The Last of the Costellos

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 322, 5 December 1888, Page 6

The Last of the Costellos

AmßWeral l y«ir«> service §n tie itiff of • great daily newspaper in; Sin Francisce,, Gjerald Ffrench returned to his home in Irs* . land to enjoy a three months' vacation. A. brief vieib, when the time consumed in travelling , was deducted/ and the young journalist; on this January afternoon, re* alised that it was nearly over, and" that his farther stay in the country -of his birth wi»i aow to be reckoned by days. He had been spending -an hour with his •Id friend. ,Dr." Lynri, , and' the clergyman accompanied him to the foot of the Rectory lawn 1 ; 1 and thence, through a Avicket-gate that opened ' upon the churchyard, along ihe narrow path among the graves. It was 'an obscure little country buryiaggrountl, and very ancient. The grass •prang luxuriant from' the mduldering dust of three hundred years ; for so long at least had these -few-acres- been consecrated' to their, present purpose,. * •JYVell, I won't go. any further,' said Dr. Lynn, halting ab the boundary wall, ■panned by a ladder-like flight *of wooden at«ps which connected the churchyard with ♦he little by-road. * I'll say good evening, Gerald, and assure you I appreciate your kindness in coming over to see a stupid old man.-' -«I would not hear thino enemy say that,' quoted Gerald with a light) laugh. ' I hope to spend another day as pleasantly before I turn my back on old Ireland.' He ran up the stepsas he spoke and' stood on the top ot the wall, looking back to wave a last greeting before he descended. Suddenly he stopped. t i* What's that?' he asked, pointing down among the graves. The rector turned, but the tall grass and taller nettles concealed from him the object, whatever it might be, which Gerald had ■eon from his temporary elevation. 1 'It looks like a coffin,' and coming rapidly down-again the young man pushed his way through" (he rank growth. The clergyman followed. In a little depression between the mounds of two graves lay a plain coffin of stained wood. It* was closed, but an attempt to more it showed that ib was nob empty. A neater inspection revealed that the lid was not screwed down in the usual manner, but ' hastily fastened with nails. Dr. Lynn and Gerald looked at each other. There was something mysterious in the presence of this coffin above ground. 'Has there been a funeral — interrupted— or anything of that kind ?' asked Gera d. • * Nothing of the kind. I wish Bulan were here. He might have something, to say about it.' - . ~ , - Bolan was the sexton. ■ Gerald knew wheie he lived, .within a stones-t hrow of the spot, and -volunteered to fetch him. Dr. Lynn looked all over the sinister black box, but no plate or mark of any kind rewarded bis- search. , Meanwhile, young Ffrench sped along the lower road to Bolan's house. The sexton was in, just preparing for a •moke in company with the local blacksmith, when Gerald entered with the news of the uncanny discovery in the churchyard. Eleven young Bulans, grouped around the turf fire, drank in the intelligence and Instantly scattered' to spread the report in •leven different directions. A tale confided to the Bolan household was confided to Tumour. Blacksmith and sexton rose together and accompanied Gerald to the spot where he had left Dr. Lynn, but Dr. Lynn was no longer alone, The Rector had heard steps in the road ; it was a constabulary patrol on its round, and the old gentleman's hail had brought two policemen to his side. There they stood, pr .foundJy puzzled and completelyin the dark, except for the light given by their bull's-eye lanterns. But the glare of these lanterns had been seen from the.road. Some people shunned them, as lights in a graveyard should always be •hunned ; bub others, hearing voices, had suffered their curiosity to overcome their misgivings, and were gathered a<ound, ail- nt, open-mouthed, wondering. So stood the group when Gerald and his companions Joined it. In reply to general questions Bolan was dumb, - In reply to particular interrogations he did not hesitate to a-fmifc that he was lclan.e bate.' Gerald, seeing that' no one had ventured to touch the grim casket, hinted that it would be well to open it. There was a dubious murmur from the crowd and a glance at the constables as the -risible representatives of the powers thab ba The officers tightened their belts and ■eemed undecided, and Dr. Lynn took the lead with a clear, distinct order. 'Take •ff the lid, Andy,' he said. - *An' why not? Isn't his Rirerince a magisthrate ? Go in, Andy, ye sowl ye, -•rid off wid it.' Thus the crowd. So encouraged, the blacksmith stepped forward. Without much difficulty he burst the insecure fastenings and removed the lid. v The , constables turn-d their bull'seyes on the inside of the coffin. The crowd pressed forward, Gerald in the front rank. - There was an occupant. A young girl, white with the pallor of death, lay under the light of the la" terns. The face was as placid and composed as if she had. just fallen asleep, and it was a handsome face with regular features and strongly defined black . eyebrows. The form was fully dressed, and the clothes seemed expensive and fashionable. A few raven locks straggled out from beneath a lace scarf '' which Wfis tied around thehead. The hands, crossed below the breast, were neatly gloved. • 'There she lay, a mystery, for nob one of those present had ever seen her face before. ''Murmurs of wonder and sympathy went «p from the bystanders. ' Ah, the poor thing !J! J • Isn't she purty ?' *So young, too !' ' jMusha, it's the beautiful angel she - Is' be this time.' 