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24 'e went out of doors I never know'd where 'e went, which is jest like 'em; for they ses they're goin' to work, an' you finds 'em in the beershop. Mr. Whyte told me 'e was a-goin' to marry a heiress, 'e was."

"Ah!" interjected Mr. Gorby, sapiently.

"E 'ad only one friend as I ever saw—a Mr. Moreland—who comed 'ere with 'im, an' was allays with 'im—brother like."

"What like is this Mr. Moreland?"

"Good-lookin' enough," said Mrs. Hableton, sourly, "but 'is 'abits weren't as good as 'is face—'andsom is as 'andsom does, is what I ses."

"I wonder if he knows anything about this affair," muttered Gorby to himself. "Where is Mr. Moreland to be found?" he asked aloud.

"Not knowin', can't tell," retorted the landlady, "'e used to be 'ere reg'lar, but I ain't seen 'im for over a week."

"Strange! very!" thought Gorby, shaking his head. "I should like to see this Mr. Moreland. I suppose it's probable he'll call again?" he remarked, aloud.

"'Abit bein' second nature I s'pose he will," answered the woman, "'e might call at any time, mostly 'avin' called at night."

"Ah! then I'll come down this evening on the chance of seeing him," replied the detective. "Coincidences happen in real life as well as in novels, and the gentleman in question may turn up in the nick of time. Now, what else about Mr. Whyte?"

"About two weeks ago, or three, I'm not cert'in which, a gentleman called to see Mr. Whyte; 'e was very tall, and wore a light coat."

"Ah! a morning coat?"

"No! 'e was in evenin' dress, and wore a light coat over it, an' a soft 'at."

"The very man," said the detective below his breath; "go on."

"He went into Mr. Whyte's room, an' shut the door. I don't know how long they were talkin' together; but I was sittin' in this very room and heard their voices git angry, and they were a-swearing at one another, which is the way with men, the brutes. I got up and went into the passage in order to ask 'em not to make such a noise, when Mr.


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 shall be exclusively applied to indemnify the families of refugees and inhabitants, victims of recent events, without distinction of race or creed, as well as to the local needs of the country. The sum to be received annually after this period by the Central Government shall be subsequently fixed by a special understanding between Turkey, Russia, and Austria-Hungary.]

[ XV. The Sublime Porte engages to apply scrupulously in the Island of Crete the Organic Law of 1868, taking into account the previously-expressed wishes of the native population.

An analogous law adapted to local requirements shall likewise be introduced into Epirus, Thessaly, and the other parts of Turkey in Europe, for which a special constitution is not provided by the present Act.

Special Commissions, in which the native population will be largely represented, shall in each province be entrusted with the task of elaborating the details of the new organization, and the result of their labours shall be submitted to the Sublime Porte, who will consult the Imperial Government of Russia before carrying it into effect.]

[ XVI. As the evacuation by the Russian troops of the territory which they occupy in Armenia, and which is to be restored to Turkey, might give rise to conflicts and complications detrimental to the maintenance of good relations between the two countries, the Sublime Porte engages to carry into effect, without further delay, the improvements and reforms demanded by local requirements in the provinces inhabited by Armenians, and to guarantee their security from Kurds and Circassians.]

XVII. A full and complete amnesty is granted by the Sublime Porte to all Ottoman subjects compromised by recent events, and all persons imprisoned on this account or sent into exile shall be immediately set at liberty.

[ XVIII. The Sublime Porte will take into serious consideration the opinion expressed by the Commissioners of the Mediating Powers as regards the possession of the town of Khotour, and engages to have the works of the definitive delimitation of the Turco-Persian Boundary carried into effect.]

XIX. The war indemnities and the losses imposed on Russia which His Majesty the Emperor of Russia claims, and which the Sublime Porte has bound itself to reimburse to him, consist of—

{a.) 900,000,000 roubles for war expenses (maintenance of the army, replacing of war material, and war contracts).

(b.) 400,000,000 roubles on account of damage done to the south

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


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Rh Whyte's door opens, 'an the gentleman in the light coat comes out, and bangs along to the door. Mr. Whyte 'e comes to the door of 'is room, an' 'e 'ollers out: 'She is mine; you can't do anything;' an' the other man turns with 'is 'an' on the door an' says, 'I can kill you, 'an if you marry 'er I'll do it, even in the open street.'"

"Ah!" said Mr. Gorby, drawing a long breath, "and then?"

"Then he bangs the door to, which it never shut easy since, 'an I ain't got no money to get it put right, 'an Mr. Whyte walks back to his room, laughing."

"Did he make any remark to you?"

"No; except he'd bin worried by a loonatic."

"And what was the stranger's name?"

"That I can't tell you, as Mr. Whyte never told me. He was very tall, with a fair mustache; an' dressed as I told you."

Mr. Gorby was satisfied.

"That is the man," he said to himself, "who got into the hansom cab, and murdered Whyte; there's no doubt of it! Whyte and he were rivals for the heiress."

"What d'ye think of it?" said Mrs. Hableton, curiously.

"I think," said Mr. Gorby slowly, with his eyes fixed on her, "I think that there is a woman at the bottom of this crime."

When Mr. Gorby left Possum Villa no doubt remained in his mind as to who had committed the murder. The gentleman in the light coat had threatened to murder Whyte, even in the open street—these last words being especially significant—and there was no doubt that he had carried out his threat. The committal of the crime was merely the fulfilment of the words uttered in anger. What the detective had now to do was to find who the gentleman in the light coat was, where he lived, and, having found out these facts, ascertain his doings on the night of the murder. Mrs. Hableton had described him, but was


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 coast of Russia, to her export commerce, to her industries, and to her railways.

(c.) 100,000,000 roubles for injuries inflicted on the Caucasus by the invasion ; and,

(d.) 10,000,000 roubles for costs and damages of Russian subjects and establishments in Turkey.

Total, 1,410,000,000 roubles.

Taking into consideration the financial embarrassments of Turkey, and in accordance with the wishes of His Majesty the Sultan, the Emperor of Russia consents to substitute for the payment of the greater part of the moneys enumerated in the above paragraph, the following territorial cessions : —

[(a.) The Sandjak of Toultcha, that is to say, the districts (Cazas) of Kilia, Soulina, Mahmoudi, Isaktcha, Toultcha, Matchine, Babadagh, Hirsowo, Kustendje, and Medjidie, as well as the Delta Islands and the Isle of Serpents.

Not wishing, however, to annex this territory and the Delta Islands, Russia reserves the right of exchanging them for the part of Bessarabia detached from her by the Treaty of 1856, and which is bounded on the south by the thalweg of the Kilia branch and the mouth of the Stary-Stamboul.

The question of the apportionment of waters and fisheries shall be determined by a Russo-Roumanian Commission within a year after the ratification of the Treaty of Peace.

(b.) Ardahan, Kars, Batoum, Bayazet, and the territory as far as the Saganlough.

In its general outline, the frontier line, leaving the Black Sea coast, will follow the crest of the mountains which separate the affluents of the River Hopa from those of the River Tcharokh, and the chain of mountains to the south of the town of Artwin up to the River Tcharokh, near the villages of Alat and Bechaget ; then the frontier will pass by the peaks of Mounts Dervenikghek, Hortchezor, and Bedjiguin-Dagh, by the crest which separates the affluents of the Rivers Tortoum-tchai and the Tcharokh by the heights near Zaily-Vihine, coming down at the village Vihine-Kilissa to the River Tortoum-chai ; thence it will follow the Sivridagh Chain to the pass {col) of the same name, passing south of the village of Noriman ; then it will turn to the south-east and go to Zivine, whence the frontier, passing west of the road which leads from Zivine to the villages of Ardost and Horassan, will turn south by the Saganlough Chain to the village of Gilitchman ; then by the crest of the Charian-Dagh it will arrive, ten versts south of Hamour, at the Mourad-tchai defile ; then the line will follow the


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 crest of the Alla-Dagh and the summits of the Hori and Tandourek, and, passing south of the Bayazet Valley, will proceed to rejoin the old Turco-Persian frontier to the south of the lake of Kazli-gueul.]

The definitive limits of the territory annexed to Russia, [and indicated on the map hereto appended,] will be fixed by a Commission composed of Russian and Ottoman delegates. This Commission in its labours will take into account the topography of localities, as well as considerations of good administration and other conditions calculated to insure the tranquillity of the country.

(c.) The territories [mentioned in paragraphs (a) and (b)] are ceded to Russia as an equivalent for the sum of one milliard and one hundred million roubles. As for the rest of the indemnity, apart from the 10,000,000 of roubles intended to indemnify Russian interests and establishments in Turkey — namely, 300,000,000 of roubles — the mode of payment and guarantee of that sum shall be settled by an understanding between the Imperial Government of Russia and that of His Majesty the Sultan.

(d.) The 10,000,000 roubles claimed as indemnity for the Russian subjects and establishments in Turkey shall be paid as soon as the claims of those interested are examined by the Russian Embassy at Constantinople and handed to the Sublime Porte.

XX. The Sublime Porte will take effective steps to put an amicable end to the lawsuits of Russian subjects pending for several years, to indemnify the latter if need be, and to carry into effect without delay all judgments passed.

XXI. The inhabitants of the districts ceded to Russia who wish to take up their residence out of these territories will be free to retire on selling all their real property. For this purpose an interval of three years is granted them, counting from the date of ratification of the present Act.

On the expiration of that time those of the inhabitants who shall not have sold their real property and left the country shall remain Russian subjects.

Real property belonging to the State, or to religious establishments situated out of the localities aforesaid, shall be sold within the same interval of three years as shall be arranged by a special Russo-Turkish Commission. The same Commission shall be intrusted with determining how the Ottoman Government is to


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 remove its war material, munitions, supplies, and other State property actually in the forts, towns, and localities ceded to Russia, and not at present occupied by Russian troops.

[ XXII. Russian ecclesiastics, pilgrims, and monks travelling or sojourning in Turkey in Europe or in Asia shall enjoy the same rights, advantages, and privileges as the foreign ecclesiastics of any other nationality.

The right of official protection by the Imperial Embassy and Russian Consulates in Turkey is recognized, both as regards the persons above-mentioned, and their possessions, religious houses, charitable institutions, &c., in the Holy Places and elsewhere.

The monks of Mount Athos, of Russian origin, shall be maintained in all their possessions and former privileges, and shall continue to enjoy in the three convents belonging to them and in the adjoining buildings the same rights and privileges as are assured to the other religious establishments and convents of Mount Athos.]

