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k a Man Sowetfil fir *4

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k a Man Sowetfil fir *4 pBy WILLIAM LE QU CHA PTE Li XXI. What Occurred in Dean's Yard, West- minster. Thai s.tjaa evening, attired in my wo.MoR clothes, washed Wins ice's chambers ra King- sUeet at tb& boot whoa 1 knew bis habit was to re'nrn to draw for dinner. From live o'ciocJitiil half-past seven I lingered frr tho vicinity.; ibeu returning to my botel in the Acfelphi I there met Hadd, whom I sent round to the man's chambers to enquiie when he would be in. Half-an-hour tauec my valet letarned with the iaiormutioTt that Mr Winsioe was not of town. and waa cot exacted back f(oX sevsial days. lIe had gOLe to the north, his ixuv.'i believed, bat he had no instructions to J'oewstud letters. Gone nort-h t Find lie discovered Tibbie's wboze&bctate aurl gone afivc ber ? Mine was a tantalising position, auable to return to tny own rocme, for fear that Winsloe and P.uham thoo.id di&cover that 1 was ittm alive. They believed me to be £ ead—that 1 had ¡ foao home," aa White leather reported. ffhat night 1 spent sev.unt bourn wandering tbiOagb those streets behind Kegent-itreet, try- ing to recognise the hawat> with the fatal ataii3. All. however* was to no parposo, 1 bad, I think, mistaken the direction which we had taken. Tired and worn out I ate supper abont 10o'clock in a smalt and ritthcn uncleanly little foreign restaurant in Dean-streot, rind ihen returned to the Adelpbi, where 1 sat a long time in my toots overlooking the Embankment and ihe Thames, host in the mazes of rayatety thai 00110 presented themselves. Wbcte was Eric Domville ? Whore waa Ellice Winsloe? Where was JohD Paiham, alias Hum piit&Ts ? Tibbie evidently knew a grea.8 deal wore than »be wo til d admit. She bid sold mo tba6 my fiiend was in Paris. How could she know ii she held no communication with anyoaa ? No -the more I reflected the more evident did it become that alta was playing a donbie game. As 1 sue at the window with the dark deserted gardens below uic, the row of gas Wnpa and ibe widt. rivor before me, I tried to analyse my real feelings towards the dainty little love of my yontb. Sbe was a woman guilty of the teriibje crime of murder, and yet I bad promised to sbield her because she had declined that her enemies intended to crushher. Had I really acted rightly ? [ asked myself. Tinlv I was endeavonring to defeat the ends of justice. Nevertheless, I recollected her wild, earnest appeal to IDe, now the had fallen npon her knees and implored my aelp ani protection. I remembered, too, that in her desperation the woo Id have taken her own !>fe rather tban face her enemies. What-did it nil mean ? So extraordinary had been the sequence of tmazing eventH that my mind failed to grasp the line significance of all tbe facte. Of one truth, however, I was well aware, samely, that the doll life of work-a-day Cam- berwell had workld a wonderful change in my little fiiend. She was moia sedate, moie com- posed, more womanly, while her calnrmc^s accentuated her sweetness of manner. Yet why j\d the wish to pOle as a married woman 1 What did she fear beyond the cxposuie of her srime ? She was fascinating, I own that. But npon bur baanty and grace was resting that dark, gruesome shadow, the shadow of the sword of retribntion, which hang over her, and from which she, alas, wonld never escape. What did the lamily think of her prolonged absence ? What did the police think ? I knew well that both old Lady Scaicliff and Jack were leaving no- stone aninrmid to try to discover ber, while Wydcombe bad left word with Budd that as scon as ever I letornei he nrifjted to see me. I won'd dearly have liked tobave Kone round to Curzou-streat, hot by doing to i saw that Jack would know I had been there, Ind he might mention my visit to Winsloe, who, Without d jubt, was still his friend. r.