Denbighshire Free Press

LLANDYRNOG. THE EASTEP. VESTRy.-The annual Easter Vestry meeting was held on Friday, and was well attended. The Vestry's first business was to pass a resolution expressive of the loss which the Church and parish had sustained in the death of Mr Owen, GlaDywern Farm, who for 16 years had so faithfuly served the cffice of Churchwarden. The Churchwarden's accounts showed receipts £ 52 313 6d, expenditure J £ 53 7s 2d, leaving the small defist of £ 1 3 6d, The accounts were passed, and Mr Preston was thanked for the business like way in which the accounts were kept, audited and presented. It is atisfactcry to note that the officials of the Church have been insured, and the insurance of the building raised to £ 2,5C0. After a full discussion it was decided to hold the English morning service atll a.m. in fu ur). The following appointments were made: Churchwardens, Mr Preston and Hush Daviea. Sidesmen, Mr Lloyd (Coediog) and Mr Roberb Owen for the Welsh congregation Mr Povall and Mr John Rigby for the English.

LLANNEFYDD. OBITT-ARY.-We regret to ieoord the death of Miss Miriam Jones, the much-beloved daughter of.Mr and Mrs Owen Jones, Graig. The deceased was a young woman of only 23 summers. She had had rheumatic fever when 15 years of age, and this left her with a weak heart, in conse- quence of which she died. Her long and painfni illness was borne with much patience and Christian fortitude—not a murmur nor any complaint fell from her lips during the whole of this long, tryine period. She passed peace- fully away on Monday, April 27th, and was buried at Cefn Parish Church on Wednesday, April 29th. Much sympathy is felt with the parents and family in their bereavement.

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LALL RIGHTS RESERVED.] BY rR-1tITOlrS GATE By JOHN K. LEYS, Author of The Lindsays." "The Black Ter- ror," ''A Maiden's Victory," "The Prisoner's Secret," A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing," &c. • SYNOPSIS OF PRECEDING CHAPTERS: A beautiful girl springs into an Underground tia.117, and a \oung tn^li.shmau in the compart- meat, closing- the doov at her request against, a foreigner who pursues her, receives a blow in the face. The girl staunches the blood with her cambric handkerchief. She begs him to doJivor a Docket for her at an address at St. John's Wood, .nd her pursuers—there are two-having entered he next carriage she leaves the train, at the other side at the next station, entering from the line a train going the opposite way. Lee Yernon. at Lady Chesterton's dame, dis- covers Juatiita Cordanlio, with whom lie is in love, flirting with a Frenchman. She snubs him, and, to his amazement, he finds the man who had struck iiiiii- through the railway carriage window regarding him with unmistakable malice. Subsequently, to his greater surprise, Juanita asks that they may be friends. Lee finds on reaching home that the overcoat he is wear- ing is not his own. The one he had left in the Joak-room with the packet it contained in the breast-pocket has vanished. Calling at the address he has received, he ex- plains his misfortune to Prince Rodensky (a Russian revolutionary), for whom the packet was intended. He learns that many lives would be jeopardised by the document falling into the hands of the police, and. returning from the house, finds that he is shadowed. He learns, too, from the Prince that Basil Zankoff is the name of the foreigner he met the night before, and getting ZankoS's address from the Foreign Office, through the good offices of his friend, Ernest Usher, he calls on ZankofT. The Russian spy is evidently surprised to hear that papers have been lost, and seizes the opportunity to in- form his visitor that the hand of Juanita has, by her father, been promised to himself. Lee drives to Signor Cordanlio's. He finds the Frenchman. d'Avignor. leaving, and learning that Juanita has been with him to a Covent Garden* ball remonstrates with I her. and warns her against Zankoff. Juanita loses her temper. When next he calls on the Prince he meets the lady of the Underground adven- ture, who turns out to be the Prince's davighter Natalie. She tells him the good news that & letter has arrived offering the lost papers if they are called for. Lee, fearing a trap, insists on be- ing permitted to fetch them. CHAPTER VII. NATALIE'S LETTER. The more Lee thought over the affair the less he liked it. To his mind the offer was a trap, and nothing less, and he was devoutly thankful that he had happened to be on the spot and had prevented Nat?.lie from walking