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THE WARLOCKS,
BY PEHCV WHITE.
Author of “Mr. Biiley-Martin," “Corruption," Etc., Etc.
Copyrighted, ls'et, by Percy White.
CHAPTER I.
The little gray town nestles in a broad
warm valley between curve-1 lines of
grassy hills, whence, since the Roman oc
cupation, they have hewn out the hard
gray stone to which the p..e'< owes L-~
aspect of unconscious and resigned mel
ancholy. The highls dominating the north
ern end of th< - !
descent to the sea, are crowned with the
ruins of a castle, whose maj.-sti ivy
shrouded skeleton clings proudly to the
soil of which time and human vicissitudes
have made it part.
Three miles from the nearest station, an
ancient vehicle known by courtesy as
“Still's Omnibus,” go s to meet the few
trains that stop. It brings back an oc
casional commercial traveler, a parcel
from the London stores for the vicarage,
wares for the draper or the Jronmongei.
end perhaps in fine weather a rate and
(tensive visitor.
One beautiful afternoon in early June Mr.
etill, who drove his own omnibus, meeting
the 4:50 train fr m London, brought back,
for his sole passengers, a beautiful young
lady and a charming little girl of 6. atiil
decided they belonged to the “gentry, al
though the signs of prosperity he was
accustomed to associate with the distinc
tion were for the most part absent.
The omnibus was jolting back quietly
through the solemn beauty of the country,
the two passengt rs seated by the driv-r.
“Shall I have difficulty in finding lodg
ings'.’” asked the lady.
“No, ma'am," said Still; “our season's
only just beginning."
“You have a season?”
“Cert-nlv,” said Still, for the little gray
town had' its aspirations, “but we're not
In full awing before July. Our castle s very
famous. There! You can see Hubert's
Tower over them trees.
Following the direction of his whip the
lady saw the noble fragment of the ruin
above the leafy landscape.
“There's the castle. Ethel.”
••Yes," said the little girl; we had a
Cloture of it at home."
“There wasn't no powder strong enough
to blow it up in those days," said Bt.il,
proudly. “Coin' to make a long stay,
* n “Yes,” the visitor answered, “if I can
end suitable lodgings.”
“There’s some nice rooms over Everto a
Bhop, ' said Still, “but he'll be asking JO
shilling a week for ’em.”
The horse languidly walked up the hill
the bees hummed dreamily across the hot
road the lady surveyed the soft landscape
with subdued interest. At the bottom of
the slope lay the little grey town; be
yond the ruin of the Norman citadel with
Its fractured battlements guarded thc
emi.tng valley. , _ „
“A gran’ view, ain’t it, ma am. iou
never see nothing to equal that In Lunnon,
little missie," he added, turned to the
child. ~
“We don't live In London, said the
girl, shyly, shifting her seat more closely
to her mother.
Still imagined all visitors came from
London. This exceptional case therefore
provoked his curiosity.
He stopped his horse on the brow of
the hill to rest it. Behind was the dis
tant grey line of the channel, on either
Bide the quarry-scored hills, whilst to the
north the ruins on the hights they crowned
t-hut out the world beyond. Still took ad
vantage of the occasion to point out the
chief features of interest. The 'red-roofed
Louse under the elms was the vicarage.
Who was the vicar? Why, Mr. \V arlock,
to be sure. "Been thcr nigh thirty year,
ever since I were a lad.”
"Warlock, mamma!” exclaimed the little
girl. “Why, that’s'our name.”
"Bless my soul alive!" exclaimed Still,
•'is it now?”
“Perhaps it Is a relation, mamma,” said
the child, now keenly interested.
“No, dear,” said her mother, decisive,
ly, '‘l've no reason to think so.”
"That is a queer start now!" said Still,
looking at his passengers in curiosity,
“very queer indeed!”
“There are many Warlocks In the world,"
Bald the lady. In a tone Intended to rebuke
Ills curiosity.
“It's a fine old name, Warlock. All you
can see from here once belonged to 'em.
They lived in that castle like little kings.
The church there's chock full of ’em. The
vicar, who belongs to the junior branch
of the family, 'ull toll you about 'em, and
helr 'scutcheons and ‘brasses' and sueh-
I.Ke. The last of ’em was bad as could
he. The acres slipped through their fin
gers like snowballs, and to-day they don'v
own so much as a rood o’ land in the
county. Maybe you’ll be related to 'em.
ma’am. Kins an odd thing.”
“I lay no claim to such kinship,” re
plied the lady, coldly.
“I do?say not, ma'am. Partic'lar as
there ain’t much to claim now. Why,
you'll hardly believe it, but there’s a
brother o’ my wife's, a big cab proprietor
in London. Y’on might a’ driven in his
tabs. His stables is at Holloway, and he
employs as many as twenty-live men.
Well, 1 don’t claim kin with Hodgson, 1
don't, though he’s own brother to Mrs
EtUl." r
But the lady showed no interest in Mr.
fit ill's prosperous relations, so he whip
ped the horse into a desultory trot and
hegan the descent of the sloping road and
entered the walls of the little grey town.
That evening Mr. Still smoked his pipe
at the "Goat," one of the most vivid cen
ters of life In the little grey town. Sev
eral of the leading burghers ware seated
on the hard tressle seats before pint pots
of- the unejdiilierating mawkish beverage
which met the local taste in beer.
"Busy day, Sti.l?” asked Webling, who
kept the small general stores.
“Quiet," said Still. “Only two passen
gers by the 4:50 train.”
“Uusual parcel from the Co-operative
stores fdr the vicarage?" inquired Web
ling in a tone of unticipatory disapproval
for the implied slight on the resources of
his own establishment, which he avenged
by chapel g-mig.