„ „My cipher advertisement had bpen so snceess- !ui that, after due consideration, I resolved to toy and draw White Feather," and ascertain the idsntity of that mysierioas persot:. Therefore I jat at the tabic, aud oftor half-ail- hour, had redoced to the cipher the following announcement. "To White Feather.-Maist see yon. Veiy argent. Meet me to-night at entrance to Dsan a Yard, Westminster, at nine, without fsi!.—3." If White Feather was in London be or she would certainly iceejx the apcpininient with Sybil. only fenftwas that she might see the paper op in, Newcastle and detect the forgery. Before tniduiftht 1 handed in the advertifment at the newspaper office in Fleet-street, and next morning had the satisfaction of seeing it in print. The 'da> I "Dent in cotfipsrajiya ijleness. Budd. to whom I explained my strange conduct by saying thtt 1 was still sugared in waiching someone, called with my letters and executed several commissions for me. I wiote to Mrs William Mot ton, at the Poet Office at Carlisle, and spent the alterncon reading in tho hotel. William Mot ton, at the Poet Office at Carlisle, and spent the alterncon reading mtho hotel. Eudd lisd instructions to let mo know imme- diately anything was heard of Eric, and was now acting as my secret agent, eager to serve me in every particular. It was a wet unpleasant, niffbf, as, a little before nine, I alighted from an omnibus in Vietaria-stieet, and passing np Great Stnith. street, appioached Dean's Yard from tbe Great Collegerstieet tida, tbe opposite enttance to the spot where the appointment was to be kept. Dean's Ysrd is a quiet square of ancient smoke-blackened bouses, a cioisier of the Abbey in the old days, quictt and secluded even in these modern, go-abead times. In all West- minister there in no quieter old-word spot, fie quented in tho daytime only by the few persons who nse it as asboit cnt to Tufton-street and Horaeferiy-road, and at night quiet and deseitod. Bntocing the email secluded squaro fiom the opposite side, I slipped along balf-way on tbo sooth side to a position where I could have a good view of the groat nrelied gate communi- eating with Victoiia-stveet, and there fonnd a deep dark doorway, which afforded me admirable concealment. I stood and waited. Scarcely bad I settled myself there when the chimes of Big Ban rang ont the hour, and then 1 strained my oyes towards the great ill-lit Gothic gateway. Pai'^aru and his linking accotriplices wsio evi- dently in fear, as they ne^ataled and disappealed, Not a sonl was in ifae place, not even » poli^eonsn. Presently a poor wooian with a shawl ever her bead burriod raat in :be falling Tain. and afterward* enrue the postma. who, voty fortunately, had no lottorll for the door whaie I stood ccncealed in iha shadow. The r-lace seemed dark, mysterious, almost ghostly, iu the dead silence of tba night. The qaarter chimed, but no person lingered u the gawway. Perhaps the a tvettijemerTr. ha? not been aeeen or, more likely," White bleather," was absent Irom London. At last, bowtver, I btard ilia rattle of a four wheeled cab ontaido tho g^ttwav. I saw i; stop, and a man alighted. Then the v chicle moved on t-lorvly. and "cain stopped, aa toongh awaivng hitn. A dark tjgure in blacK overcoat and low felt bat loomed up in the darkness of the gaieivay. snd enteiiug the yard, glanced eagerly around. Next moment another retscn, rather taller ncao, •u'?!ed and pa-;R« ii huri b-i. but without spoakirg. Indeed, tbey pay&tvi »». Hir!