"The writing ended in a scratch, as though the hand had dropped in the very act of wrestling with the frozen ink.

"I caught up the book and we hurried out of the place without another word. I am half-sorry I began this tale, for the thought of that frozen corpse turns me queer to this day. But we saw other sights in that ship-oh, yes. We saw, in the principal cabin, the body of a woman, half-sitting, halflying on a bed. She almost seemed as if she would speak to us as we

entered. Her face was fresh as life itself; only we knew her to be dead at once by the way in which her limbs were shrunk.

"We saw on the floor, beside the bed, a man seated. He had a steel in one hand and a flint in the other. He was bending over them, as if in the very act of striking a spark. a spark. The tinder lay all ready in a heap beside him. He had held that flint and that steel for thirteen years.

"We saw, in the fore-part of the vessel, half a dozen sailors lying dead in their berths. We saw at the foot of the gangway stairs a small figure, a cabinboy, huddled up into a ball for warmth. But we saw no provisions, no fuel; and we felt that our nerves were going.

"Once on deck again we looked at one another, and went, without

speaking a word, into our boat, I with the log-book under my arm. We had seen enough to last us in bad dreams for a lifetime; and I drew not a clear breath again till, steering southward, we left the canal for open sea, and behind us the dead ship lay hidden by the icebergs. Of course you disbelieve me; I said how it would be. But the owners believed me, right enough, when they saw the log-book of the Gloriana there, and read the story of the brig that for thirteen years had been lost to them."

326

A HUNT FOR A MURDERER.

BY DICK DONOVAN.

JONG years ago, when I was a young man, and new to the profession in which I have grown grey, I was stationed in London. I was full of zeal and energy, and particularly anxious to distinguish myself; but for some time I had to kick my heels in obscurity, as nothing occurred to give me the chance I panted for. Of course, I railed against fate, and thought that she had specially singled me out as a victim of her spite, and I began to think I would emigrate, try to discover the North Pole, find the philosopher's stone, fly through the air, or set to work upon some equally quixotic quest, when my old and respected chief, under whom I then served, called me into his room one morning and said"Here, youngster, I'm going to set you on a job that will test your mettle. A brutal murder was committed the night before last by a ferocious ruffian— a returned convict-who will stick at nothing. He has managed to get clear, and as he has baffled the police before, he is likely to do it again, for he is as cunning as a fox, as dangerous as a poison-snake. We have reason to believe he is lurking somewhere in the East End. You will join the East End division of the staff, and use every individual effort to capture the brute."

As I heard these orders my heart beat violently, and I felt somehow as if my opportunity had come at last. Moreover, at the time, though I know now it was not so, I thought my chief spoke in rather a contemptuous tone to me, as though he was of opinion that I was a fool, and he would not have put me on this job if he had not been compelled, owing to there being an unusual pressure of business just then, which taxed the resources of our department very severely. This idea fired me, and I resolved to do or die.

With a respectful salute to the chief, and merely remarking quietly, "I will do my best, sir," I took my departure, feeling eager for the fray, and hoping and praying that the merit of capturing this human brute might fall to me.

It appeared that two evenings before, about eight o'clock, a policeman was called to quell a row in a public-house, not of the best repute, and situated in Ratcliff Highway, for ever rendered notorious by the diabolical crime of Williams, the murderer, who has been immortalised by the genius of De Quincey, in that gem of English literature, "Murder Considered as One of the Fine Arts."

The cause of the row was a well-known character named Peter Mogford, then

a man of about fifty years of age, and quite thirty of those years he had served in prison. He was, in fact, one of those born criminals who, like the fierce and untameable hyenas, should either be caged or killed.

Mogford had commenced life as a soldier. Both his parents had passed a considerable portion of their lives in prison, and a brother had been transported for a terrible outrage on a woman. Peter's antecedents, therefore, were by no means calculated to create an impression in his favour, and he. soon showed that he intended to beat the record. He proved to be the most troublesome man in the regiment. He drank, he stole from his comrades, he was mutinous; and, though he was flogged, imprisoned, flogged and imprisoned again, he did not improve, and was at last drummed out of the army.

