CHAPTER XXXVI.

Te Aroha News, Volume IV, Issue 160, 28 August 1886, Page 7

CHAPTER XXXVI.

AT BKST. When the hermit sprang from tho bed and approached Dr, Berisford it wat his intention to rouse him into wakefalnets and show him himself with the dagger in his own hand; but a nearer view of the somnambuliat'i face caused him to change his mind. ! - '■ What if this unconscious, irresponsible man were to turn and use that daggar on his guest, as he had used it on the poor men who had chanced in his path when he was in this state ? The hermit put this question to himself as he was in the act of leaping forward, and he changed hie mind. The vigour and activity ot the doctor-'a movements amazed him, and powerful though he knew himself to be, he doubted, if in a struggle, he could master this man co long aslie waa moved by that terrific, incomprehensible force. Without looking to the right or the left — be certainly could not have seen through" his physical eyes, for they never turned to the right or left — the doctor strode out of the bedroom. By this time the hermit had turned up the light, and he followed at once, carrying the lamp in bis left baud. Through the library the doctor went, with a long, vigorous, noiseless stride that gave the observer the idea of tremendous power, yet, strange to say, his movements were %c quiet «c they were swift. On the other wing of the building the doctor hurried. Here he opened the room that had been occupied by Shirley Benson, and straightening up beside the bed, he raised the dagger, and with a quick stroke drove it through covers and mattress, pulled it out, and turning, went to another roonr not far away. He pbook this door, but it was locked on tho other sio'e, and a woman's frightened cry -within told tha*" the apartment was occupied toy Maiame Barron. The doctor could not have heard the scream, but he must havo been convinced of the nature of the obstruction that opposed him, f or after another trial ho turned and went down stairs and into the grounds The hermit resolved to see this out, and, confident that he had found the key to the mystery, followed at a safe distance behind. Madame Barron s screaming bad roused the servants, and Hans, in a state of great excitement, ran to the hermit and cried out:

" Oh, air, is he out oaf his hot again ?" " Hans, you must help me. Here, keep close by my side, I must not lose sight of w *that man." " Vot shall I do ?" li, " Kun to the village—" c: " All ride, sir." st In his anxiety to be out of the reach of the doctor would have started for the hi village without hearing more, but the her- it mit detained him. v " Wait, Hans ; you must go to the tavern, do you understand ?*' " Yes, pir!" & and " tell Mr Edwards and Mr Spencer; h they are both there — " "Vee, sir." "To come here at once, and to bring h with them Wilson Bly, the detective. Tell c them cot to loose a moment. Tell them I c eaid it is a matter of life and death." •'lonerstan'." a Without hearing more, Han 8, though a only half dressed, dashed away to the vil- i lage ; and the hermit, who had been walking while talking to the coachman, ran on till he again came in sight of ths doctor. t Against th* stars he saw the Hanging Bock looming up, towards which the aom- t sambulist went with a speed that waa al- t most a run. 1 The hermit felt that it would be death 1 to come near the man out here, but that he would be safe so long as he did sot come t into actual contact with him. c Around the rock, and that spot on the pathway where the bodies of the mure dored men had been found, they wentewiftly f — like a man and his shadow. c Then the doctor turned back to the Manor, and the hermit noticed that his step was slower, and that at times he stumbled as if his strength were giving out. As they were entering the Manor grounda r the hermit b&w lights moving in the direc- c tion of the village, and he reasoned that Hans had obeyed orders, and that man with i lanternß were coming to hia aid. The screaming of Madame Barron had, 1 roused the whole household. Miriam, who had been sleeping, started j up, with her heart leaping like a hunted i hare, and ran into the library with a 1 lamp. She called, "Mr D,uke, M and getting no , Teply she ran to the general's chambers. She found the door open, the box open, the drawer pulled out, and the dagger gone ; but, to her great relief, no stark form met her eyes on the bed. Back to the library again, and here sha met Mary Brady. "Oh, Miss Miriam, I've just been getting the madam© out of a faint. Sure she woke us all up with her sboutin' an* ekramin'. When I lept out of bed, an* culled for Hana, I know'd what was wrong, for I've seed it before, though I didn't want to be the firet to talk about the cruel misfortunes of thii house. But don't thrimble, me darlint ; sure it's me own heart that ban been achin' for you ever since I l'arnt it all. An' may God help us aa' be good to us to night. "^ Mary's manner wai decidedly hysterical as she rattled this off, and as she concluded she threw her arms abont her pale trembling young mistress und kissed her again and again. Madame Barren's fright was co genuine that *he could not leave her bed, nor would she hear to Miriam's going away. The doctor's knock at her door -she knew it as well as if it had been hia voice— chattered all the air-ca»tles uhe had been building for years, and brought them .as low aa herself. Miriam had not looked into her father's room as she passed. She knew he was gone, end that for the fir*t time since his awful mental derangement be bad made ■an attack, or rather attempted a,n attack ; in his normal state he would have, ricked his own life to cave the humblest harm. , " Come to yer own - room, acushia, Come, an' let me talk widge ye, an' tell me; how me heart goes out to ye, an* to , him' ♦who'd suffer more than all if he knowed the truth." „ Miriam peimitted kind-hearted , Mary Brady to lead her to her own room. , „ " Mary,", #ald Miriam, when . they, wero 'Seated in the.room[and the door closed,; VI, love my ..father;r r ; but! dare not-^l dare, not tell him." ' ■' <\- i ii ;,,nu „"•/ f

