A POISONED FLOWER OF DEATH.

Manawatu Herald, Volume III, Issue III, 3 October 1891, Page 4

A POISONED FLOWER OF DEATH.

'ED BY A BROTHER'S BLOOD, IT KILLS THA\ BROTHER'S MURDERER. I Dear Friend Manson : You hai>e doubtles teard of my father's death and the terribh nurder of my brother. My father left a rathe ! >eculiar will, and the sickness and death of hi. .egal adviser still leaves affairs in an un ■ettled condition. If you will come to XJ-pini) •on and see that things are straightened out i is they should be, I will make it well worth i/our time. Yours, as of old, Claude Mortimer. This note was received soon after my graduation from college by me, Frederick Manson, struggling lawyer, from my ole college chum, Mortimer. A few months after launching myself upoi a legal career I had picked up a newspaper one day to see an account of the death o* Enos Mortimer, who had been one of the prominent men of the State. Not mort than three weeks after reading of the death of my old friend's father, I came across, it the same newspaper, an account of a my.terious murder. I was startled and horrifiei when I read the name of the murdered man It was Victor Mortimer, Claude's brother The person who committed the deed wa. unknown. In response to the note I went. There were tears in Claude's eyes as h» took my hand, and his voice shook when hi said: " I am glad to meet you, Manson, but sorry that our meeting is at a time so fraught with sorrow to me." He looked twenty years older than when saw him last. Dissipation had left its mark nn his handsome face, and there was a ver, perceptible sprinkling of white in his hair Jnder the hand of affliction, the oldjoll, ight had died out of his eyes, which to nv. veemed to be strangely aversive and restlcs HIS STORY. That evening as we sat in Claude's favourit. room he told me the story of the murder, i •lid not ask him to do so, but of his own free •will he told me of the terrible deed. His brother Victor had been alone in the mansion a: the time that he fell the victim of ai, ♦isassin. Claude had been with him thai Jay, but had ridden away late in the afterooon, and had put up for the night at a .mall village, twelve miles away. In the morning he had continued on his journey, to" be recalled by a message stating that his | brother had been murdered. He came back and found Victor dead, having been killed in the hall of his own house by a blow on the head with som* heavy instrument, that had crushed his skull like an egg shell. The object of the I murder was evidently robbery, for the dead J man's pockets had been rifled. Detectives | had been employed, and within a week. time some of the stolen valuables were found upon the body of an unknown man, who was discovered floating in a small pond twenty miles from the scene of the crime. I listened to Claude's story in silence, refraining from asking any questions that might cause him greater suffering. He seemed disappointed by this, and for a time dwelt upon the peculiarity of the murder, his absence from the place at the time of its occurrence, and the final discovery of the vagrant who undoubtedly committed the crime. He appeared very nervous, as if repressing an excitement that he did not wish observed. After a time I succeeded in drawing his thoughts from the murder, and for an hour we talked of other things. During all the time that we had been in the room Claude's eyes had every now and then sought a distant corner. Finally I looked in that direction and perceived an immense flower pot full of earth, from which grew the stock of a large lily. The lily was in bloom, and at once attracted my attention. " What a strange appearing flower!" I exclaimed, as I rose to examine it. Claude sprang up and rushed past me. "Yes.it is strange," he replied, with illconcealed excitement. " Don't touch it! I believe the thing is poison!" " What makes you think so ?" I asked. " I don't know," he answered, a little I wildly. " A week ago it was almost snowy white; since then it has changed till it has become what you now see. At first I thought it was dying; now I do not know what to think." HAUNTED BY A FLOWER. I could not banish all thought of the strange flower from my mind at once, and that night I fell asleep thinking of it. All nightlong I was tortured by horrible dreams of murder and bloodshed, and in all my visions the lily figured prominently. I was very glad when morning came. i Enos Mortimer had left a will which cut ■ off his son Claude with a dollar. All his property had been bequeathed to Victor, but he had stated in his will that at Victor's death the property should go to the next of kin. As Victor had died unmarried, " the next of kin" must be his only brother, Claude. I could see but little trouble in settling the affair quickly and easily, and could hardly comprehend why Claude had sent so far for me when legal service could have been obtained much nearer home. Meantime I had moved my practice to Upington. I had discovered that there was a better field there, and at once availed myself of what seemed to be a good opening. Strange to say, Claude did not seem to approve of the step. He did not openly express his disapproval, still his manner spoke fully as plain as words. Nevertheless, we still remained friends. Claude was utterly changed from his former jovial self. He had lost all his old jolly ways and seemed like a man haunted by a fearful memory. He was nervous and unsociable, and his former twinkling eyes seemed filled with a shifting, unsteady light. The lines upon his face grew deeper, and the white that tinged his hair grew more perceptible. Strangely enough, after my removal to Upington my old friend did not ask me to call upon him; but I did not wait for an invitation. One day I called. I found him in his favourite room, and instinctively looked for the lily. A cry burst from my lips as I did so. There in the corner stood the grewsome flower, looking stranger and more unnatural than when I first saw it. From a mixed black and white the cup of the flower had turned to a dull, dead black, and the tongue, which had been a dull red, was crimson, as if coloured by pure life-blood. Months had passed since I saw it last, still this was the same flower that I had seen before. AN ACCURSED THING. A peculiar feeling of fascination and horror seized me, and I advanced towards the lily Claude Mortimer was there hefore me. Hr stood between the flower and me, his wholframe a-tremble. "Don't touch it!" he gasped hoarsely " It is accursed !" " Let me look at it, r'aude," I said, en deavouring to cK!._ down the feeling o horror in mv h.east. "It is strange!" With reluctance he stepped aside ai*. ••V-.vu me lo again inspect tlie flower, b** fc*t the while he cautioned me Jiot to touch or inhale too much odour from the fl-wi* The same sweet yet sickening otbur c-r-Irom the flower, but now ft was many ii;;i stronger than before. ,Indeed, -thisod v. was so strong that I was soon compelled • seek a chair, feeling faint and ili/ry. ** I should think you would die. t.'**it i. (To be Ceoclnflefl.)