The Third Man.

Southern Cross, Volume 2, Issue 3, 21 April 1894, Page 13

The Third Man.

Storyteller.

i (By J. Gr. Bethune, author of “ The i Eye of Hercules,” “The Cypher I F,” etc.)

1 CHAPTER XX. j FELLOW TRAVELLERS. 1 Of course Detective Walmsley was greatly, but delightfully, surprised to 1 learn that the young lady meant to | leave the train at the little station i selected by himself. No one could' ! have played the hypocrite more perI fectly than he. 1 “1 am glad, for your sake, that : you will escape the annoyance of ; travelling with such a brute, and will j be glad to place you in charge of I your friends.” i The gentleman made sure that I these words w r ere heard by the i drummer, who held an open novel ! in front of, him, and he made as if i furiously interested in its contents ; I but the face as red as a beet, and the : pulsing nostrils, told unmistakably 1 of the mental cyclone raging within. I Walmsley insisted upon taking the ; lady’s travelling-bag, and, with one of her charming “ Thank you’s,” she yielded it to him, and hurried to the front of the car, where the brakeman uttered the stereotyped request to “ step lively there.” “ I suppose, of course, you have friends to meet you here,” remarked | the detective, as he gallantly assisted her to the platform of the station. “ Oh, yes ; I would not venture to | such a lonely place so late at night if there was any doubt about their coming.” Meanwhile Detective Walmsley, who felt no dcubt that her expected friend was Judge Hollywood, was asking himself whether the jurist ! was likely to recognise him when : they should meet at night in this dismal spot. Walmsley was well dressed, and the moustache and goatee which he wore could be removed in an instant without help l of a razor. They were of jet blackness, and the heavy eyebrows were i dyed to correspond. The voice could i be readily changed, and it was easy to | keep his derby down so as to hide the upper portion of his face. Besides, , it was night, and he ought to be able i to keep out of the tell-tale glare of any i artificial light. On the whole, he was i quite sure of deceiving his friend, though he contemplated the meeting ’ with some misgiving. But the biggest kind of surprise ■ awaited him and his companion. No one was on hand to meet her. It has been said that Wareton was a station of so little importance that only the accommodation trains stopped there, and did so only on signal. The structure was just large enough to shelter a dozen people from a storm, and to afford room for the agent, who came here only twice during the day to meet certain trains. Both sides of the railway, for several miles from the station, consisted of a dense undergrowth of scrub oak, that being the unaccountable order of rotation of crops when a tract of pine is cut off. After this scrub oak should be extirpated it would be succeeded by a chesnut, after which would come the pine again. A well-marked highway crossed the road at the station, winding in and out among the wood, and soon disappeared from sight of any one standing on the small platform. Off to the eastward it was necessary to travel two miles before reaching the first habitation, but it was not quite so bad in the other direction. A mile distant was the village of Wareton, about the size of McVeyville, and the same distance beyond was the thriving little town of Vernon, the seat of one of the State asylums for the insane.

j The station was so insignificant, because those dwelling at Vernon were nigher to an opposition road, over which they did most of their travelling. The agent who had perf unctionary charge of the station lived more than half-a-mile away, and stalked down to the place at a certain hour in the forenoon and again in the afternoon. He then lit his lamp, hung it above the platform, and went home until to-morrow. If any persons wanted to take passages on the eleven o’clock train (which was the one from which Walmsley and the young lady had just disembarked), he could signal the train by turning the red side of the lamp in the proper direction, and buy his ticket off the conductor. As for those who left at this point they had no use for a ticket agent. . The consternation of the young lady when she looked around and failed to see a living person may perhaps be imagined. She was speechless for a minute, and Walmsley was durafounded.

“ What a situation for her to be in if I had not got off,” he thought; “ what can it all mean ?”

