THE MANOR MYSTERY

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 42, 18 February 1908, Page 6

THE MANOR MYSTERY

' .. .v&U Rights Reserved.)

By FERGUS HUME

CHAPTER XSXm. • • Not that the truth had become known in so wonderful a manner, Mrs. Broil should certainly have been hanged for the murder of Richard Nearby. But she .es r caped the justice of man —in other words, she never recovered from the effects of the explosion, which she Tierself had caused. Her meagre body was much more shattered than Hallon and Bezkoff had thought. After lingering for two days in great agony she passed away, and.it was only during the last hour of her miserable life, when she knew, that she could not live, that she confessed the truth. Trusk himself, who had been informed of the evidence of the gramophone, took down her confession, and she signed the same in his presence. It quite exonerated Sir John. To make a precis of the document, it appeared that Mrs, Broil had always bated Sir John as much as she loved Richard, and had frequently connived at the younger twin's rascalities, when Jie swindled his generous elder brother, >vhich he did frequently. When Sir John found out about the forgeries, he also earnt that Mrs. Broil was encouraging Richard, and, therefore, sent his twin to Russia, and informed Mrs. Broil that he ; vould dismiss her with a pension. i The little woman tated the idea of >eing sent into exile in the country, and ' ilso wanted to save Richard. The" letter vritten by 'Jules hinting at further ras- ' alities on Richard's part, was inter- '■ «pted by that gentleman, and, on Mrs. 1 Jroll's advice, he disguised himself as Sir fohn arid went down to the country, i /Irs. Broil then told Sir John and in- ] luced him to go down to the Cuckoo's j rrove, in order—as she put it —to save. Uchard. It was , understood between the « urse and the younger twin that Sir John < ?as to be murdered, and then the blame c ras to be put on to Count Bezkoff, or n to the Anarchists. Mrs. Broil had •, een the first to guess that the letter a ime from the Anarchists, and that they 1 hreatened to blacken Richard's characsr still more to his brother. By Rich- j rd's stopping the letter he -was enabled c meet Jules, as his brother, and then d itended to make terms. Sir John, when iveigled to the spot, was to be murdered, 1, nd Richard was to step into his shoes. J hat also accounted for the disguise g hich Richard assumed. When Sir John V as dead, Richard was to go back for the i jj Jrtmanteau to the B*eltan Station, and t] ien go on as a gusst to the Manor, ti is strong resemblance to his twin, and s knowledge of John's mannerisms, "• ould enable him to play the part, social- p, . As to the business,' Richard was so c , .'complished a forger that be could D , ,sily assume his brother's handwriting id signature. Finally, his knowledge j, the business was as complete as that Sir John, because, as his brother's t_, eretary, he knew nearly everything, n hen the murder had taken place, and mnt Bezkoff or some Anarchist was ,ngfed for the -crime, then Mrs. Broil U j id the false Sir John hoped to have erything their own wicked way. o j Unfortunately for the success of this ever plan, things did not happen exact- "J as had been arranged. Mrs Broil bl >ok an early train and got outsat Ax; igh, the next station to Beltan." Then 16 c walked to the Cuckoo's Grove along is] ie road, and concealed herself in the ha ishes near the stile, with the red- if nded knife, which she had taken from th c library of tne Camden Hill house, fei was arranged between herself and ba chard that Sir John should be allow- lej to come along firsthand then, when go had been killed by Mrs Broil, she ■uld leave the knife as evidence against to zkoff, and return to town from the deign Station. But it so happened a n chance, or by the design of Provi- th: ace, that Richard arrived on the spot wt fore his brother. While he was lea'ii- c ' s ; over the stile Mrs Broil, deceived by n< a dress and by the somewhat dim oa: ht, came stealthily behind and drove Ac ■ knife into his back. Then she drop--1 the weapon and fled. s\o one ap- cai rently noticed the little dusty woman *h( issed in black—for Mrs Broil confess- S e< that she had abandoned her gaudy cks on this expedition—rand the mur- ls "ess was thus enabled to sneak into i Axleigh train and get back to town. ls ' c excused her absence when she re•ned to Camden Hill, by telling Julia DOl it she had been to the slums. Then, " (( en she was safe, Mrs Broil sat down wait for Richard. 1 Vhen Sir John appeared she was hor- of •-struck to find that she had killed ■ favourite, and immediately wonderif she could not put the blame of the ith on Sir John, whom she hated the ~ re for having been the unconscious ise of Richard's death.. But she was UT . able to manage anything, until she rheard the conversation which Bez- ° f had with Dorothy and her lover. ~ sn Mrs Broil, thinking that Sir John I* > imprisoned in the rower, and that • , Anarchists bad gone, fired thu m « ie. Afterwards she discovered that h in the Cosmic Powers had interven- J in behalf of her victim. She destroy- ; '. the Anarchists, but left Sir John ?, c. tha s to the gramophone record. Julia, f3" ig in love with Sir John, a;nd knowing ctX? t Mrs Broil hated him, always kept c atch on the nurse. The records were ■*£ stantly being taken, and even whoii lard entered the room to converse i.V ' i Mrs Broil, the nurse never thought , irough sheer carelessness, it would <q i—of stopping the machine. Conse-. j on ltly, in the middle of a song, or a « CO j ment of verse, the record would take f TOD n the dialogue between Mrs Broil -^yjjj Ricnard. They paid no attention fulia, as "they deemed that she was j\j- m- , as she certainly was, but the minS- Very machine took down, their guilty "\ tdences. Two or three times Mrs as k e 1 removed the disc that had been dng while Richard talked; .but Julia "$ ter on—was prepared for this, and i Mrs Broil was dismissing Richard the ' he door the girl would take away h ere nscribed disc and substitute another, live . Broil never knew the difference, "y thus Julia had been able to acquire Bezk mcc of the woman's guilt.. be t course, Miss Flint had • never, an- I- ca ited murder. She simply, knew that man. iurse and Richard hated the man she "r I, and made the gramophone take moj-e i their words, so that, she could fiud Be what they were talking about. A an a dof hers, whom she had sworn to "W cy. heard the machine going with "H stolen discs, and repeated 'the eon- are i itions to Julia. But Miss Flint "D her tongue, until such time as Sir Percj should be accused of murdering )rother, since she guessed that.JVTrs war( i intended to make some such, ac- pa th ion. Had the crime been carried thins s Mrs BroU intended, Count Bezkoff 'ru 1 haye beenaccused.on the evidence ine c

