Wizard Will, the Wonder Worker. Ingraham Prentiss
are the two days in which he committed the crime of kidnapping and murder – "
"Murder? Great Heaven! of what else will you accuse me, Lomax?"
"Yes, of murder; for when poor Mrs. Raymond read the note left by Ruby, she fell in a faint, and she never came to herself again, but died, and four days ago I went to see her buried over in the village graveyard.
"Then I took your track, Schuyler Cluett, and I found out where you hired your team of fast horses, and where you drove to catch the train.
"There you bought two tickets for Baltimore, and I lost trace of you after I arrived in that city."
"You have tracked some other man, Lomax, for your sweetheart did not run off with me."
"And I say that I saw the man of whom you hired your horses, and he described you."
"Other men look like me, Lomax."
"And I saw the station-agent where you took the train for Baltimore, and he described you, and Ruby, also."
"An accidental resemblance."
"A man met you at that station, to drive the horses back to the town where you hired them."
"That proves nothing."
"Does this?" and Kent Lomax drew from his pocket a handkerchief.
"That is a lady's handkerchief, I believe," was the cool reply.
"It was left by Ruby Raymond in the waiting-room of the railroad station, and it bears her name."
"That proves that she did run off with someone; but who, Lomax, for I am not the guilty one?"
"Does this prove anything?" and the young farmer held up the gold head of a walking-stick.
Schuyler Cluett again started forward, as though to grasp it; but the pistol's muzzle once more confronted him, while Kent Lomax fairly hissed forth the words:
"This I found in the buggy, and there is the stick – see, it fits!" and stepping to a corner, he picked up a headless walking-stick of snake-root.
"You will not deny your guilt now, for this gold head bears your name, and it came off in the buggy, and you doubtless thought you had dropped it along the road."
"I say that I am not guilty," was the sullen reply.
"Well, sir, I say that you are, and I came here to kill you; but I will not be a coward and shoot down an unarmed man. Yet I will not allow you to escape, for I intend to right the wrong I believe you have done poor Ruby, and I have vowed, over the dead body of Mrs. Raymond, to avenge her death."
"What is your intention, Lomax, for this scene is growing monotonous to me?"
"My intention is to demand that you meet me face to face, arms in our hands, and as one gentleman should meet another, though I do not consider you worthy the name you have dishonoured."
"By the Lord Harry! but this is too much, and I will meet you were you the lowest of the low; so name your friend, and Mr. Rayford here will arrange with him!" hotly said Schuyler Cluett.
"I have no friend, but that gentleman will do, and he is all we need.
"I will meet you at sunrise, at any place you may state, for I do not know this city, and our weapons will be revolvers, the distance ten paces, that gentleman to give the word to fire, and to keep it up until one or both are killed."
"That will suit me," was the cool reply, and turning to his friend, he continued:
"You will act for us, Rayford, in this affair this mad fool has forced upon me?"
"Certainly, and there is a pretty spot, on the banks of the Schuylkill river we can select, for I know it well, and I will give this gentleman written instructions how to reach there.
"At sunrise you say?" and he turned to Kent Lomax.
"Yes, and sooner if it could be so."
"That is soon enough, and here is your directions to reach the spot," and he jotted down a few notes upon a paper.
"Thank you; and Schuyler Cluett if you prove yourself a coward and do not come, I will prove merciless and kill you at sight, as I would a snake," and Kent Lomax left the rooms.
CHAPTER IV. – The Meeting
UNTIL the time for him to seek some means of reaching the spot, selected for the meeting, that he intended should be fatal to one of them, Kent Lomax walked the streets of the city, brooding deeply over his sorrows, and his determination to avenge Ruby, whom he looked upon with pity rather than anger, and her mother, whose death had been brought on by the act of Schuyler Cluett.
At daylight he sought a livery stable, and asked for a horse to ride out to the rendezvous.
"You can get a horse, sir, but you are unknown to us, and we must ask a deposit of his value," said the man.
"Ah! that is it, you fear I am a horse-thief; well, hitch a carriage for me and send a driver, one who knows how to reach this place," and he gave the directions where he wished to go.
Soon after he sprang into the vehicle and was driven away at a rapid pace, and in an hour's time was set down at a lonely spot on the riverbank.
Up the stream some distance he saw another vehicle draw up, and out of it sprang Schuyler Cluett and Rayford, and he walked hastily toward them.
"I am glad to see that you are not a coward," said Kent Lomax, addressing Schuyler Cluett.
"You are all wrong in this, Lomax, much as appearances are against me," said Cluett.
"I know I am right, for I have not had my eyes shut the past two months.
"Are you ready?"
"I am."
"I have brought a pair of weapons belonging to Mr. Cluett, sir, and you can take your choice," said Rayford, opened a box in which were a pair of handsome revolvers.
"I have a weapon, sir."
"It is best that they be alike."
"Very well, I will take one of these."
"Take your choice."
Kent Lomax selected one without an instant of hesitation, and said:
"This will do."
Rayford took the revolver and carefully loaded it, and then took up the other and did likewise.
Then he paced off ten paces, gave the men the choice of positions by tossing up a dollar, and Kent Lomax won.
Both took their positions, Schuyler Cluett with a quiet smile of confidence upon his face, and Kent Lomax calm, cold, but haggard, stern and determined.
The sun was now up, gilding the tree-tops and causing the dew to sparkle like diamonds upon the grass.
It was a pretty scene, and yet one that had been selected to be desecrated by a tragedy.
Each man took his position, revolver in hand, and standing to one side, Rayford said:
"Gentlemen, I am to give the word as follows:
"One, two, three, fire!
"Between the words three and fire, you are to pull trigger, and you can keep firing until one or the other falls, or you empty your weapons.
"Now, are you ready?"
Both nodded in the affirmative, and then in a loud voice came the fatal words:
"One! two! three —"
There was no need of uttering the word fire, for the revolver of each flashed at three.
And the result?
Schuyler Cluett staggered backward, his hand to his head, while Kent Lomax dropped as though a bullet had pierced his brain.
"Shot through the heart," said Rayford coolly, and then turning to his friend he added:
"I think that should cancel my indebtedness to you, Schuyler."
"What?"
"I