&\'ot so ipqeh us a piece of frozen meat.”
returned SUB. “Only a young lady an'
her daughter. I put 'em down at Ever
ton's place, whdre rooms she's rook on
my r< "’ttiowdation. Her name’s War
lock."
The Information created a sensation.
"What, you don’t mean to tell me she
was one o' the real Warlocks!” exclaimed
the landlord. Inert duloualy,
"I Haiti," replied Mr. Still, “her name
w* Warlock. My statement, as nil g.-n
--tlemen present will bear me out, went no
further."
‘Woor relation o' the vicar'a, J’n he
lound. who'll get her bio.tPh In the sum.
under'and wny.” said Welding. "What's
eh- like to look at, Still?"
- s'’ ry r, 'd*.ori ble," sal.l Hi 111. “Darkish
K blow a hair, pie tty color, white teeth, red
lips; proudish-looklng, though, and 1
should suy something under SO.”
"Come to look at the ruins, I'll be
bound,” said the .aiuilord. "No one ever
comes here for nothin' else. A married
lady, Still?”
"I didn't see no husband,” said Still, Ju
diciously.
"But you said something about a little
girl.”
"The girl was her'n, hut T didn't hear
■ I! about a Mr. Warlock, but since she
calls herself Mrs.' I don't dispute that
then may lie one, only he didn't come by
the 4:50 iraiu."
"How about the wedding-ring. Still?"
said the landlord, with heavy Jocularity.
"You should a' asked to see thut.”
“Not me," said Still, who hail no taste
lor satire. "Laughing’s all rigid in the
proper place, but the right place isn't
here."
"It's a hit strange, Still, you to find a vis
o Warl k. No < 9
gainsay that.”
The arrival of a lady, pretty, young and
interesting, of the name of a once awe-in
spiring family, was the topic of discussion
during the whole of that evening at the
"Goat.” From the bar as a convenient
center the news spread throughout the* lit
tle grey town and the Kvertons became
proud of their new lodger, and when ques
tioned assumed an air of importance in
keeping with the occasion.
Meanwhile, unconscious of the interest
her arrival had excited, Mrs. Warlock
pitched her small camp in what she hoped
would be a calm street.
If she had placed her motive for choos
ing this obscure and dwindling town as a
residence in undraped simplicity she would
have said, "I came here chit-fiy to make
an experiment on my emotions; but partly
Itecause it is the last place which anyone
would expect me to select."
The innocent, hut resentful target for so
many keen-edged sorrows, Mrs. Warlock
had come to believe that hostile Fortune
had emptied his quiver. There Is a law of
averages which we all instinctively apply
to ourselves, and, when what we consid
er the worst that can happen to us has
come to pass, we borrow courage from our
very sense of defeat. But she was pleased
with her refuge chiefly because the float
ing element of mystery in it suited the
mood begotten of her own disastrous ex
periences.
"Never thwart n Warlock,” was a local
saying crystalized into proverb by force
of tradition. The sixpenny guidebook told
a legend on the dangers of so foolhardy a
policy. Perhaps some obscure form of
characteristic prudence on the part of the
townspeople accounted for their respectful
demeanor. For although she rented a cheap
lodging and exercised a close economy in
her expenditure, they touched their hats
dutifully and asked no Impertinent ques
tions.
CHAPTER 11.
One day, a week after her arrival, Mrs.
Warlock eat in the little room over the
grocer's shop, looking on the quiet street.
At one end of it a big fragment of ma
sonry marked the stent where the great
archway protecting the portcullis had been
shaken from its foundations by the Crom
wellian powder-bags. Part of this struc
ture, now covered with moss, ivy and other
creeping plants, was scattered in the dry
moat; but a dislocated fragment still bore
the time-defying coat-of-arms of the great
family that once overshadowed the whole
West of England.
In her writing-desk lay a seal with the
same motto and crest. But the smell of
cheese, candles and bacon from the shop
lie-low, Invading the little room presented
a strangely antagonistic contrast, alike to
her own dreams and to the vestiges of de
feated pride.
But whilst the mother sat and mused, the
child grew wyary anti begged to be taken
to play in t/iV Castle glfniiids. Under the
shadow of Hubert’s Tower, whilst the
child picked flowers the mother sat and
continued her reveries. They were vague
shifting fancies enough, but still she de
rived morbid comfort from the almost un
conscious parallel that rose in her mind
lietween the ruined ensile and her own
shattered hopes. And as she sat Indolently
dreaming, the Vicar, whom she knew by
sight, entered the gate. About sixty years
of age, white-haired and clean shaven, he
was mill active and ale Vt. She had heard
with deep interest what local gossip hud
to say regarding the old gentleman of her
“He don't take no manner of interest in
parish matters.” Mrs. Everton had told
her. "Me and Mr. Everton are ehurchpeo
ple and always have been. The chapel's
full and the church empty. But, bless you,
ma'am, the Vicar don't care. ‘Let every
one do as they like so long as they don't
bother me!' That’s his motto.”
But all the same, nothing happened in his
parish which this observant old gentleman
of antiquarian tastes missed. The arrival
of the lady bearing the same name ns his
own. had deeply excited his curiosity, and
he was determined to make her acquaint
ance.
“She gives out she ain't no relation o'
yours,” said Burkenshaw, his sexton, who
retailed the gossip picked up at the bar of
the "Goat.”
"Indeed!'' said the vicar.
"All her family’s dead, she says.” re
sumed the sexton. "But the Evertons tell
me she's very,'close and not the sort o’
lady you can question. Sometimes she and
the litile girl talks a furren tongue.”
"French'."’ suggested the vicar.
"May lie," said the 9exton, "for they’ve
furren looks and furren clothes."
