THE CLOCK STRUCK TWELVE.

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

THE CLOCK STRUCK TWELVE.

(By Fred M. White.) " CHAPTER 1. l'hilip Stenniug asked the question twice without getting a reply. "I think we had better understand one another, Mabel," he said. "1 have come all these thousands of miles in response to your letter, because 1 refuse to accept your suggestion as final. And, as to your liking Archer King, the mere suggestion is ridiculous." -Mabel Larchester found her voice at last.

"it seems so utterly hopeless, 7 she murmured, "isn't it four years since you went out to Australia, I'hil'i l'uopie suppose that mv father is prosperous, but when things coiue to be investigated he will have to confess '' • "Oh," Stenniug said in the same calm, constrained voice, "1 think i begin to understand. You have grown old enough lo see the advantage of throwing me over for a rich man like Archer Kiug." The girl looked swiftly up into his (ace. He could see how her lips were trembling, how she was trying to force Jicrself to say something other than what he wished to hear. She twisted her hauds together painfull)'. "Oh, it isn't that,' she cried. "If it were nothing but money, I shouldn't care. Even for my father 1 couldn't many a man like Archer King." "This is just what 1 fenred,*' Stealing went ou. "Is it a large amount mat your father has ?" "1 don't know, 1 ' -Mabel said miserably. ">'ow, listen. I don't want anybody to know that 1 am back here. 1 walked over from Rothesay Junction ou purpose to avoid people. But you are not going to marry Archer King. Is he in the village now?" "1 saw him this afternoon," Mabel murmured.

A clock somewhere in the distance was chiming the hour of ten. Most of the houses iu the littla village were iu Uarkness by this time. At some distance away 071 the hillside two windows gleamed brightly yellow through the gloom. "That is Rothesay House," Philip said, as if speaking to himself. "And those windows are ill Archer King's library upstairs. 1 have been there more than once, aud 1 am going there again this evening. When t come away you will be free." lie stooped and lightly brushed her i forehead with his lips. Then he turned and plunged into the darkness and gloom of the shrubbery. Just for a moment or two ilabel hesitated. iSlie knew by Vhis time that the servants in the house had gone to bed. She knew that for Lhe next hour pr two it would be very little use to expect her father, it would I 'lie safe to follow Steuuing. There woulu be 110 risk iu lcaviug the house open to the world; iu a quiet place like that Lbere was no o'ne to take precautions 'against. And Philip Steuuing had einiiarked upon a dangerous errand. She feared for him more for his courage and resolution than she did for the results likely to accrue to herself. \A clock somewhere was striking eleven as she turned into the drive leading to ltothe.say House. She pulled up and stood in the shadow, wailing patiently for she knew not what.

l'hilip Stcnuing walked rouud the house twice in the shadow of the darkness. lie knew the place almost as wsll as hei knew his .own. home. Years belore it had come into the possession of .'i\iug he had been a welcome guest there as a hoy. He could see now that the lights were out all over the house, save .or the two gleaming windows upstairs, .vhich gave light to the library. Just :or a moment Phil stood there with his hand on the bell-pull. He had proved to himself that the servants were all upstairs. It was fair to assume that '.iiug would answer the summons himself. But this did not saeiu sufficiently dramatic to please Slenniug. lie wanted to take the man utterly off his guard,

entirely by surprise, to frighten him into giving up that suspected document oefore he could recover his nerve and cunning. It might be just possible. Meaning thought, lo gel into the house other than by the fronl door, tie moved round to the side entrance, lie fumbled over the window-sash, ll seemed to him lhat one of the catches was broken. The. window yielded to the pressure, and ,i moment later lie was inside. All this had tiken time, aud just as .stenning entered the house lie heard tlie clock on tin, staircase strike the diree-quai'lers after eleven, lie stood there in the velvety darkness trying to recall his knowledge of the house, in the daylight it would have been easy enough, ilut now it was somewhat of a different matter.