right into it. Still, seeing that the papers were of such importance, seeing that the life or the liberty of many people in Russia would be forfeited if they fell into the wrong hands, it was evident that the offer could not be dis- regarded. An effort must be made to re- cover them. -Lee's Idea was that an attempt had been made to catch Prince Rodensky in the act of claiming the papers, which would, of course, have been evidence of his connection with the conspirators. He would have been ready to bet twenty pounds that when Natalie's correspondent found that the Prince was not going to place himself in his power the offer would be with- drawn, or, more likely, Natalie's letter would receive no answer. But he would have lost his money. There w as a delay of some days, but at length Nata- lie sent him a letter which she had just re- ceived. It was signed John Thomas Smith —probably a pseudonym. Without any affectation of delicacy, the writer stated that he had come into possession of a small parcel, which appeared to contain papers, addressed to Mr. Knight. He had not opened the packet, but he thought it was probably worth money to the gentleman it belonged to. If the gentleman could not come himself, he was quite willing to hand the packet of papers to his friend, so long as that person came for the packet himself, unaccompanied, and was prepared to pay twenty pound's for it. Mr. Smith added that he was going into the coun- try on business, and would be absent for some days; but if his terms were accepted he would write and fix time and place for handing over the papers. It seemed as if Mr. Smith, or whoever he might be, was a businesslike sort of per- son. with a keen eye to the main chance, de- void of any inconvenient curiosity. Still, Lee wr-s glad to think that he had persuaded Natalie to allow him to go in her place and h? thought it might be as well under all the circumstances if he did not go quite unarmed. He had never had occasion to handle any kind of weapon except an ordinary sporting gun, but he remembered tht a deceased uncle of his who had been in the Royal Navy had left him a box containing uniforms, nautical books and instruments, and so forth. He thought it more than likely that a service re- volver might be among the other things, aud sure enough he found one in the box, but there were no cartridges. These, however, were easily obtained, and Lee cleaned the weapon thoroughly, and practised loading and firing it till he felt quite familiar wjih it. He then dropped it into a drawer in his writing-table till it should be wanted. Mr. Smith, it seemed, had a good deal of business to transact in the country, for day after day went by. and 110 word came from him. Lee ran down to Langley Park to see whether Natalie had heard anything further. It was rather pleasant, this sharing of a secret with a bright-eyed, intelligent girl. H bred a feeling of comradeship, and made him feel that he was in a sonsia her protector. Nothing was said of the matter in the pre- sence of the Prince, for Lee had virtually promised that he would say nothing, and Natalie thought it better to spare her lather the suspense she was enduring. There was more talik about the revolutionists, their hopes and their fears, their difficulties' and their encouragements. The Prince's conver- sation was full of interest, for he had borne his full share of perilous adventures. Lee stayed later than he had intended doing, and when he left Natalie again accompanied him to the hall. "Yon have not heard y-et 9 lie said. in a low toue. No. I am beginning to fear that the chance is lost. I ought to have gone myself the very (lav I got the first, letter. I fed as if I had betrayed my friends." "Don't say that—don't think it for a moment Don't you see that if we hear no more of Mr. Smith, it only means that he • never incaut to hand vou ova.- ihs ar.cLci— most mcely never saw it in his life—that the whole thing was a plot, ;ui attempt to put your father :n such a position that he would have been forced to declare himself a revo- lutiona.ry. If they won't give the papers to me, why should they have given them to you?" Natalie sighed. "I should have had the feeling that I had done my best," she said. "But isn't my best as good?" asked Lee, with a smile. Patience—we must have patience. I feel that you will hear from John Smith again." It was getting late before Lee got to the big lodging-house in which he lived. He ran up- stairs, as was his habit, two steps at a time, aad came plump upon a man coming out of his sitting-room. Hallo cried Lee. What the