Was He the Man?

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10222, 25 April 1911, Page 2

Was He the Man?

OUR SERIAL.

BY F. L. DAGRE, —o Author of "A Phantom of the Past," "Tronholme's Trust," "The I Doctor's Secret," "A Loveless Marriage," "Sir John's Heiress," etc.

CHAPTER XlX.—Continued. When he had gone I felt myself poi sessed of a suckle. 1 Cczirc to -itst':.'..v t! e manuscript wlueu bad been given in mv 1)V the man w'.io n ] had S'j firmlv believed to be the ieal Denver, Vnt \: l'om I was now compelled to look \\\-- on ay an impostor, who had maintained tho imposture to the last moment of his life. I went to my writing table and took it out of tho drawer where it had lain sinco the night when I read it to Fenton. At the moment I fully meant to burn it at once, but when my glauco fell upon the familiar handwriting. I paused. Then came the desire to read it once more before committing it to the flames. I hesitated for a moment between the two desires, then sat down in my armchair, and read it from beginning to end. When I had finished I laid it on the fable, and, going back to the open drawer, took out tho two photographs that lay there, and gazed at them long and steadily. Suddenly my volitional power seemed to return, and I replaced the portraits- in tho drawer, laid the manuscript upon them, and locked them up. My desire io dastroy them had disappeared as ut-.klenly as it had risen. CHAPTER XX. A SEALED LETTER, Tb-i Fr.v f't:c"t F-tradi: ion Court war, cro.vded to it.- utmost capacity on the morning fixed for the examination which was to decide whether the warrant for Denver's extradition —I remained firm in my belief that he was "Denver —was to be granted or not. Whether he was to be set free to assume his own name and fortune in England, or to be sent to take hi- trial for murder in France. While driving to the, court I tried hard, but vainly, to account for the singular composure with which I looked forward to the proceedings. It is true that I was perfectly convinced of the innocence of tho accused man, but | T knew enough of the pitfalls of the | law to understand the danger in which !io stood, if not of death, at least of losing his liberty for a considerable time, and of having to run the gauntlet of the French criminal law. And yet tho strange, dull sense of prepossession to which I had now almost become accustomed, seemed to make mo regard, all apprehensions of this kind as though they were connected with some case in which I was' not in the least interested. They did not seem to concern me in ] any way. My mind was possessed by j a sing]© idea to the exclusion of all ' I others, and that idea took the form of an absolute unquestioning conviction of the identity of the man on whose behalf I Mas about to give evidence, with Henry Fitzgerald Denver.' When I arrived at the Court the magistrate had just taken his seat. After edging my way through the crowd, a place was found for me at the lawyers' table, beside Mr Morton. I In the place reserved for counsel I saw that Fenton had already taken his seat, and. was .arranging his papers, exchanging a word now and then with Mr Morton; When he caught my eye he nodded, and then bent over ■ j his papers again. At the other end, j Mr Latchford-Brown, an eminent lawyer, retained for the defence, was similarly engaged with his instructing counsel. It was almost eleven before the side door, opened, and Denver was conducted to the dock. From where I sat I had him in full view. Ho appeared to bd perfectly calm and selfconfident, and looked round the Court with the air of a man who finds himself in a novel and uncomfortable position, and is prepared to make the best of it. I noticed that he appeared rather pale and worn, but put that down to the effects of his confinement rather than to apprehension. As our eyes met he looked at me steadily for a few moments, then smiled and nodded. Acting on an irresistible impulse, I rose from my seat, took a couple of steps toward the dock, and clasped his hand. "Glad to see you are not ashamed! of mo in my present position. You will have to speak for me to-day, for my mouth is closed." "So I will, and to the point, I hope" I replied. "You may depend on me for that." • I was motioned back to my seat, and the proceedings began. Tho sworn information on which the warrant had been obtained was first read, setting forth the crimes with, which tho accused man was charged, and requesting his extradition to answer these charges, in accordance with French law. Fenton at onco rose 1 to open the case for the prosecution. His speech and dead against the prisoner. He rapidly sketched tho history of the man who, he maintained, was the true, Henry Fitzgerald from the •' Egyptian campaign to his death at Gravesend, and then dwelt for a few minutes on tho peculiar circumstances of his death, and tho document which ho had entrusted to my care, with the mission of discovering his murderer, and delivering him up to justice. He next dwelt with the marvellous' resemblance existing between the dead man and the prisoner, and stated that it had been sufficient, in conjunction with another cause which would be disclosed, to deceive Major Denver's oldest friend —who had attended him