Now the vicar had long deckled that he
had a right to give information to anyone
who visited the ruins on the ground that
lie knew more about them than any man
In England; so he slowly climbed the 6pot
where Mrs. Warlock was seated, and rais
ing his soft felt hat, said; "Pardon me. but
I thought it might interest you to know
that you are sitting on the spot where
Hugh Warlock murdered his brother on
the 21st of August, 1475.”
Mrs. Warlock’had r,ad the story In the
guide book, but the vicar insisted on tell
ing it again.
The ice thus broken led to conversation
which the lady carefully conlined to the
subject of the vicar's antiquarian re
searches; and so, finally, with his curiosity
piqued rather than gratified, he departed,
lifter adding a few appropriate remarks to
the child.
The following Sunday he was gratified
to see Mrs. Warlock and her little girl In
church, Hitting among his congregation.
Reading in this an inclination to extend
their acquaintance he executed the n,-xt
maneuver on his campaign of curiosity
and called on Mrs. Warlock In his pastoral
capacity. He found the child sluing on a
stool trying to dress a doll; her mother
was leading n novel of Balzac.
After expressing the pleasure It had
given him to s<e her in church, an ob
servance which he feared too many of us
omitted when absent from our homes, the
vicar sat down and gossiped genially.' ex
plain-d how he was a widower with one
son in the army just hem.- from India
touched with modest pride on his relation!
•ship with the great family whose history
he wsi writing, and thus gradually
brourhi the eon versa lion round to the real
objet t of h s visit—the coincidence of Uielr
common name.
THE MORNING NEWS, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1898.
"I cai not lule th nk r.g," he said, that
we must be related."
Mrs. Warlock was prepared for this.
"I am sorry to say that Ethel and I can
claim kinship with no one," she said
quietly, "ir.y husband's family are all
dead."
"Dear, dear! How very sad. And your
husband, too?"
“Yes," she answered.
"Died aboard. I presume?”
"Y’es.”
"In India?”
"No, Africa."
“May I ask from what part of England
your husband's family spring? Pardon an
o!d man’s curiosity; I am an enthusiastic
genealogist, and the name is an uncom
mon one.”
"He came from the Western states of
America. We were married abroad.”
But if there were Warlocks in America
the vicar decided to regard them as the
spurious usupers of the name of which
he and his son were the last representa
rives. Still, he was far from satisfied with
this vague information, and the defensive
reticence which gave It.
But the nature of his studies hud taught
him patience, and he loved a mystery.
Miss Warlock had brought one to his
gates. Moreover, he felt that in his ca
pacity as historian and geanealogist of
the Warlocks, he had a right to know
the secrets of all who bore the name.
Thenceforward, although he refrained
from asking he r any direct questions on
the subject of her husband, he remained
on the watch for some clew.
“Who is she? Where does she come
from? Why has she come?” Until he
could give an answer to these questions
the vicar felt that his curiosity would
never be relieved. But he was a pleasant,
kindly old gentleman, and Mrs. Warlock
accepted his courtes es with pleasure.
And so the summer days went pleasant
ly by until Hubert Warlock came to stay
at the vicarage, and introduced anew
and unexpected element into the prob
lem.
The day he arrived Ethel and her moth
er were in the vicarage garden.
"Let me introduce you to Mrs. Warlock.
Hubert,” said his father, "who ought to
be a cousin of ours, but refuses kinship.”
“Only because honesty will not let me
claim it,” she answered, smiling.
Fresh from India, Hubert Warlock, pos
sibly on that account, thought she was 1
the most beautiful woman he had ever
seen. Her voice, her gray eyes, full of
soft light when they fell on her little girl,
her singularly gentle and winning man
ner, charmed him.
“She’s like a Madonna,” he said to his
father, when she was gone. "You never
told me how lovely she was!”
“Well, Hubert, that was an oversight.
You see the genealogical side of the ques
tion chiefly appealed to me.”
“What do you know about her?”
“Aliso'.utely nothing. I believe she was
married to a Warlock, but I can't trace
him. It seems he died in Africa, and was
an American.”
"But her knowledge of thU-plaee and Its
associations seems to connect his family
with it.”
“She hints clearly enough that her mar
ried life was unhappy, but makes no se
cret of her repugnance to talk of it.”
"Y'ou want an Intelligence department,”
said his son; “I’ll collect the data, you
shall put it together.”
But Hubert Warlock was only half In
earnest, for. however great his curiosity,
admiration had blunted Its edge, and his
interests in his fath r’s genealogical stud
ies was but moderate. Instead, therefore,
of prying Into the private affairs of his
new acquaintance the young man in reali
ty protected her against the researches of
his father.
"Y'ou can’t possibly fall in love with a
woman of whom you know absolutely
nothing," Hubert Warlock said to his
father, os an excuse when the old gentle
man half-laughingly hinted at the danger.
But in reality the mystery surrounding
Mrs. Warlock spread a romantic atmos
phere about her that Increased it. This
interest begot sympathy, and sympathy
was merging Itself into passion.
• Meanwhile Ethfl. a singularly nervous
and shy child, became devoted to her new
friend. Hearing the vicar address hi? son
as Hubert, the chid had also insisted on
calling him by his Christian name, a habit
(he young man encouraged. It was pleas
ant to see the girl with an air of proprie
torship leading the young soldier round
the vicarage garden, and the mother’s
heart was some time strangely stirred.
nr.
The more dashing spirits usually assem
bled in force at the bar of the "Goat” on
Saturday evening, because the Day of
Rest enabled them to recover from the
strain and fatigue of their one weekly ex
citement Mr. S ill sat in his usual place
by the door, next to Burkenshaw, (lie
s xton. Mr. Pyke, who kept the saddler's
shop, and who was looked U|> to a a man
of broader vk ws and an authority on mat
ters of sport, monopolised the arm chair
on the right hand side, whilst other promi
nent Inhabitants lounged before the bar at
convenient points, and in convenient poses.
