Page 6 Advertisements Column 6

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 130, 23 May 1908, Page 6

to-morrow miming at 1(5 o'clock jMoiseljfl when I shall expect to see him." g ZAfter .all, I had the £IOO, and thomarf'wai really in my power. Perhaps his nerves had given way, I would give him a dozen hours' respite. ■ , I went to pass out of tho room, but ths young fellow stood in my path and courteous' ly but firmly objected. " You will excuse mo, sir, but I do' ttot know you, and I do not understand why yoU ; are here alone in Mr. Grange's room." !*' " Have I not told you that Mr. Grange left mo ten minutes ago ?" '• '! For reply the other turned to tho door and called for assistance. In a few seconds 4! couple of footmen made their appearance.? "What's up Mr. Courtney?" demandefl one. : " Probably it is all right," said the seere< tary quietly. " Has anyone seen Mr. Grange?" ... ' ri No ono had. He came to this rooin after dinner, as was the custom, and had not been seen to leave it since. The old butler stated that he had seen his master here at 10 o'clock when ho had announced,mo. It was near/ly 11. - A; w*; ) " Search the room 1" said Mr. Courtney, beeping a wary eye upon me. J »i* Tho butler, the two footmen and the valet, who had now appeared, began the search with grave, alarmed faces. I found myself watching tho butler fussing about and looking in vases, drawers and other impossible places. Suddenly he peered behind the screen near the desk and then started baok with a cry of horror. A general rush waß mado to tho spot, the soreen was thrust aside, and there, lying full lengthen the carpet, was the body of a man. The secretary sprang to the door and closed it, ami then gave his orders in quick, level tones. "Bobbins, toll Dr. Wright to come at onco, and thou go for the police. Parsons, White, secure this man and take care he does not get away I" The next moment I found myself seized and held by two sturdy footmon. Mr. Courtney switched on some more light, and then, kneeling by the body, gently raised the unfortunate man's head. As I caught sight of the face I recognised it at once. Twenty-five years had altered it, indeed, but it was the face of my old, treacherous chum of tbc California gold fields. Who, then, was. that other who had so mysteriously disappeared ? What followed is newspaper history. At the inquest it was proved that Arnold Grange died from a blow from some instrument on the back of the head. In due course I was committed for trial. Tho police built up a terrific case against me. Indeed, the evidence they were able to obtain was enough to convince almost anyone. The bank notes found upon me were proved to be part of a larger sum known to have been in the possession of the banker 011 the day of his death. Furthermore, it was known—■ and I admitted the fact—that I had a grievance, real or imaginary, against Mr. Grange. My own story was inorediblo to tho point of absurdity, and my counsel strongly ad vise-1 mo to rely solely on tho plea of insanity—insanity induced by the intolerable wrong ( I had suffered at the hands of the dead man. 1 In tho end I was found guilty, with a rs- / commendation to mercy. ' I wassentenced to death, and the Gover nor, in spite of the rider to the jury's verdict, refused to see any reason why the sentence should not be carried out. I cannot honestly say that those days of waiting for death by tho hangman's rope which followed uiy sentence were tiie most wretched of my life. During the twenty-five years when I had worked for revenge and my soul filled with hate, I had had many worse times. Now I knew my enemy was dead, and somehow the reason for my own continued existence seemed to have passed away also. If I did not welcome the awful end awaiting me, at any rate I did not dread it. However, fate—which has played such queer tricks with me in my time—seemed reluctant to lose such an amusing toy, and so, at almost the last moment, intervened and saved me, doubtless for further experiments. I was to die 011 Friday. 011 the previous Monday, in the afternoon, I.was taken to the room of the warden. That gentleman informed uie that I was reprieved for 0110 week, and at the same time warned me to build no false hopes 011 this temporary respite. What had happened was this: On the night 01 the murder Arnold Grange was believed to have in his possession bank notes to the amount of £3OO. Jf those only the £IOO found upon me bad b.Km accounted for. It was supposed that tiie banker had sent oil the remainderinpay--1:1' nt of some private debt, unknown even to his secretary. Now, however, a man"had been caught trying to pass one of the missing notes. He proved to he a man well-known to the police —Sol. Prior, a daring swindler. no could give no satisfactory explanation of how he came into possession of the notes, and he was detained by the police. One day I was taken into the prison yard, where a score of men were ranged up in a lino. I was asked if I knew any of them. I bad no difficulty in picking out my man. From that moment events moved quickly and a fortnight later I received a pardon. The wretched man Prior, stood his trial

iiiul was duly hanged, but before the end he li ft a callous confession. It was a brief document and may bo given here, "On July 14th was down on my luck, a promising piece of business having gone wrong. I was walking across Square when I noticed a window of one of the houses wido open. A light was burning inside, but the room seemed to be empty. No was about, so I climbed onto the stone coping and got into the room. Then I pulled down the blind. As I did so ft man appeared from behind the screen and confronted me. I pretended to be drunk, but he was toe shrewd. He said nothing, but caught mc by the throat, and stretched out his left hand to' ring the electric bell on his desk I forced him away from it and then strucl him as hard as I could on the point of thi jaw. He staggered back and fell and hi head struck on the marble kerb in front o tho fire - place. I thought he was onl

.... r - Jgttt ... tunned, but as I knelt down by him he ju, [live one groan and expired. I dragged th tody behind the screen and made for th rindow, but just then the door opened an omeone said that it Mr. Phil Mason desire' o see me. The servant, an old man did no ecognise me as I stood back in the shadow .'o get rid of liiui I stiid, "Show him in.' l 3 luelt would have it my voioe did not be ray me to the old man, and he went out. ] rent to the window again, but a policemfti vas just outside, talking to a servant girl ■lot knowing what to do, I turnod back ti be room, and at the same moment thai naninc, Phil Mason eamo in. Again luoi wiped me. He took me for the banker a! >ncc. I saw my only chance was to bluff it. [ tried all I could to get rid of the fellow, bul no would not go. At last, on the pretext ol fetching my secretary, I got away and we/t into the ante-room, but the window wal locked, I came back and found Mason walking up and down the room. While his baok was turned I managed to get to the window without being seen. I hid behind the curtain, nndho came within a yard of me. Then, when his back was again turned, I slipped out o( tue window. .Th„ policeman was gon« and I got away without being seen. I*" is true I killed Arnold Grange, but I swear itwna *■ accident."