«ngers, sbo DU 0 strolling HIOWIV along the pacen-.pnt in the direction of nheHJ I ''VMS' bH:i>g. tie ti'fsd by ir.e, and UI; the ktrett hmll »b<»'4e KP°<» bl, face. I Fit" tlHt be was jon><g 'i|) £ fpMiii'-s were aquiline, daik and evil lookine. I bad ne\u 13 Rij knowledge seen hie befoie. He i seemed tvell-dreascd, for hiaovercoat did not con- ceai tho f«et that be waa wearing evening clothes. Iliscollas was tnrned up, bat be went on heed- less of th*. rain, his sbwp eyes searching every. where. My biding olace was a west excellent f oae, however, and he failed todoiact eny presence. A few minutes later a third man entered the yard, a youngish man with the air of Ibe Cockney from the East End. He wore a hard bat of the usa:d costerminger tvpe, a red woilcn comforter a.bont his neck, and his grousers were bell- bottomed and adorned with pearl buttons. He, however. gave no sign to either of the other two, although it nas apparent that they were ae. quainted, for sately throe men COllld not be keep- ing appointments at that unfceqaeDted epot at the same moment. Tho lirst comer still stood in the gateway, bnt too far away to allow mo to clearly distinguish his features. Ho stood back in the shadow, his lace turned expectantly out to the open road- way wilere ever and anon I saw the lights of cafc3 passing and re-passing. Meanwhile thet two, wen in He qui<>t little scluare had walked to thu op- posite gnteway. and there halted, thongh at a te*p»ctab!e distance from each other. Tho man wbo had arrived iu a cab stood for long tune in patience, the other two gtviog no sigu whatever of their presence. At tim I was half inclined to thinic chit the trio Wbreettangsis to cacb other, bnt on svatc'.iing their movenventa I saw that something was premeditated—bnt what it was I coord not gatbsr. While the man dressed liB a coatermonger -01, I perhop3 he WKS a real costormonger—remained nenr tho eXIt to the yard ready to give warning of anyo- e approaching, the man in evening clothes slowly repassed me, while at the satoti ticca tbo watcher at the gale came forward in hi* difCCt.'OB. It was abont a letter that I wanted to aae hi in—about a registe.ed letter. When not far from me he baited and struck s. vesta in order to light a cigarette. The fickle flame batruyed his countenance. It WAil the man, Jobn Parham, the parson be- lisved by his wife to be in India. What wits catiternplatod ? The four wheeled cab was still in waiting in the littlo open space which divides Dean'a-yurd from Vlctofia-atrtet, while the ox it to Great- College-street WHO being. watched, and tbe thin-faced maa Ih'iksd there ready for Sybil's Ktrivali Within myself I smiled to think that all their elaborate auacgumenta were fnJile, aticf wtto> derod if Parbnui was tho raau who signed him- self Whito Feather ? In Unit fellow's honso were the fatal stiirn, sbercfore if I followed him I ehoulcf now be enabled to fix the actual place to which I had, on thnt oever-to-be forcotteu night, been enticed. While the costermonger rem&ined on vigil, Parharn and bia companion paused and repassed, but Ktill without ncknowledging each other. Once the costermonger -nddenty beean to whistle a popnlar music-hall air, and tnrning I saw that it was a preconcerted signal. A man had enteied the Yard from Great College-street r and was crossing to wbere Parbam was standing, F6tfnHytbteequattetsof an hour they waited patiently until ten o'clock struck. Tben Parhani approached his companion, and they atooil in enrnest conversation. Almost at the same moment a female figure in deep black came swiftly through the gateway into the Yard, caneii g both to start quickly j and draw back: Next instant, however, Parhani started oR briskly, walking past me to A-bere theccstortiouecr was standing, while his thin- faced accomplice slipped past the uaw-comer t and disappeared into Victoria-street. It was evident thnt th«> woman's appearance had inatintly upset all their calculations. The new-coceer stoppod, glanced aronod, and strained her oyes into the darkness. She woro a close black hat, a long mackintosh, and carried an umbrella, yes >-o swiltly bad Purbam dioappeared that she had not noticed his pres- ence iu the yard, while the other man oatcl so clevnrly slipped oast her and ont thiougb tbe gateway that she had not seen his face. For a few mou-oiits she Btoorl expectant. I could aae that she had harried, in fear of being too late. Then, its tthe approached me, I discerned that she was tba girl O'liara. And of ber Parham and his lmkingaccomplices