OUR NEW SERIAL THE YOUNG ARCHDUCHESS

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume XXIII, 19 May 1922, Page 3

OUR NEW SERIAL THE YOUNG ARCHDUCHESS

(By

WILLIAM LE QUEUX)

CHAPTER XVIII. (Continued). The next morning Miss Torella was tucked in a spacious car between the two men, Vincent, of whom she was not very fond, Mr Smeaton, of whom she knew nothing. During the long ride—they halted for lunch—the young Archduchess hardly opened her lips She was quite a royal person, aloof from these common people whom she had to accept as travelling companions. Vincent looked at her from time to time with an amused smile. She was quite the Archduchess because she did not like them. Had either taken her fancy, she might have descended, fAr a few moments, from her high estate. He thought of Mrs Somers. She was an aristocrat, too—of course on a much lower plane than this superior young woman. Mabel Somers had dropped her bangle in order to obtain a stolen interview with a man who had attracted her. His heart was very much stirred towards Mabel Somers. They arrived at Hitherconibe Hall The two men and the girl entered. They made straight for the dear old Colonel’s study, the comparatively small room in which he transacted all the business of the Hunt. Geradine broke down when they'neared the door. She had been quite the young Archduchess during the long drive from London. She was a girl now, overcome with tender memories. She drew back. 1 Oh, no. I cannot go in there! That awful night! Those terrible memories! Hugh lying stretched on the floor!” For a moment Vincent, a ver/kind creature a“t heart, reproached himself for having exposed her to such an ordeal. He felt very sympathetic towards her. “ Miss Torella, I am deeply grieved to have brought you here. But this gentleman and I want to pluck out the heart of this mystery. It is almost inconceivable to think that a man like Colonel Ashdown could have murdered anybody, much less his own son, in cold or hot blood. I asked you to come here because there was just a faint chance that you might assist us.” •“How can I assist you?” She flashed at him an angry glance. “I don’t quite know,” replied Vincent humbly. He did not often speak humbly, and he noticed that she regarded him with less animosity. “ I had a sort of intuition, a sixth sense, as it were.”

They went into the room, charged with tragic memories. How well Geradine remembered that night. She, Mrs Ashdown and Basil Long had bent over the dead body of Hugh Ashdown. The French windows were open, the Colonel had disappeared,

Probably, at that moment, there was only one thought in the minds of'the three persons who bent over that rigid body. In a fit of ungovernable rage and disgust Colonel Ashdown had killed his son, Xyhat had passed between them nobody could conjecture. Such, at any rate, was the verdict of the neighbourhood, Whose sympathies were entirely with the father.

The two men and the young Archduchess went into the room. It seemed very desolate without that genial, cheerful presence. Again the tears came into the girl’s eyes.

Vincent and Smeaton cast about their very observant eyes. It* was obvious that two shots had been fired, one which had shattered a pane of one of the French windows, the second bullet had found its billet in Hugh Ashdown’s head.

When the Colonel had given, himself up at Vine Street, he had surrendered the revolver, a weapon which he had had in the house for years. The inspector had examined the weapon very carefully at the time. Out of the five barrels, only two had been discharged.

Smeaton and Vincent peered and poked into every corner in the almost forlorn hope of throwing fresh light on the tragedy of that terrible night. “Clearly a fight on one side,” said Smeaton at length, reconstructing the scene in his vivid imagination. 1 ‘ The son and his father have high words—the son, a. dissolute scoundrel, perhaps attempting to blackmail the wretched Colonel. Suddenly the father sees red, snatches his revolver and shoots at Hugh. He misses him, and the bullet goes through the window pane. With the second shot he kills him. Hugh was standing in front of the window all

the time, for when the dead body was found it was stretched in that direction.” “It looks like it; aqyway, the two shots fired in the same direction account for the two discharged barrels,” agreed Vincent a little reluctantly. The explanation of the experienced detective seemed very clear, very convincing, but he was not quite prepared to accept it. He spoke after a moment’s pause. “ The thing that sticks in my mind is this—why the devil should the Colonel carry a revolver about with him in his own house—a quiet country gentleman, living in a quiet and orderly neighbourhood?”

“ I have one in my pocket now,” suggested Smeaton quietly. “ So have I,” retorted Vincent. “ But that' is a different matter. You and I are engaged in a different business; we never know when we may run into danger, never know what scoundrels with a grudge against us may be lurking round the corner.” “I see your point,” agreed the older man. “And to an extent I am with you. The Colonel dines with his family and a guest. He meets his son afterwards by appointment in the, study, or what they call his den, for the purpose of having a quiet talk. Many such talks have no doubt taken place before, without any tragic consequences. Why, on this particular night, should he have armed himself with his revolver, apparently the only .one in the house? The police searched thoroughly for another or others, and found none.” “Of course,” said Vincent. “if Hugh had carried a revolver, too, it might have been a stand-up fight be tween the two men, a shot apiece. Then Hugh’s revolver would have been found in the room, if he had carried one. Be sides, it is proved that the two shots were fired from the Colonel’s own pistol by the fact of the two empty barrels.” “ That’s clear, and it brings us back to the question, why did Ashdown carry his weapon on that particular night ? Smeaton shot a penetrating glance at his companion. “Is Miss Torella the solution of that problem: ’ , "“Ah!” cried Vincent, on whom a sudden light had broken. '' Yes. he might have gone armed on her account.” Continued in to-morrow s Advertiser.