Untitled

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 11, 6 February 1909, Page 4

i ] in at i thai house have arrested, tp of those orJ(esof offerTffg of the HBlfted Himself with MBt-thai;. nothing was and that had beeuarMM5> ' JSt of «oniinonat onc^ light in the darkness—--entering, the a -strong next sitting-room, she had bed. That the smell of since Frank-non-smoker. and had been wps a wet stain proved to be whisky had the carpet — too one parr of . was a had bed, the is." 1 think the had dete<f roih here — examine was ou at with his Franklin did he a HHMt'thing letter postmark. detective hesiH tlie letter out of

Hall, Livcrxsn os. follow*: — tetter iind enclosures to London toshall be glad the Hotel cards. and I admire our indepeiidtitqe,.! earnestly beg He to.come to see me, as to hear fuller nr life aud death |ave for--Canada. Yours $ (k WilSam Franklin." ln^-fciaiitiin! M said Sexton tlu* letter aloud to Liverwas related to she Sexton ha] in I make enhe Metropole, received may had arrived about and a arrived hadjettok*

the) tlut or' ou the who Sexton Blake, William!" though I'm not fact!" said Franklin, soiue"You look surprised! heard that Sir William his only son many yeais and disinherited him.' was my was only a youth of eigh " he and Sir William quar"Why they quarmatter. It is enough to William treated my father and practically turned without a penny. Uglify iuther came to Loudon, and obI a situation as clerk in a shipping a ibffiott in due course he became head | tiwjtjjffhen he married my mother, who C aiedja few weeks after 1 was born. [ iFiuthcially he still continued to prosper, I .aflii ultimately he became part-owner iqf a small fleet of tug-boats. t "About six months ago a series of sh speculations on the part of his liner resulted in the firm going bank- ■, and my father fouud himself prac-' ■ly penniless. His health broke Iwu, and he died a fortnight ago-to-

IfUp till then I had never known tliat ' father was the soil of Sir William rankliu, the millionaire shipowner of Liverpool. On his death-bed, however, jay father told me who he was and all About his quarrel with Sir William. ll'- 1 gave me certain papers proving his identity, and he asked me to promise thai, after he was dead, I would write to Sir William and send hi in the papers. "'Perhaps,' he said, 'my father's heait I may have softened towards uie, and Kvhen he knows you are my son he will ido something for you.' I "I told him X didn't want any help, and wouldn't accept any help, from a ■nan who had treated him so shamefully. Hnthe end, to please him, I reluctantly Hlfciised I would do as he wished, his death X moved into lodgings in little Paddington Street. Last Saturday I wrote to Sir William, and cnfclosed the papers my father had given sue. I told him I was only writing because my father had made ine promise to do so. I said I didn't want any help from him, and wouldn't accept any if he offered it; and I wound up by saying 1 iwas leaving for Canada next Saturday. "I received his reply yesterday morning. You have read it, you tell me, so there is no need for me to repeat its bontents. It is enough to say that I 'wont to the Jletropole at the time he appointed, and was shown straight up to his room.

"For an hour and a-half he was quite Lniee. Then his manner changed. He befem to speak insultingly of my father, ■finally, he said he had no intention of raoing anything for me, and that I need »not trouble, therefore, ever to write to kim again or to seek to see liihi. K "This rather nettled me, and 1 indulged in a little plaiu speaking myself. (Then, after telling him what I thought of the way he had treated my poor (father, I left thei hotel, was knocked Idoivn l>y a hansom whilst crossing the /Strand, and brought in here unconscious." The detective pondered for a moment or two. ' "Who is Sir William's heir?" he asked. "His nephew, John Sinclair," said 'Franklin. '"He's an orphan, and was adopted by Sir William when a small boy. He and my father were brought up together at Hayntree Hall; but my father never liked him, and always believed it was Sinclair's evil influence which brought about the quarrel with Sir William." > ''Does Sinclair live with Sir John at •Rayntree Hall!" '•Yes. He must be nearly fifty ".low. but is still a bachelor." The detective nodded. 'lt's a theory worth testing, anyhow," he muttered. 111. The first part of the "testing" consisted of a prepaid telegram addressed to the housekeeper at Hayutree Hall. •'Where is Sir William'!" it ran. " Reply, Sexton Blake, Baker Street, London." The answer came about half-past one: '•Hotel Ureal Central, London." A taxi-cab landed Sexton Blake at the hotel just as Sir William was going down to lunch. "1 have called t'* see you on behalf of your grandson, Herbert Franklin." said Sexton Blake.