I JSlowly the pieces of ilic puzzle came ! together in. bis braiu. lie groped his I wav'along until lie camo at length to ' the big square liaJl. He could feel the .soft carpet under his feet, lie was beguiling to make out the outline of the objects there. A thin slit of light lay like a lance along the stairs and across ~he iloor. Evidently the library door .'iu open, and this faint streak of illumination came from there. Stenntog stood at the foot of the staircase listening intently, Uis four years of Australian training was standing him •rood stead now. lie was not iu the iVast afraid, not in the least nervous. 110 had himself under perfect control. And yet it seemed to him that he could hear stealthy whispers somewhere, and the creaking of the old oak stairs, -oineone were creeping up theni. T»e 'little slice of light glimmered on the banisters, and then Stenniug could have -.worn that he saw ;i hand, dull aad 'brown, laid ou the flittering oak •fur a minute. It was nut the hand, 'white or brown., of an Englishman; it >i-emed to Stemming to be <»f a dull cop-\)i-v hue. Uut of that he could not be certain, for the light was not strong enough, and a moment later the dusky lingers vanished. Just as he had anticipated, the library door was open. Me vould see a lamp gleaming on the table, lie could make out the form of Archer King there bending over his correspondence. lie sat with his left cheek resting on hia hand, llis right arm appeared to be moving, as if his pen were travelling over the paper. Stunning stepped across the room and tapped smartly on Archer King's shoulder. "I want a word with you;' lie said.

"Do you hear." The man sitting by the table made no sign or motion, lie sat there without moving a muscle, llis pen had dropped from his fingers. "Uh, take your time,"' Stenniug went on. "I have come for I hat document you hold—the paper which gives you -itch a power over (leorge Lurehestcr. 3 Still, there was no sign from the man by the. table. Nothing but a quiet chuckle, which was almost instantly suppressed. With his open hand Stenniug dealt King n blow oil the side of his head, lie fell from his chair and; crashed Ujwn the Iloor. There was no | great noise—the blow was not so heavy' a> all that. But King lay there with his head curiously twisted wader his | left shoulder. He lay there still and J motionless, without a sound.

Was the fellow dead? It was a chance in a million, lie might have fallen like that ten thousand tiims without injury, lint there was no recalling it now. The man had pitched headlong upon the polished Iloor. A broken neck? He was gone beyoud hop* 1 of surgery, and Stenniug stood there knowing that he was this man's murderer. He was out iu the garden now. hurrying across the lawn. He did not s«'em to"be aware for a moment or two that "Mabel Larchester was by his side. She reached and touched his wei. clammy hand. ••What has happened?'' ahe whimpered. "What is it?" "Archer King is dead.*' Stenning said hoarsely. ''And 1 have killed hiin. Nothing seems to matter after that."

CHAPTER 11. •Slenning sat in liis hotel, thinking of his recent ride through the darkness, along the coast-line, to the big town he j^^^g^WJu^liscarded• bicycle s-houhl

and everything had gone smoothly, the more so, perhaps, because Stcnning was reckless and desperate and t"ok lew | That had been live days ago now, and yet nothing had happened. The papers were more or less lull of the Rothesay afi'air. It was just the kind of thing thai appealed to the popular imagination. The inquest that day was eagerly being [looked forward to. Stunning could hear the boys in the street shouting it out. lie stepped into the roadway and (bought one of the damp sheets. ".Miss .Mabel Lariihestcr was the next witness, llcr story was to the effect that on the night of the tragedy she had occasion to go from her o\v:i house as far as the residence of the deceased gentleman. It \va» vei\ late when she started, so late, indeed, that she did not arrive outside Rothesay House till * few minutes before twelve. The clock had struck twelve before she made anybody hear. On the butler tardily appearing, she asked to sec ilr. King. The butler went upstairs to the library, and returned a few moments later with the horrifying intelligence that -Mr. King was dead.

