England -- Fiction; Inheritance and succession -- Fiction; Murder -- Investigation -- Fiction; Mystery fiction
"No. That would have given her design away. She pretended to weep and
knelt down to ask the policeman guarding the door to let her in. Then
she slipped a note under the door, and went away without suspicion.
The note said that the two rustics on guard under the window would
be taken away in half an hour--that I was to drop from the window,
and go to the fence. There Kind would be waiting to guide me to a
hiding-place. I expect Elspeth got the two watchers to go into the
tap-room by promising them drink. When the coast was clear, I opened
the window softly and dropped. Kind was at the fence, and grasping my
hand hurried me away in the mist to this place. Here, I first attended
to Mrs. Kind, and----"
"And saved her life," said the Cheap-jack bursting with gratitude. "He
sucked the stuff from her throat, doctor. Then I hid him under the
floor, having first shifted the goods. He came out to see that Rachel
was getting along all right, and I whistled 'Garryowen' to let him
know I was coming with you."
"How did you know that I was coming?" Browne asked Herries.
"Elspeth came here to ask me if I would like to see you," explained the
young man. "Of course I did, as I knew that I could trust you. Then
she went back, and told Kind, and----"
"Oh, that was what she whispered to you in the tap-room," said the
doctor, glancing at the Cheap-jack. "H'm! Well, I suppose you may
trust me, Herries. All the same, I told Trent that if I chanced on you
I would persuade you to give yourself up and send a wire telling him
that you had done so."
"Browne, would you betray me?"
"No, of course I wouldn't," snapped the doctor, savagely. "All the
same, this running away will not do you any good."
"Browne," said Herries, much agitated, "if I had stopped, I would have
been condemned on the evidence which Trent discovered. That man will
never let me have a fair trial. He is dead against me."
"Because he can't see further than his nose," retorted the doctor. "He
is sorry for you in a way, but he seems to have made up his mind that
you are guilty."
"And that being the case, how can I hope to get free?"
"You can prove----"
"I can prove nothing," interrupted Herries despairingly. "I was in the
next room, and my uncle was murdered. The razor, the pocket-book and
the key of Sir Simon's bedroom were in my possession, and stains of
blood were on my shirt sleeve. In the face of such evidence, how can I
prove my innocence? I have nothing but my bare word."
"But cannot anyone give evidence in your favour?"
"Michael Gowrie might."
"Humph. I hear that the old scoundrel was at the 'Marsh Inn.' Trent
told me. I remember him in Edinburgh ages ago. I wonder if he----"
"No," said Herries, emphatically, "Gowrie is an old scamp, but he
would not commit a crime."
"Well, I don't know. It seems that Sir Simon brought some money with
him in gold and notes. Gowrie was always a money-grubber."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account