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C H AI‘TIQR XXXVI. "We are alone. Ilut before you talk. let me explain to youiâ€"it is only fair for me to do soâ€"that I am a. friend as well as the solicitor of Reginald Graync." "Does mot afTeCL the matter. If I were guilty, and if by any possible chance anything more could be rak- ed up against me, I might be afraid of you. You say you know yonr friend is innocent. Well, I am as innocent as your friend. You can help us both, perhaps. Anyway, I have nothing to conceal." "It was your knife." "Quite true." "The medical evidence shows that Sir George was nruirdered with it." "I understand that. I dropped that knife on the grass outside Sir George’s study on the night of the murder." "You suggest that the murderer picked it up ?" "So." "It was found in Reginald Grnyne's hand." "1le for your friend." “If you are innocent, tell me what you did on the night of the murder, and why you flew away, leaving a locked door and a hanging sheet be- hind you." "Yes; that was a piece of i-diotcyâ€" enough almost to hang me. We are alone here. What I tell you is seeâ€" ret. Lawyer and client is like priest and penitent, oh ‘2" "If you mean that I shall betray you in any way, yes. But again let me warn you of my frienship for the other prisoner. If you tell me anyâ€" thing whic‘h will help himâ€"-â€"â€"â€"" "I shan't, because 1' know nothing which will help him. Listen: at nine o'clock that night I had an ap- pointment with a. woman beside the pool in the Wood.” “Yes, yes; I know all about titat.’ “What ! Oh, I see! That girl, the maidâ€"servant who brought me the message, told you ?" “I don’t know what you are ta,er fog about. But let us get to the business on hand. Your struggle with the gipsy girl has, nothing to do with the aflair." "H'a sâ€"Jno tzhin-ghtoâ€"d‘oâ€"mri’ahâ€"" "Of course not. Despite your throwing her into the water, she's alive and well enough." “Aliveâ€"andâ€"well ‘2" “Yes. What am you startled about ?" "You don’t knowâ€"you can’t think looking so what this means to me. Tell me again that Miriam Lee is alive and well." “If you mean the gipsy girl you quarrelled with "in the wood, and threw in the water, of course she is uiive and well.” “My God !" i "Why are you startled so t ?” “Becauseâ€"â€"â€"" “Well 7” "Because I thought I had killed her i" The lawyer, in turn, was surprised. The Frenchman continued : “I fled for that reason. Now you will believe me, won't you? I thought I had killed that girl. We qwarrelled. She threatened me. I struck at her with the knife, and fled. 0n the lawn, near the study window, I stumbled, fell, and drop- ped the knife. Upstairs in my room I heard confusion, voices, and talk of murder, and I got frightened. Of course I See it all now; they had found Sir George mundered. I did not know a word of that. When I heard the servants hurrying about, I was alarmed. I lowered my bag from the window, then lowered my- self, and caught the last train up for London." "If true, this lotusâ€"â€"" "If true? Of course it is true. Should I have started to tell you about. the woman if I did not trust- youo If you are to defend me, you must know all." “I wish I had not undertaken to defend you." “Why ‘2" about is a. most marvelâ€" “Because this story of yours, if true. pints my other client in a deeper hole." “IIlow ‘2" “To an extent he relied on your confession." "Confession ?" "Yesâ€"ho the police when you were arrested." “I see. Of course you understand that, until I was changed at the stutionJ thought they were arrest- ingr me for the murder of Miriam "Yes: but your defence will not be an easy one.” “Why not ‘2" “Because the girl is aliv ‘,and well. Your story that you were confessing to 'her murder will avail 'but little when it is coupled with the fact that your knife killed Sir George." “All the same, I did not see Sir George after dinner that night, ex- cept the back of him through the study window." “Unfortunately, your actions were those of a. guilty man." “I know; I imagined myself one at the time. I thought if I could tfccd in Or. The Sign of the reach and stay at my lodgings at [lean Street, under my brother's name. and (lid not stir out, the police might not be able to trace me: even now I don't see how they got on my scent so rapidly." Jonson is a cute officer.” "He is, and I. like him. although he is convinced I am guilty. But he is wrong this time. absolutely wrong. You have seen ‘him since i have, he still believes me guilty 7" “Is convinced of it." "'I‘lmt. is a. pityâ€"n thousand pitâ€" iesi He will rest, you see. He will go on