The yellow lamp threw out a faint light from where it hung overhead, but it was not needed. The moon wias bright, and, shining from an unclouded sky, objects were quite distinct for a considerable distance. The iron rails gleamed for several hundred feet ere they were lost in obscurity, and the dense undergrowth looked doubly dense and forbidding, as it faded from sight in the darkness. There was no light within the station, and, when Walmsley tried the door, he found it locked. “ If you wish to enter I will force the door,” he said. “ No ; why should 1 wmnt to go in there ?” she asked with a shudder. “ Then I beg you will be seated,” he added; “your friends have been delayed on the road.” Along the front of the little building, sheltered by the overhanging ioof, extended a projection, meant to serve as a bench for waiting passengers. The lady sat down, but her manner showed her excessive alarm, such as any woman would have felt in her situation. Walmsley did what he could to reassure her. “ Allow me to say that I count myself fortunate in having left the train when you did, at this lonesome place; I certainly shall remain with you until your friends arrive.” “ You are very kind,” she returned grateful I}'-; “I thank you for your kindness on the train, and now still more for your chivalry.” “ I beg you not to refer to it further.” “ Where are you going ? ” she asked abruptly, turning her dark eyes upon him as he seated herself by his side. The detective was ready for the question, and answered with another of his glowing fictions—“To Mr Hinley’s, at Vernon; do you know him ?” “ I have never heard the name.” “May I ask your destination ?” There was a slight hesitation in her answer, and he wms convinced that she partly parried his query when' she made answer : I “ A friend’s, in Wareton.” “ That is fully a mile—too far to walk.” “I would not mind it in the daytime, but at night ” And she shrugged her pretty shoulders by way of finishing; the sentence. “ Let me say,” he added after a moment’s pause, “ that if your friends fail to arrive and you do not wish to wait here until morning, I will be glad to escort you wherever you wish to go. We are comparative strangers; I do not know your name, nor do you know mine, but I am old enough to be } r our father, and I will treat you with the same deference and kindness that I would show to my daughter.” “ I haven’t a particle of doubt of it,” w T as the prompt reply, which sent an odd thrill through the gentleman ; “ I am willing to trust you fully and unhesitatingly; I shall always feel grateful for what you have

already done, but the way to Wareton is lon# and dangerous.” “ What makes it dangerous ?” asked Walmsley; “ I never heard that before”

“ This section appears to be peculiarly infested with tramps.”

“ And what has a man to fear from them?" he asked, with the slightest sneer in his voice ; “I hove met them before, and never yet suffered harm. Besides, let me tell you that I am always prepared for that kind of a thing. I have a loaded revolver in my possession, and one chamber is sufficient to frighten off a mob of such wretches.”

