Mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado Co., Cal.) 1854-1860, 1859-11-12

trust that no one would ever suspect hin o.
having made his unfortunate detouP into thl
domain of his enemy. This plan succas8sd
perfectly; he was expected BY bis cousin ~
next morning his servant Joined him, haSinf
LEFT his comrade doing well; 90 that - tsoasAl
was for moment entertained that be I'D O.
waited from the road he had been expoeee9 "a
take, and he had once more staTtp6 ~ -.
burgh before the news Of the tlaF4se -
spread beyond Inverary. NeveTthsl611 WesQ
the fact became known, Il created sgFeee ssa-
sation, chiefly owing to the peculiar esFyum-
stances Of the case; Q murder committed By
an unknown assassin in the presence Of one
sole witness, and that one deprived Of the
power Of seeing even 10 those days Of blood
shed, striking event, and the mysterious es:
cape Of the criminal, seemed altogether unae-
countablP.
The Marquis of Argyle, who was at his cas-.
tie on the fatal night, left no stone unturned
in his efforts to discover the perpetTator Of the
decd being stimulated to unusual activity id
the search, by the strong suspicion he enter
tanned, that the assassin was in some way con.
nectcd with the family of his foes. This he
gathered from the conversation between the
murderer and his victim, which Elspeth de.
tailed word for word but it afforded no clue
whatever to the actual individual and Kenelm
himself was never suspected.
After few weeks of useless investigation,
the search was given up, but the details Of
the murder were carefully recorded by the
courts Of justice; and the Lord Of Argyle de-
clarcd that, If ever in his lifetime the assassin
was discovered, he would bring him to the
scatiold. be the interval ever so long.
Elspeth found home in the Marquis house.
hold, after the good old fashion Of those times,
which recognized q claim on the part Of the
clan to find refuge with the family Of their
chief, and Kenelm had, to all appearance, es-
capped with perfect impunity.
Yet he, gay and reckless as he seemed, was
secretly haunted by one dark forebodinH,
which never left him night or day. Camp
bell was not the first man he had slain in the
course Of his stormy career, but he was the
first he had murderSd- the first whose life he
had taken otherwise than in honorable war
fare, and already the unfailing retribution Of
actual crime had commenced in the deep secret
Of his heart Wherever he went. alone, or in
crowds, from the hour when the low, solemn
warning Of the blind girl came to him as he
stood with his feet dabbling in the blood Of her
father, he heard the voice ringing in bis ear
and telling him that vengeance would surely
find him yet and the sleepless justice Of the
for it. Not even the joy-bells on his wedding
morning, could drown the ominous whisper
in his soul, nor the sweet tones of the gentle
Lady Ellen, while she murmured her bridal
VOWS. Still was it sounding there when the
feeble cry of his first born spoke Of new ties
to make life sweet; and later still he heard it
through the firing Of the salutes that greeted
him as ambassador on foreign shore. Years
passed on, most Of which were spent at one Of
the continental courts and when, at last, he
returned with his wife and family to Edin-
burgh, the murder Of the inn.keeper had not
been thought Of BY any body for long time
past.
One day about month after his arrival In.
the Scottish capitol, Hamilton was walking
along the most fashionable part Of the old
town where the houses Of the nobility ere u
found, when his attention was attracted by Q
fray that was going on in the street between
two men. Such sight was not uncommon IN
those days; but the fury Of the men was %
great that it was evident some serious mischief
would ensue if they were not separated. Ham.
ilton, whose rank in the city entitled him to
interfere, at once rushed between them, cali.
ing them in loud voice to desist Immediately
from further QuaFrcling, and, with y 6rIH
grasp Of his strong arm on the shouldr Of each
he sent them reeling to opposite sides Of the
street.
The affair had collected q considerable
crowd, and Hamilton's rank and position was
known as he turned to resume his walk. One
moment he stood there in all his prond proc
perity, receiving the homage Of the people 6
his right, and scarce bending his lofty head IN
acknowledgment Ofit-the sunshine Of Q hsiRDt
summer sky streaming down his noble and
commanding form seeming but to tyPi(y Che
bTilliancy Of his worldly prospects One mo-
ment he stood thus, and the next the ven.
geance that had 30 long tracked his steps uu.
seen, laid hold upon him with deadly eRaap.
and the sun Of HamiltOn's career sunk down
to set in blood. A shrek, so thrilling and in.
tense that it seemed to pierce his very heart.
suddenly rang through the air, and alI eyes e
well as his own were turned to the spot ff1m
whence it appeared to have risen, and there 4
sight presented itself which caused the GtStelv
Hamilton to grow pale and trembIe NE 8
child
On the highest step Of the stone stair which
led to the door Of the Marquis Of ArRxiG's
town residence, q tall, haggard- looking xo3SSH
was standing; her arms were Outstretched
towards Hamilton, and her eyes, whose eiassy
vacancy showed that they were Sikkt1eiS:
seemed to glare upon him with horrible tFi.
umph, rs she shrieked out in tones heard far
and near: "Seize him seize that man. who.
ever he may be; he is the murderer Of INV
iather-I know him by his voice ~ J -
Many Of Argyle's retainers were amonRnt
the crowd, and the Marquis himself had been
drawn to the window by the noise Of the Quar-
rel. All knew Elspeth Campbell. DE faInd
woman, and remembered her ihther'es smv1aaFi.
Ous nurder-all could testify to the kcclsnea1
Of her sense of hearing, and to the reneale6
expression other longing desire that she a.'s ~
| hear the voice Of the assassin SO long ~
in vain, for she remembered the fun rsch taS,6s
that had called on her father TO una6s ~
words one instant ere he fell L CORPSE. ana -
felt certain she should know them aeain Il ~
could but once hear the murderer sneak -
now, after the lapse Of al thee yeaFa ~
well-known voice had struek her ear. iaIn 'nllII
and again she screamed out: $50 & I
l know he is my hthers muadsssrl r. sN 3ai.
other moment Argyle was ccaAontins -.
ton, too thankful 70 have aieh 4 e7Sr13 -.
tablished against his ancient eIIl = y. = 8 x -.
pie crowded round, and n ~ ~ ~
posed TO dOuht theiblfaa = 4,
HamiitOn's own awe'pkiirul -
seal upon its truth, f6gs j.
fence; but kept his arhsi.
upon the blind womansii -
let bis hands fail oa NJ ~ !
"hiS IT, bad e Grd ~
He spOea iEkly4x hSa -.
gyls speedily hseaaAt - =
blind w4man1 svidele -