'■ in hi:; last moments, and whom tlio do- ! ceased had mado his hoi r—so far that j ho had waived his claim to a largo j fortune, and had welcomed the prisi oner as a friend who had returned from tho grave. Of tho perfect truth of his present conviction Mr Grey had given sufficient evidence, but he, counsel, felt confident that ho would bo able to show that this conviction was a mistaken one. Ho concluded by expressing his regret that two essential witnesses had not yet arrived from Paris. and that, in their absence, ho should be compelled to depart somewhat from the lines of usual procedure. Ho had not applied for an adjournment, as he was assured that his witnesses would bo in court on the following day. He would now call Gaston Morel, of the French detective service. Morel was sworn, and formally deposed to arresting the prisoner on an extradition warrant. His examination proceeded: ; "You are a detective iii the service of the French Government?" "I am." "When and where have you seen ihe prisoner before you arrested him in London?" "I saw him first fiv© years ago at the prison of St. Lazare, in Paris, where he was confined for participation in racing frauds. I next saw him a bout four months ago, in a cafe in the Strand." "What were you doing in England then?" "I was looking for an accomplice of his, James Robson. I had an extradition warrant for his arrest for a burglary committed in Havre." "Why not for the murders at Auteuil and St. Malo?" "I wanted to take him on the minor charge merely to get him into France" "Did you recognise the prisoner when you saw hira after an interval of five years?" » "At once." "And will you swear that tho man now in the dock is the same man that you saw five years ago in tho prison of St. Lazare?" . There was breathless silence in the, court .when Morel turned toward Denver and fixed his glittering eyes upon him. Denver never flinched, and accused and accuser looked into each other's eyes for a good half minute. Then Morel turned to Fenton, and said, in clear, measured tones: "Yes, I swear that is the same man." At this decisive answer from the detective I saw Denver turn a shade 1 paler, and I thought I noticed a slight quiver under his heavy mousitache. "Have you been able to effect the arrest of James Robson?" continued Fenton. ! "No; he was arrested on Tuesday | night by a stronger hand than mine; James Robson is dead." Morel once more fixed his eyes suddenly on Denver. He Avas leaning on the front of the dock, looking apparently at the table beneath Jiim. Noticing tho silence he looked up. Evidently he was not much interested in the fate of Robson. Fenton continued: "Do you know how Robson met his death?" "Yes, lie was dragged into the Thames from Old Chelsea Bridge by a man whom ho tried to throw into the river. The two bodies were found i yesterday at Chiswick, still locked in their death grip." "Do yon know who the other man was?" "He wis an English colleague of mine—a detective named Burton." Again, while uttering this name, Morel fixed his eyes on Denver; but he gave no sign of interest in the evidence. He was still leaning on the dock, looking down into vacancy. "Did you search the clothes of the dead man after they were taken from the water, and was any evidence bearing on this case found?" Morel had just time to reply. "I did," when Mr Latchford-Brown arose in his place and said to the magistrate : "Your honour, I object to that question. I also submit that this evidence has been sprung upon us quite unexpectedly, and that we should have been made aware of tho uatur? of the evidence which it was proposed to produce." ' "If ray learned friend objects to the question I will withdraw it until a later stage of the proceedings. In the meantime I will place the evidence before you, sir, that you may decide whether it is admissible or not," said Fenton, speaking with the air of a man who can afford to give points to his adversary. "What is the evidence, Mr Fenton?" asked the magistrate. "It is a letter, sir." "Written by tho prisoner?" "No, sir, it is written " "Then if it is not written, or alleged to be written, hy the prisoner, I cannot admit it as evidence." (To be Continued"*