The Lone

fl" COPyR.QHTCP IÖ94 6r TC AUTHOf CHAPTER VIII. The drama of "The Prodigal Son" was euacted over again when Irettirned to Marshminster. My aunts had greatly resented niy sudden departure for Paris and announced that they this time intended to keep me with them for sorne weeks. I had 110 objection to this arrangement, as I anticipated a long and laborious task in ferreting out evidence against Felix. The first tliing to be done was to learn all that had taken' place in my absence, and the inforniation was ably supplied by Aunt Jane, seconded by her sister. I iuquiredabout Briarfleld and his fiancee. "Bellin Hall is to bo shut up next week," said Aunt Jane. "Tho Bellins are going to town and with them Mr. Briarfield. ' ' "I wonder they staid here so long wheu the season was on in London, ' ' said Aunt Sophia, "but it was all that foolish Mi's. Bollin. She chose to cocsider herself ill and so insisted upon remaining here. Now she can't resist the attractions of town lii'e any longer and goes next week. " "Sho has tó arrauge about the wedding, Sophia. You kuow it takes place in Jiily. í wonder if Mr. Telix Briarfiold vvill be back in time' to be best man. ' ' ' 'That I eau safely say is inipossible, " said I dryly. "Uut why?" exolaimed boih the old ladies, scentiiig newa. "Well, he has gone to Italy and froni there goes to the east, ' ' I answered, uuwilling to teil the truth. "I don't see how he can retarn in time for the wedding if it takes place in July. " My female relatives looked significantly at one another. "What did I teil you, Sophia?" said Juvt Jane, in a tone of subdued tri-umpl. "Yus, sister, you are right, " sighed Sophia, shaking her head. ' 'Poor youug inan ! I thought myself he loved Olivia. ' ' " Who loved Olivia?' ' I asked sharply. "Felix Briarfield, " said Aun t Jane. "When his brother went to Aruerica, j he was always with her and no doubt loved her dearly. I can searcely wonder i at that, as she is so beautiful a girl. But he behaved very well, and when j Francia came back went to the aient. "He was unable to bear the sight of hisrother's happiness, ' ' said Aunt phia sentimentally. "Poor young man! i I have no doubt his heart is broken. He actually left Marshminster before his brother arrived f rom America, so as to ! spare himself the painful sight of their happiness. ' ' I saw by this conversation that my -surmise was correct. Folix had fallen in love with Olivia while his brother was in America, and selfishly determined uot to give her up had devised the idea of passing himself off as Francis. With this in his mind he had gone to Paris and pretended to stay there, then j peared to Marshminster as Fraucis, j leging an eailier return from Chile as ! an excuse. Whe:i Fraucis really returned, Felix asked him to be at the Fen inn f) as to rid himself of his brother before he could sae Oliv::. Whether he intended to kill Francis ■or to merely expJaiu matters I could not tea, but at all events D'raücis had been ninrclorod, and I firmly believed that Félix was moraliy gailty of the crime. The supprossion of the letters, the substitution ot' himself as Francis and the ■dexterous marmer in which he had rid himself of the corpse, according to Merrick's theory, all sliowed me that I had a dangerous and reckless man to deal with. But after the clever way in which he had bafiled me in Paris by resuming his name I was prepared for any villainy at his hands. He had committed himself so f ar that he could not draw back and was compelled to follow crime by crime in order to bolster up his position. He was going to town with tho evident intention of cvading me. Doubtless he thonght that, deceived by the episode at the Hotel des Etrangers, I had quite abandoned all idea of meddling in the affair. But for Merrick I should certainly have done so. Now that Merrick saw the matter in the same light as I did I was determined to go on, but resolved to give no hint of this to Felix. When he left Marshminster, I could pursue my inquiries at leisure. Already I had been too rash in revealing my intentions, for had I not mentioned my journey to Paris Felix would not have been put on his guard and baffled me so adroitly. I had at least gained one important piece of information, which in itself was sufflcieut to break off the match. The passenger list of the Copiapo proved conclusively that Fiaucishadnot reached England before the 6th of June, and this shown to Olivia would show that Felix was passing himself off as her lover. With such proof I could stop the marriage immediatfily, but preferred to wait until I gained further evidence implicatiug him in the murder of his brother. I believed Merrick's theory to i be true and quite expected to find that Felix had ridden out to the Fen inn for the purpose of hiding his brother's body in one of the bog holes. "By the way, " I asked Aunt Jane as i we parted