The Colonel's Enemy.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 3153, 2 April 1909, Page 2

The Colonel's Enemy.

CHAPTER XXVIII. I ONE OF THE ANSWERS. j "That was well put, Leonard, and ! you have helped to enlighten me. I ; wish it were in your power to tell i me what special object Mrs Daci'o j had in coming to see your uncle,this afternoon." "None. What special object could she have? She came to see Dora, and she cculd not very well see Dora without taking some notice of the master of the house. I think," he added, thoughtfully, "she has somo intention of removing Dora from uncla's guardianship; but that was only hinted at this morning." "That would be a very ungrateful and unkind thing to do." the major said. "A poor return for his generous and tender love. His house may be rather dull for a young girl, but her slightest wish is gratified as soon as it is made known. What could have induced Mrs Dacre think of such a'thing?" » "Mrs Dacre may have realized the very evident fact that the house is rather dull," said De Vigne, "and when Leonard used the word 'intention' he was travelling beyond the record. To credit Mr 3 Dacre with the intention of removing Dora would be to creidt her with a right which does not exist. Mr Dacre's guardianship has been accepted and sanctioned by the colonel; and were Mr Dacre to resign it, you, my dear major, would take his place." "I think my mother had some other motive in her mind," Leonard said. "It may be that she would like to have Dora back again —not that it may come to anything. It was merely a suggestion dropped during our conversation at breakfast." "At first it was an intention, then it dwindled down to a hint, now it becomes a suggestion," the doctor said, witna reproving smile. "If j you were as careless in your business habits, Leonard, as you are in your choice of words, I should not care to pay three hundred a year for your services. If we take it as an iiittntion, it becomes a serious matter. Weshouli have to infer that Mr Dacre had been guilty of some misconduct, by which he forfeited his to be Miss St. Hilary's guardian, and as I do not think he has done that, whe had better wait till the month is gone and Mrs Dacre has conjured with th* talisman by which she intends to bring the colonel hcae." He was smiling when he left the dining-room on his wsy to the sick chamber. He had spoken in a light, half-jesting tone, hut the smile died away an he acsended the stairs, and his voice, had he spoken according to his mood, would have been pitched in a very sombre and despondent key. As he passed the.drawing-room with a lingering step, he heard Mrs Dacre's accents ring out imperative and clear: "I will not give another day, another hour. It is too late now to talk of the terrible price it may cost. 1 have pledged my word, and it must be done within one month frou, today."

"All that is humanly possible shall be clone," wa., the low reply in Mr Dacre's voice; "but. " That was all the doctor heard, and he felt then almost as guilty as if he had purposely played the part if a listener or a spy—a listener to the conversation of a gentleman whose noble character was a household word—a spy upon the kindly and munificent benefactor who had savtd his father from ruin, and enabled him to take a firm position in his own profession. The young man stioak himself with an augry shiver of self-reproach. "If this .mystery does not soon come to an end," he reflected, "I shall be a fit subject for an insane asylum. I shall begin to suspect myself or the major next. There would be a case againt the major. Suppose, for instance, that he fell in love with Mist; St. Hilary at first sight, his first care would be to stop the marriage, and if to effect that he had used the colonel's authority without any right to it, he would naturally have to keep St. Hilary out of the W£<". Absurd as it would • be to buildjn, duch a theory, it is not a bit more* absurd than the suspicion I have been harbouring lately." He stayed with his patient long enough to see that her recovery was assured. There was no danger of a relapse, and then he went with Maj. Lugard to see Mr Fletcher, at Charing Cross. There was nothing to be learned here;'the chief of this eminent; private inquiry firm was hidden from the waist t" his chin by apile of slit envelopes and sheets of none-paper that covered the table in front of him. £| They were letters from all parts of Europe, America and the colonies, vounteering information and advica cooncerning the subject of the advertisemet, and the offer of a thousand pounds reward. "The post-office authorities ought to give me a liberal commission," Mr Fletcher said "and as for the writers of these letters—l was very near / saying litters—if they could only hear my opinion of them, they would find a more protfiable investment for the money they waste in stamps. What do you think of the idiot who suggests that his attack of sunstroke had broken",out again, and not liking the look of England, he went back to India, where perhaps he has a native wife and half-a-dozen whitey-brown children?" . "That was not written seriously, s*mly?" said De Vigne. "Indeed it was, though. Take half-a-dozen of them at random, there's several hundred to select rom, and I shall have a few thousand more by the end of the week. Here's another from a gentleman who pats D.D. at the end of his name, and writes as if he had a tipsy

By WINTHROP B. HARLAND. Author of "Lady Elgin's Secret," "A Harvest of Shame," "The Elder Son," "Lord Ashton's Hoir," Etc.

fly for his amenuensis. He suggests that all the rivers, ponds and lakes in England should be dragged, beginning with the whole length of the Thames." "No?" said De Vigne ly"Fact, sir read it for yourself. I go through every one conscientiously, in the hope that I may now and then get a hint worth the postage." "And have you found many?" "Many?" said Fletcher, with a snort of 'ineffable contempt; "I believe that half the people that write letters are born with their head addled, and they never get over it. Here is one that darkly hints that there is a regular trade carried on in kidnaping people frr the dis-secting-room. Another that he may have had a fit of delirium tremens, and we might find him in some infirmary. There are hundreds ready to swear that they have seen him, and know exactly where he is or was; an they are prepared to come and give evidence if I will only send railway fare, and a pound or two for expenses " "No doubt," said De Vigne, dryly; "but we can dispense with such testimony hs their's. Here is a curious scrawl: " 'Dear Sir: Have you tried the luerick ersilums, not the publick ones, but them as is privit? Menny a innercetand rashernal lady an gentleman is shut away to my nollidge.— Yours trooly, ONE WHO KNOWS, Being an ex-keeper. " 'P. and N.B.—-This is a hint to be relide on—send fiv shillings to Mr Keeper, the Hope and Anker coffee shop, Littel Sloe Street, Chelsea, and you will hear mor.' " "Did you take any notice of this?" the doctor asked. "No, s'r," said Fletcher, tossing it carelessly aside; "there are dozens like that. By the way, major, Inspector Darlington was here early in the day; he is up on buisness, and asid he would give you a call for politeness sake." "When?" "Some.time this evening." "Thanks," the major said. ' "Give me that note from Mr X-keeper, please I; should like it as a curiosity."

CHAPTER XXIX.

"A VERY STRONG AND A VERY CUNNING HAND!" ■i They left Mr Fletcher to his not very labourious task of going, at his leisure, through the mass of correspondence, for which, at his rate of charges, he would receive a guinea an hour; but for this he might as well have allowed the Jetton to remained unopened, as he had previously made up his mind that they were a lot of worthless rubbish, and had any one of the contained a suggestion which coincided with his own intended mode of action, he wouid rather have given up his own intention than been indebted to his unknown correspondent for a hint. [to be continued.]