were evidently in tear, as they separated and disappeared. I wmto.hcd her standing there and wondered why ehe bad come. Was it io order to save Sybil Itom some plot that bad been piepared for her ? Was it tbei" intention to take hsr to that dfcik mysterious boa'-e with the fatal ataira ? I felt convinced tbat ic v.a-. The trath was plain. Thore wna a plot against Svbil. The c«b bad been In waiting there to convoy the, i sictiui to her grave. | CHAPTER xxn, Is an Echo from Charlton Wood. My bitterest regret was that I had not been t able to follow Parhani. and traco him to the bouse of doom, but at the moment of bis dis- i appearance I had been unable to emerge from my liiding-plaoe, otherwise the gill O'liara would have seen me. Perhaps, indeed, she might have-recognised me So, by sheer forco of adverse circumstances, I was compelled to remain there And see the trio eecspe under mj very nome. I bad learnt one important fact, bewover, namely, that a deep conspiracy was afoot against I Sybil. It was beyond comprehension how Tibbie, daughter of the noble and patrician house of Ssarcliff; couid be ao intimately associated with what appeared to Ulfj lo be a daring gang of malefactors. The tteatmont I bad received at thiiir hands jhowed mc their utter nnscrapulous- ueas. I wondered whetber what .be Dolico sus- pected was really true, that others bad lost their livt-j iu that bonse wherein I had so nearly loit mine. Wbat was the story tf Tibbie's association with them-a. romance no doubt, that hud had its tragic ending in tbe deuth of the cnirnown in Cbatlton 'Wood. To me it seemed plain tbut be was a member of the gang, tor bitd be not their secret cypher upon lIiuJ, ADd did not botb Winiloe and Par- ham possess bioi photograph ? I ic collected the receipt for a registered letter which I hid found among the letters in the ci:'Jaå man's pocket, and next morning told Budd to go and nnlock the dmwer in my writing-tablo and bring it to me. He did so, and 1 siw that the receipt was foe a letter banded in at the post office at Biandford in Dorset, addreMed lo CitM-Jes Denton, 16b, Bcilon-rd., Pendle- Lot), Manchester." I turned over the receipt in my band, won- dering whether tho slip of paper wonld ;eveal anyihing to me Then, after some reflection I resolved to break my journey in Manchester on my reloiri to Tibbie in Carlisle, and ascertain who was this man to whom the dead unknown bad sent a letter icgistered. Next afternoon 1 passed thrGDgb Salford in a tram-car, along by Peel Park, and tip the Bioad-atreet to Pendleton, alighting at the junction of those two tboroagbfarus, the one leading to aristocratic Ecclea anil Patricloh, and the other oot to buatliug Briton. The Bolton road is one over which much bellv, traffic ptt-tioi, and is lined viitb fmoll honst-e, a working-l»ss dsitriet, in tber" are many mills Iand lactones in the vicinity. I fc.und tbo boneo of winch I was in semcu, small, rather cleau- looking-placG, and a a I passed -i, honctly-looking woaiKii was taking in the mlik from the milk- man. Wi;hont beuitalior., I stepped, and addrassing ber, cxclsitiicd— 12x30*0 InC. tnurn, bnt do yea happen to know a. Mr UbnfclEs Deuicn V" with some bivt tl.al nltbongU a woiuing msLi 1 ttciuej iiighiv la^pcclabl«^ replied blnutly in a pronounced Liaucasbire dialect— Yes, I do, Whac- may you want with bim ?" .1 I wltnt to sen hitaou some important busi- ness," was my vague reply. Is ha at home No. be ain't, was the woman's response. Mr Daotoo lodges with- ni, but 'c's ap in London just now, and 'e s bsen there this four months." In London I I exclaimed. "Yes, bat I don' u know bis address. When 1 be goes away 'a never leaves it. He's lodned with me this two ycais, but I don't think he's been here mere than six months altogether the wiiole time Then yoa have a lot of letters for him, I sup- t,ose ?" Yes, quite a lot," answered the good woman. The letter sent by the dead caaa might be aiBO' g tbem. It was about a letter that