XXIII. All the Treaties, Conventions, and agreements previously concluded between the two High Contracting Parties relative to commerce, jurisdiction, and the position of Russian subjects in Turkey, and which had been abrogated by the state of war, shall come into force again, with the exception of the clauses affected by the present Act. The two Governments will be placed again in the same relation to one another, with respect to all their engagements and commercial and other relations, as they were in before the declaration of war.

XXIV. The Bosphorus and the Dardanelles shall remain open in time of war as in 'time of peace to the merchant-vessels of neutral States arriving from or bound to Russian ports. The Sublime Porte consequently engages never henceforth to establish at the ports of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azow, a fictitious blockade (blocus fictif), at variance with the spirit of the Declaration signed at Paris on the $$\tfrac{4}{16}$$th April, 1856.

XXV. The complete evacuation of Turkey in Europe, with the exception of Bulgaria, by the Russian army will take place within three months after the conclusion of the definitive peace between His Majesty the Emperor of Russia and His Majesty the Sultan. In order to save time, and to avoid the cost of the prolonged maintenance of the Russian troops in Turkey and Roumania, part of the Imperial army may proceed to the ports of the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmora, to be there shipped in vessels belonging to the Russian Government or chartered for the occasion.]


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26 ignorant of his name, and her very vague description might apply to dozens of young men in Melbourne.

There was only one person who, in Mr. Gorby's opinion, could tell the name of the gentleman in the light coat, and that was Moreland, the intimate friend of the dead man. They appeared, from the landlady's description, to have been so friendly that it was more than likely Whyte would have told Moreland all about his angry visitor. Besides, Moreland's knowledge of his dead friend's life and habits might be able to supply the answer as to whom Whyte's death would have been a gain, and whom the heiress was the deceased boasted he was going to marry. What puzzled the detective was that Moreland should be ignorant of his friend's tragic death, seeing that the papers were full of the murder, and that the reward gave an excellent description of the personal appearance of the deceased. The only way in which Gorby could account for Moreland's extraordinary silence was that he was out of town, and had neither seen the papers nor heard anyone talking about the murder. If this was the case he might either stay away for an indefinite time or might come back after a few days. At all events it was worth while going down to St. Kilda in the evening on the chance that Moreland might have returned to town, and would call to see his friend. So, after his tea, Mr. Gorby put on his hat and went down to Possum Villa, on what he could not help acknowledging to himself was a very slender possibility.

Mrs. Hableton opened the door for him, and in silence led the way, not into her own sitting-room, but into a much more luxuriously furnished apartment, which Gorby guessed at once was that of Whyte's. He looked keenly round the room, and his estimate of the dead man's character was formed at once.

"Fast," he said to himself, "and a spendthrift. A man who would have friends, and possibly enemies, among a very shady lot of people."

What led Mr. Gorby to this belief was the evidences which surrounded him of Whyte's mode of life. The room was well furnished, the furniture being covered with dark-red velvet, while the curtains on the windows and the carpet were all of the same somewhat somber hue.

"I did this thing properly," observed Mrs, Hableton,


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 BY GEORGE EDWARD WOODBERRY

One of the few poets in this country who may be entitled "major" in their importance to American literature.—Springfield Republican.

This volume contains, besides the title poem, "The Kingdom of all Souls," "The Poet in Italy," "A Day at Castrogiovanni," "The Reed," etc., representing the author's verse of the years just preceding the period covered in "The Roamer." $1.25 net.

The publishers have taken over these volumes, of which only a few copies remain. Each $1.25 net.

''The publishers have also taken over the volumes issued by the Woodberry Society as follows. These were all limited editions and will not be reprinted:''

HARCOURT, BRACE AND HOWE

ONE WEST FORTY-SEVENTH ST.NEW YORK


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 The evacuation of Turkey in Asia will be effected within the space of six months, dating from the conclusion of the definitive peace, and the Russian troops will be entitled to take ship at Trebizond in order to return by the Caucasus or the Crimea.

The operations of the evacuation will begin immediately after the exchange of ratifications.

XXVI. As long as the Imperial Russian troops remain in the localities which, in conformity with the present Act, will be restored to the Sublime Porte, the administration and order of affairs will continue in the same state as has existed since the occupation. The Sublime Porte will not participate therein during all that time, nor until the entire departure of all the troops.

The Ottoman forces shall not enter the places to be restored to the Sublime Porte, and the Sublime Porte cannot begin to exercise its authority there until notice of each fortress and province having been evacuated by the Russian troops shall have been given by the Commander of these troops to the officer appointed for this purpose by the Sublime Porte.

XXVII. The Sublime Porte undertakes not to punish in any manner, or allow to be punished, those Ottoman subjects who may have been compromised by their relations with the Russian army during the war. In the event of any persons wishing to withdraw with their families when the Russian troops leave, the Ottoman authorities shall not oppose their departure.

XXVIII. Immediately upon the ratification of the Preliminaries of Peace, the prisoners of war shall be reciprocally restored under the care of special Commissioners appointed on both sides, who for this purpose shall go to Odessa and Sebastopol. The Ottoman Government will pay all the expenses of the maintenance of the prisoners that are returned to them, in eighteen equal instalments in the space of six years, in accordance with the accounts that will be drawn up by the above-mentioned Commissioners.

The exchange of prisoners between the Ottoman Government and the Governments of Roumania, Servia, and Montenegro will be made on the same basis, deducting, however, in the account, the number of prisoners restored by the Ottoman Government from the number of prisoners that will have to be restored to that Government.

XXIX. The present Act shall be ratified by their Imperial Majesties the Emperor of Russia and the Emperor of the Ottomans,


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Rh with a satisfactory smile on her hard face. "When you wants young men to stop with you, the rooms must be well furnished, an' Mr. Whyte paid well, tho' 'e was rather pertickler about 'is food, which I'm only a plain cook, an' can't make them French things which spile the stomach."

The globes of the gas lamps were of a pale pink color, and Mrs. Hableton having lit the gas in expectation of Mr. Gorby's arrival, there was a soft roseate hue through all the room like the first faint flush of the early dawn. Mr. Gorby put his hands in his capacious pockets, and strolled leisurely through the room, examining everything with a curious eye. The walls were covered with pictures of celebrated horses and famous jockeys. Alternating with these were photographs of ladies of the stage, mostly London actresses, Nellie Farren, Kate Vaughan, and other burlesque stars, evidently being the objects of the late Mr. Whyte's adoration. Over the mantelpiece hung a rack of pipes, above which were two crossed foils, and under these a number of plush frames of all colors, with pretty faces smiling out of them; a remarkable fact being that all the photographs were of ladies, and not a single male face was to be seen, either on the walls or in the plush frames.

"Fond of the ladies, I see," said Mr. Gorby, nodding his head towards the mantel piece.

"A set of hussies," said Mrs. Hableton grimly, closing her lips tightly. "I feels that ashamed when I dusts 'em as never was—I don't believe in gals gettin' their picters taken with 'ardly any clothes on, as if they just got out of bed, but Mr. Whyte seems to like 'em."

"Most young men do," answered Mr. Gorby, dryly, going over to the bookcase.

"Brutes," said the lady of the house. "I'd drown 'em in the Yarrer, I would, a settin' 'emselves and a callin' 'emselves lords of creation, as if women were made for nothin' but to earn money an' see 'em drink it, as my 'usband did, which 'is inside never seemed to 'ave enough beer, an' me a poor lone woman, with no family, thank God, or they'd 'ave takin' arter their father in 'is drinkin' 'abits."

Mr. Gorby took no notice of this tirade against men, but stood looking at Mr. Whyte's library, which seemed to consist mostly of French novels and sporting newspapers.


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28 "Zola," said Mr. Gorby, thoughtfully, taking down a flimsy yellow book rather tattered. "I've heard of him; if his novels are as bad as his reputation I shouldn't care to read them."

Here a knock came at the front door, loud and decisive, on hearing which Mrs. Hableton sprang hastily to her feet. "That may be Mr. Moreland," she said, as the detective quickly replaced Zola in the bookcase. "I never 'ave visitors in the evenin', bein' a lone widder, and if it is 'im I'll bring 'im in 'ere."

She went out, and presently Gorby, who was listening intently, heard a man's voice ask if Mr. Whyte was at home. "No, sir, he ain't," answered the landlady, "but there's a gentleman in this room askin' after 'im. Won't you come in, sir?"

"For a rest, yes," returned the visitor, and immediately afterwards Mrs. Hableton appeared, ushering in the late Oliver Whyte's most intimate friend. He was a tall, slender man, with a pink and white complexion, curly fair hair, and a drooping straw-colored mustache—altogether a strikingly aristocratic individual. He was well-dressed in a fashionable suit of check, and had a cool, nonchalant air about him.

"And where is Mr. Whyte to-night?" he asked, sinking into a chair, and taking no more notice of the detective than if he had been an article of furniture.

"Haven't you seen him lately?" asked the detective quickly. Mr. Moreland stared in an insolent manner at his questioner for a few moments, as if he were debating the advisability of answering or not. At last he apparently decided that he would, for slowly pulling off one glove he leaned back in his chair.

"No, I have not," he said, with a yawn. "I have been up the country for a few days, and only arrived back this evening, so I have not seen him for over a week. Why do you ask?"

The detective did not answer, but stood looking at the young man before him in a thoughtful manner.

"I hope," said Moreland, nonchalantly, "I hope you will know me again, my friend; but I didn't know Whyte had started a lunatic asylum during my absence. Who are you."


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 and the ratifications shall be exchanged in fifteen days, or sooner if possible, at St. Petersburgh, where likewise an agreement shall be come to as to the place and the time at which the stipulations of the present Act shall be invested with all the solemn forms usually observed in Treaties of Peace. It is, however, well understood that the High Contracting Parties consider themselves as formally bound by the present Act from the moment of its ratification.

In witness whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have appended their signatures and seals to the present Act.

Done at San Stefano, the, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight.

Cte. N. IGNATIEW.

NELIDOW.

SAFVET. SADOULLAH.

[Final paragraph of Article XI of the Act of the Preliminaries of Peace signed this day,, 1878, which was omitted, and which should form an integral part of the said Article:—

The inhabitants of the Principality of Bulgaria when travelling or sojourning in the other parts of the Ottoman Empire shall be subject to the Ottoman laws and authorities.]

San Stefano,, 1878.

(2)

The Definitive Treaty of Peace between Russia and the Porte, signed at Constantinople, on 8th February, 1879.

