CHAPTER XXVIII

Tuapeka Times, Volume XXV, Issue 1977, 4 March 1893, Page 2 (Supplement)

CHAPTER XXVIII

SHIFTING THE BLAME

The instant Armytage saw that his captors had can'tred their attention on Sheridan he swiftly/ and noiselessly slipped from the room, determined to make one final eifort at escape. As he w,ent quickly out of the back door — ■ for he knew the house well — he saw tho horse and vehicUe belonging to the party standing not a dozen yards away. "I wi^l get into that and drive away quietly, ior I cannot run with this heavy ■bundle."' He /jumped into the vehicle and put the swag/down, and then started in the direction of thfe Mount Alexander Road. His nerves were| strung to a fearful tension and his heartt beat wildly with excitement and hopn, as thot disitfince between himself and the house gradually incroascd. Drawing a long sigh of relief, ho looked into fthe body of the vehicle behind him and, as he did po. the vans fell from his nerveless lianas, and for a few moments he sat petrified with terror ; then, with a >tifled cry, he spraaig from tho tr.ip and ran swiftly away, leaving the bundle behind him. Wmt caused this hardened villain to betray smch fear? Onlnr this ! When he turned round his lock fill upon tho face of Hilton ! — the man he haf **jnurderously struck down in the hut , and robbed — gazing with wild pyes at him ! ' The old man was fast recovering his senses, but the^ peculiar half- vacant look still lingered on the features and the light of delirium ehone froti his eyes.

The shock of being thus suddenly con1 routed by his victim was quite sufficient to fill Armytago's heart with uncontrollable terror and, without thinking even of the gold for which he had jeopardised his life both hero and hereafter, he left it behind and fled from the wild face he looked upon. It might be mentioned that Constable Wallace had left the vehicle for a few minutes to have a bed got ready for Hilton in tho farm-house, as, in consequence of Sheridan's illness, Dr. O'Reilly had decided to remain for the night and ho wanted his injured patient to remain with him It was during this absence that Armytage escaped from the house. By this time thoso in the house missed Armytage and were running in different directions in sean.h of him. The Constable and Wilberforce ran rmxnd to the brvk of thehou^u together, and Wallace at oii<;o missed the vehicle containing the injured man. "He has run away with our trap," he habtily .said , and the two men proceeded impulsively in the direction of the main road, to which the trick led " What is th« fellow wanted for?" asked the constable, as well as ho could whilst running. "For lots of things, 'l believe. We have only suspicions against him at present, but they are very grave ones, and, at any rate, he is the man whom our bank friend wants to Irace the stolen gold," answered his companion "I wifib T had known that a year ago, when be gave evidence at Blackburn's trial, and I would have watched him " As he spoke, a wild, unearthly cry broke on their care and, as they turned a bond of the road, they saw the vehicle ahead of them, the hor.se proceeding at a leisurely walk now it was left to itself. They overtook it in a few moments and, stopping it, the constable hurriedly said : " You go one sido of the road and I will take the other. If you should sight him cooce, and I will do the same if I meet I him." There* was no time for words and, leaving the horse standing in the road (for a farmhand was coming to take it back), the two I men dashed into the thick timber on either side. Wilberforce had not proceeded far when he came suddenly across Sergeant Fahey, who had run from the house in a southerly direction as soon as the man was missed, and plunged into the timber that skirted the clearing. " He is somewhere about hero," said the young lawyer. "We have traced him this far in the trap." The two men continued the search fcr an hour without meeting with any sign of the fugitive and at last they emerged on the Mount Alexander Road almost out of breath just as the horseman who had been sent from the farm for a clergyman galloped up. " What is the matter?" he asked, noticing the excited looks of tho two men "Is Mr. Sheridan dead ?" " We are looking for an escaped prisoner," answered Fahey. " Did you notice any man around here? He cannot be far away." " The only people I haA r e seen were a couple of men in a spring-cart, aboiit a qnarter-of-a-inile back over that ridge and driving towards Woodend." " Lind me your horse and I will overhaul them. Our man might have got a lift from a passing farmer." Faicy travelled nearly a mile before he came in sight of the cart and he was quickly noaring them, when one of the men looked back and, seeing the sergeant, leaped out of the cart, to tho astonishment of his companion, and made for the bush It was not nearly so dense in this place ue a mile or so back, and Fahey, who was a first-class horseman, urged the animal forward with a cry of delight, for he recognised the fugitive as Armytage. The pursuit was of short duration, for tho horse was fleeter than the man and, as he rode up to him, the officer drew his revolver and threatened to fire. Seeing the hopelessness of the position, the exhausted man stood, panting with a sullen expression on his face, and, after he had rested a few moments, Fahey ordered him over lo the road, where the farmer was waiting with some amazed anxiety to know the reason of the chase and who he had given a lift to. The sergeant told him and asked if he would mind turning back to .Sheridan's, which the man at once consented to when ho heard the condition of Sheridan, who was a neighbor of his. Armytage was placed in the cart, and the three men speedily reached the farm, where the sergeant found that all his companions had returned, and considerable excitement pervaded the place, owing to the finding of Armytage's bundle in the vehicle with Hilton. Constable Wallace had opened the bundle and in addition to the gold (of which the reader already knows, and which Bnrrington identified as part of that stolen from the escort), a suit of clothes was found of a " pepper-and-salt " pattern. "How do you account for having this bundle in your possession, Armytage?" asked the sergeant. " 1 got it here, in this house, from Sheridan. He asked me to throw away the clothes some distance from the house, and to take the gold to Woodend or Kyneton, where I was not known, and sell it. lie said there would be some risk about it, but if I succeeded in disposing of it he would give me half the proceeds ; and that was enough to tempt any man Beyond that I know nothing." This was the devilishly-cunning reply of Ai-mytage, who sought to put the blame on to a man whom he considered as good as dead. " You don't expect us to believe any man would trust another in such a manner as that? If he gave yon the gold he would not give rise to grave suspicion by asking you to throw away a good suit of clothes such as these," replied Fahey. After a short pause, he added : " And you know there has been an attempted murder near here." Armytage gave a start of feigned surprise. "An attempted murder!" he exclaimed. " No, I was not aware such a crime had been committed." " Well, you tried to run away with the injured man," hastily broke in Wallace. " I got into your vehicle to escape with the gold and the clothes, for from what you tell me my gravest fears are almost realised. When I saw the man looking at me in such a strange manner and so unexpectedly I got such a fright that I jumped out of the vehicle and fled, leaving the biudls behind me." " What fears do you refer to ?" interrupted Wilberforce. " I was going to tell you, and when I do you will know the reason that Sheridan trusted mo as ho did. Three days ago I was wandering aimlessly through the forest about a milo from here, in a northerly direction, when I suddenly came upon my friend and host Sheridan, partly concealed in a thicket. He was about to run away when ho noticed that I saw him and, as I approached, I found that he was trembling with agitation and he was holding a bag which appeared to be weighty in his hands.