Subsequently he became a sailor, but soon gave that up, and his career from that time was one of outrage of almost every conceivable kind, and he was no sooner out of prison than he was in again. His last term had been penal servitude for ten years, and at the time he committed the double murder which sent a shudder through the land, he had only been released two months.

On the night in question he had gone into a public-house in the "Highway," where a number of sailors and their sweethearts were carousing. Mogford had insulted one of the women, which had led to a fight between him and a sailor, during which he struck his opponent over the head with a quart pewter pot, and rendered him insensible.

The row had then become general, and Mogford, who, although a little man, was possessed of a giant's strength, created great havoc, and the son of the landlord rushed out for a policeman. One happened to be close at hand, and, with the aid of some of the sailors, Peter was secured, bound with a rope, and in a state bordering on frenzy with drink and baffled rage, he was conveyed to the nearest "lock-up." It was a place never intended for desperate criminals, but was used principally for "drunk and incapables."

As Mogford complained that the rope hurt him, it was taken off, and he was then put into a cell and locked up for the night, and it was supposed that he had gone to sleep, as for three hours nothing was heard of him.

The station was then in charge of an old sergeant of police, whose duty it was to book any night cases, and a young constable was on duty with him. About midnight Mogford succeeded in noiselessly forcing the lock of his cell door, which was of the most flimsy kind. The old sergeant was nodding at his desk, and the constable was standing with his back to the fire, when Mogford suddenly appeared.

The constable sprang forward to try and stop his exit; but the ruffian seized a poker from the fire-grate, and with one tremendous blow felled the constable like an ox. The old sergeant then tackled him, but Mogford beat him about the head with the poker until he too fell insensible. The criminal then rifled the desk of the small amount of money it contained and made off.

In a few minutes the sergeant had so far recovered consciousness as to be able to realise what had happened, and, though he was terribly injured, part of his head being almost beaten to a jelly, he managed to crawl to the street and raise an alarm.

When help came a local doctor was immediately summoned, but he found the constable dead, and the sergeant in such a dangerous state that he had him removed immediately to the hospital. There he was able to make a full and detailed statement of the tragic affair, but he soon after lapsed into unconsciousness again, and never rallied, but expired at eight o'clock in the morning.

As Mogford was so well known, it was considered that there would be no difficulty in effecting his arrest; but hour after hour went by and no tidings came of his capture. That night a house was broken into at Bow, and a considerable quantity of valuables carried off, including about ten pounds in cash, also a suit of clothes. A handkerchief that was found on the premises was recognised as one belonging to Mogford, and it was then felt that as he had succeeded in obtaining clothes and money, his capture might be difficult.

When the news spread the excitement was tremendous, and orders were given that every outlet in London was to be watched as far as possible, and every haunt of criminals scoured. And so effectual did the cordon seem, that it was deemed impossible that he could long remain uncaptured. Nevertheless there was a prevailing opinion that the desperate ruffian would never be taken alive, and that anyone attempting to take him would run the risk of losing his own life. Public excitement, therefore, was worked up to the fullest pitch, and from one end of the country to the other people were painfully anxious to hear of the capture of this savage human animal.

I have already indicated what my own feelings were when I heard that I was to be allowed to join in the hunt for the murderer. And though I was young and inexperienced at the time, I was bold enough, and, as many would have said, egotistical enough, to think that the steps then being taken to cut off the retreat of the fellow were not calculated to secure the object aimed at.

When I got my orders the first thing I did was to make myself acquainted with the habits of the man, as well as learn every detail of his personal appearance. Although I kept my thoughts to myself I came to the conclusion that he was possessed of the most extraordinary and ingenious cunning, and so daring that he might succeed in altogether baffling his pursuers, even as a fox can sometimes baffle the best-trained hounds.

Instead of joining in the full chase that was then going on, I ventured to think it might be as well first of all to try and find a track to follow up, and I quietly went to work to discover something about his relations. The most that I could learn was that he had an aunt living at Ratcliff Highway; but, as will presently be seen, that "most" was to prove of great service.

I was