Was He the Man ?

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10215, 18 April 1911, Page 2

Was He the Man ?

OUR SERIAL.

BY F. L. DACRE, oAuthor of "A Pnantom of the Past," "Tronholme's Trust," "The Doctor's Secret," "A Lovoless Marriage," "Sir John's Heiress," etc.

CHAPTER XV.— Continued. J will not attempt to describe my feelings dining Burton's dry, feelingleys communication of his news. I was pnralvsod for the moment by the audacious insolence- of the impostor's :.tory. No human skill could have de- \ isod anything better calculated to u.tablish his identity, and his claim to xho real Denver's for tuns, and—i.ih thought made the blood stagnate in my veins—his claim to his affi-a>;cc-d wife. Aii at once a thought struck me, and I exclaimed:

suado mo to lxnv to what looked like the inevitable. Morel looked on the meeting merely as another factor in the case, and expressed his intention of making the most of it, should it occur. Burton offered no opinion, 'but promised to think the point over before calling at my chambers to take nie to Kali' Moon Street for the interview to which I was looking forward with such painfully mixed feelings.

'The scoundrel has told too much. How -could he have, known that Denver called mo to his bedside, if he was in Africa at the time?"

CHAPTER XVI-

In my excitement I had forgotten Ills interview with Morton. "By Jove! you've hit it!" exclaimed Feuton, now almost as excited as myself. "Of course ,he could not possibly know it, unless he was here in England, watching the game from some ambush." '•ft is the little mistake that the criminal always makes at the turning point of his dor.tiny," c.med in the Frenchman, taking th? cigarette from his lips, and waving it oracularly in the air. "I have no longer a doubt, if i ever had any, that this man is the criminal, and that Major Denvor is really .dead. But anthropometry—the- Bcrtillon syctem of measurement^—will prove it." In replying thus,, Morel was, I think purposely, concealing from Burton, the Gravesend meeting -with Morton.

YOU MUST SAVF. TTiimfEEN! When Burton entered, my study at ten o'clock the same morning, I could see that he was suffering from something more serious than the effects of a sleepless night. He had the appearance of a man who had gone through a severe mental struggle in which all the force of his nature had been called into action.

"You look played out," I said. "A cup of strong coffee with a dash of brandy in it won't do you any harm. You have been working too hard over this affair of mine, I fear." "Affair of yours," he echoed, in a voicta 'whose hollowness startled me; "I wish it were only an affair of yours." "What do you mean?"

"That may be," said Burton'musingly, "but supposing, for the sake of argument, that this man is Major Denver, may lie not have obtained the information from his lawyer P You see, he would naturally write or wire to him as soon as he landed in this country, and he may have had a meeting with him at the hotel today. If he has stfen him, the lawyer would have told him all the circumstances."

"An explanation must come sooner or later, and it may as well come now," responded the detective, as~ he gulped down the coffee, and threw himself into the armchair. "Sit down, and listen to me for a few minutes, sir. And when you haveheard what I have to say, you' can come with me to Half Moon Street, or not, as you please." Without a word I sat down, wondering what this pale haggard-eyed man had to tell me. Morel had been quite right, that Burton had some trouble on his .mind l .

We exchanged a look of intelligence as Burton said this.

/"True," I assented. "On the other hand you forget the fact of this man leaving the ship at Gibraltar, which you will recollect we all regarded as a very suspicious circumstance." "That is so," responded Burton; "but, on consideration, I think we attached too much weight to it. Supposing him to he Major Denver, there was,nothing unreasonable, when he unexpectedly found himself at Gibraltar, in his landing to" see some of his brother officers. I have no wish to discourage you, Mr Grey, but you will see that we have to meet this man on his own ground, and we must know every, inch of it.

"If lie is not Major Denver it must' be granted that he is a very clever trickster, and that he occupies a very strong position. Then, again, ho is playing for a tremendous stake, and will strain every nerve to win. It is" the worst policy to underestimate an enemy, so we must credit him with every possible point in his favor. Supposing too—with your permission —-that you have been deceived. Think how terrible the consequences would be to him and to others, whom I need not name, were you to succeed in sending him to the scaffold for his double's crimes."

'You will remember," he said, 'my telling you last night that I had a personal as well as a professional interest in the case. I will now tell you why. I have carefully thought over what you said earlier this morning about the necessity of preventing a meeting between Miss Moore—and the man who has just returned from Africa. I am now convinced that that meeting should not take place, and I am determined that it shall not. I .can prevent it, and I will, though to do so will place me in the dock beside the man you are pursuing to the guillotine." "What!" I exclaimed, springing to my feet. "You, the very man I employed to hunt him down?" i "Yes, I must give my own life to kill him, and save her!" When he had said these terrible words he leaned forward in his chair, and covered his face with his hands: I saw his shoulders heave convulsively, .while a deep ,half-smothered

sob burst from him. Then he raised i his head and gazed at me. To my j dying day I shall never forget the janguish and despair that were picj tured, on the man's ashen face. Before I could speak lie recovered his self-control with a desperate effort, suddenly rose to his feet, and said, in a harsh, unnatural voice, but without a trace of emotion.

Before I could reply, Fenton interposed quickly: 'With all due deference to, you, Mr Burton, that is not the case in point just now. I look upon myself as counsel for the prosecution, and our ease is that this man is an impostor. Now, we must meet him and that at once. The question is, how shall we do so? This point should be decided right away." Everyone saw the practical wisdom of his suggestion ,aiid we got to work without delay. It was nearly three o'clock in the morning when we dispersed, and even then the only definite arrangement we could come to was that the man Fitzgerald should be treated as Denver, and l>? permitted to assume the personality as though all believed in his story. Other questions must be met as they arose ;but in the meantime a watch was to be kept on his movements every hour of the day and night until the question of his identity should be finally settled ,one way or the other. With regard to the portion of the case which intei-ested and affected me most keenly, that regarding the lovely girl whose fate had become irrevocably involved in the tangle, no conclusion had been come to. For my own part I resolved that, at all risk, I would prevent, or at least delay as - long as possible, any meeting be-; tween Kathleen and the man representing himself to be her lover. Fenton,did not see how this was to be accomplished, and tried to per-

"There is something more important to do than to make explanations; you shall have my story to-night. It will keep for a few hours longer after so many years. We must get Mrs Mayhew and Miss Moore out of England at once. The slightest delay or accident might cause unfold misery to one whom I would die—and will die—to save a moment's suffering. Get your hat and let us go to Half Moon Street, at once. Morel may have missed him, and he may be there before us. For God's sake, do not ask any questions now, Mr Grey; I will explain to-night. Come, if you love Kathleen Moore, as any man who has seen her and spoken to her, must love her—come and save her!"

Burton was now speaking wildly and hurriedly, with flushed cheeks and .burning eyes. I crushed back my impatient curiosity, and followed him, as, without another .word, he rushed downstairs, and into the street.

When we jhad settled ourselves into the first taxicab that passed, he said:

'Don't talk to me, please. Let me think. When we get there let me do the talking, and take your cue from me." (To be ContinuedV