“THE EVIL THAT MEN DO”

Wairarapa Daily Times, 17 August 1936, Page 7

“THE EVIL THAT MEN DO”

CHAPTER I (Continued)

Fazzard drew himself proudly up, and, speaking in a defiant tone, said: “Do your worst; and now, go, or I may feel tempted to soil my hands by throwing you out,” “Your words are big,” James answered; “but you’ll sing a deal smaller before I’ve done with you.” With this menace lie snapped his, fingers in the face of the man whom he had addressed as Mr Maxwell and stalked out of the room.

Having closed the door and locked it, Fazzard sank into his chair and covered his face with his hands. “Must I,” he moaned, “always bo the victim of misfortune? For myself I care not; but my wretched boy must suffer as well. What cursed chance sent this man here? But ho must be foiled —at all costs he must be foiled, desperate as he seems to be.”

He rose and paced his room for hours, and it was not till daylight appeared that he sought his bed. Even then his trouble only permitted a fitful and feverish sleep, and, after tossing about for an hour or two, he looked careworn and haggard, and older than he was by some years.

Indeed so marked was his distressed appearance that when his man, Mark Phesey, came in he toek notice of it and inquired the cause. “I have been much annoyed,” said Mr Fazzard irritably. “You may remember the fellow Pycroft, or Preaching Jim, as he was commonly called, whom I horse-whipped one day in the Highlands. Well, he is here. It appears that this is his mother’s, house. Last night he had the. impudence to force his way into my room and threaten to denounce me.”

“And what did you say and do?” asked Mark.

“Say and do?” replied Mr Fazzard. “I defied the blackguard and told him if he did not leave the room I would throw him out. He was insolent, and I felt no little difficulty in restraining myself. ’ ’ Phesey looked thoughtful, but eyed liis master with a strange expression, suggestive of dislike and contempt, and his words seemed to accentuate this expression. “You are really the most hot-headed person I have ever had to deal with,” he said. “You are constantly getting yourself into trouble —I cannot help saying so—by your stupid indiscretions! ”

“Good heavens! what would you have me do,. Phesey? Have I not suffered enough, without having to put up with the insolence of an ignorant, dissipated scoundrel, who thrusts himself on my privacy, and grossly insults me?” “You seem to forget,” said Mark, “what I now say to your face, that you are not the powerful person you once were, when you could dictate and command with a high hand. Your fortunes have fallen, and a humbler spirit would suit your present position better than a proud, domineering tone. Why don’t you try and humble yourself somewhat, so as to accommodate yourself to circumstances?”

“Well, what would you have me* do?” groaned his unfortunate master. “For one thing,” replied Mark, “I would have you propitiate James Pycroft, instead of making an enemy of him. ”

“How,” asked Mr Fazzard, “how am I to do that?”

“To me,” answered Mark, “that seems easy enough! He has an intense craving for money, and is. ready to do anything to get it. Why not purchase the fellow's silence?”

“You know how limited are my means, Phcsey. How much do you suggest?’ ’ “Say twenty pounds,” was the answer.

“It is a large sum to take from my slender resources,” sighed Fazzard; “but if you think it the right thing to do I will follow your advice. There is one stipulation, however, I shall make, and that is that I shall not be called upon to see the rascal again.” “You needn’t see him,” said Mark. “Give me the money and I will undertake to buy him over.” Fazzard walked to the cupboard, and,, with trembling hand, unlocked it, and taking out an iron box produced a small roll of bank-notes, from which he counted out twenty pounds. This amount, with a heavy sigh, he handed to Mark Pliesey, who said he would seek out the offending James Pycroft forthwith.

He anticipated little difficulty in finding their landlady’s son, and, indeed, he had gone but a few paces from Tanner’s Yard when he came face to face with the very man he wanted. Pycroft was with two or three boon companions, and as. it was evident that all of them had been drinking heavily, Mr Fazzard’s servant thought he had better wait an opportunity of speaking to Preaching Jim privately. The quick eye of James Pycroft, however, had already detected Mark Phesey, and he called out in drunken tones, “Hi! master,, surely I know your face?” “Yes,” said Mark, “and I know yours. Speaking frankly, I want to see you, and if you will leave your friends for a few moments we will have a chat together. ’ ’ James Pycroft, though he guessed what he was wanted for, affected to be much astonished. However, he told his companions that he would rejoin them shortly, and said to Mark, “Now, Mr Phesey, as you call yourself, what is it you want with me?” “I have a suggestion to make,” said Mr Fazzard’s man, deeming it wiser to come to the point at once. “It is this. Promise me you will go right away from York, and never again annoy Mr Fazzard,. and I will place in your hands the sum of ten pounds.” Pycroft’s, eyes sparkled at the mention of this sum, which would be a little fortune to him in the circumstances, but he was too cunning to be found grasp-

BY R. DONOVAN,

(To be Continued.)

ing eagerly at it. He, therefore, assumed an indifferent air and said with a coarse laugh, “Ten pounds! Is that all? No, no, my friend, it won’t do. You must give me more than that. Come! add another five, and I’ll take it!”