"""-" Ah* wife'tlieM^noveirwM"* fathefc'llttee" the wide wqrrwld/ begun , mor.e desamu' .a , daughter's'love than Dr, s ßerisford. \lf "it should be^that, while iotha^ «Uto, he, hae done, an act that would bja^apime in you or mel or, any one else! the law shouldnt blame, him, and I know^Qoc} won't. 'But listen, Miss. I hear steps a comia' this way." ' „. As Mary spoke she threw her arms about Miriam, and stood between her and the door. Mary was right. The steps J «he heard were those of the hermit, for the dootor moved. noiselessly as a shadow., „ Mary, had left a light, burning in the library, and the moment tney entered there the hermit, who had noted 1 the doctor's , decrease of vigour, stepped between him and ,th* hall leading lotothe general's chamber. , Dr. Breisford did not see the man standing in the way, but walked straight, on, and this was the more remarkable aa.he' had avoided in a wonderful way all the inanimate objects that beset his coarse. ' He still clutched,. the' dagger, but the hand that held it swung helplessly by kis side. The hermit reached out his hand, and the instant the somnambulist felt the contact of a living opposition, all the drowsy energy and fury that possessed him leaped into life. With glaring eyes and right uplitted hand he started back for an instant, but so brief the act that this and his forward leap seemed the effect of one impulse. The hermit was a strong, brave man, and not unprepared for the on get. He braced himself, and fixing his eyes on the dagger, he threw himself ou the doctor's right arm. He expected to bear it down and to wrench the weapon from bis grasp, hoping in the struggle to rouse the doctor to con scioußness ; out in this he was mistaken. The upraised right arm seemed made of finer steel than the cruel blade. A bcarf thrown on that arm would have affected it* rigidity as much as all the hermit's weight and strength. With his left hand the doctor »eieed,his victim by the throat, and turning, dragged him beck into the centre of the .room, *a a tiger of the jungle might have dragged the weakest of his prey. He flung the hermit eto the ground, knelt ob him, and then, with his left hand, began to feel fur his heart. Meanwhile the dagger was upraised, and the eyes of the serpent in the handle burned into the eyes of the man on the floor. " Hold, hold, brother !" shouted the hermit. "Do not kill me. lam Paul Borisford, your brother." But these words would bare had no effect had not Miriam and. Mary Brady, attracted by the sound of the struggle, run to the library. They were closely fallowed by Hans and the men for whom he had gone, all of whom entered the room with their lanterns, in time to see the position of the two men on the floor. At a glance Miriam took in the situation. Without a moment's hesitation, eha sprang forward, crying : "Father, father!" Her hands touched his face, and the effect was magical. On the instant all hie muscles relaxed, the light of fury left his eyes, and a horrified expression took its place as he gasped and staggered into a chair. He still held the dagger in his trembling hand, and, looking at the surrounding faces, he asked, in a broken, tremulous voice ; «' Have I— have I been ill ?" " Oh, my father, my father !" cried Miriam, as she knelt beside him and laid her white face on his kneee. '• My poor child ! My darling Miriam !" He raised hi? right hand to stroke her hair, and, for the first time sines regaining consciousness, be saw that his fingers were clutched about the hilt of a dagger. He held it between his eyes and the light, and such an expression came into bis face as never left the memory of those who saw it. In a hoarse, trembling whisper, he said : '•The second dagger of Siva the destroyer." His fingere, in their convulsive workings, must have touched the spring that released the poisoned dart in the handle, for, as the last words passed his lips, he gave a start like one shocked by an electrical currant. The blade fell ringing to the floor, and the hand that held it dropped as if in bene diction on Miriam's head. The eyes closed slowly as if sinking to eleep.and over the worn but still handsome face their came a calm that was the peace of death.