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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Childerbridge Mystery, by Guy Boothby
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Childerbridge Mystery
+
+Author: Guy Boothby
+
+Release Date: February 14, 2011 [EBook #35277]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CHILDERBRIDGE MYSTERY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Suzanne Shell, Mary Meehan and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                     The Childerbridge Mystery
+
+                          By Guy Boothby,
+
+_Author of_ "_Dr. Nikola_," "_A Millionaire's Love Story_," "_The Curse
+of the Snake_," _etc., etc., etc._
+
+
+    London
+    F. V. White & Co., Ltd.
+    1902
+
+
+
+
+Contents
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+
+
+
+The Childerbridge Mystery
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+
+One had only to look at William Standerton in order to realise that he
+was, what is usually termed, a success in life. His whole appearance
+gave one this impression; the bold unflinching eyes, the square,
+resolute chin, the well-moulded lips, and the lofty forehead, showed a
+determination and ability to succeed that was beyond the ordinary.
+
+The son of a hardworking country doctor, it had fallen to his lot to
+emigrate to Australia at the early age of sixteen. He had not a friend
+in that vast, but sparsely-populated, land, and was without influence of
+any sort to help him forward. When, therefore, in fifty years' time, he
+found himself worth upwards of half-a-million pounds sterling, he was
+able to tell himself that he owed his good fortune not only to his own
+industry, but also to his shrewd business capabilities. It is true that
+he had had the advantage of reaching the Colonies when they were in
+their infancy, but even with this fact taken into consideration, his was
+certainly a great performance. He had invested his money prudently, and
+the rich Stations, and the streets of House Property, were the result.
+
+Above all things, William Standerton was a kindly-natured man. Success
+had not spoilt him in this respect. No genuine case of necessity ever
+appealed to him in vain. He gave liberally, but discriminatingly, and in
+so doing never advertised himself.
+
+Strange to say, he was nearly thirty years of age before he even
+contemplated matrimony. The reason for this must be ascribed to the fact
+that his life had been essentially an active one, and up to that time he
+had not been brought very much into contact with the opposite sex. When,
+however, he fell in love with pretty Jane McCalmont--then employed as a
+governess on a neighbouring Property--he did so with an enthusiasm that
+amply made up for lost time.
+
+She married him, and presented him with two children--a boy and a girl.
+Within three months of the latter's arrival into the world, the mother
+laid down her gentle life, leaving her husband a well nigh
+broken-hearted man. After her death the years passed slowly by with
+almost monotonous sameness. The boy James, and the girl Alice, in due
+course commenced their education, and in so doing left their childhood
+behind them. Their devotion to their father was only equalled by his
+love for them. He could scarcely bear them out of his sight, and entered
+into all their sports, their joys and troubles, as if he himself were a
+child once more.
+
+It was not, however, until James was a tall, handsome young fellow of
+four-and-twenty, and Alice a winsome maid of twenty, that he arrived at
+the conclusion that his affairs no longer needed his personal
+supervision, and that he was at liberty to return to the Mother Country,
+and settle down in it, should he feel disposed to do so.
+
+"It's all very well for you young folk to talk of my leaving Australia,"
+he said, addressing his son and daughter; "but I shall be like a fish
+out of water in the Old Country. You forget that I have not seen her for
+half-a-century."
+
+"All the more reason that you should lose no time in returning, father,"
+observed Miss Alice, to whom a visit to England had been the one
+ambition of her life. "You shall take us about and show us everything;
+the little village in which you were born, the river in which you used
+to fish, and the wood in which the keeper so nearly caught you with the
+rabbit in your pocket. Then you shall buy an old-fashioned country house
+and we'll settle down. It will be lovely!"
+
+Her father pinched her shapely little ear, and then looked away across
+the garden to where a railed enclosure was to be seen, on the crest of a
+slight eminence. He remembered that the woman lying there had more than
+once expressed a hope that, in the days then to come, they would be able
+to return to their native country together, and take their children with
+them.
+
+"Well, well, my dear," he said, glancing down at the daughter who so
+much resembled her mother, "you shall have it your own way. We will go
+Home as soon as possible, and do just as you propose. I think we may be
+able to afford a house in the country, and perhaps, that is if you are a
+very dutiful daughter, another in London. It is just possible that there
+may be one or two people living who may remember William Standerton,
+and, for that reason, be kind to his son and daughter. But I fear it
+will be rather a wrench for me to leave these places that I have built
+up with my own hands, and to which I have devoted such a large portion
+of my life. However, one can be in harness too long, and when once
+Australia is left behind me, I have no doubt I shall enjoy my holiday as
+much as any one else."
+
+In this manner the matter was settled. Competent and trustworthy
+managers were engaged, and the valuable properties, which had
+contributed so large a share to William Standerton's wealth, were handed
+over to their charge.
+
+On the night before they were to leave Mudrapilla, their favourite and
+largest station, situated on the Darling River, in New South Wales,
+James Standerton, called Jim by his family and a multifarious collection
+of friends, was slowly making his way along the left bank of the River.
+He had ridden out to say good-bye to the manager of the Out Station, and
+as his horse picked his way along the bank, he was thinking of England,
+and of what his life was to be there. Suddenly he became aware of a man
+seated beneath a giant gum tree near the water's edge. From the fact
+that the individual in question had kindled a fire and was boiling his
+billy, he felt justified in assuming that he was preparing his camp for
+the night. He accordingly rode up and accosted him. The man was a Foot
+Traveller, or Swagman, and presented a somewhat singular appearance.
+Though he was seated, Jim could see that he was tall, though sparsely
+built. His age must have been about sixty years; his hair was streaked
+with grey, as also was his beard. Taken altogether his countenance was
+of the description usually described as "hatchet-faced." He was dressed
+after the swagman fashion, certainly no better, and perhaps a little
+worse. Yet with it all he had the appearance of having once been in
+better circumstances. He looked up as Jim approached, and nodded a "good
+evening." The latter returned the salutation in his customary pleasant
+fashion.
+
+"How much further is it to the Head Station?" the man on the ground then
+enquired.
+
+"Between four and five miles," Jim replied. "Are you making your way
+there?"
+
+"That's my idea," the stranger answered. "I hear the owner is leaving
+for England, and I am desirous of having a few words with him before he
+goes."
+
+"You know him then?"
+
+"I've known him over thirty years," returned the other. "But he has gone
+up in the world while, as you will gather, I have done the opposite.
+Standerton was always one of Life's lucky ones; I am one of Her
+failures. Anything _he_ puts his hand to prospers; while I, let it be
+ever so promising, have only to touch a bit of business, and it goes to
+pieces like a house of cards."
+
+The stranger paused and took stock of the young man seated upon the
+horse.
+
+"Now I come to think of it," he continued, after having regarded Jim
+intently for some seconds, "you're not unlike Standerton yourself.
+You've got the same eyes and chin, and the same cut of mouth."
+
+"It's very probable, for I am his son," Jim replied. "What is it you
+want with my father?"
+
+"That's best known to myself," the stranger returned, with a surliness
+in his tone that he had not exhibited before. "When you get home, just
+tell your governor that Richard Murbridge is on his way up the river to
+call upon him, and that he will try to put in an appearance at the
+Station early to-morrow morning. I don't fancy he'll be best pleased to
+see me, but I must have an interview with him before he leaves
+Australia, if I have to follow him round the country to get it."
+
+"You had better be careful how you talk to my father," said Jim. "If you
+are as well acquainted with him as you pretend to be, you should know
+that he is not the sort of man to be trifled with."
+
+"I know him as well as you do," the other answered, lifting his billy
+from the fire as he spoke. "William Standerton and I knew each other
+long before you were born. If it's only the distance you say to the Head
+Station, you can tell him I'll be there by breakfast time. I'm a bit
+foot-sore, it is true, but I can do the journey in an hour and a-half.
+On what day does the coach pass, going South?"
+
+"To-morrow morning," Jim replied. "Do you want to catch it?"
+
+"It's very probable I shall," said Murbridge. "Though I wasn't born in
+this cursed country, I'm Australian enough never to foot it when I can
+ride. Good Heavens! had any one told me, twenty-five years ago, that I
+should eventually become a Darling Whaler, I'd have knocked, what I
+should have thought then to be the lie, down their throats. But what I
+am you can see. Fate again, I suppose? However, I was always of a
+hopeful disposition, even when my affairs appeared to be at their worst,
+so I'll pin my faith on to-morrow. Must you be going? Well, in that
+case, I'll wish you good-night! Don't forget my message to your father."
+
+Jim bade him good-night, and then continued his ride home. As he went he
+pondered upon his curious interview with the stranger he had just left,
+and while so doing, wondered as to his reasons for desiring to see his
+father.
+
+"The fellow was associated with him in business at some time or another,
+I suppose?" he said to himself, "and, having failed, is now on his beam
+ends and wants assistance. Poor old Governor, there are times when he is
+called upon to pay pretty dearly for his success in life."
+
+James Standerton was proud of his father, as he had good reason to be.
+He respected him above all living men, and woe betide the individual who
+might have anything to say against the sire in the son's hearing.
+
+At last he reached the Home Paddock and cantered up the slope towards
+the cluster of houses, that resembled a small village, and surrendered
+his horse to a black boy in the stable yard. With a varied collection of
+dogs at his heels he made his way up the garden path, beneath the
+trellised vines to the house, in the broad verandah of which he could
+see his sister and father seated at tea.
+
+"Well, my lad," said Standerton senior, when Jim joined them, "I suppose
+you've seen Riddington, and have bade him good-bye. It's my opinion he
+will miss you as much as any one in the neighbourhood. You two have
+always been such friends."
+
+"That's just what Riddington said," James replied. "He wishes he were
+coming with us. Poor chap, he doesn't seem to think he'll ever see
+England again."
+
+Alice looked up from the cup of tea she was pouring out for her brother.
+
+"I fancy there is more in poor Mr. Riddington's case than meets the
+eye," she said sympathetically. "Nobody knows quite why he left England.
+He is always very reticent upon that point. I cannot help thinking,
+however, that there was a lady in the case."
+
+"There always is," answered her brother. "There's a woman in every
+mystery, and when you've found her it's a mystery no longer. By the way,
+father, as I was coming home, I came across a fellow camped up the
+river. He asked me what the distance was to here, and said he was on his
+way to see you. He will be here the first thing to-morrow morning."
+
+"He wants work, I suppose?"
+
+"No, I shouldn't say that he did," James replied. "He said that he
+wanted to see you on important private business."
+
+"Indeed? I wonder who it can be? A swagman who has important private
+business with me is a _rara avis_. He didn't happen to tell you his
+name, I suppose?"
+
+"Yes, he did," Jim answered, placing his cup on the floor as he spoke.
+"His name is Richard Murbridge, or something like it."
+
+The effect upon the elder man was electrical.
+
+"Richard Murbridge?" he cried. "Camped on the river and coming here?"
+
+His son and daughter watched him with the greatest astonishment depicted
+upon their faces. It was not often that their father gave way to so much
+emotion. At last with an effort he recovered himself, and, remarking
+that Murbridge was a man with whom he had had business in bygone days,
+and that he had not seen him for many years, went into the house.
+
+"I wonder who this Murbridge can be?" said James to his sister, when
+they were alone together. "I didn't like the look of him, and if I were
+the Governor, I should send him about his business as quickly as
+possible."
+
+When he had thus expressed himself, Jim left his sister and went off to
+enjoy that luxury so dear to the heart of a bushman after his day's
+work, a swim in the river. He was some time over it, and when he
+emerged, he was informed that his presence was required at the Store.
+Thither he repaired to arbitrate in the quarrel of two Boundary Riders.
+In consequence, more than an hour elapsed before he returned to the
+house. His sister greeted him at the gate with a frightened look upon
+her face.
+
+"Have you seen father?" she enquired.
+
+"No," he answered. "Isn't he in the house?"
+
+"He went down the track just after you left, riding old Peter, and as he
+passed the gate he called to me not to keep dinner for him, as he did
+not know how long it might be before he would be back. Jim, I believe he
+is gone to see that man you told him of, and the thought frightens me."
+
+"You needn't be alarmed," her brother answered. "Father is quite able to
+take care of himself."
+
+But though he spoke with so much assurance, in his own mind he was not
+satisfied. He remembered that it had been his impression that the
+swagman bore his father a grudge, and the thought made him uneasy.
+
+"Look here, Alice," he said, after he had considered the matter for some
+time, "I've a good mind to go back along the track, and to bring the
+Governor home with me. What do you think?"
+
+"It would relieve me of a good deal of anxiety if you would," the girl
+replied. "I don't like the thought of his going off like this."
+
+Jim accordingly went to the end of the verandah, and called to the
+stables for a horse. As soon as the animal was forthcoming he mounted
+it, and set off in the direction his father had taken. It was now quite
+dark, but so well did he know it, that he could have found his way along
+the track blindfolded, if necessary. It ran parallel with the river, the
+high trees on the banks of which could be seen, standing out like a
+black line against the starlit sky. He let himself out of the Home
+Paddock, passed the Woolshed, and eventually found himself approaching
+the spot where Murbridge had made his camp. Then the twinkle of the fire
+came into view, and a few seconds later he was able to distinguish his
+father standing beside his grey horse, talking to a man who was lying
+upon the ground near the fire. Not wishing to play the part of an
+eavesdropper, he was careful to remain out of earshot. It was only when
+he saw the man rise, heard him utter a threat, and then approach his
+father, that he rode up. Neither of the men became aware of his approach
+until he was close upon them, and then both turned in surprise.
+
+"James, what is the meaning of this?" his father cried. "What are you
+doing here, my lad?"
+
+For a moment the other scarcely knew what reply to make. At last he
+said:--
+
+"I came to assure myself of your safety, father. Alice told me you had
+gone out, and I guessed your errand."
+
+"A very dutiful son," sneered Murbridge. "You are to be congratulated
+upon him, William."
+
+James stared at the individual before him with astonishment. What right
+had such a man to address his father by his Christian name?
+
+"Be careful," said Standerton, speaking to the man before him. "You know
+what I said to you just now, and you are also aware that I never break
+my word. Fail to keep _your_ part of the contract, and I shall no longer
+keep mine."
+
+"You know that you have your heel upon my neck," the other retorted;
+"and also that I cannot help myself. But I pray that the time may come
+when I shall be able to be even with you. To think that I am tramping
+this infernal country, like a dead beat Sundowner, without a cent in my
+pocket, while you are enjoying all the luxuries and happiness that life
+and wealth can give. It's enough to make a man turn Anarchist right
+off."
+
+"That will do," said William Standerton quietly. "Remember that
+to-morrow morning you will go back to the place whence you came; also
+bear in mind the fact that if you endeavour to molest me, or to
+communicate with me, or with any member of my family, I will carry out
+the threat I uttered just now. That is all I have to say to you."
+
+Then Standerton mounted his horse, and turning to his son, said:--
+
+"Let us return home, James. It is getting late, and your sister will be
+uneasy."
+
+Without another word to the man beside the fire, they rode off, leaving
+him looking after them with an expression of deadly hatred upon his
+face. For some distance the two men rode in silence. Jim could see that
+his father was much agitated, and for that reason he forbore to put any
+question to him concerning the individual they had just left. Indeed it
+was not until they had passed the Woolshed once more, and had half
+completed their return journey that the elder man spoke.
+
+"How much of my conversation with that man did you overhear?"
+
+"Nothing but what I heard when Murbridge rose to his feet," James
+replied. "I should not have come near you had I not heard his threat and
+seen him approach you. Who is the man, father?"
+
+"His name is Murbridge," said Standerton, with what was plainly an
+effort. "He is a person with whom I was on friendly terms many years
+ago, but he has now got into disgrace, and, I fear has sank very low
+indeed. I do not think he will trouble us any more, however, so we will
+not refer to him again."
+
+All that evening William Standerton was visibly depressed. He excused
+himself from playing his usual game of cribbage with his daughter, on
+the plea that he had a headache. Next morning, however, he was quite
+himself. He went out to his last day's work in the bush as cheerfully as
+he had ever done. But had any one followed him, he, or she, would have
+discovered that the first thing he did was to ride to the spot where
+Richard Murbridge had slept on the previous night. The camp was
+deserted, and only a thin column of smoke, rising from the embers of the
+fire, remained to show that the place had been lately occupied.
+
+"He has gone, then," said Standerton to himself. "Thank goodness! But I
+know him too well to be able to assure myself that I have seen the last
+of him. Next week, however, we shall put the High Seas between us, and
+then, please God, I shall see no more of him for the remainder of my
+existence."
+
+At that moment the man of whom he was speaking, was tramping along the
+dusty track with a tempest of rage in his heart.
+
+"He may travel wherever he pleases," he was muttering to himself, "but
+he won't get away from me. He may go to the end of the world, and I'll
+follow him and be at his elbow, just to remind him who I am, and of the
+claims I have upon him. Yes, William Standerton, you may make up your
+mind upon one point, and that is the fact that I'll be even with you
+yet!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+
+Childerbridge Manor is certainly one of the finest mansions in the
+County of Midlandshire. It stands in a finely-timbered park of about two
+hundred acres, which rises behind the house to a considerable elevation.
+The building itself dates back to the reign of Good Queen Bess, and is
+declared by competent authorities to be an excellent example of the
+architecture of that period. It is large, and presents a most imposing
+appearance as one approaches it by the carriage drive. The interior is
+picturesque in the extreme; the hall is large and square, panelled with
+oak, and having a massive staircase of the same wood leading from it to
+a music gallery above. There are other staircases in various parts of
+the building, curious corkscrew affairs, in ascending which one is in
+continual danger of knocking one's head against the ceiling and corners.
+There are long, and somewhat dark corridors, down which it would be
+almost possible to drive the proverbial coach and four, whilst there are
+also numerous secret passages, and a private chapel, with stained glass
+windows connected with the house by means of a short tunnel. That such a
+mansion should be provided with a family ghost, goes without saying.
+Indeed, Childerbridge Manor is reputed to possess a small army of them.
+Elderly gentlemen who carry their heads under their arms; beautiful
+women who glide down the corridors, weeping as they go; and last but not
+least, a deformity, invariably dressed in black, who is much given to
+sitting on the foot rails of beds, and pointing, with the first finger
+of his right hand, to the ceiling above. So well authenticated are the
+legends of these apparitions, that it would be almost an impossibility
+to induce any man, woman, or child, from the village, to enter the gates
+of Childerbridge Manor after dusk. Servants who arrived were told the
+stories afloat concerning their new abode; and the sound of the wind
+sighing round the house on a gusty night immediately set their
+imaginations to work, with the result of their giving notice of their
+intention to leave on the following morning. "They had seen the White
+Lady," they declared, had heard her pitiful death cry, and vowed that
+nothing could induce them to remain in such a house twenty-four hours
+longer. In fact, "As haunted as the Manor House" had become a popular
+expression in the neighbourhood.
+
+When the Standerton's reached England, they set to work to discover for
+themselves a home. They explored the country from east to west, and from
+north to south, but without success. Eventually Childerbridge Manor was
+offered them by an Agent in London, and after they had spent a
+considerable portion of their time poring over photographs of the house
+and grounds, they arrived at the conclusion that they had discovered a
+place likely to suit them. On a lovely day in early summer they
+travelled down from London to inspect it, and were far from being
+disappointed in what they saw.
+
+When they entered the gates the park lay before them, bathed in
+sunlight, the rooks cawed lazily in the trees, while the deer regarded
+them, from their couches in the bracken, with mild, contemplative eyes.
+After the scorched up plains of Australia, the picture was an
+exceedingly attractive one. The house itself, they could see would
+require a considerable outlay in repairs, but when that work was
+accomplished, it would be as perfect a residence as any that could be
+found. The stables were large enough to hold half a hundred horses, but
+for many years had been tenanted only by rats. The same might be said of
+the buildings of the Home Farm!
+
+"However, taking one thing with another," said Mr. Standerton, after he
+had inspected everything, and arrived at a proper understanding of the
+possibilities of the place, "I think it will suit us. The Society of the
+neighbourhood, they tell me, is good, while the hunting is undeniable.
+It is within easy reach of London, and all matters taken into
+consideration, I don't think we shall better it."
+
+In this manner it was settled. A contract for repairs and decorations
+was placed in the hands of a well-known Metropolitan firm, a vast amount
+was spent in furnishing, and in due course Childerbridge Manor House was
+once more occupied. The County immediately came to call, invitations
+rained in, and having been duly inspected and not found wanting, the
+newcomers were voted a decided acquisition to the neighbourhood. William
+Standerton's wealth soon became proverbial, and mothers, with
+marriageable sons and daughters, vied with each other in their
+attentions. James Standerton, as I have already said, was a presentable
+young man. His height was something over six feet, his shoulders were
+broad and muscular, as became a man who had lived his life doing hard
+work in the open air, his eyes were grey like his father's, and there
+was the same moulding of the mouth and chin. In fact, he was an
+individual with whom, one felt at first glance, it would be better to be
+on good terms than bad.
+
+One evening a month or so after their arrival at the Manor House, Jim
+was driving home from the railway station. He had been spending the day
+in London buying polo ponies, and was anxious to get home as quickly as
+possible. His horse was a magnificent animal, and spun the high dogcart
+along the road at a rattling pace. When he was scarcely more than half a
+mile from the lodge gates of his own home, he became aware of a lady
+walking along the footpath in front of him. She was accompanied by a
+mastiff puppy, who gambolled awkwardly beside her. As the dogcart
+approached them the puppy dashed out into the road, directly in front of
+the fast-trotting horse. As may be imagined the result was inevitable.
+The dog was knocked down, and it was only by a miracle that the horse
+did not go down also. The girl uttered a little scream, then the groom
+jumped from his seat and ran to the frightened animal's head. Jim also
+descended to ascertain the extent of injuries the horse and dog had
+sustained. Fortunately the former was unhurt; not so the author of the
+mischief, however. He had been kicked on the head, and one of his
+forepaws was crushed and bleeding.
+
+"I cannot tell you how sorry I am," said Jim, apologetically to the
+young lady, when he had carried her pet to the footpath. "I am afraid I
+was very careless."
+
+"You must not say that," she answered. "It was not your fault at all. If
+my silly dog had not run into the road it would not have happened. Do
+you think his leg is broken?"
+
+Jim knelt on the edge of the path beside the dog and carefully examined
+his injuries. His bush life had given him a considerable insight into
+the science of surgery, and it stood him in good stead now.
+
+"No," he said, when his examination was at an end, "his leg is not
+broken, though I'm afraid it is rather badly injured."
+
+In spite of the young lady's protests, he took his handkerchief from his
+pocket and bound up the injured limb. The next thing to be decided was
+how to get the animal home. It could not walk, and it was manifestly
+impossible that the young lady should carry him.
+
+"Won't you let me put him in the cart and drive you both home?" Jim
+asked. "I should be glad to do so, if I may."
+
+As he said this he looked more closely at the girl before him, and
+realised that she was decidedly pretty.
+
+"I am afraid there is nothing else to be done," she said, and then, as
+if she feared this might be considered an ungracious speech, she added:
+"But I fear I am putting you to a great deal of trouble, Mr.
+Standerton."
+
+Jim looked at her in some surprise.
+
+"You know my name, then?" he said.
+
+"As you see," she answered, with a smile at his astonishment. "I called
+upon your sister yesterday. My name is Decie, and I live at the Dower
+House, with my guardian, Mr. Abraham Bursfield."
+
+"In that case, as we are neighbours," said Jim, "and I must claim a
+neighbour's privilege in helping you. Allow me put the dog in the cart."
+
+So saying he picked the animal up and carried it tenderly to the
+dogcart, under the seat of which he placed it. He then assisted Miss
+Decie to her seat and took his place beside her. When the groom had
+seated himself at the back, they set off in the direction of the Dower
+House, a curious rambling building, situated in a remote corner of
+Childerbridge Park. As they drove along they discussed the
+neighbourhood, the prospects of the shooting, and Jim learned, among
+other things, that Miss Decie was fond of riding, but that old Mr.
+Bursfield would not allow her a horse, that she preferred a country life
+to that of town, and incidentally that she had been eight years under
+her guardian's care. Almost before they knew where they were they had
+reached the cross roads that skirted the edge of the Park, and were
+approaching the Dower House. It was a curious old building, older
+perhaps than the Manor House, to which it had once belonged. In front it
+had a quaint description of courtyard, surrounded by high walls covered
+with ivy. A flagged path led from the gates, which, Jim discovered
+later, had not been opened for many years, to the front door, on either
+side of which was a roughly trimmed lawn. Pulling up at the gates, the
+young man descended, and helped Miss Decie to alight.
+
+"You must allow me to carry your dog into the house for you," he said,
+as he lifted the poor beast from the cart.
+
+A postern door admitted them to the courtyard and they made their way,
+side by side, along the flagged path to the house. When they had rung
+the bell the door was opened to them by an ancient man-servant, whose
+age could scarcely have been less than four-score. He looked from his
+mistress to the young man, as if he were unable to comprehend the
+situation.
+
+"Isaac," said Miss Decie, "Tory has met with an accident, and Mr.
+Standerton has very kindly brought him home for me." Then to Jim she
+added:--"Please come in, Mr. Standerton, and let me relieve you of your
+burden."
+
+But Jim would not hear of it. Accompanied by Miss Decie he carried the
+animal to the loose box in the deserted stables at the back of the
+house, where he had his quarters. This task accomplished, they returned
+to the house once more.
+
+"I believe you have not yet met my guardian, Mr. Bursfield," said Miss
+Decie, as they passed along the oak-panelled hall. Then, as if to excuse
+the fact that the other had not paid the usual neighbourly call, she
+added: "He is a very old man, you know, and seldom leaves the house."
+
+As she said this, she paused before a door, the handle of which she
+turned. The room in which Jim found himself a moment later was a fine
+one. The walls, like the rest of the house, were panelled, but owing to
+the number of books the room contained, very little of the oak was
+visible. There were books on the shelves, books on the tables, and books
+on the floor. In the centre of the room stood a large writing-table, at
+which an old man was seated. He was a strange-looking individual; his
+face was lined with innumerable wrinkles, his hair was snow-white and
+descended to his shoulders. He wore a rusty velvet coat and a skull cap
+of the same material.
+
+He looked up as the pair entered, and his glance rested on Jim with some
+surprise.
+
+"Grandfather," said Miss Decie, for, as Jim afterwards discovered, she
+invariably addressed the venerable gentleman by this title, though she
+was in no way related to him, "pray let me introduce you to Mr.
+Standerton, who has most kindly brought poor Tory home for me."
+
+The old man extended a shrivelled hand.