The air was pungent with the odor of shag
tobacco, saturated with the mawkish
sweetness of b er and penetrated by the
smell of paraffin. The evening was sultry,
and the men were In their shirt sleevs.
"That were a largish party over from
Bayport to-day,” Pyke observed to the
landlord.
"Yes, but it doesn't mean business,” said
the landlord, contemptuously. “A tea
drinkin' lot that brings its own sandwiches
isn't of no account to me."
"What can you expect from a chary
ban?” asked Still, contemptpuously, who
resented vehicular Innovations.
"Because a man rides in one o' those
Bayport cars it don't follow that he doesn't
take his beer. I'm against nothing that
brings business into the town, even if it
don't come my way,” said the saddler,
who occasionally supplied anew trace
when a charabanc came to grief at the bot
tom of the Castle Hill and could therefore
afford to be generous.
"It's my opinion,” said the landlord, re
flectively, "that these excursions, so long
as they are not “blue ribbon’ should be en
couraged. YVhere's there ruins like ours, I
should like to know—or air for the matter
of that? Bayport ain't in it. Yet they
run trains there from London. There ain’t
enough life in this blessed place! Do to,
I ask, make the best of our attractions?
To my thinkln' we ought to provide amuse
ment for the visitors.”
"So we did," said Burkenshaw, whose
profession required light gaiety as an al
ternative, "and' so 1 told the Y'lcar.”
“And what did he say?” asked Still.
"Well.” replied Burkenshaw, slowly, "he
said. 'YVhy don’t you ask the Salvation
Army to come? They'll amuse you!”
"We don't want none o’ that nonsense,”
said the landlord, apprehensively. "They'd
be for trying to shut up the 'Goat' like
they did the 'Jolly Sailors' at Bayport.
But whilst they were discussing the spir
ited campaign that had lately vexed the
neighboring watering place, a stranger
stepped in from the gloom of the street
and advanced to the bar.
“Give me religion," the landlord was
saying with emphasis, "hut don't give me
no -tyranny." He stopped and looked at
the newcomer as if looking for an order.
"Certainly.” said the latter. “Up with
religion and down wilh tyranny."
The man's voice and gall harmonised II!
with hi blue Jersey, peaked cap and loose
serge trousers.
"It seems.” he continued, "that I have
arrived heu in the midst of an interesting
tlaoloiileai discussion."
“We w. r. talking of the Salvation Army,
1 mute.” sued u buiv.uy quart!mum
a Florida Central & Peninsular
Railroa l Cos.
hICM Mp Miles Shortest I.ine to Tampa.
34 Miles Shortest Line to Jacksonville.
TIME TABLE, IN EE FECT JULY" C, 1838. ,
READ DOYYN. j Time shown . south of || READ UP.
n j —gj r—a? —77 Columbia is Mlh meridian. j| 36 j 38 I 40
Dally Daily Daily Savannah city time one j| Daily | Dally j Dally
exsutll I tour faster than railroad, )| |_ |exßun_
—■ .fcaXUUfcs. ■ t J—^7^7..;...80ai0n! Ar|| 3 00pmj 8 30pm -
- 4 3Gumi2 S Lv New York Ar|| 6 23am,12 43pm -
... 1 6 55nm ?Ma ml. V . Philadelphia Ar|j 2 56am,10 laam
1 seam 1 v Charlottesville Ar | 6 48pm 335 am - "
" .llffipmlg °oam; Lv .W Kichmond Ar , 6 26pm 6 Earn -
-
li SSsVn X tv ....Columbia Aril 4 24am| 4 Oopm
4 00ain 1 Vv ....Denmark Ar; 2 40am| 2 Fpm 10 45pm
3 3oam 4 40Dm! 5 ml'm Savannah Lvljll 20pm|12 08pm 6 (X)pm
Daily 1 Daily || _ 1 Dally ' Dally
m lv Savannah Ar U 10pm |l2 01pm -
} 12 l Ar Darien Lv 4 40pmj 9 10am -
8 48t>mi 8 00am Ar Brunswick Lv 8 00pm 9 15am
-
v v 7 “ pm -
•> Ar Tallahassee Lv 1 ~
-
’*'* 7 4o nm Ar New Orleans Lv 7 4opm
~ Pullman buffet sitepeih Jacksonville and New York on uams 35 and 35. also on
same t r aina Tnrksnnvilie and Cincinnati via Asheville without change.
Pullman miffet vcsubuled sleepers between Tampa and New York on trains 37
gbing Through from Charlotte as the southwestern vesttbuled llmlted train.
Pullman sleeper Charlotte and Richmond, also Greensboro and Norfolk.
Pullman sleeping cars between Jacksonville and New Orleans.
WM P BUTLER? m: iO T pT “ I Bull and Bryan streets, oppostte Pulaski
D C. ALLEN? o c’t C 'a T ANARUS; Bull and Libert y opposhe" De Soto Hotel.
W P MpINTYPP n T A.. WeFt Broad and Liberty atMeti.
WOMACDONELi. G P A„ L. A. SHIPMAN. A. G. P. A Jacksonville,
Trains leave from Central detiot. corn er West Broad and Liberty streets.
MCDONOUGH & BfILLHNTYNE V
lien ttenters, Machinists, .r_JL
Blacksmiths, Boilermakers, manulacturers of Stationary and BMiallSll
Portable Lupines, Vertical and lop Running Corn Mills,
Sugar Mill and Pans. SHAFTING, PULLEYS, etc.
TELEPHONE NO. 123. B
"Indeed!” said the stranger. ‘‘A most in
teresting religious revival, no doubt. Un
fortunately I have been abroad and had
no Opportunity of profiting by this popular
form of piety. Are you a captain in the
blessed band, landlord?”
