The Hancock Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Ohio) 1857-1870, 1869-02-05

le until he came to roadside inn, th
1t Marquis OF CRANKY, into which
j. entered.
J.! And now, indeed, / felt that th
II time had come when some decisiy
ST step must be taken. If he were nc
Ie secured now, while he was in tn
/ public -house-if he got ont of
d without being taken-he might &C
d off by ways which were hidden fror
u my range of vision, and so escape
i still dared not move my eye iron
the telescope or the telescope fror
the inn-door. 1t was absolutely in
I, dispensable that he should not b
Is able to leave the house without m,
|. knowing it. i must not stir then
Z but as something required to be dom
l instantly, somebody else must sti
It for me. In moment / decided ol
Is my course. Remaining motionles
s at my post, / lifted up my voice, ant
It gave utterance to such a succession
n OF shouts that | confidently expected
that the whole establishment would
: rush up stairs to the observatory
thinking that l myself was being
y murdered. 1t was not so, however
n and, considering the noise / made,
D it seemed really astonishing how
:, long l called in vain. At last it did
! appear that was heard. The head
h gardener was in the grounds close
t by, and the sound of my voice reach.
Q ed him at length through the open
! window. Even when he heard, how.
Y ever, it was evident that he could not
4 make out whence the cries which
reached him came. who calls 2 he
cried. Here L shouted. In the
tower. Help, help at once! There
is not a moment to lose And very
: soon heard the welcome sound of
footsteps hurrying up the turret
, stairs. Almost before the door was
opened, or the gardener in the room,
| issued my orders. Jump upon the
pony / cried, still with my glass
fixed on the door of the old inn, and
gallop at full speed down TO the Mar
quis OF CRANKY. There has been a
murder committed, and the murderer
is in that house. He has on a scarlet
cap, has red hair and q red beard,
and q canvas frock, with dark patch
in front
'What! My helper here? p cried
the gsrdener.
The same. Seize him, or, If he
has left when you get there, raise the
hue and cry, and follow him. He
has murdered poor old Mr.. Irwin
Don't stop to answer l added, as
the man uttered an exclamation OF
surprise and horror. 'Go--go at
once. i dare not leave this post
Go, and il yon meet any one on your
way send bim-her-any one--to
me-
The man was a sharp fellow, and
disappeared instantly. Very soon j
had the satisfaction of hearing the
sound of a horses hoofs galloping
out of the yard at the back. Mean
while, half the household, alarmed by
what the man had told them, had
rushed up to the observatory, and
were now gathered round me as / sat
at the telescope. They were silent
for a time, and could feel, though
my eyes were engaged, that they
were watching me intently.
'What was his name p l asked
after while.
His name is Mason somebody re-
piled William Mason Then there
was silence again, as / went OH
watching.
For Gods sake, what is it sir -
cried the old housekeeper, suddenly,
in answer, l suppose, to an involun-
tary exclamation of mine.
'rhe door has opened answered.
is he coming outi'
No one appeared for a moment;
at last some one passed out. 1t was
not he, however, it was an old woman
carrying bundle.
There were several false alarms
of this kind, as different people who
had been taking refreshment at the
tap came out, one after another i'll
pretty rapid succession. At last,
after longer interval than usual, the
door opened quickly once again.
st is he,' l said, hardly knowing
till | heard the confused murmur
Of an exclamation from the group
behind me--that l spoke. 'He has
come out. He is looking first one
way and then another, and now he is !
gone, and the gardener will be too
late.'
/ could still see him, and could |
make out in which direction he was
going.
is any one belonging to the stable
here 2
Yes SIR replied voice / knew.
'Get horse saddled at once, Mat
thew, and bring him round. The
swiftest you have in
In a moment | heard the mans /
footsteps Gathering down stairs.
Can you see him still . asked the
old housekeeper.
AT present | can, but / shall not
be able to do so long. The part OF
the road which he is approaching is
hidden from my view.'
Very soon my prediction came
true. There was a turn in the road.
Trees and buildings and rising
ground interviewed and hid the figure.
1t did not show again Tor a long
space A.; when it did it came out by
the railroad station.
l sat and thought the situation
over, and the conviction forced itself
upon me more and more strongly,
that this railway station would be the
ultimate destination of the murderer,
and that the only chance now was to
keep a steady watch upon its ap
proaches. But my eyes, especially
the left eye, which l had to keep
closed, were now SO tired that could
hardly use them. l found it, how
ever, by no means easy to get sub
stitute.
There were only present at this |
time the women servants and boy.
The boy could not be trusted, of
course and the women, one and all.
as they seated themselves '
by turns before the glass, that they
could only see something dark bob
biDg up and down at the end of it. :
At last it was suggested that Martin,
the wears factotum, who had been
out, must be at home by this time, {
and a servant being despatched in
search of him, he presently appeared I
,nd took NV pIace of the olssa Ia