2
THE TIMES, NEW BLOOMFIELI), PA. MA11C1I B, 1881.
TRACKING A CRIMINAL,
Paul Webber, Tha Detective.
CONCLUDED.
YY " Me, sir," Bald a man, push
ing forward.
" Was not tills one of the witnesses
for the prosecution V"
" Yes, my lord," replied the speaker;
"I'm the porter at Taggart's Inn. I
see It all now, my lord. On the night
when Mr. Forbes was murdered, I had
a few friends, and I daresay I did not
keep my eye on the gate as well as usual.
Whoever killed the gentleman, I never
saw him, and I never saw this man, the
prisoner. But about nine that night,
Mr. Bresslnalr came running to ine, and
he says, Russell, here's Mr. Widglng
ton in a fit, I think. At all events, he
is at the foot of the staircase, Insensible.'
We took him up stairs to his room
between us, and a doctor was sent for,
who said he had received a fearful blow
on the right temple. But when he
came to, he said that he had not been
struck ; that he had had a sort of fit,
and thut the mark upon his temple must
have been done by an edge of the stairs
us he fell.
"The doctor, however, still main
tained that It was a blow. The next
morning, the awful discovery of Mr.
Forbes, dead, drove Mr. Wldlngton
clean out of my mind. He was in bed
for quite a week ; and when he got up,
he left Taggart's Inn for the seaside.
Since then he has had his furniture
moved away. He himself has never re
turned. But to the last he maintained
that he had not been struck, although
he gave orders that no stranger should
be allowed to approach him."
" That's the man," said Langley.
"He fell upon the stairs, and thank
God I haven't got murder on my con
science I"
The judge now conversed with the
clerk sitting below him, the counsel
whispered together, and the public
began to buzz.
Meanwhile, Langley never once took
his eyes off Suuflower, who was smiling
and talking to the gentleman at her
side.
But when the judge spoke, the si
lence in court was positively intense.
" The evidence just offered," said the
pudge, " Is of so remarkable a nature,
that I find myself Incapable at once of
deciding upon what course to take.
Gentlemen of the jury, the case is ad
journed until to-morrow, when I think
it very likely that you will be discharged
without asking you to give any verdict
whatever."
On the following day, the counsel for
the Crown withdrew the indictment;
and therefore, Langly being returned to
prison, had another chance of breaking
jail, and of again seeking Sunflower's
presence.
The woman herself decided to escape
to America. Nothing was more certain
than that she would never again see him.
She felt that she having tried to destroy
him, he would show her scant mercy.
CHAPTER XVI.
On the day following the conclusion of
that remarkable trial, Webber once more
went to Margaret's house. He went In
the daytime, with the sun shining, and
to the frout door.
He was congratulated by the landlady
of the house on his re-appearance, and
an inquiry was made as to where he had
been.
He made some feeble answer, and
passed up-Btairs.
He tapped with offensive loudness at
the door; and when Ellen Fotherlngay
appeared, be said to the astonished girl
"Tell your coutiu that I want to see
her."
"Come in, Mr. Webber; I'll tell my
cousin."
And now Margaret entered the room.
Webber was still standing.
Without asking him to sit down, she
said, Why have you come. I never
expected to see' you again. I come to
tell you that Langley did not kill Gra
ham Forbes !"
" Did not kill him " Why, he con
fessed to the murder I"
' He confessed o what he supposed
was a murder. He thought he had killed
a man; he only stunned him. This
man lived in Taggart's Inn, and this
affair took place the same evening as the
aBsassInatiou of Mr. Forbes. I need tell
you no more. You can see how the mis
take has arisen. It was only when the
counsel began talking of the way in
which the deceased bad been stabbed,
that Langley knew there was an error,
for he had simply used his fist against
his victim. Here ls the paper will you
read itr"
. She took the paper he held towards
her, and very slowly she read the partic
ulars of the strange turn the trial bad
taken.
Having completed the perusal of the
report, k he drifted into deep thought,
and the paper rustled to the ground.
Webber picked it up, folded It care
fully, and slowly put It into bis pocket.
"So we must begin again!" he said,
" I made a foolish mistake, I admit, and
I hftve been wandering upon a false
track, But in recognizing the false
track, I came back to the old one, which
is assuredly the right one."
"The right one)"' she replied, be
ginning to comprehend the man's drift.