digging out all about me. which won't help 'him a bit, and meanwhile the real man, the inurâ€" derer. will escape." "You say man; it are you sure was a man ?" “Why not. 7" "There is Miss Westcar; she doesn't bear the brightest of char- acters. She was at the Hall at the time of the murder." “True! Yet, no. It could not pessiny have been she." "Why are you so sure ?" "Because, alive, Sir George was worth his weight in gold to her; dead, well, she ‘is penniless." "There was a. question of their marriage. May he not have quarrel- led with her about somethingâ€"re- fused to keep his promise? Women have been known in moments ofâ€"” The Frenchman shook his head as he answered : "No. You don't know her. Ile- siides, she would not quarrel with him. She had got him completely under her thumb, and if she had asked him to fly away with her, and marry her the next day, he would have done it." "Remember that she was the only person in the house save the ser- vvats and Sir George’s stepâ€"daugh- ter." “Then let suspicion be directed on the latter. Mind you, I am not sug- gesting for a moment that the weâ€" man you suspect is a. saintâ€"Jar, very far from it. I will go as far as to say that if she had gained by [it she might have been guilty; but in this case she is rendered absolute- ly pemiilessâ€"homeless, perhaps, by the death; whereas, had the old man lived, she wealthy." "All the sank? " "There! Ypu’ve got that bee in your bonnet, and it’s going to hum! would have been You suspect the woman, Jansen SUSIK'OtS 1:1". and the local police suspect Regisald (.‘raynei How many more 7” CHAPTER XXXVII. Dick Causton became more and more convinced of the guilt of Evelyn Westcar. As “he again and again conversed with the two pris oners, interviewed the gipsy girl and the maid in the hospital, 80 he came to the conclusion that both the men charged were innocent, so ‘he became a prey to the belief that Miss Wes-tear was guilty, amid he did his level best to inspire the police With a like belief. He sought out Janson. “You know," said the officer, with a twinkle {in his eye, “this is not acâ€" conding to Cooker, Mr. Causiton! You ought not to come to me abont a matter in which 1 am accuser and you are exeuser." “I am alive to that fact, Janâ€" son, and were it 'ny other man but lyourselfl should lesitate about doâ€" and interviewed ing it." “Consider I've taken to that." "It's not a joking time, this, Jansen, It‘s more serious than it looks, beCause, if my theory is right two innocent men are in perilâ€"" "That's where you~don't mind my saying it, Mr. Caustonâ€"‘are Iru'nning your head up against. a brick wall. Reginald Grayne is as innocent as you are. but the li‘i‘og‘gy Ille'll swing for this job, sir, as sure as you’re sitting there." “And yet, Janson,â€"you will be- lieve me that 1 am in earnest in What I am saying ?â€"I conscientiousâ€" ly believe that that man had nothâ€" ing to do with Sir George's death." “That's so, Mr. Causton. I know you are not trying to deceive me. I watched the way you conducted vour off my hat self at the last examination; that convinced me that, whatever other people might think, you in your own mind had settled that the Frenclnmln was innocent." "That is so." "I haven't lived a life in police courts, sessions. and assizfes, With- Out being able to read an advocate. Mr. Uauston. There are two ways of defending a man, and a close, an experienced observer can generally tell whether the mouthpiece believes in his client's innoCence.” "As I believe in the Frendhmzui’s.” “That's “That is why 1 have come to you, Jansen. I know w:liat,a cute, intel- ligent officer you areâ€"â€"" “Consider my hat off again." “Let me beg of you to hear me Seriously." “Very well, Mr. Causton, I was only emailing. 'l‘here, I'll be as serâ€" 1. . mus as a grave-digger all the l a I'd ._‘ of this inlervimv." "'l‘lninks. I feel senious. believe mic. I seem to feel that unless some miracle is worked, the French? man will perish on the gallows." “I am with you there. Mr. L‘ans- ton, he will, most rerfumly." “Ln the end Reginald (-‘ruyne must be liberated." "['nqueslion-ibly.” "There can never be the suspicion of collusion between the two prison- ers, but :i more discharge will ncl. as a blight on the “hole of Regin- (‘rrnyne's future; his career at the bu.r will be spoiled; he will be u. marked man." “Yes, I am afraid you are right thereâ€"the public. is a, funny factor to reckon with." “'I‘hut's why, with all my heart and soul, I want to find the real murderer. ' ’ “Yes” "I believe the li‘renchnmn inno- cent." “Despite his bad, very bail