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i
Tbii SroRT lis** m 3#. 1
THE MYSTERY :
k
i
: -OF- !
A HANSOM CAE :
I'
BY FKRfll'S W. Ill'ME.
!
CHAPTER XXVII—CV mtinutd. y
Lizer tossed back her tajigled ;
black hair, and was about to make
some impudent reply, when the oth
er girl, who wan older ami wiser,
put out her hand, and pulled her
down beside 1 er.
Meanwhile, Calton was address
ing himself to the old beldame in
the corner.
"You wanted to see mo?" he said
gently, for, notwithstanding 1 his re-!
i
pugnance to her, she war, after all, a
woman, and dying.
"Yes, blarst ye," croaked Mother , 1
Guttersnipe, lying down and pulling , '
the greasy bedclothes up to her neck.
"Y'ou ain't a parson ? with sudden

suspicion.
"No, I am a lawyer.*
"I ain't a-goin' to have the cussed j
parsons a-prowlin' jound ere, j
crow led the old waman viciously.
o i
"I ain't a £oin" to die cuss ye: I m
going to get well well an' strong, an ;
ave a good time of it."
"I'm afraid you won't recover," j
said Cajton, gently. "Y'ou had bet- |
ter let me send foi a doctor."
"No, I shan't," retorted the hag, j
aiming a blow at him with all her
feeble strength. "I ain't a goin' to |
have my inside spil'd with salt and !
senner. I don't wan t neither liai
sons nor doctors, I don't. I wouldn't
ave a lawyer, onlv I'm thinkin' of 1
makin' mv will, I am, blarst ii "
"Mind T gits the watch.' yelled
Lizer, from the corner. "If you i
..'
gives it to Sal I'll tear her eves out.'
"Silence!" said Kilsip, sharply,.
and. with a muttered curse, Lizer
sat back in her corner.
"Sharper than a surpent's tooth,
•he are," whined the old woman,
when quiet was once more restored.
■"That young devil ave fed at my!
ome, an' now she turns, cuss her."
"Well—well," said Calton, rather j
impatiently, "what is it you wanted !
to see me about*'
"Don't he in such a 'urry," said
tho hag, with a scowl, "or I'm
blamod if I tell you anything, s'elp
me G
She was evidently growing very
weak, so Calton turned to Kilsip and
told him in a whisper to get a doc
tor. The detective scribbled a note
on some paper, and, giving it to Li
rer, ordered her to take it. At this,
the other girl arose, and putting her
arm in that of the child's, thev left
together.
"Them two young 'usseys gone?"
said Mother Guttersnipe. "Right
you are, for I don't want what I've
got to tell to get into a noospaper.
I don't."
"And what is it ?" aske 1 Calton,
bending forward.
Tho old woman took another drink
of gin. and it seemed to put life into
her, for she sat up in the bed, and
commenced to talk rapidly, as though
she were afraid of dying before her
secret was told.
"You've been 'ere afore?" she said
PRESS AND CAROL!IXAX, JANUARY 17.
pointing one skinny finder at C alton,
"and you wanted to find out all
about er ; but you didn t blarst ye.
She wouldn't let me tell, for she was
alwavs a proud jake, a-floutin round
while Vr pore mother was a-starvin."
"Her mother! Are TOU Rosanna
M oore's mother!" cried Galton. con
siderablr astonished.
"Mnv I die if I ain't, croaked the
hag. Er pore father died of drink,
cuss 'im an' I'm a-follerin' im to the
same place in the same way. \ou
weren't about town in the old days,
or you'd a bin after her, blarst ye.
"After Rosanna ?
••The werry girl, answered Moth
er Guttersnipe. "She were on the
stage, she were, an' my eye, what a
swell she were, with all the coves a
dvirf for 'er. an' she danciiV over
their black 'carts, cuss 'em ; but she
was allays good to me till e came.
"Who came?'
