Novelist. MY HOUSE IN OXFORD TERRACE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXX, Issue 2450, 24 March 1888, Page 1 (Supplement)

Novelist. MY HOUSE IN OXFORD TERRACE.

CHAPTER VIII. Tniß seemed to all of us excellent advice; and the next day directly after breakfast I went off to Mr Burns' office, but not until I had read the morning's paper, from which I learned to my great relief that the twenty deaths of the earlier report had dwindled to three cases of serious injury and several lesser ones. A black straw hat indeed had been found floating in the canal, and the wearer was thought to be drowned, but that I could account for. The police, we were informed, were already on the track. Having read this I went, in comparative calm, to Mr Burns, and •was fortunate enough to find him just arrived at his office. He heard my tale with attention, and gave me the name and address of the proper official to whom I was to go. " You had better beg him to keep your name as long as possible out of the newspapers," added he. "I may bo unnecessarily cautious. I hope so ; but it appears to me that these explosions indicate a widespread association of very desperate persons. Their conduct shows them to have no scruples of humanity. You are very unprotected in London, and it might be dangerous to you to bo known as a ■\vitness against them." I told him the opinion of M. Dubois. "Ah, yes," said ho, laughing, " M. Dubois is a dis-believer in all governments and government officials from kings downward." He asked me a friendly question or two about my own affairs; and then just as I was going away, said in the most casual manner, " By-the-by, of course you know that your cousin has fetched away those papers." "My cousin? What papers?" said I, without a gleam of comprehension. " Why, the packet of papers that you gave me." "But who has fetched them? I don't /understand. There must be some mistake." "Why, your cousin, Captain said Mr Burns, looking at me curiously. " Did you not give instructions that it was to be given up to him, or you, or M. Dubois. I understand now what had happened, and stood struck dumb. "Whondid he fetch them?" I asked, after a minute. "The day before yesterday," answered Mr Burns. "He sent a messenger for them a day or two earlier, but I sent back word that they were only to be given up to him personally, or to you, or to Dubois." " These papers did not belong to him," said I," " they belonged to his cousin, Mr James Walton, and it was of vital importance that they

should not fall into his hands. You are sure it was my cousin ? Mr Walton is extremely like him." " It was iny clerk, Dakiu, who saw him. Wo will call him in." Dakiu came in. He was a grave, elderly man, who had been with Mr Burns for a great many years. Yes, Dakin had seen Captain Walton before ; and had no doubt at all that it was ho to whom the packet had been given." ".And this is the receipt," said Mr Burns, giving it to me, when Dakin had gone away. The receipt was in a clerkly writing hand; the signature only difffered. I looked at it attentively, but I did not know my cousin's writing well enough to say with certainty that it was his. Mr Burns now looked extremely grave. " Can you tell me," said he, " tho contents of these papers ?" " No; I must not tell you the private affairs of Mr Walton. But they were very, very important. There were jewels, too, diamonds." " Diamonds ! You ought to have told me that," said he. " It would have made no differeuce," I answered. " But how did he know ? It seems miraculous ! " "Sit down again," said Mr Burns, and tell me about this matter from the beginning. How did you come to have the papers of Mr Walton in your possession ?" " Hβ is lodging in my house. He is an artist, and uses the studio." " He came to you through your cousins, I suppose ?" "No; he came by chance. And then there have been attempts to steal these papers." I -related the effort of Mr Chappell and the trick by which a stranger had gained admittance. " You must get rid of this Ohappell at once," said Mr Burns. " I will see to that. How is it this young man left his papers so open if they were of importance 1" I explained his ignorance. " But you have read them 1" said Mr Burns, looking at me keenly. " Yes, I have read them," I answered, colouring in spite of myself. "And so has M. Dubois." " Excuse the question—are you engaged to Mr Walton ?" " No." " Then there are two disinterested witnesses to the contents of the packet." " And there is a statement, too, by Mr Walton's father, which was enclosed, but which we took out and gave to him." " And he has got it ?" "Oh, yes." " You are ready to swear that it was there ?" " Certainly." " Mr Burns jotted down a note or two while I spoke. " And now," said I, " may I tell you what I want to do ?" He nodded gravely. " I want to write to my cousin telling him that I know evei-ything in the packet, and that he will be proceeded against for the theft, and that I can swear to all the certificates and the letters, everyone, so that Mr Burns can claim the title just as much as ever." "Oh." said Mr Burns, with an odd little smile. " So they are as important as all that, are they? You have told me now all that I want about these papers. Don't looked so alarmed. A family solicitor is the proper person to tell secrets to. But now why are you so terribly concerned about the matter ? I should not have expected you to be so anxious to turn out your aunt's family." " But I must," said I, breathless. " Why it was I that brought it here for him, and that is how it was lost —and to my own cousin. Why it looks as if I did it on purpose." That thought — the passing shadow of an idea that James might think so—overmastered me. " I must write, you see," said I, in a kind of despair. " Indeed, I don't think you can do better," said Mr Burns. " Take my place here at the table, and write at once. I will write too. Do you know your cousin's address ?" " He will be with his regiment most likely, or else at Forest Lodge." " We will send to both addresses," said Mr Burns, sitting down and taking a pen. What words I used in writing to my cousin James I cannot now recollect, but my language was by no means measured. Mr Burns' was far less violent; but I could not help feeling even then that it was likely to be more effective. "And now," said he, "you will go straight to Scotland Yard. You have weighty affairs indeed upon your shoulders for a young lady of one-and-twenty. Will you tell Mr Walton that I consider myself bound to give him my utmost assistance in this unfortunate matter; and that if he should be disposed to consult me my time and advice are at his disposal. I said I would tell him, and took my leave. My interview with the head of the detective department, which loomed so large when I set forth, had shrunk to the most insignificant proportions. I told my tale almost with indifference, and replied with tho calmness of an innocent person to the questions put to me. Then I went home and ran up at once to the studio. I knocked imperatively. " Come in," cried Mr Walton. He had no model this morning, but was painting from some drapery