Au nom de Dieu tout-puissant.

S. M. L'Empereur de toutes les Russies et S. M. l'Empereur des Ottomans, désirant consacrer le rétablissement de la paix entre les deux Empires, et régler définitivement, par un traité, les clauses du traité préliminaire de San Stefano qui doivent faire l'objet d'une entente directe entre les deux États, ont nommé pour leurs plénipotentiaires: S. M. l'Empereur de toutes les Russies, d'une part, le Prince Alexis Lobanow-Rostovsky, &c.; et S. M. l'Empereur des Ottomans, de l'autre, Al. Carathéodory Pacha, &c., et Ali Pacha, &c.; Lesquels, après avoir échangé leurs pleins-pouvoirs, &c., sont tombés d'accord sur les articles suivants:

I. Il y aura désormais paix et amitié entre les deux Empires.

II. Les deux Puissances sont d'accord pour déclarer que les stipulations du Traité de Berlin, intervenu entre les sept


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Rh Mr. Gorby came forward and stood under the gaslight. "My name is Gorby, sir, and I am a detective," he said, quietly.

"Ah! indeed;" said Moreland, coolly looking up and down. "What has Whyte been doing—running away with some one's wife, eh? I know he has little weaknesses of that sort."

Gorby shook his head.

"Do you know where Mr. Whyte is to be found?" he asked cautiously.

Moreland laughed.

"Not I, my friend," said he, lightly, "I presume he is somewhere about here, as these are his head-quarters. What's he been doing? Nothing that can surprise me, I assure you—he was always an erratic individual, and——"

"He paid reg'ler," interrupted Mrs. Hableton, pursing up her lips.

"A most enviable reputation to possess," answered the other with a sneer, "and one I'm afraid I'll never enjoy. But why all this questioning about Whyte? What's the matter with him?"

"He's dead!" said Gorby, abruptly.

All Moreland's nonchalance vanished on hearing this, and he started up out of his chair.

"Dead," he repeated mechanically. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that Mr. Oliver Whyte was murdered in a hansom cab."

Moreland stared at the detective in a puzzled sort of way, and passed his hand across his forehead.

"Excuse me, my head is in a whirl," he said, as he sat down again. "Whyte murdered! He was all right when I left him nearly two weeks ago."

"Hav'n't you seen the papers?" asked Gorby.

"Not for the last two weeks," replied Moreland. "I have been up country, and it was only on arriving back in town to-night that I heard about the murder at all, as my landlady gave me a garbled account of it, but I never for a moment connected it with Whyte, and came down here to see him, as I had agreed to do when I left. Poor fellow! poor fellow! poor fellow!" and much overcome, he buried his face in his hands.


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30 Mr. Gorby was touched by his evident distress, and even Mrs. Hableton permitted a small tear to roll down one hard cheek as a tribute of sorrow and sympathy. Presently Moreland raised his head, and spoke to Gorby in a husky tone.

"Tell me all about it," he said, leaning his cheek on his hand. "Everything you know."

He placed his elbows on the table, and buried his face in his hands again, while the detective sat down and related all that he knew about Whyte's murder. When it was done he lifted up his head, and looked sadly at the detective.

"If I had been in town," he said, "this would not have happened, for I was always beside Whyte."

"You knew him very well, sir?" said the detective, in a sympathetic tone.

"We were like brothers," replied Moreland, mournfully. "I came out from England in the same steamer with him, and used to visit him constantly here."

Mrs. Hableton nodded her head to imply that such was the case.

"In fact," said Mr. Moreland, after a moment's thought, "I believe I was with him the night he was murdered."

Mrs. Hableton gave a slight scream, and threw her apron over her face, but the detective sat unmoved, though Moreland's last remark had considerably startled him.

"What's the matter?" said Moreland, turning to Mrs. Hableton. "Don't be afraid; I didn't kill him—no—but I met him last Thursday week, and I left for the country on Friday morning at half-past six."

"And what time did you meet Whyte on Thursday night?" asked Gorby.

"Let me see," said Moreland, crossing his legs and looking thoughtfully up to the ceiling, "it was about half-past nine o'clock. I was in the Orient Hotel, in Bourke Street. We had a drink together, and then went up the street to an hotel in Russell Street, where we had another. In fact," said Moreland, coolly, "we had several other drinks."

"Brutes!" mattered Mrs. Hableton, below her breath.

"Yes," said Gorby, placidly. "Go on."

"Well of—it's hardly the thing to confess it," said


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, ont remplacé les articles des préliminaires de paix de San Stéfano, qui ont été abrogés ou modifiés par le Congrès.

III. Les stipulations du Traité de San Stéfano qui n'ont pas été abrogées ou modifiées par le Traité de Berlin sont réglées définitivement par les articles suivants du présent Traité IV. Défalcation faite de la valeur des territoires cédés par la Turquie à la Russie en conformité du Traité de Berlin, l'indemnité de guerre reste fixée à la somme de huit cent deux millions cinq cent mille francs. Le mode de paiement de cette somme et la garantie à y affecter, sauf les déclarations contenues dans le Protocols 11 du Congrès de Berlin, relativement à la question territorial et aux droits des créanciers, seront réglées par une entente entre le Gouvernement de Sa Majesté l'Empereur de toutes les Russies, et celui de Sa Majesté l'Empereur des Ottomans.

V. Les réclamations des sujets et institutions Russes en Turquie, à titre d'indemnité pour les dommages subis pendant la guerre, seront payées à mesure qu'elles seront examinées par l'ambassade de Russie à Constantinople, et transmises à la Sublime Porte. La totalité de ces réclamations ne pourra en aucun cas dépasser le chiffre de vingt-six millions sept cent cinquante mille francs. Le terme d'une année après l'échange des ratifications est fixé comme date à partir de laquelle les réclamations pourront être présentées à la Sublime Porte, et celui de deux ans comme date après laquelle les réclamations ne seront plus admises.

VI. Des commissaires spéciaux seront nommés par le Gouvernement Impérial de Russie, et la Sublime Porte afin d'etablir les comptes des frais résultant de l'entretien des prisonniers de guerre Ottomans. Ces comptes seront arrêtés à la date de la signature du Traité de Berlin. On déduira les frais effectués par le Gouvernement Ottoman pour l'entretien des prisonniers Russes, et la somme qui en résultera, une fois établie, sera payée par la Sublime Porte en vingt-et-un termes égaux, dans l'espace de sept années.

VII. Les habitants des localités cédées à la Russie qui voudraient fixer leur résidence hors de ces territoires seront libres de se retirer, en vendant leurs propriétés immobilières. Un dé1ai de trois ans leur sera accordé à cet effet à partir de la ratification du présent acte. Passé ce délai, les habitants qui n'auraient pas quitté le pays et vendu leurs immeubles resteront sujets Russes.

VIII. Les deux parties prennent mutuellement l'engagement de ne sévir ni de laisser sévir d'aucune manière contre les sujets Russes ou Ottomans qui auraient été compromis par leurs relations avec les armées des deux Empires pendant la guerre.


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Rh Moreland, looking from one to the other with a pleasant smile, "but in a case like this, I feel it my duty to throw all social scruples aside. We both got very drunk."

"Ah! Whyte was, as we know, drunk when he got into the cab—and you—?"

"Was not quite so bad as Whyte," answered the other. "I had my senses about me. I fancy he left the hotel some minutes before one o'clock on Friday morning."

"And what did you do?"

"I remained in the hotel. He left his overcoat behind him, and I picked it up and followed him shortly afterwards, to return it. I was too drunk to see which direction he had gone in, and stood leaning against the hotel door in Bourke Street with the coat in my hand. Then some one came up, and, snatching the coat out of my hand, made off with it, and the last thing I remember was shouting out: 'Stop thief!' Then I must have fallen down, for next morning I was in bed with all my clothes on, and they were very muddy. I got up and left town for the country by the six thirty train, so I knew nothing about the matter until 1 came back to Melbourne to-night. That's all I know."

"And you had no impression that Whyte was watched that night?"

"No, I had not," answered Moreland, frankly. "He was in pretty good spirits, though he was put out at first."

"What was the cause of his being put out?"

Moreland arose, and going to a side table brought Whyte's album, which he laid on the table and opened in silence. The contents were very much the same as the photographs in the room, burlesque actresses and ladies of the ballet predominating; but Mr. Moreland turned over the pages till nearly the end, when he stopped at a large cabinet photograph, and pushed the album towards Mr. Gorby.

"That was the cause," he said.

It was the portrait of a charmingly pretty girl, dressed in white, with a sailor hat on her fair hair, and holding a lawn-tennis racket. She was bending half forward, with a winning smile, and in the background was a mass of some tropical plants. Mrs. Hableton gave a cry of surprise at seeing this.

"Why, it's Miss Frettlby," she said. "How did he know her?"


text:
Weird Tales (Canadian, 2nd series)

Issues

 * May 1942, vol. 36, no. 3
 * July 1942, vol. 36, no. 4
 * September 1942, vol. 37, no. 1
 * November 1942, vol. 37, no. 1
 * January 1943, vol. 36, no. 7
 * March 1943, vol. 36, no. 8
 * May 1943, vol. 36, no. 9
 * July 1943, vol. 36, no. 10
 * September 1943, vol. 36, no. 11
 * November 1943, vol. 36, no. 12
 * January 1944, vol. 36, no. 13
 * March 1944, vol. 36, no. 14
 * May 1944, vol. 36, no. 15
 * July 1944, vol. 37, no. 5
 * September 1944, vol. 37, no. 6
 * November 1944, vol. 38, no. 1
 * January 1945, vol. 38, no. 3
 * March 1945, vol. 38, no. 3
 * May 1945, vol. 38, no. 3
 * July 1945, vol. 38, no. 3
 * September 1945, vol. 38, no. 3
 * November 1945, vol. 38, no. 3
 * January 1946, vol. 38, no. 3
 * March 1946, vol. 38, no. 4
 * May 1946, vol. 38, no. 4
 * July 1946, vol. 38, no. 4
 * September 1946, vol. 38, no. 4
 * November 1946, vol. 38, no. 4
 * January 1947, vol. 38, no. 4
 * March 1947, vol. 38, no. 4
 * May 1947, vol. 38, no. 4
 * July 1947, vol. 38, no. 4
 * September 1947, vol. 38, no. 4
 * November 1947, vol. 38, no. 4
 * January 1948

title: Weird Tales (Canadian, 2nd series)


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32 "Knew her father—letters of introduction, and all that sort of thing," said Mr. Moreland, glibly.

