MYSTERIES OF THE NIGHT.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9322, 24 August 1908, Page 4

MYSTERIES OF THE NIGHT.

"., (By MR and MRS C. N. WIL- ,, LIAMSON.) No. K. •« THE MOUTH OF THE MASK. •' - [All Rights Resebyid.] ' In the transparent clearness of early dawn, Ivondon could bo seen lying below—enormous, silent, impressive. J Power and Karbord wero taking one of those night rambles which had often byen prolific iv adventure; and their idle feet had led them along the <r;sftial length of the Tottenham <>urt Road, up Hampstead Road to leafy Haverstock Hill, up again through the old town, of Hampstead (retaining stili some traces of its rural past), and so out to the open Heath, where the scent of gorse came agreeably to their nostrils, and a fresh morning air gushed across the wide spaces of undulating land reaching beyond the white spire of Hafrow to green Hertfordshire. It is, perhaps, one of the most moving views in the whole world— this of the sleeping immensity of London seen through the crystal air of dawn from the northern heights ; and as a spear of light breakIng from the east, illumined the vast dome of St Paul's, and glitered on its lofty cross, the two friends were hushed into an. awed silence. For several minutes they stood in rapt contemplation, watching the clear light flooding over the city ; then, by a common impulse, they moved along the road that leads towards Highgate. They were alone on the open Heath: for it was Sunday morning — the time n'heri both town and country are buried deep in rest. They had traversed the length of the high road that forms the backbone of the Heath, and were opposite, the row of houses by the old Spanlards Inn, when suddenly the door of a Urge, white, comfortable-looking dwelltng/Was thrown hastily open. A j'oung in ah appeared on the threshold, and stepped' quickly out under the old-fash-|6fte£l porch. He was in evening dress, miiß a silk hat and thin pumps, a dark overcoat thrown, over his arm. A gjance was enough to show that he was jnafldsomo and attractive. He had curly brown hair, a well-cut nose with high, arched nostrils, a firm chin and bright dark eyes, under brows that knitted- with some disturbing emotion. He had shut the door behind him, and t6Me out from the shelter of the porch, 6jbf ore he saw Power and Harbord looking at him from across the road. The young man started, flushed to find himself watched, then with" a quick lifting of the chin (like a man who says to himself that he will front whatever difficulties may lie before him), he start-;&3-.ftt a rapid pace towards London, ibarned off the high road, and took, almost at a run, tho way across the Heath that leads to. the Vale of Health. tower and Harbord stopped to look after him. They were both oppressed with the same thought —that here was a man in much confusion of spirit, a man in the grip of Fate, .one who was hastening fi-oin or hurrying towards a crisis of his life. Then their eyes returned to scan the house from which the .young man had jssued. It suggested nothing, revealed jifftfjing, but honest English comfort. Tslery window was closed., and. across .belch, was drawn a decorous w-hite blind. If Hhere were trouble within it was veiled from the world ; no f rigbtened eye- peeped out, no appealing finger beckoned. With a questioning - look iMp each other's faces the two friends tao'ved slowly on in a musing silence. „ 'They had paced some twenty yards, and five minutes had perhaps passed since the young man had dashed out into the stillness of the morning, when tE^ friends' footsteps were suddenly arr<B%ted. A scream rent the quiet of the air— a full- throated, girlish scream, checked before 'it had swelled to its full Volume. Instantly Power and Harbord wheeled, and raced back to the white house, stopping under the porch, listening at the cloaed door. ;,-"■ From within came strange, confused sounds — the quick, terrified accents of a girl's voice; a rushing of feet followed by a high, strident exclamation, and a volley of excited words of accusation ot denunciation; and mingling with these noises an awful stuttering, that struck a chill into Power's veins. Harbord knocked on a panel of the door. " Open,!" he cried. " I am a doctor; I can be of use." • There was a flying of feet, the swish of a woman's garments, the sharp click of the latch as it was drawn back, the door was flung open, and Power and Harbord found themselves looking into the startled, passionate eyes of a tall, dark young woman, whoso straight black hair hung in disorder about her shoulders, framing a handsome face, no.W;.startlingly pale, save for the scarlet line of the parted lips. She examined the intruders with a swift glance, then stood aside to let them pass. •*' There's been murder done — by her," she added, ajid pointed up the long, wide hall, where the light of dawn, filtering through closed blinds, made a dim twilight. Power shut tho loor, and both men went forward. On the rich rugs that covered the- old oak af the flooring lay an elderly woman, supported on the knees of a girl who bent over her. From a red-lipped round in the woman's neck oozed a taky, crimson tide. An ivory-handled knife, its long blade clotted with blood, |*y on tho floor. On the woman's face t was a look of agony, and as she con- j ienHed with the choking flood, in a (rain effort to articulate, there issued from her writhing lips that awful stuttering which Power had heard with a ihudder when his ear was laid against : !he panels of the door. '•-' Harbord knelt, and, with a muttered word, began a professional examination. It was not till then that the girl seemed- conscious «that strangers were preaeirt; but when the surgeon laid a constraining hand on her arm, to induce ter to release her burden, she looked