'Does- anyone know her !' asked the Hector ; and then, as there was no reply, '.he/put a question that was destined for many a day to agitote the neighbourhood of Drim, and ring through the length and breadth of Ireland — ' How did she come - here.?' ' ' 'The investigation made at the, moment was unsatisfactory The grass on all sides had been trampled and pressed down by the curious throng, and such tracks as the coffin-bearers had made were completely obliterated. It was .clearly a case for tha coroner, and when that official arrived and -took, charge the crowd slowly dispersed. The inquest furnished no new' light. Medical testimony swept away*' the theory •i murder, ford«ath was p'roVed'to have r«raltwffrom orga»ic;d1»««« of the heart. The coffin Trartt r -ih*ve been placed where it- was found?a%;injr > *Jame" witsKin'-tbirty--llxf hours',' for'it^ouTd^not be ■hown\that anyone 7 had crossed the churchyard 'path, since the morning-previous, and 'indeed a dozen migfifefiaye passed that, way without ' noticing" "'.tHaS^Hich', Gerald' had* only dis■eovered^^ihrSughMihe accident, of^Karing, looked' back ab, the moment' that he mounted jthewall. Still ibdid not seem, likely that. 7«n object of such size could have lam- long ; jUnwoticedi4nd the doctors were' of opinion therwoman had'been,alive twenty-four hours jt>ef6re;her % laodfy, Tvas found., ' _

In the absence of suspicion of any crime —and the medical examination furnished nv.the; question oofl f identity j'.and thisVas sufficiently puzz ingi 4 The story got into thenewspapera—in.to, the Dublin' papers'"; <af ter.wards into, the great London journals,* and was widely discussed under the title of 'The Drim Churchyard Mystery,' but all this publicity and a thorough investigation of the few available clues led to nothing.' ISjo.one wat miss-ing'; widely • distributed 1 photographs of tne deceased found no recognition : and the quest was finally abandoned « yen in, the immediate neighbourhood. The unknown 'dead slept beneath the very sod on which they had found her. Gerald* Ffrencb, who,, like most good journalists, had a strongly - developed detective instinct, alone kept the mystery in mind and worked it ancessantly. He devoted the few remaining days of his stay in Ireland to a patient, systematic inquiry, starting from the clues that had developed at the inquest. He had provided himself with a good photograph of the dead girl, and a minute, carefully written description of her apparel, from the lace scarf which had been wound round her head to the dainty little French boots on her feet. The first examination had produced no result Railway officials and hotel-keeper*, supplied with the 'photographs, could not say that they had ever seen the original, in .life. ' Even the coffin, a chenp, ready-made afiair; could be traced to no local dealer in such wares. A ohutelaine bag, slung around oho waist of the dead girl, hadj evidently been marked with initials, for the leather showed the holes in which the letters had : been fastened, and the traces of the knife emp'oyed in their hurried removal. Bu the pretty feminine. trifle was - empty now, and in its present condition had nothing to suggest save that a determined effort had been made to hide the identity of the dead. The linen on' the corpse was new and 01 material, but utteily without mark. Only a handkerchief which was found in the pocket bore a coat of arms- exquisitely embroidered on the corner. The shield showed the head and shoulders of a knight with visor closed, party per foss on countei vair. Gerald, whose smattering of heraldry told him so much, could not be sure that the lines of the embroidery properly indicated' the colours of the shield ; but he was sanguine that a device so unusual would be recognised by the learned in such matters and, having carefully sketched it, he sent a copy to the Heralds' College, pre B.rving the original drawing for his own use. .The handkerchief itself, with tin other things found on the body, was oi course beyond his reach. The answer from the Heralds' College arrived a day or two before the approai-h-ing close of his vacation forced Gerald te leave Ireland, but the information furnished served only to make the mystery deeper. The arms had been readily recognised from his sketch, and the college, in return for his fee, had furnished him with an illuminated .drawing, showing that the embroidery had been accurate. The shield was party per fess, argent above, azure below. From this Gerald concluded that tho handkerchief had