St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1873-11-21

.
Interested. and always showed grea
! pleasure when called down to Pitbor
Ough. Il pleasure | used to think WAS us
Snmcd, not knowing then the true rea
son for it.
In the autumn of the wear Is occur.
red the events which | am about to rc.
late. OrmrrOd was away on one of hi,
Pithorough visits, and was by myself
in London, in anything but il cheerful
frame of mind for | waS out of en-
ploymcnt and, in II word. hand ups,
hard up indeed that ! WAS anNiolISly
waiting for my friends return, in order
to borrow a sovereign OF two of him,
for he always returned with money in
his pocket. One day had dined on Il
cup of coffee and IL roll Il could afford
no more --;nd having very minutely
examined the advertisements and found
nothing that would at all suit me. turn
cd to the news part of the paper. when
almost the first paragraph which greet
ed my eye WAS one entitled ''MN MN>tcri-
Gus Murdcr:"
''On Tuesday morning. Pitborough
and It's vicinity was thrown into Il state
of great excitement. 10y Il most myStcri-
"uS tragedy. 1t appears that Mr.. Hart
ley. of Crawlcy street. reputed To he Il
man of great wealth and eccentric mam-
ncrs. and well known in the ncighbur-
hood. failed to make his appearance at
the usual time in the morning. and aS
the servant could obtain no answer ON
Knocking at the door. which according
t" his usual practice WAS locked, hcI
suspicious We're reused. and she sum
moncd Il policeman to her assistance.
10y whom the room WAS forcihlN enter
ed, when the unfortunate man WAS
found dead i'll his bed. murdered III Il
most trighttul manner. Medical aid
WAS ut once sent for. but without avail
a> life. had been extinct some hours.
His c>cIitorc had been broken opcn
hut whether amy money had been taken
tlnm it cannot hc :i>crrtaimcd. a> the
deceased WAS very uncommUlicatiNc
concerning his affairs. Int il Is hclicN eel
he kept his money there. What rcli-
dcr> the case more my l~tcri"u>. l. that
the door and window were, both t.i>tcn-
ed on the inside hut the police are
said Ia have obtained Il clue to the
murderer. which they are rncrgcticallN
following up. and we hope i'll "uI neat
issue t" report his apprchcn~lnm.
To S:Il that was shocked on reading
this would he too strong u word WIS
>tatlrd. hut the uppclun>t thought i'll
my mind Wa> that now my friend would
hr Il liz Il man; for it must hr rcmrm-
hcIcd that Mr.. Hartley WIS Il perfect
stranger to me. and 1t was perhaps
natural that | should think more. of The
good that had hctallcn the one knew.
IL ttI, a.. l.. 4.
other
rh"ught Il good deal about the news
paragraph that day. havim" hut little To
occupy me. and the more thought
aiuTt il the more fascinated did | he
come 10y one portion of the new >papcI
report. namely. that relating t" the
fastening of the door and window.
had always bad Il fancy. perhaps it was
Il morbid fancy. for uuraNclliug the
mysterious: there WIS Il sort of drtcc-
tive instinct within me. which WIS al
WAYS wishing to indulge. and the
strange circumstance uf the murderer
having locked himself om reused it 1T
once.
There WAS II fine opportunity of cN-
crci>ing my talents in my friends >cr-
vice. and | determined. if the next day =,
paper did NOT clear mp the my >tcry. to
write tn OImrrod and offer Ia assist in
the criminal. But that letter
WAS prevented. and in an unexpected
manner. for aS | sat thl' evening think
ing oVcI the matter and smoking my
pipe. Ormcrod himself walked in. lie
WAS nervous and agitntrd. and without
Il word of greeting plunged ut once int"
the subject.
You have heard of the terrible af-
fair. have you not. G-! 1t was in
the paper this morning
"Ic>." | said. Il have read it."
'.Shockimg. Shocking, 1t has quite
upset me. | dincd with him last night.
and this morning but lou don't know
the worst good Heavens. think
shall =" mad with it all -
Not the woI>t - said.
NO. They say tn" police have got
Il clue.
shrugged my shoulders. and said.
I'VE all know what that means moth
inc at all.
1T means something! 1t means this.
that they suspect me -
'.lou," exclaimed, for WAS fairly
Yes: they have set a watch upon
me am followed wherever | 90.
They have followed me up here. and
aIr Watching this house even now. I'll
tell Nuu what ii is. C., this l. Il most
unhappy business hut the truth is
when that murder WIS committed |
was away from my hotel. did not
return until very late. and that has
come Ia their knowlcdgc."
but. my good fellow. that is TIL
simplest matter in the world. Let us
90 over the circumstances together. and
| have no doubt we shall he able not
only to account for every minute of
your absence. but find credible witness
eS to support us. If that is their only
evidence their suspicious will soon he
laid
But he shook his head, and said
"No cant can't"
"Nonscnsc." | replied. as checrtully
as could bring your mind to ii as
steadily as you can and You will soon
remember.
"You don't understand" he said Il
do remember perfectly where WAS.
and | was with one person all the
while; but that person Look here.
C. I'll icll You the whole story. and
then YOU will see in how unpleasant Il
position am placed"
1t seems that, in his visits to Pitbor-
ough. he had made the acquaintance of
il Young lady named l., the daugh-
ter of IL very rich manufacturer. with
whom he had fallen III love ut first sight.
and that first sight WAS in church.
confess. from what Ormerod told me. |
was not impressed with Il very favor
able opinion of Miss l.. although
in his eyes she was, of course. an angel.
She seemed to he il vain, giddy, thought
L., 1ri,l uhn hnNinr observed his nl-