Fergus Hume

“ Dick shook his head, woefully disappointed, whereupon More dismissed his servant with a curt nod. “You mustn’t be angry with Rackham’s blood-thirsty talk!” he said, looking apologetically at the young people. “He loved Roderick as much as I did. Of course I can’t swear that Slanton caused my son’s death by inattention, or ignorance; but if I had known, for certain”—and his face became fiercely cruel—“I should have—should have—well there’s no saying to what lengths I should have gone to revenge Roderick. But there you are! You know everything now. ”

“ You never allowed me to come into your life. I was exiled to Aunt Amy’s house: after she died, to that boarding-school at Brighton. All my life I have hungered for what I never obtained.”
“We are at cross purposes, it seems,” commented More, coldly.
“Not on my part,” denied his daughter, vehemently. “To me you have always been a guardian, never a father. Only Edith loved me——”
“And now I love her,” struck in Dick, thinking it just as well that this dry-as-dust scientist should know the truth, “we are engaged to be married.” ”

“ A distant shout came to their ears, and they turned simultaneously to see a figure plodding wearily towards them-—the figure of a man, with a dog running beside him. “Jimmy!” cried Dick delightedly, and he ran to meet the boy, leaving Aileen where she stood expectant of news.
“Jimmy, boy,” Hustings put his arm round the weary, dusty lad, who seemed to be on the point of falling, “I am glad to see you. Let me help you to the inn. You are worn out, and the dog isn’t much better. When you have eaten and rested you can tell me your news.” ”

“ Let us accept the position, Aileen, and leave him to Rackham and his inventions. We must think of ourselves, of Miss Danby’s plight, of getting things settled.”
She nodded sadly. “If father showed the least sign of wanting me, I shouldn’t agree with you, Dick. But, as it is, I think you are right. Poor father. He has nothing to live for now.” ”

“ Also, my father has a trick of stroking his chin when thoughtful, and——”
“And I stroked it when surprised by your unexpected visit,” interposed More, shrugging. “Oh, these mannerisms: they always betray the best disguise.”
“Disguise!” Dick scrutinized the speaker keenly, recollecting that the suspected Mrs. Jerr had been his tenant.
“An ominous word, isn’t it?” jeered More, derisively, “and rather suggestive of my complicity in this Slanton murder. But you have found a mare’s-nest, Mr. Hustings. My changed looks are due to an attempted escape from prison.”
“A German war-prison?” ”

“ It depends upon the Government in which I find most common sense. What did Tennyson say, years ago in Locksley Hall?” and the little man quoted with fiery emphasis:
“‘When the common sense of most shall hold a fretful realm in awe.’ “Maybe I shall be the one to fulfil that prophecy. ”

“ Still, he may suggest something useful, as possibly in Slanton’s past will be found the reason for Slanton’s death. Ah, Rackham!” he went on, lightly, as a tallish, soldierly man appeared at the door “this gentleman wishes to learn what you know of that doctor who attended Mr. Roderick when he died.”
Rackham presented himself as a grim-looking person, with a lean, weather-beaten face, clean-shaven, and cruelly marked. On its left side, a reddish scar ran down his cheek from ear to mouth, giving him a somewhat sinister appearance. He saluted, stood rigidly straight, and answered gruffly. “Dr. ”