Tom Ossington's Ghost Part 21

"'Not a bit of it. So far as we're aware, he left no instructions of any sort or kind. We have a.s.sumed a responsibility of which we should be glad to be rid. Do you know the man's history?'

"'I know something of it--though I confess, candidly, that I should like to know more. My own connection with the matter is a curious one.

At a later stage I will tell you exactly what it is. In the interim, I a.s.sure you, on my word of honour, that any information you can give me shall be used for the furtherance of justice, and for that only.'

"'Very good; so long as right is done, all that we require is to be relieved of a very awkward situation. You know that Ossington was--peculiar?'

"'Not insane?'

"'Insane?--No; he was as sane as you are--every whit. But he was a disappointed man. He was malformed--the muscles of one leg were paralysed. As he grew older, the paralysis increased, until it extended up the whole of one side, and, at last, it killed him. He married a girl who acted as book-keeper at an hotel, at which he was in the habit of stopping, at Ilfracombe. She turned out a regular bad lot--finally running away with a man named Ballingall.'

"'Charles Ballingall?'

"'That's the man. Do you know him?'

"'I have acted for him professionally.'

"'Have you? Then let me inform you, without prejudice, that you have acted for as rascally a scamp as ever trod the earth. Ossington regarded him as a particular friend; and, as particular friends sometimes have a knack of doing, he borrowed no end of money from Ossington, ending by robbing him not only of his money, but of his wife as well. The double blow almost broke Ossington's heart, and during the remainder of his existence he lived the life of a recluse.

But, until then, we had acted for him continually. For instance, we had acted for him in the purchase of Clover Cottage.'

"'Do you hold the deeds of the house?'

"'Not a deed. We hold nothing. All that we have are the various letters which he wrote to us at various times, on business. We had heard nothing of him for months, when one morning we received a telegram asking us to go at once to Clover Cottage. I went myself--I liked the man. He was, in his way, as fine a gentleman as I ever met.

He had been cruelly used by friend and fortune. I found him dead--alone in the house there, with a maid and a doctor; dead--killed, according to the medical testimony, by a paralytic affection of the heart; but actually, as sure as you and I are alive, by the wicked wanton usage of those he had held dear. Now here the queer part of the thing comes in.

"'His last words had been an instruction to send for us; but that was the only instruction he had given. I myself searched the house from top to bottom, and, as you know, it is not a large one. I had it searched by others--every nook and cranny. Not a sc.r.a.p of writing could be discovered--letter, note, or memorandum. Not a doc.u.ment of any sort of kind. Nothing whatever to show of what he had died possessed, or to whom it was to go.'

"'You had reasons to suppose that he had means?'

"'Every reason! We had every reason to believe him to be a man of comfortable means. We ourselves had, on more than one occasion, acted for him in matters involving thousands of pounds. We applied to the National and Provincial Bank--where we were aware he had an account.

They informed us that he had closed the account some two months previously, and that on that occasion they had handed him over six thousand pounds in notes on the Bank of England. They gave us a list of the numbers of the notes; and not one of them has been presented for payment to this day.'

"'Is that so?'

"'It is. We furnished the Bank with a copy of the list, requesting them to notify us should one of them come in: as yet not a single one of them has made its appearance. Where are those notes? Surely, if they were in the possession of any living person, ere this some of them would have been presented. Where are the t.i.tle deeds of Clover Cottage--and of other properties, of which he was the undoubted owner?

He is the registered holder of ten thousand Great Northern Railway Stock. Since his death, the dividends on it have remained unclaimed.

Where is the scrip? With the rest, has it vanished into air? In a box in his bedroom were forty-seven pounds in gold. That was all the cash the house contained. We buried him in Wandsworth Cemetery; Hawkins, I, and the doctor were the only mourners. We sold the furniture, paid the expenses, and the balance stands to the credit of the estate. We advertised for next of kin, without results. We advertised also for information as to the whereabouts of any property of which he might have died possessed--such as t.i.tle-deeds, and anything of that kind.