“ I am glad to hear you say that,” replied the young lady, with a sigh of relief; “ for they sometimes come round this place. Oh, what would I have done if you were not here ? v ;i “ I confess that your situation would fyave been unpleasant, but give no more thought to that. You are as safe as if by your own fireside at home.” “ Your assurance gives me more comfort than jmu can imagine—but why don’t they come P” Now that all fear as to her own personal safety was removed, her alarm over her friends to appear became distressing. She nervously sprang up from the bench and walked down to the lower end of the platform, nearest the highway, where she stood, looking anxiously off in the moonlight, hoping to catch sight of the carriage or to hear the sound of its wheels. Walmsley kept his seat, not deeming it worth while to accompany her for the shor’t distance. But his eyes were fixed on th e petite figure, plainly seen in the bright moonlight, as she stood motionless, all her faculties absorbed in looking and listening. “ Who are her friends ? ” he asked himself. “ She speaks of them in the plural, but I believe there is but one, and he is Judge Hollywood. .. It is strange that he fails to show He must have known of her coming, and -it is something serious that prevents him meeting her. I wonder if any accident has befallen him ?” The night was profoundly still, and he, too, listened, hoping to hear the welcome sound of the carriage wheels, but nothing of the kind reached his ears. “ By and bye, when we become a little better acquainted, I will venture to ask her name. She will give it correctly, and I will furnish her with one of my ornamental ones —halloo! what the mischief does that mean ?” At that moment the lady gave utterance to a scream of affright, and ran frantically toward him. CHAPTER XXI. AN OMINOUS FIND. Ashton Walmsley was on his feet in an instant and dashed down the platform to meet the terrified young lady. “ What is the matter ?” he asked, slipping his hand back to his hip ipocket, -where his revolver nestled. “ Oh, there’s a dreadful man there !” she answered shivering, and catching his other arm. ■i “Don’t be alarmed ; no one can molest you,” he replied, reassuringly; keep calm, I beg you.” He had already caught sight of the fellow, a burly, ragged tramp, who rose from the other end of the platform, where he must have been crouching, and, stepping upon the I planking, slouched heavily toward ‘the couple, his feet making no noise. \ “ Return to your seat on the bench,” said the detective kindly; “ and leave me to attend to him.” She timidly obeyed, for she was in a frightfully nervous state, and close upon collapse. Instead of waiting for the wretch to approach, Walmsley advanced to meet him, the two halting face to face some paces from the little building. “ Well, sir, what do you want P” “ That’s my business,” answered the tramp, in a gruff, rasping voice ; “ I want to speak to the leddy.” “You speak to the lady !” sneered Walmsley; “you are not fit to speak to a dog ; don’t come any nigher.”

The fellow had slackened his gait, on seeing the man directly in front with the manifest purpose of disputing his approach, but he kept moving stealthily nearer. The detective waa accustomed to dealing with criminals,, and he knew the tramp meant to get nigh enough to deal him a treacherousblow.

It was a good time to make a display of weapons, and he flashed out his revolver and levelled it at the brute, the muzzle within three feet of the bleared face.

“ One step nearer and I’ll blow a hole through your carcase !” The moon reflected from the gleaming pistol, and the awed miscreant recoiled. He had not expected anything of that nature. “ What’s the matter with you ? ” ho growled ; I haint hurtnobody.” “And I don’t mean you shall; what business had you to frighten the lady as you did ?” “ Me and my pard, Cross-eyed Kit,, was a settin’ down agin the edge of the platform, snoozin’ peaceful like, when I heard somethin’, and, opening my peepers, what should I see but a bloomin’ young lady; I only wanted to ax if I could be of any sarvice to her.”

“ The only service you can be to any decent person is to tumble into the river and drown yourself.” “ I didn’t mean no harm,” replied the fellow in a cringing voice ; “ and I wish } 7 ou’d turn that barker ’tother way, for it might go off when yon ainfc thinkin’.” A less observant man than Walmsley would have overlooked one remark of the villain before him. He had referred to a companion, who as yet was invisible. These fellows were as deceptive as a couple of Apaches, and he was on the watch fox* the second rogue. “ sTou haven’t harmed anyone because you can’t. The one thing you. can do is to take yourself off at once, and not show your dirty face here again.” “I’m sure I axes your pardon and that of the leddy likewise, if I give her a start; I can’t help it if I aint as poorty as yerself ; it aint no fault of mine.” Walmsley was sharp enough to read a purpose in this persistence of the fellow in holding his ground and continuing his talk. He was seeking to gain time, but the keen eyes, roving hither and yon, saw nothing of the savoury Cross-eyed Kit. “ We haint found any place to lodge, and, if you’ve no objection me and my pard will crawl in under the edge of the platform, where the wind can’t chill us.” “ You scamp ! there isn’t the slightest wind blowing, and I object to having such a thing as you near me It was the voice of the young lady that broke in upon the detective : “ Look out ! look out! there’s a man stealing up behind you !” Walmsley had not heai’d the slightest sound ; but, whirling half way round like a flash, he saw a bigger, frowsier, more hideous looking vagabond, in a crouching attitude, almost upon him. Without a second’s hesitation, he let drive with one chamber of his revolver, and, flirting about again, fired a second charge almost in the face of the first tramp, who was within arm’s length.

