CHAPTER XVI. ANOTHER MIDNIGHT VISITOR.

Te Aroha News, Volume IV, Issue 159, 3 July 1886, Page 7

CHAPTER XVI. ANOTHER MIDNIGHT VISITOR.

Cl vrkn'ck Asiiworth was at his home in Philadelphia when ho received Dr. Barisfovd's letter. Both he and his motherhad written to the doctor nnd Miriam, thanking them for their great kindness, and earnestly urging them to return the visit. Ifc was not in Clarence Aehworth's nature to bo idle, and now, more than ever, he found himself very buay settling up his brother's large estate -the greater part of which was left to himself under Frank's will. But the busier he was' and the more he tried to direct his thoughts from Miriam Berisford, the more his mind dwelt upon her. He knew as well as a sensible man could know, that it would be better for his own happiness if he never saw her again. She had told him herself that she was engaged to Shirley Benson, and he knew enough of her to be sure that she would keep her word even at the expense of call her earthly happiness. Yet- and we shall not attempt to explain it— a blind infatuation kept him over yearning to meet her once more. It needed but the slightest excuse to go I back to Willowemoc to give it all the force of a command to him. So when the doctor's invitation came though he cared but little about the hunt- i ing— he became infused for the time with the spirit of Nimrod. He showed the letter to his mother, and said : " For years and years I have been promising myself a hunt ; here is my chance." " Are there not other places to hunt, mv son V asksd Mrs Ashworth. " " Yes j but I promised the doctor to go back if he invited me, and I don't want to disappoint him," said Clarence, with a cough that told very plainly that he was keeping back more important reasons. "I shall not try to stay you, Clarence," she said, " if you think you should so • but—" . s ' " But what, mother ?" " I do not think you will be happier for the visit." , " Why, why not V he stammered, though he saw clearly through her meaning. "Have you not confessed to me that you loved Miriam Berisford ?" she asked laying her hands on his shoulders and looking eagerly into his handsome troubled tace. * " I have." ** And do we not know that she is engaged to Shirley Benson ?" " yes, mother ; but all that is past with me._ I shall never hint the subject to her again." ' '•It is said that,the burnt child dreads the fire ; you show no fear of it. Is it just to yourself to go near her again till she is the wife of another V

"Mother, I should bo^ ashamed of my own strength if I believed that going near, her would add a ray to my hope or a pang to my pain. 1 have suffered all I can eutfer, and I somehow feel that I would come back stronger in heart if I went there once more," he said, with decision. " Then," she replied, "I shall not try to stay you ; yet my heart shall be troubled for you till you cotne back again." Ordinarily, the thought of giving hie mother's heart the slightest pang would have prevented CWrence Ash worth from doing anything which she opposed. He was a man of strong will and excellent judgment, yet thia once he acted in opposition to both ; and with the fatuity that admits of no explanation, he went back to Willowomoc, taking with him the box that contained the wonderful dagger. Hans Munti mot him at the station, and on the way to Berieford Manor he made himself agreeable by relating to Clarence ail that h>id happened since he left.' "I dell you, Miahter Ashvorfc, me unt Mary Prady unt Minnie— she's de oopsthairs gal — vo vas all awful porry ven you goed avay ; goom to Viiloweraoc pack, den ve all gets eo glat aiz neter vos,"satd Hans, after ha had narrated Miriam's adventure in the mountains. " I am very grateful to you, Bang," said Clarence, and as you seem to know every thing, perhaps you can tell me if John Ponfield is still about the vilJago ?" " Doc feller voi you dhraahed ?" " Well, Hans, I do not care to designate i the man in chat way, but it is evident you know him." " I know him pooty goot," laughed Hans. 41 He gets me down to de davern von tay, unt he dalks to me shoots for all de vorlt like I knows all aboud dem assissins ; but I trinkfc him peer— unt dot's ail. '•Is Mr Benson at the Manor?" asked Clarence, anxious to change tho subject. " Mishter Benson he goed avay after you i left, but ho dou'd can sthay avay, I'm sorry to tole you, so he goomed pack again." i "How long has he been here ?" "Oh, shoost 'boud a week. Him tint dot detective feller riey been togedder most all de dime, Mishter Shirley Benson, he pecn a pooty gooL man not to know so very moo8h." "You don't Ukq him, Hans ?" " I don'd like him, unt Minnie, ehe don'd like him ; unt Mary Prady don'a got no use for him. I vonder unt vonder vot Miss Miriam pho can see in dot man. Do you dink, Mishter A&hvort, doc ah© can loot him like I loof Mary Prady?" and Hans looked at Clarence as if he fully expected him to say " No." "I am sure I cannot say," replied Clarence, with a laugh which did not come fiom his heart. ' • But as Mr Ben&on is an unpleasant subject to you, Hans, we must let it drop." But Hans did not let it drop. He disliked Shirley Benson, and as he believed tbat Clarence had no reason to like him, he kept on giving his opinion of the young man and his reasons for holding that opinion, till the Manor was reached. The greeting of the doctor and Miriam could not have been warmer had Clarence been a don and a brother. Shirley Benson was not in at the time, but Madame Barron was ready with a greeting so greatly opposed to her actual teeling as to prove her a consummate actor She said she was rejoiced to see Clarence back, and ehe made the moat earnest ' inquiries after the health of his mother. "And Mr Benson," she added, in conclusion, "will be so happy to know you ' have come." , Clarence was assigned to a different room from the one he occupied before, and as ! tl ana was carrying his trunk thither the ' doctor drew him to one side and whispered : ' " Cousin Clarence, did you bring that?" ; "The dagger ?" "Yes." x ; " It is in my trunk, and I will show and ' explain the whole thing to you to-night," ; said Clarence. ° j Shirley Benson came up from the village late in the afternoon Madame Barron met ' him before he entered the grounds, and she ] said, in her seductive way : "You mu3t not show this man how \ much you hate him ; you must be kind to I him." ] "I hats to play the hypocrite," replied ■ ShMey. J "Ah, my dear young friend, do we not J all havo to play the hypocrite? What J would society be if every one came bluntly ' out and gave his frank opinion ahout every one elae ? Oh, we must not be barbarians. Trust me, I do not give bad advice," said I the madame, pressing his arm as they walked to the house ' Whether thi3 advico influenced him or no. we cannot pretend to say, but it is cer- ' tain that Shirley Benson met Clarence Ash- ! worth with something like warmth, and until an ovent transpired, which we shad " shortly narrate, he treated him with marked consideration. l On the way to Beristord Manor Clarence ! tried to delude himself with the belief tbat he could keep hhnpelf aloof from Miriam, or at least that he could conceal his feelings and lestrain the impulse to be by her side. But he could not hide his pleasure at being back, and there was that in her manner, or at least he imagined there was, that told him she was not Ie3s happy ior his return. j That night a great wood fire was built on the wide hearth in the spacious, old-fash- fl ioned parlour, and Miriam and Madame J Barron sang. Clarence proved himself in voice and X touch a musican of more than ordinary cul- s ture ; and tbe doctor told him that he came naturally by his talents. c "For the Berisfords," he said, "were c always famous as musicans. I should, perhaps, make an exception in my own case." c Ic was eleven o'clock when Miriam said *• II Good night." _ J Shortly after this Clarence went to his l room, all doubts vanished as to the propriety of his coming at this time. c He felt very happy. He imagined that ' he had acted towards Miriam just as if she fc had been a well beloved sister, and he * firmly believed that he could continue tc c act so for ever. t He could not know that both Madame r Barron and Shirley Benson had, like hawks, * been watching Miriam and himself all the v evening, and that they saw great danger ° where he imagined all was rigidly secure. tl He was getting ready for bed, when he t] heard a cautious rap at the door followed by P the doctor's : / sj " May I come in, Cousin Clarence ?" b Clarence recalled the dagger on the in- 8< stant, and replied*: G '• Certainly, Doctor. I've been expecting <1 you." a As the doctor sat down on the seat which ifi Clarence placed for him, he said apolegeti- a] cally : oJ • l You must not think my curiosity ai childish, Cousin Clarence." c« " For very many years," the doctor continued, "I have been much interested in J- ( Hindoo affairs ; perhaps I should say in hi the Hindoo occult sciences and mysteries * a There may be nothing in them but super- tl stition ; yet, in my investigations, it seems to me that I am ever getting further from the point; that would warrant me in saying that I think my methods are scientific. 63 But the great drawback to modern science pi is that it is wholly lacking in imagination, at and rejects what it cannot measure J&y its hi own standards." * ' tr