for the night, "how does Miss Bellin look? Like a happy bride, eh?" "By no means, " replied my aunt sol. mnly, "She looks ill and miserable. ' But tjiat 1 know tins iu ariTiigo with Francis is a love match I should say she disliked the idea of becoming his wife. " "No doubt, " thought I, "uo doubt1 Olivia mistrusts Felix already. " I said good night to my elderly ! tive and went off to bed. Instead of turning in, I Jighted my pipo and leaned ! out of the window, thinking deeply. Could it be possible that Olivia had discovered the iinposture? If so, why did she tamely submit to marry a man who:n she must know was guilty of his brother's and her lover's death? I over, if she was assured of this, she must also have condemned the deception at the Hotel des Etrangers. Her conduct seemed strange, yet I could not briug myself to believe that she knew the truth. If she did, she was as bad as I Felix. "She must think that he is really ' Francis and that F.elix is in Paris," I thought. "Surely she would not ingly go to the altar with a man whom i she knows to be a villain. No I He has i thrown dust in her eyes and made her j believe what he pleases. I must save ' the poor girl from such a fate. Perhaps j iii spite of outwjird semblance she ! stinctively feels that Felix is not cis. Women have their instincts. I ! know of no other reason why she should : ! look pais and ill. " My cogitations were cut short by ; Auiit Jane knocking at the door and i telling me not to waste the candles. I i j was nsod to these little idiosyncrasies ' of my auuts, so I answered that I was ! going to bed and put out the light at j once, but the rest of the night was passed in a wakefui state. Truly I had a i bad attack of detective fever. For the next few days I kept very quiet, as I was unwilling to rouse the i suspicions of Felix. At length my aunts, who entertained no suspicion of my I signs, informed me that he had gone to London with Mrs. and Miss Bellin. The coast now beiug olear, I ventured out and began to work out my carefully laid plans. In the first place, I went to Bob Fundy to hire a norse. It was my intentioa j to ride out to the Fen inn and ! ly examine the rooms, as I fancied i lix might have hidden the corpse in the i house. From Fundy I gaiaed a piece of unexpected information. "Want to ride to the Fen inn, sir, " said he, scratching his head. "Why, ] whatever's coine over that old ruin? Every one seems to be going there. ' ' "What do you mean, Fundy?" "First Mr. Briarfield and now you," said Fundy. "Biest if I eau understand it, though, to be sure, he rode there at night, and you go in the daytime. " "FLi Mr. Briarfield go to the Fen inn at oght?" I asked, seeing I was on the eve of learning something important. I had not forgotten Merrick's theory. "That he did, sir. He rode there two nights over a week ago. ' ' "Curious, " said I, with assurned carelessness. "It is not au attractive place. I dare say he only rode a little way out of the town. ' ' "No, sir," said Fundy decisively. "He went to the Fen inn. He told me so himself, as I noticed his horse was done up. Look here, " added Fundy, opening his daybook. "See, on the lOth of June he had a horse aud on the 1 lth. Both at night and did not return till midnight. " I mounted my hrrse and roeïe away, thinking doeply. If Felix had goue to the Fen inu on the lOth, then I feit sr.re that he had actually murdered his brother. Hitherto I believed that Strent was the guilty party, but now, thanks to the evidence of Fundy, I saw that Felix had committcd the crime. He had also ridden to the inn on the 1 lth in order to conceal the body. Merrick's theory was thus proved to be correct. Link by link I was putting the ehain togethtr. I had proved that Francis had not arrived in England till the6th of June and so made certain of the identity of Felix. I had discovered that Felix was at the inn on the fatal night, and also that ke had coucealed the body. Now I wished to discover how the murder was committed. The Fen inn was quite deserted and as ovil looking as ever. In spite of my searching, I discovered no signs of the dead body of my friend. The clothes, which I had seeu folded on the chair beside the bed, were also gone, and there was not the slightest thing lef t to excite suspicion. "He must have hidden the body in the marshes, " I thought af ter a vain search. 