"A captain, indeed!” said the other, in
dignantly. "Not me. But what did you or
dfr?”
The landlord perceived the mockery in
the stranger's voice and resented it.
"Whisky, please."
The stranger slightly diluted it with wa
ter and then drained his glass. Then he
glanced round the the group silently
watching him.
"You're a queer sort o’ sailor,” said the
landlord, unable to recover from his an
noyance.
"I am. Your perceptions do you credit.
Every son of a beer-swilling gun in this
bar ought to stand up and take off his
cap to me. It Is only owing to the clemency
of my forefathers that any of ( you are
here.”
“Why, what do you mean?” said the
landlord.
“My ancestors had simply to hang yours
and the thing would have been done.”
"Go along!” retorted the landlord, turn
ing his back on the stranger. "I like to
hear a man talk sense, I do.”
“Our host has no imagination,” said the
stranger, turning to Still, who was suck
ing his extinct pipe in astonishment. "Per
haps he has never heard how a hot-blood
ed ancestor of mine hung a rash citizen
of this ancient town on Hubert's Tower
as an object lesson to the neighborhood
not to thwaTt a Warlock. We were, and I
may say still, are a remarkable family.”
“Y'ou'd better talk to the Vicar,” said
Burkenshaw, breaking the silence. “He can
tell you all about that hanging on Hu
bert's Tower.”
"I fancy your Vicar’s a poor relative of
mine. What's his name?” asked the strang
er, sipping his whisky and glancing round
furtively. A brown beard covered his tan
ned fance, his features were regular and
handsome, in spite of eyes which, set close
ly together, gave a sinister expression to
his (ace.
“Warlock.” said the sexton.
"Warlock! Then he is a poor relative of
mine.”
••You’re joking:, mate,” said Still. “You
ain't a Warlock. They're all dead.”
"Sir Hugo Warlock would be my title if
extreme modesty permitted me to claim
it," said the stranger.
"There's another Warlock —a lady—lodg
ing here in the town, with her littie girl,”
said Still.
The man started.
“A friend of the vicar's?” he asked.
"Yes, and of his son, too,” said Pike,
significantly.
"Is the child about 7?” asked the
stranger.
"Yes,” said Still.
"What's the lady like?”
“A most personable young lady. Tall,
darkish—grey eyes, white teeth; very hand
some lady in fact. She lodges in the High
street, at Evertons'.”
Then the stranger paid for his drink and
quickly left the bar.
“A queer fish!” said the landlord. “What
you call a decayed gentleman, I suppose.”
The church clock struck the half-hour.
The air was sultry; masses of black
clouds, rolling In from the South, were
slowly swallowing up the stars. The town
seemed breathing heavily under the weight
of the hot darkness.
The heat of the night had brought Mrs.
YVarloek to tho window. She looked on
the ill-lit street. Suddenly a voice which
tilled her with dread said softly, "Kite.
Kate, come down." Then she knew that
what she most dreaded had happened, for
the speaker ought to have been safe In
a South African prison.
The house was quiet, the Evertons were
in the parlor behind the shop. Passing
into the room where the child was quiet
ly slumbering, she took a hat which lay
on the bed and went softly Into the street
by the private door Of which she had the
key.
In his sailor dress, bearded, haggard and
hronzed, she scarcely recognized in the
fugitive her husband, Hugh Warlock,
whom she had not seen for six years.
"We cannot talk here,” she said.
Side, by side they walked down the quiet
street and passed into the gloom of the
castle grounds, where the darkness swal
lowed up their figures.
“How did you get here?" she asked.
"Well, you see I grew tired of my pro
fessional lulxu's at the Cape.” he said,
"and took slilp home for a change^”
"Y’ou escaped?”
"Wi 11, yes One dark night when they
were shilling gang* It occurred to me to
brain the warder with hi* own carbine. I
found niv wax down to the quay, where a
Kaffir iio.v gave me some old clothes. I
managed to hide myself In the hold of hii
ocean tramp then gviung up steam. In
due time I appealed on deck and tho cap-
tain had the good sense to allow me to
work my passage home under the unpre
tending name of Brown. But somehow or
other the police have been given a clue,
and there is a warrant out for the arrest
of poor Brown, who landed at Southamp
ton on Wednesday from the ‘Storm Queen.'
But after a change of clothes and a shave,
there is no reason why the aforesaid
Brown shpuld not vanish into thin air, as
the ghosts used to do in the classic studies
of my boyhood."
The woman loathed him, but could not
hand over her child’s father to the police
and probably to the gallows.
“You don't seem glad to see me, Kate,”
he said, after a pause.
“It would have been better for us both
had you tiled in Africa," she said.
“Suicide’s In the family,” he answered,
"but I’ve no taste for it, however con
venient it might be to you; so you see,
I’ve turned up, like the villain in a melo
drama. As usual, the villain wants money.
You must let me have some. The ill-used
wife, you know, always plays a generous
part as a counterfoil. Virtue balances
vibe. I'm sure you wont' spoil the pic
ture. Ten pounds might enable me to be
off to America, where my family need hear
no more of me.”
"I will give you the money if you will
go away.”
“Thanks, Kate; I should like it at once.”
"Stay here; I will fetch It.”
"A moment. How Is our daughter?”
“She Is well. She thinks her father
died before she was born.”
”1 suppose you intend to keep up the
Action. What brought you here?”
"A morbid curio-sity to see the place
where your terrible family took its roots.”
"That's a coincidence; a somewhat sim
ilar impulse brought me. Perhaps the
knowledge that the parson here is a re
mote cousin, who might be willing to
save a noble kinsman from the hangman,
may also have been an inducement. But
now, Kate, if you will get me the little
loan you kindly offered I’ll make another
virtuous start in life.”
