LITERATURE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 7726, 31 January 1905, Page 4

LITERATURE.

i. -- is I THE FISHER OF JUSTICE. k (Continued.) | '.Ho rose without a word and left a ite room. The door closed behind r £Lr Mr Gyles was loft alone. He « Sosstd over to the wriling-tnbloand -,x Opened the door of the safe with a ,t «t«e chuckle,. Then ho shut it down t Wan and put the key 1" hjs pocket, t - "It was oinpty. .(■ " Weil, of all th» confounded id- if &~ lots I have ever met, Terraine's d F?- the greatest," he said, and with this > gniiaUte reflection he sat down to hTwitte a letter. >- ' A moment later the respecftful ac- * cents of his servant Biade Mm start. =•' Lunch, sir, is served." j That man is only mortal and '- liable lo error is a wel'l-cstafolishcd fait. Terraine was no fool, but he had mot the least idea that Mr ( Uyles was playing the gentle game • Of bluff. Although he had more than t once confessed to himself that he be- t lioved the old man wps mean enough t to lo anything, he had noMexpocted , . this latest development. '; He never remembered being inoro j • hurt in his life than he was at the . o|>en declaration of his uncle's mis- '. trust, lit had never, occurred to him • that anyone could doubt his own , stralghtforwaidness, and the revcla- I. - tion was bitter enough to ruin him. '• The uncle had openly expressed his suspicions, and taken precautions to . •protect himself, and tho nephew suddenly became demoralised;. Mr Gyles had assumed the defen- » sive, and Terraine, roused to opposi- | '■• lion, answered the challenge, and sat,, ' jwith guile in his heart, plotting to * tate the old man's Jife. On second I thoughts, he could not take it, for it was bis already, only he would refuse to support it any longer., and " the laws of Nature, freed from op- ■- position, should do their fatal work. As a gentleman and man of morals, he had nover thought of playing Ms uncle false, but Mr Gvles had ; removed these moral obligations bv ' - " hedging himself round with what" he - . called an impenetrable barrier, and ' - Setting his nephew's finer instincts at I defiance. | - 'Sentiment er no sentiment, Mr ' tryle9 had determined to insure the I utmost care how his doctor and >j led forth all that was worst in Ten- I ' r raino's character. - lJ?** Br ?L T t r . rain9 «as almost starfc- - '- *ftfc hJF? Working ont hs P' ans " iW-iff? T natmess for wmov- . rng all traces of the wiil. But after att,m i he l aughcd a th !iS ow,sen.s i - He was not quite sure now whether he had ever been juatified in fighting against J>aturo, and keeping the oW man alive after he had received £is summontr to another world ' ah.Tf i, Wa M MMncoß ' n S unnatural about it^M-»o nie thi„ ff u „canny i„ p - one man in the whole wide world '- totemg-iammtt up to defy the most * Micxorablo law, of human nature, and death at arm's length. If it >- »H 8 wrong to take a man's life, it * S o ,"*"* 11 *" *'owr to prolong one, at least,, so it seemed te Tcr- ' >raine, as he sat in his room lookr. ing over the wejl-kept gardens to „ the sweeping fields beyond, all of """di a wouW ba his when m ' G J' lcs ■' ,3 Botl "P awl dossed over to the - irtUo medicine-chest which hung bv tie side of the bed. The last bottle v„w S « UnC, t S tonic had been used. vr ™ 3 he - Wo,ta tr y ««> °rdin--5 aiy remedies instead, and i, , ne oi" \ttan died, at least h<j would have as much as any other doctor '. Rs&T" C ° UW Redone to • ' ■ « • «wJl ortni&h t Spod b *'- A * half-past etovra on Sunday nigH P » at the age ofsixty-fou*. && wd . «nJy of heart disease. Terraine mn m " mc bat tie old - did not recognise him, except once, when he opened his eyes and £££? WS bMd fWbly ta * »«to a A %?* . flew against tho window " < *^ me Sturted ' Wha t ho had to do, ho must do ttuickly - .il*^ 05 •"■ custom to go round " m every ni '* ht to see that aU the doors and windows were . locked. If he went ou/t now he would do so without suspicion. In another minute he was stand■ing in the library. He drew the safe from under the table, and tried V (to open it. It was locked. The only thing to do was to drop the whole Wring into the disused well in the courtyard. No one knew of the cxsitence of the .will which was to iob him of his birthright, arid in .this way aB traces would l;C destroyed. He stooped down and tried to lift , Hie safe.. Twice ho tried, and twice * be foiled. Tho third time, however, Q be succeeded in carrying it a little %_ ,way. And so, by tiny stage."