+
+"I am happy to make your acquaintance, Mr. Standerton," he said, "and I
+am grateful to you for the service you have rendered Miss Decie. I must
+apologise for not having paid you and your father the customary visit of
+courtesy, but, as you have perhaps heard, I am a recluse, and seldom
+venture from the house. I trust you like Childerbridge?"
+
+"We are delighted with it," Jim replied. "It is a very beautiful and
+interesting old house. Unfortunately, however, we have been able to
+gather very little of its history. I have heard it said that you know
+more about it than any one in the neighbourhood."
+
+"I do indeed," Mr. Bursfield replied. "No one knows it better than I do.
+Until a hundred years ago it was the home of my own family. My father
+sold it, reserving only the Dower House for his own use. Since then the
+estate has fallen upon evil times."
+
+He paused for a moment and sat looking into the fireplace, as if he had
+forgotten his visitor's presence. Then he added as to himself:
+
+"No one who has taken the place has prospered. There is a curse upon
+it."
+
+"I sincerely hope not," Jim answered. "It would be a bad look out for us
+if that were so."
+
+"I beg your pardon," the old man returned, almost hastily. "For the
+moment I was not thinking of what I was saying. I did not mean of course
+that the curse would affect your family. There is no sort of reason why
+it should. But the series of coincidences, if by such a term we may
+designate them, have certainly been remarkable. Sir Giles Shepfield
+purchased it from my father, and was thrown from his horse, and killed
+at his own front door. His son Peter was found dead in his bed, some say
+murdered, others that he was frightened to death by something, or
+someone, he had seen; while his second son, William, was shot in a duel
+in Paris, the day after the news reached him that he had come into the
+property. The Shepfields being only too anxious to dispose of it, it was
+sold to the newly-made Lord Childerbridge, who was eager to acquire it
+possibly on account of the name. He remained two years there, but at the
+end of that period he also had had enough of the place, and left it
+quite suddenly, vowing that he would never enter its doors again. After
+that it was occupied off and on by a variety of tenants, but for the
+last five years it has been unoccupied. I hear that your father has
+worked wonders with it, and that he has almost turned it into a new
+place."
+
+"He has had the work done very carefully," Jim replied. "It is very
+difficult to repair an old mansion like Childerbridge without making
+such repairs too apparent."
+
+"I quite agree with you," said the old man drily. "Your modern architect
+is no respecter of anything antiquated as a rule."
+
+"And now I must bid you good-evening," said James. "My father and sister
+will be wondering what has become of me."
+
+He shook hands with Mr. Bursfield, who begged him to excuse him for not
+accompanying him to the door, and then followed Miss Decie from the
+room. They bade each other adieu at the gate.
+
+"I hope your dog will soon be himself again," said Jim, in the hope of
+being able to prolong the interview, if only for a few moments. "If you
+would like me to have him for a few days I would do what I could for
+him, and I would see that he is properly looked after."
+
+"I could not think of giving you so much trouble," she returned. "I
+think he will be all right here. I feel certain I shall be able to do
+all that is necessary. Will you give my kind regards to your sister? I
+should like to tell you that I admire her very much, Mr. Standerton."
+
+"It is very good of you to say so," he replied. Then clutching at the
+hope thus presented to him, he added, "I trust you and she will be great
+friends."
+
+"I hope so," said Miss Decie, and thereupon bade him good-night.
+
+As he went out to his cart he felt convinced in his own mind that he had
+just parted from the most charming girl he had ever met in his life. He
+reflected upon the matter as he completed the short distance that
+separated him from his home, and when he joined his sister in the
+drawing-room later, he questioned her concerning her new acquaintance.
+
+"She must lead a very lonely life," said Jim. "I was introduced to the
+old gentleman she calls grandfather, and if his society is all she has
+to depend upon, then I do not envy her her lot."
+
+His sister had a suspicion of what was in his mind though she did not
+say so. Like her brother she had taken a great liking to the girl, and
+there was every probability, as time went on, of their becoming firm
+friends.
+
+"It may interest you to hear that she is coming to tea with me on
+Thursday," said Alice.
+
+Jim _was_ interested, and to prove it registered a mental vow that he
+would make a point of being at home that day. As a matter of fact he
+was, and was even more impressed than before.
+
+From that day Miss Decie spent a large proportion of her time at the
+Manor House. In less than a month she had become Alice's own particular
+friend, and Jim felt that the whole current of his life had been
+changed. What Mr. Bursfield thought of the turn affairs had taken can be
+seen now, but at the time his views were only a matter of conjecture.
+That Jim and Miss Decie had managed to fall in love with each other was
+quite certain, and that William Standerton approved of his son's choice
+was another point that admitted of no doubt. Helen Decie with her pretty
+face, and charming manners, was a general favourite. At that stage their
+wooing was a matter-of-fact one in the extreme. Jim had no rival, and at
+the outset no difficulties worth dignifying with the name. He was
+permitted unlimited opportunities of seeing the object of his affections
+and, when the time was ripe, and he informed her of the state of his
+feelings towards herself, she gave him her hand, and promised, without
+any hysterical fuss, to be his wife, with the full intention of doing
+her utmost to make him happy.
+
+"But, Jim," she said, "before you do anything else, you must see Mr.
+Bursfield and obtain his consent. He is my guardian, you know, and has
+been so good to me that I can do nothing without his approval."
+
+"I will see him to-morrow morning," Jim replied, "and I fancy I can tell
+you what his answer will be. How could it be otherwise when he knows
+that your happiness is at stake?"
+
+"I hope it will be as you say," she answered, but not with her usual
+cheerfulness. "Somehow or another grandfather always looks at things in
+a different light to other people."
+
+"You may be sure I will do my best to get him to look at it as we want
+him to," her lover returned. "I will bring every argument I can think of
+to bear upon him."
+
+Needless to say, Mr. Standerton, when he heard the news, was delighted,
+while Alice professed herself overjoyed at the thought of having Helen
+for her sister. In Jim's mind, however, there was the remembrance of
+Abraham Bursfield, and of the interview that had to be got through with
+that gentleman.
+
+"It's no use beating about the bush or delaying matters," he said to
+himself. "I'll walk back with Helen and get it over to-night instead of
+to-morrow morning."
+
+He informed his sweetheart of his intention. She signified her approval,
+and together they strolled across the Park towards the little gate that
+opened into the grounds of the Dower House. It was a lovely evening,
+and, as you may suppose, they were as happy a young couple as could have
+been found in the length and breadth of England. Their engagement had
+scarcely commenced, yet Jim was already full of plans for the future.
+
+"I shall take you from that dreary old house," he said, nodding his head
+in the direction of the building they were approaching, "and we will
+find a place somewhere in the neighbourhood. How you have managed to
+exist here for eight years I cannot imagine."
+
+"It has been dull certainly," she answered, "but I have the house and my
+grandfather to look after, so that my time is fairly well taken up."
+
+"You must have felt that you were buried alive," he answered. "In the
+future, however, we'll change all that. You shall go where, and do, just
+as you please."
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"To make you happy," she said, "will be enough for me."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+
+On reaching the house, Jim bade the butler inform his master that Mr.
+Standerton would like to see him. Isaac looked at him as if he were
+desirous of making sure of his business before he admitted him, then he
+hobbled off in the direction of his master's study, to presently return
+with the message that Mr. Bursfield would see Mr. Standerton if he would
+be pleased to step that way. Jim thereupon followed the old man into the
+room in which he had first made Abraham Bursfield's acquaintance some
+four months before. As on that memorable occasion, he found that
+gentleman seated at his desk, looking very much as if he had not moved
+from it in all that time.
+
+"I wish you good evening, Mr. Standerton," he said, motioning his
+visitor to a chair. "To what may I attribute the honour of this visit?"
+
+"I have come to you on a most important errand," Jim replied. "Its
+purport may surprise you, but I hope it will not disappoint you."
+
+"May I ask that you will be good enough to tell me what that errand is,"
+said the old gentleman drily. "I shall then be better able to give you
+my opinion."
+
+"To sum it up in a few words," Jim answered, "I have this afternoon
+asked Miss Decie to become my wife, and she has promised to do so. I am
+here to ask your approval."
+
+Bursfield was silent for a few moments. Then he looked sharply up at the
+young man.
+
+"You are of course aware that Miss Decie is only my adopted
+granddaughter, and that she has not the least shadow of a claim, either
+upon me, or upon such remnants of property as I may possess."
+
+"I am quite aware of it," Jim replied. "Miss Decie has told me of her
+position, and of your goodness to her."
+
+"The latter of which she is endeavouring to repay by leaving me to spend
+the rest of my miserable existence alone. A pretty picture of gratitude,
+is it not? But it is the world all over!"
+
+"I am sure she will always entertain a feeling of profound gratitude
+towards you," protested Jim. "She invariably speaks of you with the
+greatest affection."
+
+"I am indeed indebted to her for her consideration," retorted the other
+with a sneer. "Unfortunately, shall I say, for you, I prefer something
+more than words. No, Mr. Standerton, I cannot give my consent to your
+engagement."
+
+Jim could only stare in complete astonishment. He had never expected
+this.
+
+"You do not mean that you are going to forbid it?" he ejaculated when he
+had recovered somewhat from his surprise.
+
+"I am reluctantly compelled to admit that that _is_ my intention.
+Believe me, I have the best of reasons for acting thus. Possibly my
+decision may cause you pain. It is irrevocable, however. At my death
+Helen will be able to do as she pleases, but until that event takes
+place, she must remain with me."
+
+He took up his pen as if to continue his writing, and so end the
+interview.
+
+"But, Mr. Bursfield, this is an unheard-of determination," cried the
+young man.
+
+"That may be," was the reply. "I believe I have the reputation for being
+somewhat singular. My so-called granddaughter is a good girl, and if I
+know anything of her character, she will do as I wish in this matter."
+
+Jim rose to his feet and crossed to the door as if to leave. When he
+reached it, however, he turned and faced Mr. Bursfield.
+
+"You are quite sure that nothing I can say or do will induce you to
+alter your decision?" he enquired.
+
+"Quite," the other replied.
+
+"Then allow me to give you fair warning that I intend to marry Miss
+Decie," retorted Jim, who by this time had quite lost his temper.
+
+"You are at liberty to do so when I am dead," Mr. Bursfield replied, and
+then continued his writing as if nothing out of the common had occurred.
+
+Without another word Jim left the room. He had arranged that he should
+meet Helen in the garden afterwards. It was with a woe-begone face,
+however, that he greeted her.
+
+"While he lives he absolutely refuses to sanction our engagement," he
+began. "For some reason of his own he declines to consider the matter
+for a moment. He says that at his death you are at liberty to do as you
+please, but until that event occurs, you are to remain with him. I
+consider it an act of the greatest selfishness."
+
+Helen heaved a heavy sigh.
+
+"I was afraid he would not look upon it as favourably as we hoped," she
+said. "I will see what I can do with him, however. I know him so well,
+and sometimes I can coax him to do things he would not dream of doing
+for any one else."
+
+"Try, darling, then," said Jim, "and let us trust you will be
+successful."
+
+They bade each other good-night, and then James set off on his walk
+across the Park. Dusk was falling by this time, and the landscape looked
+very beautiful in the evening light. As he strode along he thought of
+his position and of the injustice of Bursfield's decision. Then he fell
+to picturing what his future life would be like when the old man should
+have relented and Helen was his wife. He was still indulging in this
+day-dream when he noticed a shabbily-dressed man standing on the path a
+short distance ahead of him. Somehow the figure seemed familiar to him,
+and when he drew nearer he could not suppress an exclamation of
+astonishment. The individual was none other than the man he had seen
+lying beside the camp fire on the banks of the Darling River, and who,
+on a certain memorable evening, had caused his father so much emotion,
+_Richard Murbridge_. Whatever Jim's feelings might have been, Murbridge
+was at least equal to the occasion.
+
+"Good evening, Mr. Standerton," he began, lifting his hat politely as he
+spoke. "You are doubtless surprised to see me in England."
+
+"I am more than surprised," James replied, "and I am equally astonished
+at finding you on my father's premises after what he said to you in
+Australia. If you will be guided by me you will make yourself scarce
+without loss of time."
+
+"You think so, do you? Then let me tell you that you have no notion of
+the situation, or of the character of Richard Murbridge. Far from making
+myself scarce, I am now on my way to see your father. I fear, however,
+he will not kill the fatted calf in my honour; but even that omission
+will not deter me. Tenacity of purpose has always been one of my chief
+characteristics."
+
+"If you attempt to see him you will discover that my father has also
+some force of character," the other replied. "What is more, I refuse to
+allow you to do so. I am not going to permit him to be worried by you
+again."
+
+"My young friend, you little know with whom you are dealing," Murbridge
+retorted. "I have travelled from the other side of the world to see your
+father, and if you think you can prevent me you are much mistaken. What
+is more, let me inform you that you would be doing him a very poor
+service by attempting to keep us apart. There is an excellent little inn
+in the village, whose landlord and I are already upon the best of terms.
+The Squire, William Standerton, late of Australia, but now of
+Childerbridge, is an important personage in the neighbourhood.
+Everything that is known about him is to his credit. It would be a pity
+if----"
+
+"You scoundrel!" said Jim, approaching a step nearer the other, his
+fists clenched, as if ready for action, "If you dare to insinuate that
+you know anything to my father's discredit, I'll thrash you to within an
+inch of your life."
+
+Then a fit of indescribable fear swept over him as he remembered the
+night in Australia, when his father had shown so much agitation on
+learning that the man was on his way to the station to see him. What
+could be the secret between them? But no! He knew his father too well to
+believe that the man before him could cast even the smallest slur upon
+his character. William Standerton's name was a synonym for sterling
+integrity throughout the Island Continent. It was, therefore, impossible
+that Murbridge could have any hold upon him.
+
+"You had better leave the place at once by the way you came into it,"
+Jim continued, "and take very good care that we don't see any more of
+you."
+
+"You crow very loud, my young bantam," returned Murbridge, "but that
+does not alter my decision. Now let me tell you this. If you knew
+everything, you would just go down on your bended knees and pray to me
+to forgive you for your impudence. As I said a moment ago, it's not the
+least use your attempting to stop me from seeing your father, for see
+him I will, if I have to sit at his gate for a year and wait for him to
+come out."
+
+"Then you'd better go and begin your watch at once, for you shall not
+see him at the house," retorted Jim.
+
+"We'll see about that," said Murbridge, and then turned on his heel, and
+set off in the direction of the Park gates. James waited until he had
+seen him disappear, then he in his turn resumed his walk. He had to make
+up his mind before he reached the house as to whether he would tell his
+father of the discovery he had made or not. On mature consideration he
+came to the conclusion that it would be better for him to do so.
+
+For this reason, when he reached the house he enquired for his father,
+and was informed that he had gone to his room to dress for dinner. He
+accordingly followed him thither, to discover him, brush in hand, at
+work upon his silver-grey hair. That night, for some reason, the simple
+appointments of that simple room struck Jim in a new and almost pathetic
+light. Each article was, like its owner, strong, simple and good.
+
+"Well, my lad, what is it?" asked Standerton. "I hope your interview
+with Mr. Bursfield was satisfactory?"
+
+"Far from it," Jim replied lugubriously; and then, to postpone the fatal
+moment, he proceeded to describe to his father the interview he had had
+with the old gentleman.
+
+"Never mind, my boy, don't be down-hearted about it," said Standerton,
+when he had heard his son out. "To-morrow I'll make it my business to go
+and see Mr. Bursfield. It will be strange if I can't talk him into a
+different way of thinking before I've done with him. But I can see from
+your face that there is something else you've got to tell me. What is
+it?"
+
+Jim paused before he replied. He knew how upset his father would be at
+the news he had to impart.
+
+"Father," he said, "I'm afraid I've got some bad news for you. I've been
+trying to make up my mind whether I should tell you or not."
+
+"Tell me, James," answered the other. "I'll be bound it's not so very
+bad after all. You've probably been brooding over it, and have magnified
+its importance."
+
+"I sincerely hope I have. I am afraid not, however. Do you remember the
+man we saw at Mudrapilla in the Five Mile Paddock, the night before we
+left? His name was Murbridge."
+
+The shock to William Standerton was every bit as severe as James had
+feared it would be.
+
+"What of him?" he cried. "You don't mean to say that he is in England?"
+
+"I am sorry to say that he is," Jim returned. "I found him in the Park
+this evening on his way up to the house."
+
+The elder man turned and walked to the fireplace, where he stood looking
+into it in silence. Then he faced his son once more.
+
+"What did he say to you?" he enquired at last, his voice shaking with
+the anxiety he could not control or hide.
+
+"He said that he wanted to see you, and that he would do so if he had to
+wait at the gates for a year."
+
+"And he will," said Standerton bitterly; "that man will hunt me to my
+grave. I have been cursed with him for thirty years, and do what I will
+I cannot throw him off."
+
+James approached his father, and placed his hand upon his shoulder.
+
+"Father," he began, "why won't you let me share your trouble with you?
+Surely we should be able to find some way of ridding ourselves of this
+man?"
+
+"No, there is no way," said Standerton. "He has got a hold upon me that
+nothing will ever shake off."
+
+"I will not believe, father, that he knows anything to your discredit,"
+cried Jim passionately.
+
+"And you are right, my lad," his father replied. "He knows nothing to my
+discredit. I hope no one else does; but--but there--do not ask any more.
+Some day I will tell you the whole miserable story. But not now. You
+must not ask me. Believe me, dear lad, when I say that it would be
+better not."
+
+"Then what will you do?"
+
+"See him, and buy him off once more, I suppose. Then I shall have peace
+for a few months. Do you know where he is staying?"
+
+"At the 'George and Dragon,'" Jim replied.
+
+"Then I must send a note down to him and ask him to come up here," said
+Standerton. "Now go and dress. Don't trouble yourself about him."
+
+All things considered, the dinner that night could not be described as a
+success. William Standerton was more silent than usual, and his son
+almost equalled him. Alice tried hard to cheer them both, but finding
+her efforts unsuccessful, she also lapsed into silence. A diversion,
+however, was caused before the meal was at an end. The butler had
+scarcely completed the circuit of the table with the port, before a
+piercing scream ran through the building, followed by another, and yet
+another.
+
+"Good heavens! What's that?" cried Standerton, as he sprang to his feet,
+and hurried to the door, to be followed by his son and daughter.
+
+"It came from upstairs, sir," said the butler, and immediately hurried
+up the broad oak staircase two steps at a time. His statement proved to
+be correct, for, on reaching the gallery that runs round the hall, he
+found a maid-servant lying on the floor in a dead faint. Jim followed
+close behind him, and between them they picked the girl up, and carried
+her down to the hall, where she was laid upon a settee. The housekeeper
+was summoned, and the usual restoratives applied, but it was some time
+before her senses returned to her. When she was able to speak, she
+looked wildly about her, and asked if "_it was gone_?" When later she
+was able to tell her story more coherently, it was as follows.
+
+In the fulfilment of her usual duties she had gone along the gallery to
+tidy Miss Standerton's bedroom. She had just finished her work, and was
+closing the door, when she saw, standing before her, not more than
+half-a-dozen paces distant, the little hump-backed ghost, of which she
+had so often heard mention made in the Servants' Hall. It looked at her,
+pointed its finger at her, and a second later vanished. "She knew now,"
+she declared, "that it was all over with her, and that she was going to
+die. Nothing could save her." Having given utterance to this alarming
+prophecy, she indulged in a second fit of hysterics, on recovering from
+which she was removed by the butler and housekeeper to the latter's
+sitting-room, vowing as she went that she could not sleep in the house,
+and that she would never know happiness again. Having seen her depart,
+the others returned to the dining-room, and had just taken their places
+at the table once more, when there was a ring at the front door bell,
+and in due course the butler entered with the information that a person
+"of the name of Murbridge" had called and would be glad to see Mr.
+Standerton. James sprang to his feet.
+
+"I told him he was not to come near the place," he said. "Let me go and
+see him, father."
+
+"No, no, my boy," said Standerton. "I wrote to him before dinner, as I
+told you I should, telling him to come up to-night. Where is he,
+Wilkins?"
+
+"In the library, sir," the butler replied.
+
+"Very well. I will see him there."
+
+He accordingly left the room.
+
+A quarter of an hour later James and Alice heard Murbridge's voice in
+the hall.
+
+"You dare to turn me out of your house?" he was saying, as if in a fit
+of uncontrollable rage. "You forbid me to speak to your son and
+daughter, do you?"
+
+"Once and for all, I do," came Standerton's calm voice in reply. "Now
+leave the house, and never let me see your face again. Wilkins, open the
+door, and take care that this man is never again admitted to my house."
+
+Murbridge must have gone down the steps, where, as Wilkins asserted
+later on, he stood shaking his fist at Mr. Standerton.
+
+"Curse you, I'll make you pay for this," he cried. "You think yourself
+all-powerful because of your wealth, but whatever it costs me, I'll make
+you smart for the manner in which you've treated me to-night."
+
+Then the door was closed abruptly, and no more was seen of him.
+
+William Standerton's usually rubicund face was very pale when he joined
+his son and daughter later. It was plain that the interview he had had
+with Murbridge had upset him more than he cared to admit. Alice did her
+best to console him, and endeavoured to make him forget it, but her
+efforts were a failure.
+
+"Poor old dad," she said, when she bade him good-night. "It hurts me to
+see you so troubled."
+
+"You must not think about it then," was the answer. "I shall be myself
+again in the morning. Good-night, my girl, and may God bless you."
+
+"God bless you, father," the girl replied earnestly.
+
+"I do wish you'd let me help you," said Jim, when he and his father were
+alone together. "Why did you not let me interview that man?"
+
+"It would have done no good," Standerton replied. "The fellow was
+desperate, and he even went so far as to threaten me. Thereupon I lost
+my temper and ordered him out of the house. I fear we shall have more
+trouble with him yet."
+
+"Is it quite impossible for you to tell me the reason of it all?" James
+asked, after a moment's hesitation.
+
+"Well, I have been thinking it over," said his father, "and I have come
+to the conclusion that perhaps it would be better, much as it will pain
+you, to let you know the truth. But not to-night, dear lad. Let it stand
+over, and I will tell you everything to-morrow. Now good-night."
+
+They shook hands according to custom, and then departed to their
+respective rooms.
+
+Next morning James was about early. He visited the Stables and the Home
+Farm, looked in at the kennels, and was back again at the home some
+three-quarters of an hour before breakfast. As he crossed the hall to
+ascend the stairs, in order to go to his own room, he met Wilkins coming
+down, his face white as death.
+
+"My God, sir," he said hoarsely, "for mercy's sake come upstairs to your
+father's room."
+
+"What is the matter with him?" cried James, realising from the butler's
+manner that something terrible had happened.
+
+But Wilkins did not answer. He only led the way upstairs. Together they
+proceeded along the corridor and entered the Squire's bedroom. There
+they saw a sight that James will never forget as long as he lives. His
+father lay stretched out upon the bed, dead. His eyes were open, and
+stared horribly at the ceiling, while his hands were clenched, and on
+either side of his throat were discoloured patches.
+
+These told their own tale.
+
+_William Standerton had been strangled._
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+
+It would be almost impossible to describe in fitting words the effect
+produced upon James Standerton, by the terrible discovery he had made.
+
+"What does it mean, Wilkins?" he asked in a voice surcharged with
+horror. "For God's sake, tell me what it means?"
+
+"I don't know myself, sir," the man replied. "It's too terrible for all
+words. Who can have done it?"
+
+Throwing himself on his knees beside his father's body, James took one
+of the cold hands in his.
+
+"Father! father!" he cried, in an ecstasy of grief, and then broke down
+altogether. When calmness returned to him, he rose to his feet, clasped
+the hands of the dead man upon the breast, and tenderly closed the
+staring eyes.
+
+"Send for Dr. Brenderton," he said, turning to Wilkins, "and let the
+messenger call at the police-station on the way and ask the officer in
+charge to come here without a moment's delay."
+
+The man left him to carry out the order, and James silently withdrew
+from the room to perform what he knew would be the saddest task of his
+life. As he descended the stairs he could hear his sister singing in the
+breakfast-room below.
+
+"You are very late," she said, as he entered the room. "And father too.
+I shall have to give him a talking-to when he does come down."
+
+Then she must have realised that something was amiss, for she put down
+the letter which she had been reading, and took a step towards him. "Has
+anything happened, Jim?" she enquired, "your face is as white as death."
+Then Jim told her everything. The shock to her was even more terrible
+than it had been to her brother, but she did her best to bear up
+bravely.
+
+The doctor and the police officer arrived almost simultaneously. Both
+were visibly upset at the intelligence they had received. Short though
+William Standerton's residence in the neighbourhood had been, it had,
+nevertheless, been long enough for them to arrive at a proper
+appreciation of his worth. He had been a good supporter of all the Local
+Institutions, a liberal landlord, and had won for himself the reputation
+of being an honest and just man.
+
+"I sympathise with you more deeply than I can say," said the doctor,
+when he joined Jim in the library after he had made his examination. "If
+there is anything more I can do to help you, I hope you will command
+me."
+
+"Thank you," said Jim simply, "there is not anything however you can do.
+Stay! There is one question you can answer. I want you to tell me how
+long you think my father has been dead?"
+
+"Several hours," replied the medical man. "I should say at least six."
+
+"Is there any sort of doubt in your mind as to the cause of his death?"
+
+"None whatever," the other replied. "All outward appearances point to
+the fact that death is due to strangulation."
+
+At that moment the police officer entered the room.
+
+"I have taken the liberty, Mr. Standerton," he said, "of locking the
+door of the room and retaining the key in my possession. It will be
+necessary for me to report the matter to the Authorities at once, in
+order that an Inquest may be held. Before I do so, however, may I put
+one or two questions to you?"
+
+"As many as you like," Jim replied. "I am, of course, more than anxious
+that the mystery surrounding my father's death shall be cleared up at
+once, and the murderer brought to Justice."
+
+"In the first place," said the officer, "I see that the window of the
+bedroom is securely fastened on the inside, so that the assassin,
+whoever he was, could not have made his entrance by this means. Do you
+know whether your father was in the habit of locking his door at night?"
+
+"I am sure he was not. A man who has led the sort of life he has done
+for fifty years does not lock his bedroom door on retiring to rest."
+
+"In that case the murderer must have obtained access to the room through
+the house, and I must make it my business to ascertain whether any of
+the windows or doors were open this morning. One more question, Mr.
+Standerton, and I have finished for the present. Have you any reason to
+suppose that your father had an enemy?"
+
+Jim remembered the suspicion that had been in his mind ever since he had
+made the ghastly discovery that morning.
+
+"I have," he answered. "There was a man in Australia who hated my father
+with an undying hatred."
+
+"Forgive my saying so, but a man in Australia could scarcely have
+committed murder in England last night."