When it is said that neither shot struck, it will be set down as evidence of poor markmanship on the part of the detective, but it was otherwise. No one will deny that one weakness of the American people is an undue readiness to shoot on slight provocation, Walmsley did not belong to that class. While almost anyone would have justified him in killing both of his assailants, yet he could not have justified himself, worthless as were their lives. He did not consider his own life in imminent peril. Had the fellows been clutching at his throat, or had their hands been gripping any part of his person, he would have shot to kill, and there can be little question about his succeeding in what he essayed to do; but the two were at arm’s

length; and the flash of the weapon and the whizz of the bullets ought to he sufficient. If not, more heroic measures would quickly follow. Tn , point of fact, the measures proved more than enough. The Togue with whom he had exchanged words emitted a howl of terror, dropped his face, and throwing up his arms, as if to ward off the deadly missiles, scampered headlong down the platform, leaping the short space to the ground, and running at desperate speed into the undergrowth. The second tx-amp uttered a more rasping screech, and bounded fully a foot from the platform, ducking his Lead similarly to his pal, but, in his ■wild effort to spring upon the railway track and reach the shelter beyond, Le 'missed his footing, fell on his side, Lumped 6ver like a ball, sprawling full length on the rails, and, with another howl, scrambled to his feet and plunged into the bushes hardly a rod distant.

Walmsley feared for a moment, from his wild actions, that he had made a mistake and struck him, instead of grazing his ugly countenance as he had intended; but that could not have been, and he shook with laughter at the antics of the texmified scamp. But as the second fellow desperately climbed to his feet and dashed off as if a mastiff were nipping at his heels, Walmsley saw something gleaming between the rails, where it had fallen from the pocket of the vagabond. He took a few steps forward off the low platform to the ground, and, stooping over, picked up the article. It was a gold watch and chain that Lad been dropped by the miscreant. “ I never knew but one tramp that carried a gold watch,” grimly mused the detective, “ and he was a bogus one, that smoked twenty-five cent, cigars. This is the proceeds of some theft ”

The next moment Walmsley had shoved, the chain and timepiece into his coat pocket, managing the whole •thing so deftly that it was unobserved by the young lady. He would mot have had her see it for all the world. He knew that handsome watch and chain too well, for he was present at the dinner in Tanboro when the members of the bar presented it to Judge Hollywood. “I made one mistake,” muttered the detective, gnashing his teeth, “ and that was when I missed that murderer. He and his pal have robbed and slain the judge.” Standing' erect, with the smokingrevolver grasped, he looked around hoping to see one or both of the villains trying to steal upon him. He longed for the opportunity of riddling their vile bodies and freeing the community of two of its worst pests. But they were too frightened to show themselves for the present.

Hiding all traces of his emotion, he stepped upon the platform once more and seated himself beside his companion. Although still extremely nervous, she had secured mastery of hei’self, and was sitting in her place with no more sign of tear than, when she first placed herself there. “You see how easily they were scared off,” he said, with a forced laugh ; “ they can’t face real dang ; er.” “ Hid you wound them badly ?” “ I didn’t give either a scratch ; it would have served them right if I had shot to kill,but I purposely missed them.”

“ I don’t think I was ever more startled in my life,” said she with a nervous laugh. “ I was standing near the lower end of the platform, looking up the road toward Wareton, listening and watching for my friend’s carriage when that man rose up as silently as a shadow and only a few feet away. It was just as if someone had loosened the lid of a giant Jack-in-the-foox in front of my face. With the moon shining on his evil countenance, h e was the most forbidding object I ever saw. I could see, despite his beard, that ;he was grinning like a demon, and I heard a chuckling sound as he stepped upon the platform and came toward me.” “ Such an apparition would startle

