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Timaru Herald, Volume XCIV, Issue 14523, 19 August 1911, Page 2 (Supplement)

The words readied John's ears, filling li'Tn witli til© keenest distress. But he oould not speak a word. His pow«?rlessness to help tlio girl lie loved, the miserable position in which. he found himself, his horror at what happened, completely overwhelmed -him. It was "with relief he heard, presently, the measured tread of the policeofficers. -'Now," thought he, "1 .shall have justice." CHAPTER XVIII. THE INQUEST. The policemen, however, as they hurried John off into a dogcart* and conveyed liim to Eastbourne Prison, wanted 'tnjn that .anything !hs £a'd might b© used against him, and showed such an cv.dent determination not to listen, that, bruised as he was by the rough handling of the servants, and cut' up by the terrible things which had happened, he gave up attempting to explain matters. Incarcerated in jail, in solitary confinement, he reviewed his position, and felt sure that on the morrow he would be freed from the predicament in which he was placed. Then he would hasten to Margery and explaiin to her how he happened to be on the scene when the pistol was fired. In spite of this reassuring conviction, he rkpt very badly, and felt tired out and altogether unstrung, whvn, ni the early morning, he was taken back to ham.

It was a dull, grey day. The flat, marshy plain, etxending from Eastbourne to Westham looked very cheerless. The sea moaned dreariiy. It wa3 cold and <Lsmal. Not a ray tunshine stole across the gloom. Everything was as depressing as it could be, a complete contrast to the sunshiny weather that had gone before. A presentiment of coming woe oppressed John's mind, and, although he endeavoured to shake it off, and mate up h.s mind that all would oome right, ho could not do so. He could only breathe in his heart a fervent prayer to Gixl, in whom he trusted.

In t!io late Squire's library at Westlam Hail the inquest was to be held. Wivsn John was led into tit: room it was full of people. B<»-d;.'S the grayha.red Coroner a Jury ha-, been impiuielleil composed of Westh. -;:. trade,u;t:i and farmers. These weie several witn asses Amongst others, to h;s Ttii;f. John taw bis friend Beckett, looking very nvueh disturbed and annoyed. Ho uodded to Jolin, and tried to snule reassur ngiy. Jolm lookod in vain for one or more of the burglars. Content with having secured liim, tne. Hall servants ;*nd the police allowed the real criminals to esepe. Probably by that time they would have got quite clear of the country. Jolm remembered dismally a story lie had onoe read in the news-pnp-™.-s, or a man who stopped in the night to tell i'orae people in a licuse he was passing that he sajv th'eves breaking into their premises. Tlie people imm-diatelv set loo'o their yard-dog, which forthwith so'/.ed the benevolent yms-o.r-b-v and mimed liin to the grn'iml holding him there until tljiflcevr-s ],-r! "Ot away. John bid la.icrhe,! at the account "when ho read it. TWU.- he could not laugh now, for lie felt that h-> was in a similar case with that tm-foi-+unate man. OnTf- thine* wore -worse with him. these were not dntrs. but prejudiced human beings, that ha-J colin!■■?-'! bin. As if he were in a dream, Tie K?t«ned to t.lic manv statements which were

madu against him. It; .ill .sniimlfil so |.!..i;siblc, thai, m a. 1 sudden «hi;rr:i"ion us. !ut.cl!..r.-t, !v. almost began t u Uiiuk ii must. lv true

Amer doscrib.ng how the deceased l«a the, way dowristairs and v/as imwediupon, Bates, went op to 6ay iaat ha and James, the footman, caught the accused with a raised pistol .'ii his hand. Oue chuniber of the pstol •'•■" " e:; "''■•"'ii-fii'-'U. I'liey theiou.ro, ■'Y J" ,: ' : "i d- lain i,.j lira until the \'-}™ •''■•• .' !:■;-■■ •■•! n-.- u.th omo John's harsh „-...r.-u'u; u.m ',.!, . <>ay betoro. John »>i.o(! Uu.y ii,,d ben ]i:ii-.-=h-er. Ho thoueht ho should have n good doai to settle with Mr Bates ~ome day.

Asked 11 1,0 knew whether th.> accused was on unfriendly terms with the d-ivased, Bates replied: "Yes. Only tho prev.ous day deceased had ordcrd Hie accused to b? turned out of his house m the most peremptory manner. ■llii> deceased had been quite excited about it."

