Murder -- Fiction; Mystery fiction; Western stories; Women journalists -- Fiction
He could see little from the doorway, only the dark shadow of a man's
form lying full length on the floor. To enter he pushed aside the
uptilted bed, picking up the shotgun, and setting it against the log
wall. Then he took the lamp down from the shelf, and held it so the
feeble light fell upon the upturned face. He stared down at the
features thus revealed, unable for the moment to find expression for
his bewilderment.
"Can you come here, dear?" he called.
She stood beside him, gazing from his face into those features on which
the rays of the lamp fell.
"What is it?" she questioned breathlessly. "Is he dead?"
"I do not know; but that man is not Cavendish."
"Not Cavendish! Why he told me that was his name; he even described
being thrown from the back platform of a train by that Ned Beaton; who
can he be, then?"
"That is more than I can guess; only he is not Fred Cavendish. Will
you hold the lamp until I learn if he is alive?"
She took it in trembling hands, supporting herself against the wall,
while he crossed the room, and knelt beside the motionless figure. A
careful examination revealed the man's wound to be painful though not
particularly serious, Westcott carefully redressed the wound as best he
could, then with one hand he lifted the man's head and the motion
caused the eyelids to flutter. Slowly the eyes opened, and stared up
into the face bending over him. The wounded man breathed heavily, the
dull stare in his eyes changing to a look of bewildered intelligence.
"Where am I?" he asked thickly. "Oh, yes, I remember; I was shot. Who
are you?"
"I am Jim Westcott; do you remember me?"
The searching eyes evidenced no sense of recollection.
"No," he said, struggling to make the words clear. "I never heard that
name before."
Miss Donovan came forward, the lamp in her hand, the light shining full
in her face.
"But you told me you were Mr. Cavendish," she exclaimed, "and Mr.
Westcott was an old friend of his--surely you must remember?"
He looked up at her, and endeavoured to smile, yet for the moment did
not answer. He seemed fascinated by the picture she made, as though
some vision had suddenly appeared before him.
"I--I remember you," he said at last. "You--you are Miss Donovan; I'll
never forget you; but I never saw this man before--I'm sure of that."
"And I am equally convinced as to the truth of that remark," returned
Westcott, "but why did you call yourself Cavendish?"
"Because that is my name--why shouldn't I?"
"Why, see here, man," and Westcott's voice no longer concealed his
indignation, "you no more resemble Fred Cavendish than I do; there is
not a feature in common between you."
"Fred Cavendish?"
"Certainly; of New York; who do you think we were talking about?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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