"Ah! indeed," said Mr. Gorby, slowly. "So Mr. Whyte knew Mark Frettlby, the millionaire; but how did he obtain a photograph of the daughter?"

"She gave it to him," said Moreland. "The fact is, Whyte was very much in love with Miss Frettlby."

"And she——"

"Was in love with some one else," finished Moreland.

"Exactly! Yes, she loved a Mr. Brian Fitzgerald, to whom she is now engaged. He was mad on her, and Whyte and he used to quarrel over the young lady desperately."

"Indeed!" said Mr. Gorby. "And do you know this Mr. Fitzgerald?"

"Oh, dear no!" answered the other coolly. "Whyte's friends were not mine. He was a rich young man who had good introductions. I am only a poor devil on the outskirts of society, trying to push my way in the world."

"You know his personal appearance, of course?" observed Mr. Gorby.

"Oh, yes, I can tell you that," said Moreland. "In fact, he's not at all unlike me, which I take to be rather a compliment, as he is said to be good-looking. He is tall, rather fair, talks in a bored sort of manner, and is altogether what one would call a heavy swell; but you must have seen him," he went on, turning to Mrs. Hableton, "he was here three or four weeks ago, Whyte told me."

"Oh, that was Mr. Fitzgerald, was it?" said Mrs. Hableton, in surprise. "Yes, he was rather like you; and so the lady they quarrelled over must have been Miss Frettlby."

"Very likely," said Moreland, rising. "Well, I'm off. Here's by address," putting a card in Gorby's hand, "I'm glad to be of any use to you in this matter, as Whyte was my dearest friend, and I'll do all in my power to help you to find out the murderer."

"I don't think that is a very difficult matter," said Mr. Gorby, slowly.

"Oh, you have suspicions?" said Moreland, looking at him.

"I have."

"Then who do you think murdered Whyte? "

Mr. Gorby paused a moment, and then said deliberately:


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 Dans le cas où quelques personnes voudraient se retirer avec leurs families à la suite des troupes Russes, les autorités Ottomanes ne s'opposeront pas à leur départ.

IX. Una amnistie pleine et entière est assurée à tous les sujets Ottomans compromis dans les derniers évènements des provinces de la Turquie d'Europe, et toutes les personnes détenues de ce fait, envoyées en exil, ou éloignées de leur pays, retourneront immédiatement en jouissance de leur liberté.

X. Tous les traités convenus et engagements conclus entre les deux hautes parties contractantes relativement au commerce, à la juridiction et à la position des sujets Russes en Turquie et qui avaient été supprimés par l'état de guerre, seront remis en vigueur, et les deux gouvernements seront replacés l'un vis à l'autre pour leurs engagements et rapports commerciaux et autres dans la même situation où ils se trouvaient avant la déclaration de la guerre, le tout sauf les clauses auxquelles il serait dérogé par le présent article ou en vertu du Traité de Berlin.

XI. La Sublime Porte prendra des mesures efficaces pour terminer à l'amiable toutes les affaires litigieuses des sujets Russes pendantes depuis plusieurs années, dédommager ces derniers s'il y a lieu, et faire exécuter sans délai les sentences rendues.

XII. Le présent acte sera ratifié et les ratifications en seront échangées à St. Pétersbourg, dans l'espace de deux semaines ou plus tôt si faire se pent. En foi de quoi, &c.

LOBANOW.

AL. CARATHÉODORY.

ALI.

Fait à Constantinople le 27 Janvier (8 Février), 1879.

(3)

Convention respecting the War Indemnity between Russia and the Porte, signed at Constantinople 14th May, 1882.

S. M. l'Empereur de toutes les Russies et S. M. I'Empereur des Ottomans, désirant, en exécution de l'article IV du traité signé entre la Russie et la Turquie le 27 Janvier (8 fevrier) 1879, régler définitivement, par une convention, le mode de paiement de l'indemnité de guerre russe et la garantie à y affecter, ont nommé pour leurs plenipotentiaires:

S. M. l'Empereur de toutes les Russies d'une part, le sieur Eugène Novicow, &c., et le sieur Théodore de Thœrner, &c.


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Rh "I have an idea—but I am not certain—when I am certain, I'll speak."

"You think Fitzgerald killed my friend," said Moreland. "I see it in your face."

Mr. Gorby smiled. "Perhaps," he said, ambiguously. "Wait till I'm certain."

The old Greek story of Midas, who turned everything he touched into gold, is truer than most people suppose. MedievelMedieval [sic] superstition changed the human being who possessed such a power into the philosopher's stone, after which so many alchemists went hunting in the dark ages, but we of the nineteenth century have given the miracle of changing everything into gold by the touch, back to its human possessor. We, however, do not ascribe it either to Greek deity or Medieval superstition, but simply call it luck; and he who possesses luck is a happy man, or, at least, he ought to be. Wiseacres who may read this will, of course, repeat the stale proverb that "Riches do not bring happiness." But luck means more than riches—it means happiness in everything which the fortunate possessor may choose to go in for. If he goes into a speculation, it turns out well; if he marries a wife, she is sure to be everything that can be desired; if he aspires to a position, social or political, he attains it with ease—worldly wealth, domestic happiness and good position, all these belong to the men who have luck. Mark Frettlby was one of these fortunate individuals, and his luck was proverbial throughout Australia. If there was any speculation for which Mark Frettlby went in, other men would be sure to follow, and in every case the result turned out as well, and in many cases even better than they expected. He had come out in the early days of the colony with comparatively little money, but his great perseverance and never failing luck had soon changed his hundreds into thousands; and now at the age of fifty-five he did not himself know the extent of his income. He had large stations scattered all over the colony of Victoria, which brought him in a splendid


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240 "Regret, no," she answered, looking at him with loving eyes. "With you by my side I fear nothing. Surely our hearts have been tried in the furnace of affliction, and our love has been chastened and purified."

"We are sure of nothing in this world," replied Brian, with a sigh. "But after all the sorrow and grief of the past, let us hope that the future will be peace."

"Peace!"

A white-winged sea gull arose suddenly from the crimson waters, and circled rapidly in the air above them.

"A happy omen," she said, looking up fondly to the grave face of her husband, "for your life and for mine."

He bent down and kissed her.

The great steamer moved slowly out to sea, and as they stood on the deck, hand clasped in hand, with the fresh salt breeze blowing keenly in their faces, it bore them away into the placid beauty of the coming night toward the old world and the new life.


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352


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 et S. M. l'Empereur des Ottomans de l'autre, Mehmed-Assim-Pacha, &c., et Mahmoud-Server-Pacha, &c.

lesquels, après s'être communiqué leurs pouvoirs, sont tombés d'accord sur les articles suivants:

I. La somme de huit cent deux millions cinq cent mille francs, qui aux termes de l'article IV dudit traité constitue le montant de l'indemnité de guerre russe, sera payée par le gouvernement ottoman au moyen de versements annuels de trois cent cinquante mille livres turques. Il est convenu que cette somme de 350,000 livres turques sera affectée en entier à l'amortissement du capital de l'indemnité de guerre. Accédant au désir du gouvernement ottoman, le gouvernement russe consent à ne pas réclamer en même temps d'intérêt sur ledit capital.

II. Le gouvernement ottoman déclare que l'annuité stipulée de 350,000 livres turques sera prélevée spécialement sur la dîme et la taxe des moutons.

III. Les dîmes et la taxe des moutons affectées au paiement de l'indemnité de guerre, devront être assignées sur les vilayets et moutessarifliks dans lesquels la Banque impériale ottomane possède des succursales ou des agents.

IV. Les sommes ainsi assignées au paiement de l'indemnité de guerre dans chaque vilayet ou moutessariflik devront être 25 0/0 inférieures à la totalité du rendement desdites taxes dans lesdites localités.

V. La totalité du rendement net desdites taxes dans les vilayets et moutessarifliks en question, c'est-à-dire la somme qui restera après déduction des frais de perception des taxes mêmes, sera versée directement et en entier par l'autorité locale chargée de cette perception dans lesdits vilayets et moutessarifliks, aux caisses de la Banque impériale ottomane, ou à l'agent de ladite Banque, en vertu d'un ordre spécial et permanent sanctionné par iradé impérial.

Cependant, si les revenus des taxes des moutons et des dîmes, affectés à l'indemnité de guerre, venaient à fournir un excédant supérieur au 25 0/0 accordé, dans ce cas la Banque impériale ottomane sera tenue d'abandonner au ministère des finances des cazas, dont le revenu des taxes des moutons et des dîmes doit égaler l'excédant eventuel susindiqué.

Par contre, si ces mêmes revenus subissaient une diminution assez forte pour que l'excédant de 25 0/0 ne puisse pas être réalisé, alors le ministre des finances ottomans s'engage à assigner à la Banque impériale ottomane de nouveaux cazas dont les revenus


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 des taxes des dîmes et des moutons suffisent pour parfaire le déficit en question. VI. La Banque impériale ottomane sera tenue de faire, avec la Banque impériale de Russie, un arrangement spécial pour les opérations de la Banque ottomane à Constantinople, concernant le paiement de l'indemnité de guerre.

VII. La direction de la Banque impériale ottomane sera obligée, dès la signature de la convention, à retenir tout d'abord, au fur et à mesure des rentrées des taxes des moutons et des dîmes, la somme assignée pour l'indemnité de guerre russe et tiendra immédiatement à la disposition de l'administration locale tout surplus de chaque vilayet, après que la part qui en revient au paiement de l'indemnité de guerre aura été prélevée et mise de côté pour le compte de la Banque impériale de Russie.

VIII. Le gouvernement impérial ottoman s'engage à interdire à son ministère des finances, ainsi qu'à l'administration du vilayet ou du moutessariflik, d'émettre des havalés, chèques et autres ordres de paiement sur les taxes des moutons et sur les dîmes ainsi assignées dans les localités indiquées.

IX. Par suite de l'arrangement intervenu, la partie de la taxe des moutons et des dîmes assignée au paiement de l'indemnité russe ne figurera au budget ottoman qu'à titre d'entrée et sortie (irad masraf).

X. En conséquence des articles III. et IV. de la présente convention, il sera assigné au paiement des annuités stipulées les revenus sous-indiqués des vilayets d'Alep, de Konieh, de Castamouni, d'Adana et de Sivas,—revenus dont les frais de perception ont déjà été déduits:

Revenues nets:

Sur ce total 350,000 livres turques représentent le montant de l'annuité et le reste sert de garantie supplémentaire de 25 0/0 aux termes des articles V. et VIII. de la présente convention.