" Yes, miss, the right road ; for Inas
much as Langley is not the guilty man,
I am the more Justified in again sus
pecting Austin Slvory."
" Sir, the gentleman you are pleased
to suspect, is far, far above your sus
picious." " My suspicions reached him before,"
said the 'officer, cruelly, "and I flatter
myself that they will reach him again.
What change has taken place in the
man that his position so utterly differs
from that In which you placed him a
few short weeks since V"
"I know him now to be an honest
gentleman," she replied, with energy.
"I have come to know him; and in
knowing Mr. Slvory, I esteem him. Do
not cast upon him the shadow of your
suspicion of your evil thought 1"
" Woman," replied Webber, exaspera
ted to see Margaret defend Austin with
all the energy of her vigorous nature,
" from the moment I have entered this
room, you appear to have taken a pleas
ure in glviug me to understand that I
am nothing but a police-officer that
there is nothing of the man, much less
gentleman, In my composition. So be
it. But the detective only knows his
duty. He has been told to find out a
certain criminal, and without reference
to any Interest a woman may feel for
him, or the love she may have bestowed
upon him."
" She leaped from her seat, aiid said,
" Leave the house 1"
For some time Margaret was quite un
able to recover her self-possession. How
ever, suddenly she took a resolution.
She had previously assured herself that
Webber had quitted the house, and she
had given orders that he should not be
admitted again.
No one thought of the key of the gar
den gate, which he still possessed.
Her resolution took the shape of a
letter, which was thus worded :
"Do not come to see me during the
day, but be here at seven this evening. I
think I have some good news that you
Will be very glad to hear."
" Margiieiuta."
This letter was written and addressed
to Austin Slvory.
She then said to her cousin, " I wish
you would carry this" letter yourself to
Mr. Slvory. Take a cab, and be as quick
as you can."
When Ellen returned, she said, " Will
you help me pack up V"
" Why, Margaret V Where are we
going?"
"Faraway to Italy."
"And when V"
" To morrow morning."
" I am In complete amazement I"
" You will soon learn all. I am going
out. If anyboby calls while I am away,
say that I shall not be able to see any
body to-day. As for to-morrow, let to
morrow take care of itself."
She then left the house, called a cab,
and drove to her lawyer's. With him
she had a long, and evidently Important,
interview.
About half-past six, night being now
come, she returned home. The spy
quitted his cab near Westminster Bridge.
Five minutes after he had opened the
garden gate, crawled up the staircase,
was once more in the balcony, and
watching her.
As the clock of the Houses of Parlia
ment sounded seven, the drawing-reom
door opened, and Austin Slvory ap
peared, looking radiant with happiness.
"What is the news?" he asked, ad
vanolug. "I am glad to hear anything
that you say ; but what is the great
newer""
"I am going to leave London to
leave England for Italy."
" Let us go he said.
" Will you follow me V" she asked.
" Can you ask the question 1"' he re
plied, kissing her hands. .
She looked fixedly at him, read the
deep love he had for her In his beseech,
ing eyes, and said, " Bit down ; I have
to talk with you very seriously."
" I hear you," he said, as he seated
himself upon a stool at her feet.
"I have Committed," said Bhe, "a
great fault a fault even greater than I
thought It could be ; and I have atoned
for it with bitter tears. But I do not
seek to make you responsible for this
fuult, and it will never be mentioned
after this day between us. I trust my.
self to your wealth of love ; and it will,
I am certain, be happy work for you to
make me forget a wretched past."
"All my existence belongs to you,"
he said.
" I do not doubt it. And what would
become of me if you Was gone V I have
no longer even the right to think of the
past."
" Do not remember, but look forward,
and hope.
" I woald I could as readily forget my
past."
1 And now a desire to open his heart to
tell her the great and terrible secret of
his life took possession of him.
She had spoken of her past life, and
he owed it to her to speak of his. There
could be no secrets between them they
loved each other so much. Before she
accepted his name, he told himself that
she must know the circumstances which
placed a black spot upon that name.
Who would be merciful to him if not
Margherita 1 Who so naturally as Mar.
gherlta could wipe away his tears, con
sole him, and calm him with sweet
words t
" Margherita, I have a secret ; may I
tell It to you r" he said. .
The man in the balcony crouched
lower down, but, at the same time, more
closely to the window-panes.
" May you tell it?" she replied, can
didly. " You know you may."
" 'Tie a secret of my remorse remorse
which tears my heart in twain."