"The coroner: \N'ow, did you happen to sec anything to arouse your suspicions? Little things arc sometimes of | importance.' , j " 'There is only one thing. As I said before, it was just a few minutes past twelve wlu-ii 1 rang the bell of Rothesay House. As 1 crossed the lawn I looked up at the libra,v windows, anil I saw a tigure cross between the light and the blind. It wa, not the figure ut .Mr. King. That would lie. as far as I recollect, ahuut six minutes past twelve. 1 am quite sure of Ibis, because 1 heard the stable clogk strike the midnight hour.'" Stenniug dropped t lie paper at tins point, and allowed himself to think. Surely, it seemed to llim, Mabel was mistaken, l'erhaps she had placed the hour at. past twelve to shield liiui. There was noL much more besides the

evidence oi t.lio doctor., which went i'«u to disprove the theory of Kings death being due to ail accident. The doctor declined to believe that a man could luive fallen from his eliair and broken his neck in this fashion. A broken neck was instantaneous death, of course, so that he could not have crawled into the room. -The coroner: 'Von feel quite convinced that the deceased man met with i'oul playY' . •• -1 think so. At any rate, 1 think there is something mysterious in this matter which calls for investigation. ■•At this point Inspector Dainton appealed for a week's adjournment. He claimed to have discovered ail important document which seemed to throw light upon the mysterious all'air. "The inquest was accordingly adjourned till Uic next Friday, when, we arc informed, sensational developments are likolv to arise. In the meantime the police are exceedingly reticent. Inspector Dainton in forms us that lu i has not the slightest doubt of a satisfactory solution at almost any moment,'' (JUAPTKR 111. There was nothing for Philip Stenning to do but to possess his soul in patience, lie went ill and out of his hotel much like any other man who might have biisiiiP>s in tl'e big City; he only came back late in the evening, lie was killing time as best he could. .No word or sign had come from .Mabel, nor had he made auv attempt to communicate with her. This had been an understood thing between them. i'ussibly the evening papers on Friday afternoon would have something sensational to say. Not that it ill the. least mattered, Slewing tola himself. Archer King was dead, and he had killed him, and the most ingenuous police theory could noL alter thai fact. It was nearly six o'clock on Friday night before the liothesay House tragedv was on everybody's lips-again. The, whole ol kondo'n seemed to ring with it. As Stcimiiig walked along it seemed as if those voices were mocking him. Slciiuiag passed his hand across his eyes, lie thrust sixpence into the hand of one of the newsboys, lie hurried along to his hotel, and locked himself in his room. Then, with a shaking hand, lie tore open the paper. "Important Arrest—Sensational Statement bv Inspector lJainton. ihe l'lisone.r iii the Dock—Full Confession of the Crime." Then he begun to read: "tine of ihe most extraordinary disclosures of modern times took place tills morning before tll'i local magistrates in the case of the mysterious murder at liothesav House. Lallah llehn, described as a native of ISorneo. was placed in the dock charged with the wilful nnirder of llr. Archer King, on the sth iiistant. The arrest had been kept profoundlj quiet, and the court-house, was more or less deserted when Inspector Uainton got. up to tell his extraordinary story. ?t would be Its well, perhaps, to give the narrative, in his own words. "•As VOIII- worship is aware,' he said, •the inquest on -Mr. King was adjourned ' at mv reipie-t. so tint 1 could lollow up a certain clue which I had come upon in an examination of Mr. King's private papers. In the course of iuy search, I found a large foolscap envelope duly sealed, with a superscription to the elI'cet that i' was only to be opened in case of the owner's death by violence, lieing more or less satisfied that Mi. Kill" had died by violence, the packet was"opened by myself ill the presence of -Mr. King's solicitor. In it we found a number of letters written to -Mr. King from ,oiuc place in .Uoriieo, the letters bcin«r signed by one Lullah Uehn. i should like vou'r worship to read these letters, which are all the more illumni;\lin" because, us a methodical num. Mr* King had placed in tin' envelopes copies of his replies. H seems that at one time the prisoner and -Mr. King were in a sort of partnership. They had obtained important concessions relating to the rubber iudustrVj out of which, gaLher, Mr. King made a large fortune. It seems, also, from a careful perusal of these letters, that Jlr. King had. treated -his partner exceedingly shabbily. In fact. I may go so far as to say that, the prisoner was deliberately clieated. out of his just due. This seems to have alfeeled his mind to a certain extent,