" When I spoke to him about his excited appearance ho seemed inclined to attack me. A few moments after I asked him to accompany me home, but he refused until darkness set in, and suddenly he said :

" ' Armytage, I may as well trust you. I have found a portion of Black Douglass's gold, and if you will assist me in disposing of it you shall have half.' I was hesitating what to say when he pulled out somo of the bars, and the sight of so much wealth tempted me and I consented. Ho then accounted for tho few blood-stains on his coat by saying he had cut one of bis hands whilst obtaining the gold ; and, although I scarcely believed it, I did not care about questioning him further.

"When night b'jt in we both went back to the farm. He promised to go out with me the noxt day and show me where b,e found the gold, but ho has been too excited ever since to do so, und last night he asked me to take the bundle away and dispose of the contents. You can understand now why I have been so anxious to got away, more for his sake than my own."

The explanation of tho wily ruftian created a t'avcrabl« impression ou everyone present except the young lawyer Intuitively he felt that the man was telling Iks and trying to shift the blame en to shoulders that, might be guiltless At length the sergeant said • " Your explanation may be true, but even if i( is I must detain you, for you bave admittedly committed an offence against the law. You will, therefore, remain here as my prisoner until I know whether Sheridan, whom you assert found the gold nnd insinuate to have attempted murder in obtaining it, lives or dies. In tho meantime, Wallace, ho continued, turning to the constable, " you look after the man we found in the hut. Ho seems to be rallying and be will have more chance here than if removed to Gisborne. I will telegraph to Carlsruhe for Malcolm to come here, as AYilberforce says he believes he could identify him."

The detective and Wilberforce decided to remain at the farm-house, for the young lawyer felt it was thy place to seek information regarding- tho two events that bad hap* pened at the wood-cutter's but , and, of course, the bar.k official had to remain with the gold and the men who luid found it, in the hope that the whole cf it. might yet be traced