been marked by someone accustomed to blazonries ; he thought it likely that the work had been done in a French convent. The motto, * Nemo me impune lacessit,' appeared below. The bearings and cognizance were those of the noble family of Costello, which bad left Ireland about the middle of the seventeenth century and had settled in Spain, The last representative had fallen some sixty years ago at the battle of Vittoria, m the Peninsular war, and the name was now extinct. So pronounced the unimpeachable authority of the Hei aids College And yet Gerald had seen those very arms embroidered on a handkerchief which had been found in the pocket of a nameless girl, whose corpse he had been the first to discover some two weeks before, in the lonely little burying-ground at Drim. What was he to think? Through what strange, un-dreamed-of ramifications was this affair to be pursued ? The day before his departure, Ff ranch walked over to the Rectory to say good-bye to Dr. Lynn, Gerald knew that the rector was an authority in county history, and thought it possible that the old gentleman could tell him something abouttheCostellos, a name linked with many a Westmeath tradition. He was not disappointed, and the mystery he was investigating took on a new interest from what he heard. The Costellos had been one of the midland chieftains in Cromwell's time ; the clan had offered the most determined resistance, and it had been extirpated root and branch by the Protector. The Ffrench estate of Bally vore had once formed portion of the Costello property, and had been purchased by Gerald's ancestor from the Cromwellian Puritan to whom it had been grantod on confiscation. The young man was now deeply interested in the inquiry, and to it he devoted every moment of the time he could »till call his own. But the last day of Gerald's visit slipped away without result, and one fine morning 'Larry, his brother's servant, drove him into ' Athlone to take the train for Queenstown. ' Yell not be lettin' another six years go by without corain' home agen, will ye, sir ?' said the groom, who was really concerned at Gerald's departure. * I don't know,' answered Gerald ; •it all depends. Say, Larry I' * Sir !' ' Keep an eye out, and if anything turns up about that dead girl, let me know, won't you ?' Ffrench had already made a similar request of hii brother, but he was determined to leave no chance untried, i c An' are ye thinkin' of that yet, an' you goin' to America ?' said Larry with' admiring wonder. •Of courte I'm thinking of ifc. I ean 1 * get ifc out of my head,' replied Gerald, im patiently, - ' ' * Well, well! d'ye mind that now V aaid the groom meditatively. ' Well, sir, if anything does turn up, 1 11 let ye know, nover fear; but sure she's nndergiound now, an' if we'd been goin' to larh anything about, tbe Matter, wt'd ha' had ifc long ago.' Gerald shook handi with tht faftnftil Larry at parting, and lift a sovereign in Me palm. The groom watched > the train moving slowly out of the station. * It'B a mortial pity to see a fine young jintleman like that so far gone in lore wibn ■a-dead girl.' This was Larrys comment on his young master's detective tastes. At Queenstown Ffrench bought a paper and looked over it while the tender was carrying him, in' company with many a weeping emigrant, to the great steamer out in the bay. , From time . to time, thejourI nal« still contained references to the subject which' wa'suppermost 'in' Gerald's thoughts. The familiar, words, ' The Drim' Churchyard Mystery,' "caught, his eye, and, he read a brief paragraph, which had nothing to, pay except that all investigations had failed to throw*any light on the strange- business. ' Ay, and will fail,' he mused, as the ten-.-der.came alongside the steamer) 'at any ,rate, if anything ,h .found ..out it won't be by me, tor J shall lW in ' California, and- 1 "I can scarcely run acioss any clues there.' And yet, as Gerald paced the deck, and watched the blenk shorea of- Cork, fading 'In the" distance, hiss 'thoughts, were lull of

the banfplipd Cmf-^llo". and he wondorert 1 wibh"" < whit J iiyes "thole""" ''firflw* " tiScfc -Jo6>od,>}iei^l»Bt^oh tho^O^Head f pf Kin-[ ( •sale 'a* quartet of a millennium *a|W- Those 'fierce old chieftains, ip_whpmtth'e Frenches , —proud county family I 'JisJltfiby^eateiettied 1 themselves, - r , were ,bufc -as, mushrooms;; what lives had they liyed, whiafc deaths had they died, and how "came their haughty cognisance, so well expressing 1% its defiant, uiotto, on" the. liand kerchief • of.the nameless' stranger who slept in't)rim churchyard — ' Drim, fche old, old, graveyard ; } Drim.that had been fenced, in as God s acre in the days' of the Costellos themselves! Was' it mere, chance that had selected this spot as the last resting-place of one who bore the arms' of the race ? Was it possible the girl had , shared the Cdstello blood? Gerald glanced over his letter from the Heralds' CoPfge and shook his head. The family had been extinct for more than sixty years. About two months after Gerald's return to California a despatch was received from the ''Evening Mail's" regular correspondent in Marysville, relating the particulars of an encounter between the Mexican holders of a large ranch in Yuba County and certain American land-gr&bbors who had set up a cl&irn to a portion of the estate. The matter was in course of adjudication in the Marysrille courts, but the .claimants, impatient' at the slow process- oi the law, had endeavoured to seize the dis pitted land by force. Shots had been fired, blood had been spilled, and the whole ailair added nothing to Yuba County's reputation for law and order. The matter created some talk in San Francisco, and *ho " Evening Mail," amoug other papers, expiessed its opinion in one of t-ho.se trenchant personal articles > which are (he spice of Western journalism. Two or three days Jater, when the incident had been al most forgotten in the office, the city editor sent for Gerald Ffrench. ' Ffrench,' said that gentleman, as the young man approached his dssk, ' I've just received a letter from Don- Miguel y- y - something or other. I can't read his whole name, and it don't much mattex*. It's Vincenza, you know, the owner of that ranch where they had the shooting scrape the other day. He is anxious to make a statament of the matter for publication, and has come down to the Bay on purpose. Suppose you go and see what he has to say V He's staying at the Lick. 3 The same morning Gerald sent up his card, and was ushered into the apartment of Don Miguel Vincenza at the Lick House. The Senor was a young man, nob much older than Gerald himself. Ho had the appearance and manners of a gentleman, as j Ffrench quickly discovered, and he spoke i fluent, well-chased English, with scarcely a trace of accent, a circumstance^ for which the interviewer felt he could not be sufficiently grateful. c Ah, you are from the 'Evening Mail,' ! saidthe young Spaniard, rising as Gerald entered ; ' most kind of you to come and to \ come so promptly. Won't you be seated ? ! Try a cigar. •No ? You'll excuse me if I light n cigarette. I want to make myself clear, and I'm always clearest when I'm in a cloud.' He gave a little laugh, and with one twiil of his slender fingers he converted a morsel of tissue paper and a pinch of , tobacco into a compact roll, which he lighted, and exhausted in half a dozen puffs ad he spoko. ' This man, this Jenkinson's claim is perfectly preposterous,' he began, ' but I won't go into that. The matter is before the courts. What I want to give you is a true statement of that unfortunate affair at the ranch with which, I beg you to believe, I had nothing whatever to do. 1 Senor Vincenza 1 s tale might have had the merit of truth ; it certainly lacked that of brevity. He talked on, rolling a fresh cigarette at every second sentence,' and Gerald made notes of such points as h« considered important, but at the conclusion of bhe Spaniard's statement the journalist could not see that it differed much from the published accounts, and he told the other as much. ' Well, you see,' said "Vincenza, ' 1 am in a delicate position. It is not as if I were acting for myself. I am only my sister's agent — my half sister's I should say — poor little Catalina ;' and the Bpeaker broke off with a sigh and rolled a fresh cigarette before he resumed. k It's her properoy, all of it, and I cannot bear to have her misrepresented in any way. ' 'I understand,' Raid Gerald, making a note of the facb. • The property, I suppose, passed to your sister from ' ' From her father. I was in the land of the living some years before he met and wooed and won my widowed mother. They are both dead now, and Catalina has none but myself to look out for her, except distant relatives on the father's side who will inherit the property if she dies unmarried, and whom shb cordially detested.' Gerald was not particularly romantic, but the idea of this fair young Spaniard, owner of one of the finest ranches in Yuba County, being, unmarried, and handsome, too, if she were anything like her brother, inflamed his imagination a little. He shook hands cordiaiy with the young man as he rose to go, and could not help wishing they wereb»tfcer acquainted. *You may b« sure I will publish youi statement exactly as you have given it to me, and as fully ms possible,' said Gerald. Before the young heiress had been men bioned, the joarnalUt had scarcely seen, material etsough in the interview for *' paragraph. It is fair to presume that Senor Vincenza was satisfied with the treatment he received in the ' Evening Mail,' for a polite note conveyed to Ffrench the expression of his thanks. So that incident passed into the limbo of forgetful ness, though Gerald afterwards took more interest in the newspaper paragraphs, often scant enough, which told of the progress of the great land case in the Marysville courts. A curt despatch, worded with that exasperating brevity which-is a peculiarity of all but the most important telegrams, wound up the matter with an announcement that a decision had been reached in favour of the defendant, and that Mr I?aac Hail, of the law firm of Hall and McGowan, had returned to San Francisco, having conducted the case to a successful issue. Gerald was pleased*- to hear -that .the young lady had b- en sustained in her right?, and determined to interview Mr Hall, with whom he was well acquainted. Accordingly, after two or three un'succsssfulattempts, he managed to catch' the busy lawyer with half an hour's spare time, on his hands, and well enough disposed to welcome his young friend. ' • Mr Hall,' said Gerald, dropping into the spare cbair in the attorney's private room, ' I want to ask you a few questions about that Marysville land case.' 