CHAPTER XXIX.

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

CHAPTER XXIX.

"i WISn I COULD READ TOAT MAN*S HEART."

The sergeant made arrangements for the safe custody of his prisoner, which effectually preluded (he possibility of escape. He arranged it so that cither himself, Wilberforce for the detective should always be in the room in addition to one- of the farmhands.

The doctor spent most of his time in tho room where Sheridan lay, still unconscious ; for, from what he had heard, it was of supreme importance that nothing should be left undone to, if possible, restoro tho sick man, upon whose utterances so much depended. Inasmuch as Sheridan must have had a considerable amount of brandy when he took the poison, O'Reilly had hopes of him, for the narcotic effects of the alcohol would to a great extent counteract that of the irritant poison.

The old man Hilton was becoming more conscious each hour, but the doctor wouldn't allow anyone to speak to him. He was still raving of gold.

During the evening Wilberforce strolled out of the house, away from the noise and bustle Sitting- down on a stump, he proceeded to smoke.

It is generally understood that tobacco induces reflection, and the young man soon fell into a train of profonnd thought on the events that had recently occurred. His one great aim in life was tr> free Blackburn from the stigma of guilt which rested on him, The wish was not altogether an unselfish one — what human wish is? — for Mary Blackburn. Until the cloud was lifted from over her he felt she could never be his. The chances were ninety-nine to one that tho high-spirited girl would refuse to marry him under the circumstances, and, being a lawyer, Vie looked at oven so sentimental a matter as love from a more or less prosaic point of view.

As his wife, she would be more exposed to tho silent sneers and whispered slanders that polite society so freely indulges in

Wrapped in a veneer of respectability that frequently only requires a scratch to rub it off, these social pharisoes look down upon those whose true worth, while less obtrusive, is deep and genuine. The good sense of the young man told him that there was sad truth in the biblical assertion that the sms of the fathers shall be visited on the children, and that he would not be increasing Mary Blackburn's hnppingss by taking her from the peaceful seclusion which now sheltered her and placing her before the world to be pointed at as a murderer's daughter. No! he must see her father cleared of the crime first and then — why then he would look for his reward.

Then ho thought of the statement Armytage had made. He confessed it appeared a very probable one and would be hard to disprove, yet it seemed to him as if an unseen spirit was whispering in his ear that the man lied. He sat for a full half -hour deeply absorbed and then the contracted brows suddenly relaxed, as he got up and walked towards the house. *' The very first question we ought to have put," he muttered. As he entered the dining-room ho mot tho housekeeper and said : 1 ' Did you see those clothes we found this morning?" " I did not, sir. I was in the master's room when they were shown." "I suppose you would know if they were Mr Sheridan's clothes r" ' " Indeed I would ; but I don't think they could be his, for they arc all in his room, with the exception of the suit Mr. Armytage is wearing now," was tho reply. " What ! Is Armytage wearing Sheridan's clothes?" " Tes. I don't know what he did with tho clothes he had when ho came here, but three days ago he got a suit of the master's and is wearing them now. "Three days ago!" echoed Wilberforce, with a thrill of interest in his voice. "Do you think you would know the clothes Armytage wore when he came here F" " I think I would, sir. At any rate, I know those my master wears." The lawyer said no more, but hurried to the room where Fahey was and asked him for the clothes. " What for?" was the reply. " T want to show them to the housekeeper, to see if they are really the farmer's, as Army tnge asserts." "Of course; of course! What a fool I was not to think of that before as the simplest way to verify }he man's statement," Fahey blurted oxit. The clothes were brought to the housekeeper, who at once said they were not her master's, but she believed they were the same as those Avmytago came to the farm in. She added, that a couple of days before she had taken a bundle, which she thought contained dirty clothes, from her master's room, and placed it in tho laundry, but it had since been missed.

The sergeant examined the clothes narrowly and said :

" I could almost swear Armytage was wearing those cloth.es the last time I saw him in Gisborne. This is a most important discovery, for it practically explodes the man's story. "—To bb Continued. SI 4 -F T lft