and in more than one of his letters he threatens Mr. King with a peculiar kind of death, doubtless some native form of murder, which Mr. King probably was aware of. 1 may tell your worship that llie.se letters were meant to fall into the hands of the police, in case anything happened to Mr. King, and in one of Mr, King's communications placed in t A he envelope lie says so quite cynically. I presume his idea was that the prisoner should -nut escape, in case he was successful in ||is attempt to take the Hf'' of his hvte partner. We are not altogether successful in saying how the crime was committed, but, in the course of tunc. witnesses which we ai'e arranging to bring from Borneo may 1"' able to Hear up that point. "'lmmediately after reading these letters I caused ent|iiiries to be made, and last night the prisoner was arrested in Hull. I shall he able to prove to you. that he was at 'Rothesay House the day before the murder, where be was accidentally seen by one of the servants, and that the butler saw him again in, the grounds when he rflurned to tin' house about ten o'clock. <Hhcr evidence will be given you to collect the prisoner with the crime. There, is nothing more for the moment, except that f should like a l'ennutd until to-morrow morning to enable the authorities to perfect their case.'

"The chairman: *1 suppose the i>iisoner is not repres fntedV Does lie happen to know any {English?' "Inspector Daintton: 'The letters I spoke of, sir, are' written in English. The prisoner is a Snail of sonic education. l'robably ho will waut to employ a solicitor.'

"At this poini/ the prisoner raised his head. He had. apparently been taking no interest iii, the proceedings. He. displayed a countenance of considerable intelligence. His features appeared to lie rather prepossessing than otherwise, '"I want no counsel, your worship), lie said. 'lt i-i all exactly as your chief of the police says. King, he was in\' partner. Kinjg. he was a great scoundrel, and i-olihed ',uc of all that 1 possessed. He left rn<4 penniless, lie refused t" do anything f*or me. It is all at his door that the d'eath ol' luv wife and daughter lie. - Ami I have waited all this time for my revenge. Oh. I would have gut away if I could. I never expected that King V mild leave those letters behind liim. f saw King the day before he dieif.'luit he laughed at me. I pretended thai, J did not care. I. went away as if, everything were hopeless, but I came j b/ick the next liiglil. and gol ill through the seulbry window. 1. crept In the | libtfary. 1 killed him there all llien.ji™ h<» sat bending over the desk. You. would like, perhaps, me to show yoic! hdw it is .lone, and .1. will show you.' "The few people in court followed, prisoner's movements with breathless interest. Ho took from round.his waist m .'-.oft silk sash, which lie proceeded to, jtold and place across his throat. He the two ends firmly to the rail to twist

is not so. You throw your scarf round | the victim's nuck, then, with your knee | in his back, you pull him backward?, and you twist the silk just so, and his , neck snaps like a twig, and your enemy I lies dead at your feet, if you will. watch me, you will see how easy it is. ! It was half-past eleven when 1 entered j King's house. When the eloek struck the quarter after twelve I was a mile away, and in that time he died withuiit a word, and 'no one could say how he had perished. And as 1 do uot wish to linger in one of your English gaol*, and as life is nothing for inc., why, all J have to do is this, and—" I "The horrified spectators saw the mi* I fortunate man give a quick wrench of his body to the left. whereupon lie immediately fell piostrate upon the lloor of the dock, where he lay till a doctor could be summoned. It subsequently transpired that his neck was broken, that he had taken his own life just in the» same manner as that in which lie had destroyed Mr. King. There were absolutely no marks of violence, and, but for these sensational developments, there is little doubt that the murderer of Mr. Archer King would have remained amongst the unsolved mysteries of which there have been far too many of late."

The paper fell from Slemiing's hand, lie saw it all clearly now. It came back to him vividly. He shuddered ns he pictured himself standing behind Archor King and pouring out his wrath and >corn upon a dead man. Me recollected Ihe brown band on the bannister. It seemed to him that he could never forget the noise of King's fall the chair. And then the mM cleared from Sleuiiing'i eves, and he saw that he was free. Thert, would be no more hiding and nivsierv for himi lie could go back in the course of lime with his head liiu'h in the air. He could claim his wife" Then he dropped his head on his hand*, aud slept soundly for the lirst time for many days.