anyone ; where did the cither .first appear ?” “He must have crept along thie ground by the edge of the platform, where you couldn’t see him. I was looking at you, when he loomed up just as the first one did. Tsaw the next minute that he had done this to get behind you. He was stealing forward like a crouching panther, and with no more noise than such an animal makes, when I called to you, and you know the rest.” “ Your warning saved me, for a moment later he would have felled me with a blow that would have laid me out senseless or dead. CHAPTER XXII. i; ON THE HIGHWAY. Detective 'Walmsley hesitated whether or not to tell the young lady about the watch of Judge Hollywood that had been dropped by the tramp. There could be no doubt that grievous ill had befallen her friend. It might be that he was not dead, but in imminent need of help. He fixed njion a different course. “ 1 have the gravest doubts about your folks,” said he thoughtfully; “ and I think we do wrong in waiting here.” “ Something must have befallen them,” she said in a tremulous voice, “what shall we do ?” “ It is only a mile to Wareton and twice as far to Venon. It will be better to walk thither than to remain here.” “ I will do whatsoever you advise,” she replied, rising from the bench. “ Lei*s go ; anything will be preferable to staying here.” They walked side by side down the platform, and he turned to assist her to the ground, there being no steps. As he faced about, he saw the outlines of a crouching figure, stealing from the bushes on the other side of the railway track, opposite to the small station.

It was the tramp returning to search for the plunder he had dropped. Had the detective been alone lie would have hurried back to meet him, but he felt that his fair charge had already been shocked more than any other lady could have borne. He said nothing- of what he observed, but grimly thought : “It will be some time before he finds what he is looking for.” Then he turned and took the tiny gloved hand and she sprang as lightly as a bird to the ground. He felt like uttering some re-assur-ing words, when she placed herself entirely in his power, but good taste prevented. He had said enough, and if his actions had not demonstrated that he was her chivalrous champion, no expression could convince her. Besides it was possible to “ protest too much.”

The highway led through the stunted oak for more than a mile, before opening the settled and cultivated country. In some places this growth had attained such a height that the oaks were good-sized trees, which cast long shadows during the day, or when the moon was in the right position in the heavens. The ground was quite hard and the walking pleasant. There was no fence on either side of the road, which -was so straight that, when vehicles encountered, one had to crowd among the bushes >to allow the other to pass. There being no path on either side, the couple took the middle of the highwajq the man lea,ding.

The bright moon was far enough to the right to throw one half the road in shadow, the rest being well lighted, but the orb was climbing towards the zenith, so that the time would soon come, when, so long as the course remained unchanged, all of the highway would be in- plain view r .

The lady fell into the tracks of her protector, and kept close to him. She threw frequent glances behind her, for the feeling was strong that they were not yet done with the wretches who had assailed them at the I’ailway station. To Walmsley it seemed as if whatever danger

threatened must be from- the front. Besides, he wanted to be the first to come upon the body of Judge Hollywood. He therefore maintained a close watch, straining his eyes to pierce the shadows, and listening for any sound that might tell where the stricken jurist lay in mortal extremity. The occasion was for conversation, for eyes and ears were needed, and the hum of voices was likely to drown slight sounds and distract attention. He could not decide whether it was wise to tell her about the watch, for her nerves had already been strung to that extreme pitch that he feared they might give way altogether and precipitate a painful scene. He did not forget, either, that he had not yet learned her name, nor had he imparted his own nQm.(le_pLume~ But abundant interchange remained. He must give undivided attention to the helpless man whom he pictured as lying somewhere stretched out in the moonlight, gazing helplessly up to Heaven, which he had so grievously offended. Nothing else was to be done until he was ministered to.