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 XI. Le gouvernement impérial ottoman conserve le droit de substituer, en cas de necessité, aux localités désignées, d'autres localités, après une entente préalable avec la Banque impériale ottomane sur les sécurités de rentrée qui doivent être les mêmes. Avis officiel en sera immédiatement donné au gouvernement impérial de Russie.

XII. Le présent acte sera ratifié et les ratifications en seront échangées à St.-Pétersbourg, dans l'espace de deux semaines ou plus tôt, si faire se peut.

En foi de quoi les plénipotentiaires de Russie et de Turquie y ont apposé leurs signatures et le sceau de leurs armes.

Fait à Constantinople, le 2 (14) mai 1882.

NOVICOW.

THOERNER.

M. ASSIM.

SERVER.

⁂—Turkey having in July 1876 wholly suspended payment of the interest on her debt, the Plenipotentiaries of Austria, Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy, and Russia at the Congress of Berlin agreed to the following declaration, which was accordingly inserted in the i8th Protocol of the Congress:—

'The Powers represented at the Congress desire to recommend to the Sublime Porte the establishment of a Financial Commission, composed of specialists named by their respective governments, which Commission shall be charged to examine into the complaints of the bondholders of the Ottoman debt, and to propose the most efficacious means for satisfying them as far as is compatible with the financial situation of the Porte.'

In order to avoid the interference of such a Commission, the Porte in October, 1880, invited a meeting of representatives of the foreign bondholders, and announced to the Powers its intention of including in one arrangement the settlement of the foreign debt, the floating debt, and the war indemnity due to Russia. These questions were, however, ultimately kept separate, and an agreement was made with the bondholders on 18th November, confirmed by an Iradé dated 20th December, 1881.

Under this arrangement the foreign debt is reduced to £106,437,234, secured upon the excise and other revenues, subject to a first charge in favour of the Galata Bankers, whose loans are consolidated into a Privileged debt of £8,170,000, and the receipt of the assigned revenues is entrusted to an Administrative Council of Bondholders. The arrangement has, it seems, worked well; and the expenditure of the Empire has recently, though only by non-payment of salaries, been kept within its income. a


text: Popular Science Monthly/Volume 53/May 1898/Notes


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34 income; a charming country house, where at certain seasons of the year he dispensed hospitality to his friends, like the lord of an English manor, and a magnificent town house down in St. Kilda, which would not have been unworthy of Park Lane.

Nor were his domestic relations less happy—he had a charming wife, who was one of the best known and most popular ladies of Melbourne, and an equally charming daughter, who, being both pretty and an heiress, naturally attracted crowds of suitors. But Madge Frettlby was capricious, and refused innumerable offers. Being an extremely independent young person, with a mind of her own, as she had not yet seen anyone she could love, she decided to remain single, and with her mother continued to dispense the hospitality of the mansion at St. Kilda. But the fairy prince comes to every woman, even if she has to wait a hundred years like the Sleeping Beauty, and in this case he arrived at the appointed time. Ah! what a delightful prince he was, tall, handsome and fair-haired, who came from Ireland, and answered to the name of Brian Fitzgerald. He had left behind him in the old country a ruined castle and a few acres of barren land, inhabited by discontented tenants who refused to pay the rent, and talked darkly about the Land League and other agreeable things. And so, with no rent coming in, and no prospect of doing anything in the future, Brian had left the castle of his forefathers to the rats and the family Banshee, and came out to Australia to make his fortune. He brought letters of introduction to Mark Frettlby, and that gentleman, having taken a fancy to him, assisted him by every means in his power. Under Frettlby's advice Brian bought a station, and, to his astonishment, in a few years found himself growing rich. The Fitzgeralds had always been more famous for spending than for saving, and it was an agreeable surprise to their latest representative to find the money rolling in instead of out. He began to indulge in castles in the air concerning that other castle in Ireland, with the barren acres and discontented tenants. In his mind's-eye he saw the old place rise up in all its pristine splendor out of its ruins; he saw the barren acres well cultivated, and the tenants happy and content—he was rather doubtful on this latter point, but, with the rash


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Rh of eight and twenty, determined to do his best to perform even the impossible. Having built and furnished his castle in the air, Brian naturally thought of giving it a mistress, and this time actual appearance took the place of vision.

He fell in love with Madge Frettlby, and having decided in his own mind that she and none other was fitted to grace the visionary halls of his renovated castle, he watched his opportunity and declared himself. She, woman-like, coquetted with him for some time, but at last, unable to withstand the impetuosity of her Irish lover, confessed in a low voice, with a pretty smile on her face, that she could not live without him. Whereupon—well—lovers being of a conservative turn of mind, and accustomed to observe the traditional forms of wooing, the result can easily be guessed. Brian hunting all over the jewelers' shops in Melbourne with love-like assiduity, and having obtained a ring wherein were set some turquoise stones, as blue as his own eyes, he placed it on her slender finger, and at last felt that his engagement was an accomplished fact. This being satisfactorily arranged, he next proceeded to interview the father, and had just screwed his courage up to the awful ordeal, when something occurred which postponed the interview indefinitely. Mrs. Frettlby was out driving, when the horses took fright and bolted. The coachman and groom both escaped unhurt, but Mrs. Frettlby was thrown out and killed instantaneously. This was the first really great trouble which had fallen on Mark Frettlby, and he seemed to be stunned by it.

Shutting himself up in his room, he refused to see any one, even his daughter, and appeared at the funeral with white and haggard face, which shocked every one. When everything was over, and the body of the late Mrs. Frettlby was consigned to the earth, with all the pomp and ceremony which money could give, the bereaved husband rode home and resumed his old life. But he was never the same again. His face, which had always been so genial and bright, became stern and sad. He seldom smiled, and when he did, it was a faint, wintry smile, which seemed mechanical. His whole heart seemed centered in his daughter. She became the sole mistress of the St. Kilda mansion, and her father idolized her. She seemed to be the one thing left to him which gave him an interest in


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36 life, and had it not been for her bright presence constantly near him Mark Frettlby would have wished himself lying beside his dead wife in the quiet graveyard, wherein there is no trouble or care. After a time had elapsed, Brian again resolved to ask Mr. Frettlby for the hand of his daughter, when for the second time fate interposed. This time it was a rival suitor who made his appearance, and Brian's hot Irish temper rose when he saw another Richmond in the field. The gentleman in question was a Mr. Oliver Whyte, who had come out from England a few months previously, and brought a letter of introduction to Mr. Frettlby, who received him hospitably, as was his custom, and Whyte soon made himself perfectly at home in the St. Kilda mansion.

Brian took a dislike to the new comer the first time he saw him, for Mr. Fitzgerald was a student of Lavater, and prided himself on his reading of character. His opinion of Whyte was anything but flattering to that gentleman, for in spite of his handsome face and suave manners, both Brian and Madge felt the same repulsion towards him as they would have to a snake. Mr. Whyte, however, with true diplomacy, affected not to notice the cold way in which Madge received him, and began to pay marked attention to her, much to Brian's disgust. At last he asked her to be his wife, and notwithstanding her prompt refusal, spoke to Mr. Frettlby on the subject. Much to the daughter's astonishment, that gentleman consented to Whyte's paying his addresses to Madge, and told her that he wished her to consider the young man's proposal favorably. In spite of all Madge could say, he refused to alter his decision, and Whyte, feeling himself safe, began to treat Brian with an insolence which was highly galling to Fitzgerald's proud nature. He called on Whyte at his lodgings, and after a violent quarrel with him had left the house, vowing to kill Whyte should he marry Madge Frettlby. Fitzgerald went along to Mr. Frettlby that same night, and had an interview with him. He confessed that he loved Madge, and that his love was returned. So, when Madge added her entreaties to Brian's, Mr. Frettlby found himself unable to withstand the combined forces, and gave his consent to their engagement. Whyte was absent in the country for the next few days after his


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Rh stormy interview with Brian, and it was only on his return that he learnt that Madge was engaged to his rival. He saw Mr. Frettlby on the subject, and having learnt from his own lips that such was the case, he left the house at once, and swore that he would never enter it again. He little knew how prophetic his words were, for on that same night he met his death in the hansom cab. He had passed out of the life of both the lovers, and they, glad that he troubled them no more, never suspected for a moment that the body of the unknown man found in Royston's cab was that of Oliver Whyte.

About two weeks after Whyte's disappearance Mr. Frettlby gave a dinner party in honor of his daughter's birthday. It was a delightful evening, and the wide French windows which led on to the verandah were open, letting in a gentle breeze, blowing with a fresh salt odor from the ocean. Outside there was a kind of screen of tropical plants, and through the tangle of the boughs the guests, seated at the table, could just see the waters of the bay glittering like silver in the pale moonlight. Brian was seated opposite to Madge, and every now and then he caught a glimpse of her bright face behind the great silver, filled with fruit and flowers, which stood in the center of the table. Mark Frettlby was at the head of the table, and appeared in very good spirits, for his stern features were somewhat relaxed, and he drank more wine than usual. The soup had just been removed when some one, who was late, entered with apologies and took his seat. Some one in this case was Mr. Felix Rolleston, one of the best known young men in Melbourne. He had an income of his own, scribbled a little for the papers, was to be seen at every house of any pretensions to fashion in Melbourne, and was always bright, happy and full of news. "Whenever any scandal occurred, Felix Rolleston was sure to know it first, and could tell more about it than any one else. He knew everything that was going on both at home and abroad. His knowledge, if not very accurate, was at least extensive, and his conversation was piquant and witty. As Calton, one of the leading lawyers of the city, said: "Rolleston put him in mind of what Beaconsfield said in one of his characters in Lothair, 'He wasn't an intellectual Croesus, but his pockets were always full of sixpences.'"


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38 There was a great deal of truth in Calton's remark, and Felix always distributed his sixpences freely. The conversation had been dull for the last few minutes at the Frettlby dinner-table; consequently, when Felix arrived, everybody brightened up, as they felt certain now that the conversation would be amusing.

"So awfully sorry, don't you know," said Felix, as he slipped into a seat by Madge; "but a fellow like me has got to be careful of his time—so many calls on it."

"So many calls in it, you mean," retorted Madge with a disbelieving smile. "Confess, now, you have been paying a round of visits."

