Their entry was so sudden thateverybody stood dumbfounded.
In the detective I recognised Priestly, the man who had had in hand theinquiries regarding Roddy's death, and in a moment saw how cleverlyMuriel had arranged the details of her revenge.
"Arrest that man!" she cried, pointing to the cringing ruffian beforeus. "That man, Francis Vidit, I declare to be the murderer of MrMorgan!"
Two constables stepped forward quickly, but the man whose Satanic garbwas so hideous, uttered a terrible curse, and with his face livid,turned quickly and attacked the men with the knife in his hand. In hisdesperation he was powerful as a lion, but in a few moments theinspector and the others had overpowered him, and he stood before usheld helpless within their grasp.
It was no doubt a smart capture, and the police owed it to Muriel'scalmness and careful arrangements.
"Let my hand go!" the wretched man cried. "I want to get myhandkerchief to wipe my face. Don't hold me so tight; I shan't hurtyou," he laughed with a hoarse, hideous laugh, which sounded through theplace.
Then, with a sudden twist, he freed his hand, and ere they could stophim he had placed something in his mouth and swallowed it.
"You can do what you like with me now, you fools!" he shrieked wildly."I have no fear of you!"
"Look!" cried Muriel. "See his face! He has poisoned himself!"
All gazed at him, and we saw by the spasmodic working of the muscles ofhis features that what she said was quite true. The agonies ofpoisoning had already seized him, and his haggard face, fast swelling,was horrible to behold. For a few moments he writhed in the grasp ofthe officers, while we all looked on in silence, appalled at thefrightful picture he presented; until suddenly, with a piercing shriek,he seemed to stretch out his limbs rigid and straight. Then all thelight of a sudden died from his hideously distorted features, and themen in whose grip he was knew by the dead weight upon them that theyheld only a corpse.
No further need is there to dwell upon the ghastly events of thatfateful night, a night that will live within my memory for ever; norneed I describe how we all four left that den of Satan in company withthe police. Suffice it to say that the self-destruction of FrancisVidit caused the disbandment of that disgraceful Pagan sect whichfortunately found so little support in Christian England. Although thepolice were, by these revelations of Muriel's, made aware of theexistence of Satanism in London, the suicide of their head made itunnecessary for any details of the _cultus diabolicus_ to be given tothe public through the medium of the sensational Press.
At first the revulsion of feeling within me caused me, I confess, tohesitate whether to take as wife a woman who had actually been a votaryof Satan, but on calmer reflection, as I drove back to Charing CrossMansions with my loved one at my side, I saw plainly how she had beenvictimised and held powerless beneath the terrible thraldom of thismurderer Vidit and his accomplice Hibbert, who had without doubt bothcarried on these practices with a view to gain the subscriptions ofthose who joined the cult. That she was pure, honest, and upright I hadnever doubted, and moved to sympathy when I remembered how bitterly shehad suffered, I yielded to her entreaty to be forgiven, feelingconvinced of her assertion that her suspicion that I was guilty of themurder of my friend was the cause of her casting me aside and acting asshe did.
Just a year has now gone by, and it has been full of changes, for myfather dying suddenly, Tixover Hall has come to me, and with Muriel asmy wife we live in the old place in perfect contentment and happiness.Jack Yelverton, too, has modified his views regarding the marriage ofthe clergy, for Aline is now his wife, and in the good work among thepoor of the dismal, overcrowded parish of St Peter's, which he pursueswith such untiring energy, she, once the priestess of Satan, is now hisgreatest helpmate. She is trying to make atonement for the flagrantsins she committed before God, and certainly if the ministration of HisWord and righteousness of heart will atone for the profanity to whichshe once was forced because of her love for the man who is now herhusband, then a great and blessed forgiveness will be hers.
The means by which poor Roddy's life was taken have remained an entiremystery until the other day, when Muriel explained how the man Vidit,being an expert toxicologist, once made certain experiments in that oldhouse on Herne Hill, and from these it seemed clear that the poison--apparently one of those extremely deadly ones known to the mediaevalalchemists, a single drop of which is fatal--was flung suddenly into theeye of his victim while he spoke with him, causing instant blindness,general paralysis, and a swift, agonising death. It was the consequentdiscoloration of the eyes which had so puzzled the doctors.
We, however, in our blissful new-found joy seldom refer to those darkdays when the shadow of evil was upon us. Happily they have passed, andare over, for Muriel has broken for ever that most terrible tie whichheld her aloof from God and man--the Bond of Black.
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The End.
The Bond of Black Page 43