dickens are you doing in my room? Sir, it was a liberty," said the intruder, with a low bow-" I fear a liberty unpardon- able. But my watch have stopped "—he ex- hibited an ancient timepiece of silver as he spoke—" and I long to know whether it is time to retire. I come out from my room -be pointed to a door on the same landing— I see the door of your room standing open. I listen. I hear no one. I peep in. Ah A clock is on. the mantelpiece. I step in. I take one hurried look. I retire. And in the act I meet monsieur, who demands an explanation. It is ver' simple. I regret moch that I have the imprudence—and I apologise." With this the foreigner made another low bow, waving his hand as if to dismiss the tubject. But it seemed to Lee that the polite gentle- man s English was getting worse as he pro- ceeded. And he thought his explanation rather w.ea.1\ What hour did you say it was by my timepiece?" he asked, quietly. Monsieur has the timepiece to look at. Monsieur can inform himself." said the ur foreigner, and, with another rapid bow. he skipped into his own room and closed the door. "Wonder if that beggar was speaking the truth? soliloquised Lee, as he entered the room. Bet my bootlaces he wasn't. He's a fraud. But everything seems all right," he added, as he glanced around him. He had turned up one gas jet. and in turning up the one on the other side of the fireplace he touched the globe. It 'iias warm—warmer than it had any business to be. It looked as if the stranger had been having a look round. It was an unpleasant experience, but Lee de- cided that it was his own fault—he ought to ,g, L keep his doors locked when he went out. in a house that sheltered a miscellaneous c rowd of lodgers. Who has the rooms across the passage? he asked the maid who brought up his coffee and rolls next day. That's Signor Cortioni—such a pleasant gentleman," answered the girl. Hum He has not been here long. has he? Oh, no, sir. He only came la.st Saturday." Lee would have liked to put one or two more questions, but a bell rang violently, and Clara vanished. Three days later the expected letter cr.me from Natalie. She and her father, she said, were on the point of starting for Warsaw. They had delayed their journey in order that she migiit be able to forward to him a.note, which she enclosed, making an appointment for handing over the lost papers. I have been obliged to pretend that I was ill, too ill to travel, to account to my father for the delay," she wrote. "1 am not sorry that I concealed from him the offer to return the papers, for the suspense has been very trying, even to me, and he would have felt it even more. Now, thanik Heaven, that matter seems in the way of being put right, but I cannot help reproaching myself for allowing you to take my place. It was my duty. not yours, to fetch the papers; and I have a queer feeling that the errand is a dangerous one, more dangerous, somehow, for you than it would have been for me. You certainly are undertaking a great deal of trouble, and a certain risk, out of kindness to us. I have not met with so much kindness in my life that I can readily forget j your goodness. Indeed, I shall never forget it as long as I live, —1 can terr you nothing about the time of out- return—you can suppose that it does not altogether depend upon ourselves. But we shall be anxioust to know whether the papers are recovered. I cannot give you an address to write to, for it is quite uncertain where we may have to go. And I cannot ask you to destroy the packet, for I should like to satisfy myself that it has not been tampered with. The best way would be for you to deposit it with some lawyer or banker till our return. But I can't wait so long for your news. Please in- sert an advertisement in the Ti-nics to say whether you have succeeded, and I will get a friend to keep a look out for your ad- vertisement—she will know how to forward the news to me. "And now good-bye, kind and faithful friend. Heaven only .knows when, if ever, we shall meet again for if we should have the misfortune to be arrested on Russian soil it is not likely that we shall ever again look on the face of a friend." There the letter ended. like an interrupted melody, without any words of farewell, or so much as an initial by way of signature. It seemed characteristic of the writer's tem- perament, an instance of the tendency to melancholy which is the dominant note of the Russian character, that she should have ended with words of foreboding rather than of hope. And vet," said Lee to himself, it makes the bravery of these people seem