"*E !" yelled the old woman, rais
ing herself on .her arm. her eves
n *
sparkling with vindictive fury. "E,
a-comin' around with di'mouds and
gold, and a ruinin' my pore girl ; an'
how 'e's old 'is bloomin" ead up all
these years mh if he were a saint,
cuss im--cussm !"
"Who does she mean !" whispered
Calton to Kilsip.
"Mean !" screamed Mother Gutter
snipe, whose sharp ears had caught
the muttered question. "Why. Mark
Frettlby !"
"Good God !'' Calton rose up jn
his astonishment, and even Kilsip's
inscrutable countenance displayed
some surprise.
"Ave, e were a swell in them
days," pursued Mother Guttersnipe,
; ''and 'e comes a-philanderin' round
I my gal, blarst 'im, an' seduces 'er.
and leaves 'er and 'er child to starve,
like a black-'earted villain as *e
1 were,
I '
1 "The child ! Her name !"
'Bah." retorted the hag, with
1 scorn, "as if you didn't know my
1 gran'darter Sal
"Sal,(Mark I'rettlbv's child?"'
"Yes, *.u as pretty a girl ns thr
other, tho' she 'appened to "bo born
on the wrong side of the 'edge. Oh.
I've seen 'er a sweeping' long in 'ei
silks an' satins as tho' wo were dirt
an' Hal 'er half sister—cuss "er."
Exhausted b> the efforts she hac
!
' made, the old woman sank back ii
her bed. while Calton sat in a dazec
: manner, thinking over the astound
j ing revelation that had just beei
1 made. That Rosanna Moore ahouu
» turn out to be Mark Frettlby's mis
tress he hardly wondered at; afte:
' all, he was but a man, and in hi;
1 young days had been no better am
- no worse than the rest of his friends
3 Rosanna Moore was pretty, and wa
" evidently one of those women who—
» rakes at heart —prefer the untram
r age of a wife. In questions of mor
t ality, so many people live in glas
houses, that there are few nowaday
• whe can afford to tluow stones, s
t Calton did not think any the wors
a of Frettlbv for his vouthful follies
i "
But what he did woder at, was tha
1 Frettlby should be so heartless as t
leave his child to the tender mercie
of an old hag like Mother Gutter
i snipe. It was so entirely differen
3 from what he knew of the man, tha
1 he was inclined to think it was som
1 .
j trick of the old woman s.
r "Did Mr. Frettlby know Sal wa
his child!"' he asked.
1 "Not V snarled Mother Guttei
i
Miipe. in an eiultant tone. "'E
thought she was dead, e did, arter
Roseanner gave him the go-by."
"And why did you not tell him ?"
" 'Cause I wanted to break 'is
'eart, if *e 'ad any," said the old bel- ;
dame, vindictively. "Sal was a-goin'
to 'ell as fast as she could till she
was tuk from me. If sne had gone
and got into quod I'd 'ave gone to
'im, and said, 'Look at your darter! '
'Ow I've ruined her as vou did
mine.'"
"Y'ou old devil," said Calton, ro
volted at the malignity of the
scheme. "Y'ou have sacrificed an in-,
nocent girl for this."
"None of yer preaching'," retorted
the hag
brought up for a saint, I aiu,t —an'
I wanted to pay 'im out, blarst 'im—
'e paid me well to 'old ray tongue
about my darter, an' I've got it ere,"
laying her hand on the pillow. "All
gold, good—an' mine, cuss me."
Calton arose ; he fetl quite sick at
this exhibition of human depravity,
and longed to be away. As he was
putting, who nodded to Kislip, cast
a sharp scrutinizing glance at Calton
and then walked over to the bed.
The two girls went back to their
corner, and waited in silence for the
end. Mother Guttersnipe had fall
en back in the bed, with one claw
like hand clutching the pillow, r.s it
to protect» her beloved gold, and
over her face a deadly plate-ness
was spreading, which told the pruc
tised eye of the doctor that the end
was near. He knelt down beside
the bed for a moment, holding the
candle to lhe woman's face.