+
+"But the man is not in Australia now. He was here yesterday evening, and
+he and my father had a quarrel. The man was ordered out of the house,
+and went away declaring that, whatever it might cost, he would be
+revenged."
+
+"In that case it looks as if the mystery were explained. I must make it
+my business to discover the whereabouts of the man you mention."
+
+"He was staying at the 'George and Dragon' yesterday," said Jim. "By
+this time, however, he has probably left the neighbourhood. It should
+not be difficult to trace him, however; and if you consider a reward
+necessary, in order to bring about his apprehension more quickly, offer
+it, and I will pay it only too gladly. I shall know no peace until this
+dastardly crime has been avenged."
+
+"I can quite understand that," the doctor remarked. "You will have the
+sympathy of the whole County."
+
+"And now," said the police officer, "I must be going. I shall take a man
+with me and call at the 'George and Dragon.' The name of the person you
+mentioned to me is----"
+
+"Richard Murbridge," said Jim, and thereupon furnished the officer with
+a description of the man in question.
+
+"You will, of course, be able to identify him?"
+
+"I should know him again if I did not see him for twenty years," Jim
+answered. "Wilkins, the butler, will also be glad to give you evidence
+as to his coming here last night."
+
+"Thank you," the officer replied. "I will let you know as soon as I have
+anything to report."
+
+The doctor and the police agent thereupon bade him good-day and took
+their departure, and Jim went in search of his grief-stricken sister.
+The terrible news had by this time permeated the whole household, and
+had caused the greatest consternation.
+
+"I knew what it would be last night," said the cook. "Though Mr. Wilkins
+laughed at me, I felt certain that Mary Sampson did not see the Black
+Dwarf for nothing. Why, it's well known by everybody that whenever that
+horrible little man is seen in the house death follows within
+twenty-four hours."
+
+The frightened maids to whom she spoke shuddered at her words.
+
+"What's more," the cook continued, "they may talk about murderers as
+they please, but they forget that this is not the first time a man has
+been found strangled in this house. There is more in it than meets the
+eye, as the saying goes."
+
+"Lor, Mrs. Ryan, you don't mean to say that you think it was the ghost
+that killed the poor master?" asked one of the maids, her eyes dilating
+with horror.
+
+"I don't say as how it was, and I don't say as how it wasn't," that lady
+replied somewhat ambiguously, and then she added oracularly: "Time will
+show."
+
+In the meantime Jim had written a short note to his sweetheart, telling
+her of the crime, and imploring her to come to his sister at once. A
+servant was despatched with it, and half-an-hour later Helen herself
+appeared in answer.
+
+"Your poor father. I cannot believe it! It is too terrible," she said to
+her lover, when he greeted her in the drawing-room. "Oh! Jim, my poor
+boy, how you must feel it. And Alice, too--pray let me go to her at
+once."
+
+Jim conducted her to his sister's room, and then left the two women
+together, returning himself to the dead man's study on the floor below.
+There he sat himself down to wait, with what patience he could command,
+for news from the police station. In something less than an hour it came
+in the shape of a note from the inspector, to the effect that Murbridge
+had not returned to the "George and Dragon" until a late hour on the
+previous night, and that he had departed for London by the train leaving
+Childerbridge Junction shortly before five o'clock that morning.
+"However," said the writer, in conclusion, "I have wired to the
+Authorities in London, furnishing them with an exact description of him,
+and I have no doubt that before very long his arrest will be effected."
+
+With this assurance Jim was perforce compelled to be content. Later came
+the intimation from the Coroner to the effect that the Inquest would be
+held at the George and Dragon Inn on the following morning.
+
+Shortly after twelve o'clock Wilkins entered the study with the
+information that a person of "_the name of Robins_" desired to see his
+master on an important matter, if he would permit him an interview.
+
+"Show him in," said Jim, forming as he did so a shrewd guess as to the
+man's business.
+
+A few moments later a small, sombrely-dressed individual, resembling a
+Dissenting minister more than any one else, made his appearance in the
+room.
+
+"Mr. Standerton, I believe," he began, speaking in a low, deep voice,
+that had almost a solemn ring about it.
+
+"That is my name," the other replied. "What can I do for you?"
+
+"I am a Scotland Yard detective," the stranger replied, "and I have been
+sent down to take charge of the case. I must apologise for intruding
+upon you at such a time, but if the murderer is to be brought to
+justice, no time mast be lost. I want you to tell me, if you will, all
+you can about the crime, keeping nothing back, however trivial you may
+consider it."
+
+James thereupon proceeded to once more narrate what he knew regarding
+the murder. He discovered that the detective had already been informed
+as to the ominous suspicion that had attached itself to Murbridge.
+
+"The first point to be settled," he said, when James had finished, "is
+the way in which the man got into the house. You have not
+cross-questioned the domestics upon the subject, I suppose?"
+
+James shook his head.
+
+"I have been too much upset to think of such a thing," he answered. "But
+if you deem such a proceeding necessary, you are, of course, quite at
+liberty to do so. Take what steps you think best; all I ask of you is to
+find my father's murderer."
+
+"I presume you heard nothing suspicious during the night?"
+
+"Nothing at all. But it is scarcely likely that I should do so, as my
+room is in another part of the house."
+
+"Who is responsible for the locking up at night?"
+
+"The butler, Wilkins."
+
+"Has he been with you any length of time?"
+
+"We ourselves have only been a few months in England," Jim replied, "but
+since he has been in our service we have found him a most careful and
+trustworthy man. There cannot be any shadow of suspicion against him."
+
+"Very likely not," the detective answered. "But in my profession we
+often find criminals in the most unlikely quarters. Mind you, sir, I
+don't say that he had anything to do with the crime itself. It is not
+outside the bounds of possibility, however, that his honesty may have
+been tampered with, even to the extent of leaving a window unfastened,
+or a door unlocked. However, I have no doubt I shall soon learn all
+there is to be known about Mr. Wilkins."
+
+When he had asked one or two other important questions, he withdrew to
+question the servants. From the account James received of the
+examination later, it would not appear to have been a very successful
+business.
+
+Wilkins asserted most positively that he had made every door and window
+in the house secure before retiring to rest. He was as certain as a man
+could be that no lock, bolt, or bar had been moved from its place during
+the night, and the housekeeper corroborated his assertions. The
+detective's face wore a puzzled expression.
+
+"I've been round every flower-bed outside the windows," he said to the
+police inspector, "and not a trace of a footprint can I find. And yet we
+know that Murbridge was away from the inn at a late hour, and there's
+evidence enough upstairs to show that somebody made his way into Mr.
+Standerton's room between midnight and daybreak. Later I'll go down to
+the village and make a few enquiries there. It's just possible somebody
+may have met the man upon the road."
+
+He was as good as his word, and when he returned to the Manor House at a
+late hour he knew as much about Richard Murbridge's movements on the
+preceding evening as did any man in the neighbourhood.
+
+Jim dined alone that night, though it would be almost a sarcasm to
+dignify his meal with such a name. He had spent the afternoon going
+through his father's papers, in the hope of being able to discover some
+clue that might ultimately enable him to solve the mystery concerning
+Murbridge. He was entirely unsuccessful, however. Among all the papers
+with which the drawers were filled, there was not one scrap of writing
+that could in anyway enlighten him. They were the plain records of a
+successful business man's career, and, so far as Murbridge was
+concerned, quite devoid of interest. I do not think James Standerton
+ever knew how much he loved his father until he went through that
+drawer. The neat little packets, so carefully tied up and labelled,
+spoke to him eloquently of the dead man, and, as he replaced them where
+he had found them, a wave of intense longing to be revenged on his
+father's cowardly assassin swept over him. He was in the act of closing
+the drawer, when there came a tap at the door, and Wilkins entered to
+inform him that the detective had returned and was at his service,
+should he desire to see him.
+
+"Show him in, Wilkins," said James, locking the drawer of the table, and
+placing the key in his pocket as he spoke.
+
+The butler disappeared, to return a few moments later accompanied by the
+individual in question.
+
+"Well, Mr. Robins," said Jim, when they were alone together, "what have
+you discovered?"
+
+"Nothing of very much importance, sir, I am afraid," the other replied.
+"I have found out that Murbridge left the park by the main gates almost
+on the stroke of half-past eight last night. I have also discovered that
+he was again seen within a few minutes of eleven o'clock, standing near
+the small stile at the further end of the park."
+
+"I know the place," Jim replied. "Go on! What was he doing there!"
+
+"Well, sir," continued the detective, "that's more than I can tell you.
+But if he were there at such an hour, you may be sure it was not with
+any good intention. I have made enquiries from the keepers, and they
+have informed me that it is quite possible to reach the house by the
+path that leads from the stile without being observed."
+
+"It winds through the plantation," said Jim, "and it is very seldom
+used. Lying outside the village as it does, it is a very roundabout way
+of reaching the house. What have they to say about him at the inn?"
+
+"Not very much, sir. But what little they do say is important. The
+landlord informs me that immediately after his arrival in the village he
+began to ask questions concerning the Squire. There is no doubt that
+your father was his enemy, and also that Murbridge cherished a bitter
+grudge against him. He did not tell the landlord who he was, or what his
+reasons were for being in the neighbourhood. It is certain, however,
+that had your father not been living here he would not have come near
+the place. On receipt of Mr. Standerton's letter, he set off for the
+house, and did not return to the inn until a late hour. In point of
+fact, it was between twelve and one o'clock when he _did_ come in. The
+landlord is unable to give the exact time, for the reason that he was
+too sleepy to take much notice of it. He does remember, however, that
+Murbridge was in a very bad temper, and that he was excited about
+something. He called for some brandy, and moreover stated that his
+holiday was at an end, and that he was leaving for London by the early
+train next morning. This he did. That is as far as the landlord's tale
+goes. It seems to me that, unless we can prove something more definite
+against him than the evidence we have been able to obtain up to the
+present moment, it will be difficult to bring the crime home to him."
+
+"But we must prove more," cried Jim, with considerable vehemence. "I am
+as certain in my own mind as I can be of anything that he was the man
+who killed my father, and if it costs me all I am worth in the world,
+and if I am compelled to spend the rest of my life in doing it, I'll
+bring the crime home to him somehow or another. It is impossible that he
+should be allowed to take that good, honest life, and get off scot
+free."
+
+"I can quite understand your feelings, sir," said the detective, "and
+you may rest assured that, so far as we are concerned, no stone shall be
+left unturned to bring the guilty man to justice. Of course it is full
+early to speak like this, but if you will review the case in your own
+mind, you will see that, up to the present, there is really nothing
+tangible against the man. We know that he hated your father, and that he
+stated his intention of doing him a mischief, and also that on the night
+he uttered this threat the murder was committed. From this it would
+appear that he is responsible for it. But how are we to prove that he
+got into the house? No one saw him, and there are no suspicious
+footprints on the flower-beds outside. At the same time we know that he
+did not return to the inn until a late hour, and that, when he did, he
+was in an excited state. Yet why should he not have gone for a walk, and
+might not his excitement be attributed to resentment of the treatment he
+received at your father's hands? I am very much afraid it would be
+difficult to induce a Jury to convict on evidence such as we are, so
+far, able to bring against him. However, we shall hear what the Coroner
+has to say to-morrow. In the meantime, if you do not require my presence
+longer, I will return to the inn. It will be necessary for me to be
+early astir to-morrow."
+
+James bade him good-night, and when he had departed, went upstairs to
+his sister's room. He found her more composed than she had been when he
+had last seen her, and able to talk of the dead man without breaking
+down as she had hitherto done. He informed her of the detective's visit,
+and of the information he had received from him. It was nearly midnight
+when he left her. The lamp in the hall was still burning, and he
+descended the great staircase with the intention of telling Wilkins that
+he could lock up the house and retire to rest. To his astonishment, when
+he reached the hall, he beheld the butler standing near the dining-room
+door, his face as white as the paper upon which I am now writing.
+
+"What on earth is the matter, man?" asked James, who, for the moment,
+was compelled to entertain the notion that the other had been drinking.
+
+"I've seen it, sir," said Wilkins in a voice that his master scarcely
+recognised. "I'd never believe it could be true, but now I've witnessed
+it with my own eyes."
+
+"Witnessed what?" James enquired.
+
+"_The ghost_, sir," Wilkins replied; "the ghost of the Little Black
+Dwarf."
+
+Jim was in no humour for such talk then, and I very much regret to say
+he lost his temper.
+
+"Nonsense," he answered. "You must have imagined that you saw it."
+
+"No, sir, I will take my Bible Oath that I did not. I saw it as plain as
+I see you now. I'd been in to lock up the dining-room, and was standing
+just where I am now, never thinking of such a thing, when I happened to
+look up in the gallery, and there, sir, as sure as I'm alive, was the
+ghost, leaning on the rail, and looking down at me. His eyes were
+glaring like red-hot coals. Then he pointed upwards and disappeared. I
+will never laugh at another person again, when they say that they have
+seen him. May God defend us from further trouble!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+
+The inquest on the body of William Standerton was held next morning at
+the George and Dragon Inn in the village, and was attended by more than
+half the Neighbourhood. The affair had naturally caused an immense
+sensation in all ranks of Society, and, as the Coroner observed in his
+opening remarks, universal sympathy was felt for the bereaved family.
+Wilkins, who had not altogether recovered from the fright he had
+received on the night before, was the first witness. He stated that he
+had been the first to discover the murder, and then informed the coroner
+of the steps he had immediately taken. Questioned as to the visit paid
+to the Squire by Murbridge, he said that the latter was in a great rage
+when turned away from the house, and on being asked to do so, repeated
+the words he had made use of. In conclusion, he said that he was quite
+certain that no door or window in the house had been left unfastened on
+the night in question, and that he was equally certain that none were
+found either open, or showing signs of having been tampered with in the
+morning. Jim followed next, and corroborated what the butler had said. A
+sensation was caused when he informed the Coroner that Murbridge had
+threatened his father in his hearing in Australia. He described his
+meeting with the man in the park before dinner, and added that he had
+forbidden him to approach the house. Examined by the Coroner, he was
+unable to say anything concerning the nature of the quarrel between the
+two men. The doctor was next called, and gave evidence as to being
+summoned to the Manor House. He described the body, and gave it as his
+opinion that death was due to strangulation. Then followed the police
+officer. The landlord was the next witness, and he gave evidence to the
+effect that the man Murbridge had stayed at the inn, had been absent on
+the evening in question from eight o'clock until half-past twelve, and
+that he had departed for London by the first train on the following
+morning. The driver of the mail-cart, who had seen him standing beside
+the stile, was next called. He was quite sure that he had made no
+mistake as to the man's identity, for the reason that he had had a
+conversation with him at the George and Dragon Inn earlier in the
+evening. This completing the evidence, the jury, without leaving the
+room, brought in a verdict of "Wilful murder against some person or
+persons unknown," and for the time being the case was at an end.
+
+"You must not be disappointed, my dear sir," said Robins, afterwards;
+"it is all you can possibly expect. The jury could do no more on such
+evidence. But we've got our warrant for the arrest of Murbridge, and, as
+soon as we are able to lay our hands upon him, we may be able to advance
+another and more important step. I am going up to London this afternoon,
+and I give you my assurance I shall not waste a moment in getting upon
+his track."
+
+"And you will let me know how you succeed?"
+
+"I will be sure to do so," Robins replied.
+
+"In the meantime, there can be no harm in my putting an advertisement in
+the papers, offering a reward of five hundred pounds to anyone who will
+give such information as may lead to the discovery of the murderer."
+
+"It is a large sum to offer, sir, and will be sure to bring you a lot of
+useless correspondence. Still, it may be of some use, and I would
+suggest that you send it to the daily papers without delay."
+
+"It shall be done at once."
+
+Jim thereupon bade the detective good-bye, and returned to the house to
+inform his sister of what had taken place at the inquest. She quite
+agreed with him on the matter of the reward, and an advertisement was
+accordingly despatched to the London newspapers, together with a cheque
+to cover the cost of the insertions.
+
+Next day the mortal remains of William Standerton were conveyed to their
+last resting-place in the graveyard of the little village church. After
+the funeral Jim drove back to the Manor House, accompanied by his
+father's solicitor, who had travelled down from London for the ceremony.
+He was already aware that, by his father's death, he had become a rich
+man, but he had no idea how wealthy he would really be, until the will
+was read to him. When this had been done he was informed that he was
+worth upwards of half-a-million sterling. He shook his head sadly:
+
+"I'd give it all up willingly, every penny of it," he answered, "to have
+my father alive. Even now I can scarcely believe that I shall never see
+him again. It seems an extraordinary thing to me that the police have,
+so far, not been able to obtain any clue as to the whereabouts of
+Murbridge. Look at this heap of letters," he continued, pointing to a
+pile of correspondence lying upon the writing table, "each one hails
+from somebody who has either seen Murbridge or professes to know where
+he is to be found. One knows just such a man working in a baker's shop
+in Shoreditch; another has lately returned with him on board a liner
+from America, and on receipt of the reward will give me his present
+address; a third says that he is a waiter in a popular restaurant in
+Oxford Street; a fourth avers that he is hiding near the Docks, and
+intends leaving England this week. So the tale goes on, and will
+increase, I suppose, every day."
+
+"The effect of offering so large a reward," replied the lawyer. "My only
+hope is that it will not have the effect of driving him out of England.
+In which case the difficulty of laying hands upon him will be more than
+doubled."
+
+"He need not think that flight will save him," Jim replied. "Let him go
+where he pleases, I will run him to earth."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Helen had spent the day at the Manor House, trying to comfort Alice in
+her distress. At nine o'clock she decided to return to her own home, and
+Jim determined to accompany her. They accordingly set off together. So
+occupied were they by their own thoughts, that for some time neither of
+them spoke. Jim was the first to break the silence.
+
+"Helen," he said, "I cannot thank you sufficiently for your goodness to
+Alice during this awful time. But for you I do not know how she would
+have come through it."
+
+"Poor girl," Helen answered, "my heart aches for her."
+
+"She was so fond of our father," James answered.
+
+"Not more than you were, dear," Helen replied; "but you have borne your
+trouble so bravely--never once thinking of yourself."
+
+The night was dark, and there was no one about, so why should he not
+have slipped his arm round her waist.
+
+"Helen," he said, "the time has come for me to ask what our future is to
+be. Will you wait for Mr. Bursfield's death before you become my wife,
+or will you court his displeasure and trust yourself to me?"
+
+"I would trust myself to you at any time," she answered. "But do you not
+see how I am situated? I owe everything to my Guardian. But for his care
+of me in all probability I should now be a governess, a music-mistress,
+or something of that sort. He has fed me, clothed me, and loved me,
+after his own fashion, for a number of years. Would it not, therefore,
+seem like an act of the basest ingratitude to leave him desolate, merely
+to promote my own happiness?"
+
+"And does my happiness count for nothing?" Jim returned. "But let us
+talk the matter over dispassionately, and see what can be done. Don't
+think me heartless, Helen, when I say, that you must realise that Mr.
+Bursfield is a very old man. It is just possible, therefore, that the
+event we referred to a few moments ago may take place in the near
+future. Now, owing to my father's death, I ought not to be married for
+some time to come. I propose, therefore, that we wait until, say, the
+end of six months, and then make another appeal to your guardian? It is
+just possible he may be more inclined to listen to reason then. What do
+you say?
+
+"I will do whatever you wish," she answered simply. "I fear, however,
+that, while Mr. Bursfield lives, he will take no other view of the
+case."
+
+"We must hope that he will," Jim replied. "In the meantime, as long as I
+know that you are true to me, and love me as I love you, I shall be
+quite happy."
+
+"You do believe that I love you, don't you, Jim?" she asked, looking up
+at her lover in the starlight.
+
+"Of course I do," he answered. "God knows what a lucky man I deem myself
+for having been permitted to win your love. I am supremely thankful for
+one thing, and that is, the fact that my father learnt to know and love
+you before his death."
+
+"As I had learnt to love him," she replied. "But there, who could help
+doing so?"
+
+"One man at least," Jim replied. "Unhappily, we have the worst of
+reasons for knowing that there was one person in the world who bore him
+a mortal hatred."
+
+"Have you heard anything yet from the police regarding Murbridge?"
+
+"Not a word," Jim answered. "They have given me their most positive
+assurance that they are leaving no stone unturned to find the man, but,
+so far, they appear to have been entirely unsuccessful. If they do not
+soon run him down I shall take up the case myself, and see what I can do
+with it. And now here we are at the gate. You do not know how hard it is
+for me to let you go, even for so short a time. With the closing of that
+door the light seems to go out of my life."
+
+"I hope and pray that you will always be able to say that," she answered
+solemnly.
+
+Then they bade each other good-night, and she disappeared into the
+house, leaving Jim free to resume his walk. He had not gone many steps,
+however, before he heard his name called, and, turning round, beheld no
+less a person than Mr. Bursfield hurrying after him. He waited for the
+old gentleman to come up. It was the first time that Jim had known him
+to venture beyond the limits of his own grounds. The circumstance was as
+puzzling as it was unusual.
+
+"Will you permit me a short conversation with you, Mr. Standerton?" Mr.
+Bursfield began. "I recognised your voice as you bade Miss Decie
+good-bye, and hurried after you in the hope of being able to see you."
+
+For a moment Jim hoped that Mr. Bursfield had come after him in order to
+make amends, and to withdraw his decision regarding his marriage with
+Helen. This hope, however, was soon extinguished.
+
+"Mr. Standerton," the old gentleman continued, "you may remember what I
+told you a few evenings since concerning the proposal you did me the
+honour of making on behalf of my ward, Miss Decie?"
+
+"I remember it perfectly," Jim replied; "it is scarcely likely that I
+should forget."
+
+"Since then I have given the matter careful consideration, and I may say
+that I have found no reason for deviating from my previous decision."
+
+"I am sorry indeed to hear that. The more so as your ward and myself are
+quite convinced that our affections are such as will not change or grow
+weaker with time. Indeed, Mr. Bursfield, I have had another idea in my
+mind which I fancied might possibly commend itself to you, and induce
+you to reconsider your decision. You have already told me that Miss
+Decie's presence is necessary to your happiness. As a proof of what a
+good girl she is I might inform you that, only a few moments since, she
+told me that she could not consent to leave you, for the reason that she
+felt that she owed all she possessed to you."
+
+"I am glad that Helen has at least a spark of gratitude," the other
+answered with a sneer. "It is a fact that she does owe everything to me.
+And now for this idea of yours."
+
+"What I was going to propose is," said Jim, "that in six months' time,
+or so, you should permit me to marry your ward, and from that day
+forward should take up your residence with us."
+
+The old man looked at him in astonishment. Then he burst into a torrent
+of speech.
+
+"Such a thing is not to be thought of," he cried. "I could not consider
+it for a moment; it would be little short of madness. I am a recluse. I
+care less than nothing for society. My books are my only companions; I
+want, and will have, no others. Besides, I could not live in that house
+of yours, were you to offer me all the gold in the world."
+
+Here he grasped Jim's arm so tightly that the young man almost winced.
+
+"I have, of course, heard of your father's death," he continued. "It is
+said that he was murdered. But, surely, knowing what you do, you are not
+going to be foolish enough to believe that?"
+
+"And why not?" Jim enquired in great surprise. "I can do nothing else,
+for every circumstance of the case points to murder. Good heavens! Mr.
+Bursfield, if my father were not murdered, how did he meet his death?"
+
+The other was silent for a moment before he replied. Then he drew a step
+nearer, and, looking up at Jim, asked in a low voice:
+
+"Have you forgotten what I said to you concerning the mystery of the
+house? Did I not tell you that one of the former owners was found dead
+in bed, having met his fate in identically the same manner as your
+father did? Does not this appear significant to you? If not, your
+understanding must indeed be dull."
+
+The new explanation of the mystery was so extraordinary, that Jim did
+not know what to say or think about it. That his father's death had
+resulted from any supernatural agency had never crossed his mind.
+
+"I fear I am not inclined to agree with you, Mr. Bursfield," he said
+somewhat coldly. "Even if one went so far as to believe in such things,
+the evidence given by the doctor at the inquest would be sufficient to
+refute the idea."
+
+"In that case let us drop the subject," Bursfield answered. "My only
+desire was to warn you. It is rumoured in the village that on the night
+of your father's death one of your domestics was confronted by the
+spectre known as the Black Dwarf, and fainted in consequence. My old
+man-servant also told me this morning that your butler had seen it on
+another occasion. I believe the late Lord Childerbridge also saw it, and
+in consequence determined to be rid of the place at any cost. No one has
+been able to live there, and I ask you to be warned in time, Mr.
+Standerton. For my own part, as I have said before, though it is the
+home of my ancestors, I would not pass a night at Childerbridge for the
+wealth of all the Indies."
+
+"In that case you must be more easily frightened than I am," said Jim.
+"On the two occasions you mention, the only evidence we have to rely
+upon is the word of a hysterical maid-servant, and the assurance of a
+butler, who, for all we know to the contrary, may have treated himself
+more liberally than usual, on that particular evening, to my father's
+port."
+
+"Scoff as you will," Bursfield returned, "but so far as you are
+concerned I have done my duty. I have given you your warning, and if you
+do not care to profit by it, that has nothing to do with me. And now to
+return to the matter upon which I hastened after you this evening. I
+refer to your proposed marriage with my ward."
+
+Jim said nothing, but waited for Mr. Bursfield to continue. He had a
+vague feeling that what he was about to hear would mean unhappiness for
+himself.
+
+"I informed you the other day," the latter continued, "that it was
+impossible for me to sanction your proposal. I regret that I am still
+compelled to adhere to this decision. In point of fact, I feel that it
+is necessary for me to go even further, and to say that I must for the
+future ask you to refrain from addressing yourself to Miss Decie at
+all."
+
+"Do you mean that you refuse me permission to see her or to speak with
+her?" Jim asked in amazement.
+
+"If, by seeing her, you mean holding personal intercourse with her, I
+must confess that you have judged the situation correctly. I am desirous
+of preventing Miss Decie from falling into the error of believing that
+she will ever be your wife."
+
+"But, my dear sir, this is an unheard-of proceeding. Why should you
+object to me in this way? You know nothing against me, and you are aware
+that I love your ward. You admitted, on the last occasion that I
+discussed the matter with you, that Miss Decie might expect little or
+nothing from you at your death. Why, therefore, in the name of
+Commonsense, are you so anxious to prevent her marrying the man she
+loves, and who is in a position to give her all the comfort and
+happiness wealth and love can bestow?"
+
+"You have heard my decision," the other replied quietly. "I repeat that
+on no consideration will I consent to a marriage between my ward and
+yourself. And, as I said just now, I will go even further, and forbid
+you most positively for the future either to see or to communicate with
+her."