Author of "The Mystery of a .Hansom Cab," "The Jade Eye," "The Black Patch," " Jpnah'B Luck," " The Scarlet Bat." etc.

der. Mrs Broil never did -accuse Sir John, as she apparently was keeping her secret until such time as. he should force her to go to the country. Then, without doubt, she would have blackmailed him. But Julia, when she heard what was said in the Manor House library, and when she knew that Mrs Broil was dying, produced the discs, with the result which has been reported. "That woman should have been hanged!" observed Dorothy to her lover, a month later, when they sat in their favaurite corner. "Well, she's dead, , ' replied Percy, "so ihere's no more to be said." But Dorothy did not agree with him. N"ow that the storm was over and the :alm had come, she wished to talk about vha't they had undergone. The day was ovely, although there was a hint of win;er in the air. In the house, Lady Panvin was talking to Sir John Newby, to vhom she had become quite reconciled, iince she had found that he was really limself and not his scamp of a brother, fclr. Clair, as usual, was in his restored ibrary,' fastening on the wall an iron ;ag which had been found in the ruins. rVithout doubt it was the pear, used to fag Hallon, and which Jules, with great oolness, had stolen from the library, sow it was replaced by the delighted Mr. 31air. And it may be mentioned that Villy Minter was expected to afternoon ea along with her brother and Count Sezkoff, now a very frequent visitor to he cottage. "We must talk over things," said Dor>thy, slipping her arm within that o 'ercy's, "and then we'll mention the subect again." '"What do you wish to say?" he asked, miling, for Dorothy looked prettier than ver, and next month would surely make very charming bride. "Well, then," said Dorothy, "it was cry kind of Sir John to give mc up. nd to promise to assist you in your usiness.' , "It was/ assented Hallon. "Still, as ou did not love him, and certainly— irrect mc if I am wrong—love mc; he id not make so very great a sacrifice." Dorothy pinched him. "Of course I ye you," she pouted. "But I love Sir ohn also, in a way. And look how sod he has been to Count Bezkoff. 'illy says that the Czar intends to restate him in his father's property, and iat the high official who caused all the ouble will be sent to Siberia." "And quite right too/ said Percy. "he high official was a beast. I supise that when Bezkoff is restored -to his tates in Moscow, Willy Miuter will come the Countess Bezkoff." "Of course. Why, she calls him an." "With .a few adjectives, I presume, icky Ivan! What does Billy say to c prospect of losing his sister?" "Oh, he is going to Russia also." ''Humph! I hope he won't be blown Dorothy looked at the remaining ruins the tower with great horror. :t Don't talk of such things," she said, [y head is yet ringing with that terris explosion." "Well, it did, a lof of good/ l, coolly. -:-ln the-srst place, it poled off those Anarchists who would ye worried Bezkoff. In the sedond, smashed up Mrs. Broil, who pulled ! temple doc.-n on her own head like a nale Samson; and in the third, it laid re the'buried treasure of Abbot Hur- . By the way, how is that business ng?" 'Father has sent everything to London the Crown officials." 