all the brighter and more glorious, that they struggle on in spite of that deep depression of spirits, and with scarcely any ray of hope to light up their path." In the envelope were two ten-pound Bank of England notes, intended for the finder of the lost papers, and a sheet of thin paper that contained a few type-written lines. They merely stated that Mr. Smith would be in St. Albans that evening, and would be happy to hand the lost packet of papers to the gentleman referred to in Miss Knight's last note, in exchange for the amount already mentioned, if he would call at Blenheim House. Marlborough-road, any time after eight on the evening of the 13th inst. That meant that Lee must set out for St. Albans that very night, but there was plenty of time. The old cathedral town, only twenty miles from London, could be readied easily from St. Pancras in less than an hour. He greatly wished to see Prince Rodensky and Natalie before they set out on their long jour- ney, since it was quite possible that they might never return from it, aud on consulting the time-table he thought that he should be able to run out to Langley Park and get back in time to reach St. Albans soon after eight. But when he reached Langley Park he found that the Prince and his daughter had already gore, and it seemed hopeless to look out for them at any terminus in London, as they would probably choose some indirect or little used route. Lee'returned to London, (ljlld at a restau- rant. and was actually ON his way TO St. Pan- cras when he discovered that lie had for- gotten his revolver. It had not occurred to him to put it in his pocket when he set out for Langley Park. But there was time yet to go back for it. It wfHold nuvke him late in arriving at the meet- ing-place, but any time up to ion at night would do. and he did not care to go without means of defence about him. He jumped into a hansom and was driven off to Ir.s lodgings as fast as the horse could go. Though he knew he co;;h• get a lai^r train that would serve his turn. ev?n if he missed the cue he had intended to travel bv. he was in a state oT nervous excitement that he had never experienced before. fact was that the mystery surrounding the manner of re- vurnitig the los* papers had got on his nerves. He had vague forebodings of impending evil, :i!),] ino,t likt-I.v t!ittt iit, tiiit I,.(- had taken the trouble to go hack for the for- gotten weapon. He fidgeicd all the 1 hue he was in the cab, and could barely restrain him- self from jumping out and racing along the street. At last the house was mach'.Hl. He leaped out, sprang upstairs to his room, and feeling his way in the dark tore open the drawer in v,liieU he ljad :Jut the reviiiv:e;- L ;t ao hard.

metallic sifbslance met his -hand. Tie pulled the drawer right out with one hand. and pawed about among its contents with the other. No; the weapon was certainly not there. He must have made a mistake about the drawer, and he swore at himself for his care- lessness as he tore out another. But the re- volver was not there either. Another and another drawer was searched in vain. and he then rushed into his bedroom and began wildly rummaging in all his drawers, one after the other. But there was no revolver anywhere. He felt as if he had been bewitched, and then suddenly he remembered the presence of his Italian fellow-lodger in his room one night. Could that man have stolen it? He darted across the passage, gave a hurried knock, and then tried the handle. The door was locked. Yet why, he asked himself, should he. or anyone else for that matter, want to steal the old pistol? It was of no great value. But it had certainly disappeared. Could it be possible that it had been taken on purpose that he might go unarmed to his appointment that night? Surely not. Some days had passed since he had caught the foreigner coming out of his room. But it was a most unpleasant thought. Should he buy a new one? Impossible. The shops were shut. If he were to hunt up some- on.) who might sell or lend him one, he would certainly fail to keep his appointment, and that he resolved he would not do. A swift glance at his watch shewed him that the train he had meant to take had gone., but there was time, he thought, to catch the 8.40. which would take him to St. Albans in little more than half-an-hour. He ran down- stairs, drove to the nearest Metropolitan star tion, and booked for King's Cross. A dozen times he felt sure he should be too late. The train seemed to crawl through the tunnels. But when he came in sight of the great elock outside St. Pancras Station