+
+"And you will not give me your reasons for taking this extraordinary
+step?"
+
+"I will not. That is all I have to say to you, and I have the honour to
+wish you a good evening."
+
+"But I have not finished yet," said Jim, whose anger by this time had
+got the better of him. "Once and for all, let me tell you this, Mr.
+Bursfield: I have already informed you that I am determined, at any
+cost, to make Miss Decie my wife. I might add now, that your tyrannical
+behaviour will only make me the more anxious to do so. If the young lady
+deems it incumbent upon her to await your consent before marrying me, I
+will listen to her and not force the matter; but give her up I certainly
+will not so long as I live."
+
+"Beware, sir, I warn you, beware!" the other almost shrieked.
+
+"If that is all you have to say to me I will bid you good evening."
+
+But Bursfield did not answer; he merely turned on his heel and strode
+back in the direction of the Dower House. Jim stood for a moment looking
+after his retreating figure, and when he could no longer distinguish it,
+turned and made his way homewards.
+
+On reaching the Manor House he informed his sister of what had taken
+place between himself and Helen's guardian.
+
+"He must be mad to treat you so," said Alice, when her brother had
+finished. "He knows that Helen loves you, and surely he cannot be so
+selfish as to prefer his own comfort to her happiness."
+
+"I am afraid that is exactly what he does do," said Jim. "However, I
+suppose I must make allowances. Old age is apt to be selfish. Besides,
+we have to remember, as Helen says, that she owes much to him. No! we
+will do as we proposed, and wait six months, and see what happens then!"
+
+But though he spoke so calmly he was by no means at ease in his own
+mind. He was made much happier, however, by a note which was brought to
+him as he was in the act of retiring to rest.
+
+It was in Helen's handwriting, and he tore it open eagerly.
+
+     "My own dear love," it ran, "Mr. Bursfield has just informed me
+     of what took place between you this evening. It is needless for
+     me to say how sorry I am that such a thing should have
+     occurred. I cannot understand his behaviour in this matter.
+     That something more than any thought of his own personal
+     comfort makes him withhold his consent, I feel certain.
+     Whatever happens, however, you know that I will be true to you;
+     and if I cannot be your wife, I will be wife to no other man.
+
+     "Your loving Helen."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+
+While the letter from Helen cheered James Standerton wonderfully, it did
+not in any way help him out of his difficulty with Mr. Bursfield. The
+latter had most decisively stated his intention not to give his consent
+to the marriage of his adopted granddaughter with the young Squire of
+Childerbridge. What his reasons were for taking such a step, neither Jim
+nor Helen could form any idea. It was a match that most guardians would
+have been only too thankful to have brought about. In spite of Helen's
+statements, he could only, after mature consideration, assign it to the
+old man's natural selfishness, and, however bitterly he might resent his
+treatment, in his own heart he knew there was nothing for it but to wait
+with such patience as he could command for a change in the other's
+feelings towards himself. He had the satisfaction of knowing, however,
+that Helen loved him, and that she would be true to him, happen what
+might. He was not a more than usually romantic young man, but I happen
+to know that he carried that letter about with him constantly, while he
+had read it so often that he must have assuredly known its contents by
+heart. All things considered, it is wonderful what comfort it is
+possible for a love-sick young man to derive from a few commonplace
+words written upon a sheet of notepaper.
+
+After the momentous interview with Mr. Bursfield, the days went by with
+their usual sameness at Childerbridge. No news arrived from the
+detective, Robins. Apparently it was quite impossible for him to
+discover the smallest clue as to Murbridge's whereabouts. To all intents
+and purposes he had disappeared as completely as if he had been caught
+up into the skies. The reward, beyond bringing a vast amount of trouble
+and disappointment to Jim, had not proved of the least use to any one
+concerned.
+
+Numerous half-witted folk, as is usual in such cases, had come forward
+and given themselves up, declaring that they had committed the murder,
+but the worthlessness of their stories was at once proved in every case.
+One man, it was discovered, had been on the high seas another had never
+been near Childerbridge in his life; while a third, and this was a still
+more remarkable case, was found to have been an inmate of one of Her
+Majesty's convict establishments at the time the murder was committed.
+
+"Never mind," said Jim to himself; "he must be captured sooner or later.
+If the police authorities cannot catch him, I'll take up the case
+myself, and run him to ground, wherever he may be."
+
+As he said this he looked up at the portrait of his father, which hung
+upon the wall of his study.
+
+"Come what may, father," he continued, "if there is any justice in the
+world, your cruel murder shall be avenged."
+
+Another month went by, and still the same want of success attended the
+search for Murbridge.
+
+"Alice, I can stand it no longer," said Jim to his sister one evening,
+after he had read a communication from Robins. "I can gather from the
+tone of this letter that they are losing heart. I ought to have taken up
+the case myself at the commencement, and not have wasted all this
+precious time. The man may now be back in Australia, South America, or
+anywhere else."
+
+Alice crossed the room and placed her hand on his shoulder.
+
+"Dear old Jim," she said, "I am sure you know how I loved our father."
+
+"Of course I do," said Jim, looking up at her. "No one knows better. But
+I can see there is something you want to say to me. What is it?"
+
+"Don't be angry with me, Jim," she replied, seating herself on the arm
+of his chair "but deeply as that man has wronged us, I cannot help
+thinking that we should not always be praying for vengeance against him,
+as we are doing. Do you think it is what our father, with his noble
+nature, would have wished?"
+
+Jim was silent for a moment. The desire for vengeance by this time had
+taken such a hold upon him, and had become such an integral part of his
+constitution, that he was staggered beyond measure by her words.
+
+"Surely you don't mean to say, Alice," he stammered, "that you are
+willing to forgive the man who so cruelly killed our father?"
+
+"I shall try to forgive him," the girl replied. "I say again, that I am
+sure it is what our father would have wished us to do."
+
+"I am no such saint," Jim returned angrily. "I wish to see that man
+brought to justice, and, what's more, if no one else will, I mean to
+bring him. He took that noble life, and he must pay the penalty of his
+crime. An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth, was the old law. Why
+should we change it?"
+
+Alice rose and crossed the room to her own chair with a little sigh. She
+knew her brother well enough to be sure that, having once made up his
+mind, he would carry out his determination.
+
+On the morning following this conversation, Jim was standing after
+breakfast at the window of his sister's boudoir, looking out upon the
+lawn, across which the leaves were being driven by the autumn wind. His
+brow was puckered with thought. As a matter of fact, he was wondering at
+the moment how he should commence his search for Murbridge. London was
+such a great city, and for an amateur to attempt to find a man in it,
+who desired to remain hidden, was very much like setting himself the
+task of hunting for a needle in a bundle of hay. He neither knew where
+or how to begin. While he was turning the question over in his mind, his
+quick eye detected the solitary figure of a man walking across the park
+in the direction of the house. He watched it pass the clump of
+rhododendrons, and then lost it again in the dip beyond the lake.
+Presently it reappeared, and within a few moments it was within easy
+distance of the house. At first Jim had watched the figure with but
+small interest; later, however, his sister noticed that he gradually
+became excited. When the stranger had passed the corner of the house he
+turned excitedly to his sister.
+
+"Good gracious, Alice!" he cried, "it surely cannot be."
+
+"What cannot be?" asked Alice, leaving her chair, and approaching the
+window.
+
+"That man coming up the drive," Jim replied. "It doesn't seem possible
+that it can be he, yet I've often boasted that I should know his figure
+anywhere. If it were not the most improbable thing in the world, I
+should be prepared to swear that it's Terence O'Riley."
+
+"But, my dear Jim, what could Terence be doing here, so many thousand
+miles from our old home?"
+
+But Jim did not wait to answer the question. Almost before Alice had
+finished speaking he had reached the front door, had opened it, and was
+wildly shaking hands with a tall, spare man, with a humorous, yet
+hatchet-shaped face, so sunburnt as to be almost the colour of mahogany.
+
+The newcomer, Terence O'Riley, was a character in his way. He boasted
+that he knew nothing of father or mother, or relations of any sort or
+kind. He had received his Hibernian patronymic from his first friend, a
+wild Irishman on the diggings where he was born. He had entered William
+Standerton's service at the age of twelve, as horse-boy, and for upwards
+of thirty years had remained his faithful henchman. In every respect he
+was a typical Bushman. He could track like a blackfellow, ride any horse
+that was ever foaled, find his way in the thickest country with unerring
+skill, was a first-class rifle shot, an unequalled judge of cattle, a
+trifle pugnacious at certain seasons, but, and this seems an anomaly, at
+other times he possessed a heart as tender as a little child. When
+William Standerton and his family had left Australia, his grief had been
+sincere. For weeks he had been inconsolable, and it meant a sure
+thrashing for any man who dared to mention James' name in his hearing.
+
+"What on earth does this mean, Terence?" asked Jim, who could scarcely
+believe that it was their old servant who stood before him.
+
+"It means a good many things, Master Jim," said Terence, with the drawl
+in his voice peculiar to Australian Bushmen. "It's a longish yarn, but,
+my word, I _am_ just glad to see you again, and, bless me, there's Miss
+Alice too, looking as pretty as a grass parrot on a gum log."
+
+With a smile of happiness on her face, that had certainly not been there
+since her father's death, Alice came forward and gave Terence her hand.
+He took it in his great palm, and I think, but am not quite sure, that
+there were tears in his eyes.
+
+"Come in at once," said Jim. "You must tell us your tale from beginning
+to end. Even now I can scarcely realise that it is you. Every moment I
+expect to see you vanish into mid-air. If I had been asked where you
+were at this moment, I should have said 'out in one of the back
+paddocks, say the Bald Mountain, riding along the fence on old Smoker,
+with Dingo trotting at his heels.'"
+
+"No, sir," Terence answered, looking round the great hall as he spoke,
+"I sold Smoker at Bourke before I came away, and one of the overseers
+has Dingo, poor old dog. The fact of the matter was, sir, after you left
+I got a bit lonesome, and the old place didn't seem like the same. I had
+put by a matter of between four and five hundred pounds, and, thinks I
+to myself, there's the Old Country, that they say is so beautiful, and
+to think that I've never set eyes on it. Why shouldn't I make the trip,
+and just drop in and see the Boss, and Master Jim, and Miss Alice in
+their new home. Who knows but that they might want a colt broken for
+them. As soon as I made up my mind, I packed my bag and set off for
+Melbourne, took a passage on board a ship that was sailing next day, and
+here I am, sir. I hope your father is well, sir?"
+
+There was an awkward pause, during which Alice left the room.
+
+"Is it possible you haven't heard, Terence?" Jim enquired, in a hushed
+voice.
+
+"I've not heard anything, sir," Terence answered. "I was six weeks on
+the water, you see. I _do_ hope, sir, there is nothing wrong."
+
+Jim thereupon told Terence the whole story of his father's death. When
+he had finished the Bushman's consternation may be better imagined than
+described. For some moments it deprived him of speech. He could only
+stare at Jim in horrified amazement.
+
+"Tell me, sir, that they've got the man who did it," he said at last,
+bringing his hand down with a bang on the table beside which he was
+seated. "Tell me that they're going to hang the blackguard who killed
+the kindest master in all the world, or I'll say that there's not a
+trooper in England that's fit to call himself a policeman."
+
+The poor fellow was genuinely affected.
+
+"They haven't caught him yet, Terence," said Jim. "The police have been
+searching for him everywhere for weeks past, but without success."
+
+"But they must find him, run him down, and hang him, just as we used to
+string up the cowardly dingoes out back when they worried the sheep. If
+I have to track him like a Nyall blackfellow, I'll find him."
+
+"Terence, I believe you've come at the right time," said Jim, holding
+out his hand. "Seeing the way the police Authorities are managing
+affairs, I've decided to take up the case myself. You were a faithful
+servant to my father, and you've known me all my life. You've got a head
+on your shoulders--do you remember who it was that found out who stole
+those sheep from Coobalah Out Station? Come with me, old friend, and
+we'll run the villain down together. _I_ would not wish for a better
+companion."
+
+"I'm thankful now that I came, sir," Terence replied. "You mark my
+words, we'll find him, wherever he's stowed himself away."
+
+From that day Terence was made a member of the Childerbridge household.
+In due course, accompanied by Jim, he inspected the stables and was more
+than a little impressed by the luxury with which the animals were
+surrounded.
+
+"Very pretty," he muttered to himself, "and turned out like racehorses;
+all the same, I wouldn't like to ride 'em after cattle in the Ranges on
+a dark night."
+
+The sedate head coachman could not understand the situation. He was
+puzzled as to what manner of man this might be, who, though so poorly
+dressed, while treating his master with the utmost respect, conversed
+with him on terms of perfect equality. His amazement, however, was
+turned into admiration later in the day when Mr. O'Riley favoured him
+with an exposition of the gentle art of horse-breaking.
+
+"He's a bit too free and easy in his manners towards the governor for my
+likin'," he informed the head gardener afterwards, "but there's no
+denyin' the fact that he's amazin' clever with a youngster. They do say
+as 'ow he did all Mr. Standerton's horse-breaking in foreign parts."
+
+It soon became apparent that Terence was destined to become one of the
+most popular personages at Childerbridge. His quaint mannerisms,
+extraordinary yarns, and readiness to take any sort of work, however
+hard, upon his shoulders, won for him a cordial welcome from the
+inhabitants of the Manor House. As for Jim and Alice, for some reason
+best known to themselves they derived a comfort from his presence that
+at any other time they would scarcely have believed possible.
+
+On the day following Terence's arrival James stood on the steps at the
+front door, watching him school a young horse in the park. The
+high-spirited animal was inclined to be troublesome, but with infinite
+tact and patience Terence was gradually asserting his supremacy. Little
+by little, as he watched him, Jim's thoughts drifted away from
+Childerbridge, and another scene, equally familiar, rose before his
+eyes. He saw a long creeper-covered house, standing on the banks of a
+mighty river. A man was seated in the verandah, and that man was his
+father. Talking to him from the garden path was another--no less a
+person than Terence. Then he himself emerged from the house and stood by
+his father's side--a little boy of ten, dressed in brown holland, and
+wearing a broad-brimmed straw hat upon his head. Upon his coming his
+father rose, and, taking him by the hand, led him down to the
+stock-yard, accompanied by Terence. In the yard stood the prettiest pony
+that mortal boy had ever set eyes on.
+
+"There, my boy," said his father, "that is my birthday present to you.
+Terence has broken him."
+
+And now here was this self-same Terence in England, of all places in the
+world, making his hunters for him, while the father, who all his life
+had proved so generous to him, was lying in his grave, cruelly murdered.
+At that moment Alice came up behind him.
+
+"What are you thinking of, Jim?" she enquired.
+
+"I was thinking of Mudrapilla and the old days," he answered. "Seeing
+Terence out there on that horse brought it back to me so vividly that
+for a moment I had quite forgotten that I was in England. Do you know,
+Alice, that sometimes a wild longing to be back there takes possession
+of me. If only Helen were my wife, I'm not quite certain that I should
+not want to take you both back--if only for a trip. It seems to me that
+I would give anything to feel the hot sun upon my shoulders once again,
+to smell the smoke of a camp fire, to see the dust rise from the
+stock-yards, and to scent the perfume of the orange blossoms as we sit
+together in the verandah in the evening. Alice, that is the life of a
+man; this luxurious idleness makes me feel effeminate. But there, what
+am I talking about? I've got my duty to do in England before we go back
+to Mudrapilla."
+
+At that moment Terence rode up, very satisfied with himself and with the
+animal upon whose back he was seated. He had scarcely departed in the
+direction of the stable before Jim descried a carriage entering the
+park. It proved to be a fly from the station, and in it Robins, the
+detective, was seated.
+
+"Good afternoon, sir," he said, as he alighted; "in response to your
+letter, I have come down to see you personally."
+
+"I am very glad you have done so," Jim replied, "for I have been most
+anxious to see you. Let us go into the house."
+
+He thereupon led the way to his study, where he invited the detective to
+be seated.
+
+"I hope you have some good news for me," Jim remarked, as he closed the
+door. "Have you made any discovery concerning Murbridge?"
+
+The detective shook his head.
+
+"I am sorry to say," he answered, "that our efforts have been entirely
+unsuccessful. We traced the man from Paddington to a small eating-house
+in the vicinity of the station, but after that we lost him altogether.
+We have kept a careful watch on the out-going ships, tried the hotels,
+lodging-houses, Salvation Army Shelters and such places, and have sent a
+description of him to every police station in the country, but so far
+without an atom of success. Once, when the body of a man was found in
+the river at Greenwich, I thought we had discovered him. The description
+given of the dead man tallied exactly with that of Murbridge. I was
+disappointed, however, for he turned out to be a chemist's assistant,
+who had been missing from Putney for upwards of a fortnight. Then a man
+gave himself up to the police at Bristol, but he was found to be a mad
+solicitor's clerk from Exeter. This is one of the deepest cases I have
+ever been concerned in, Mr. Standerton, and though I am not the sort of
+man who gives up very quickly, I am bound to confess that, up to the
+present, I have been beaten, and beaten badly."
+
+"You are not going to abandon the case, I hope?" Jim asked anxiously.
+"Because you have been unsuccessful so far, you are surely not going to
+give it up altogether?"
+
+"The law never abandons a case," the other observed sententiously. "Of
+course it's quite within the bounds of possibility that we may hit upon
+some clue that will ultimately lead to Murbridge's arrest; it is
+possible that he may give himself up in course of time; at the present,
+however, I must admit that both circumstances appear remarkably remote."
+
+"Well," returned Jim, "I can assure you that, whatever else happens, _I_
+am not going to give up. If the authorities are going to do so, I shall
+take it up myself and see what I can do."
+
+There was a suspicion of a smile upon the detective's face as he
+listened. Was it possible that an amateur could really believe himself
+to be capable of succeeding where the astute professionals of Scotland
+Yard had failed?
+
+"I am afraid you will only be giving yourself needless trouble," he
+said.
+
+"I should not consider it trouble to try and discover my father's
+murderer," Jim returned hotly. "Even if I am not more successful than
+the police have been, I shall have the satisfaction of knowing that I
+have done my best. May I trouble you for the name of the eating-house to
+which Murbridge proceeded on leaving Paddington?"
+
+Taking a piece of paper from the writing-table, Robins wrote the name
+and address of the eating-house upon it, and handed it to Jim. The
+latter placed it carefully in his pocket-book, and felt that he must
+make the house in question his starting point.
+
+When the detective took his departure half an hour later, Jim gave
+instructions that Terence should be sent to him.
+
+"Terence," he began, when the other stood before him, "I am going up to
+London to-morrow morning to commence my search for Murbridge. I shall
+want you to accompany me."
+
+"Very good, sir," Terence replied, "I've been hoping for this, and it'll
+go hard now if we can't track him somehow. But you must bear in mind,
+sir, that I've never been in London. If it was in the Bush, now, I won't
+say but what I should not be able to find him, but I don't know much
+about these big cities, so to speak. It will be like looking for a track
+of one particular sheep in a stock-yard after a mob of wild cattle have
+been turned into it."
+
+Jim smiled. He saw that Terence had not the vaguest notion of what
+London was like.
+
+That evening he informed Alice of the decision he had come to. She had
+been expecting it for some days past, and was not at all surprised by
+it. She only asked that he would permit her to accompany him.
+
+"I could not remain here," she said, "and I'll promise that I'll not be
+in your way. It will be so desolate in this house without you,
+especially as Mr. Bursfield will not allow Helen to visit us, and I have
+no other companion."
+
+"By all means come with me," said Jim, "I shall choose a quiet hotel in
+the West End, and you must amuse yourself as best you can while I am
+absent."
+
+Later in the evening he wrote a note to his sweetheart informing her of
+his decision, and promising to let her know, day by day, what success
+attended his efforts.
+
+Next morning they left Childerbridge Station at eleven o'clock for
+London. As the train steamed out of the village past the little
+churchyard, Jim looked down upon his father's grave, which he could just
+see on the eastern side of the church.
+
+"Dear father," he muttered to himself, "If have to devote the rest of my
+life in bringing your murderer to justice, I'll do it."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+
+It was considerably past midday by the time Jim and his sister,
+accompanied by Terence, reached London. On arriving at Paddington, they
+engaged a cab and drove to the hotel they had selected, a private
+establishment leading out of Piccadilly. Terence's amazement at the size
+of London was curious to witness. Hitherto he had regarded Melbourne as
+stupendous, now it struck him that that town was a mere village compared
+with this giant Metropolis. When he noted the constant stream of
+traffic, the crowds that thronged the pavements, and the interminable
+streets, his heart misgave him concerning the enterprise upon which he
+had so confidently embarked.
+
+"Bless my soul, how many people can there be in London?" he asked, as
+they drove up to the hotel.
+
+"Something over five millions," Jim replied. "It's a fair-sized
+township."
+
+"And we are going to look for one man," continued the other. "I guess it
+would be easier to find a scrubber in the mallee than to get on the
+track of a man who is hiding himself here."
+
+"Nevertheless we've got to find him somehow," said Jim. "That's the end
+of the matter."
+
+After lunch he sent word to Terence that he wished him to accompany him
+on his first excursion. Up to that time he had formed no definite plan
+of action, but it was borne in upon him that he could do nothing at all
+until he had visited the eating-house to which Murbridge had been traced
+after his arrival at Paddington Station. They accordingly made their way
+to the house in question. It proved to be an uninviting place, with a
+sawdust-covered floor, and half-a-dozen small tables arranged along one
+side. On the other was a counter upon which were displayed a variety of
+covered dishes and huge tea cups. At the moment of Jim's entering the
+proprietor was giving his attention to a steaming pan of frying onions.
+
+"What can I do for you, sir?" he asked, as he removed the frying-pan
+from the gas and came forward.
+
+"I want five minutes' conversation with you in private, if you will give
+it to me," Jim replied, and then in a lower voice he added: "I stand in
+need of some information which I have been told you are in a position to
+supply. I need not say that I shall be quite willing to recompense you
+for any loss of time or trouble you may be put to."
+
+"In that case I shall be very happy to oblige you, sir," the man replied
+civilly enough. "That is to say, if it is in my power to do so. Will you
+be good enough to step this way?"
+
+Pulling down his shirt-sleeves, which until that moment had been rolled
+up, and slipping on a greasy coat, he led the way from the shop to a
+tiny apartment leading out of it. It was very dirty and redolent of
+onions and bad tobacco. Its furniture was scanty, and comprised a table,
+covered with American cloth, a cupboard, and two wooden chairs, upon one
+of which James was invited to seat himself. Terence, who had followed
+them, took the other, while he surveyed its owner with evident
+disfavour.
+
+"And now, sir," said that individual, "I should be glad if you can tell
+me what I can do for you. If it's about the Board School election, well,
+I'll tell you at once, straight out, as man to man, that I ain't a-goin'
+to vote for either party. There was a young wagabond that I engaged the
+other day. He had had a Board School edecation, and it had taught him
+enough to be able to humbug me with his takings. Thirteen and
+elevenpence-'alfpenny was what he stole from me. And as I said to the
+missus only last night, 'No more Board School lads for me!' But there,
+sir, p'raps you ain't a-got nothing to do with them?"
+
+"I certainly have not," James replied. "I am here on quite a different
+matter. Of course you remember the police visiting you a short time
+since, with regard to a man who was suspected of being the murderer of
+Mr. Standerton, at Childerbridge, in Midlandshire?"
+
+"Remember it?" the man replied, "I should think I did. And haven't I got
+good cause to remember it? I was nigh being worritted to death by 'em.
+First it was one, and then it was another, hanging about here and asking
+questions. Had I seen the man? Did I know where he had gone? What was he
+like? Till with one thing and another I was most driven off my head. I
+won't say as how a detective oughtn't to ask questions, because we all
+know it's his duty, but when it comes to interferin' with a man's
+private business and drivin' his customers away from the shop--for I
+won't make no secrets with you that there is folks as eats at my table
+as is not in love with 'tecs--well, then I say, if it comes to that,
+it's about time a man put his foot down."
+
+"My case is somewhat different," said James. "In the first place, I am
+not a detective, but the son of the gentleman who was murdered."
+
+"Good gracious me! you don't say so," said the man, regarding him with
+astonishment and also with evident appreciation. "Now that makes all the
+difference. It's only fit and proper that a young gentleman should want
+to find out the man who, so to speak, had given him such a knock-down
+blow. Ask me what questions you like, sir, and I'll do my best to answer
+'em."
+
+"Well, first and foremost," said Jim, "I want to know how you became
+aware that the man in question hailed from Childerbridge? He wouldn't
+have been likely to say so."
+
+"No, you're right there," the man replied. "He didn't say so, but I knew
+it, because after he had had his meal, my girl was giving him 'is
+change, I saw there was a Childerbridge label on the small bag he
+carried in his hand. I put it to you, sir, if he hadn't been there,
+would that label have been on the bag?"
+
+"Of course it would not. And he answered to the description given you?"
+
+"To a T, sir. Same sort of face, same sort of dress, snarly manner of
+speaking, spotted bird's-eye necktie and all."
+
+"It must have been the man. And now another question. You informed the
+police, did you not, that you had no knowledge as to where he went after
+he left your shop?"
+
+The man fidgetted uneasily in his chair for a moment, and drummed with
+his fingers upon the cover of the table. It was evident that he was
+keeping something back, and was trying to make up his mind as to whether
+he should divulge his information or not.
+
+Here James played a good game, and with a knowledge of human character
+few people would have supposed him to possess, took from his pocket a
+sovereign, which he laid on the table before the other.
+
+"There," he said, "is a sovereign. I can see that you are keeping
+something back from me. Now, that money is yours whether you tell me or
+not. If it is likely to affect your happiness don't let me know, but if
+you can, I shall be glad if you will tell me all you know."
+
+"Spoken like a gentleman, sir," the other replied, "and I don't mind if
+I do tell you, though it may get me into trouble with some of my
+customers if you give me away. You see, sir, round about here in this
+neighbourhood, a man has to be careful of what he says and does. Suppose
+it was to come to the ears of some people that it was me as gave the
+information that got the bloke arrested, well then, they'd be sure to
+say to 'emselves, 'he's standin' in with the perlice, and we don't go
+near his shop again.' Do you take my meaning, sir?"
+
+"I quite understand," James replied. "I appreciate your difficulty, but
+you may be quite sure that I will not mention your name in connection
+with any information you may give me."
+
+"Spoken and acted like a gentleman again, sir," said the shopman. "Now
+I'll tell you what I know. I didn't tell the 'tecs,' becos they didn't
+treat me any too well. But this is what I _do_ know, sir. As he went out
+of the door he asked my little boy, Tommy, wot was playing on the
+pavement, how far it was to Great Medlum Street? The boy gave him the
+direction, and then he went off."