up for tho first limp She was fully dressed, in a fashionable evening toilet ; one bare, well-shaped arm was stained with blood : on liar beautiful face horror seomod to contend with sympathy lor tho suffere>r. Her wide-open, violet v.yes wandered from Harbord to Power .".ml back, without seeming to soo them ; then fixed themselves again on tho fast-dimming eyes of the injured woman on tho floor, who was still (struggling, though more faintly now, to utter some urgent message. "Mrs Graham," cried tho girl, seizins; in her own one of tho inert hands, "forgive mo! Say that you forgive me," She bvv.t her golden head to catch the nobbing breaths, and Haiho\ d, stooping also, heard — the only ones, articulate among the unintelligible sounds— the words, " medicine, mask/ Noyt moment, tho gabbling abruptly ceased, the woman drew a deep sigh, her head fell back. The girl sank upon the ground, clasping her hands with a shuddering cry. Tho maid, who had looked on apparently unmoved, went towards the door. "I'll call the police," she said, ami ran out into the empty road, half- I dressed at? she was, her dark hair floating like a mantle. . It was with difficulty that the friends were able to persuade the girl to leave the dead woman, and go into a sittingroom that opened off tho hall. The two men were puzzled and embarrassed. In spite of the accusation that had been" hurled at this beautiful girl by the young woman who had opened the dcor at thrir summons, neither of them could bring themselves to believe that she was a murderess. Their suspicions j naturally followed tho man who had j darted from, the house a few minute* | bofore the girl's scream brought them back to it ; and they felt that they ouo-ht to stay till the police arrived., ami tell' what they had seen. Power went to the girl, who had flung herself into a large easy-chair, where she lay shaken ivith short sobs, her little whit* hands, bare of rings, pressed over her face the crimson stain upon her arm contrneting in ghastly incongruity with the shimmer of the gauzy evening drees. , . . , . , "We are deeply pained, my friend and I " he said, "'for the terrible thing that has come into your life. "Vv c will stay until the police arrive, as we can throw light upon the matter. Iho young man who was here " 1 The girl flung out her hands, and sat up, wide-eyes and alert. "Young man !"' she said, looking defiantly from one of the friends to- the. other, " what do you mean? Yon must be dreaming, j There was nr> y-'nu-g man." " You. <li:!>: i ):u'-.v?" said Power, astonished. '• Thcvis was a man. I assure you — a young man with curly brown hair, in evening clothes " "It's false!" The girl leaped to her feet, and caught Power fiercely by the wrist with one little hand. " 1 tell you j that Mrs Graham and I were alone all the evening " She stopped short and shut her lips obstinately, as there came the sound of horses' hoofs outside. Harbord, who had pulled up a blinr. and had been looking out into the road, saw that the maid had soon succeeded in her errand, for she had met a mounted police patrol, who pulled up at the door. To his stirrup clung a panting constable, and close on their heels came running the servant. As she darted by the win- I dow, she seemed to Harbord, with her flashing eyes and flying hair, like the incarnation of revenge. He was curious- j ly impressed by tho contrast between this sudden unchaining of the most violent passions and the calm of the still i Sunday morning. He was puzzled, too, by the young lady's denial that there had been a visitor that night, but what followed was more puzzling still. Power, Harbord and the girl with the golden hair all moved out into the hall as the policemen entered. "There she is!" cried the servant. "Take herl She's stabbed her mistress ; Mrs Graham There she lies." She pointed , excitedly to the corpse. The girl" started violently and the colour rushed to her pale cheeks when she understood the meaning of the #ccusation that was hurled at her. She opened her lips to speak, then closed tli em again. " Hold yer noise, will yer." commanded the constable, touching his helmet to the little group in the hall, and producing a note-book; while his comrade, having li itched his horse's bridle to the railings outside, was inspecting the^ body with professional interest. "Now, gentlemen, please give me your names and addresses, and tell me what you know about this business. Anything you say will be took down and may be used against you." Power swiftly made up his mind. If the girl, who had been denounced as tho murderess, did not really know that a man had been in the hu<ise, it was his duty to tell the police, -nd clear her from a horrible charge; if she did know and denied the knowledge to shelter him, it was equally hu, duty to prevent her taking the murderer's guilt on her innocent shoulders. Briefly, therefore, he began his story, but when he had told but a few woTds, and had. said how ho and Mr Harbord had seen a young man hurriedly leave the house, the maid interrupted him "That's a lie!" she cried; "there's been no man here." As Power quietly repeated his words, he intercepted a strange look that flashed between the mistress and the maid — a look he could not fully interpret, «so manifold seemed its meaning, expressing understanding and hatred, approval and a challenging insolence. When Power had finished, Harbord told the same talc ; and then Mrs Graham's maid renewed her charges against the young lady, declaring that she had been alarmed by a cry from her mistress, and that "sin* had come running downstairs from her own room next to that of the murdered woman just in time to see her fall from a blow inflicted by Miss Churchill (for that, it appeared, was the. name of the girl with the gold on hair). Throe other women servants who came crowding downstairs with pale faces, averred that they had seen and heard nothing, having only just been awakened by the scream and the sound of tho tramping hoofs at the door. Then the constable announced that the principals of the drama must accompany him to the police station. i It was a strange little proces^on that \ presently eet out across the still silent