I wanted to see Mr Deuton—about a registered letter. t'vo come from London on pnrpose." From London," ejaculated the woman, a stent, good-homonred person. Yes. I wonder whether Qiind me look, ing at the letters. If it is among thorn t'd kucw be had not received it. The f*o« is," 1 udded in conticlenee, there's a big lawsuit pending, and if he hasn't got the letter then ibe other sido c.a'a tal-a !toy against him. "TiIlen you're on bis sido t" she aksed ohrewdiy. Of course I am. I came down to explain matters to him. If I ascertain that he didn't got the letter then thatNj all I want. I'm a attanger, I know," I added. But as it ia in Mr Denton's inteiesta I don't think you'll re- fuse." She hesitated', sayicg aha tbongtot she ongbt to uk ber husband when bo returned froca the mill. Unt by ao^ricg ber of ber lodger's peiil, and that I bad to catch the aix-thirty train back to Landon, I at last induced her to admit me to the house, and thoie in a small, clean, tront parlour wblcb was given over to her lodger when lie was tbete, she took a quantity of letters from a. cupboard, and placed them before mlt. Aaiong the accumulated correspondence were quite a unmeet of registered letters, and several imle packets which most likely contained articles of value. W bile I ebalttd with th& woman with affected cfkrelessjuoms. pretendittg to be on very friendly terms with ber lodger, 1 quickly fixed upon the lettar in question, n registered envelope directed) in a man's educated hand, and bearing the Binudford po,-tmtiic. In ouler, however, to divert her attention, I took up another letter. declaring that to bo tile important one, and that the fact of his not hat- ing rECttivsd it was subicsent to prevent the action being brought. I'm very glad of tbat," she declared in satis- faction. Mr Uentoo i3 such a quiet gentle- man. When he'* bore bo hardly ever goes out, but ails hero leading and writing all day." Yes," I agreed, he's yory studious—always was- buI, a very excellent friend. One of the vetv best." So my Jmaband always says. We only wish he was here uieie." t, I eaw him in London about a month ago, I remarked, in order to sustain tho fiction. How I longed to open that letter that lay so tantalismgly before me. Bat what conld I do t Such a toing was not lo be thought of. There- fore, I had to watch the woman gather the cor- respondence together and replace them in the entoboftild. llOila and thanked her, aaying: I'm delighted io tbiuk that Charlie will cscapo a very disagreeable affair. It's fortunate be wasn't here to receive that IsUor." And I'm glad, too. Whon be retntna, I'll tell bitn bow yon came hero, and what yon said, Wbat naaua shall I give him ?" Williams-Harrr Williams," I answered, lie will fcnowj." Then as II walked ronud to the window I examined the room qnickly, bnt to my clemp. pointmeut saw that there were no photographs. lIe might, I thought, keep the portiaits of some of his fiiends upon the mantelshelf, like to many men do. Was this Denton one of the conspira- tors, I wondered ? Uis abfsrcco without an ad- dress for foaif months canead me to suspect that be was. Just aa I had given ber my assumed name, somebody knocked at the door, and she went to open it. Next iuetant a thought Sashed across to me. Should I take that letter ? It was a theft—tbat 1 recognised, yet waa it not in the iuttlrelitll of justice ? By that communication I might ba able lo establish the dead man's identity. There was Dot a tiecond to lose. I decided at once. I heard the woinau open the door and speak to someone, then swift aa thongbt I opened the cupboard, glanced at the packet of letters, and with quickly-beating heart took the one which bore the Biandford post mttrk. In a moment it WS8 in my pocket. I re-closed the cupboard, and sprang to the opposite side of the room jast as the good woman re-entered. Then, with profuse tbanlcs and leaving kind moHsagc« to tbe man of whom I spoke 1\0 fami, liaily as Charlie," ltook my leave and