+
+"Great Medlum Street?" said James, and made a note of the name in his
+pocket-book. "And how far may that be from here?"
+
+"Not more than ten minutes' walk," the other replied. "Go along this
+street, then take the third turning to your left and the first on the
+right. You can't make no mistake about it."
+
+"And what kind of a street is it?" Jim enquired. "I mean, what sort of
+character does it bear?"
+
+"Well, sir, that's more than I can tell you," said the other. "For all I
+know to the contrary, it's a fairish sort of street, not so fust-class
+as some others I could name, but there's a few decent people living in
+it."
+
+"And do you happen to have anything else to tell me about him?"
+
+"That's all I know, sir," said the other. "I haven't set eyes on him
+from that blessed moment until this, and I don't know as I want to."
+
+"I am very much obliged to you," said Jim, rising and putting his
+pocket-book away. "You have given me great assistance."
+
+"I'm sure you're very welcome, sir," replied the man. "I am always ready
+to do anything I can for a gentleman. It's the Board School folk
+that----"
+
+Before the man could finish his sentence, Jim was in the shop once more,
+and was making his way towards the door, closely followed by Terence.
+
+"Now the first question to be decided," he said, when they were in the
+street, "is what is best for us to do? If I go to Great Medlum Street,
+it is more than likely that Murbridge will see me and make off again;
+while, if I wait to communicate with Robins, I may lose him altogether."
+
+Eventually it was decided that he should not act on his own initiative,
+but should communicate with Detective Robins, and let him make enquiries
+in the neighbourhood in question. A note was accordingly despatched to
+the authorities at Scotland Yard. In it James informed them that it had
+come to his knowledge that the man Murbridge was supposed to be residing
+in Great Medlum Street, though in what house could not be stated. Later
+in the day Robins himself put in an appearance at the hotel.
+
+"You received my letter?" James asked when they were alone together.
+
+"I did, sir," the man answered, "and acted upon it at once."
+
+"And with what result?"
+
+"Only to discover that our man has slipped through our fingers once
+more," said the detective. "He left Great Medlum Street two days ago. Up
+to that time he had lodged at number eighteen. The landlady informs me
+that she knows nothing as to his present whereabouts. He passed under
+the name of Melbrook, and was supposed by the other lodgers to be an
+American."
+
+"You are quite certain that it is our man?"
+
+"There can be no doubt about it. He went to the house on the day that
+the murder was discovered. Now the next thing to find out is where he
+now is. From what his landlady told me, I should not think he was in the
+possession of much money. As a matter of fact, she suspected that he had
+been pawning his clothes, for the reason that his bag, which was
+comparatively heavy when he arrived, seemed to be almost empty when he
+left. To-morrow morning I shall make enquiries at the various
+pawnbrokers in the neighbourhood, and it is just possible we may get
+some further information from them."
+
+Promising to communicate with Jim immediately he had anything of
+importance to impart, Robins took his departure, and Jim went in search
+of Alice to tell her the news. Next day word was brought to him to the
+effect that Murbridge had pawned several articles, but in no case were
+the proprietors able to furnish any information concerning his present
+whereabouts. Feeling that it was just possible, as in the case of the
+eating-house keeper near Paddington Station, that the detectives had not
+been able to acquire all the knowledge that was going, Jim, accompanied
+by the faithful Terence, set off in the afternoon for number eighteen,
+Great Medium Street. It proved to be a lodging-house of the common type.
+
+In response to their ring the door was opened by the landlady, a voluble
+person of Irish descent. She looked her visitors up and down before
+admitting them, and having done so, enquired if they stood in need of
+apartments.
+
+"I regret to say that we do not," said Jim blandly. "My friend and I
+have come to put a few questions to you concerning----"
+
+"Not poor Mr. Melbrook, I hope," she answered. "Is all London gone mad?
+'Twas but yesterday afternoon, just when I was settin' down to my bit o'
+tea that a gentleman comes to make enquiries about Mr. Melbrook. I told
+'im he'd left the house, but that would not do. He wanted to know where
+he had gone, and when and why he had left, just for all the world as if
+he was his long-lost brother. Then this morning another comes. Wanted to
+know if I knew where Mr. Melbrook pawned his clothes? Did he appear to
+be in any trouble? Now here you are with your questions. D'ye think I've
+got nothing better to do than to be trapesing round talkin' about what
+don't concern me? What's the world coming to, I should like to know?"
+
+"But, my good woman, I am most anxious to find Mr. Melbrook," said Jim,
+"and if you can put me into the possession of any information that will
+help me to do so, I shall be very pleased to reward you for your
+trouble."
+
+"But I've got nothing to tell you," she replied, "more's the pity of it,
+since you speak so fair. From the time that Mr. Melbrook left my house
+until this very moment I've heard nothing of him. He may have gone back
+to America--if he was an American as they say--but there, he may be
+anywhere. He was one of them sort of men that says nothing about his
+business; he just kept himself to himself with his paper, and took his
+drop of gin and water at night the same as you and me might do. If I was
+to die next minute, that's all I can tell you about him."
+
+Seeing that it was useless to question her further, Jim pressed some
+coins into the woman's willing hand, and bade her good-day. Then, more
+dispirited by his failure than he would admit, he drove back to his
+hotel. Alice met him in the hall with a telegram.
+
+"This has just come for you," she said. "I was about to open it."
+
+Taking it from her, he tore open the envelope, and withdrew the message.
+It was from Robins, and ran as follows:--
+
+"Think am on right track--will report as soon as return."
+
+It had been despatched from Waterloo Station.
+
+"Why did he not say where he was going?" said Jim testily, "instead of
+keeping me in suspense."
+
+"Because he does not like to commit himself before he has more to
+report, I suppose," said Alice. "Do not worry yourself about it, dear.
+You will hear everything in good time."
+
+A long letter from Helen which arrived that evening helped to console
+Jim, while the writing of an answer to her enabled him to while away
+another half-hour. But it must be confessed that that evening Jim was
+far from being himself. He felt that he would have given anything to
+have accompanied the detective in his search. He went to bed at an early
+hour, to dream that he was chasing Murbridge round the world, and do
+what he would he could not come up with him. Next day there was no news,
+and it was not until the middle of the day following that he heard
+anything. Then another telegram arrived, stating that the detective
+would call at the hotel between eight and nine o'clock that evening. He
+did so, and the first glimpse of his face told Jim that his errand had
+as usual been fruitless.
+
+"I can see," he said, "that you have not met with any success. Is that
+not so?"
+
+"I'm sorry, sir," the man answered. "Information was brought me the day
+before yesterday that a man answering in every way the description of
+the person we wanted had pawned a small portmanteau at a shop in the
+Mile End Road, and on making enquiries there, I heard that he had come
+to lodge at a house in one of the streets in the vicinity. Accompanied
+by one of my mates, I went to the house in question, only to discover
+that we were too late again, and that the man had left for Southampton
+that morning, intending to catch the out-going boat for South Africa.
+Procuring a cab, I set off for Waterloo, and on my arrival there sent
+that telegram to you, sir, and then went down to Southampton by the next
+train. Unfortunately the two hours' delay had given him his chance, for
+when I reached Southampton it was only to find that the vessel had
+sailed half-an-hour before. I went at once to the Agent's office, where
+I discovered that a man whose appearance tallied exactly with the
+description given had booked a steerage passage at the last moment, and
+had sailed aboard her. But if he's got out of England safely, we'll
+catch him at Madeira. The police there will arrest him, and hold him for
+us until we can get him handed over. He does not know that I am upon his
+track, and for that reason he'll be sure to think he's got safely away."
+
+"We must hope to catch him at Madeira then. The vessel does not touch at
+any port between, I suppose?"
+
+Robins shook his head.
+
+"No, Madeira is the first port of call. And now, sir, I'll bid you
+good-night, if you don't mind. I've had a long day of it, and I'm tired.
+To-morrow morning I've got to be abroad early on another little case
+which is causing me a considerable amount of anxiety."
+
+Jim bade him good-night and then went in search of his sister, only to
+find that she had a bad headache, and had gone to bed. After the
+excitement of the day bed was out of the question, so donning a hat and
+coat he left the hotel for a stroll. He walked quietly along Piccadilly,
+smoking his cigar, and thinking of the girl who had promised to be his
+wife, and who, at the moment, was probably thinking of him in the quiet
+little Midlandshire village. How delightful life would be when she would
+be his wife. He tried to picture himself in the capacity of Helen's
+husband. From Helen his thoughts turned to Murbridge, and he tried to
+imagine the guilty wretch, flying across the seas, flattering himself
+continually that he had escaped the punishment he so richly deserved,
+finding more security in every mile of water the vessel left behind her,
+little dreaming that justice was aware of his flight, and that Nemesis
+was waiting for him so short a time ahead.
+
+Reaching Piccadilly Circus, he walked on until he arrived at Leicester
+Square. As the sky had become overcast, and a thin drizzle was beginning
+to fall, he called a hansom, and bade the driver take him back to his
+hotel. The horse started off, and they were soon proceeding at a fast
+pace in the direction of Piccadilly. Just as they reached the Criterion
+Theatre, a man stepped from the pavement, and began to cross the road.
+Had not the cabman sharply pulled his horse to one side, nothing could
+have saved him from being knocked down. So near a thing was it that Jim
+sprang to his feet, and threw open the apron, feeling sure that the man
+was down. But near though it was, the pedestrian had escaped, and,
+turning round, was shaking his fist in a paroxysm of rage at the cabman.
+At that moment he saw Jim, and stood for a second or two as if turned to
+stone; then, gathering his faculties together, he ducked between two
+cabs and disappeared.
+
+_That man was Richard Murbridge!_
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+
+Before Jim could recover from his astonishment at seeing the man whom he
+had been led to believe was upon the high seas, standing before him, the
+cabman had whipped up his horse once more, and was half across the
+Circus. Springing to his feet, he pushed up the shutter, and bade the
+driver pull up as quickly as possible. Then, jumping from the cab, he
+gave the man the first coin he took from his pocket.
+
+"Did you see which way that fellow went we so nearly knocked down?" he
+cried.
+
+"Went away towards Regent Street, I believe," answered the cabman. "He
+had a narrow shave and it isn't his fault he isn't in hospital now."
+
+Jim waited to hear no more, but made his way back to the policeman he
+had noticed standing beside the fountain in the centre of the Circus.
+
+"Did you see that man who was so nearly knocked down by a cab a few
+minutes ago?" he enquired, scarcely able to speak for excitement.
+
+"I did," the officer answered laconically. "What about him?"
+
+"Only that you must endeavour to find him, and arrest him at once," said
+Jim. "There is not a moment to be lost. He may have got away by this
+time."
+
+"And he's precious lucky if he has," said the policeman. "Never saw a
+closer thing in my life."
+
+"But don't you hear me? You must find him at once. Every second we waste
+is giving him the chance of getting away."
+
+"Come, come, there's no such hurry: what's he done that you should be so
+anxious to get hold of him?"
+
+By this time Jim was nearly beside himself with rage at the other's
+stupidity.
+
+"That man was the Childerbridge murderer," he replied. "I am as certain
+of it as I am that I see you standing before me now."
+
+"Come, come, Sir, that's all very well you know," said the policeman,
+with what was plainly a kindly intent, "but you go along home and get to
+bed quietly; you'll be better in the morning and will have forgotten all
+about this 'ere murderer."
+
+After which, without another word, he walked away.
+
+"Well, of all the insane idiots in the world," muttered Jim, "that
+fellow should come first. But I am not going to be baulked; I'll search
+for Murbridge myself."
+
+He thereupon set off along Regent Street, but before he had gone half
+the length of the street the folly of such a proceeding became apparent
+to him. He knew that Murbridge had seen him, and, for this reason, would
+most likely betake himself to the quiet of the back streets. To attempt
+to find him, therefore, under cover of darkness, and at such an hour,
+would be well-nigh an impossibility. Then another idea occurred to him.
+Hailing a cab, he set off for Scotland Yard. On arrival there, he handed
+in his card, and in due course was received most courteously by the
+chief officer on duty. He explained his errand, and in doing so showed
+the mistake under which Detective-sergeant Robins had been and was still
+labouring.
+
+"He shall be communicated with at once," said the official. "I suppose
+you are quite certain of the identity of the man you saw in Piccadilly
+Circus, Mr. Standerton?"
+
+"As certain as I am of anything," Jim replied. "I should recognise him
+anywhere. I was permitted a full view of his face, and I am quite sure
+that I am not making a mistake. If only the cabman had pulled up a few
+moments earlier, I might have been able to have stopped him."
+
+"In that case, you should be able to give us some details of his present
+personal appearance, which would afford us considerable assistance in
+our search for him."
+
+"He was wearing a black felt hat, and a brown overcoat, the collar of
+which was turned up."
+
+The officer made a note of these particulars, and promised that the
+information should be dispersed in all directions without loss of time.
+Then, feeling that nothing more could be done Jim bade him good-night,
+and drove back to his hotel. In spite of the work he had done that day
+he was not destined to obtain a wink of sleep all night, but tumbled and
+tossed in his bed, brooding continually over the chance he had missed of
+securing his father's murderer. If only he had alighted when the cabman
+first stopped, he might have been able to have secured Murbridge. Now
+his capture seemed as remote as ever; further, indeed, than if he had
+been, as Robins supposed, on board the vessel bound for South Africa.
+
+Jim had just finished his breakfast next morning when Robins called to
+see him.
+
+"This is a nice sort of surprise you have given us, sir," said the
+detective, when he had made a few commonplace remarks, "I mean your
+seeing Murbridge last night; I don't know what to think of it. It seems
+to me to be more of a mystery than ever now."
+
+"The only thing you can think of it is that Murbridge is in London, and
+not on board the mail boat as you supposed," Jim replied. "You must have
+got upon a wrong track again. I suppose there is no further news of him
+this morning?"
+
+"There was none when I left the Yard," the other replied. "At present we
+are over-hauling all the doss-houses and shelters, and it is possible we
+may make a discovery before long. When you think of the description we
+have of him--a man wearing a brown coat and a felt hat--it is not very
+much to go upon. There must be hundreds of men dressed like that in
+London. If only we had a photograph of him it would make the labour a
+good deal easier."
+
+This set Jim thinking. In the lumber-room at Childerbridge there was, as
+he remembered, a number of cases containing books, photograph albums,
+etc., which his father had brought with him from Australia, but which
+had never been unpacked. He recalled the fact that his father had told
+him that he had been on intimate terms with Murbridge many years before.
+Was it not possible, therefore, that among his collections there might
+be some portrait of that individual. He felt inclined to run down and
+turn the boxes over. What was more, if he did so, he might chance to
+obtain an interview with Helen. He explained his hopes with regard to
+the photograph to the detective, who instantly agreed that it might be
+worth his while to make the search.
+
+"In that case I will go down by the eleven o'clock train, and if I
+discover anything, I will wire you and post the photograph on to you by
+the evening mail."
+
+"It is unnecessary for me to assure you it would be an inestimable help
+to us in our search," the other answered; "we should have something more
+definite to go upon then."
+
+True to this arrangement, therefore Jim, Alice, and Terence returned to
+Childerbridge by the morning train. A carriage met them at the station,
+and in it they drove through the village. As they were drawing near the
+park gates, an exclamation from Alice roused Jim from the reverie into
+which he had fallen, and caused him to glance up the lane that led from
+the main road. To his unspeakable joy, he discovered that Helen was
+coming towards them. In a moment the carriage was stopped, and Jim
+alighted and hastened to meet her.
+
+"My darling," he cried, "I never counted upon having the happiness of
+seeing you so soon. This is most fortunate."
+
+"But what brings you back to-day, Jim?" Helen replied. "From your letter
+I gathered that I should not see you for at least a week. There is
+nothing wrong, I hope?"
+
+She scanned his face with anxious eyes, and as she did so it occurred to
+Jim that she herself was looking far from well.
+
+"Nothing is the matter," he answered. "We have merely come down to try
+and find some photographs that would help us in our search. But, Helen,
+you are not looking at all well. Your face frightens me."
+
+"I am alright," was the reply. "I have been a little worried lately
+about my grandfather, and that probably accounts for my appearance, but
+we will not talk of that now. I must say 'How do you do' to Alice."
+
+She accordingly approached the carriage, and held out her hand to her
+friend. They conversed together for a few moments, and then Alice
+proposed that Helen should return with them to the Hall, but this being,
+for more reasons than one, impossible, it was arranged that Jim should
+see her home across the park, a suggestion which, you may be sure, he
+was not slow to take advantage of. They accordingly watched the carriage
+pass through the lodge gates, and then themselves set out for the Dower
+House. As they walked Jim told his sweetheart of the ill success that
+had attended his mission to London.
+
+"But, Helen," he said at last, as they approached the house, "you have
+not told me what it is that is worrying you about your grandfather. I
+hope he has not been making you unhappy?"
+
+She hung her head but did not answer.
+
+"Ah, I can see that he has," he exclaimed, "and I suppose it was
+something to do with me. I wonder whether I should be right if I
+hazarded a guess that Mr. Bursfield had been trying again to force you
+into giving me up? Is that the case, Helen?"
+
+"I am afraid in a measure it is," she replied, but with some diffidence.
+"You may be quite sure, however, that whatever he may do it will not
+influence me. You know how truly I love you?"
+
+"Yes, I know that," he answered, "and I am quite content to trust you. I
+know that nothing Mr. Bursfield can say will induce you to do as he
+proposes."
+
+"Remember that always," she said. "But, oh, Jim, I wish he were not so
+determined in his opposition to our marriage. Sometimes I feel that I am
+acting not only like a traitor to him, but to you as well."
+
+"That you could never be," Jim returned. "However, keep up a good heart,
+dear, and you may be sure all will come right in the end. In the future
+we shall look back upon these little troubles, and wonder why we so
+worried about them."
+
+A few minutes later they reached the gates leading into the grounds of
+the Dower House. Here Jim bade his sweetheart good-bye, and, having
+arranged another meeting for the morrow, set off on his walk to his own
+home. Immediately upon his arrival there, he made his way, accompanied
+by Alice, to the lumber-room on the top story of the house, in which the
+boxes he had come down to over-haul had been placed. How well he could
+recall the day in Australia on which his father had packed them. Little
+had he imagined then that those boxes would next be opened in order to
+discover a portrait of the same kind father's murderer. When the first
+box had been overhauled it was found to contain unimportant papers
+connected with the dead man's various properties in Australia. In the
+second was a miscellaneous collection; which consisted of a variety of
+account books, with specimens of ore, wool, and other products of the
+Island Continent. It was not until they had opened the third box that
+they began to think they were on the right track. In this were a few
+engravings, perhaps half-a-dozen sketch books, filled with pen-and-ink
+drawings by Jim's mother, upwards of a hundred novels between thirty and
+forty years old, and at the bottom a large album filled with
+photographs, each of which looked out upon a forgetful world from a
+floral setting. Jim took it to a window, where he sat down on a box to
+examine it.
+
+To my thinking there is nothing more pathetic than an old album. What
+memories it recalls of long-forgotten friends; as one looks upon the
+faded pictures, how clearly old scenes rise before one.
+
+On the first page was a photograph of William Standerton himself, taken
+when he was a young man. His coat was of a strange cut, his trousers
+were of the peg-top description, while a magnificent pair of "Dundreary"
+whiskers decorated his manly face. With a sigh Jim turned the page, to
+discover a portrait of his mother, which had been taken on her wedding
+day. Then followed a long succession of relatives and personal friends,
+each clad in the same fashion, and nearly all taken in the same
+constrained attitude. But examine each picture as he would, no
+representation of the man he wanted could he discover.
+
+"Well, I'm afraid that's all," said Jim to Alice, as he replaced the
+album in his box. "I am disappointed, though I cannot say that I hoped
+to be very successful. I shall have to write to Robins and tell him that
+I have found nothing."
+
+Having relocked the boxes, they descended to the hall once more. It was
+growing dark, and the dressing bell for dinner had already sounded. They
+accordingly separated, and went to their respective rooms. If the truth
+must be confessed, Jim was more disappointed by the failure of his
+search than he cared to admit.
+
+"It would have been of inestimable value," he said to himself, "to have
+a portrait of Murbridge just now."
+
+He had tied one end of his tie and was in the act of performing the same
+operation with the other, when he stopped and stared at the wall before
+him with half-closed eyes.
+
+"By Jove!" he said, "I believe I've hit it. I think I know where there
+is a portrait of him."
+
+He recalled a scene that had taken place at Mudrapilla one winter's
+evening, many years before, when Alice and he were children. The lamp
+had been lighted, and to amuse them before they went to bed, their
+father had promised a prize to whichever one of the pair should
+recognise and describe by name the greater number of the portraits in
+the very album he had been looking through that afternoon. Jim
+remembered how on that occasion he had chanced upon a certain _carte de
+visite_, showing a tall young man leaning, hat in hand, against a marble
+pillar.
+
+"Who is this, father?" He had enquired for he was not able to recognise
+the individual portrayed in the picture.
+
+"Do not ask me," returned his father in a tone that the children never
+forgot, so stern and harsh was it. Then, drawing the portrait from the
+page, he placed it in the pocket at the end of the book. After that the
+game had recommenced, but was played with less vigour than before.
+
+"I wonder if it could have been the same man?" said Jim. "I cannot
+remember father ever having expressed such a dislike for any one else
+save Murbridge. After dinner I'll go up and endeavour to find it. It was
+there for many years, for I can recall how I used to creep into the
+drawing-room and peep at it on the sly, wondering what sort of villainy
+he had committed that was sufficient to prevent his name being mentioned
+to us. Poor father, it is certain that he was not deceived in him after
+all."
+
+Throughout dinner that evening his mind dwelt on the remembrance of that
+scene at Mudrapilla, and as soon as they rose from the table he begged
+Alice to excuse him, and went upstairs candle in hand, to recommence his
+search. He left his sister in the drawing-room, and the household were
+at supper in the servants' hall, so that, so far as the disposition of
+the house went, he had all the upper floors to himself. Entering the
+lumber-room, he knelt down and unlocked the box which contained the
+album. To take the book from the box, and to turn to the pocket in
+question was the work of a moment. It had been placed there for the
+purpose of holding loose photographs, and it extended the whole width of
+the cover. With a half fear that it might not be contained therein, Jim
+thrust his hand into the receptacle. He was not to be disappointed this
+time, however, for a card was certainly there, and he withdrew it and
+held it up to the light with a feeling of triumph. Yes, it was the
+picture he remembered, and, better still, _it was the portrait of
+Richard Murbridge_. Though it had been taken when the latter was a young
+man, Jim recognised his enemy at once. There was the same crafty look in
+his eyes, the same carping expression about the mouth. The man who had
+been so nearly knocked down by the cab on the previous evening was the
+same person who, in the picture, posed himself so gracefully beside the
+marble pillar "This must go to Robins to-night," said Jim, to himself,
+"copies of it can then be distributed broadcast. It will be strange
+after that if we do not manage to lay hands upon him."
+
+So saying, he replaced the album in the box, locked the latter, and then
+placed the photograph in his pocket, and prepared to return to Alice
+once more. As he descended the stairs, he extinguished the candle, for
+the hanging lamp in the hall below gave sufficient light for him to see
+his way. He was only a few steps from the bottom when a curious noise,
+which seemed to come from the gallery above, attracted his attention. It
+resembled the creaking of a rusty hinge, more than anything else. He had
+just time to wonder what had occasioned it, when, to his amazement, he
+became aware of a little black figure passing swiftly along the corridor
+in the direction of the further wing. A moment later it had vanished,
+and he was left to place such construction as he pleased upon what he
+had seen. For a space, during which a man might have counted twenty, he
+stood as if rooted to the spot, scarcely able to believe the evidence of
+his senses.
+
+"Good heavens! The Black Dwarf," he muttered to himself. "I must find
+out what it means."
+
+Then he set off in pursuit.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+
+Hastening round the gallery of the hall, Jim endeavoured to discover
+some traces of the mysterious visitor, spectre or human, whom he had
+seen. The corridor, however, leading to the oldest and western portion
+of the house, was quite empty. Like the remainder of the building, it
+was panelled with dark oak, some portion of it being curiously, though
+richly carved. He searched it up and down, stopping every now and then
+to listen, but save for the wind sighing round the house, and an
+occasional burst of laughter ascending from the servants' hall, he could
+hear nothing. At the end of the long corridor a flight of stone steps
+led to the domestic offices below. These he descended, and having
+reached the servants' hall, called Wilkins, the butler, to him. When the
+latter emerged, Jim led him a short distance down the passage before he
+spoke.
+
+"Wilkins," he said, "do you remember the night when you thought you saw
+the Black Dwarf on the landing?"
+
+"I shall never forget it, sir," the other replied. "I can never go along
+that corridor now without a shudder. What about it, sir?"
+
+"Only that I have just seen the figure myself," James replied. "I had
+been up to the lumber-room, and was descending the stairs when it passed
+along the further side of the gallery, in the direction of the west
+corridor. Now, Wilkins, I have come down to find out whether you would
+be afraid to come upstairs with me in order that we may discover whether
+we can come to any understanding of the mystery?"
+
+"Yes, sir, of course I will come with you," said Wilkins. "At the same
+time I am not going to say that I am not a bit frightened, for it would
+not be the truth. However, sir, I am not going to let you go alone."
+
+"Come along then," said Jim, "and bring a light of some kind with you."
+
+Wilkins procured a candle, and then they ascended to the floor above. As
+they reached the corridor Jim turned and caught a glimpse of his
+companion's face. It looked very white and frightened in the dim light.
+
+"Cheer up, my man," said he; "if it's a ghost it won't hurt you, and if
+it's a human being you and I should be more than a match for him."
+
+As he said this he opened the door of the first room on the corridor. It
+was empty, and quite devoid of either the natural or the supernatural.
+
+"Nothing here," said Jim as they passed out into the passage, and into
+the next room. This was used as a sewing-room for the female servants,
+and was furnished with a long table and half-a-dozen chairs. They
+explored it thoroughly, and having done so, voted it above suspicion.
+The next room was a bedroom, and had only been once used since the
+Standertons had come into possession of the house. The walls were
+panelled, and there was a curious recess on the side opposite the door.
+Jim overhauled each panel, and carefully examined the recess, but
+without discovering anything suspicious. Thus they proceeded from room
+to room searching every nook and cranny, and endeavouring in every
+possible way to account for the creaking noise which had first attracted
+Jim's attention. The carving of the corridor itself was carefully
+examined, every panel of the wainscoting was tested, until at last,
+having reached the gallery of the hall, they were compelled to own
+themselves beaten. The fact that they had not been able to discover
+anything only added to Wilkins' belief in the supernatural agency of the
+Dwarf. Jim, however, had the recollection of that creaking hinge, before
+mentioned, continually before him. There might be ghostly bodies he
+argued, but he had never heard of ghostly hinges.