'Fire, ah,ead,< my boy;. I., can give you twenty minutes,' answered the lawyer, who was disposed tomake a great'deal more of bhe victory- he had won than the newspapers had hitherto done, >and who was conse-iquentlyjby-no means averse, from an-inter-view. ' What do you want to know?' < . 'Hard fight, wasn'bit?' .sai&'the-journa-lisfc. -- »\ , !iYes, ; replied Mr Ha 11,,,? tougli inja way ; ,weh^d iight r ,on our side, as, well as possession.' f , 4; good lawyer ought always to win when he has those^ j . to, beat law and facts and ever/th'ing-elsb iB harder scratching ; fchpvghv I've , doire^fchut* isod^ #i«l the . \' < * •

(M ( M gentleman chuckled, as if well satisfied ,' j'xf'h himself. , "*,'■< ' - 'That's what your, opponents had to do ! tere^sup'poSetflU'enmrkfcdvGvj'raldl achoiugj ie other's laugh. •• ' .i 1 "Pretty much,- only. 'thejr /didn't do ib,' u'd the lawyer. 4 1 met Vinc'enza when he, was down last , >torith|' pursued Gerald. * J ' 4 He.- seems' a , tecentish sorb of a fellow for a greaser.' ' He's 1 no' "greasW ; he's a- pure blooded j)asfcilian and very much of the gentleman,' uiswerod Hall. , 4So I found him,' said Gerald. 4 1 only i' ed the ' greaser' as ; a,generic term. He' .allcs English as Well as"! do.' ' ' < • 'That's a great compliment from an' rishman,' remarked Mr Hall with another' chuckle. * ,' ' •„(' '<• " , ' ' I' suppose tho eistor's just as nico in her, own way?' went on Gerald /'seeing an opport mity to satisfy a certain-curiosity he had felt about the heiress 'sinc'ejhe first heard of her existence. ' Did she make a good witness '?' 4 Who V What sibber V -.What the deuce are you talking about?' asked the lawyer. 'Why, Vincenza's, sister, ' whatever she is. I understood from him that she was tho' real owner of the property.' ' Oh, ay, to be sure,' said Mr Hall slowly ; 4 the^e details escape one. Viucenza was my client ; he acta for the girl under power of attorney, anil really her name has hardly come up since the very beginning of the case.' ' You didn't see her, then ?' eaid Gerald, conscious of a vague sense of disappointment. 4 See her?' rep'efaie(F6heUawyetf. . 'No 1 ; how could XiV J3he'fi^,in "Europe for eclu'ca jl tional advantages— at a convent somewhere, I believe.' • ' t'* s " ''• 4 Oh,' said Geraklj , 4 -a child is she ? I had fancied, I don't know Avhy,. that she was a grown-up young-lady. ' (l - ■ 4 1 couldn't tell you what her age is, but it must be over twenty-one, or she couldn't have executed tho power of attorney, and that was looked into at the s art and found quite regular.' 4 1 see,' replied Gerald slowly ; but the topic had started Mr Hall on a fresh trail, and he broke in — 4 And it was the only thing in order in the whole business.. Do you know we came within an ace of losing, all through thenconfounded careless way of keeping their paper.- V 4 How did they keep them ?' inquired Gerald listlessly. The suit appeared to be a commonplace one, and the young man's interest began to wane. ' They didn't keep them at all,' exclaimed Mr Hall, indignantly. 4 Fancy, the original deed -— the old Spanish grant — the very keystone of our case, was nob to be found till the last moment, and then only by the merest accident, and where .do "you suppose it was ?' 4 1 haven't an idea,' an&wered Gerald, stifling a yawn. 'At the back of an old print of the Madonna. It had been framed and hung up as an ornament, I suppose, Heavenknows when ; ahd by - and - by some smart Aleck came along and thought the mother and child superior as a work of art and slapped it into the frame over the deed, and there it has hung for ten yeai-s anyhow.' ' That's really, very curious,' said Gerald, whose attention began to revive as he saw a po&sible colutun to be compiled on rhe details of the case that had seemed so uninteresting to his contemporaries. 4 Curious ! ' I' call it sinful — positively wicked,' said the old gentleman wrathfully. 4 Just fancy two hundred thousand dollars hanging on the accident of finding a parchment in such a place as that.' 4 How did you happen to find it V asked Gerald. ' I stfould never have thought o't looking for it there.' 4 No ; nor any other sane man,' sputtered the lawyer, irritated as he recalled the anxiety the missing deed had caused him. 4lt was found by accident, I tell you. Some blundering, awkward, heaven-guided servant knocked- the picture down and broke the fi-auie,. The Madonna was removed, and the missing paper came to light.' 