Pale with terror, sick with anxiety, she
left him under the shadow of the thick
hushes and hurried back to her rooms, in
the passage the landlady met her in some
excitement.
“Rodgera, the potficeman, has been here,
ma'am, to inquire whether we've seen any
thing of a sailor man named Brown. There
is a warrant out for his arrest. Someone
answering his description was down at
the ‘Goat’ half an hour ago. He called
himself Warlock, and asked about you and
the vicar. I said we hadn't seen no sailor
man, so Rogers went olf to make inquiries
at the vicarage.”
It was fortunately l too dark for Mrs.
Everton to see the agitation on her lodger s
face. '
"I will consult them at the vicarage!”
she said. Then she ran upstairs, took some
money from her writing cafe, and hurried
back to the silent spatte filled by the in
tense darkness, that rustled, It seemed to
her, with strange horrors.\ The masses of
black sulphurous clouds .seemed to be sup
ported by the dim outline of Hubert’s Tow
er. The hot fitful breeze stirred the parch
ed leaves. Far away, on th\p southern ho
rizon, gleams of sheet iigh\ting and the
rumble of remote thunder heralded the
storm.
Hugh Warlock stood under the bushes
at the base of the ominous \ tower, and
heard of the search that was being made
for him with perfect coolness. \
“You must get me a change if clothes
to-night,” he said. “It’s the only chance.
Meanwhile, I can hide here amt'wig the
ruins. There’s no time to lose. I tressed
decently. In Indon or Liverpool, / shall
be safe.”
Kate Warlock’s senses seemed vdged
with pain. Ruin and disgrace pressed her
in on every side. Her or.e hope was v-Wh
her friends in the vicarage, whose gard.tn
gate opened on to the castle grounds.
| “Walt here,” she said. Then she gropec.'
her way to the path which a privet hedge
! thick and high shut in on every side. At
i the further end the lights from the open
French window of the drawing room fell
with a comforting gleam on the black
yew tree. She advanced into the bright
circle whence she could see the vicar and
his son in earnest conversation. Hearing
her timid, faltering step on the gravel they
turned and saw her, and then with an ef
fort she stepped into the lamp-lit room.
“I have come to consult you,” she said,
turning to the vicar. “I am in great trou
ble. The man they seek is my husband,
Hugh Warlock, and your cousin. I was
19 when I met him in Rome. He had been
cattle-rancliing in America. Like a blind,
infatuated fool, I insisted on marrying him
against the wishes of my A year
afterwards I learnt that he had already
a wife In America. I left film, but not be
fore he had spent nearly all m.v money.
Then he went out to South Africa and
enlisted In a police corps under an as
sumed name. But he wis expelled for In
subordination, und at lust was sentence^
Plant .System.
Trains Operated by 90th Meridian Time—One Hour Slower Than City Tima.
REAP DOWN. || TIME CARP. j| READ UP.
16 T~32 j 6 j 7S ff j] 23 | 35 j 15 j 5
Jjal:y | Daily | Daily |j In Effect N0v.19,1898. || Daily | Daily | Dally | Daily
2 2^am; 12 Sspm| 5 00amjl2 45am||Lv ...Savannah... Arij 3 00am| 8 15amYl Uoam| 4 55pm
•••• |ll 55am ||Ar Augusta Lv|| | | |
7 OOpmj 4 39pm|U OOamj 6 13am Ar ..Charleston... Lv|jll 15pm| 6 13am| 6 50ara| 2 05pm
I 9 02amj | l 03am Ij Ar ...Baltimore... Lvjl 2 50am; 2 25pm j |
, |l2 05am l3 06pm| j
| 2 03pm| | 6 53am||Ar ...New York... Lv| 9 00pm| 9 30am| |
21 | 35 j 25 j 23 fj j] 78 ‘ | 24 j 32 j 22
Dally | Dally | Daily | Dally || || Daily | Daily | Dally | Daily
5 35pm 8 35am| 6 00am| 3 20am||Lv ...Savannah... Ar|{l2 15am| 9 20am ( 12 15pm| 7 uOpm
C 57pm 10 00am| 8 17am! 4 56am |Ar Jesup Lv||lo 36pm; 7 31am l 0 47amj 5 26ptn
S 05pm 10 55amj 9 50am| 6 00am!|Ar ... Way cross... Lv|| 9 30pmj 6 20amj 9 50am| 4 20pm
10 20pm| j | 8 OOamj|Ar ..Brunswick Lv|| 7 OOpmj \..| 7 45am|
2 10am; j 2 15pm! ||Ar Albany Lvjj 3 30pmj 1 30am| |
10 25pmj 1 OOpm| | 8 45am|;Ar .Jacksonville... Lv|| 7 00pm| | S OOamj 2 00pm
1 4 30pm; ]lO 30am Ar ..St. Augustine. Lv|| 5 35pm| | | 9 45am
| 5 40pm[ j 2 10pm|*Ar Ocala Lvj| 1 45pm | 1 35am
7 50amj 7 55pm| | 6 05pm; Ar Tampa LvjjlO 05am j 7 37pm
111 22pm|12 56pmI | ||Ar Valdosta... Lv| 6 21pm 4 08am|
3 2 40atni 2 20pmj | j|Ar .Thomasville... Lv| 5 10pm 2 50am|
7 4oam 9 30pm[ | ||Ar ..Montgomery.. Lvj 10 50am 7 45pm|
; 1 10pm| 7 40am| | |!Ar .New Orleans.. Lvj 7 4opm 7 55am!
V OOpmj 6 50am| ~..| jjAr ....Nashville.... Lv| 134 am 9 00am
7 05aoi! 4 05pmI | ||Ar ..Cincinnatl.■.. Lv 1 4 Oopmill UOpml
All trains except Nos. 23, 32, 35 and 78 make local stops.