+
+"Well, it doesn't appear as if we are destined to capture him to-night,"
+said Jim, when they had finished their labours. "Now one word of advice;
+just keep the fact of his appearance to yourself, Wilkins. If the
+maid-servants come to hear of it we shall have no end of trouble."
+
+Wilkins promised that he would say nothing about the occurrence, and
+then returned to the Servants' Hall, leaving Jim standing on the gallery
+ruminating on the behaviour of the figure he had seen.
+
+"One thing is quite certain, and that is the fact that he disappeared in
+the corridor," he said to himself reflectingly. "Now I wonder where he
+came from?"
+
+The only room on that side of the gallery then in use was Alice's
+bedroom, and to this Jim forthwith made his way. It was a strange scene
+that met his eyes when he opened the door. As he had good reason to
+know, Alice was always a most methodical and neat young lady; now
+everything was in confusion. The drawers of the dressing-table stood
+open and their contents were strewed upon the table and the floor. The
+writing-table in the further corner of the room was in much the same
+condition, while the wardrobe doors were open, and the dresses, which
+usually hung upon the pegs, were piled in a heap upon the floor.
+
+"Good gracious! what on earth does this mean?" said Jim to himself as he
+gazed upon the scene of confusion. "Has Alice gone mad, or has the Black
+Dwarf been trying to see how untidy he can make the place? She must not
+see the room in this condition, or it may frighten her."
+
+Thereupon he placed the candle upon the table and did his best to
+restore something like order. This task accomplished, he went downstairs
+to the drawing-room, where he found his sister seated beside the fire
+reading.
+
+"You have been a long time upstairs," she remarked. "What have you been
+doing?"
+
+For a moment Jim had forgotten the important discovery he had made. In
+reply he withdrew the photograph from his pocket and handed it to her.
+She took it with what was almost a shudder. Somewhat to Jim's surprise,
+she returned it without commenting upon it. He replaced it in his
+pocket, also without a word, and then stood before the fire, wondering
+how he should tell her of what he had seen. He knew it would cause her
+some uneasiness, but at the same time he felt that he ought to place her
+upon her guard.
+
+"Alice," he said at last, "do you make a point of locking your bedroom
+door at night?"
+
+"Lock my bedroom door at night?" she repeated. "No! Why should I?"
+
+"I can't exactly say why you should," he answered, "but I want you to do
+so for the future. This is a big, lonely house, and we have to remember
+that you and I are the only people on this side. I wish my room were
+nearer yours, but as it is not, I think it would be safer if you were to
+do as I suggest."
+
+"But what makes you say this to-night?" she asked. "What is it, or who
+is it, you suspect?"
+
+"I suspect nobody," he replied. "You must not think that. But there are
+such people as burglars, and it would only be an ordinary act of common
+sense to make yourself safe, while you are permitted the opportunity.
+Ever since that terrible night I have been nervous about you, and for
+that reason I have decided upon something, which at first you may think
+strange."
+
+"What is it?" she enquired.
+
+"For the future," he answered, "I intend that Terence shall sleep in the
+room next to yours. Then, if any one makes trouble, and help were
+needed, we should have a sure ally at our beck and call."
+
+"But I hope no one will ever attempt to make trouble, as you describe
+it," she replied, looking at him with startled eyes as she spoke.
+
+"I also sincerely hope not," he continued. "Now I am going to see
+Terence about the matter."
+
+He thereupon left her, and went to his study and rang the bell. On the
+butler making his appearance he instructed him to bring O'Riley at once.
+A few minutes later Terence put in appearance.
+
+"You had better remain also, Wilkins," said Jim. "Just close the door
+behind you, in case any one should chance to overhear us. Now, Terence,
+I have something to say to you. Doubtless, since you have been in the
+neighbourhood, you have heard certain stories connected with this house.
+I suppose you have been told that it has the reputation of being
+haunted."
+
+"Lor' bless you, sir," Terence replied, "I've heard all sorts of yarns
+about it. There's folk down in the Township yonder, as would no more
+think of coming up here after dark than they would of lying down in
+front of the train and having their heads cut off."
+
+"You're not a believer in ghosts, I suppose?"
+
+"Not as I knows on," said Terence candidly. "Though I don't mind sayin'
+as how there are things as have never been explained to my satisfaction.
+'Twas said, as you may remember, sir, as how there was a ghost of an old
+man to be seen, some nights in the year, waiting to get over at the
+Thirty-Mile Crossing up the river. Then there was the ghost outside
+Sydney, that used to get on the fence beside the road, and ask everybody
+who would listen to him to have him properly buried."
+
+James knew that the man before him was as brave as a lion. He was the
+possessor of nerves of iron, and did not know the meaning of the word
+fear.
+
+"Well," he went on after a moment's pause, "the long and the short of
+the matter is, Terence, some little time ago a maid-servant saw what she
+thought to be the ghost of the Little Black Dwarf up in the gallery
+outside. Wilkins here was the next to see it. I thought at the time he
+must have been mistaken, but this evening I know that he was not, for I
+have seen it myself."
+
+"You don't mean that, sir?" said Terence, while Wilkins plainly showed
+the triumph he felt. "And what may he have been like, sir?"
+
+"I had no time to see that," Jim answered. "He disappeared into the
+western corridor almost as soon as I caught sight of him. At the same
+time I heard the sound of a creaking hinge. What would you think of
+that?"
+
+"I should say that it was no ghost, sir," said Terence. "I've been told
+that this old house is full of secret passages, and, if you ask me, I
+should say it was somebody playing a game with you."
+
+Wilkins stared disdainfully at him. He was quite convinced in his own
+mind of the ghostly nature of the mysterious visitor.
+
+"I am inclined to agree with you, Terence," Jim replied. "The more so
+as, since I parted with you, Wilkins, I have made a curious discovery.
+At what time was Miss Alice's room made tidy?"
+
+"While you were at dinner, sir, according to custom," replied the
+butler. "I saw the maid coming out just as I left the dining-room, and
+she would not be likely to leave it----"
+
+"To leave it in an untidy state?" Jim put in.
+
+"Of course she would not, sir," the other replied. "She would hear of it
+from the housekeeper if she did. No, she's a nice, steady girl, sir, and
+I'm told she does her work to the best of her ability."
+
+"Well, it seems curious that when I entered the room after you had left
+me, I found it in a state of the wildest confusion. The contents of the
+drawers of the dressing-table were lying scattered upon the floor, as
+were the dresses in the wardrobe. Now I feel quite certain in my own
+mind that it was from Miss Alice's bedroom that the figure I saw
+emerged. I am equally sure of one thing, and that is that it is no
+ghost--at least," and he added this with a smile, "no respectable ghost,
+of course, would dream of playing such tricks with a lady's wearing
+apparel."
+
+"Then, sir, whom do you suspect?" Wilkins enquired. "I can assure you
+that none of the staff would dare to take such a liberty."
+
+"I am quite sure of that," Jim replied. "Yet the fact remains that
+somebody must be, and is, responsible for it. Now what I intend to do is
+to lay myself out to capture that somebody, and to make an example of
+him when I have got him. For that reason, Terence, I am going to ask you
+to sleep in the house, in the room next to that occupied by Miss Alice.
+It will go hard, then, if between us we cannot lay our hands upon the
+gentleman, whoever he may be, who is playing these tricks upon us."
+
+Terence willingly agreed to the proposal, and that night occupied the
+room in question. His watchfulness availed him nothing, however, for no
+further sign of the Black Dwarf.
+
+Next morning Robins received the photograph of Murbridge, and from that
+moment Jim awaited tidings from him in a fever of expectation. Day after
+day, however, went by, and still no good news came to reward his
+patience. The only consolation he derived was from sundry mysterious
+interviews which he had with Helen in a wooded corner of the park. With
+the cunning of lovers they had arranged a plan of meeting, and those
+little _tete-a-tetes_ were to Jim as the breath of life. No sooner was
+one at an end than he hungered for the next. But he was destined ere
+long to receive a fright, such as he had never received in his life
+before. Winter was fast approaching, and the afternoons drew in quickly.
+When he reached the rendezvous on this occasion it was nearly five
+o'clock, and almost dark. Helen had arrived there before him, and he
+discovered her pacing up and down the little glade, in what was plainly
+an agitated frame of mind.
+
+"Oh, I am so thankful that you have come, Jim dear," she said, as she
+came forward to greet him. "I have been counting the minutes until I
+should see you."
+
+"Why, what on earth is the matter?" he asked, placing his arm round her
+waist and drawing her to him. "You are excited about something. Tell me,
+dear, what it is."
+
+"Something so dreadful that it has upset me terribly," she answered. "I
+scarcely know how to tell you."
+
+He led her towards a fallen tree upon which they had often seated
+themselves on previous occasions.
+
+"Now let me know everything," he said.
+
+She looked about over her shoulder in a frightened way. Then she began
+almost in a whisper:
+
+"Jim, what I have to say to you concerns my grandfather. I am very much
+alarmed about him."
+
+"I hope he has not been making himself disagreeable to you again on my
+account," Jim replied. Then he continued angrily: "If so, I think I
+shall have to call upon him."
+
+"Hush, hush," she said, "do not speak so loud, you do not know who may
+be listening."
+
+"I will be all discretion, dear, now go on!"
+
+"Well, this afternoon I was playing the piano in the drawing-room when a
+message was brought to me by Isaac to the effect that my grandfather
+desired to see me in his study at once. I went to him there, to find him
+seated at his desk as usual, at work upon his book, the 'History of the
+County,' you know. He signed to me to be seated by the fire, and when I
+had done so resumed his writing, not putting down his pen until I had
+been some minutes in the room. Then he looked at me with a very
+thoughtful face, in which I imagined I could detect an expression that I
+had never seen there before. Taken altogether, his manner frightened me.
+It was so strange, and so utterly unlike himself, that I did not know
+what to think. Then he took off his spectacles, and laid them on the
+desk before him, remarking as he did so, 'I am given to understand that
+you are still in correspondence with Mr. Standerton, Miss?' Then, before
+I could answer him, he continued--'and I hear that you have secret
+meetings with him in the park. Is this so?' I admitted that it was, and
+went on to say that as we were betrothed I could see no harm in it."
+
+"And what did he say to that?"
+
+"He rose from his chair and paced the room for a few minutes without
+speaking. Then he reseated himself. As he did so he said, 'You are _not_
+engaged, and you know it as well as I do. Never let me hear you say such
+a thing again.' After that he began to pace the room once more, and
+finally hurled at me such a torrent of abuse that I was almost stupefied
+by it. He accused me of the most outrageous things, until I could bear
+it no longer, and rose to leave him. By this time, as you may suppose, I
+had come to the conclusion that the life of retirement he had lived for
+so long had turned his brain. No man could have said the things he did
+without his mind being a little affected."
+
+"My darling, this is more serious than you suppose," said Jim anxiously.
+
+"But you have not heard the worst yet. It appears that before I had
+entered the room he had drawn up a document which he now desired me to
+sign. It was to the effect that I would bind myself never to speak to
+you or see you again, and contained my promise that I would abandon all
+thought of ever becoming your wife. 'Sign that,' he said, 'or the
+consequences will be more terrible than you suppose. I am an old man,
+but remember even old men can be dangerous at times.' With that he
+handed me a pen, but I refused to take it."
+
+"And then?"
+
+"I cannot tell you how he looked at me as I said it. I could never have
+believed that his face could have undergone such a change. But I still
+refused to sign the document, and at last he discovered that it was
+impossible to force me to do so. 'Very well,' he said, 'since you
+refuse, the consequences of your action be upon your own head.' With
+that, opening the door, he bade me leave him. You can imagine for
+yourself how thankful I was to do so."
+
+"And then you came on here," said Jim. "You were most imprudent, dear.
+He may try to revenge himself upon you when you return to the house."
+
+"I don't think he will hurt me," she replied. "I am only afraid for
+you."
+
+"There is no need for fear on my account," Jim answered, with a short
+laugh. "I do not think it is possible for the poor old gentleman to do
+me any harm. But the idea that you are shut up in the house with a
+madman, for a madman he must surely be, frightens me beyond all measure.
+You must see for yourself that you have no longer any reason to remain
+with him. He has threatened you, and that will be sufficient excuse for
+you to leave him."
+
+"No, no," she answered, shaking her head. "If he is losing his reason,
+he should not be blamed, and it is all the more necessary for his
+comfort that I shall remain with him. I feel sure I shall be quite safe.
+He is angry with me at present, but he will calm down. It is above all
+necessary, however, that you should not come near him. It will only
+irritate him and make him more excited than before. Think how good he
+has been to me, dear, for the past eight years, and try not to be angry
+with him."
+
+"But I am not angry with him," said Jim. "I am only trying to be just.
+One thing is quite certain, I shall know no peace as long as you are in
+that house with him."
+
+"Will it satisfy you if I give you my promise that, should he become
+very bad, I will at once send for you?"
+
+"If you persist on going back there, I suppose I must be content with
+that promise," Jim replied, but with no good grace. "And now you had
+better be running in. If he finds that you are out, he might suppose
+that you are with me, and have another paroxysm of rage. In that case
+there is no knowing what might happen."
+
+Helen accordingly bade him good-bye and left him, returning by the path
+to the Dower House. Jim watched her until she had disappeared and then
+turned homeward with a heavy heart. He felt that he had already enough
+anxiety upon his shoulders without this additional burden. He had never
+trusted Mr. Bursfield, but he was at a loss to understand his present
+malignity, unless it were to be accounted for by the fact that his brain
+had given way.
+
+When he reached his home he let himself in by a side door, and made his
+way to the drawing-room, where he found Alice.
+
+"How late you are," she said. "The gong sounded some time ago. You will
+scarcely have time to dress."
+
+"Then dinner must wait," replied Jim. "Alice, I have bad news for you."
+
+"Why, what is the matter now?" she asked.
+
+Jim thereupon proceeded to furnish her with an abstract of his interview
+with Helen. She heard him without a word, but it was to be easily seen
+how distressed she was for her friend.
+
+"My dear Jim," she remarked when he had finished, "this is indeed
+serious. What do you propose doing?"
+
+"I scarcely know," Jim answered. "The case is an extremely delicate one.
+The old man has taken a decided dislike to me, and if I interfere
+between Helen and himself it will have the effect of adding to his wrath
+and do more harm than good. And yet I cannot allow her to remain there,
+and perhaps run a daily risk of her life."
+
+"What does she think about it herself?"
+
+"She has an absurd notion that her duty lies in standing by Bursfield in
+his trouble. That, of course, is all very well in its way, but no one
+could possibly expect her to turn herself into a keeper for a madman."
+
+Alice, seeing the tired look on his face, crossed the room and placed
+her arm round his neck.
+
+"Dear old Jim," she said, "you must not worry yourself too much about
+it. All will come right in the end. Helen is a girl of very marked
+character, and it is quite probable that, under her influence, Mr.
+Bursfield's condition may improve. Were I in your place, I should trust
+matters to her for a little while. You know that she loves you, and you
+may be quite sure that she will keep her promise, and let you know
+directly anything is very wrong. But there! what am I thinking about? I
+should have told you when you first came in that there is a telegram
+waiting for you. Here it is."
+
+As she spoke she took an envelope from the mantelpiece, and handed it to
+him.
+
+"I wonder who it is from?" he remarked as he tore it open.
+
+Having withdrawn the contents, he read as follows:--
+
+     "Standerton, Childerbridge.
+
+     "Murbridge found. Come at once.
+
+     "13, Upper Bellington Street. ROBINS."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+
+"Murbridge found," said Jim to himself as he stood holding the telegram
+in his hand. "At last, thank goodness, at last!"
+
+Alice, however, said nothing. She had more of her dead father's
+forgiving spirit in her, and she was aware that he would have been the
+last to have desired vengeance on his assailant.
+
+"What do you mean to do?" she asked.
+
+"Catch the 8.40 train up to Town," said Jim, "and see Murbridge as soon
+as possible. The telegram says 'Come at once.' That is sufficient
+evidence that there is no time to be lost. Perhaps he has been wounded
+in a desperate struggle with the police. In fact, there are a thousand
+possibilities."
+
+He gave the necessary instructions for dinner to be hurried forward, his
+bag to be packed, and the carriage to be ready immediately afterwards to
+take him to the station.
+
+"You will not mind being left alone for one evening, will you, Alice?"
+he said to his sister, half apologetically. "Terence will be in the
+house and will keep a careful eye upon you. If you think you will be
+lonely I will take you up to Town with me, drop you at the hotel, and
+then I will go on to Upper Bellington Street."
+
+Alice, however, would not hear of this arrangement. She declared that
+she would be quite content to remain where she was.
+
+"Besides," she said, "if any news were to come from Helen, I should be
+here to receive it. It would not be wise for both of us to be away at
+this juncture."
+
+Jim thereupon went out and sent word to Terence to come to him in his
+study.
+
+"I am called up to Town to-night, Terence," he said, "and I am going to
+leave Miss Alice in your charge. I know she could not be in a better."
+
+"You may be very sure of that, sir," Terence replied; "I wouldn't stand
+by and see anything happen to Miss Alice, and I think she knows it."
+
+"I am sure she does," Jim returned, and then went on to explain the
+reason for the journey he was about to undertake.
+
+An hour and a-half later he was seated in a railway carriage and being
+whirled along towards London at something like fifty miles an hour. If
+ever a young man in this world was furnished with material for thought,
+James Standerton that evening was that one. There was his errand to
+London in the first place to be considered, the singular behaviour of
+the Black Dwarf a few nights before for another, and the declaration
+that Helen had made to him that afternoon for a third. In the light of
+this last catastrophe the finding of the man whom he felt sure was his
+father's murderer sank into comparative insignificance.
+
+What if the madman should wreak his vengeance upon her? What if in a
+sudden fit of fury he should drive her from his house? If the latter
+were to come to pass, however, he felt certain that the place she would
+fly to would be the Manor House, and in that case Alice would take her
+in and Terence would see that she was safe from the old man's fury.
+
+It was nearly eleven o'clock when he reached Paddington. Hailing a cab,
+he bade the man drive him first to his hotel, where he engaged his usual
+room. When he had consulted a directory, he made his way into the street
+again. His cabman, whom he had told to wait, professed to be familiar
+with Upper Bellington Street, but later confessed his entire ignorance
+of its locality. Jim set him right, and then, taking his place in the
+cab, bade him drive him thither with all speed. Once more they set off,
+down Piccadilly, through Leicester Square, and so by way of Long Acre
+into Holborn. Then the route became somewhat more complicated. Through
+street after street they passed until Jim lost all idea of the direction
+in which they were proceeding. Some of the streets were broad and
+stately, others squalid and dejected, some wood paved, others
+cobble-stones, in which the rain that had fallen an hour previous stood
+in filthy puddles.
+
+How long they were driving, Jim had no sort of idea, nor could he have
+told you in what portion of the town he was then in. At last however
+they entered a street which appeared to have no ending. It was illumined
+by flaring lamps from coster barrows, drawn up beside the pavement,
+while the night was made hideous by the raucous cries of the vendors of
+winkles baked potatoes and roasted chestnuts.
+
+"This is Upper Bellington Street, sir," said the cabman, through the
+shutter. "At what number shall I pull up?"
+
+"Thirteen," Jim replied; "but you will never be able to find it in this
+crowd. Put me down anywhere here, and I'll look for it myself."
+
+The cabman did as he was directed, and presently Jim found himself
+making his way along the greasy pavement--which even at that late hour
+was crowded with pedestrians--in search of the number in question. It
+was as miserable an evening as ever he could remember. A thin drizzle
+was falling; the sights and sounds around him were sordid and depressing
+in the extreme; while the very errand that had brought him to that
+neighbourhood was of a kind calculated to lower the spirits of the
+average man to below the mental zero.
+
+After an examination of the numbers of the various houses and shops in
+the vicinity, he came to the conclusion that Thirteen must be situated
+at the further end of the street. This proved to be the case. When he
+reached it, he knocked upon the grimy door, which was immediately opened
+to him by a police officer.
+
+"What is your name?" asked that official.
+
+"James Standerton," Jim replied. "I received a telegram from
+Detective-sergeant Robins this evening asking me to come up."
+
+"That's all right, sir," the man answered. "Come in; we have been
+expecting you this hour or more."
+
+"But how is it your prisoner is here, and not at the police station?"
+
+"I doubt if he'll ever trouble any police station again," returned the
+officer. "He's just about done for. In fact, I shouldn't be surprised if
+he wasn't dead by now."
+
+"What is the matter with him?"
+
+"Pneumonia, sir, the doctor says. He says he can't last out the night."
+
+At that moment Robins himself appeared at the head of the dirty stairs
+that descended to the hall, and invited him to ascend. Jim accordingly
+did so.
+
+"Good evening, Mr. Standerton," he said, "I regret having to inform you
+that we have caught our bird too late. We discovered him at midday, and
+he was then at the point of death. He was too ill to be moved, and as he
+had no one to look after him, we got a doctor and a nurse in at once.
+But I fear it is a hopeless case."
+
+"Will it be possible for me to see him, do you think?"
+
+"Oh yes, sir; he's been calling for you ever since we found him, so I
+took the liberty of telegraphing to you to come up."
+
+"I am glad you did," said Jim. "There are some questions I must put to
+him."
+
+"In that case, please step this way, sir, and I'll speak to the doctor.
+You shall not be kept waiting any longer than I can help."
+
+He led Jim along the landing, then opened a door and disappeared into a
+room at the further end. While he was absent Jim looked about him and
+took stock of his position. The small gas-jet that lit up the well of
+the staircase, served to show the dirty walls in all their dreariness.
+The sound of voices reached him from above and below, while the cries of
+the hawkers in the street came faintly in and added to the general
+squalor. Then as he stood there he recalled that first meeting with
+Murbridge beside the Darling River. In his mind's eye he saw the evening
+sun illumining the gums on the opposite bank, the soft breeze ruffling
+the surface of the river, an old pelican fishing for his evening meal in
+the back-water, and lastly, Richard Murbridge stretched out beside his
+newly-lighted fire. This would be their third meeting; and in what a
+place, and under what terribly changed circumstances! He was indulging
+in this reverie when the door opened once more, and a small, grey-haired
+man emerged.
+
+"Good evening, my dear sir," he said, "I understand that you're Mr.
+Standerton, the son of the man the poor wretch inside is suspected of
+having murdered. However, they have captured him too late."
+
+"You mean, I suppose, that he will not live?" said Jim, interrogatively.
+
+"If he sees the light of morning I shall be very much surprised," said
+the doctor; "in point of fact he is sinking fast. You wish to see him,
+do you not?"
+
+"I do," said Jim. "There is some mystery connected with him that I am
+very desirous of clearing up."
+
+"I see," said the medico, "and in that case I presume that you would
+wish to see him alone?"
+
+"If you can permit it," Jim replied.
+
+"I think it might be managed," answered the other. "But if you will stay
+here for a moment I will let you know."
+
+He returned to the room, and when he stood before Jim once more, invited
+him to follow him. He did so, to find himself in a small apartment, some
+ten feet long by eight feet wide. It was uncarpeted, and its furniture
+consisted of a broken chair, a box on which stood an enamelled basin,
+and a bed which was covered with frowsy blankets. On this bed lay a man
+whom, in spite the change that had come over him, Jim recognised at once
+as being Richard Murbridge. A nurse was standing beside him, and Robins
+was at the foot of the bed.
+
+"Do not make the interview any longer than you can help," whispered the
+doctor, and then beckoned to the detective and the nurse to leave the
+room with him. They did so, and the door closed behind them. Then Jim
+went forward and seated himself upon the chair by the bedside of the
+dying man. The latter looked up at him with a scowl.
+
+"So they sent for you after all?" he said in a voice that was little
+above a whisper. "They even took that trouble?"
+
+"I received the message just before dinner, and came away immediately
+afterwards."
+
+"Left your luxurious mansion to visit Upper Bellington Street? How
+self-denying of you! Good Lord, to think that it should be my luck to
+die in such a hole as this! I suppose you know that I _am_ dying?"
+
+"I have been informed that your recovery is unlikely," Jim replied.
+"That fact made me doubly anxious to speak to you."
+
+There was a little pause, during which Murbridge watched him intently.
+
+"You mean about the murder, I suppose?" he whispered.
+
+"Yes!" Jim answered. "God forgive me for feeling revengeful at such a
+moment, but you took from me and my sister the kindest and best father
+that man ever had."
+
+"You still think that it was I who committed the murder, then?"
+
+"I am certain of it," Jim answered. "You were at the house that night;
+you cherished a deadly hatred against my father; you vowed that you
+would be even with him, happen what might, and you ran away from
+Childerbridge immediately afterwards. Surely those facts are black
+enough to convict any man?"
+
+"They would have gone some way with a Jury, I have no doubt," the other
+replied. "But, as a matter of fact, I did _not_ commit the murder.
+Bitterly as I hated your father, I am not responsible for his death."
+
+Jim looked at him incredulously.
+
+"Ah, I can see you do not believe me. Now, listen, James Standerton, and
+pay attention to what I say, for I shan't be able to say it again. I've
+been a pretty tough sort of customer all my life. There have not been
+many villainies I haven't committed, and still fewer that I wouldn't
+have committed if they tended to my advantage. The record I shall carry
+aloft with me will not bear much looking into. But on the word of a
+dying man, may"--(here he swore an awful oath which I feel would be
+better not set down)--"if I am not absolutely guiltless of your father's
+death. Will you believe me now?"
+
+But still Jim looked incredulous.
+
+"Ah, I can see that you still doubt me. How can I convince you? Think
+for a moment, what have I to gain or lose by saying such a thing? I
+shall be gone hence in a few hours, perhaps minutes. Even if I were the
+murderer, the police could not take me now. With old Bony behind me I
+can laugh at them and at you."
+
+"But why did you run away if you were innocent?"
+
+"Because I saw what a hole I had got myself into. You remember that I
+went up to the house and had an interview with your father? He turned me
+out, and in the hearing of yourself and the servant I vowed to be even
+with him. That vow I certainly should have kept, had not somebody else
+that night stepped in and took the case out of my hands. When I left the
+house, I went for a long walk. I knew my own temper, and also that I
+dared not trust myself with human beings just then. Good heavens, man!