> "Then you are wasting your time!" ■said Sir William stiffly. "1 have said all I have to say to him last night." "Where did you say it'!" "At his lodgings, of course." "Exactly," said Sexton Blake. "Just what X expected. He was drinking whisky and smoking shag tobacco when you called!" "He was; hut what "

(• "I'll explain myself la t*r. In the ■meantime, tell me all that happened. 1 know everything up to the time when iFranklin wrote to you and enclosed the papers given to hiin by his father." "I was struck by the manly tone of his letter," said Sir William; ''and I .wrote to him on Jloadav night, telling ■him that my nephew uwl I were coming up to London on Wednesday, and would ccall to see him at his lodgings about ■eight o'clock in the evening. We did so. and what was our disgust to find that he was unmistakably drunk—so druuk, in fact, that lie fell over a chair in, the sitting-room and upset his glass of •whiskv on the tablecloth. •'We only stayed about five; minutes, but in that short space of time I heard •more disgusting language than L have ever heard in the whole course of my .life before. Tim result was, as you ■dfaubtless know, that 1 told my graiui>son I had come up to Loadou with the .idea of helping him, but after his disgraceful behaviour I washed my hands of him for ever!" '•Kxactly!" said Sexton Blake again. "Xow come with me!" By sheer force of will, and without giving any explanation, lie induced Sir ■William to accompany him to Charing Cross Hospital. ••Franklin,'' he said, when they reached ■the ward, "allow me to introduce you to .your grandfather. Sir William, permit lime, to introduce your grandson!" "But this isn't the man I saw at the i Metropole last night!" said Franklin. | "And this isn't the young fellow I saw lat 13. Little l'addinglon Street!' said I Sir William. . L The, detective smiled, lie made Sir '■William repeat the story lie had told ,lrm at the Great Central, and then lie ■rniuested Franklin to narrate his ver■.f what had happened. Sir William could scarcely believe his

'"'"■ You received a letter asking yuu to tti sec mi' at the Hotel Mctroluolc!" lie said to Franklin. i "Yes,"' said Sexton Blake. "lie did; ■ 111.1 here's tlio letter." One glance at the letter drove all the l;-olor from Sir \\ illiam - cheeks. i "You recognise tli* 1 writing. 1. •■see ■ Iwiiicl Sexton Blake. . , i 'it w Hiv nephew'*. John Kiwmirs. wxicl Sir Willirtiu. "But wlwt it all jiueanV . the meaning is plain enough. Maid Sexton l!lake. "Sinclair knew that ivon hail written to Franklin, tellmg liim ithat von would call to see him on W eilinesda'v night. He knew that ,ron had Wen'struck 1-v tfie manly tone ot (Franklin's letter, and were favorablj (disposed towards him. He knew t iat i» Ivou acknowledged Franklin as yon l , femindson, and left him any part of your (fortune, there would he so much less for (John Sinclair! "Sinclair intercepted your letter and destroyed it before it was posted. Then (he wrote that letter -.vhich is now in (vour hand. anil afterwards, with the aid 'of three confederates, lie carried out tthis cunning plot: I "One of his confederates went to tne Metropolo and registered himself in your name. .\nolliCT went to Chesham. and (sent off that telegram to Mrs. Lambert. fThe third broke into Iso. 13, Little 1 ad " tiilie r . l if ■u and Sinidson. t Franklin day after [> you and ay or two, How he

Rent, which led Mrs. Lambert to seek' puy assistance. Xow that the plot has (been unmasked, the ball is at your feet, so to speak. What are you going to l do?" ) 'Tin going to talk to Sinclair!" said Sir William grimly. "He's lunching with a Loudon friend, named llajor Wyndihani. You'd better coino with me, as ithere may be a scene f" I What happened at the interview is ■best left to the reader's imagination. It (only remains to add that John Sinclair lis uow earning a precarious livelihood tis a saudwichinan in Loudon; whilst (Herbert Franklin is now the acknowledged heir of Sir William, and will oue day succeed to the whole of the millionHire's estate.