The Pomfret Mystery

Waihi Daily Telegraph, Volume V, Issue 1509, 16 December 1905, Page 4

The Pomfret Mystery

Dodlbv VINTON '

%fcS)v Chapter xxrii' - IfftfyV'*', Continued , !kearmM"'he k oried iagoin to her hours, of life are numbered. not die till I have told you all. I P%'i^Wrtii'»nd, s aß a boj, lived noM'horo-r .farmhouse by ■ theV-roadside.:; ,1. kwM'anonlychild--hamoufedani:pßttad ?*by alii' 1 ; From ( my earliest duys I \vne uneventful life at home fM; even to me, and I ghaljed oppbrtnnity.to get away 'above alMhings I wished for wealth. know not howJ fell, but oh I be : was' not unti l poverty b to deny me many luxuries plhlii'WMneiMsary to my lifo. But tHo gained, larpo as (hoy were, were ftnill to'small for me-I wantid moreoame to Eotafret. determined to Mob'/the. bank. There I met you-au<i gloved you, By your Ride 1 seemed to Jriaiik how vile and worthlers 1 wbp. voioe aDd glanoe aeamcd orer to bid - . lentmnn when I marnod jou-the old sjsirittftedead;»6da:nowspirit vpbs,in jib place. /Ye'?, the, old life was dead and a was in its place. :Yes, . the old wife was moj and if I (bought iol it ai all it was with a shudder of rejoioJngVt my esoape f'om it, nV; lv Tet'the i old unrest oame gradually 'back to J me-rthe fuiot safe life wo led upljtf l fell, Bntj oh l tbe . aogl, the agony of my heart, of''my will, to be evil once C again,. v I ,< f i /Hj *• Wounded into death by'the doiectives seeks lis this oavo ■from whose |»mou(h-I might onoe-more gaze .upon my. - and catch ,a distant fglimpse of : (he'figore3 of. those who loved ■vnitfwhen I;wa8 young, and here,i)obnown LMd unseen die, die." > =j§|he.'shuddered as if some reptile had •ittwled before ber. K . _ ' '/Believe/ at least, he orled—" believo, !aUeast,lloved'yon!'' pfjiiHe'oiaeed.and'buried his face in bis giWiijWiere he hnelt at,her feet-~he did (¥qt;direlook her.-i Her breathcame and iVeWio shuddering gaspsi lß'./Meroy4" he prayed, stretching bis arms IjWtfolk 'J&ieroy! 1 ' late 1" she answered, ? hoarsely,/ •' ; setk'i$ l '£et rty 'lova plead for my forgivifnets and for meroy j" , pjlour love 1" shJb eaid. 1 1" lour > love,l thing lhat it: was, pleads not s ftormer<)v, ibnt .for vengeance—and .its I'pAyerihalj'be heard." ■> you once boro for Jhe'memory'of the happy days meroy I" Sha laughed a shrill laugh, like tho laugh |?blV t fiend,'and ere,it had died away and |o teverbetate thfoagK the arched fjieef and^long 1 'passage *WBys, 1 ho heard Itibeae'words,-clear*and dißtinot as from a |Kell:j{-t i> v fiad meroy, bo shall I have 1 ' , Mercy I, Mercy!!' he i moaned. *" 'upjo ■ her,full hoigbt) ®&djbylthe';lightfof her uplifted torch, he f oild sWthe i her.-eyes as. she mhsif; , Too late I Too late!" ; §f^|He, shook as with,an ague, He fell 1 face upori the before her, [%lan3<the toroh'dropped (com h»:band.and fffell flaming down tho chasm, showing tho Ragged rooks that lined'its sides, ste%Bhe!staod*gazing atbimifor, a: moment hate in her oyesjand when Igbß wlsedhk head again she had left him.' i ipd light of the rodeding tofoh I pflMhedjbaokf lightning gleams of rainbow-: %SoWnred > light /- from - floor:, atid - wall and tyfrni-sto it grow lesa and le«a until but in the distance, ij&HhHjk'/darknessiand-aolemn eiletlce closed >j|inafoQnd bim like a pall. |l|Sbe walked out into tho, oljar daylight, %i\7itbiniher,band afldiin bet: heart whs a cold, relentslef! L'a{e,\ l i , / v 1 bloakiand: terrible: lonoliness; with hid, snrrouDded himself tßdeeended: again. ; .:upon:,.him, as darkness the barth t -bat tl". = 'hadow. on hjid: no resemblance s tac,: shades pof'evening, broken as they are by tbe if/flickering lights of kindly the rays caVe waa a fitter.ehiblem for the 'gloom'of |rbi/iinner nature. ' j?J lay ( ; friendless, weary, dying, pfoMike'n&Thero was.no;memory.of good o done to fellow-man, no'momory of high p:secomplltoment o;< kindly deed, to Bbed a I*; ray'of hope through his son). ' ! those<laet inoment9 of bin life turned to a doep roviow ,of ;the ®|r»auel.!w'd matvtlou?: change which 1 he MUadibrought'.upon himself :by tho. life H SMH! ! ;< is;!ff—■ _!

whioh he had led, ': He remimbirel how the bright sa;s had smiled upon him m his youth; liow the woods and streams had whispered to his boyish • heart tales of expectations of honour and glory i . how in 'the years gone by, he hud lofi his home( a simple and loving child, and pl int"d his : firm and eager footsteps, on tne thiesho dof wor d, Ho remumbtrti' linw fresh nnd tender lns bonr . bnd boon ' when firsthe set on;—how full of lov'o onr , ;synipathy for•'uia kind-bow'- responsivt j >nd pitying for human guilt and sorrow—-how-.earnest in,bis ?hope ifiui men would I learn to'honour and i'everonco,h,m. . r And now—what was tho ond ? tJolumic i like that of the grave-a .dying mau left to die unwatohed and for—a path through..',life, marked. by"ci'iino4 and foulwith the misery that ho had caused, As tho moments of his lifo etoed slowly ono byono' awayi so pio.mo liko thesi pusse'l on before him. ■ lle .stavted up, and tho dark cavern sceuled alive with demons, grinning and rnookmg huu --rt'iidv ami i waitings to bear his soul to pordmon, T»his. failing ■ senses: iho witii ' thoir tread- tho caverns echoed with thou i laughtor—bis ears were stunned with their 1 cries. .; ■ Ho reeled and foil and up from the bowels of earth his soul took its flight lo auswer at the judgment seat of God for a mis-spent life. : / . To lit eonhnuri