"Well, yes," assented Mr. Rolleston; "that's the disadvantage of having a large circle of acquaintances. They give you weak tea and thin bread and butter, whereas——"

"You would rather have a B. and S. and some deviled kidneys," finished Brian.

There was a laugh at this, but Mr. Rolleston disdained to notice the interruption.

"The only advantage of five o'clock tea," he went on, "is that it brings people together, and one hears what's going on."

"Ah, yes, Rolleston," said Mr. Frettlby, who was looking at him with an amused smile. "What news have you?"

"Good news, bad news, and such news as you have never heard of," quoted Rolleston gravely. "Yes, I have a bit of news—haven't you heard it?"

As no one knew what the news was they could not very well say that they had, so Rolleston was happy, having found out that he could make a sensation.

"Well, do you know," he said, gravely fixing in his eyeglass, "they have found out the name of the fellow that was murdered in the hansom cab."

"Never!" cried every one eagerly.

"Yes," went on Rolleston, "and what's more you all know him."

"It's never Whyte?" said Brian, in a horrified tone.

"Hang it, how did you know?" said Rolleston, rather annoyed at being forestalled. "Why, I just heard it at the St. Kilda station."

"Oh, easily enough," said Brian, rather confused. "I used


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Rh to see Whyte constantly, and as I had not set eyes on him for the last two weeks, I thought it might be him."

"How did they find out who it was?" asked Mr. Frettlby, idly toying with his wine-glass.

"Oh, one of those detective fellows, you know," answered Felix. "They know everything."

"I'm sorry to hear it," said Frettlby, referring to the fact that Whyte was murdered. "He had a letter of introduction to me, and seemed a clever, pushing young fellow."

"A confounded cad," muttered Felix, under his breath; and Brian, who overheard him, seemed inclined to assent.

For the rest of the meal nothing was talked about but the murder, and the mystery in which it was shrouded. When the ladies retired they chatted about it in the drawing-room, but finally dropped it for more agreeable subjects. The gentleman, however, when the cloth had been removed, filled their glasses, and continued their discussion with unabated vigor. Brian alone did not take part in the conversation. He sat moodily staring at his untasted wine, and wrapped in a.

"What I can't make out," observed Rolleston, who was amusing himself cracking nuts, "is how they did not find out who he was before."

That is not hard to answer," said Frettlby, filling his glass; "he was comparatively little known here, as he had been out from England such a short time, and I fancy that this was the only house he visited at."

"And look here, Rolleston," said Calton, who was sitting near him, "if you were to find a man dead in a hansom cab, dressed in evening clothes—which nine men out of ten are in the habit of wearing in the evening—no cards in his pockets, and no name on his linen, I rather think you would find it hard to discover who he was. I consider it reflects great credit on the police for finding out so quickly."

"Puts one in mind of 'The Leavenworth Case,' and all that sort of thing," said Felix, whose reading was of the lightest description. "Awfully exciting, like putting a Chinese puzzle together. Gad, I wouldn't mind being a detective myself."

"I'm afraid if that was the case," said Mr. Frettlby, with an amused smile, "criminals would be pretty safe,"


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40 "Oh, I don't know so much about that," answered Felix, shrewdly; "some fellows are like trifles at a party—froth on top, but something better underneath."

"What a greedy simile," said Calton, sipping his wine; "but I'm afraid the police will have a more difficult task in discovering the man who committed the crime. In my opinion he's a deuced clever fellow."

"Then you don't think he will be discovered?" asked Brian, rousing himself out of his brown study.

"Well, I don't go as far as that," rejoined Calton; "but he has certainly left no trace behind him, and even the Red Indian, in whom instinct for tracking is so highly developed, needs some sort of a trail to find out his enemies. Depend upon it," went on Calton, warming to his subject, "the man who murdered Whyte is no ordinary criminal; the place he chose for the committal of the crime was such a safe one."

"Do you think so?" said Rolleston. "Why, I should think that a hansom cab in a public street would be very unsafe."

"It is that very fact that makes it safer," replied Mr. Calton, epigrammatically. "You read De Quincey's account of the Marr murders in London, and you will see that the more public the place the less risk there is of detection. There was nothing about the gentleman in the light coat who murdered Whyte to excite Royston's suspicions. He got into the cab with Whyte, no noise or anything likely to attract attention was heard, and then he got out. Naturally enough, Royston drove to St. Kilda, and never suspected Whyte was dead till he looked inside and touched him. As to the man in the light coat, he doesn't live in Powlett Street—no—nor in East Melbourne either."

"Why not?" asked Frettlby.

"Because he wouldn't have been such a fool as to leave a trail to his own door; he did what the fox often does—he doubled. My opinion is that he either went right through East Melbourne to Fitzroy, or he walked back through the Fitzroy Gardens into town. There was no one about at that time of the morning, and he could walk home to his lodgings, hotel, or whatever it was, with impunity. Of course, this is a theory that may be wrong;


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Rh but from what insight into human nature my profession has given me, I think that my idea is a correct one."

All present agreed with Mr. Calton's idea, as it really did seem the most natural thing that would be done by a man desirous of escaping detection.

"Tell you what," said Felix to Brian, as they were on their way to the drawing room, "if the fellow that committed the crime is found out, by gad, he ought to get Calton to defend him."

When the gentlemen entered the drawing-room a young lady was engaged in playing one of those detestable pieces of music called Morceau de Salon, in which an unoffending air is taken and variations embroidered on it till it becomes a perfect agony to distinguish the tune amid the perpetual rattle of quavers and demi-semi-quavers. The air in this case was "Over the Garden Wall," with variations by Signor Thumpanini, and the young lady who played it was a pupil of that celebrated Italian musician. When the male portion of the guests entered the air was being played in the bass with a great deal of power (that is, the loud pedal was down), and with a perpetual rattle of treble notes trying with all their shrill power to drown the tune.

"Gad! it's getting over the garden wall in a hailstorm," said Felix, as he strolled over to the piano, for he saw that the musician was Dora Featherweight, an heiress to whom he was then paying attention, in the hopes that she might be induced to take the name of Rolleston, together with the present owner of the same. So, when the fair Dora had paralyzed her audience with one final bang and rattle, as if the gentleman going over the garden wall had tumbled into the cucumber-frame, Felix was loud in his expressions of delight.

"Such power, you know, Miss Featherweight," he said, sinking into a chair, and mentally wondering if any of the piano strings had given way at that last crash. "You put your heart into it—and all your muscle, too, by gad," he added mentally.


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356


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42 "It's nothing but practice," answered Miss Featherweight, with a modest blush; "I am at the piano four hours every day."

"Oh, Lord," groaned Felix, "what a time the family must have of it;" but he kept this remark to himself, and, screwing his eye-glass into his left organ of vision, merely ejaculated, "Lucky piano!"

Miss Featherweight, not being able to think of any answer to this, looked down and blushed, while the ingenious Felix looked up and sighed.

Madge and Brian were in one corner of the room, talking together about Whyte's death.

"I never did like him," she said, "but it was horrible to think of him dying like that."

"I don't know," answered Brian, gloomily; "from all I can hear, chloroform is a very easy death."

"Death can never be easy," replied Madge, "especially to a young man so full of health and spirits as Mr. Whyte was."

"I believe you are sorry he's dead," said Brian, jealously.

"Aren't you?" she asked, in some surprise.

"De mortius nil nisi bonum," quoted Fitzgerald; "but as I detested him when alive, you can't expect me to regret his end."

Madge did not answer him, but glanced quickly at his face, and for the first time it struck her that he looked ill.

"What is the matter with you, dear?" she asked, placing her hand on his arm. "You are not looking well."

"Nothing—nothing," he answered hurriedly. "I've been a little worried about business lately—but come," he said, rising, "let us go outside, for I see your father has got that girl with the steam-whistle voice to sing."

The girl with the steamwhistle voice was Julia Featherweight, the sister of Rolleston's inamorata, and Madge stifled a laugh as she went out on to the verandah with Fitzgerald.

"What a shame of you," she said, bursting into a laugh, when they were safely outside; "she's been taught by the best masters."

"How I pity them," retorted Brian, grimly, as Julia wailed out, "Meet me once again," with an ear-piercing


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1896.

An Act to amend the Coal Mines Regulation Act, 1887. [14th August 1896.]

E it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

1.—(1.) The power to propose, amend, and modify special rules Special rules, for a mine under the Coal Mines Regulation Act, 1887 (in referred to as the principal Act), shall include powers with respect to any of the following matters: —

(a) the nature and description of the tights or lamps to be used in the mine, and their custody and the mode of using and trimming them; and


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Rh shrillness. "I'd much rather listen to our ancestral Banshee, and as to meet her again, one interview would be more than enough."

Madge did not answer, but leaning lightly over the high rail of the verandah looked out into the beautiful moonlight night. There were a number of people passing along the Esplanade, some of whom stopped and listened to Julia's shrill notes, which being mellowed by distance, must have sounded rather nice. One man in particular seemed to have taste for music, for he persistently stared over the fence at the house. Brian and Madge talked of all sorts of things, but every time Madge looked up she saw the man watching the house.

"What does that man want, Brian?" she asked.

"What man?" asked Brian, starting. "Oh," he went on indifferently, as the man moved away from the gate and crossed the road on to the footpath, "he's taken up with the music, I suppose; that's all."

Madge did not say anything, but could not help thinking there was more in it than the music. Presently Julia ceased, and she proposed to go in.

"Why?" asked Brian, who was lying back in a comfortable seat, smoking a cigarette, "It's nice enough here."

"I must attend to my guests," she answered, rising. "You stop here and finish your cigarette," and with a gay laugh she flitted into the house like a shadow.

Brian sat and smoked, staring out into the moonlight meanwhile. Yes, the man was certainly watching the house, for he sat on one of the seats, and kept his eyes fixed on the brilliantly-lighted windows. Brian threw away his cigarette and shivered slightly.

"Could anyone have seen me?" he muttered, rising uneasily. "Pshaw, of course not, and the cabman would never recognise me again. Curse Whyte, I wish I'd never set eyes upon him."

He gave one glance at the dark figure on the seat, and then, with a shiver, passed into the warm, well-lighted room. He did not feel easy in his mind, and he would have felt still less so had he known that the man on the seat was one of the cleverest of the Melbourne detectives.

Mr. Gorby had been watching the Frettlby mansion the whole evening, and was getting rather annoyed. Moreland


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44 did not know where Fitzgerald lived, and as the detective wanted to find out, he determined to watch Brian's movements and trace him home.

