul's conditions upon her." "Benjafield is going to advise me by| wire the moment one or other of the pair leaves Monkswood," replied Herriot. "On my way to the station I called again! at the inn, upprised your foster-father di the breakdown of his arrangement, ani left theft ■part of the- -business in his hands* And I shall go down again myself verj\ shortly." "How do you think they have spirited her away?" "At present that can only be conjecture, but at is conceivable that Sturge waa deputed to impose upon her with some* lying tale, and that he persuaded her to! go Into hiding voluntarily at some place of their own selection. It -looks very muoli as if they had discovered the ,plan she hadi concerted with Benjafield." "They may have coerced her by rio» lenee?" Herriot shook his head, but rathe* doubtfully. "1 do not <find that likely,"he said. <c lt is no easy matter to carry] off a healthy young woman nowadays mi the goodl old fashion and shut her up where she could not make hereelf heard.; More probable than that she has been hoodwinked, Tjut that it shall be my busi« ness to discover. In the meanwhile I require your active co-operation." Norman seized his hat, but his meniofi waved -him back to his chair. "There is n» .tueed to go rushing about,' 3 Herriot proceeded quietly. "What I wanfe is to make Messrs Paul Blythe and Caspars Sturge show their hands. If lam to beat! them lit is imperative that I should know; their igame, and also the .game of someone else who, I suspect, is standing in in some as yet undefined manner. The ques* tion is whether you a-re man enough to! play your .part." "I am not a coward," rejoined NormaH angrily. "There will be no great strain on youffl courage, but 'for all that it is not a job) I should care to take on myself," Herriotl .smiled back at him. "I want you to maka love to Gloria Carrington— hot, rabid love, even to the point of offering her marriage, always provided that you d<ta*fi put it in writing and that there are nc witnesses. 1 ' (To be continued.)