'Til see if he has left a trail. " Struck by the feasibility of this idea, I went out at the front door and examined the ground. It was inoist and muddy owing to the incessant percolation of marshy water. The path leadiug from Marshminster was marked coufusedly with horses' hoofs, so it was quite useless to look for a trail in that direction. Looking from the door of the inn, the path trended to the right, but on the left, whore there was no path, I noticed hoof irtarks; also that the lush grasa wás trodden down. "Here is the trail, " said I, monnting my horse. "Ha took the body to tbe left." . Foliowing the trail carefully, and it was plainly discernible ov;ii:g to daiapness of the ground, I rode straight out for some considerable distance. The spungy marsh jetted black water nuder the feet of the horse, and it seemed as I though I were iu danser of being bogged. ' STèvtÉrïaeless, as the írail coriHnaüu in front of me, I followed it. Where Felix coiild go 1 couïd follow. He had evidautly placed tie body of his brother across his saddle and ridden with it in this diiectiou. I wondered at the nerve of the Rcoundrel. Unexpectedly the trail turaed off at right angles and led toward a broad pond of water slimy and sullen in appearance. On the verge of this the trail ceased, aud then I knew that I saw before me the tomb of Francis Briarfleld. Into these black waters the murderer had hurled his victini, and doubtless if the pool were dragged the body would be found. This I determined to do before taking fürther steps in the matter. "Then, Mr. Folix Briarfield, " said I, ridiiig back to the inn, "then we will see how mach your astmtenees will avail you. ' ' It was late in the afternoon when 1 got back to the inu, and tlio cold vapors of the marsh made me shiver. As I ani subject to rhoumatism, I was afraid of future suü'erings, so, having some brandy in my fla:-k, determined to light a fire for th: mrpose of heating water and comfor'. ing myself with a hot drink. Thero was plenty of fuel about, and I had matches in my pocket. I begau to rake the dead ashes out of the dining room grate when I disturbed an oblong piece of flint, which rattled onto the hearth. All ideas of lighting a fire were forgotteu as I stood with that in my hand. It was an arrowhead. I handled it gingerly, for I knew well that it was steeped in poison, and that with this Fraucis had been inurdered. I saw at cüoe what had taken place. Felix had arrived and had gone up to hia brother's room. Holding the flint with the razorlike edge outward, he had shaken hands with his brother and so wounded hini. A quarrel had ensued, but Fraucis, not thinking he was poisoned, nevor dreamed of his danger. Theu he had tallen dead, and Felix, placing the body ou the bed, had returned to. the dining room and flung the poisoncd srrowhead into the fire. The most astonnding thing was that I had not been awakened by the outcry of Francis, but I suppose I was quite worn out by my walk and in too deep a eleep. Nevertheless it was strange that I had hêavl iip.ither the arrival of Ftiix nor the stiuggle wliich must have taken place. PossibJy I had been lirugged. With this damning piece of evideace in my pocket, wrapped up in paper, for I feared the pcison í'or ruyself, I rode back to Marshminster, woiidering how Felix had hit upon such a terribiy ingeuious fashion of removing his brother. So f ar as I knew, he had not traveled much aud would not be likely to have any savage weapons in his possession, yet he could not have owned a flint ar rowhead in the ordinary ran of things. This puzzled me greatly. I returned the horse to Fundy without making any remarks, and thoroughly tired out went early to rest, still puzzling over that arrowhead. Before dawn I solved the rnystery. In the entrance hall of the Beilins' house a perfect arcnory of savage weapons was arrayed against the wall. There were clubs, arrows, bows, mats and grinning heathen gods. Doubtless Felix, knowing the aiTows to be poisoned, had taken the flint head of oue in order to put his brotber to death. As early as I could I went to Bellin Hall to satisfy myself on this point. The hall was a show place, as it possessed a fine picture gallery, so I had little difficulty in gaining admission from the woman in charge. Requesting perniission to examine the warriorlike implements patterued against the hall wall, I narrowly observed the arrows. It was as I thought - one of the arrowa was missing, and Felix had stolen it in order to kill his brother. I did not take much interest in the pictures after such a discovery, and the talk of the housekeeper feil unheeded on my ears. Finally I gave her a sovereign and left the house, impatient to be alone and think over my discoveries. I had now sufficient evidence to prove that Felix had killed Francis and sufficient to warrant having him arrested. If the pool were dragged, the body would be found with the ragged wound of the flint arrowhead on the right hand. I could prove the finding of the arrowhead in the ashes and how it had been taken from Bellin Hall. Fundy could give evideuce to Felix having taken a horse to the Fen inn on the lOth and also on the llth. And altogether the evidence against Felix was clearly sufficieut to hang him. Still I did nothing rashly, and before taking further proceedings returned to London to consult Merrick. His advice, I knew, would be judicious.