on a lay figure. He laid down his brush and came towards me. " What is it?" he asked anxiously, perceiving my air of distress. " Have you been to the police authorities V " Oh, the packet," cried I, " your packet. My cousin has got it from Mr Burns, and it is my fault!" He brought me one of his few chairs, sat down opposite to me upon the famous oak chest, and said, "Tell mo quickly. Nothing is worth your reproaching yourself for. Let us begin at the beginning. You wont to Mr Burns. There had been moments when I had felt almost angry with James for his serene, indifference to external considerations that had o do with his own comfort and prosperity, but in that instant I repented of all my impatience. He heard me with the most unruffled composure, and spoke with a completely impartial tone. "I gather from all this," he remarked, " that my father had good reason for thinking of Forest Lodge. ( I have some sought of a claim, have i ?" " Some sort of a claim ! It is as clear as daylight!" " And the proofs in the hands of Mr Walton—your cousin and mine ? I don't think we need trouble much about their clearness. I take it that's the end of the matter. I shall fight it, of course; a man doesn't give up his birthright without a struggle ; but I imagine he is too clever to have left me much standing ground." "You don't think," I faltered, "that I would have had this happen?—that I helped it, perhaps ?" "You?" cried James. "You!" There was no composure now. He bent forward, and spoke with the utmost seriousness. "If I had seen you place the packet in Capt. Walton's hands I would have disbelieved my own eyes rather than you." He looked at me for a minute in silence, and then said—"Tell me— was it this—title and all the rest of it—that was in your mind the day that you drew back from me?" I could not deny it. "And was that all, absolutely all? If I had come to you as I am, with nothing but the few pounds I earn, should you have told me to keep to nothing but friendship then 1 Should you, Lucy 1" He knelt down before me as he spoke ; not, I am sure, from any remembrance of the traditional wooer's attitude, but that he might see my face, which was bent down. I suppose he found his answer, for he said, " Let Jacob have the inheritance, so long as you care for Esau." And I do not think my poor Esau doubted that I did. We said no other word, but remained so, each with an arm about the other, silent and completely happy until a step on the stair startled us, and I stood up hastily. James, too, rose to his feet, and we returned into a work-a-dav world.

CHAPTER IX. ABRAHAM.

In the afternoon of the next day I received the following letter from Captain Walton : — " My Dear Nelly,—When I received your most extraordinary letter, I thought at first that you must have gone out of your mind ; but Mr Burns' letter convinced me that you were not altogether under the influence of a hallucination. I might fairly, I think, be extremely angry at the ridiculous accusations and the intemperate language which you have not hesitated to fling at me, but I know your headstrong and excitable temper, and make allowance for it. Let me beg you to control yourself, and look at things a little more calmly. I assure you that I am totally unable to understand your letter, which reads to me like the ravings of fever; I am therefore unable to offer any explanations which you would be likely to find satisfactory, but I shall be most happy to see you and answer any questions that you may choose to put to me civilly. You must understand, however, that I distinctly refuse to be treated on the footing of a thief ; and that, since I have no cause to fear any kind of legal process, I consider threats of that sort as impertinent and insulting. I will call upon Mr Burns at his office to-morrow about four, when, if you will meet me, I hope to be able to convince you that I am by no means a dark and desperate criminal, but only that very ordinary person whom you have known all your life as your commonplace and law-abiding cousin, James Walton." The tone of this letter shook me a little, in spite of myself. I began to wonder whether it was possible that Lord Clavering, and not his son, was responsible for the conspiracy against my poor James. Then, however, I recollected Dakin's certainty that it was Captain Walton who had fetched away the packet, and I perceived in the letter only an example of hardened effrontery. I showed it to M. Dubois, who remarked that my cousin was un hommc Ires-fort, He advised me to see Captain Walton, hear his account, tell him as little as possible, and above all keep my temper. I iromised to observe all these counsels, and waited the morrow impatiently. But how little—how very little did 1 guess what that morrow was

