CHAPTER XLV.

Te Aroha News, Volume II, Issue 69, 27 September 1884, Page 4

CH APTER XL V.

Mil i,U\ ('I s\N s I. ODD |i\ 1 , Th 01 c still ai'o mam iamb, wo m \ our "-ky. -!S\ KOX. ' Hi I I N .'• '• \ c-, Tnrim.':R." " W'.ial noi-e is that Thu jk upV seem tv be -li.tuiiiiu down the-tinJ. What docs it mean .'"' Helen Richmond — w horn we better know as Helen Darling — looked at the worn, tever-ilubhcd countenance of her fiiend, and for a moment was silent; then she ■whimpered : "1 have not dared to tell you before, you seemed so ill ; but I can tell you now, because joyful news never hint?. The people shout because the long and tedious- trial cf an innocent man has come to an end. Ciaik Mansell was acquitted from the chaise of murder this morning." "Acquitted ! 0 Helen !" " Yes, dear. Since you have been ill. very .strange and solemn le^clationsl have come to light. Mr Oicutt " "Ah '" cried Imogene, rising up in the great armchair in which she was half-sitting and half reclining, "I know what you are going to say. I was with Mr Orcutt when he died. I heard him mj self declare that fate had spoken in his death. I believe Mr Oicutt to have been the murderer of Mrs Clcmmcns, Helen." " Ye-, there can bo no doubt about that," w a 1 - the repl}'. " It has been prosed then ?" "Ye-*." Mo\ed to the depths of her being, Imo gene covered her face ■with her hands, I'rc-cntly '-he murmured : "I do not undei stand it. Why should sucli a gieat man as he have desired the death ot a woman like her? He said it was all for my sake. What did lie mean, Helen?'" " Don't you know ?'" quo-tioned the other, anxiously. "How .should J? It is the mystery ot mv-<uios to inc." u Ah, then you did not suspect that she wa'> hi>. w if t j ?" " If i-i wile '" Jmogenc rose in hoiror. " Ye-,'" ujpeated the littlu biide, with def i-ion. " S ho was hi- Liw fully wedded wife. They were maiik'd as long ago as when we weie little olnldien.'' "Manitd! And he dared I o approach me w ith woids of lo\ c ! I )artd to olior him '-elf to me as a husband w hile his hands w etu -till wet with the life blood of his wife ! 0, the horror of it ! The amazing wickedness and presumption of it !" " Ho \^ dead," whispered the gentle little lady at her side. With a sjtrh of suppressed feeling, Jmogono sank back. " I must not. think of him," .she cried. '' lam not shong enough. I must think only of Craik. He has been acquitted, you '-ay— acquitted." " Yes, and the Avhole town is rejoicing." " A '•mile, exquisite as it was rare, swept like a sunbeam o^er Jmogone's lips. " And 1 lejoice with the rest," she ciicd. Then, as if she felt all speech to be a mockery, she remained for a long time silent ga/ing with ever-deepening expie.s.sion into the space before her, till Helen did not know whether the awe she felt creeping over her sprang from admiration of her companion's suddenly awakened beauty or from a recognition of the depths of that companion's emotions. At last Imogeno spoke : " How came Mr Mansell to be acquitted? Mr Grycc did not tell me to look for any such reinstatement as that. The most he bade me expect was that Mr Ferris would decline to piosecute Mr Mansell any further, in which event he would be discharged." "I know," said Helen, " but Mr Mansell was not satisfied with that. Ho demanded a verdict from the jury. So Mr Ferris, with gx'eat generosity, asked the Judge to recommend the jury to bring in a verdict of acquittal, and when the Judge hesitated to do this, the foreman of the jury himself rose, and intimated that he thought the jury were ready with their verdict. The Judge took advantage of this, and the result was a triumphant acquittal."

