Was He the Man?

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10199, 29 March 1911, Page 2

Was He the Man?

OUR SERIAL.

BY F. L. DACRE, ■■ —o~ iuthor of "A Phantom of the Past," '•Tronholme's Trust," "The Doctor's Secret," "A Loveless Marriage," '"Sir John's Heiress," etc.

CHAPTER V.

found Kathleen alone, reading a letter which she had received that morning from myself, supposedly. I had little trouble, in getting possession of it "I had no difficulty in playing my part, and neither Kathleen nor her uncle or aunt, seemed to suspect that I was not the man to whom she- was betrothed.

A LETTER AND AN ARREST,

"Of coure, my arrest was a mistake, | Which a visit to the British Embassy would rectify at once! But suddenly the horrible suspicion that my double, might be at the bottom of the mys- j k«ry dawned upon me, and I looked] forward to the examination before the i judge, feeling that some light might, l,c thrown upon tho mysterious individual who so closely resembled me. I simply informed my captor that he was much mistaken,, at which he smiled eloquently, &t.'J bowed with nHich significance, but that I respected the law, and would accompany him without any ! trouble.

"1 only once alluded to the meeting in the chapel, and found that Fitzgerald had expressed no surprise on her referring to it, but had simply acquiesced without remark, from which I concluded that the scoundrel taken 'the- opportunity of establishing an alibi in case of ', necessity.*

"My only .difficitlty lay in the possibility of Kathleen receiving another letter, from Rome. This, however, I easily prevented. I knew Fitzgerald's address from his and also the name of his English acomplice in the Anteuil murder. I therefore loai no time in despatching a note, by my left hand, to his Roman address. As nearly as I can remember the note ran thus: PARIS, May 5, 188—, "'Dear Fitz: I have>been out a week, and have learned that gendarmes and traps are on the scent of tnatYjob at Anteuil. Drop writing to tiiat'girl of yours, at once, as your letters are watched, and ,get out of Rome as quickly as possible. I'm off next week to town. French air does not suit me. Drop me a line to the Cafe Danton, Rue St. Jacqueline, and let mo know your lay. Yours, J.R.'

"L suffered him to pass his arm through mine, and escort me to the cab 'that was waiting in the courtyard of the hotel.

"My'examination came on, and to my astonishment I was charged as Henry Fitzgerald, a British subject, and native of London, England. The Crimes,of which I, together with one James Robson, was accused, were of breaking into the house of one Jules Michel, a jeweller and diamond ipercliant, of No. 17, Rue St. Jean, Auteuil, on the night of November 18th; and murder of the said Jules Michel, by means of chloroform, and theft of jewels, notes, and gold to the value of nearly 100,000 francs. I was compared with two photographs which were horribly like,me, so like that they would have deceived myself.'

"I was positively identified by a -de- j tective, two gendarmes, ac -well as by an of the real criminal;, had been arrested fpi'si' previous burglury. >a*etfS r long caljiiogiie /of crimes in ail parts of France 5 was read>* . which made my, hair stand on .end.. ; this'' evidence seemed quite conclusive, and the examination was proceeded with more as a matte/of form, than in the hope, of eliciting anything further. I ■could see that the judge was quite convinced, but I proceeded to put myown story before him. I described myself and my antecedents, arid'every statement was borne out by my papers and passports, which had been brought by me from the hotel. ,

"I then told him,of my experiences, in Rome during the last few days, giving my address in Rome, and also that of Sir James Mansfield, arid two friends at the Embassy, requesting that, they might be comunicated with at once, and also the British.Embassy in, ■ Paris. ; : .'•'', :'i "The judge looked completely mys-j tified, while the witnesses seemed divided between wonder and amusement. I was permitted to write to the British ambasador, to whom, fortunately, I| was personally known, and then re-j moved in custody, to await results. .. 1

"Two hours later, the ambassador came in person, in answer to my note, identified me at once, and testified, to his certain knowledge, that I was in Egypt at the time of the crime with which I was charged. He corroborated all my statements, arid requested my release, 'undertaking to be answerable for any future appearance if it was required. "The next day I received a communication from the court, stating: tliat telegrams which placed me beyond suspicion had been received from Rome and that I might consider niyself free from all danger of further annoyance on the subject. : ' "The information I had gained by

my arrest determined my course of action with regard to the unknown girl of the chapel. My counterpart was evidently a criminal of the worst type, and the thought that she kne\v, anything of his character was too atrocious to be entertained. Why should I not save her from him by marrying her myself? The very extravagance of the idea fascinated me. I knew enough of my other self's past to play the part with hopes of success, and when I arose on the second morning after ray arrest I had matured my plaiis, and decided to at once seek out my fiancee, .as she was to be. "After some search I found that she and her uncle were staying at a hotel in the Boulevard Malesherbes; that they were entered in the hotel register as Kathleen Moor and Kenneth Moor, both of Dublin. The lady I had seen with them was her aunt, Mrs Mayhew. I knew that my name in my assumed character was Harry Fitzgerald. I got some cards printed witli that name and presented myself at her hotel. T

(To Be Continued.)

" 'My ruse succeeded even better than I had hoped. -]S T ot only did Kathleen get no more letters; bui; I received, at the cafe named. I shall attach it to this manuscript, as it.may aid in bringing the scoundrel to justice, ■ « ■....;.■ ~...: ',,../;.:,■. .jr.;. ■;,..;■.;,•,'. i,, J ;ii*week-&r two Kjpiiilesn began to wish for a change, as she was tired of city-sight-seeing and dissipation, aud wanted a change, rest, and sea air. After some discussion I suggested the Brittany coast, and eventually we decided to start for St. Malo, all but Mrs Mayhew, who wished to return to England. "We had been nearly six weeks at St. Malo—to me, and I believe, to Kathleen also I—weeks 1 —weeks of unalloyed happiness. I had gradually learned that my betrothed belonged to an old

■ Irish family; that, like myself, ; was an orphan, and her uncle'srhfeir- '•' ess. I also learned that I had made : her acquaintance and won her heart ~ under extraordinary circumstances by ] rescuing her and her Uncle from a band of brigands some months before in the neighbourhood of Palermo; My qualms. of conscience had gradually melted before the conviction that

I Kathleen had learned to love me icr j my§eif, for she confessed that she had never cared so much for me before. "During my stay at;St. Malo 1 z&i - ed tho consent of Kathleen and. her unci© to our niarriago at ih'i Kngksh church at Dinard, at the end of June, that is, in alxnit three weeks' time. I

had now only one difficulty. I could not legally marry her as Henry Fitzgerald, and, so, in order to reassume my own name, T practised yet another deception. I wrote to my lawyers in England, directing tlien\ to look out for a small freehold estate, and. received replies, giving me particulars of two or three that were in the market. I then told Kathleen and her uncle, that I had succeeded to a small estate on condition that I assumed the, name of Denver, that of the testator, hi addition to my own. "Tho next day I sailed for Southampton, and in ten days the estate .was mine, the business in connection finished, and I returned to St;' Malo> thinking that every "difficulty now removed. In order to get.there more quickly, I tok the boat from Southampton to Cherbourg, intending to go on to St. Malo by fa-aim No sooner had I set foot on the quay there than, to my intense astonishment, I was arrested for the murder of Kenneth Moore, at St. Malo, a few days.previously. The arrest was made on the sworn statement of tho murdered man, who had survived his for twelve .-hours,, and had made a deposition to the mavor of the town.