Pullman buffet sleeping ears are operated as follows;
No. 35, New York and Jacksonville; New York and Port Tampa via West Coast;
Wa ycross and Cincinnati via Montgomery.
No. 23, New York and Jacksonville,
Is'o. 21, Savannah and Montgomery; Waycross and St. Louis via Montgomery;
Wa: -cross and Nashville via Atlanta; Waycross and Port Tampa via Jacksonville
and Sanford.
t Vo. 32, Jacksonville and New York, Port Tampa and New York, via West Coast.
1 No. 78, Jacksonville and New York.
I N. 24, Montgomery and Savannah.
I Steamships leave Port Tampa for Key West and Havana 9p. nil Mondays and
Thursdays; arrive at Key West 3 p. m. Tuesdays and Fridays. Arrive Havana
6 a m. Wednesdays and Saturdays. Returning, leave Havana 12:30 noon Wednes
days and Saturdays. Leave Key West 7p. m. same days. Arrive at Port Tampa 2
p. m. Thursdays and Sundays. Close connection made by train 35 ror Key West
I 1 and Havana.
E. A. ARMAND, City Passenger and Ticket Agent, De Soto Hotel.
B. W. WRENN, Passenger Truffle Manager.
H. C. McFADDEN. Assistant General Passenger Agent.
GEORGIA AND ALARAAIA RAILWAY
SAVANNAH SHORT LINE.
Passenger Schedules. Effective May 22, 1898.
14 Miles Shortest Operated Line Between Savannah and Montgomery. 26 Mile*
Shortest Operated Line Between Savannah and Columbus.
F. C. &P. | A. C. Line. || || A. C. Line. | F. C. & p ‘
_l9 _J j I 17 || li | 18 | | 20
32 35 im| 4 snpm! 9 00pm! 9 30am| Lv ...New Tork... Ar 2 03pmj 6 53am 6 23am 12^43ptn
360 imj 6 65pmjl2 05 n’t|l2 09n’n||Lv ..Philadelphia. Ar 11 26am| 345 am 2 56am 10 15am
C 22.im( 9 20pm 2 50am| 2 25pm*!Lv ....Baltimore... Ar 9 05am| 1 08am 11 35pm 8 OOam
U 15iimil0 43pm! 4 30am| 8 46pm;]Lv . Washington.. Ar 7 40amjll 10pm 9 25pm 6 42ara
I I 9 05am| 7 30pm|;Lv ....Richmond... Ar 4 GOaml 7 15am
”” I |ll 15pm] 6 12am, Lv ...Charleston.... Ar 5 08pm| 6 Ham
io 151-m! 9 25am[ I |Lv ...Charlotte.... Ar f 8 50am 8 20pm
12 47am 11 55am | |jLv ....Columbia... Ar 1 4 24am 4 15pm
6 OOamj 4 34pm| 1 60am| 8 15am||Ar ...Savannah,. Lv|| 1 06pm| 1 45am U 40pm 12 20pm
7 45pm| I I 7 aamijLv ...Savannah... Ar 8 26pm B^loam
30 OOpua 9 35a(nj;Ar ....Collins Lv 6 10pm 5 65am
12 Warns j |ll 35am||Ar Helena Lv 4 05pro 335 pm
12 67am' | |l2 26pm||Ar ....Abbeville.... Lv 315 pm 2 40ara
9 05amj 4 20pm!|Ar ...Fitzgerald.... Lv|l 11l loam]
2 15ami 1 30pm[|Ar Cordele Lv 1 2 10pm 1 35am
3 18amj 2 sopm||Ar ...Americus Lv 12 34pm 12 28am
4 14am 3 6opm!|Ar ....Richland.... Lv U 35am 11 30pm
12 OOn’n 6 20pmj]Ar ....Columbus... Lv 10 00am 300 pm
12 39pm 7 45pm||Ar ....Daweon Lv 2 sSpm
1 30pm 8 60pm Ar Albany Lv 2 10pm
4 34am 4 17pmj|Ar ....Lumpkin.... Lv U 13am 11 10pm
6 07pm 6 56pmjjAr ..Hurtsboro.... Lv 9 87am 9 36pm
8 OOam 8 OOpmPAr ..Montgomery.. Lv 7 45ara 7 45pm
10 30am 11 30pm||Ar Seima Lv 330 pm
:2 01pm |l2 25 n’t |Ar .Birmingham... Lv 4 OOpra
1 00pm | ! 0 50am| Ar ....Nashville.... Lv 9 15am
2 25am 12 25 n't Ar ...Louisville.... Lv 2 50am
7 05am 4 10pm Ar ..Cincinnati Lv U 00pm
I? 40am 11 59am Ar ..Evansville.... Lv 350 am
8 8 17pm Ar ..-.Chicago Lv 7 65pm
7 20am 7 32pm Ar ...St, Louis.... Lv 8 56pm
345 pm 305 am Ar —Mobile Lv 12 20 n’t 12 58pm
8 10pm 7 40am Ar .New Orleans.. Lv 7 45pm 7 55am
""Connections—At Collins with Collins and Reldsvllle Railroad and Stlllmore Air
Line At Helena with Southern Railway for all points thereon. At Cordele with
Georgia Southern and Florida for Macon and beyond.also with Albany and Northern
Railway for Albany. At Richland with Columbus division for Columbus, Dawson
and Albany. At Montgomery with Louisville and Nashville and Mobile and Ohio
Railroads for all points west and northwest. Trains 17 and 18 carry Georgia and
Alabama Railway new and magnificent buffet parlor cars. Trains 19 and 20 oarrr
Pullman palace sleeping cars between Savannah and Montgomery. Tickets sold to
all points and sleeping car berths secured at ticket office, corner Bull aild Bryan
etreets, or at West Broad street passenger station. C. C. MARTIN. Agent.