he saw that after all he was in time. CHAPTER VIII. IX THE HOVSE AT ST. ALBANS. The platform was pretty full, as the train had happened to be an express; and as Leo hurried along from the booking-office he caught sight of a faoe in the crowd—a face he remembered. When Zankoff lay in wait; for Natalie at the station of the Metropolitan IJailwsv on the night Lee first saw her. he pas not alone. n; had a companion, who, it •na- be remembered, was talking to him when ."J€O ran downstairs to the platform, and was hindered so that he missed his train. This was the uw.n-Zankoff's companion. He was •:ot now making for the train by which L^e meant to travel, but Wi.S walking rapioV away. t 1 waited a moment or two in gazing after rum..Apparently he was leaving the station. That was satisfactory, so far. He was not gving to make a third at the meeting with • ,vsterious Smith. Cut was it. Lee askeo himself—could it be a mere coincidence that be was there that :1Íght,! Did not his pre- s-jiK-" point to an understanding between i Zankoff and the man who had promised >0 rc- sto-e the papers? It sc-enied verv likely. lint Lee nao no time io stav and think what suen a eon n-ctioii nti^ht mean. The train was in the wny act f starting. If he meant to get .he papers hade he must a rush for it. lie did so, and, by the aid of a friendly porter, I)"d emptv compeltment. lie looked eas-ii-iv out of the window to make •=:>re that the he had recognised was not a/ife boarding the train at the last moment, inn- nothing could be seen of him. and ho sank back en the cushions with t. fading of .1;r, Half-an-hour I&ier he readied St. A.IKans. lie fo:1:1a. fnm,> c1is- tnnee from the station, and as rh" residential st'-ects v.?»!d be deserted at that hour he stepp-'d into a large grocer's shop, which by good luck was still open, and asked the shop- man if he could tell him at of the 1 oiui Blenheim House was, and how it could LK" ree.igm .-ed. L, 1 me see—Blenheim Honse." said the n:an. civilly. I fancy I know it. Joe. ;1è"t it Blenheim TIoti«e where the foreign gentleman ve s--Mr. David Yore. or seme I mich Lee pave a great start. Do you me:1D d'Av.'rnor? he asked, wondering. »• T71 -sir. TTra-ve gof name cor- reetlv. I've no doubt. Them outlandish names are liard to master. You go straight down the road as far as you can. and then turn to the left. It's a new road, and there ain't many houses. Blenheim House is the first you come to. It stands quite by itself. You can't m i c-s it." Lee thanked the man. and walked slowly away. He had scarcely been able to attend to the directions given him, so mentally stunned had he been by the astounding fact that it was M. d'Avignor's house that he was bound for. Could there be a connection be- tween the Frenchman and the Russian spies? If so. it seemed pretty clear that a trap of some sort had been prepared for him. But then he remembered the look of hate which Zankoff had cast upon d'Avignor when he caught sight of him talking to Juanita at Lady Chesterton's, and concluded that it was impossible that they could be working together. There's no use loitering here," Lee said to himself, as he walked slowly down the road. I had best go on, and see for myself what all this means." He stepped out more briskly, and soon arrived at the turning that led to Blenheim House. As the grocer had told him, Marlborough- road was a newly laid out road, and a single gas lamp placed at the corner had been deemed sufficient for its necessities. To Lee, advancing along it with the lamp behind him. it lay in total darkness. But the first house was not far off-a small building, stand- ing quite by itself. He stopped at the gate and read on it the name—Blenheim House. The windows were all in darkness, except that a glimmer shone from two of them, one on the ground floor to the left, the other directly above it. He went up to the door and knocked- there was no bell. No one answered, and on raising the knocker to knock again he noticed that the door was slightly ajar. Unable to make up his mind whether the door had been opened by someone, or whether it had been open from the first, and had been merelv pushed ajar by hi!! knocking, he pushed it a little further open, and called out. There was no reply, and he stepped across the threshold. The door on his left was not closed, and he could see that the room was better lighted than he had supposed—the gas had not been turiied down. It seemed cer- tain that someone had been there very lately, and meant to return. He called out again, but there being no response he stood waiting. Drawn