char< actor ’2 Remember, we have traced him back for five yczus.” “Despite that." “Yo-u knowâ€"l tolllyouâ€"nll about the Dartmoor busndss 2’ That is a nvvstcry which will probably never be. cleared lipâ€"whether be murdered the man whose body was fourrd, or simply changed clothes and threw the body into the water. You can mndersfzmd. between ourselves, that that is a matter whichâ€"the authorâ€" ities are not altogether without blameâ€"is more or less hushed up." “ch. Ilut in any case it would sink into insignificance beside the present charge." “That's so." “ ‘Give a. dog, a bad name. and you may as well hang him,’ is all very well, Jansen, in a proverb, but it ought to be eliminated in a mat- ter of life and death." "Perhaps you are right, but 1 am a policeman to the backbone, you know. You hear on platforms, and read in prospectuses appealing for funds, of the rescue work and rch formation of bad characters; but I've never seen themâ€"except on paper. Once bad, always bad. Given a, chanCe, the bad Character will ooze out again. I have been a policeman now for thirty years, and I never ran af'ross one bonaâ€"fide ease of reformation yet. Once a. limp passes through my hands, the c’hances are fifty to one. he will pass through again." "The Frenchman knew nothing of the saving of the gipsy girl‘s life; he thought he had murdered her, and fled. Under that belief be con- fessed himself a murderer to you?" “That is his defenCe.” "He persists in 'his innocence the charge." "Anid you will find, Mr. Canston. that he will persist “in it till the squeeze of the hangman's rope stops his voice. I have met his sort beâ€" fore. He is a bad egg; but he's not stubborn, I give him his due. He's convinced you, but he's not convinc- ed me. By his O'Wn showing he meant to murder the girl soon after nine o'clock. What is to prevent a man of that mature murdering a man half an hour after ‘2" “What motive ?" “There have been scores of murder cases in which we have failed to find a, motive." of "That's what I wanted to get you . to admit, because I have a. theory of my own, and I was afraid when I mentioned it, you would ask what possible motive there was." “Well, what is it ‘2" “That Miss \Vestoarâ€"Evelyn Westâ€" carâ€"commifted the murder." “I have seen herâ€"interviewed her." “Yes.” “She had no finger in it. The old [min's death leaves her without a cent. Had he lived he Would have married her, and she would have been a well~to~do woman." "You admiited that in scores of murder cases you had failed to find a motive.” “But I didn't admit that in any of them I had found a direct motive in the opposite directionâ€"that the munderer profited by his victim’s life and lost by his death." The lawyer sighed. He saw that it was homeless to think of over CO‘IIVIIWI‘llg‘ the detective. “i am sorry," he said, “because whilst your mind is concentrated on this man's supposed guilt, the real murderer may be destroying any clues." "No," said JailSon; exist. The rooms at (lraune IIall are locked, and will remain so till the affair is over; nothing has been disturbed." “That brings me to the real reason of my seeking this interview. I think it only right to tell you, "all the clues and, besides, I want _vnllr permisâ€" sion too." "For what 2’" “I propose to summon pr.’ 'ule deâ€" tective assistoincc~lo consult Mr. Bradley Deane." Jansen laughed. “By all means," he answered; “I don't for a moment deny that Mr. Deane is a clever mun. lIe's full of theories and fads and deductions and inferences, or he might be. even more clever. I won't deny, either, that by a stroke of luck he has been able to hit a trailiI have lost. He's helped me more than once, and I am not ungrateful to him." “I am glad to hear you speak so. Then, if you have no objection, I will see him. You will allow him to go over the rooms at the Hall?" “Certainly.” "Again thanks. I must, go down to the examination to-morrow. 1 shall come straight back, and then rest l zdul‘ercnce entirely brought about CONSTANT \VAR IS VV’AGED ‘ AGAINST THEM. Some Retard I‘rog‘rcss, Others Burrow in the Fabric. \Vliilc liesirh-s pinniding a favorifo dish for epicures, and occasional typhoid scares. the succulent oyster is one of the mariner's greatest. enemies. Yet it is not the worst. 