“Not a penny more,” said Mark Phesey emphatically. “Ten pounds, or nothing. ’ ’

“Nothing, then,” said the other. “I will be independent.” “Very well,” said Mark; “take your own course,” and Mr Fazzard’s emissary turned as if to go away. The other man, thereupon, called Phesey back, saying, “Very well; hand over the ten pounds, and it’s a bargain. ’ ’ “Do you,” asked Mark, “understand the conditions under which I give you the money?” “Yes; I am to go right away.”

“That is so; and you must give me a solemn pledge that you will not speak or write a single word that may lead to Mr Fazzard’s detection. Do you agree to that?” “Yes,” was the sullen answer.

Phesey knew, of course, that the bare promise of such a man was not worth much; but he had no other course open to him than to accept it. He was, moreover, hopeful that, even if Pycroft should return, Mr Fazzard would, in the meantime, have been able to shift his quarters and find a fresh hidingplace. So he counted out the ten pounds and handed the money to Preaching Jim, who clutched the notes like a hungry hound seizing a bone. “You will go away at once,” urged Phesey.

<( Yes,” replied Pycroft; "I am off now.” Stowing tlie money in the depths of his ragged clothing, he thrust out his hand for Phesey to shake, and the two men parted. “I think,” mused Mark Phesey, as ho walked away, “I have settled him all right, besides making a neat little profit of ten pounds”; but he little dreamed that in what he had done he had forged the first link in a chain of startling events that would have their denouement in his own tragic death. CHAPTER 11. Among those who had taken part in the battle of Culloden, so disastrous to the hopes of Prince Charles and his adherents, was. Robert Maxwell, a Highland gentleman whose estate of several thousand acres bordered the southern bank of the Tay, not far from the city of Perth. Knowing full well that if he fell into the hands of the English troops his life would be forfeited, Maxwell contrived to effect his escape after the battle, and reached his Highland home in safety. Then,, accompanied by wife and child, he fled to a remote and almost inaccessible part of the rugged Highlands, taking with him Mark Wilson, his serving man. For weeks and months the forlorn party wandered from one hiding place to another,, suffering many hardships and privations, to which unfortunately the wife, who had been delicately nurtured, ultimately fell a victim.

This was indeed the heaviest blow Robert Maxwell had yet sustained.

lie had been passionately attached to his wife, and now that he had lost her he determined on making a desperate struggle, for the sake of the child who was left to him, to find some yay out of his difficulties. It would have been little short of madness to make his way to his Tayside estate, where his speedy capture was almost certain, and in addition to that his so doing would probably have andangered the safety of his sister Mary. At . any rate,, he thought his best course would be to get to some large town in which he might, for a time at least, find a safe shelter. He consequently, by cautious and stealthy movements, crept towards York, frequently running hair-breadth' risks of being taken by the English troops, who at that time were scouring the country in every direction. At York he obtained lodgings in the house of the widow Pycroft in Tanner’s Yard, calling himself Simon Fazzard, while Mark Wilson. changed his, name to Mark Pliesey. And thus, by an evil chance, they became inmates of the house rented by “Preaching Jim’s” mother.

How James Pycroft recognised in Simon Fazzard the Highland laird who had fought for Bonnie Prince Charlie; how he was offered, and accepted, a bribe to leave York and to keep a still tongue in his head, the reader already knows.

Not for long, however, did “Preaching Jim” remain away from the city of York. The ten pounds handed him by Mark Pliesey was soon dissipated in drink and gambling and riotous living, and Fazzard, leaving the house late at night as, was his custom, was horrified to recognise in a man lurching drunkenly into Tanner’s Yard the worthless scoundrel who had agreed to quit the city for ever. Challenged as to his promise, Pycroft asked whether the other thought ten pounds a sufficient price to pay for his safety. In this manner Mark Pliesey’s fraud was discovered. His master taxed him with his dishonesty, and angrily dismissed him from his service.

Thus matters stood when Mark Phesey and “Preaching Jim” again met face to face.