"Indeod," said tho Coroner: "do you know tho reason for that? Why cid the deceased act so?" . "I only know this," said tho butler m significant tones, "when tho young man, I bog pardon, air, tho accused was over hero soma years before mv master could not bear the sight of him, and requested me privately to get rid of lnm out of the house—ho was a servant here then—as snoedilv as possible I did so, Mid sliipnod' him off to America-. Until yesterday I hud never seen him sineo then, nor heard anything- about him, at least " be paused. w ' Ba * <3kl you hear meantime?" "I overheard Miss Stutelev tellin<; the deceased that she had met with Mr Bilker abroad." "What happened then?" "The Squire, my master I mean, sir, liad dropped a cup of tea on the floor, vrhon first Miss Stuteley mentioned Mr Baker's name. I came in to wipe tho carpet and nick ur> the broken china, and I heard" Miss Stutchy telling my master—the deceased 1 mean—tlint Mr Baker-and his friend were coming to England. My master fell into a great rage, and said " "What did he say?" "Confound it!" "That was not so very terrible." "No, sir, but it was tho tone. And ho turned angrily upon me, complaining that I had left the door open. 1 took the hint and went out at once." "You were discreet. What happened next?"

"Mr Baker, sir, did not come over for many months. In fuot, it was only yesterday that Miss stutelev, who had been out sketching the old Castle, brought him land another gentleman home .with h-*?." Bates then described cite' soeno which had taken place as soon as Mr Stuteley saw the accused, and the latter's iguominious dismissal from the house, not omitting to sa; that after lie had gone, tho deceased cried out: "He'll ba the death of me yet."

Ihis caused a strong sensation in tha room, and aroused a strong feeling against the accused. John and Beckett exchanged glances, and the latter shrugged his shoulders. , In a, few minutes some of the other .-servants. had corroborated one or two of the statements Bates liad made; and. it appeared tliat none of them had distinctly seen any masked burglars, or unmasked ones either, for that matter. Only the accused had been plainly seen by more than one, as Ins stood in the open doorway, his p.'sfcol in bis hand. Then the Coroner inquired if anyone bad heard the deceased sneak after ho bad b3on shot. There was a sound of whispering in the room, and then, reluctantly, one of the maids said she. bel.eved Miss Stuteley had beard the deceased say something. "Give my compliments to Miss Stuteley, and ask her to come here,'.' aid the Coroner, immediately. In a, few minutes she, entered lm>, room, dressed in deep mourning. John, icokiiig up, saw that she was deathly pale, and that ber head drooped as if she could 1 not bear the weight of sorrow that liad come upon her. He felt bitterly that he ought to have been by her' side, . comforting and sustaining her in hsr affliction, instead of being apparently the one who Ijad caused it. The oath was administered to the poor girl, and then the Coroner sad gently: "We-want you to tell us what Mr Stuteley said to you after," he hesitated —'"after he had boen shot." "Am I obliced to say?" asked Margery faintly, with an appealing glance at him. "Yes, indeed.' In the Queen's name, I must ask you," said the Coroner in firm tones. Margery turned, and glanced at John i'or the first time. Were hers to be tbe lips that condemned him? John's eyes Were eloquent vis he i lcokcd at her. Pity for tbe trouble she was in, eagerness to assist ber, and above all, lovjig sympathy shone in them. H<J bent his head slightly, ' having no tear of anything she had to s-av.

"You must tell us," said the Coroner, gravely. But Margery seemed as if she could not say the words. When she tried to speak, her vo.ee was so low that the Coroner couid not hear what she said. He leaned forward, with the request that she would try to speak a little louder. Then slowly, and with great hesitation, Margery said: •My father sa.d, 'He did it.' " "Was that all?" asked the Coroner. ".No," said Margery faintly. "What eiS2 did ho say'? "Ho said." faltered tho girl—"he said, 'He did it. Your lover.' " There was a gr-Jat Cvininot.cn anions those present, both bc-eausa of the d.re significance of those dying words r.nd because sho who had repeated them was nearly fainting. The p}ty,ing servants earr.cd thfijr young mistress out of the room, and for a few moments John hoard no more. The whole place seeuied to him to become suddenly dark. Voices, see-mkigiy far away, sounded in his ears without conveying any meaning. He d.d not hear Beckett testifying to his good character through, all the iong years in which he had known bim, and his say.ng that in America, from which country that had lately come, it was usual for them froth to carry pistols in their pocket. When John came to k.uisclf, at last, the Coroner was asking him if he had anything to say. "Only this," replied the young man in dear, indignant tones, "that I :uu perfectly innocent. I came upon the ■s&oiie to warn, and not to molest the Squire of Wcsfcham. It had bee-n to'd me that bu-gavs were going t-o vis t tho house. 1 Lad not time to return to the hotel to tell my i'rknds or aJ,y one else. I rushed hero at on- c. Arr red at the door, which was wide open, ■ I distinctly saw a masked burglar, a tall, broad-shouldered man, fire a pistol at tho deceased. Then, in a i.iom>>nt, instead of pursuing the criminal the servants set upon me. kno: lord no down, and prevented me saving a s ngle word." It was evident to John, cv«n whilst, he was speaking, that everyone in the room except Beckett disbelieved the truth of his words. After a very short consuitatinu. the jury found him guilty of murder.

Stunned and bewildered, John was conscious that the policemen were handcuffing him. Tims iKn-.omini.ousH- was lie taken out of the home of his ancestors, ai.d carried back to Eastbourne, there to appear before the magistrates.

(To 1)e continued)