"Remorse?" cried Margherita, rais
ing her head.
" Listen !" he continued, his voice be
traying a strange, wild, terrible exalta
tion. "Margherita, If some one told you
that the man you loved him to whom
you have given life, whose name you
consent to bear, If you were told that
he had committed a terrible deed even
a crime what"
"What should I think ? Austin,
would not believe that person."
" Yet, if it were true if in a moment
of rage, fury, he had dared mortally to
strike a human being"
She turned deadly pale, and shrank
from him.
" And if," he cried, " by a fearful fa
tality, that wound brought death with
it-"
" Be Blleut be silent 1" she cried in
stinctively. " No," he walled, " I have begun, and
I will make an end to it. This secret ls
killing me. You must condemn me, or
absolve me.
Again she called upon me to be silent
but he could hear no longer; all his
senses were enwrapped in his pleading
voice.
He was now on his feet, his bauds be
fore him, striding up and down the
room, in agony.
" Listen," he cried, "and know me.
Calm as I usually am, I am sometimes
so little master of myself that I have no
self-control whatever. I had dined, on
that particular night, at Vercy's, in Re
gent Street, and as I was much tor
mented and worried about money affairs,
I am afraid I drank more than I was ac
customed to take. Dinner ended, I
called upon a gentleman, with whom I
had already quarreled over money mat
ters. I owed him a large Bum of money.
I was unable to meet my engagements,
and I wished to inform him of the fact.
I found him at home, and alone. He re
ceived me very harshly. I explained to
him the serious position in which I was
placed, and told him that I was fearfully
pushed for cash. I prayed him to be
good enough not to issue a writ against
me. I urged, 1 You will completely ruin
me, and also the little credit which yet
remains to me in the city and by which
I live.' He replied that it mattered lit
tle to him whether I lived or didn't. I
entreated him, and he remained quite in
sensible to my prayers. Thereupon,
raised to a pitch of exasperation, I cried,
'You'll find that you will cause a serious
disaster! Rather than be humiliated,
pursued by legal processes, I will destroy
myself 1"
"'You!" he replied, in a mocking
tone; "you kill yourself.' If you think
fit, here is a sharp poniard, qulteat your
service. I offer It to you as a present,
quite certain that you will turn It to no
bad use!"
"Quite mechanically, I took the
knife, but my blood was by this time
coursing through my head. The wine I
had drank mastered me. I no longer
supplicated my creditor. I complained
of his rigor, and reproached him for his
harshness. Harshness 1' he cried,
there I here are your precious bills!
Take them I want to have nothing
more to do with you I But I shall have
the right to say over in the city that you
area rogue !' 'A rogue!' I cried. I
flung myself upon him, and be struck
me in the face. Thereupon, mad with.
rage, I struck him In turn, but unfor
tunately, with the knife be had placed
in my bands. He uttered one cry, and
fell, while I cast the blade from me, and
fled. So it all happened, and this I
swear I"
Austin Slvory stopped for a moment,
overcame the bursting sobs which were
stifling him, and continued.
" I believed that I had only slightly
wounded blm, but I had killed him
Some days afterwards, I received a letter
from Mr. Caellem, the magistrate, re
questing me to call at his court, where I
saw blm. At first, I determined to con
fess all, convinced that no Jury would
nave round me guilty of murder. I was
unfortunate rather than criminal. I bad
caused death, but I had no intention of
doing so. Suddenly I remembered the
bills of exohange that I had refused to
take, and which he had forcibly thrust
into a pocKec or my overcoat. There
they were, and they would condemn me,
if I told all, for they gate a motive for
murder. I felt that I should be looked
upon as a common murderer, Who killed
for money. Now, Margherita, speak ;'
he continued, advancing towards her,
but not daring to look at her, " Speak (
you know my crime. Do you absolve
me?"
Her face was hidden in her hands.
She made no reply.
The silence affrighted him. He placed
his hand Upon her forehead, and tried to
raise her head.
Then he drew back in affright, for her
face was livid.
Two heavy tears were rolling down
her cheeks.
" Am I, then, more guilty even than
I thought myself? Will you never for
give me?"
She stood up with an immense effort,
and after much useless attempt, she said,
" The Margaret whom, in his last words,
he ordered to avenge him, was myself.
I was to have been the wife of Graham
Forbes I"
For a few moments no word was said.
Their agony was beyond description.
At last, in a deadly voice, he said,
" You have avenged him !"