She opened her eyes, and muttered
drowsily—
"Who's t' "ell," but then
she seemed to grasp the situation
again, and she started up with a
1 shrill yell, which made the hearers
shudder, it wfts so weird and eerie.
"My money !" she yelled, clasping
the pillow in her skinny arms. "It's
all mine, ye shan't have it— blarst je.
The doctor arose from his knees,
and shrugged his shoulders. "Not
i worth while doing anything," lit
said, coolly, "she'iJ be dead soon."
The old woman, mumbled her pil
i low, caught the word, and burst in
to tears.
:
"Dead! dead! my poor Rosanna
with 'er golden 'air, always lovin' "ei
pore mother till e took 'er away, an
nhe came back to die—die —ooli ! M
Her voice died away in a lon|
melancholy wail, that made the tw(
i
girls in the corner shiver, and pu
' their fingers in their ears.
"My good woman," said the doc
' tor bending over the bed, "wouk
you not like to see a minister?''
She looked at him with her bright
beady eyes, already somewhat dimm
ed with the mists of death, and sai(
in a harsh, low whisper—"Why ?''
; "Because you have onW a shor
time to live," said the doctor genth
, "Y'ou are dying."
Mother Guttersnipe sprang uj
and seized his arm with a scream o
: terror.
> "Dyin" dyin'—no! no!" she waile*
> clawing his s 7 eeve, "I ain't fit to di
• —cuss me : gave me —save me;
don't know w here I'd go to, s'elp m
- —save me."
* The doctor tried to remove lie
hands, but she held on with wondei
5 ful tenacity.
"It is impossible," he said briefly.
The hag fell back in her bed.
"I'll'give you money to save me,"
she shrieked; "good money--all
mine. See—'ere suverain,' 1 and,
teariDg her pillow opeD. she took
out a canvas bag, and from it poured
a gleaming stream of gold. Gold—
gold—it rolled all over the bed,
over the floor, away into the
dark corners, yet no one touched it.
so enchained were they by the horri
ble spectacle of the dying woman
clinging to life. She clutched up
some of the shining pieces, and held
them up to the three men as they
stood ailently beside the bed, but
her hands* trembled so that the sov
ereigns kept falling from them on
the floor, with metallic clink*.
••All mine—all mine," she shrieked,
loudly. "Give me my life —gold—
money—cuss ye —I sold my soul for
it—save me —give me my life," and,
with trembling hands, she tried to
force the gold on theiu. They did
not say a word, but stood silently
looking at her, while the tv»o'girls iu
the corner clung together, and
trembled with fear.
t
"Don't look at me —don't" cried
the hag, falling dawn again amid
the shining gold. "Ye want me to
die. Blarst ye—l shan't—l shan't
—girt* me my gold," clawing ut the
scattered sovereigns. "I'll take it
with me—l shan't die —G —G —"
whimpering. "I ain't done nothin'
—let me live—give me a Bible—
save me. G—cuss it —G—, G —,"
and she fell back on the bed. a
corpse.
The faint light of the candle flick
ered on the the shining gold, and
the dead face, framed in tangled
white hair; while the three men sick
'
at heart, turned awav iu siience to
seek assistance, with that wild cry
still ringing in their ears
"G —save me. G—!"
*
CHAPTER XXVIII
»
According to the copy books of
our youth, "Procrastination is tlie
thief of time," and, certainly, Brian
found that the remark was a true
one. He had been nearly a week in
town, yet could not make up his
mind to go and see Calton, and
.
though morning after morning he
set out with the determination to go
straight to Chancery Lane, yet lie
never arrived there. He had gone
, i back to his lodgings in East Mel
bourne, and passed his time either
;in the hou?>e or in tuking long walks
i in the gardens, or along the banks of
the muddy Yarra. W hen he did
go into town, on business connected
; with the sale of his station, he drov6
there and back in a hansom, for he
' had a curious shrinking against see
ing any of his friends. He quite
' agreed with Brian's remark about
* "d d good-natured friends,'
1
and was determined that he would
not meet or with people, whose every
word an action would imperceptibly
remind him of the disgrace which
had fallen on him of standing in the
• criminal doch, Even when walking
|
by the Yarra he had a sort of uneusv
, j
feeling that he was looked upon as
1 an object of curiosity, an t as, being
very Landsome, many people turned
L and looked at him. he attributed
5 their admiration to a morbid desire
for seeing a man who had nearly
r been hanged for murder.