?, he !["" xeached the door, stumbled down the f kitchen stepsy and at last stood bare r (leaded on the stone-°paved court- ? yard. Thick", black clouds were scudtfng across the sky, and the rising wind, which screamed round the corner of the house drowned his footsteps! although he had no fear of JHeir. being overheard. He often vist ited 'the stables when locking up the • house to see if everything was safe, jBOd the sound of anyono moving - About outside would attract any attention from the servants' quar- ,' lers. m In spite of this, however, he glanc- . _ ed rather nervously towards the long row of lighted windows which over- - looked the courtyard. It is hard to btfieve that people cannot see you •**aa you can see then* and now and _ iUien shadows wero distinctly thrown across the blinds as the occupants . crossed and re<rossea their rooms. Me waited for a time listening, and ™«i, step by step, he drew nearer •the weU< Terraine rifted tho great stone ■ Slab whiefc covered tho mouth, and peered down into tho gaping blackness. Nothing which went down tnere could ever come up again. A ' sudden fear, of detection made his teeth chatter. Ho looked nervously over his shoulders, fearing that some ' one might come and find him there Aistray gleam of light from one of the bedroom windows fell on the silent wators, and he started back He must let tho safe into the inky pool gently—the slightest splash _ might attract attention—at least, so - it seemed to him with that ."real fear upon him, and the wind had fallen suddenly. How long he waited Tcr»aine Sid not know. *At last he made up his nrind and balanced the safe on the curbstone. With o«e haml he grasped the side of the old win iVus, ai-1 .with the other he gently slid the safe nearer and nearer the edge. The .water came within a few incites of *lw surface. Then, leaning forwurl he launched the only witness of Binit into the blackness of ti.o bottomteas well. With a gurgle the waters sucked Mown their prey, and the finger of justice singled out Terraine for the - nmrder of his untife. Mis iiand had supped through the handle of the • Jww, and it was dragging him affer It. 0 To leave gp with his left hand was MiposaWe, and his fingers were loose- . mag from their liold on the slipuerv ivoodwork. With the strength of a ; tern« e despair, he drew back lis arm* He heard the crack of his • - .wrist-joint, but the box was still . pulhng him forward—forward bv tiny degrees into a watery grave. " & Wed up. Overhead he couM ■* just hean the servants moving about m their rooms. Terraine had half a : t° C F 0l,U: In a minute they ti ? o^ dOWn to rcsc,le h j"". but " « 7V , th ? y iomd mm there with C f ID his ; T han " •«• his uncle , rafther die as he was than face the SFOrio) os a murderer, 5; In ] the agony of Iris mind he hardl ly felt the pain of his 1 body as the V- »news stretched under tlie terrible 6 weight, and the fingers which.pressW- 5 "f"' 11811 th e woodwork' were numbt_. - 1 * pa ' n '•• Jfc wo,,w not be long |&. teTore they gave way, and he groanW. *5 * ryin S to loosen his other hand Rff«> U>e deathlike grasp of the hanB«fci!!7 aine felt himself sli M jing and HI&SS 8 m ° tho unknown world. h ' S , face wah almos t touchK*?«li. , V lfer - He couH nnl hold K™T a onger-,ai another moment KStow X^„ 0t Someon e opened a winKtat£°l e „ !?* be tried to scream, ° m. V °' COS m erhead. H*6fe o# » r,Uctl his soul f <"' the BsT men and now h <- was MKZZ J™ ,nan was taking the .usl glp 8 "a own hands. J myd now. How long out? Slowly

Deeper and deeper his face sank , into the water, and Terraine shut I his eyes. Inch by inch the stagnant j waters seemed to rise from their j bod and swallow him up, and above he hoard the voices of servants talking. l'own, down, down '.—the end was at hand;. Wifth a desperate effort ho raised his head, and then shot like a stone to the bottom, with a cry which startled the chickens from their roosts, and brought the frightened servants from their rooms, their faces white as death. The linger of Justice had wit-aked its venIgoance— and that vengeance was death ! i