'And that," was, 'the turning-point of the case. Very interesting indeed,' said Gerald, \yho saw in > the working out of this legal romance a bit of detective writing such as his soul loved. ' I suppose they'll have sense enough to put it in a safer place next time ?' ' I will, you may bet your life. I've taken charge of , all the family documents ; and if they, get away from me, they'll do something that nothing's ever done before ;' and the old lawyer chuckled with, renewed satisfaction as he pointed to tHe massive safe in a corner of the office. 4 So the deed is there, ie it?' asked Gerald, following Mr Hall's eyes. 4 Yeß, it's there. A curious old document too'; one of the oldest grants I have ever come across. Would you like to see it?' and the lawyer rose and opened the safe. Ib was a curious old document, drawn up in curious old Spanish, on an old discoloured piede of parchment. Tho body of the instrument was unintelligible .to Ffrench, but down in one corner was spmething that riveted his attention in a moment and- seemed to make his heart stand still. There was a signature in old-fashioned, angular handwriting, Rodriguez Costello y Ugarte, and opposite to it a large spreading seal. The impression showed a knight's head and shoulders in full armour,- below it the motto, * Nemo me impune lacessit,' and > a shield of arms, 'party per fess, azure below, argent above, counter vair on the I i argent. Point for point the identical : blazonry wmch ITfrench had received from p the Heralds' College in England— the phield tha,t jbe had first seen embroidered on tho dead ghTs handkerchief at Drim. 4 What's the matter with you? Didn't . you ever see an, old Spanish deed before, or has it any of I , tho properties of Medusa's head ?' inquired Mr-Hall, noticing Gerald's ! start of amazement and intent scrutiny of the seal. 'I've seen „ these, arms before,' said the young man slowly. 4 But the name ' t He placed his finger on the signature. 'Of course I knewr Vincenza's, name must be different from his half-sister'B ; but is i. that hers ?' , • Ugarte ? Yes,' said the lawyer, glancing ' at the parchment. i' 'I mean the whole name,' and Gerald , pointed again. i « Costello !' Mr Hall gave the word its I Spanish pronunciation, 4l Costelyo,' and if [ sounded strange. and foreign in the young ; man's ears. ' Costello, yes, I suppose so ; bub I don't try to keep track of more of ' i these Spaniards' titles than is absolutely , necessary.^ - j 'Bub Costello is an Irish name," said ' Gerald. i « Is . it V You ought .to kpow. Well, > Costelyo is Spanish; and now, my dear F boy, I must positively turn.you out.' 5 Gerald went straight home without re- - ,turning to his office. He unlocked his desk, • and took frqm.it the.two results of his first; essay in detective craft. Silently he laid - them side by side and ecrutinised each closely' in burn; ' iThe> pale, 1 set face of tHe ( ; beautiful dead, a& reproduced by the photo- - grapheVa, art, 'told him nothing. ,He strove; ) to trace some resemblance,' to awaken some I memory, -' by^ tlong< gating' at the passionless' • features, bvt^it.TY&'Sjin vain. Then he » turned to tnelUiiminlwd shield, Every line

was familiar to him and a glance sufficed. Ifc was identical in all respects with the arms on, ;bhe seals. Of this ho had been already hig icprkjctipn -ha^J nnbjbe-. .trayed-.him. Then he placed "the two — fctio 1 ! piteous photograph and the proud blazonry j — in his pocket- bppk,',, (ind^oft -the 100 m Theisapae evoning'-he'took'-lusfplace on the- s Sa'cn{niQnt>o<.bya,i)v wurouCti for.Marysville.^ . The face of- the man whojtook the rein& when TTt'rench alighted f=eemed familiar. Tho young fellow' looked "closer at him,, and- it/ Afas evident the recognition was ' mutual, for' the stableman < ( accosted him" by name, Audi in tin? broad, •familiar dialect of Western Lein^ter. Jl r . "May I nivor' 'ate another.. bit it it isn't Mastiher Gorald Firench :' hewaid. ' Well, well, woll, but it's> good ior soie oyeb to see ye (Jo me out here, Steve, an'tako the team! Jump .down, Mastber Gerald, an' stretch ycr le^fe a bit. Its kilt % \o arc entirely. ' ' A swarthy little Mexican appeared, and 'led the tired hoi-e« into the stable. Then the young journalist, tool? a good look at the man who :•<«<. mcd to know him so well, and ondeav'OLucd. as, the phrase troes, to ' place him. ' . ' Ye don't mind me,.yer honour, and how wucl ye? But 1 mind ye'reilf well. ' Sine it's 'often I've diuv ye and Mr Ed'waid too I used to wurruk for Mr Lldss oi Mullmgai. I was Denny the post-bo\/ - Denis DrbColl. yer honour-; bufe ye mud know mo V ' Oh yes, to bo sure — 1 remember,' said Gerald, as recollection slowly dawned upon him. ■ who'd have thought of Jjnding you in a place like this V, I didn't even know you'd left Ros&'sstableb. ' " ■ ", ' Six, Ejivu^ months ago, yor honouv" • '•.And ha\e you been here ever '( hope yon a»e 'doing' w'ellj 3 said Gerald.. 'Ivor since, .-or. an' dbiV finely, wid the blessin' o'-God. ' 1 own ihat phice, pointing to the stable, 'an' four a*> good turnouts a1?a 1 ? \e 'I ax to &it beliind.' 'I'm gi:ui of it,' said Gerald heartily. '] like to lieai of the boys from the old neighbourhood doing well.' 