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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (July 1, 1881)
98 THE WEST SHORE. J"'y. 1881, clearly I could have winked. While trying to talk indifferently on other tubiects, the door burnt open, and in rushed Charley, holding a printed notice in his hand, and apparently ln'rnr!y amused at something or other. Well," aaid he, "you certainly are a mol wonderful fellow when you d once get on horseback. Just listen to thl.: J "NOTICK. "if Iht tmliviilual on 1 svhile hoite, who ltd alght, after issuing (rum Mr. Furd'a park gale, blontouiljf Iraiwd over frncc of the ttixler atrned, and aller prowling nrti the house, the alarm having Iwtn given, made hia escape ihruugh Ih flower -ganlen, Smug damage lo a Urvr amount, tact rwH with lu ftun in a ate id justifiable homicide, le him in future keep on the high-road, and a dnrnl distance from (he midrnce of William TaxuwNiY. " Oh, Frank J" exclaimed Annie, clasp ing her hands M what have you doner" " Done! why, who ay it was I?" Not y ou !" aaid Charley. " Did you not aay you rode out yesterday evening on white horse?" I did." Dili you not nay you entered Ford'a park by the gate ne'ur the house?" I certainly aaid ao." - Well, If you entered bv that irate at dusk, you must have also made your exit ny it, lor all the oihcrs are linked at auiiset invariably." Yea,' added Annie, and vou evi dently did go near Trelawncy'a house, by your confusion when asked alxuit it. I believe that there la more in thi escapade than apear on the surface." Why. you surely don't doubt me?" I don t go ijuile ao far aa that, hut the whole affair ta an excessively strange one. When askel where you were veaterdav evemntr. 1 remendwr vnn hesitated, as though trving todo violence to Vflur truthful firilicinlra" this was rather too bad), u and though you did stk th truth, you did it reluctantly At thia moment the tenant ushered in a Mr. Morton, a lawyer of the town, wnn wrtom l wa acquainted. I aaluted him, and wondered what could have brought him away from hia busi neat at tuih an unusual hour. I did not long remain in ignorance. W hile I congratulate you, Mr. Charlton, upon the reputation you have to tuuacniy acquired aa an cuvstuan, mr pleasure in doing ao it somewhat lessened by being engage! by Mr.Tre-! lawney to claim on hi behalf a consid erable aum of money aa compensation for the damage you, in your rather ec centric course, did laat night to hia flower-garden H But" Intcriupted I. Listen lo the end, if you please," aaid the long-winded old lawyer. While my client K the one hand, detei mined to have recourse to the Utmost rigor of the law to punish you at a trespasser, should you refuse to moct him in hia view of compensation, he it not on the other hand, averae to a compromise, provided it be immediate." M I refuse to do any thing of the kind. Let him prove that I wan the trespasser, and the law will give him his rights; but I rnther fancy he will find it difficult to do that." "Not at all," said Morton; "and it is for this reason that I advise your ac cepting his conditions. It appears that the old gentleman, whose jealous guard- unship of his daughter is doubtless known to you, was going his evening rounds when you leaped over the fence. Startled nt such an extraordinary ap parition, he allowed you to approach the louse without giving the alarm. It was too dark to recognize the face of the ruler, but he described the animal to me as all white, knowing 01 only one horse of the kind, I went with him to Gardiner, to whom it belongs, to seek information." " Ah!" said I, jubilant, seeing a way out of all my troubles; for, of course, the stable-man would know that I was not the man. " And what did he hear from Gardiner?" "Unfortunately Gardiner had been out on the previous evening, and could tell us nothing. 