Another pause, and he said, "Good
bye forever!"
He staggered from the room.
He looked back as he went - over the
threshold.
She was on her knees, praying.
A minute, afterwards, there was a
great shrieking and calling in Park
Street, outside the house within which
Margaret was still praying.
" I say," cried the coachman of a pri
vate carriage, which had stopped, "that
the man threw himself under the
horses."
" Nonsense !" said a man who had
been looking on ; "the gentleman had
just left that house," pointing. " You
were driving too fast, and you knocked
him down."
"Is he dead?"
" No ; but both his arms are broken."
" Poor dear gentleman !" here said a
voice from within the carriage. " I
assure you my man is very steady ; he
has been with me thirty years. I am
Lord Arlington. Pray be good enough
to place the gentleman in my carriage,
and I will drive with him to the hos
pital."
" No," said a voice, "he belongs to
that house. Some one knock at the
door."
The next minute the occupier of the
dwelling came out, and recognized the
Bufferer.
" Good gracious ! it's Mr. Austin Sl
vory pray bring him into the house,
gentlemen."
About this time Lord Arlington had
busied himself very much concerning a
police-detective of the name of Webber.
The newspapers could not make out the
mystery. The writers told their readers
how Mr. Austin Slvory, leaving a cer.
tain house in Park Street, Westminster,
had Imprudently attempted to oross the
road, and must have slipped upon a
piece of orange peel, or other dangerous
substance. At all events, the horses
and wheels of a carriage went over the
unfortunate gentleman. The owner of
the carriage happened to be in it, for he
was being driven to the Opera ; and this
gentleman the Earl of Arlington
showed great anxiety about the sufferer
the more especially when he had
heard from the landlady of the house In
Park Street who the gentleman was.
Mr. Slvory was taken up stairs, where
Miss May ter was found in a condition
apparently of torpor. The presence,
however, of the injured gentleman, who
was much blcod-stalned, recalled her to
herself, and she at once busied herself
about the still senseless patient.
It was at this point that a strange
gibbering was heard at the window, and
the attention of those present being
drawn to the point, they saw a terrified,
white face looking in.
Fear for some time prevented any
thing being done. The window was at
last opened, when it was found that the
individual in question was quite insane.
"It is Miss Varli's brother," here said
the woman of the house.
When suddenly, Lord Arlington utter
ed a sound of anguish and cried, " Paul,
my poor lad Paul, do you not know
me?"
He looked, smiled, and then said, in a
low voice, " Hush ! we shall hunt him
down."
He was quite mad.
Last November there died, in a private
asylum for the insane, a patient who
was distinguished as the richest in the
establishment. He died of sheer bodily
exhaustion.
He was quite harmless and pleasant
and was possessed of but one mania
that of listening, day after day, at key
holes, or biding in a corner, or with his
eyes at a chance crack in any wood
work. Thus he would pass entire days.
At the Inquest held on the body as
aa inquest is ueld upon all people who
die in publloestablltliments the doctor
said : " Ills name was Paul Webber, and
It i8upposed he fell a victim to over-
teal in his profession. He was found
mad in the balcony of a house partly
occupied by a lady who had employed
him to search for the murderer of a
gentleman, a gentleman to whom she
was to have been married. How he
found bis way to the balcony, or why
he was there, has never been ascertain
ed. He was a favorite protege of the
late Lord Arlington, who left him about
a thousand a year. To 'the last, the
nobleman believed he would recover,
and left this sum of money that his
protege might be in easy circumstances,
when he was re-possessed of his reason,"
Three months after that fatal night
when Austin Bivory's arms were broken
under the wheels of Lord Arlington's
carriage, a beautiful woman sat watch
ing by the bedside of a still young man,
whose arms were bound, and whose face
showed great marks of care and sorrow.
" You have passed through the puri
fication of suffering, Austin ; and I have
learned to love you once more while
nursing yon. I repeat, I will be your
wife. The future must conceal all the
past."
"I wonder whether I did throw my
self under the carriage wheels or not.
Whichever way it may have been, I
bless the chance, for it brought you back
to me." .
" Never to go again, Austin ; and we
will leave this place and find a lovely,
quiet spot.where no one knows us,where
we know no one. We will do all we can
for these about ' us, and live a sweet,
peaceful, happy life. I recall that it has
been said, ' To bim that has much loved,
much shall be forgiven.' "
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