by a natural feeling of curiosity he glanced inside. He saw only part of the inte- rior. but there was nothing in what he saw to engage his attention, mucn less cause alarm. Only a deep easy-chair, one or tv.o ordinary dining-room chairs, and a hearth-rug met his view. Yet there was something in the breath- less silence, in the unaccountable absence of the owner of the house that set his nerves tingling, and made him eager to get his errand accomplished and leave the piece. Each second seemed a minute, every minute anvhour. He took to pfc-ing up and down the unlit passage, forgetful of the fact that he was in the house cf n stranger; and ortee- on turn- ing, it chanced that his eyes were directed to the sitting-room. What was that dark something, he kc1 himspif. Iving beyond the rug? He could just see the sid-e of some black object, but c"dJ not form a conjecture as to what it was. It needed but a step, and he saw it—it wi- a man's knpe, He sprang into the room. A man was lying on his back on the fiocr—M. d'Avignor I .> Lee's first idea was that he had fallen down in a faint or a fit of some kind, and he naturally ran forward and raised his bead. It was not till then that he saw that he was dead. Yes. dead—shot through the heart The revolver lay at his feet. not a yard from his hand. Good heavens, the man has committed suicide!" cried Lee. Then li.? remembered the open street doer, and wondered. The excitement of the discovery shook his nerves, and made him entirely forget lie had come there for. A chill ran through his veins as he thought that a few aninv.tes ago, since he had jumped out of the railway car- riage. this man was living. breathing, active for good or evil, and now he was mere sense- less day. his spirit gone out into the un known v He laid a hand on the white forehead." Ifr was dready growing cold, but it had not the I marble coldness of a corpse. The deed, whether murder or suicide, had been done apparently within half-an-hour. Lee picked up the revolver and looked at it. Cine barrel had been discharged. It was i. For two seconds his heart- seemed to stand Ifllil. He was shaking from head to foot. The weapon dropped out of his hand. What awful thing was this? The revolver was his own His brain swam; for the moment he was completely unnerved. But in less than ten seconds he was himself again. He saw that a. plot of fiendish cunning was on foot- a plot against himself. His revolver had been stolen and purposely brought; there, most likely used for the deadly work. Then he had been lured to the spot. so that suspicion might be diverted from the real culprit, and might fall upon him. All that was clear as noonday. There was only one thing to be done. He must get him- self and that accursed weapon out of the house and out of the town at the earliest possible moment. Without losing an instant, without so much as a backward look, he made for the door, and, pulling the street door close after him, but without shutting it. he went out. Just. as he emerged from the garden gate he heard heavy footsteps, and the next moment a policeman's lantern flashed its dazzling light into his face. "What do you moan by that?" he ex- claimed. angrily, drawing back. Two police- men 6tood on the footpath watching him. Beg pardon, sir, is anything wrong IB that house? I "What house? The house you just come out of." Short as the time was in which these words were uttered, it enabled Lee to pull him- self together. It was plain that for some reason or other the constables' suspicions had been aroused. To prevaricate would be worse than useless, for of necessity the truth must come out. t Yes," he answered, quietly. I came [ down here to-night to keep an appointment, ) and I found the house door open, and a man, the occupier of the house. I believe, lying on the floor of the sitting-room. He seemed to me to be dead." You had best come and shew us, s-ir," said the policeman and Lee had no option I but to go with him. v He still carried the revolver in his hand, t but apparently neither of the constables had noticed it. If he could get rid of it For if not ? A soft tussock of rank grass grew at the fence, just outside the garden gate. "What was that. Jim?" called out the policeman in front, sharply. I think the gentleman must have dropped something—I thought I heard summat fall." said his mate. stolidly, looking about him withfhis lantern. I "Here it is. sir," he added, still speaking to his fellow, who seemed to be his official superior. "Here it is. It was lying just against the gentleman's left foot." Ah 1 (To be coiiiiuucd.)