" 0 Helen, Helen !" " That was just an hour ago," cried the little lady, brightly, " but the poople arc not through .shouting yet. Thoro has been a great excitomont in town these last few days." " And I knew nothing of it !" exclaimed Imogeno. Suddenly sho looked at Helen. I " How did you hear about what took placo in tho court-room to-day?" sho asked. "Mr Byrdtoldme." "Ah, Mr By l-d?" "Ho came to leavo a good-bye for you. ITe goes home this afternoon." "1 should like to have seen Mr Byrd," said Imogeno. "Would you?" queried tho little lady, quietly shaking her head. " I don't know ; ' I think it is just as well you did not see him," said she. But sho made no such demur when alittlo while later Mr Orycc was announced Tho fatherly old gentleman had evidently been in that house before, and Mrs Richmond was not the woman to withstand a man like him. Jlc came immediately into the room whore Imogeno was fitting. ICsidontly he thought as Helen did, that good neusnever hurt. 1 -. " Well '" he eiied, taking her tiembling hand in his, with his- most oxpicssive smile. " What did 1 toll >ou V Didn't 1 say that if you would only tuist me all would come tight ? And it lias, don't you bee? .Right as ut i hot." " "\ es,' 1 »he returned ; c< and [ never can find woul 5 ? with which to express my gi at it udo. You have wived two lives, Mr Cityce ; ills — and mine." " Pooh ' pooh ! " cm icd the detective good humor. red I,\ " You mustn't Ihinl. too much of an\ thing 1 h.i\c done. It was the Killing limb that did the business. Jl Mr Orcuit's conscience had not been awakened by the stioko of death, 1 don't know w'heie we should liavc been to day. Allans were bc-inninf to look [H'ettv dark tor Maxell." Imogcne shuddered. " But 1 ha\en"t come here to call up unpleasant memoiics," he continued. " I have come to w i.-h you joy and a happy convalescence." And loaning toward her, he said with a complete change of \ oicc : " N on know, I Mippo.se, why Mr Mansell picMimed to think i/oii guilty of this ciime''" " Ko," she murmuied, weaiily; " unlc&s it was becau-e the ting he belie\edme to have retained was found on the scene of minder."' "Bah ''' eiied Mr (iiyce, "he had a much bettoi reason than that." And with the air ol one who wishes to clear up all inisnndeisMndin<_!>, he told het iliewoids which hei lo\er had uverheaid Mi- Clemmen- say when he came, up to hei dining loom door. The eth i t on Imngene was very great. Hoping to hide it, she tinned aw,i\ her face, showing in ilns M"t ugglo with ltci self something ot the stunglh of her old days. .Mr (!i yro w .itched In i with in if ies|. "It i- \ li .\ sti mire,'" uas hei lii -f, i om.ii k. "I had such ica-on- lor thiiiUijtg him guilty ; he Mich good cause for thinking me so. What wondei we doubted each other ? And y^t 1 can ne\er forgive myself for doubting him : [ can -sooner forgive him for doubting m.\ 11 you him " "11/ .-cc him .' ' interrupted the detective, w itli a Hnile "\ls," -aid -be. "If you -cc him tell him that Imogenu \),\\c thanks him Jot his nob'e cond'ict tow aid- one he believed to be stamtd \>\ so despicable a ciime, and a^-uie hi'n that J think he was much more ju-hiKd in his su-pw k>n.s than I was in inline, lor iheie weie \\eaknu.--es in in) | < luuacter which he had ample oppoitunitios for ob-oi \ ing, w bile all that I knew of him was to his credit." " Miss Dare," suggested the detective, " couldn't you tell him this much better yourself?" "I shall not have the opportunity," she .said. " And why .'" he inquired. " Mr Man.sell and 1 have met for tho last time. A woman who has stained herself by such declarations as I madeu.se of in Court the last time I was called to the stand has created a barrier between herself and all eaithly friendship. Even he for whom I perjured myself so basely cannot overleap tho gulf I dug between us two that day." " But that is hard," said Mr Gryce, "My life is hard," sho answered. Tho wise old man, who had seen so much of life and who knew the human heart so well, smiled, but did not reply. Ho turned instead to another subject. " Well," he declared, " the great case is over ! Sibloy, satisfied with having made its mark in the world, will now rest in peace. I quit the place with some reluctance myself. 'Tis a mighty pretty spot to do business in." " You are going?" she asked. "Immediately," was the reply. "We del cctivcs don't have much time to rest." Then, as he saw how deep a shadow lay upon her brow , added, confidentially : "Miss Dare, we all have occasion* for great regret. Look at mo now. Honest as I hold myself to be, I cannot blind myself to tho fact that 1 am tho possible instigator of this ciime. If 1 had not shown Mr Orcutt how ,i man like himself might perpetrate a murder without rouning suspicion, he might never ha"\o summoned up courage to attunpt it. For a detective with a conscience, that is a hard thought to boar." " Hut you were ignorant of what you were doing," she piotested. " You had no idea theie was anyone present who was meditating crime." "True; but a detective shouldn't be ignorant, lie ought to know men ; ho has opportunity enough to learn them. But I won't be caught again. Never in any company, not if it is composed of the highest dignitaric 0 in the land, will I over tell again how a crime of any kind can bo pci petrated without risk. One always runs the chance of cncounteiing an Orcult. " Imogeno turned pale. "Do not speak of him," she ciied. "I want to forget that such a man e u cr lived." Mr (iryce smiled again. "It is the best thing you can do," said he. " Begin a new Hie, my child ; begin a new life." And with this fatherly advice, ho said good-bye, and she taw his wise, kind face no more. The hour that followed wa^ a dreary one for Imogeno. Her joy at knowing Craik Mansell was released could not blind her to tho realisation of her own ruined life. Indeed, she seemed to feel it now as never before ; and as the slow minutos passed, and she saw in fancy the strong figure of Mansell surrounded by congratulating admirers and friends, the full loneliness of her position swept over her, and she knew not whether to be thankful or not to the fever for having spared her blighted and disdishonoured life. Mrs Richmond, seeing her so absorbed, made no attempt at consolation. She only listened, and when a step was heard, arose and went out, leaving the door open behind her. And Imogene mused on, sinking deeper and deeper into melancholy, till the tears, which for so long a time had been dried at their source, welled up to her eyes and fell slowly down her cheeks. Their touch seemed to rouse her. Starting erect, she looked quickly around as if to see if anybody was observing her. But the room seems quite empty, and she is about to

sink back again with a sigh Avhen her oyos fall on the door-way and she bocomes transfixed. A sturdy form is standing there ! A manly, eager form in whose beaming eyes and tondor smile shine a love and a purpo&o which open out bofore her quite a different futuro from that which her fancy had been so ruthlessly picturing. [the end.]