'Won't \o -jtep in.side, s=i.<i, an' tliry a drop of something? Ye mut-t be choked intirely w id tlio duet. ' 5 1 don't cay if I do," answeied Uuuml. 'I teoi pioHy much a- if I'd swallowed a limekiln.' A mil) nfc later ode two were .seated in Denny's own particular loom, whore Gerald .\ ashed t/he dust from hi.-> throat with some cipital bottled beer, while hihost paid .ii tuntion" to a large rlomijohn which con I, uned, ad ho informed the journalist .n <u> iuipie^sive whisper, 'clo.se on to a gallon ol the laal ould stuff." Their com fixation extended far into tiie night ; bu<> long before they separated Gerald induced Denny to despatch his Mexican helper, on a good mustang, to the Ugarto ian< h, bearing to Senor Yineenza. Mr FfrenchV card, on which were pencilled the wordt. ■ " Please come over to Ban Luis as soon a« possible. Most important business. For the Laic told by the ex-postboy, his • change ot residence and present prosperity, seemed to throw a curious light on the Drim • church} md mystery. Senoi Vincenza appeared the following morning ju<-t at> Gerald had finished breakfast. The lahchero remembered the representaoho ot the 'E\ening Mail' and greeted him cordially, expressing hi- surprise at Gei aid's presence in that unit of the couutiy. The Spaniard e\idently imagined that this unexpected visit hud some beai intr on the recently decided law suit, but tho other's riist words dispelled the illusion. ' Senor Vincenz >.' Ffrench said, ' 1 have heard a \cry stiange story about your sister, and I hive come to ask you for an ; explanation ot it.' • The young Spaniaid changed colour and : looked uneasily at thejo' rnalist. ' What do you mean ?' he asked* ' I do not underotand you. My sister is in Europe.' • Yes,' answered Gerald, ' she is in Europe— in Ireland. She fills a nameless gi-ave in Drim churchyard.' Vincenza leaped to his feet, and the cigarette he had lighted fell from his fingers. They were in Gerald's room at the hotel, and the young man had placed his visitor so that the table was between them. He suspected that he might have to deal with a desperate man. Vincenza leaned over the narrow table, and his breath ble^ hoc in Tfrench's face as he hissed, ' Carrambo ! What do yon mean ? How much do you know ?' ' I know everything. I know how she died in the carriage on your way from Mullingar ; how you purchased a coffin and bribed the undertaker to silence ; how you laid her, in the dead of night, among the weeds in the graveyard ; how you cut her name from the chatelaine bag, and did all in your power to hide her identity, even carrying off with you the postboy who drove you and aided you to place her where she was found. Do you recognise that photograph ? Have you ever seen i tkat coat-ot-arms before?" and Ffreneh drew the two cards from his pocket and offered them to Vincenza. The Spaniard brushed them impatiently aside and crouched for a moment as if to spring. Gerald never took his eyes off him, and presently the other straightened up, and sinking into a chair behind him, attempted to roll a cigarette. But his hand trembled, and half the tobacco was spilled on the floor. ' You know a gieat deal, Mr Gerald ' Ffreneh. Do you accuse me of my sister's murder ?' ' No, answered Gerald. ' She died from natural causes. But I do accuse you of fraudulently withholding this property from its rightful owners and of acting on a 1 power of attorney which has been cancelled by the death of the giver.' i There was a moment's silence, broken only by a muttered oath from Vincenza as he threw the unfinished, cigarette to the ground, and began to roll another, this time with better success. It was not till it was fairly alight that lie spoke again. ■ v 'Listen to me, young man,' he said, 'and then judge ,me as you hope to be judged hereafter — with mercy. My sister was Aery dear to me ; I loved her, 0 God, how I loved her !' His voice broke, and Geiakl, recalling certain details of Danny's narrative, felt that the Spaniard was speaking the truth.' It was nearly a, minute before Vincenza recovered his self-command and resumed. . ' Yes, we are very dear to each other • brought up as brother and sister, how could we. fail to be? But her father never liked me, and he placed restrictions upon the for 1 tuno he left her so that it could never coins to me. My mother — our mother — had died some years before. Well, Catalina was wealthy ; I was a pauper, but that made nc difference while she lived. We were as happy and fond a brother* ah'd sister as the sun ever shone upon. When she cameo r age she executed the power of attorney that gave me.the charge of her estate. , B? was anxious to spend a few years in Europe. „ I ,was to , take her over, and after '; w,e' had travelled 'a little she' w^as tq ga to a convent in France and spend ( some time there while I returned home. , But she was,one v of the old Costellbs, and* s -she, was anxious to> visit the ancient home' 1 of her race. That' was what brought us to Ireland!' , „„. \ ,„„ , | 'I thought the Costello family was ex ' bincV said Gerald.