to bring forth. It was a Thursday, Mr Walton went to the National Gallery, and M. Dubois to the British Museum. As for me, I went out to accomplish one or two little errands, the chief of which was the purchase of a hat in place of that which had floated away on Paddington Canal. It was about twelve when I readied home. Lizzie met me in a state of great agitation. " Oh, Miss," said she ; " here's Mr Chappel been up in Mr Walton's room, and taken away all his papers; and they have got a police warrant, and there's a policeman up there now, and they won't let anyone 20 into the studio, and they won't let anyone leave the house until they have taken Mr Walton." "But this is perfectly outrageous," cried I. "Is Mr Chappel here V "No, Miss, he has gone away. There's only the clerk." 1 was not disposed to parley with Mr Chappel's clerk ; so I went up straightaway to the studio. 1 found a policeman there, as Lizzie had said. " What is the meaning of all this?" I demanded. "What is your business here 1" "Are you a relation to Mr Walton's ma'am ?" asked he." " I am the mistress of the house, and I wish to know why my house is entered in this way, and the liberty of my household interfered with ?" " I'm very sorry to put you to an inconvenience, ma'am," the man answered civily, " but, of course, if your lodgers break the Jaw, we are bound to do our duty." " But what lias Mr Walton done?" said 1. To which he gave me this amazing reply. " There's a warrant against him for being engaged in the dynamite explosion on Monday." I actually burst out laughing. " Oh, it is too funny!" I gasped, relieved now of all my alarms. And recovering myself, I said, " Oh, I am clad to hear this, because now I am quite certain there is some mistake. Mr Walton is not at all the kind of person to take part in such things. He will be able to clear himself directly." "I hope so, ma'am, I'm sure," said the policeman, politely. I went downstairs, and in a few minutes a second policeman came, who informed us that James had been arrested, and then both went away together. A horrible blankness fell upon the house. I was sure that James would easily disprove this preposterous charge ; yet I could not cast off a certain oppression. I did so wish I could have spoken a word to him. As to Mr Chappel he had not returned, wherein lie showed his discretion, for I should assuredly have called him to account. Nor had M. Dubois yet come in. I sat by myself thinking over all these strange events and preparing myself for my interview with my cousin. I went to Mr Burns' a little early that I might tell him of this last occurrence. As I walked down Chancery-lane the newspaper-boys were calling, " Arrest of dynamiters this day," which angered me in spite of myself. I told my tale to Mr Burns, and had the disappointment of finding it gravely received. "This is a very serious thing," said he. "Such an arrest would not be made without good reason. I do trust Dubois has had no hand in it." " Oh. but it is some mistake, some confusion of identity," said I. "Mr Walton is the last person in the world to be taking part in plots and explosions." " These probabilities are not always so easy to judge," said Mr Burns. "You might not think Dubois a likely man for a murderer, and yet it is not Dubois' fault that Napoleon the Third died in his bed at Cliislehurst. I began to regret that I ever sent him to you. What a set of lodgers you have got to be sure ! Chappel and Dubois, and now this young dynamiter." " But, Mr Burns," said I, "It seems to me that you are doing what I thought the law took care not to do, holding the accused guilty befoie he has had a chance of proving his innocence." "My dear young lady," repeated Mr Burns impressively, " I have been in practice five and thirty years, and have become ready to believe any rashness on the part of a young man, any fraud in a middleaged man, and any weakness in a woman. You yourself now, you are a clear-headed, sensible girl, with no foolish fears about you, but you have your weakness like the rest. I wonder whether I could put my finger upon it. I suspect it would be your weakness to believe in Mr Walton, whatever the evidence against him." " Because the nature of a person one knows is a surer foundation than the oaths of any number of persons one doesn't know," said I. " Precisely," said Mr Burns, smiling. " I know now where I must allow for the bias of your judgment. But here is your cousin." (To be continued).