"I think you are right," said Clarence* who, while the doctor,, was had taken from his trunk the box containing the dagger and placed it near the lamp. , Or} the instant the doctor was al) attention. «*, t , We rose quickly, adjusted his glasees, and while Clarence was selecting the key* he examined the box, For reasons of his own, Clarence had de* ciJod not to tell the doctor about the box which he had seen on a former occasion in another iooni. He wanted the doctor to detect the ra-> semblance, and to propote an examination of the other box ; but the old gentleman was too much absorbed in the matter under consideration to think of anything elfe. He^ went into raptures over the silver plates and carvings on the outside of tha box, and he described in an excited, sketchy way the meaning of the symbols,, which Cl.arenco had hitherto thought to b.3, merely grotesque decorations. '•Now for tho dagger," exclaimed the doctor, as Ciarence turned the key and thq. lid flew up, filling the air with the pungiesfc odour of Kindal wood. '•Wondeiful! wonderful!" cried the, doctor. " I have read descriptions of this, and I have seen it in my dreams, a thousand timed over, as plainly as I now- see your faca before me." Clarence touched the Fecret spring, and as he did so he looked quickly and eagerly into the old man's face. Its expression convinced him of the doctor's sincerity. i<'rom the secret drawer Clarence drew out the glittering, triangular daeger ; and as he held itojp to the light ha shuddered involuntaaily, for it aeemed to him that the red eyes of tho serpent in the handle were burning into his own with a cruel naalig-v nity. In hio eagerness, the doctor snatched the, blade irom Clarence's gra^p and began toexamine it carefully. " There is a histoiy of the weapon here," said Clorence, holding up a yellow parch* ment. " Perhaps it wouid be well to* postpone its examination till to-morrow." " This ha& quite upset my norves," said tho doctor, dropping tho blado into its box and rising to his feet. "I will examine it all rarofully to-morrow. I thank you for bringing it, Cousin Clarence. Good night. 1 * Tho doctor went out abruptly, and closed the door behind him with a. bang. Much perplexed by the doctor's conduct, Clarence went to bed, leaving the lamp, turned low near the box. He was sure that he had been asleep ; he was certain that now he wna awake, and that the soft entrance of a white-clad, figure; had aroused him. There directly before him stood Dr. Berisford, with a strange, unearthly light in his dark eyes, which were fixed upon thSk box. The doctor opened it, touched the secret spring, and in an instant he held aloft th$ fatal dagger of Siva and Kali the Des-,. troyers, (To be Continued.)