1 he stable-boy, who prepared the horse, described a gentle man of your size and general appear ance, rendering tl c matter more positive by describing the gray great-coat which I knew you to possess. On our return through the stables we found your tide of last night a topic of general conver sation. Trclawney therefore messed me to call on you at once. I did so, ami discovered that you had already come here. I then took the liberty of asking your housekeeper to show me your gray coat. The old ladv did so, anu 1 lounii it torn in two places, ap parently by brambles, and the skirts be spattered with mould. After transact. ing tome business of importance I came here to tee you a libcrtv ublrb T know, madam, you will pardon" (this iu rtmnc to as 10 settle this disagree able allair as toon at possible." Here was a hrcttv kett e nf fiji t v a . V . . " dreaming.' ll ml beCn 0llt for , rilje without knowing it? Of rnnr. It ttruck me more than once to deny the whole iflair. nnd relate I . m r aaaj VIII joking when I taid I had been out ri: ng. oui 1 i.aii hccn alone the whole nrnmiia auaniB 1 1 1 . t""""- -innK. 1 nminc ecn aitf sir awn j-s aa .....1 I t TY- r ,,ow t0 Prove n alibi? for it waa necessary with this evidence against me, combined with m v ntaVfft (sisnru.!.M ft a a. ...... vuMinaiun, 1 naun 1 much t me lor meditation: fornoanmwrk,..! v finished than Annie rose and had her M-J a " Well, I think the evidn. : .... concluaave 5 in fact you have attempted no -denial. I thoulif advise you to tittle thit cla.m at once, and in future to avoid L'S.1 . do Sot ion." TK u U0n yur reJ ' .:.T.h:sr,h fhe dead mj oang or the door. I saw only one wav out of m ,t: culties; this was to pay the compensation icuncu uy tiiv auvillllliuuic Olll 1 re- lawnev. And. after allowlno- ii j i -" ...V citement which had been raised bv t!.c affair to subside, explain all the circum stances, and show my friends that I had been amusing myselt (Ood save the markh at their expense. I thprrn accompanied the lawyer to his oflice t i . i a a ana paia into nis nanus what he con sidered a fair amount for the damage I was supposed to nave done. I own I was puzzled. I certainly had not been out for a ride: but somebodv h r - y t - body must nave used my coat ; somebody must bavf. frnllrmrl nvitr prr..1.iM..u.X " ' b vw iwjunncv garuen per. laps made love to hit daughter and I, miserable victim, paid the damages. I returned home, wor ried to death. Here was the whole towndiscussin? mv misdeeds mmiWIt that I had confessed, that I had paid a certain sum ot money to hush up, and which I was perfectly certain I had had no hand in. How I cursed the moment when I had determined to tell a lie! Annie was ritrht about the diflicuhies surrounding a fib; however, as far as de tection was concerned, i was sate enough from that: but the consenuencesl Friend after friend dropped in to hear the de- tans or me anair, ana i soon discovered that the prevailing impression on the nublir mitirl uriic thur T YinA rrinrl lo steal an interview with Trclawney't 4 daughter: Horrified at this ulnr nr.on mv char acter, I hurried off to Gardiner's, to try i... ... . ... anu obtain tome clew to the real cuipru. Ua.t ...... .i i i nni nnn my uirtgUM Hi iiciug ui- scnted with a bill for the use of a white mare three and a half hours! Natuie could bear this no longer. " My good man," taid I, as calmly as I could, " I ao assure you that it was not i wno roae your norse. " Sir!" said the stable-man. astounded. "Not you? Why, the whole town it ringing with it. ou are joking, Mr. Charlton. Why, surely you paid Mr. Trelawncy for the damage the horse did; and now you be a-going to refuse payment for the horse, saying as how it warn't you! Oh, Mr. Charlton, you to truthful, too" (the deuce take the fel- u...is . u l i n iuw i) j -you must oe ureaming. ., In truth I thought so myself ; either that Or mad. I paid the money what SlaM T JA) tl... .Utarm! n,d vwuiu A UU illlU II IC II uein - to walk out to the scene of my supposed transgressions and study the locality. Hemp lriaitv fnlu-hnod. and having paid the expenset of the ex- ru.l t , ! T.I I.T l. II ..rrw (vMiuuii, i mougni i migni as wen ' it with" a high hand, and so I went to look around me and be prepared to answer all the questions which for the next ten days would doubtless shower upon me. I arrived about sunset, and com menced my oWrvations. Trelawney houae waa situated exactly opposite the prk gate, tome way back from the