Litchfield enquirer., 1872-11-07

called on MT. Jenkins; he wasln his dress ing-gown sitting at his desk.
 On seeing me he rose, smiled, and held | out his hand.
 ssAh here you are. I almost expected you, for it is time we had finished matters, and believe that there is nothing to stop us any longer" q hope so, as we'll as you, sir; but for the moment it is not my marriage with Miss Jenkins that wish to speak to you about"
 ssWhat, business-ah! an investment perhaps. You know, my friend, that l am at your service. I have no occasion to tell you so. Have I? Speak!' ''No, not of that.
 ''What is it then?"
 ''Of an event which occurred some time ago, and of which you have yourself spok- en to me-"
 '1t is?"-
 Respecting the death of Miss Gibson" ''My poor dear cousin" exclaimed MT. Jenkins, assuming saddened expression. ssWhat an excellent woman she wasl Her | death was sad one. But all that is past, l and it is better not to revive painful memories. The crime was committed and has been exPiated; justice has spoken 'That is where you are mistaken, sir.
 ''What?" he said, paling slightly. | ''That Is where you are mistaken. l have not yet told you, believe, that I lived in the next house to the one where the murder was committed. 1 'Ah you resided"
 ''At Hampstead. And I was, as the nearest med ical man sent to examine the bodies." l "Oh indeed!'' '"To that circumstance, doubtless, am to attribute the fact of being summoned yesterday to Scotland Yard. :" I "With what Object?"
 1.-The man accused and convicted of 1 that dreadful crime has just died at Port land. At his last hour, he made gener- l al confession of his sins. But, he to the last energetically denied his criminality as regards Miss Gibson's case"
 ''Oh those kind of fellows always lier'
 "His statement however aroused the at- tention of the police. A new inquiry was at once instituted, and the result-,,
 ''You know it?" exclaimed MT. Jenkins, quickly.
 The unhappy banker suddenly became livid; saw his hands tremble.
 AS for myself, had summoned all my self-control, and my face betrayed no emotion.
 Mir. Jenkins rose, drank glass of wa ter and re-seated himself with calmer air, saying to me:
 "You cannot imagine, my friend, how much these details upset me. Unless there should exist an absolute necessity, I beg of you to let the melancholy sub l ject drop"
 ''Is that your desire?"
 ''No, no, ought to know all. My poor ! r 41oA L. |, death."
 ':sWell, this is the result of the new in- quify Many errors committed in the | first investigation have been corrected this time. The murder was not committed be- tween eleven o'clock and midnight, as was at first believed, but at few minutes be- fore ten."
 ''That is impossible Every one must know that it Is impossible p exclaimed MT. Jenkins. 'I was at her house and did not leave till ten o'clock"
 "Let me continue. When Miss Gibson was murdered she sat reading a volume of Walter Scott's 1vanhoe' The assassin approached her and struck her unexpect- edly blow from above downward, in the chest. The unfortunate woman rose, cry ing: 'Oh my God r A second stab-one given horizontally her. At tha cry raised by her mistress, the wo- man Roberts hurried in. She had hardly crossed the threshold of the chamber when she was seized by the wrist. and received several stabs winch she was able to break the force of with her disen0aped hand. A final blow in the neck killed her, however,"
 "HOw came all this to be known?" mur- mured Mir. Jenkins in stifed voice. r set some drawers, took from them a sum in gold with some securities, and left the room. It was exactly ten o'clock. He crossed the opening upon the fields, and concealed in a thicket at few yards distance from the garden the valuables taken. Theft was believed to have been the. motive of the crime. That done he re-entered, again crossed the garden, and got into his car riage, which took him at once back to London"
 MT. Jenkins looked at me, his eyes fix ed, his mouth open, his features distOrt- ed
 Never had such an expression of utter annihilation and terror conVulsed a hu- man face before. It was one of mental paralysis-ofi idiocy!
 '"The name-the name ?' he exclaimed.
 took him by the hand, forced him to rise, and drew him before the looking glass over the mantel. He raised his eyes. his look encountered his own hvid face. He gave heavy groan and fell fainting on the floor. I left the room.
 * +
 What ought I to do? DenOunce that wretch, or leave to Divine Justice the right of punishing him?
 The next morning I had not decided upon anything when Mrs. Bernard came to my house in quite an excited state.
 ooh, Charles ? she cried
 ''What is the matter?'
 '''Mr. Jenkins-''
 ''Welrr'
 Committed suicide, last night"
 Justice Is done. You now see clearly that was not mad"
 Mrs. Bernard buried her face in her hands.
 Two days afterwards the following par agraph appeared in the London newspa- per:
 ''One of our financial notabilities. MT. Jenkins, has just put an end to his days | Tn most tragic manner. He was found hanging in his bedroom. The act of de- spair is attributed to over-anxiety caused by the monetary crisis which has arisen in consequence of the complications of European politics"
 "Well, Doctor" said one of us.
 My friends, he repled, eft is nearly one in the morning. begin my round of visits at six, so permit me to leave you. As you we'll know, do not like to enter into controversy on these matters. One does not discuss his convictions, he affirms them"
 And the Doctor withdrew.
 Then we broke up in our turn, deeply impressed-but not convinced.
 Governor Andrew wrote this before his death: '"The tendency of the hour is to- ward Grant, and that is best; it is not the | S1om1 <Nfn 1s4 so Io1 Ro~