'l‘hnt place of dishonor belongs to the bnrnnl‘le, :1 most prolific crustacrnn which, at- larhing itself to objects by its head, kicks its food into its mouth with its feet; while the mussel, and many kinds of seaweed, the zoophyfe â€"~ a member of the sponge family~unxl similar inhabitants of the see, are well in the running. In the fight. against these small but terrible enemies enough money is expended annually to support a iimvy. Almost. every dock and ship- ping company employ a large stnfT of men who do nothing else from one year's end to another but remove these shellfish and Sea plants and repair the damages done. by them, For there is not an iron-bottomed vessel afloat, from the smallest. barque to the heaviest battleship in his Majesty’s navy, that does not persistent dcstructiveness. And how do these crustaceans and molluscs (lo TII I“. I R FICA RFUL WORK? Simply by clinging to the bottom or immersed portion of a ship's hull. This they do in millions, so soon as one layer has covered the submerged surface another layer is forming on the top, and so on till a thickness of a foot or two is rapidly attained. In nautical parlance, this is termed “fouling.” A first blush, this fouling not appeal‘ of very great quonce to a leviation of the but consider what it involves. In the first place, between two vessels of exactly the same size and power, one of whose hull is clean and the other is foul, there is a vast dif- ference in speed. Every captain of a ship that has not been cleaned for more than three months knows that his rate of travâ€" eling Will diminish by at least two knots per hour. , It is not exactly due to the tons of fouling matter that adhere to the ship’s bottom, but rather to the reâ€" sistance offered to the waves, that is responsible for this great loss of speed. To see officially what this difference actually was, the Ilritish Government some years ago experi- mented with the, frigate “Achilles.” LOWER El) THREE K NO'I‘S. Before laying up in Chatham har- bor her speed, on trial, was found to be just over seventeen knots an hour. At the end of nine months it was as much as she could do to cover fourteen knots in the same time, a by ad- would conse- ocean, thc barnacles and other things boring to her hull. To huge vessels the diminished lspeed of course means an enormous consumption of cool that, Were foul- ing impossible, might be considerab- ly reduced, and as all liners burn from 400 to 500 tons per day. it is easy to understand that thousands of pounds would be saved by this alone. Then there is increased Wear and tear of machinery, passengers and crew have to be fed and attended to for a longer time, while there is alâ€" so greaier risk of the vessel breakâ€" ing down. Thus it will be seen that if the barnacle and its relatives could be prevented from fouling the bot- toms of ships, owners Would benefit annually by many millions. But in removing the fouling matâ€" ter a great amount of time, ingenu~ ity, and expenditure are also involvâ€" ed. Every six inonths all vessels of any size. certainly every ocean greyâ€" hound, liave to lay up in dry deck for the, CLEANING of their hulls. Less than thirty years took fourteen days to accomplish, but toâ€"dny, in consequence of a ship’s time beini,r considerably more valuable, and, thanks to the better antiâ€"fouling fluids with which every vessel has of necessity to be coated, shellfish do not adhere to anything like the some extent, and the whole process is usually finished in about three days, the cleaners working night and day. At the Royal Albert and Victoria docks a staff of 200 men are em- ployed by the dock company to do AND PAINTING ago i his nothing else but scrape, clean, and paint the bulls of ships fouled by shellfish, while many shipping com- panies employ men exclusively for their own \‘eSSL-ls. The P. and 0. Company, to quote only one instance spend more than $35,000 a. year in go to Euston Road and Call on Mr. Bradley Deane." “Amateur against prof«_-ssi01ml, uh ? Well, just as ,vou like Mr. Causton. Anyway, it can't do any harm. I like you, and I like that little girl your friend Reginald's e11â€" gaged to, and I believe him to be innocent; so I won’t throw any ob- suaole In your way. Moreover, Deane is as close as wax, and there’s not the slightest fear of his letting my departure from the ordinary routine leak out; that‘s all rightâ€" goodâ€"bye." (To lo Continued.) suffer more or less severely from their *â€"BARNAGLES_UDST MUUHT ’â€" this way ill-me. For the some illl‘ llrifish Government :i\'i*r;i§_:‘«- of 330.000 l\\ici> on every ironclad. 'l‘be ipmulify iii shellfish and Useful thus removed from n sliip'! bot- tom is simva astonishing. Ten to f‘xeutv ions is by no means: uni-mn- men even tn-dny after a vessel has spent perhaps no longer than sir months away from (lock. Henwvml, of innumerable Inn), is another constant source of fouling, when once if has obtained u hold, if grows exceedingly thick and of extraordinary length. The kind which grows in the form of grass has often been cut from n vessel's hul' quite three feet in length. There is yet. unollicr terrible enemy of the mariner to be exposed »â€" Llllfi pill“ spends ~.