'What! All the crosses, and goblets, 1 pyxes, and altar furniture? I think t there must be thousands of pounds h all that gold and those many jewI wonder Jules didn't come across treasure when he was arranging his rels of gunpowder under the Devil's i vault, like another Guy Faux." But the treasure was buried in the th, Percy. Only the explosion tore up - ground and revealed it. Father will a good deal of money for it from although I believe it Drown property, you know." Ah.' Sir John arranged that also. He . good friend to everyone." , lorothy nodded and then rose. "And j come to the ruins," she said, smiling iave something to show you " — What is it?" I I .s they sauntered towards the ruins \ the tower Dorothy explained: "Do 9 remember the Devil's Ace?" | Oh., heavens!" said Hallon, with a I dder. "Don't talk of that beastly! 1 ig. It caused all the trouble."' i % No, it didn't, because it was never' i led. And, after all, Julia Flint, with! 1 gramophone, put an end to the I B ible." I I think Mrs Broil's confession did :. However, lam glad that Sir a showed bis gratitude to Julia by ing her independent." | Ui, poor girl! She would rather J married him." daresay; but she could scarcely exSir John's gratitude to carry him far. I don't believe that he will marry, since he has lost you. Doro—he stopped and took her hands is rich and lam poor. Why do you ' ■y mc?" ' I lecause I love you. And you will] g ich. soon. Why, Sir John will put — of business in your way. You know Q ; a fancy he has taken to you." ■ [c is very magnanimous," sighed Hal-' M again walking towards the ruin's, I sidering what a jewel I have taken I him. Oh, here come Bezkoff and an '. How happy they look." '" was indeed the Russian and Miss «J er who approached. They looked handsome snd very happy.. Tien do you go back to Prussia?" ' i Dorothy, playfully, when greet- •' were exchanged. ot .for. some time," said Willy. "In I think Ivan and I will live for most part in England; and down Dolly, where you and Percy can l/T ilso." Jy r e can form a community," said aff. "But I have, a great deal to B lankful for. I am happy now, and ti act like an- honourable gentlean, I won't have you speak any of the. past," said Willy. «<• ;koff' kissed her hand. "You are SI I igel." ". W) I here is Billy?" asked Hallon, idly. B jis coming up shortly. Where ou going now?" . )rothy has found something," said ■pt : s Clair nodded, and, walking to- lf ; the thicket near the winding stooped down and picked someoff the grass. i ok! ".) It was a very antique-look-ird,- stained, ■with, rain and black- FDI with gunpowder. . . c Devil's Ace!" cried Willy. "Oh , '

fancy that frail thing escaping the explosion." - '"Drop it, Dolly," said Percy, uneasily. "I 'wish you had never found it." ' - "No," said Dorothy, holding it up. "I believe that the curse has been removed, so I am about to turn it and wish." "No! No!" At this moment Lady Panwin was seen issuing from the house with Sir John. ■ They espied the young people and came towards them. Hallon tried to take the Ace from Dorothy. "Lady Panwin," he cried, "stop Dorothy from tempting Fate again." "The Ace of Abbot Hurley!" said Lady Panwin, astonished. "Of Amyas Clair, you mean. He won the estates with that card." "Curious that it should escape being blown to bits," said Newby: "I am going to tempt Fate," said Dorothy; and, before anyone could stop her, she solemnly turned the card. "I wish wealth, health, happiness, and honour for us all.' . She paused and all laughed. "Nothing has happened," said Bezkoff, smiling. "This has," remarked Lady Panwin, with some colour—"I am going to marry Sir John. John"—she took his arm— "come away"; and to escape congratulations the elderly couple fairly ran. . "Well," said Dorothy, "after that no one can disbelieve in the Devil's Ace." And no one contradicted her. ■ [THE END.]