The remark of his companion, to the effect that this section was specially infested with tramps, was destined to receive fuller confirmation before the end of their short bnt eventful journey was reached. Somehow or other Detective Walmsley felt himself getting- into an ugly mood. When he recalled the insolence of the repulsive vagrants at the railway station, and the proof that they had assaulted Judge Hollywood, he gnawed his lips with chagrin that he had not riddled them both with his revolver. He had showed mercy when it -was undeserved, and a yearning came over him that he might again encounter the miserable miscreants and gain the opportunity to retrieve his oversight. Within a few hundred yards of the railway station, while he was peering into the opening gloom, he caught the outlines of another,.of the. gentry in the middle of the road, coming toward him. “ I wish he were one of the couple,” reflected Walmsley, vvho added in low tones to his companion ■ —“ Another tramp is approaching, but give him no attention.” She did not reply, but shrank closer still to him, finally placing herself by his side. He was touched by this clinging confidence, and rather welcomed a chance to offer another pi-oof of his devotion to her. The fellow must have been as quick to see them as they were to discover him. The only evidence he gave was to plod forward, keeping so persistently to the middle of the highway that he was certain to collide with Walmsley unless one or the other turned aside. “ It won’t be I that does it,” muttered the detective, compressing his lips and shifting his weapon to his left hand. The tramp was equall}' determined, for he raised his eye once, allowing the moon to shine full on his soiled face, that he might assure himself where the man and woman -were; and then lowering his head, as though he safw them not, he lunged forward like a lazy battering ram.

An instant later the fist of Walihsley struck him full on the iron forehead, and sent him spinning over on his back, with his tattered shoes pointing toward the moon.

“ That will teach you to turn out when you see a decent man approaching,” remarked the officer, without the slightest slackening of pace, though he did not remove his eye from the fellow, who began climbing in a dazed way to his feet. When he finally got on his pins, he looked solemnly round at the couple moving up the road, and muttered brokenly : “ Wai, I’ll be blovved!”

After which he resumed his thoughtful walk toward the railway station. Walmsley had refilled the chambers of his revolver before starting on this w'hlk, and, since he was an exception-

ally skilful shot, lie was without misgiving 1 as to any encounter that might take place on the road. As we have shown, he was disposed rather to> welcome something of the kind, in J order to mitigate his self-reproach for: his weakness earlier in the evening. But, while leading the way, hisbrain was busy with speculation. “ Suppose the judge is killed, how will that affect the mystery that has led me into this strange labyrinth of adventure ? He took away the letterfrom the house in the woods that contained my name on the envelope, . but did he do so to complete thesuperscription, or that he might destroy it altogether ? “JDoes he hope that the secret will die with him ? Will he depart without having given any sign P What will become of her who is treading _so closely-in my-footstepsU Hnffhis' hour of trial does not conscience lash her with a whip of scorpions for the , fearful part she is playing in one of the darkest tragedies that ever blighted a human life ? It would serve her well, if she were made .to suffer some of the agonies she has brought on others. But I must be her champion until she is out of this frightful situation. After that I dm her enemy.” . Undeniably the detective was not the same person that was so smitten , by his first look at that enchanting figure and face. He had recovered his old form. He had never met Gertrude Horton until she became the wife of Judge Hollywood, but he had known her long enough to form the deepest respect and admiration for her. He loved her for her wifely devotion to her husband, and his friendship neverglowed more warmly than when he noted his lover-like treatment of her. Although tbeir ages were so far apart, he was sure that, if ever there was a match made in heaven, this was one of them. And to know that all this love on the part of Judge Hollywood was pretence ; that his heart was in thekeeping of the siren whom the detective was now guarding, as if she were his very life ; that she had stood calmly by while the breath was strangled out of that fair one, who was never suspicious of wrong, till her throat was fiercely clutched by him who had sworn to shield and defend her to the last. The thought was so maddening that there were moments when Walmsley felt liketurning squarely around, confronting the terrified young woman, and denouncing her as a murderess. “ But not jmt —-not yet,” he added to himself, ‘‘ the time is not ripe.. She shall sup sorrow and drain the bitter cup to its dregs. Beauty and loveliness give to no one the province to trample on the rights of others.” At this juncture his companion said in a low voice : “ I am sure there is someone following us !” (To be continued.)