‘l\l‘ pose (I ll 31. Sikh variei ics, 'lhuf is; the shipworm. It can here its way through the hardest. oak as i-asiily as through the softest pine, and even the toughest knots offer no resistance. Teak, alone of all finr her, is proof against its attacks. llui not only vessels; suffer, every pier and every piece of harbor \voorb world round our coast, and that of the entire world, is attacked and destroyed by these tiny animals. llut most terrible of all is its wul'l‘ upon the (lykes of Holland, thosr dykes which alone prevent the sea from reducing the Netherlands to E much smaller place on the map. Upwards of half a million yearly are spent by the Dutch Governnieni in the. maintenance of these (lykes one near Den IIel'der, in North ll'ol land, alone costing $50,000 pt): annum. h§___ _ THE SORE THROAT. And the Precautions It Shoulr Suggest. Of all common. complaints, tc which both old and young are sub lJt‘Ct, a. sore throat, as it is general- l_v called, is one of the most ordin- ary. llut there are many varieties of sore throat and it may be of in- terest to deal briefly with thosv kinds commonly met with. Auute pharyngitisâ€"simple son throatâ€"often follows after catChing Cold or after exposure to cold, or il may be constitutionalâ€"such in con nection with gout or rheumatism in this case the. throat appears tc be red and more or less dry, whih the tonsils and uvuls are often 3 good deal swollen. The patient, as a rule, endeavor: to cough; he has a continual desin to clear the throat, owing to a. dry tickling feeling there. A considerable amount of pain fol lows the effort to swallow food Ol drink. There is also some siighf rise of temperature and feverish feel- ing at the onset of the trouble, or well as stiffness of the neck and slight deafness. This kind of sore throat rarely lasts more than a few days, and an apcricnt of Epsom salts at the com‘ menceinent with a few inhalations of Steam from a bowl of ‘hot watef and avoidance of cold and draughts, will soon make the patient quite well again. A frequent sequel to this. but at: tendant generally on neglect i1 treatment, is the form of thronif pharyngitis that follows several dif ferent attacks of the acute fcrm. Among clergy-men, costermongers public speakers and others who ham to strain their voices, as well a: among those who smoke or (lrinl to excess. it is very often met with, H‘ERJ') THE BEST ADVICE is to avoid the exciting cause, giv- ing rest to the voice and ibstaining from tobacco and alcohol; garglea and sprays to the throat only givn temporary relief. ACUte tonsilifis, or inflamnmtim of the tonsils, is a common form of sore throat among young adults. Wet, cold amd bad sanitary sun roundingsâ€"bad smells. etc.,â€"arl frequent cause. The attack Com- mences, as a mile, with a, chilly feeling, aeeompmded by pains in th! back and limbs, while the tempera- turo is considerably raised, reaching 102 degrees or higher; there is sev- ere headache and great pain in thc throat, more especially on swallow- ing. On examination the tongue is seen to be very i'urred, and the breath it very offensive; the tonsils are red and swollen and have Sin-all, creamy white spots on their surface. As this form of sore throat is very catching and may attack all the in- mates of a house, it calls for ener- getic treatment, isolation of the pa- ticnt being iinpcralively demanded. The great danger here is that diphtheria in its early stages may be mistaken for it; therefore, If there is the slightest. doubt, a pby< SICI'JJI should at once see the pa- tient, especially if the white spots on the tonsils increase in Size, con- ,nect or spread to other parts of the throat. The treatment should be as follows : l‘lnlire rest in bed, with a milk diet. A thick pic-Ce of flannel, wrung out of icc-cold water, placed round the neck, will often give great r0< lief, A dose of Epsom Salts should bu given, and the lhl'out gargled fre- quently with n solution of (flilorutu of potash (eight grains to the ounce of water), added to a little glycer- ine. Later on, “hen the inflammation is subsiding doses of quinine and iron and other tonics should be used ain a more generous diet adopted. A change of air during late conval- escence is very beneficial. +_._... _. Love and romance are more pleas ing than lliaf‘l'lilgu and history.