CECIL GABBETT. V. P. and G. M. A. POPE. General Passenger Agent.
S. D. BOYLSTON, Ticket Agent, corner Bull and Bryan streets.
W. R. McINTYRE, Union Depot Ticke* Ageht.
JjpM' Central of Georgia Railway Company
yillEOKfilA, Bi.htuut.ts IN tFFtCT NOV. 27, >JJ3.
Uoi-NG WEST, READ DOWN.|| p ijOING EAST. HEAD UP.
No. 3 j No. 1 || Central jj No. 2 | No. 4 | No. 8 | No. 16
except |except | daily, j dally. || or 90lh || dally. I daily. |except ]except
Sund'y|3und'y J | || Meridian Time. |j | |Sund’y|Sund'y
2 00pm| 6 00pm | 9 00pm| 8 45am||Lv .Savannah. Ar|| 6 00pm| 6 OOam| 7 48am| 4 60pm
3 05pmi 7 U2pm| 10 03pmj 9 4sam Ar ..Guyton... Lv|| 5 00pm| 4 53amj 6 46am| 345 pm
i 7 35pm 10 34pm| 10 2uam;|Ar —Oliver... Lv|| 4 30pm| 4 23atnj 6 13am
| 10 56pm | 10 42am | jAr —Dover... Lv|| 4 08pm | 4 02am!
i 1 |ll 14pm; 11 ouam||Ar Rocky Ford. Lvjj 3 50pmj 345 am;
T. 111 40pm| 11 25am| ; Ar ...Millen Lvj| 3 25pm| 3 20am|
[j | 6 35am| 1 40pm||Ar ..Augusta.. Lv|| 1 20pmj 8 40pm|
jj” |l2 45am| 12 35pmj|Ar ..Wadley — Lv|| 2 30pm| 2 23am]
””i*f 3 oOpmitlO OOpmjjAr ..Eatonton.. Lv||t 5 25am|tl2 50pm -
it 6 suomlt*7 30jjm Ar ...Covington Lv||t§7 OOatnjt 9 20arn[
-
-
8 aOaml 3 40pm||Ar .Fort Valley Lvj C 39am 6 27pm
1 52pml 9 57pm,;Ar .Americus... Lvj 6 18am 107 pm _
IX isam| jjAr ..Columbus.. Lv [ 4 OOpmj
■ MacotTand Machen.
jContiectlon via Machen and Macon.
BETWEEN SAVANNAH AND TYREE.
Trains run on 75th meridian or Savannah city time.
— Daily, 3 p. m.; Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday,"Satur^
. _ q a ra • Monday, Thursday, 6:20 a. m.
oay * * Tyb'e—Monday, Thursday, 7.20 a. m ; Sunday. Tueaday, Wednesday,
r° a satut'day, 10;20 a. m.; Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, 6:30 p.
nn: Wednesday. Saturday, Ip.m.
rTiriia marked t run dally, except Sunday.
Time shown is 90th meridian, one hour slower than Savannah city time, except
that between Savannah and Tybee, city or 75th meridian time, is shown.
Solid trains between Savannah and Macor. and Atlanta.
Sleeping ***rs on night trains between Savannah and Augusta, Savannah and
Macon Savannah and Atlanta. Parlor cars between Savannah and Atlanta.
M Passengers arriving Macon at 3:55 a. m. can remain in sleeper until 7 a. m.
For further information and for schedules to all points beyond our line, apply
to W G BREWER. City Ticket and Passenger Agent, 39 Bull street.
lo J. C. HAILE, General Passenger Agent, Savannah, Ga.
THEO D KLINE. Gen. Superintendent. E. H. HINTON. Traffic Manager.
to ten years’ penal servitude for dealing
in stolen diamonds. But about six weeks
i ago he murdered his guard and escaped.
He is now hiding In the ruins.
The agitated woman told her 6tory in
X reathless haste.
•'I thought our wretched kinsman died
~ the Cape,” said the vicar, dismay and
“ jer finding expression on every line
of ns wrinkled face. All his genealogi
cal enthusiasm had vanished under this
‘ ■ of Cl ime and scandal.
•Tv ry one thought so but myself,” said
the yo'ung woman. But he tortured me
w.ih th e truth.”
“JustU * must take its course,” said the
vicar fit ding no help in his philosophy,
ir seemed o him that this last direct heir
of the W irlocks Inherited all the crimi
nal proper slttes of his ancestors. Asa
pttyehologlc.il problem It might be inter
esting. buts personal fact it became
tragic.
But his son interposed.
“Thi- is no i. latter for you to deal with,
lr " ho said. 'My first duty is to you."
AnJ ho took 11. V trembling hand of tho 1
woman. "I will go and see him with you.
Something can be done.”
“Do whatever you like," said the per
turbed anti-quary, “so long as I don’t
know.” The old man was evidently in
capable of action.
"Come," said the young soldier.
Then the two stepped from the cheer
ful room into the Inky darkness. Neither
spoke, but the woman clung to his arm.
It seemed as if there were a dread pause
in the sullen brewage of the night. Even
the gleams of lightning on the horizon
had ceased. Earth and air were prepar
ing for some tremendous efTort. The
threat was whispered In the ghostly noises
of the black trees and the hissing rustle
of the parched foliage.
But suddenly, as they moved over tho
uneven ground, rhe pent-up storm burst
with a terrible crash, Hubert's Tower oti
the hill seemed the center of the roar and
terror. Every zig-zag flash of blinding
white light revealed the figure of Hugh
Warlock standing on the spot which tra-
Coißiuued On Page l'J