The Plymouth Democrat. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1869-1941, 1870-02-17

slept, dreamless till early twilight, and
then by that singular property of the
brain, unconscious celebration, whereby
the brain, of its own accord, will produce
images which the will has been powerless
to make it recall, remembered distinctly
every particular of the dream | had
strjven in vain to recollect over night 1t
was so vivid and clear that it impressed
me had witnessed my fathers death in
every deed.
rose early, and went over to Spedmin-
ton to consult with DR.. Ross. told him
little or nothing of my experiences, feel
ing he would disbelieve in them, but con-
tented myself with minute inquiries as to
the nature and extent of the pOst-mortem
examination in which he had assisted. DR..
Ross entered at length into particulars, and
repeated that he was perfectly satisfied
death had resulted from paralysis gather
ed from him, however, that DR.. Gryant had
performed nearly the whole of the practi-
Cal part of the pOst-mortem himself and
that beyond generally satisfying himself
of the truth of what his brother practi-
toner demonstrated, Dr. Ross had made
no thorough personal examination of his
body.
Returning to Crankford, called on DR..
Gryant. He had almost entirely recovered
his self-pOssessiOn with the daylight, but
was still quiet and reserved l found him
employed at his surgery bell. He had
taken out the bell-handle and bell-wre
l went up stairs with him, to examine the
bell itself, and found he had taken away
crank, bell wire, and all from that end, and
there was, in fact, no wire of any kind
now attached to the bell. The bell hung,
as it does at present, in corner, about
two inches either way from the wall, and
certainly he left nothing attached to it
which could account for disturbing the
peace any more.
That night l was away from home
between 10 o'clock and the next
morning. My business took me to the
catacombs Of Crankford Church But it
is fact that, witbstanding all COM
munication had been cut of from the
doctors bell, the bell still rang at II o'clock
| tint night, with the same monotonOus
steady toll as before. 1t rang for nearly
a minute, and then ceased. l found, on
my returning home, that DR.. Gryant had
again raped at the door, nearly beside
himself | did not wonder then, for |
| knelo lchy.
The following day remained at home.
| had important business there, which led
/ HIT W lOCh oCll Ill tIlC lOl
a great part Ofthe day, and also to lock the
dining-roOm door when | had finished.
In the afternoon, among some old letters
in an escritoire, found piece of paper
on which the contents of my fathers
cashbox were specified. Towards evening
/ ascertained from the hOusekeeper the
precise position in which the cashbOx was
found when my father died, and where the
loose gold and notes lay on the floor.
Doctor Ross spent that evening with me.
| Eleven o'clock struck. | pulled little
cord by the fireplace. My father had been
accustomed by this cord to unlatch the
| front door, without leaving his seat. |
set the front door ajar. Then l laid my
hand on the hook where the parrots cage
had hung every night till now, kept it
there with gentle pressure, and waited.
| In minute or two we heard Doctor
Gryant's door unlocked. He came to
ours, and finding it open, ran into the
passage.
"This is some internal trick, Mr.. Nor
! ley, and ,cW know the rights of 1t. Did
any one in this house ring my bell?' His
lips were bloOdless and quivering as he
spoke, his words quick and frightened.
"You shall KNOW" said, shutting the
door and locking it to prevent his retreat.
"Some one in this house did ring your
bell. Have you forgotten who said,
Whenever you hear the bell ring in that
way, it is |, and want you?" Come in,
Doctor Gryant; you actW fnd my father IN
the dining room ~
We forced him into the room, carried
him almost, but he was helpless as a child,
and would have fallen but for our support.
There we sat him face to face with his
| Exrorvyfhinn arranra6 II
had been that night The cash box was
there, and the loose futtered notes, and
the gold on the floor and in the dead man S
hand. And the dead man was lying there.
"YOur post m0rtem examination was su-
perficial," | said, doctor Gryant; you
omitted to notice very important fact.
The deceased was attacked by paralysis,
it is true, but he died of murder, from the
minute puncture of a surgeons needle.
| find that the needle was inserted in the
open mouth of the patient, and the throat
stabbed through to the spinal cord, so
dextrously that it scarcely bled internally,
and left no outward sign. And you,
Doctor John Gryant, did this deed to
cover your robbery of e13,2 200 from his
cash box. That is what my father sum-
moned you for-tO hear this. And now,
what have you to say to my father -
The mans face was fearful-he gasped
and struggled to get free but in vain
His mouth was so parched he could
scarcely frame word, but covering his
face with his hands, and seeking to hide
it, he said
"I-I-I," and stopped.
A hOrrid, choking voice in the room
scrcached, "YOu killed him, John, Yessir.
1t was the parrot, which kept on repeat
ing the same words, and l could not stoT
it l never heard in my life sound sc
ghastly.
When he heard that, the murderer
shrieked and leaped from us-mad! Il
was with great difficulty he was secured
and bound hand and foot, to prevent hi
injuring himself
The CorOner's commission was reopen
ed, and followed bv a formal trial. Doc
tor Gryant was sentenced to be confined
f during Her Maiesty's pleasure in Grim
! inal asylum, where he soon died ravins
; mad With the aid of my fathers memo
randum recovered most of the gold, ant
all the notes, of which had the numbers
: We found them in a drawer in Doctor
r Gryant's surgery.
Y Respecting the bell, as you will hav
@ guessed, 1t was put up originally by tn
= former owner of the large house, to rim.
: for his butler in the smaller house, as al
Y unmistakable summons in case of seriou
Y alarm at night. The hook in the dining
room, and similar one in the bedroom
: above, used to have cords attached to then
$ to pull. The principle on which the bel
C was struck was very simple-merely
Y hammer, like pianoforte hammer, which
It except in the act of striking, was hiddel
V at the back of the wainscot, and worke'
/, through a slit or mortice. which, beiny
G covered by cobwebs in a dark corner, wa
not very apparent to so hurried an oh
f server as guilty man. When either G
d the hooks was pulled it threw heav.
IS weight out of gear, allowing smaller on
d to act on a pulley and work the bell ham
n mer until the weight ran down. When tn