"If he's that pretty girl's lover, I'll wait till he leaves the house," argued Mr. Gorby to himself, when he first took his seat on the Esplanade. "He won't stay long away from her, and once he leaves the house, I'll follow him up till I find out where he lives."

When Brian made his appearance early in the evening on his way to Mark Frettlby's mansion, he was in evening dress, with a light coat over it, and also had on a soft hat.

"Well, I'm dashed!" ejaculated Mr. Gorby, when he saw Fitzgerald disappear; "if he isn't a fool I don't know who is, to go about in the very clothes he wore when he polished Whyte off, and think he won't be recognized. Melbourne ain't Paris or London, that he can afford to be so careless, and when I put the on him he will be astonished. Ah, well," he went on, lighting his pipe and taking a seat on the Esplanade, "I suppose I'll have to wait here till he comes out."

Mr. Gorby's patience was pretty severely tried, for hour after hour passed, and no one appeared. He smoked several pipes, and watched the people strolling along in the soft silver moonlight. A bevy of girls passed by with their arms round one another's waists, and were giggling to one another. Then a young man and woman came walking slowly along, evidently lovers, for they sat down by Mr. Gorby and looked hard at him, just to hint that he need not stay. But the detective took no notice of their appealing glances, but kept his eyes steadily on the great house opposite to him; so the lovers took themselves off with a very bad grace. Then he saw Madge and Brian come out on to the verandah, and heard Miss Featherweight's shrill voice singing, which sounded weird and unearthly in the stillness of the night. He saw Madge go in, and then Brian, the latter turning and staring at him for a minute or so.

"Ah!" said Gorby to himself, re-lighting his pipe, "your conscience is a-smiting you, is it? wait till you're in gaol."

Then the guests came out of the house and disappeared one by one, black figures in the moonlight, after kisses and handshaking. Shortly afterwards Brian came down the


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358  (b) the description of explosives to be used in the mine, the mode of using and of storing such explosives, and of making and atemming holes, and the times at which and the manner in which shots are to be fired in the mine; and

(c) the number or class of persons, if any, to be permitted to remain in the mine or any part thereof whilst shots are being fired; and

(d) the watering or efficient damping of the mine or any ways or places therein; and

(e) generally the precautions to be adopted for the prevention of accidents from inflammable gas and coal dust.

(2.) While any special rules made under this section are in force in any mine, any general rule contained in section forty- nine of the principal Act, and any special rule established under the principal Act, shall, if and so far as it is inconsistent with any special rules made under this section, be suspended in relation to that mine.

2. Where any matter in difference is referred to arbitration under the principal Act, a majority of the workmen employed in the mine to which the arbitration relates may, on giving such security, if any, as may appear to the arbitrators or umpire sufficient to provide for the costs occasioned by such representation, appoint any person to represent the workmen, or any class of them, on the arbitration, and any person so appointed shall be entitled to attend and take part in the proceedings of the arbitration to such extent and in such manner as the arbitrators or umpire may direct, and be subject to the same liability with respect to costs so occasioned as if he were a party to the arbitration.

3. The plan required to be kept in pursuance of section thirty-four of the principal Act shall show the position of the workings therein mentioned with regard to the surface, and the position, extension, and direction of every known fault or dislocation of the seam with its vertical throw.

4.—(1.) For sub-sections (1) and (2) of section thirty-eight of the principal Act shall be substituted the following subsections:—

"(1.) Where any mine or seam is abandoned, the person who is owner of the mine or seam at the time of its abandonment shall, within three months after the abandonment, send to a Secretary of State:

(i.) An accurate plan of the mine or seam, being either the original working plan or an accurate copy thereof made by a competent draughtsman, and showing —

(a) the boundaries of the workings of the mine or seam, including not only the working faces but also all headings in advance thereof, up to the time of the abandonment;

(b) the pillars of coal or other mineral remaining unworked;


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Rh path with Frettlby by his side, and Madge hanging on to her father's arm. Frettlby opened the gate, and held out his hand.

"Good night, Fitzgerald," he said in a hearty voice; "come down soon again."

"Good-night, Brian, dearest," said Madge, kissing him, "and don't forget to-morrow."

Then father and daughter closed the gate, leaving Brian outside, and walked back to the house.

"Ah!" said Mr. Gorby to himself, "if you only knew what I know, you wouldn't be so precious kind to him."

Brian walked, strolled along the Esplanade, and then crossing over, passed by Gorby and walked on till he was opposite the Esplanade Hotel. Then he leaned his arms on the fence, and, taking off his hat, enjoyed the calm beauty of the hour.

"What a good-looking fellow," murmured Mr. Gorby, in a regretful tone. "I can hardly believe it of him, but the proofs are too clear."

Such a still night, not a breath of wind stirring, for the breeze had long since died away, and Brian could see the white waves breaking on the yellow sands, the long narrow pier running out like a black thread into the sheet of gleaming silver, and away in the distance the long line of the Williamstown lights like a fairy illumination. Over all this fantastic scene of land and water was a sky such as Dore loved—great heavy masses of rain clouds heaped one on top of the other like the rocks the Titans piled to reach Olympus. Then a break in the white woof, and a bit of dark blue sky could be seen glittering with stars, in the midst of which sailed the serene moon shedding down her cold light on the fantastical cloudland beneath, and giving to every one a silver lining. Such a weird bizarre sort of sky that Brian gazed up at it for several minutes, admiring the wonderful beauty of the broken masses of light and shadow, much to the annoyance of Mr. Gorby, who had no eye for the picturesque. At last with a sigh, Mr. Fitzgerald withdrew his eyes from the contemplation of the marvelous, and, lighting a cigarette, walked down the steps on to the pier.

"Suicide, is it?" muttered Mr. Gorby to himself, as he saw the tall, black figure striding resolutely on, a long way


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46 ahead. "Not if I can help it." So he lighted his pipe, and strolled down the pier in an apparently aimless manner.

He found Brian leaning over the parapet at the end of the pier, and looking at the glittering waters beneath, which kept rising and falling in a dreamy rhythm, that soothed and charmed the ear. "Poor girl! poor girl!" the detective heard him mutter as he came up. "If she only knew all! If she——"

At this moment he heard the approaching step, and turned round sharply. The detective saw that his face was ghastly pale in the moonlight, and his brows wrinkled angrily.

"What the devil do you want?" he burst out, as Gorby paused. "What do you mean by following me all over the place?"

"Saw me watching the house," said Gorby to himself. "I'm not following you, sir," he said, aloud. "I suppose the pier ain't private property. I only came down here for a breath of fresh air."

Fitzgerald did not answer, but turned sharply on his heel, and walked quickly up the pier, leaving Gorby staring after him.

"He's getting frightened," soliloquized the detective to himself, as he strolled easily along, keeping the black figure in front well in view. "I'll have to keep a sharp eye on him or he'll be clearing out of Victoria."

Brian walked quickly up to the St. Kilda station, for on looking at his watch he found that he would just have time to catch the last train. He arrived a few minutes before it started, so, getting into the smoking carriage at the near end of the platform, he lit a cigarette, and leaning back in his seat, watched late comers hurrying into the station. Just as the last bell rang he saw a man rush along, who seemed likely to miss the train. It was the same man who had been watching him the whole evening, and Brian felt confident that he was following him. He comforted himself, however, with the thought that this pertinacious follower would lose the train, and, being in the last carriage himself, he kept a look out along the platform, expecting to see his friend of the Esplanade standing dissappointeddisappointed [sic] on it.


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Rh There was no appearance of him, however, so Brian, sinking back into his seat, cursed his ill-luck in not having shaken off this man who kept him under such strict surveillance.

"D—— him!" he muttered softly. "I expect he will follow me to East Melbourne, and find out where I live, but he shan't if I can help it."

There was no one in the carriage except himself, on which he felt a sense of relief, for he was in that humor which comes on men sometimes of talking to himself.

"Murdered in a cab," he said, lighting a fresh cigarette, and blowing a cloud of smoke. "A romance in real life, which beats Miss Braddon hollow. There is one thing certain, he won't come between Madge and me again. Poor Madge!" with an impatient sigh. "If she only knew all, there would not be much chance of our marriage; but she can never find out, and I don't suppose anyone else ever will."

Here a sudden thought struck him, and rising out of his seat, he walked to the other end of the carriage, and threw himself on the cushions, as if desirous of escape from himself.

"What grounds can that man have for suspecting me?" he said aloud. "No one knows that I was with Whyte on that night, and the police can't possibly bring forward any evidence to show that I was. Pshaw!" he went on, impatiently buttoning up his coat. "I am like a child, afraid of my shadow—the fellow on the pier is only some one out for a breath of fresh air, as he said himself—I am quite safe."

All the same he did not feel easy in his mind, and when the train arrived at the Melbourne station he stepped out on to the platform with a shiver and a quick look round, as if he expected to feel the detective's hand on his shoulder. He saw no one, however, at all like the man he had met on the St. Kilda pier, and with a sigh of relief left the station. Mr. Gorby, however, was on the watch, and followed him at a safe distance along the platform. Brian left the station and walked slowly along Flinders Street, apparently in deep thought. When he got to Russell Street he turned up there, and did not stop till he came close to the Burke and Wills' monument, in the very place


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10 where the cab had stopped on the night of Whyte's murder.

"Ah!" said the detective to himself, as he stood in the shadow on the opposite side of the street. "You're going to have a look at it, are you?—I wouldn't, if I were you—it's dangerous."

Fitzgerald stood for a few minutes at the corner, and then walked up Collins Street. When he got to the cabstand, opposite the Melbourne Club, still suspecting he was followed, he hailed a hansom, and drove away in the direction of Spring Street. Gorby was rather perplexed at this sudden move, but without delay he hailed another cab, and told the driver to follow the first till it stopped.

"Two can play at that game," he said, settling himself back in his cab, "and I'll get the better of you, clever as you are—and you are clever," he went on in a tone of admiration, as he looked round the luxurious hansom, "to choose such a convenient place for a murder; no disturbance and plenty of time for escape after you had finished; it's a pleasure going after a chap like you, instead of men who tumble down like ripe fruit, and ain't got any brains to keep their crime quiet."

While the detective thus soliloquized, his cab, following on the trail of the other, had turned down Spring Street, and was being driven rapidly along the Wellington Parade, in the direction of East Melbourne. It then turned up Powlett Street, at which Mr. Gorby exulted.

"Ain't so clever as I thought," he said to himself. "Shows his nest right off, without any attempt to hide it."