+You don't know how desperate I was. I had followed your father to
+England, and the voyage had taken nearly all my money. What little was
+left I spent in liquor, and then went down to Childerbridge to screw
+more from your father. He refused point blank to help me except on
+certain conditions, which I would not comply with. Knowing his
+stubbornness of old, I cleared out of Childerbridge by the first train,
+vowing that I would be even with him by some means. Then in an evening
+paper I saw that he had been murdered. In a flash I realised my
+position, and saw that if I was not very careful I should find myself in
+Queer Street. Then came your reward, and from that moment I hid myself
+like a 'possum in a gum log. I didn't care very much about my miserable
+neck, but--but--well, you see, strange though it may seem, I was a
+gentleman once."
+
+Jim did not know what to say. If this man's tale were true, and it bore
+the impression of truth, then they had been on a false scent from the
+first.
+
+"I wonder what your mother would have said had she been alive to see it
+all," said Murbridge, after a pause. "Good Lord, to think that Jane
+Standerton's brother should end his days in a hole like this."
+
+"What?" cried Jim, scarcely believing that he had heard aright. "Whose
+brother did you say?"
+
+"Why, your own mother's to be sure," returned Murbridge. "Do you mean to
+say that your father never told you after all?"
+
+"Can such a thing be possible?" Jim continued, in an awed voice.
+
+"Yes; I am Jane Standerton's brother sure enough. If you look in that
+old bag under the bed, you will find evidence enough to convince you of
+that fact. My real name is Richard McCalmont, though you wouldn't think
+it to look at me, would you? That was how I got my hold upon your
+father, don't you see? I was convicted of forgery at the age of
+twenty-one"--(the man spoke as if he were proud of it)--"and did my
+three years. For a while after that I went straight, but at twenty-six
+there was another little mistake, with the details of which I will not
+trouble you, but which was sufficient, nevertheless, to again cause me
+to spend some years in durance vile. At the age of thirty-two they tried
+to convict me of an Insurance Fraud, combined with a suspicion of
+murder. They would have done so but for certain technicalities that were
+brought forward by my Counsel, who, by the way, was employed by your
+father. You see I am perfectly candid with you."
+
+"And you are my mother's brother?" said Jim slowly, as if he were still
+trying to believe it.
+
+"And your father's brother-in-law, too. And your uncle. Don't forget
+that, James," said the other. "Lord! How your father hated me! On
+certain occasions I made it my custom to call upon him in a friendly
+way. At the end of my last term of exile, I found that my sister was
+dead, and that you and Alice were growing up. It was my desire to play
+the part of the kindly uncle. But your father made himself
+objectionable, and vowed that if ever I dared to betray my relationship
+to you he would cut off supplies. As there was never a time in my life
+in which I did not stand in need of money, I was perforce compelled to
+deprive you of a life's history that would certainly have proved
+interesting, if not instructive, to you. However, I now have the
+satisfaction of knowing that I shall not die without having accomplished
+that task."
+
+Here he was interrupted by a violent fit of coughing, which left him
+speechless for upwards of a minute. As for Jim, he was thinking of the
+mental agony his father must have suffered, year after year, with this
+despicable creature, the brother of the woman he loved so fondly,
+continually holding this threat over his children's heads.
+
+"God help you for a miserable man," he muttered at last. "Why didn't my
+poor father tell me this before? He might have known that this would not
+have made the least difference."
+
+"He was too proud," replied the other, when he recovered his speech.
+"Well, it doesn't matter much now, and in a little while it will matter
+still less. The police and I have been on the most friendly terms all
+our lives, and it gives one a homely sort of feeling to know that even
+my last moments will be watched over by their tender care."
+
+He tried to laugh at his own hideous joke, but the attempt was a
+failure.
+
+"For my mother's sake, is there anything I can do for you?" Jim
+enquired, drawing a little closer to the bed.
+
+The other only shook his head. The effort he had made to talk had proved
+too much for him, and had materially hastened the end.
+
+Seeing that his condition was growing desperate, Jim rose and went in
+search of the doctor. He found him in an apartment close at hand.
+
+"I believe he is sinking fast," said Jim. "I think you had better go to
+him."
+
+The doctor accordingly returned to the sick-room, leaving Jim alone with
+Robins.
+
+"Well, sir," asked the latter, "did he confess?"
+
+"We have been deceived," said Jim. "The man is as innocent of the crime
+as I am. I am convinced of that!"
+
+"God bless my soul, you don't mean to say so," said the astonished
+detective, and asked the same questions Jim had put to the dying man.
+Jim answered them as the other had done.
+
+"Well, this is the most extraordinary case I have ever had to do with,"
+said Robins. "If Murbridge had wanted to place a halter round his neck
+he could not have gone to work in a better fashion. If he is not the
+man, then where are we to look for the real murderer?"
+
+"Goodness only knows," replied Jim. "The case is now shrouded in even
+greater mystery than before."
+
+Half an hour went by, then an hour, and still they waited. At two
+o'clock the doctor rejoined them.
+
+"It is all over," he said solemnly. "He is dead."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+
+Between the time of Murbridge's funeral and his own arrival at
+Childerbridge, Jim had plenty of leisure to consider his position, and
+to make up his mind as to how much he should let Alice know of the
+other's story.
+
+After mature consideration, he decided that he had better tell her
+everything. Yet it had been such a painful shock to himself that he
+could well understand how it would affect her.
+
+It was mid-morning when he arrived at Childerbridge, and Alice had
+walked down to the gates to meet him. He alighted from the carriage on
+seeing her, and they strolled across the park together.
+
+"I have been so anxious to hear from you," she said, linking her arm
+through her brother's. "What have you to tell me? Did you find that
+wretched man?"
+
+"Yes, I found him," he answered, "and he was dying."
+
+She paused for a moment before she put the next question.
+
+"And did he confess?"
+
+"No," said Jim. "I firmly believe I wronged him in suspecting him of--of
+what happened. But I made another discovery, and one, I fear, that will
+cause you some astonishment and not a little pain. I learnt from him
+that his name was not Murbridge, but McCalmont."
+
+"McCalmont?" she echoed, as if she did not understand. "But that was our
+mother's maiden name."
+
+"Exactly," said Jim, "and he was her brother!"
+
+Alice looked at him in horrified surprise.
+
+"Oh, Jim," she answered, "surely such a thing cannot be possible?"
+
+"I am afraid it is only too true," Jim replied. "His story was most
+circumstantial. He was our mother's youngest brother, and was, I am very
+much afraid, a disgrace to the family."
+
+"But if he had been our mother's brother, why did he entertain such a
+deadly hatred for our father?" she asked.
+
+"For the simple reason that father had been successful, while he had
+been the reverse," Jim replied. "I rather fancy the poor old governor
+had helped him out of one or two of his worst scrapes, and such being
+the perverse nature of mankind, he hated him for the very benefits he
+had received from him."
+
+They walked some distance in silence.
+
+"Poor, wretched man," said Alice at last. "Oh, Jim, you don't know how
+thankful I am that he was not the author of that terrible crime. And
+now, before we say anything further, there's one thing I must talk to
+you about."
+
+"What is that?" he enquired.
+
+"It is about Helen," she answered. "I met her in the village this
+morning. I don't want to frighten you, but she is looking very ill. She
+seems to have come to look years older within the last few days. There
+is a frightened expression on her face that haunts me even now."
+
+Jim was troubled. This was bad news indeed.
+
+"Did she give you any reason for it?" he enquired.
+
+"She tried to account for it by saying that her grandfather had not been
+at all well lately, and that she had had rather a trying time with him."
+
+"Alice," said Jim, after the short pause that ensued, "I have come to
+the conclusion that old Bursfield is insane. Helen did not tell you, I
+suppose, that he uttered all sorts of threats against me the other day.
+For some reason or another he has taken an intense dislike to me."
+
+"She said nothing about it," Alice answered. "I am sorry for her. What
+is best to be done, do you think?"
+
+"It is difficult to say," Jim answered. "One thing is quite certain. She
+cannot go on living with him if he is to continue in this strain. Under
+such circumstances there is a limit even to a woman's fidelity. I must
+endeavour to see her as soon as possible."
+
+"Would it do for me to go and see her, do you think?" asked Alice. "I
+should then be able to tell you something definite about Mr. Bursfield's
+condition."
+
+Jim shook his head.
+
+"No," he said, "such a thing would not be wise. I must think the matter
+over and see what is best to be done."
+
+By the time he reached the house he had arrived at a conclusion.
+
+"Do you remember, Alice," he said, "that clever young doctor that we met
+at the Caltrops on the evening that we dined with them, soon after our
+arrival in England? His name was Weston. Mrs. Caltrop declared that,
+before many years were past, he would be a recognised authority on
+mental diseases."
+
+"I remember him quite well," Alice answered. "He took me in to dinner,
+and was so interested in Australia. He had a brother in Sydney, I think.
+What about him."
+
+"Well, I have made up my mind to telegraph to Mrs. Caltrop for his
+address, and having got it, to wire and ask him to come down and see Mr.
+Bursfield. He would be able to tell me then whether or not it is safe
+for Helen to go on living with him. If he says not, then she must leave
+him at once."
+
+"I should think it would be a very good plan, provided always that you
+can get Mr. Bursfield to see him. You will find that the difficulty."
+
+"Not at all," Jim answered. "I have a scheme that I think will answer.
+At any rate we will try it."
+
+A telegram was accordingly despatched to Mrs. Caltrop, asking her to
+forward the address of the doctor in question. This done, Jim sent for
+Terence.
+
+"Well, Terence," he said, when the latter made his appearance, "any sign
+of the Black Dwarf during my absence?"
+
+"Never a one, sir," Terence replied. "I kept my eyes and ears open all
+night, and waited about after dark, but there's not been so much as a
+mouse stirring."
+
+"I am glad to hear it," Jim remarked, and then gave Terence a brief
+description of his visit to London, and of what he had discovered there.
+
+"Then if it wasn't he as did it," said Terence, "who could it have
+been?"
+
+Before he answered, Jim looked at the door, as if to make sure that it
+was closed.
+
+"Terence," he said, "I am gradually coming to the conclusion that the
+Black Dwarf, whoever he may be, was responsible for it."
+
+"I've thought of that myself, sir," Terence replied.
+
+"In the first place, he was seen by one of the maid-servants in the
+gallery on the night that my father was murdered."
+
+"Don't they say, sir, as how another gentleman was murdered in the same
+way in this house?"
+
+"I believe there is some legend to that effect," said Jim, "but how true
+it is, I cannot say. I don't think, however, we need take that
+circumstance into consideration."
+
+"Then what are we to do, sir?"
+
+"Watch and wait until we catch him," Jim replied. "When we've done that
+we shall be satisfied whether he is flesh or blood or not, and if he is,
+by what right he dares to enter my house."
+
+There was a lengthy pause, then with a diffidence that was somewhat
+unusual with him, Terence said:
+
+"You'll excuse me, sir, I hope, for saying such a thing, but between you
+and me, sir, I cannot help thinking that we was happier at Mudrapilla."
+
+Jim heaved a heavy sigh. A longing to be back in the old home, and to be
+engaged in the pursuits he had been brought up to from a boy, had been
+with him a great deal of late.
+
+"Yes," he said. "I think we were happier at Gundawurra. I must go back
+there soon, Terence, if only for a whiff of Bush air. I am very much
+afraid that playing the fine gentleman in England does not suit me."
+
+When the other had left the room, Jim lay back in his chair and fell
+into a reverie. He closed his eyes, and was transported back to the old
+home where he had been born, and where he had spent his happiest days.
+How sweet it would be to settle down there some day, with Helen as his
+wife. He tried hard to realise the day's work upon the run; the
+home-coming at night, to find Helen at the gate waiting for him; the
+evenings spent in the cool verandah, with the moon rising above the
+river timber. Then he came back to the very real anxieties of the
+present. An hour later a message came from Mrs. Caltrop. It was as
+follows:
+
+     "Doctor Weston, Harley Street."
+
+Whereupon he took another telegraph form and wired to the doctor to the
+effect that he would be grateful if he could make it convenient to
+travel down to Childerbridge that afternoon. In order that the latter
+might understand from whom the message emanated, he added the words,
+"Met you at dinner at Mrs. Caltrop's." Luncheon was scarcely finished
+before a message arrived from the doctor saying that he would endeavour
+to be at Childerbridge at four o'clock. Accordingly at half-past three
+Jim drove to the railway station to await his coming. Punctual to the
+moment the train steamed into the station, and he looked about among the
+passengers for the man he wanted.
+
+Presently he descried him coming along the platform--a tall,
+good-looking man, resembling a soldier more than a Harley Street
+physician.
+
+"Mr. Standerton, I believe," he said as he approached Jim.
+
+"And you are Doctor Weston, of course," the latter answered with a
+smile.
+
+"Now," said the doctor, "I will commence, Mr. Standerton, by saying that
+it is absolutely necessary that I should catch the six o'clock train
+back to London."
+
+"I will arrange that you do so," Jim replied, and then the doctor
+surrendered his ticket and they strolled out of the station. "Now,
+perhaps, I had better tell you my reasons for asking you to come down
+to-day. Shall we walk a little way along the road. I have no desire to
+be overheard. I will now make you acquainted with the facts of the case,
+in order that you may go direct to the house of the gentleman I want you
+to see."
+
+"He is not a member of your own family, then?" the doctor enquired.
+
+"No, he is no sort of relation. In fact, I had not seen him until a few
+months ago."
+
+They paused beside a gate and faced each other.
+
+"I gather that it is rather an unusual case?" the doctor remarked.
+
+"A very unusual one," Jim replied. "The matter stands in this way. I am
+engaged to a young lady who is the adopted granddaughter of the
+gentleman in question."
+
+The doctor nodded, but said nothing. He listened attentively, while Jim
+told his tale, explained his fears for Helen's safety, and described the
+threats the old gentleman had made use of concerning himself.
+
+When he had finished Dr. Weston drew some lines on the ground with the
+point of his umbrella, as if he were working out a difficult
+calculation.
+
+"This is certainly a singular case, Mr. Standerton," he said at last.
+"You are not connected with this gentleman in any way, and he, not
+approving of your marriage with his granddaughter, has forbidden you his
+house. The young lady's only reason for believing him to be a little
+weak in his intellect is his treatment of you. I really do not know
+whether, under the circumstances, I should be justified in seeing him."
+
+Jim's heart sank. He had not looked at the matter from this point of
+view. Observing his disappointment, the doctor smiled.
+
+"Nevertheless," he continued, "I will see him, provided you will give me
+your promise that my report shall be considered a purely confidential
+one."
+
+"Am I to understand that I am not to acquaint Miss Decie or my sister
+with your decision?"
+
+"Of course, I will allow you to tell them, and equally, of course,
+provided it goes no further."
+
+"In that case I will give you my promise most willingly," said Jim.
+
+"And now the question comes as to how I can obtain my interview with
+him."
+
+"I have thought out a plan that should enable you to do that," Jim
+replied. "I happen to know that for a long time past he has been engaged
+in writing a history of the neighbourhood, and my house in particular
+which at one time was the property of his family."
+
+"Quite so; and the ruins a mile or two back, what are they called?"
+
+"Clevedon Castle," Jim answered. "I believe it was destroyed by
+Cromwell."
+
+"That should answer my purpose. And now with your permission I will
+drive to his house--not in your carriage, but in a cab. I shall see you
+afterwards, I presume?"
+
+"I will wait for you here, or at my own house, whichever you please,"
+said Jim.
+
+"Your house, I think, would be better," the doctor answered. "I will
+drive there directly I leave Mr.----. By-the-way, you have not told me
+his name or given me his address."
+
+Jim furnished him with both, and then the doctor hailed a fly and drove
+away.
+
+It was nearly half-past five before Jim was informed by Wilkins that Dr.
+Weston had called, and that he had been shown to the study.
+
+He immediately proceeded thither, to find the doctor sitting before the
+fire.
+
+"Well, Mr. Standerton," he began, "I have seen Mr. Bursfield, and have
+had rather a curious interview with him."
+
+"And what decision have you come to?"
+
+"Well, I think your supposition is correct. Not to be technical, I might
+say that he is not really responsible for his actions. While we
+discussed archaeology, and the history of the neighbourhood, he was
+rational enough, but when I chanced to touch upon this house, and your
+connection with it, his whole demeanour changed. If I were in your place
+I should avoid him as much as possible, for there can be no doubt that
+he would do you a mischief if he could. As for Miss Decie, I would not
+advise you to persuade her to leave him, at least not at present. It
+would in all probability immediately produce unfavourable results, and
+in so doing might snap the frail link that still connects him with
+Sanity. The influence she exerts over him, where you are not concerned,
+is undoubtedly a beneficial one."
+
+"Am I to consider that she is safe with him?"
+
+"I should say so," the doctor replied. "Of course, if he has many more
+of these paroxysms of rage it might be necessary for her to leave him.
+But she must be the best judge of that. Doubtless you can arrange that
+with her. And now I must be getting back to the railway station; if I
+wish to catch my train I have not much time to lose."
+
+"I am exceedingly obliged to you, Doctor Weston," said Jim gratefully.
+"I cannot say that you have made my mind easier, but you have at least
+let me know exactly how matters stand with Mr. Bursfield."
+
+"I am glad to have been of service," said the doctor.
+
+James handed him an envelope containing his fee, and escorted him to the
+door. When he had seen him depart he returned to the drawing-room and
+communicated his intelligence to his sister.
+
+"Poor Helen," said Alice, "it is no wonder that she looks anxious. What
+will you do now, Jim?"
+
+"I must take the night to think the matter over," he answered. "Since
+the old man is undoubtedly mad, and not only mad, but dangerously so, I
+cannot bear to contemplate her remaining with him, and yet I have no
+desire to hasten the crisis."
+
+All the evening Jim brooded over the matter, imagining all sorts of
+dangers for the woman he loved. At last the time came for them to retire
+to rest. He was in the act of lighting Alice's candle in the hall, when
+the sound of steps on the gravel path outside attracted his attention.
+
+"Good gracious!" cried Jim, "who on earth can it be at this time of the
+night?"
+
+So saying, he hastened to the door. The lights from the hall shone on
+the steps, and showed him Helen Decie, standing, bareheaded, before him.
+For a moment the shock at seeing her there at such an hour, and in such
+a plight, deprived him of speech. Alice was the first to break the
+silence.
+
+"Helen, my dear girl," she cried, "what does this mean?"
+
+Then Helen stepped into the hall, and James closed the door behind her.
+He had scarcely done so, before she gave a little cry and fell to the
+floor in a dead faint. Picking her up, Jim carried her to the big settee
+in the centre.
+
+"My poor girl," he cried, "what has he done to you?" Then, turning to
+Alice, he added, "What can have happened?"
+
+She did not answer him, but sped upstairs to her bedroom, to presently
+return with a bottle of smelling salts. Under their restorative
+influence, consciousness very soon returned, and Helen looked about her
+in a dazed fashion, as if she could not realise where she was.
+
+"Do you feel well enough to tell what has taken place, dear?" Jim asked,
+when she had so far recovered as to be able to sit up. "What has brought
+you here bareheaded at this time of night?"
+
+"My grandfather has turned me out of his house," she answered
+falteringly.
+
+"Turned you out of the house?" repeated both Jim and Alice together.
+Then Alice added: "Surely not? He ought to be turned out himself."
+
+"You must not be angry with him," said Helen. "I really don't think he
+knows what he is doing."
+
+"But this is an unheard-of thing," Jim said angrily. "He must have taken
+leave of his senses."
+
+"He accused me of being in league with you to poison him, and bade me
+come to an instant decision as to whether I would give you up or leave
+the house."
+
+"And my noble girl refused to give me up?" said James, kissing her hand.
+
+"Helen acted nobly," said Alice. "Never mind, dear, you know where your
+real friends are, don't you?"
+
+"But whatever shall I do?" the girl put in. "He bade me leave the house
+and never come back again."
+
+"We will arrange all that to-morrow," Jim replied. "For to-night, Alice
+will take care of you. Do not worry, dear heart, all will come right in
+the end."
+
+Then he proceeded to inform her of Dr. Weston's visit that afternoon,
+and of the report that gentleman had given of the old gentleman's mental
+condition.
+
+"I cannot tell why," she said, "but I had some sort of suspicion that he
+came for that purpose. Poor grandfather, how sad it is to think of his
+being like this. Since he does not know what he is doing, we should not
+be angry with him for acting as he did."
+
+At this juncture Alice departed to make arrangements for her friend's
+comfort for the night.
+
+"Oh, Jim dear, what do you think will become of me?" Helen asked. "Think
+for me, for I cannot think for myself."
+
+"I think I can hazard a very good guess what your fate will be," said
+Jim. "To-morrow morning I shall go up to London to obtain a special
+license, and the day after you shall become my wife."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+
+Unexpected as the events of the evening had been, Jim Standerton, as he
+stood in his bedroom before retiring to rest, could not declare that he
+altogether regretted the turn they had taken. On the morrow he would go
+to London, and afterwards, armed with the Law's authority, he would make
+Helen Decie his wife without delay. From that moment Mr. Bursfield might
+do his worst. Before retiring to his room he had visited Terence, and
+had received from him a positive assurance that so far all was right for
+the night. Knowing that he might trust the latter implicitly, he had
+given him an account of what had happened that evening.
+
+"The sooner, sir, they put that old man under lock and key the better it
+will be for everybody," said Terence. "Let him just come playing his
+little game round here, and he'll have me on his track like a Nyall
+blackfellow."
+
+Half-an-hour later, Jim was in bed and asleep, dreaming that he was back
+in the Bush once more, and that he and Terence were chasing wild horses
+through a mountain range, and that, on the foremost horse, Helen was
+seated, clinging to his mane, as if for dear life. He was galloping
+after her as fast as his horse could carry him, when suddenly a hand
+clutched him by the throat, and tried to lift him out of the saddle.
+
+At that moment, however, he woke to find that this was no dream, but the
+most horrible reality he had ever known in his life. Bony fingers were
+clutching tightly at his windpipe, rendering it impossible for him to
+breathe. He endeavoured to rise and to seize his assailant, whoever he
+might be, and throw him off. But his efforts were unavailing. Still
+those talon-like fingers retained their hold; try as he would he could
+not weaken their terrible grip. Little by little he felt himself
+sinking. The room was in such total darkness that it was impossible to
+discover whom his antagonist might be. In the last extremity of his
+agony he rolled from the bed and lay helpless upon the floor, entangled
+in the clothes. With the fall, his assailant lost his grip of his
+throat. Then something must have startled him, for a moment later the
+door opened, and he was gone. Disengaging himself as quickly as possible
+from the bed-clothes, Jim staggered to his feet, half stunned by the
+fall and the terrific conflict in which he had so lately been engaged.
+As soon as he recovered he lit a candle, hastened to the door, opened it
+and passed out into the gallery. No one was to be seen there, but he had
+not gone many paces before he heard the same clicking noise that had
+arrested his attention on the first occasion of his seeing the Black
+Dwarf. Making his way round the gallery, he reached the room occupied by
+Terence. The door stood ajar, and from the noises that proceeded from
+within, he gathered that his trusty servant was not only in bed, but
+fast asleep. He crossed and shook him by the shoulders.
+
+"Get up, Terence," he whispered softly. "Get up at once."
+
+"What's the matter?" asked the half-awakened man. "Why, it's you, sir.
+Is there anything wrong?"
+
+"I should rather think so," Jim replied. "Look at my throat and see if
+you can detect any marks upon it."
+
+The other held up the candle as he was directed. On either side of his
+throat were a number of bruises and scratches, and some of the latter
+were bleeding profusely.
+
+"My gracious, sir!" said Terence; "it looks as if somebody had been
+trying to strangle you."
+
+"You've hit it exactly," Jim replied. "Good heavens! Terence, I've been
+nearly murdered. You've no idea what a fight of it I've had in the dark.
+The man, whoever he was, finding that he couldn't finish me, bolted, and
+has gone down some secret passage in the gallery. Terence, we must catch
+him somehow."
+
+Terence sprang out of bed, and while he was dressing, Jim hastened back
+to his room and also donned some clothes. This done, he returned to
+Terence's bedroom, to discover that worthy in the act of lacing his
+boots.
+
+"It's a funny business this, sir!" Terence remarked. "I wish I had been
+behind that gentleman when he was trying to settle you. I'd have given
+him one for his precious nob, ghost or no ghost."
+
+"I expect you would. Now be as quick as you can, for there is not a
+moment to lose if we want to catch him."
+
+Terence immediately announced himself as ready, and then, taking their
+candles, they set off round the gallery towards the corridor where Jim
+felt sure his mysterious assailant had disappeared. Inspection showed
+them that the door of the stairs at the further end, leading down to the
+domestic offices, was securely fastened on the other side. Having made
+sure of this, they tried, as on a previous occasion, the various rooms
+along the corridor, searching each one most carefully. But no success
+attended their efforts.
+
+"It is quite certain that he is not in any of these rooms," said Jim.
+"Now what we have to do is to discover the entrance to that secret
+passage. I shall not rest content until we have found that."
+
+They accordingly returned to the corridor, where they set to work once
+more to over-haul the wainscotting. Beginning at one end, they worked to
+the other; their efforts, however, met with no more success than they
+had done in the searching of the rooms. Every panel of the wainscotting
+seemed as hollow as its fellow--each projection as firmly secured.
+
+"And yet I am as certain that it is somewhere about here that he
+disappeared," said Jim.
+
+At the entrance to the corridor from the gallery were two square pillars
+elaborately carved with fruit. Jim had explored his side, having pressed
+and pulled every pear and apple, with the usual result. Suddenly Terence
+touched him on the arm.
+
+"Look here, sir," he whispered, "what's this? It seems to me that this
+grape is not very firm."
+
+Jim turned to him and knelt down beside the bunch of fruit indicated. It
+certainly did seem as if the lowest grape of the bunch were loose. It
+shook under his finger, and yet showed no sign of coming off.
+
+"I believe we've got it at last," he said, pressing upon the grape, as
+he spoke, with all his strength. Yet it did not move. He endeavoured to
+push it in the direction of the gallery, but still it remained
+immovable. He tried forcing it from him towards the corridor, when to
+his amazement it left its place and moved half an inch or so away. As it
+did so there was a heavy creaking noise, and a portion of the panelling
+of the corridor, some three feet in width and six feet high, swung
+inwards, disclosing a black cavity, which might either have been a well
+or a staircase. Both men drew back in astonishment, half expecting that
+Jim's assailant, if he were concealed within, would dash out upon them.
+
+"We've found the place at last," said Jim. "Now, if I'm not mistaken, we
+shall be able to solve the mystery of the famous Childerbridge ghosts.
+Hold your candle aloft, Terence, so that we can see what we are doing,
+and we'll descend and discover where it leads to."