( The European branch hag been exfcincb since 1813, when Don Lopez Cosbello fell afc Vibtoria ; but , bhe younger, branch, J which Battled in JVTejdcp . towards ' the end of, the ie.ighTteenth century, survived' ' until-a-fcw-jmonths- -fago^-untils. :CaDa)inS'^i deab,h, .in fact, for.she was bhe.last-pf fcbe Qqsbellos.' ' I see, r said Gerald ; 'go. oil.-' 't , A. 5 'Sh]6 # was. very proud < of 'fche' name* prtojr Catfdi'na, and sb'e.mad'e me promise in cape anyfining' happened, to' t hetvwhile .we were' abroad that she should be laid in the ancient grave of . her race— in the churchyard' oi Drim. She, had a weak he*rt, and she knew '.that bbef might die suddenly. 1 promised. And it was on our way' to. th^spob she wag so anxious to? visit, -bliab death claimed her, only a few miles from ,the place where her ancestors had lived in-- the old days, and where all that vem'ains of ' them had long mouldere'l to dust. 'So you see, Mr Ffrench, thab I had. no choice bub to lay her there.' ' That is nob _bhe.' r poinb.'- said Gerald ; ' why this secrecy ?-' Why : bhis flight ? .Dr. Lynn, J am sure, would have- enabled, you to obey your -sister's request in the full light of day; ,you need not have thrown her coffin on the gtound and leftto sbrangerb bhe task.df doing foi the jjoou'girl the last duties of ,civilifi>atian.', Sordid , spoke with indignant heat, tor this looked to him like the cruollesb'deserbion. • .' ' ; ■ _ < ' I know how i r must seem bo you,' said Vincenza, * and J^haA c no excuse to offer for my conduct bntthie, ,IVIy lister's death would have given ail she possessed .to peeple whom she disliked, it would have thrown me, whom she loved, penniless on the world. I acted as if she wore living, and as I • am' sitt r e"{jhe Would have wished me ,to act ; no defence, I. know, itj yom eyes, but consider bhe teniptubiOn/ ' AncT~Uicl ~yon not realise that all -this mu&t come oufe .soiue day '!' asked Ffrench. ' Ye&, but not for several years. Indeed, 1 cannot imagine how it is you stumbled on tho Uuth.' And flerald, remeinbenn^ the extraordinary chain ot circnmsUnces which had led him to the root of 'he mystery, could not but acknowledge that, humanly speaking, Vincenza's confidence was justified. ' And now yon have found this out, what use do you intend to make out of it V a&ked the Spaniard after a pan so. ' 1 shall publish the whole story as soon as 1 return to Han Francisco,' answered Geialcl promptly. v So, for a few hundred dollars, which i& all that you can possibly get out of it, you will make a beggar of me ' ' Right is right,' said the young Itishman. ' This property does not belong to you !' ' Will you hold your tongue — or your pcn — for fifty thousandjdollars V asked the Spaniard eagerly. 4 No, nor for every clollai you ha\e tn the world. I don't approve your practice and I won't share your plunder: lam sen ry for you personally, but I can't help that. I won't oust you. I will make such use of bhe story as any newspaper man would make, and so I give you fair warning. You may save yourself if you can. ' ' Then you do not intend to communicate with the heii's'?' began Vincenza eagerly. ' I neither know nor caie who they are,' interrupted Gerald. 'T am not a detective, save in the way of my profession, and I shall certainly not teH what I have dis- j covered to any individual till I give" it to the press.' ' And that will be '(' asked the Spaniard. 'As soon as I return to San Franci=co,' answered Ffrench. 'It may appear in a week or ten days.' 'Thank you, Sonor ; eroorl morning,' said Vincenza, rising and leaving the room. Three days later Senor Miguel Vincenza sailed on the out going Pacific mail steamer bound for Japan and China. He probably took a considerable sum oi money wibhhim, for the heirs of Catalina Costello y Ugarte found the affairs of the deceased in a very tanorled state, and the lanch was mortgaged for nearly half its value. Gerald Ffrench's story occupied four pages in bhe nexb issue of the 'Golden Fleece,' and was widely copied and commented on over two continents. Larry, the groom at Ballyvore, read bhe account in his favourite Westmeabh ' Sen tine l ,' and as he laid the paper down exclaimed in wonder, ' Begob, he found her !' Geokgk H. Jessop.