The detective, however, had reckoned without his host, for the cab in front kept driving on, through an interminable maze of streets, until it seemed as if Brian was determined never to stop the whole night.

"Look 'ere, sir!" cried Gorby's cabman, looking through his trap-door in the roof of the hansom, "'ow long's this 'ere game a-goin' to larst? My 'oss is knocked up, 'e is, and 'is blessed old legs a-givin' away under 'im!"

"Go on! go on!" answered the detective, impatiently; "I'll pay you well!"

The cabman's spirits were raised by this, and by dint of coaxing and a liberal use of the silk, he managed to get his jaded horse up to a pretty good pace. They were in


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49 Fitzroy by this time, and then both cabs turned out of Gertrude Street into Nicholson Street, thence passed on to Evelyn Street and along Spring Street, until Brian's cab stopped at the corner of Collins Street, and Gorby saw him alight and dismiss his cabman. He then walked down the street and disappeared into the Treasury Gardens.

"Confound it," said the detective, as he got out and paid his fare, which was not by any means a light one, but over which he had no time to argue, "we've come in a circle, and I do believe he lives in Powlett Street after all."

He went into the Gardens, and saw Brian some distance ahead of him, walking rapidly. It was bright moonlight, and he could easily distinguish Fitzgerald by his lightcoat. He went along the noble avenue of Elms, which were in their winter dress, and the moon shining through their branches wrought fantastic tracery on the smooth asphalt beneath. And on either side Gorby could see the dim white forms of the old Greek gods and goddesses—Venus Victrix, with the apple in her hand (which Mr. Gorby, in his happy ignorance of heathen mythology, took for Eve offering Adam the forbidden fruit); Diana, with the hound at her feet, and Bacchus and Ariadne (which the detective imagined were the Babes in the Wood). He knew that each of the statues had queer names, but thought that they were merely allegorical.

Passing over the bridge, with the water rippling quietly underneath, Brian went up the smooth yellow path to where the statue of Hebe, holding the cup, seems instinct with life, and almost stepping off the pedestal, and turning down the path to the right, he left the garden by the end gate, near which stands the statue of the Dancing Faun, with the great bush of scarlet geranium burning like an alter before it. Then he went along the Wellington Parade, and turned up Powlett Street, where he stopped at a house near Cairns' Memorial Church, much to Mr. Gorby's relief, who, being like Hamlet, "fat and scant of breath," found himself rather exhausted. He kept well in the shadow, however, and saw Fitzgerald give one final look around before he disappeared into the house. Then Mr. Gorby, like the Robber Captain in Ali Baba, took careful stock of the house, and fixed its locality and appearance well in his mind, as he intended to call at it on the morrow.


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50 "What I'm going to do," he said, as he walked slowly back to Melbourne, "is to see his landlady when he's out, and find out what time he came in on the night of the murder. If it fits into the time he got out of Rankin's cab I'll get out a warrant, and arrest him straight off."

In spite of his long walk, and still longer drive, Brian did not sleep well that night. He kept tossing and turning, or else lying on his back, wide awake, looking into the darkness, and thinking of Whyte. Towards dawn, when the first faint glimmer of morning came through the Venetian blinds, he fell into a sort of uneasy doze, haunted by horrible dreams. He thought he was driving in a hansom, when suddenly he found Whyte by his side, clad in white cerements, grinning and gibbering at him with ghastly merriment. Then the cab went over a precipice, and he fell from a great height, down, down, with the mocking laughter still sounding in his ears, until he awoke with a loud cry, and found that it was broad daylight, and that drops of perspiration were standing on his brow. It was no good trying to sleep any longer, so, with a weary sigh, he arose and went for his tub, feeling jaded and worn out by worry and want of sleep. His bath did him some good, as the cold water brightened him up and pulled him together. Still he could not help giving a start of surprise when he saw his face looking at him from the mirror, old and haggard-looking, with dark circles around the eyes.

"A pleasant life I'm going to have of it if this sort of thing goes on," he said bitterly; "I wish to G— I had never seen or heard of Whyte."

He dressed himself carefully, however, for Brian was a man who never neglected his toilet, however worried and out of sorts he might feel. Yet, notwithstanding his efforts to throw off his gloom and feel cheerful, his landlady was startled when she saw how haggard and wan his handsome face looked in the searching morning light.

She was a small, dried-up little woman, with a wrinkled,


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Rh yellow face, and looked so parched and brittle that strangers could not help thinking that it would do her good if she were soaked in water for a year, in order to soften her a little. Whenever she moved she crackled, and one was in constant dread of seeing one of her wizen-looking limbs break off short, like the branch of a dead tree. When she spoke it was in a hard, shrill voice, like cricket; and being dressed in a faded brown silk, what with her voice and attenuated body,she was not unlike that noisy insect. She crackled into Brian's sitting room with the Argus and coffee, and a look of dismay came over her stony little face as she saw his altered looks.

"Dear me, sir," she chirped out in her shrill voice, as she placed her burden on the table, "are you took bad?"

Brian shook his head.

"Want of sleep, that's all, Mrs. Sampson," he answered, unfolding the Argus.

"Ah! that's because ye ain't got enough blood in yer 'ead," said Mrs. Sampson, wisely, for she had her own ideas on the subject of health. "If you ain't got blood you ain't got sleep."

Brian looked at her as she said this, for there seemed such an obvious want of blood in her veins that he wondered if she had ever slept in all her life.

"There was my father's brother, which, of course, makes 'im my uncle," went on the landlady, pouring out a cup of coffee for Brian, "an' the blood 'e 'ad was something astoundin', which it made 'im sleep that long as they 'ad to draw pints from 'im afore 'e'd wake in the mornin'."

Brian had the Argus before his face, and under its friendly cover laughed quietly to himself at the very tall story Mrs. Sampson was telling.

"His blood poured out like a river," went on the landlady, still drawing from the rich stores of her imagination, "and the doctor was struck dumb with astonishment at seein' the Niagerer which burst from 'im—but I'm not so full-blooded myself."

Fitzgerald again stifled a laugh, and wondered that Mrs. Sampson was not afraid of being treated in the same manner as Ananias and Sapphira. However, he said nothing, but merely intimated that if she would leave the room he would take his breakfast.


text: Popular Science Monthly/Volume 53/October 1898/The Racial Geography of Europe: Supplement - Russia and the Slavs XV


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52 "An' if you wants anythin' else, Mr. Fitzgerald," she said, going to the door, "you knows your way to the bell as easily as I do to the kitching," and, with a final chirrup, she crackled out of the room.

As soon as the door was closed Brian put down his paper and roared, in spite of the worry he was in. He had that extraordinary vivacious Irish temperament, by which a man can put all trouble behind his back, and thoroughly enjoy the present. His landlady, with her Arabian Night-like romances, was a source of great amusement to him, and he felt considerably cheered by the odd turn her humor had taken this morning. After a time, however, his laughter ceased, and all his troubles came crowding on him again. He drank his coffee, but pushed away the food which was before him, and then looked through the Argus, to see the latest report about the murder case. What he read made his cheek turn even paler than it was, and he could feel his heart beating loudly.

"They've found a clue, have they?" he muttered, rising and pacing restlessly up and down. "I wonder what it can be? I threw that man off the scent last night, but if he suspects me, there will be no difficulty in him finding out where I live. Bah! What nonsense I am talking. I am the victim of my own morbid imagination. There is nothing to connect me with the crime, so I need not be afraid of my shadow. I've a good mind to leave town for a time, but if I am suspected that would excite suspicion. Oh, Madge! my darling," he cried, passionately, "if you only knew what I suffer, I know that you would pity me—but you must never know the truth—'Never! Never!'" and sinking into a chair by the window he covered his face with his hands. After remaining in this position for some minutes, occupied with his own gloomy thoughts, he arose and rang the bell. A faint crackle in the distance announced that Mrs. Sampson had heard, and she soon came into the room, looking more like a cricket than ever. Brian had gone into his bedroom, and called out to her from there—

"I am going down to St. Kilda, Mrs. Sampson," he said, "and probably will not be back all day."

"Which I 'opes it 'ull do you good,"answered the cricket, "for you've eaten nothin', an' the sea breezes is miraculous


text: Popular Science Monthly/Volume 53/October 1898/The Evolution of High Wages from Low Cost of Labor


text: Popular Science Monthly/Volume 53/October 1898/Plant Life of the Canary Islands


text: Popular Science Monthly/Volume 53/October 1898/The Philosophy of Manual Training: The Place of Manual Training in a Rational Educational System V


text: Popular Science Monthly/Volume 53/October 1898/Weather Freaks of the West Indies


text: Popular Science Monthly/Volume 53/October 1898/Some Psychical Aspects of Muscular Exercise


text: Popular Science Monthly/Volume 53/October 1898/The Evolution of Colonies: The Law IV


text: Popular Science Monthly/Volume 53/October 1898/Young Greek Boys and Old Greek Schools


text: Popular Science Monthly/Volume 53/October 1898/The First Half Century of the American Association


text: Popular Science Monthly/Volume 53/October 1898/Sketch of Sir Richard Quain


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94 soon as busy among the fragments of paper as though they were rag-pickers.

"'Opin' they ain't orf their 'eads," murmured Mrs. Sampson, as she went to the door, "but it looks like it, they bein'—

Suddenly a cry broke from Madge, as she drew out of the mass of paper a half-burnt letter, written on thick and creamy-looking paper.

"At last," she cried, rising off her knees, and smoothing it out, "I knew he had not destroyed it."

"Pretty nearly, however," said Calton, as his eye glanced rapidly over it; "it's almost useless as it is, seeing there's no name to it."

He took it over to the window and spread it out upon the table. It was dirty, and half burnt, but still it was a clue. The above is fac simile of the letter.

"There's not much to be gained from that, I'm afraid," said Madge, sadly. "It shows he had an appointment—but where?"

Calton did not answer, but leaning his head on his hands, stared hard at the paper. At last he jumped up with a cry—

"I have it," he said, in an excited tone. "Look at that


text: Popular Science Monthly/Volume 53/October 1898/Editor's Table


text: Popular Science Monthly/Volume 53/October 1898/Scientific Literature


text: Popular Science Monthly/Volume 53/October 1898/General Notices


text: Popular Science Monthly/Volume 53/October 1898/Publications Received


text: Popular Science Monthly/Volume 53/October 1898/Fragments of Science


text: Popular Science Monthly/Volume 53/October 1898/Minor Paragraphs