-' As soon as his station was sold,
and he married to Madge, he deter
f °
mined to leave Australia, and never
set foot on it again. But until he
could leave the place he saw no one.
nor mixed with his former friends,
so great was his dread at being
stared at. Mrs. Sampson, who had
welcomed him back with shrill ex
clamations of delight, was loud in
| her expressions of disapproval as to
! the way he was shutting himself up.
"Tour eye* bein''ollow" said the
sympathizing cricket, it is nat'ral as
it's want of air, which my usband's
uncle, being a druggist, an' well-to
do, in Colliugwood, ses as ow a want
of ox-eye-gent, being a French name,
as 'o called the atmispeare, were
fearful for pullin' people down, an
makin' 'em £0 off their food, which
1 you hardly eats anythin,' an' not be
in' a butterfly it's expected as your
appetite would be larger."
"Oh, I'm all right," said Brian, ab
solutely, lighting a cigarette, and
only half listening to his landlady's
garrulous chatter, Ü but if anyone
calls, tell them I'm not in. I don't
wan't to be bothered by visitors."
"Bein' as wise a thing as Solomon
j ever said,*' answered Mrs. Sampson,
energetically, "which, no doubt, 'e
was in £rood 'ealth when seein' the
Queen of Sheber, as is necessary
when anyone calls, and not feelin'
disposed to speak, which I'm often
that way myself ou occasions, my
sperits beiu'jlow, as I've eard tell]so
' der water ave tbat effect on 'em
I which you takes it with a dash of
!
' brandy, tho' to be sure that might
be the cause of your want of life.
and—draft that bell, she finished,
hurrying out of the room as the
front door bell sounded, "which my
legs is a-givin' way under me tlno'
j bein' over-worked."
Meanwhile. Brian sat and smoked
.
| contentedly, much relieved by the
departure of Mrs. Sampson, with
her constant chatter, but he soon
! heard her mount tho stairs again.
and she entered th& room with a
j telegram, which she handed to her
! lodger.
, i "'Opin' it don't contain bad noose.''
she said, as sho retreated to tho
1 I
, | door again, ' which I don't like 'em,
1 'avin ad a shock in early life thro'
j
. one 'avin' come unexpected, as my
j uncle's grandfather were dead, avin*
} | perished of consumption, our family
all being disposed to the disease—
i
! and, if you'll excuse me, sir, I'll get
3 to my dinner, bein' in the 'abit of
j takin' my meals reg'lar, and I studies
i
t . • my inside carefully, bein' easily up
; set, thro' which I never could be a
■i i
j sailor."
J (TO J'E CONTINUED.)
1
A Doctor's Kill Hnved.
b
B CHATTANOOGA, TENN , ?
June 28, 1888./
The Swift Specific Co., Atlanta, Ga.:
Gentlemen—ln the fall of 1887, a
| case of biood poison developed on
' j me. It was extremely bad and the
1 1 glands about my Leek became fear
er | fully enlarged. A fiiend who had
reaped great benefit from vour med
' ' icine induced me to try S. S. S. Be
a fore the first bottle was gone the
e swelling went down and I began to
.j improve. In less than two months
v ' I was entirely well. My skin is per
% fectly clear now, and my blood abso
f , lutely pure. lam absolutely certain
° that Swift's Specific not only cursd
1 me, but at the same time saved me a
big doctor's bill. I shall a!way
e cheerfully recommend your medicine
v whenever an opportunity offers.
Gratefully yours.
. , ADAM SCHEBER.
11l West Sixth Street.
Treatise on Blood and Skin Disea
r ses mailed free. The Swift Specific
e Co., Drawer 3, Atlanta, Ga.