You understand that there is a delicate question as to who is ent.i.tled to collect the rents of other properties which we believe to have been his freehold. But nothing came of that. Clover Cottage we placed in the hands of Messrs. Parker and Beading, but only recently have they succeeded in letting it--I believe to two single ladies.'

"'So I understand.'"

Jack struck in.

"You are the two single ladies. You," pointing to Ella, "are one of them, and you," pointing to Madge, "are the other."

Ella was impatient.

"Jack, I do wish you wouldn't interrupt.--Mr. Graham, do go on. It's like a romance. My curiosity is such that I feel as if I were all pins and needles."

Bruce Graham continued.

"'And you, Mr. Nicholls,' I said, 'have you formed no theory of your own upon the subject?'

"Old Nicholls leaned back in his chair. He put his hands into his two pockets, and he looked at me out of the corners of his eyes.

"'I have--I have formed a decided theory. But, upon my word, I don't know what right you have to ask me.'

"'I trust, before we part, to prove to your entire satisfaction that I have every right. What's the nature of your theory?'

"'What's the nature of your right?'

"I laughed. I saw that he meant to understand more clearly where we stood before he went any further.

"'I believe I am in a position to produce an owner for the property--when found.'

"'When found?'

"'Precisely--when found. As yet it still remains to be found. I must ask you not, at this moment, to press me for further details, and of course you, on your part, are ent.i.tled to keep your theory to yourself.'

"'I am ent.i.tled to keep my theory to myself, as you say. But I know your father was an honest man, and as it happens, I know something about you, and I believe you also are an honest man. So as I am anxious, for many reasons, that this Ossington mystery should be unravelled, you shall have my theory for what it's worth.'

"'He tilted his chair on to its hind-legs, watching me keenly all the time.

"'Thomas Ossington was peculiar--not, in any sense of the word, insane, but out of the common run. In particular he was secretive, especially latterly, as perhaps was only natural. My theory is that, distrusting banks and all such human inst.i.tutions, he secreted his cash, his t.i.tle deeds, and everything he valued, in some hiding-place of his own contriving, and that there it remains concealed unto this hour.'"

The two girls rose simultaneously.

"Madge," cried Ella, "did you hear that? That's exactly what you said."

In Madge's tones there was the ring of an a.s.sured conviction.

"I was sure of it--and I am sure of it; as sure as any one possibly can be."

"May I ask," inquired Jack, with mock severity, "who is it who is interrupting now? Will you let the gentleman go on?"

Graham went on.

"'But where,' I said, 'do you think he is likely to have found such a hiding-place?'

"Old Nicholls looked at me, if possible, more shrewdly than ever.

"'At Clover Cottage. I knew the man. The salient events of his life happened there. In his whimsical way he regarded it as part and parcel of himself. I have heard him say so half a dozen times. His heart was in the place. Whatever he did conceal, was concealed within its four walls. Before the furniture was sold, I had it overhauled by an expert--some of the things were pulled to pieces. His verdict was that nothing was hidden there. Had I had my way I would have dismantled the whole house--only Hawkins was against me. He said very properly, that if the heir-at-law proved cantankerous, I might be made to smart in damages to the tune of a pretty penny. So I abstained. All the same, if the house was in the market to-morrow, I'd be a purchaser at a good round sum--if all rights of treasure trove went with it. You may tell the present tenants'--here he looked at me in a fas.h.i.+on which took me a little aback--'if you have the honour of their acquaintance, that we keep a sharp eye on the property; that it is not to be tampered with to the extent of one jot or t.i.ttle; and that not so much as one inch of paper is to be taken off the wall except with our express permission.'"

Ella turned to Madge.

"What do you say to that?" she exclaimed. "That knocks on the head all your notions of pulling the house to pieces."

Madge was defiant.