+
+"Let me go first, sir," Terence returned. "After the fight you had
+upstairs, you may not be up to the mark, and I'm dying to have a turn
+with him, if he's as big as a church."
+
+But Jim would not hear of this, and bade the other follow him. Holding
+their lights aloft, they descended the narrow stone steps. They were
+longer than they expected to find them, and when they reached the bottom
+Jim knew that they must be some distance beneath the level of the
+foundations of the house. They were then standing in a passage, some
+four feet wide by seven in height. The walls and ceiling were of brick,
+the floor composed of huge blocks of stone. Everything reeked with damp
+while the air was as close and musty as a vault. Being resolved to leave
+no part of it unexplored, Jim pushed on closely followed by Terence. For
+economy's sake they blew out one of the candles, not knowing how far
+they might have to travel, or what might happen to them by the way. They
+had not been more than three minutes in the passage before Jim stopped,
+and turning to his companion, held up his hand.
+
+"What's up?" he asked.
+
+A sound as of heavy blows upon stone reached them from above.
+
+"I can tell you what it is, sir," said Terence, after a moment's
+reflection. "It's the horses, and it means that we're under the
+stables."
+
+"In that case it must run the entire width of the house and burrow under
+the courtyard. It means also that the direction is due east. This is
+growing interesting. Come along."
+
+After this discovery they pushed on with increased speed, but the
+passage showed no signs of coming to an end. The air was close, but now
+and again draughts poured in upon them to prove that though they could
+not see them, there must be vent holes somewhere.
+
+"I wouldn't have believed such a place could have existed," said Jim.
+"It seems as if we have come miles. By Jove, what's that?"
+
+As he spoke the light of his candle shone upon a dark mass huddled upon
+the floor. A second later it became apparent that it was the figure of a
+man.
+
+"Take care, sir," said Terence, as Jim hastened towards the prostrate
+form, "it may be the man we want, and he's as like as not shamming."
+
+"We'll soon find that out," answered Jim, and knelt down beside the
+prostrate figure.
+
+While Terence held the candle, Jim rolled the figure over until they
+were able to see the face. Then he uttered a cry of horror. _The man
+lying before them was none other than Abraham Bursfield!_
+
+"Good heavens, this is too terrible," said Jim, after the long pause
+which followed, during which he had assured himself that he had made no
+mistake as to the other's identity. "Is he dead, do you think, Terence?"
+
+"Quite dead, sir," Terence replied, after he too had knelt down and
+examined him. "If he's the man who tried to kill you, he'll never do any
+more mischief to anybody again."
+
+But Jim did not answer. A sickening feeling of giddiness was taking
+possession of him. If it were Abraham Bursfield who had done his best to
+murder him that night, it was only logical to conclude that he was also
+the man who had murdered his father. Doctor Weston had declared him to
+be a madman that afternoon. Now he had certainly proved himself to be
+one of the most dangerous type. If that were the case what a narrow
+escape Helen had had.
+
+"What's to be done, Terence?--what's to be done?" Jim asked almost
+piteously. "We could not have made a more terrible discovery."
+
+"There'll have to be an Inquest, sir," said Terence.
+
+"When it will be found that he entered my house and endeavoured to
+murder me. Then it will be remembered how my father died. Two and two
+will be put together, and the terrible truth will come out. That would
+break Miss Decie's heart."
+
+"Good heavens! sir, I see what you mean," said Terence. "I never thought
+of that."
+
+"He was mad, Terence, hopelessly mad, and therefore not responsible for
+his actions. Poor Miss Decie!"
+
+"Aye, poor young lady. If she was so fond of the old gentleman, it would
+break her heart to know what he has been trying to do."
+
+"She must never know," said Jim, who by this time had made up his mind.
+"I can trust you, Terence."
+
+"To the death, sir, and I think you know it. I've served you, sir, and I
+served your father before you, and I don't think you ever found me
+wanting. Tell me what you think of doing."
+
+"We must get him back to his own house, if possible," said Jim, "and let
+him be found dead there. No one but our two selves will know the truth,
+and if we keep silence, no one need ever know that we found him here. I
+cannot let Miss Decie be made more unhappy than she is."
+
+"I don't know but that you are right, sir," Terence answered. "But how
+are we going to get him to the Dower House?"
+
+"We must go along the passage and see where it leads to. If I am not
+mistaken it will take us there. This place must have been made years
+ago, when the two properties were one. We will leave the body here, and,
+if I am right in my conjecture, we can come back for it."
+
+They accordingly allowed the remains of Mr. Bursfield to lie where they
+had found them, and proceeded on their tour of exploration. As it
+transpired, they had still a considerable distance to go before they
+reached the end of the tunnel. At last, however, they found themselves
+at the foot of a flight of stone steps, similar to those by which they
+had descended at the Manor House.
+
+"Tread very quietly," Jim whispered to his companion. "We must on no
+account rouse the servants."
+
+They noiselessly ascended the stairs until they found themselves at the
+top, and confronted by a door.
+
+"I'll get you to stay here, Terence," Jim whispered, "while I open this
+door and see where we are."
+
+He soon discovered what appeared to be a spring in the middle of the
+door, and when he had pressed it, had the satisfaction of seeing the
+door swing inwards. Shading the candle with his hand, Jim stepped into
+the room he found before him. His surprise at finding himself in Mr.
+Bursfield's study, the same room in which he had his last unpleasant
+interview with the old gentleman, can be better imagined than described.
+The secret door, he observed, formed part of the panelling on one side
+of the fireplace, a fragment of carving in the setting of the
+chimney-piece being the means of opening it. The old man's papers and
+books were littered about the table just as he had left them; a
+grandfather clock ticked solemnly in the further right-hand corner,
+while a little mouse watched Jim from beneath the sofa, as if it were
+endeavouring to ascertain his errand there at such an hour.
+
+Having made sure of his whereabouts, Jim returned to the passage,
+closing the door carefully behind him.
+
+"We must lose no time," he whispered to Terence; "it is already a
+quarter to three. Heaven grant that Isaac, his man-servant, does not
+take it into his head to look in upon his master during the night. He
+would then find him absent, and that would make it rather difficult to
+explain the fact of his being found dead in his chair in the morning."
+
+By this time their first candle had expired, and it became necessary to
+light that Terence was carrying.
+
+"If we are not very careful we shall be compelled to make our way back
+in the dark, after we have carried him up here," said Jim. "This candle
+will scarcely see us through."
+
+"Never mind that, sir, so long as we can get him in here safely," said
+Terence. "I have got a box of matches in my pocket, and we can fumble
+our way back somehow."
+
+They accordingly set off, and in due course reached the place where they
+had left the old man's body.
+
+"How are we to carry him?" asked Jim.
+
+"Oh, you leave that to me, sir. I can manage it," answered Terence. "If
+you'll go ahead with the light, I'll follow you."
+
+So saying, he picked up the frail body, as if its weight were a matter
+of no concern to him, and they set off on their return journey to the
+Dower House. If the distance had appeared a long one before, it was
+doubly so now. At last, however, they reached the steps, climbed them,
+and a few moments later were standing in the dead man's study once more.
+In spite of his assertions to the contrary, it was plain that his
+exertions had taxed Terence's strength to its utmost. Between them they
+placed the body in the chair before the table.
+
+This done, they left the room as quietly as they had entered it, and
+made their way down the steps once more. Jim's prophecy that the return
+journey would have to be made in darkness was fulfilled, for they had
+scarcely reached the place where they had discovered the body ere the
+candle fluttered out and they found themselves in inky darkness.
+
+Terence struck a match, but its feeble flicker was of little or no use
+to them. Fumbling their way along by the wall they continued to
+progress, until a muttered exclamation from Terence, who was leading,
+proclaimed the fact that they had reached the steps at the further end.
+
+"Bad cess to 'em," said he, "I've barked my shins so that I shall have
+good cause to remember them to my dying day."
+
+He thereupon lit another match, and by means of this modest illumination
+they climbed to the door in the corridor above.
+
+"Heaven be thanked! we're safe home once more," said Jim, as they
+stepped into the passage. "I trust I may never experience another night
+like this."
+
+Whispering to Terence to follow him quietly, he led the way round the
+gallery and downstairs to the dining-room, where he unlocked the
+Tantalus and poured out a glass of spirits for Terence and another for
+himself. Both stood in need of some sort of stimulant after all they had
+been through.
+
+"Not a word must be breathed to any living being of this, Terence," he
+said, as he put his glass down. "Remember, I trust my secret to you
+implicitly."
+
+"I give you my word, sir, that nobody shall ever hear it from me,"
+answered Terence, and then the two men solemnly shook hands.
+
+"Now, before we go to bed, I'll get you to come to my room and have a
+look at my throat," said Jim; "it's uncommonly sore."
+
+This proved to be the case. And small wonder was it, for the finger
+marks were fast turning to bruises, while the scratches showed up as
+fiery-red as ever. Jim shuddered again and again as he recalled that
+awful struggle and compared his escape with his father's cruel fate.
+
+"Another moment and in all probability he would have done for me too,"
+he said to himself, and then added somewhat inconsequently, "Poor
+Helen!"
+
+When his wounds had been dressed, he despatched Terence to bed; for his
+own part, however, he knew that sleep was impossible. In fact, he did
+not attempt to seek it, but seating himself in a comfortable chair,
+proceeded to read, with what attention he could bestow upon the
+operation, until daylight.
+
+When the sun rose he dressed himself and went out, wearing a scarf
+instead of a collar, in order that the wounds he had received might not
+be apparent to the world. The memory of that hateful passage under the
+park haunted him like an evil dream. He determined to have it closed at
+once for good and all. While he remained the owner of Childerbridge no
+one should ever set foot in it again. He was still wondering how he
+could best carry out the work without exciting suspicion or comment,
+when he observed an old man crossing the park towards him. As he drew
+nearer, Jim became aware that it was old Isaac, Mr. Bursfield's
+man-servant and general factotum. It was also to be seen that he was in
+a very agitated state.
+
+"God have mercy upon us, sir!" he said, as he came up to Jim; "I've had
+such a fright. Is Miss Helen with you?"
+
+"She is," Jim replied, and then endeavouring to speak unconcernedly, he
+added--"Has Mr. Bursfield sent you to find her?"
+
+"The poor gentleman will never send me on another errand," Isaac replied
+solemnly; "he has been sent for himself. He is dead!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+
+"What's that you say?" cried Jim, trying to appear as if he were
+scarcely able to believe that he heard aright. "Do you mean to tell me
+that Mr. Bursfield is dead?"
+
+"Yes, sir," said the old man; "when I went into his study this morning
+to open the shutters, I found him seated at his table in the arm-chair
+stone dead. I ran up at once to Miss Helen's room to tell her, only to
+find that her bed had not been slept in. Me and my wife searched the
+house for her, but she is not to be found anywhere. Oh, sir, what does
+it all mean?"
+
+"It means that Miss Decie came to my house last night at about eleven
+o'clock. Mr. Bursfield's condition was such that she was afraid to
+remain in the house with him any longer. You must have noticed that he
+has been very strange of late?"
+
+"The poor old gentleman has been ailing for some days past," Isaac
+replied. "He always was quick tempered, but for the last month or so he
+doesn't seem to have been able to control himself. Perhaps it isn't
+right for a servant to say it, sir, but there 'ave been times lately
+when I 'ave been afraid that his reason 'ave been a-failing him. There
+was a time when he couldn't make enough of Miss Helen, but lately he's
+been scarce able to speak civil to her. It's a sad thing, sir, a very
+sad thing, especially for a servant that's worked for him true and
+faithful for nigh upon forty years."
+
+"His fit of rage last night must have hastened the end," said Jim. "The
+news you bring will affect Miss Decie very painfully. You had better go
+back and send at once for the doctor; I will return to the Manor House
+and tell Miss Decie."
+
+"I humbly thank you for your kindness, sir," the man replied. "I will do
+what you say, and perhaps you will be kind enough to come over later."
+
+When he had extracted the other's promise he hobbled off, and Jim
+returned to his own house. He found Helen and Alice in the hall,
+standing before the great fireplace in earnest conversation. He bade
+them as cheery a good morning as was possible under the circumstances,
+and when he had done so his sister enquired why his throat was wrapped
+up so closely.
+
+"It's a trifle sore this morning," Jim replied, with some truth. "That's
+all. It will be all right very soon."
+
+He then suggested that they should go in to breakfast. He had determined
+to break the news of Mr. Bursfield's death to Helen after the meal. This
+he did with great gentleness. The shock, however, was a severe one,
+nevertheless, but she did her best to meet it bravely.
+
+"Poor old grandfather," she said after a while, "I always feared that
+his death would come like this. Oh how sorry I am that he should have
+died believing that I had ceased to love him."
+
+"He could not have done that," Jim replied. "In his inmost heart he must
+have known that your affection was one that could never change."
+
+She shook her head, however.
+
+"Will you take me to him?" she enquired, and Jim, feeling that it would
+not be wise not to do so, consented to go with her to the Dower House.
+Side by side they crossed the park by the path they had come to know so
+well, entered the house by the little postern door, and were met in the
+hall by the village doctor whom Isaac had summoned.
+
+"My dear Miss Decie," he said as they shook hands, "will you accept my
+heartfelt sympathy for you in your trouble. I fear it must have been a
+terrible shock."
+
+"It has affected me more than I can say," she answered. "I had no idea,
+though I was aware that his heart was in a very weak state, that the end
+was so near."
+
+"One thing I can tell you if it will make you any happier," said the
+doctor, "and that is, that I am certain his end was a peaceful and
+painless one."
+
+Thanking the doctor for his sympathy, Helen left the room and went
+upstairs to the dead man's bedroom. Jim and the doctor went into the
+study.
+
+"I suppose it will be necessary to hold an Inquest," said Jim, when they
+were alone together.
+
+"I am very much afraid so," the doctor replied. "But it will be quite a
+formal affair. There are two circumstances, however, Mr. Standerton,
+about the affair, that I must confess puzzle me more than a little."
+
+Jim felt himself turning cold. Had he left anything undone, or had he
+made any mistake?
+
+"What are those two circumstances?" he enquired.
+
+"Well, in the first place," said the doctor, "the old gentleman seldom
+went outside the house, not once a month at most, and only then on fine
+days. Yesterday, his man-servant tells me, he did not stir beyond the
+study door. Isaac is certain that he was wearing his carpet slippers at
+dinner time, and also when he looked in upon him before retiring, yet
+when he was found this morning he was wearing boots."
+
+"That is most curious, certainly," said Jim, "but I must confess I fail
+to see anything remarkable in it."
+
+"Not perhaps in the fact of his wearing the boots," said the medical
+gentleman, "but there is another point which, taken in conjunction with
+it, makes one pause to think. On the first finger of the right hand I
+found that the nail had been recently broken, and in a painful fashion.
+What is more, the second and third fingers had smears of blood upon
+them. Now with the exception of the nail to which I have alluded and
+which did not bleed, he had not a trace of a wound on either finger.
+That I am quite certain of, for I searched diligently. Moreover, there
+is not a trace of blood upon the table at which he was seated. And there
+is one thing stranger still."
+
+"What is that?"
+
+"As you are aware, it commenced to rain at a late hour last night.
+Unfortunately I know it, for the reason that I was compelled to be out
+in it. The roads were plastered with mud. Now though Mr. Bursfield, for
+some reason of his own, had put on his boots, he could not have ventured
+outside, for there is not a speck of mud upon them. In that case, why
+the boots, and where did the blood come from?"
+
+"You are perfectly sure that he died of heart disease?"
+
+"As sure as I can be of anything," said the doctor. "Nevertheless, it's
+altogether a mysterious affair."
+
+This also proved to be the opinion of the Coroner's Jury, and as there
+was no one forthcoming to clear it up, a mystery it was likely to remain
+for all time. Had the Coroner and his Jury, however, known the history
+of the bruises under the thick bandage which the young Squire of
+Childerbridge wore round his throat, they would have been enlightened.
+
+As nobody was able to account for anything save the doctor, however, a
+verdict of "Death from Natural Causes" was returned, and three days
+later, Abraham Bursfield was laid to rest with his forefathers in the
+little churchyard, scarcely fifty paces away from the grave of the man
+who had fallen by his hands.
+
+"Jim," said Alice on the evening of the funeral, when they had brought
+Helen back to the Manor House, "I have a proposal to make to you. I am
+going to suggest that I should take Helen away for a few weeks to the
+seaside. The anxieties and sorrow of the past two months have been too
+much for her. I can see that she stands in need of a thorough change. If
+you have no objection to raise, I thought we could start to-morrow
+morning. We shall be away a month, and by that time she should be quite
+restored to health."
+
+"And pray what am I going to do with myself while you are away?" he
+asked. "I gather you mean when you say that you are both going away that
+I am not to accompany you?"
+
+"No; all things considered, I think it would be better not," said Alice.
+"But if you are very good you shall come down to us for two or three
+days during the month. Then if Helen agrees, and I have no doubt you
+will be able to induce her to do so, you could obtain a Special License,
+and be quietly married at the end of that time."
+
+Jim, who regarded it quite possible that the marriage might be postponed
+for some time, clutched eagerly at the straw of hope held out to him,
+and willingly agreed to her suggestion.
+
+"And now one other matter, Alice," he said. "I, on my side, have a
+proposal to make. Whether you will prove as complaisant as I have done
+is another matter."
+
+"What is your proposal?"
+
+"It can be resolved into one word," he answered, "That word is
+Mudrapilla."
+
+He heard her catch her breath, and then she looked pleadingly at him.
+
+"Jim," she whispered, "Oh Jim, dear, you don't mean it, do you?"
+
+"If you and Helen will accompany me, I do," he answered. "Terence I am
+quite sure will not object. Will you agree, my sister?"
+
+The answer she vouchsafed might have meant anything or nothing. It
+was:--
+
+"Only to think of seeing dear old Mudrapilla again!"
+
+So it was settled. Helen and Alice departed next day to a tiny seaside
+place in Devonshire, where Jim was under orders to join them for three
+days at the week end once during their stay. As soon as they were gone,
+he in his turn set off for London. His first act on reaching the City,
+and when he had deposited his bag at the hotel, was to drive to the
+office of the Estate Agent with whom his father had negotiated the
+purchase of Childerbridge. That portly, suave gentleman received him
+with the respect due to a man worth half a million of money, and the
+owner of such a palatial mansion and estate.
+
+"But, my dear sir," he began, when he had heard what James had to say,
+"you surely don't mean to say that you are desirous of selling
+Childerbridge. You have only been there a few months."
+
+"I am most anxious to be rid of the place as soon as possible," Jim
+replied. "As you may suppose it has the most painful recollections for
+me. Besides I am thinking of returning to Australia almost immediately,
+and scarcely know when I shall visit England again."
+
+"In that case I must do the best I can for you," said the other. "At the
+same time I feel that I should warn you that the Estate Market is not in
+a very flourishing condition at present, and that a large number of
+properties that have been placed upon the market have not sold nearly as
+well as they should have done."
+
+"I must take my chance of not getting its value," said Jim. "Find me a
+purchaser and I don't think he will be able to complain that I have not
+met him fairly."
+
+The agent promised to do his best, and for the next fortnight Jim amused
+himself in a lazy fashion travelling about England, purchasing a variety
+of stock for his Australian stations, and longing for the time to come
+when he should be at liberty to present himself in Devonshire. At last,
+however, the day arrived. It was morning when he left London, it was
+evening when he reached his destination. It was winter when he left
+Waterloo, dull, dismal and foggy; when he reached Devonshire it was, in
+his eyes at least, perpetual summer. Both Helen and Alice were at the
+railway station to greet him, and immediately he saw them he realised
+the fact that a change for the better had taken place in his sweetheart.
+The old colour had come back to her cheeks, the old sparkle was in her
+eyes. She greeted him very lovingly, but if possible a little shyly.
+There were such lots of news to hear, and still more to be told, that it
+seemed as if they would never have done talking.
+
+The village had proved itself a delightful little place. It was far from
+the track of the tripper, and had not then been spoilt by the wealthy
+tourist. High cliffs hemmed it in on either side, and the sea broke upon
+the beach of shingles. They returned to their lodgings for tea, a
+charming thatched cottage, within a stone's throw of the primitive
+little jetty, beside which the fisher boats were moored. Afterwards the
+lovers went for a walk upon the cliffs.
+
+"Helen, my darling," said Jim, "I can scarcely realise that it is only a
+fortnight since I saw you. It seems as if years had passed. You can have
+no idea how happy it makes me to see you looking like your own dear self
+once more."
+
+"I could not help being well here," she answered. "Besides, Alice has
+been so good and kind to me. I should be ungrateful indeed were I to
+show no improvement."
+
+But Jim had not brought his sweetheart out on the cliff to discuss his
+sister's good qualities.
+
+"Helen," he said at last, "is it possible for you to be my wife in a
+fortnight's time?"
+
+He took her little hand in his and looked into her eyes. The veriest
+tyro might have seen that the young man was terribly in earnest.
+
+"It might be possible," she said softly, but without looking at him.
+"Are you quite sure you _do_ wish it?"
+
+"If you talk like that I shall go back to London to-night," he answered.
+"You know very well that to make you my wife has been my ambition ever
+since I first saw you."
+
+And then he went on to tell her of his dreams, winding up with this
+question--"I wonder whether you will like Australia?"
+
+"I shall like any place where you may be," she replied.
+
+Could any young woman say more to her lover than that? At any rate Jim
+appeared to be satisfied.
+
+On the Monday following he returned to London to learn from the agent
+that a probable, though unexpected, purchaser had been found for
+Childerbridge. He proved to be a wealthy American, who was not only
+prepared to take over the estate at a valuation, but also to purchase
+the furniture and effects as they stood.
+
+On the day following the receipt of this news, Jim travelled down with
+the would-be buyer, conducted him over the property, and was in a
+position to assure himself, when the other had departed, that
+Childerbridge would be very soon off his hands. To the agent's horror
+the matter was conducted on both sides with unusual promptness, and in
+consequence, when, a fortnight later, Jim stepped into the Devonshire
+train with a special marriage license in his pocket, the sale was as
+good as effected.
+
+The wedding was solemnised next day in the quaint little village church,
+and excited no comment from the humble fisher folk. The only persons
+present were the bride and bridegroom, Alice, and the family lawyer, who
+had travelled down from London expressly to give the bride away. Then,
+no impediment being offered, James Standerton, bachelor, took to himself
+for wife Helen Decie, spinster. The worthy old gentleman pocketed his
+fee with a smiling face, congratulated both parties, and then hurried
+off to another parish to bury a fisherman who had been drowned in the
+bay a few days before. An hour later Jim and Helen started for Exeter,
+_en route_ for Scotland, while Alice accompanied the lawyer, whose
+wife's guest she was to be, to London, to wait there until her brother
+and sister-in-law should return from the north.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Four years have elapsed since that terrible night when Abraham Bursfield
+was found dead in the secret passage leading from Childerbridge Manor
+House to the Dower House in the corner of the Park. Those four years
+have certainly worked wondrous changes in at least four lives. One short
+sketch must serve to illustrate this fact, and to bring my story to a
+conclusion. The scene is no longer laid in England but on a rough Bush
+track on a very hot Australian afternoon. A tall good-looking man is
+jogging contentedly along, apparently oblivious to all that goes on
+around him. It is easily seen that he and his horse are on the very best
+terms with each other. He passes the Pelican Lake, descends into the
+hollow of what was perhaps a continuation of the same lake, and on
+gaining the summit of the next rise finds himself looking upon what, at
+first glance, would appear to be a small village. This village is the
+station of Mudrapilla, and the giant gums which can just be discerned
+some five miles or so to the right, indicate the spot where on a certain
+eventful evening, James Standerton first came face to face with Richard
+Murbridge. This same James Standerton, for it is he who is the rider of
+the horse, increases his pace as soon as the station itself comes into
+view. He passes the men's quarters, the store, the blacksmith's shop,
+and finally approaches a long and extremely comfortable looking
+one-storied residence, whose broad verandahs are confronted by orange
+groves on the one side, and the brave old river on the other. As he
+rides up one of the overseers emerges from the barracks, and hastens
+forward to greet his employer, and to take his horse from him. That
+overseer is no less a person than our old friend, Terence O'Riley,
+looking just the same as ever. Jim gives him a few directions concerning
+the sheep in the Mountain Paddock, which he has visited that afternoon,
+and then dismounts and strolls on through the gates, and up the garden
+path towards the house. In the broad verandah a lady is seated in a long
+comfortable chair, and playing beside her on the floor is a chubby
+urchin upwards of two years of age. Helen, for as may be supposed, it is
+none other than she, rises on hearing her husband's step on the path,
+and catching up the infant brings him forward to greet his father with a
+kiss.
+
+"I didn't expect you for half-an-hour at least, dear," she says, when
+she in her turn has kissed him. "The boy and I have been patiently
+awaiting your arrival. Did you meet the mail?"
+
+"I did," he answered, "and I opened the bag upon the road. There are two
+letters for you, one I see is from Alice."
+
+"And you?" she asks, as she takes the letters from him.
+
+"Well, I had one of some importance," he replied. "It is from
+Fairlight--my old solicitor in England, you remember him--and what do
+you think he tells me?"
+
+Helen, very naturally, could not guess.
+
+"Well, he says that Childerbridge Manor was burnt down by fire three
+months ago and totally destroyed. The American, the owner, is going to
+rebuild it at once on a scale of unparalleled magnificence."
+
+There was a pause for a few moments, then Helen said:--
+
+"What do you think about it, Jim?"
+
+"All things considered I am not sorry," he answered. "Yet, perhaps, I
+should not say that, for it brought me the greatest blessing a man can
+have."
+
+"And that blessing?" she asked innocently.
+
+"Is a good wife," he answered, stooping to kiss her. After which he
+disappeared into the house.
+
+"And pray what does Alice say?" he asked, when he returned a few minutes
+later.
+
+"She gives us such good news," Helen replied. "She and Jack will spend
+Christmas with us. She declares she is the happiest woman in the world.
+Jack is a paragon."
+
+In case the reader should fail to understand who Jack is, I might remark
+that he is no less a person than Jack Riddington, the overseer,
+mentioned at the commencement of my story, and who was supposed to be
+Jim's best friend. Alice, after they were engaged, admitted that she had
+always entertained a liking for him, while it was well known that he had
+always been head over ears in love with her. During Jim's absence in
+England he had come into a large sum of money, had purchased a station
+one hundred and fifty miles south of Gundawurra, had married Alice
+within six months of her return, and was now living a life of undoubted
+felicity.
+
+"They may be happy," said Helen, "but they can never be as happy as we
+are. That is quite certain, husband mine."
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Childerbridge Mystery, by Guy Boothby
+
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