hurried along tbe broad roud into Salford, where I jumped upon a tram going to tbe Exchange. I na.i i u the train alone, in Ibii d class com- pariacut, travelling north to Carlisle before I dared to break open the letter. When I did so I found witbin a. scribbled note in cipher written on the paper of The Bear Hotel, at Devizes. After some difficulty, with the aid of the key which the writer had evidently used ia'peotiiotr tt, I deciphered it as follow# Dear Denton,— 1 saw you in the snvokitig-room of tbe Mid- land t Bradford, bnt for reasons which you know, I couid not speak. I went oat, and on my return you had gone, I searched, but conld not find you. I wanted to tell yon my opinion aboirt Ellica and bis friend. Tbey are not playing II straight game. I know their intentions. Tuey fLellln to. Rivo llîI away if they can. Sybil feats me, and will p»y. I pretend to know a lot. Meet me in Ohichoister at the Dolphin next Snnaay. I sbnll put up there, beeanse I intend that she shall see me. nowo and belp me, for 1 shall have a good thing on, ill whicb VOII cao ahme. She can alwaya raise money from ber, siuter or her mother, so don't tail to keep the nppointmaiit. Ellice has already touched a good deal of the Scarcliff's money itoni young Jack, and I now mean myself to have a bit. She )i do anything to avoid scandal. It's a soft tbin^— so come — Yours, R.W. The dead man was, as I had suspected, one of the fctog, and be was a blackmailer. lie had compelled her to meet him and had made de- tijands vLiiol2 she had Resisted. Yes-tbo lettec was the letter of a barefaced sconndrol. I clenched mv bands and set my tectb. I EOOD read the letter by tbe aid of the cypher key, Snraly I had done right toendeavonr to protect Sybil from snob a bnnd of ruffians. Once I had pitied the dead man, but now my sympathy was turned to batted. He had written this letter to bis fiiend Denton, suggesting that tbo tatter should assist him in bis nefarious scheme of blacbniuil. He confessed that be pretended to know a lot..What did he pretend to know, I wondered. Ab, if Duly Sybil wom3 speak— if only sbe would reveal to me the trotb. Yet, after all, bow could she when that man, the fellow wbo bad written that letter, had fallen by filr hand ? The letter at least showed that her enemies bad been and were still unscrupulous. WiDsloo. even now, was ready toaoad her to her grave, jost as I had been sent-because I had dared to come between The conspirators and their victim. And vet she trusted Nello-wboever the follow was. Who was the man Trenton 7 I wondered. A friend of the mysterious R.V." without a donb!, and a malefactor like himself. I placed my finger within the linen-lined envelope, and to my surprise found second piece of thin blue paper folded in half. Eagerly I opisnsd if and saw that it was a letter written in plain English, in bad Ink. and so faipt that with difficulty I read the Unas. It was in tbe scoundrel's handwriting—the same caligrapby as that upon the envelops. I read the)ineii, and so extraordinary were they that I sat back upon the abut utterly bewildered. What was written there complicated the aftair moi-a than ever. The problem admitted of no solution, for the myste-ly was by those written lines rendered deepor and more inscrutable tbaa beforo. Waa Svbil, after all, playing me fatte ? 1 bold my Lreath, as the grave peril of the silnation carra vividly home to mu. Yts—I hvJ tiusted her I bad believed her, She bad fooled mc, (To be Continued.)

ILOVERS FALL INTO A CANAL

IY GOLOFN GYMREIG. ,,-

AMHEUAETH.

Y WENOL.

- YR HEN LANC GWLEDIG.

-----BLODAU HAF.

--BLODAU'R BEDD.

FOR BOYS AND GIRLS. I

[No title]

-----...------A Widow's Violence.…

BLACK WOMAN LIVES AS A MAN.

TWO WELSHMEN DROWNED.

GIRL'S TWELVE WOUNDS.

PARAFFIN LAMP FATALITY.

A Terror to Women. ;

ROBBED ON BOARD A STEAM*"-:…

BRISTOL MUSICAL FESTIVAL.

TOO LONG A HOLIDAY. '

LADY BARRISTERS.

JWELSH LANGUAGE SOCIfT*- ———.„t«d…

MOTORING PEER FINED.

RAILWAYMEN'S PARADES.