The weekly Oskaloosa herald. [volume] (Oskaloosa, Iowa) 1855-1885, 1873-10-30

WithUAt NtiohSibE SOttis " hEh uE
had fl Iished, she said
'That is hardly q fit story to tell tC
lady, and | think you owe me az
apology for venturing to tell it,.
Her wonderful GOODNESS astonish ed
even him who has already learned to
admire the perfect command in
which she held her nerves. lie was
not, however, he man to permit the
aesthetic in the interfere with the
practical, so be drew a handsome
watch from his pocket, and re.
piled
Il certainly apologize if / have
unlntentionally offended you, and /
likewise apologize for having so long
detained the watch. Shall | return
it to you or to Mr.. Harry Banks p
She knew that she was in his
power, and surrendered with the
same GOODNESS with which she had
fought.
'You have my secret, she said
coldly, though | cannot compliment
you on the means by which you dis
covered it. May | ask what use you
intend to make of it? You are capa.
BILE, | presume, of trading on wo.
mans indiscretioD
let me ask YOU question before
| answer yours. Was it merely an
lndiscretion which you committed
when you swore that Mr. Banks and
yourself were in the parlor on the
night of the murder? ! know, as
well as you do, that the parlor was
empty all that evening"
so y,u have been playing the spy
in this house You are, | suppose,
that honorable creature, deteo-
tive
Mrs. Stein, you are clever and
very bold woman. Upon my word,
[ infinitely admire your steadlness of
nerve. There is no need whatever
that we should quarrel, and only
ask you to be as frank as / am am
not, as you suppose, a professional
detective. ! have, | acknowledge,
watched you somewhat closely, be.
cause | wished to learn your motive
for the mistake which you made in
your testimony
Il may as well tell you the truth
now, or you will accuse me OF worse
errors than | have committed, was
examined at the inquest before Mr..
Banks was called, and knowing that
he would be anxious to prove that
he was not concerned in the
murder, / feared that he
might mention little matter, in-
nocent enough in itself, but quite
sure to compromise me. So, to avoid
the possibility and at the same time
prove what you cali, believe, an
aIibi for him, / said we were in the
parlor together. felt quite sure he
would not contradict me. May |
ask now if you have any further
! questions I?
Mr.. Pryor was thoroughly disap-
pointed. He saw no reason to douot
the explanation which Mrs. Stein
gave him, and be was compelled TO
reinquish his cherished conviction
that she had some guilty knowledge
Of the murder He haG been follow.
ing the wrong scent after all. He
had mistaken common place in
trigue for murderous conspiracy.
| Certainly it was discouraging. In
his disappointment ne actually con-
| fded to The woman the object he had
had in view; begged her pardon for
his inquisitive watch upon her, and
assured her that the secret was safe
with him. 1t will hardly be credited,
but they parted on apparently friend
ly terms. Mrs. Stein was too astute
to quarrel with a man who could do
her an injury, and his cynical admir-.
alton for her cool intrepidity made
him careless of her utter Indifference
to morality.
There remained one person against
, whom his suspicious were now di.
: rected. Mr.. James Anderson had
, sworn that he was in his own room
at the time of bis brothers death
and no one had expressed the leas
!. suspicion that he was in any wa
2 connected with it. Mr.. Pryor, how
} ever, saw his exceedingly devoted
/, attentions to his brothers. wife, ant
, accepted as a possibility the theor,
: that be killed the husband in orde
0 to marry the wife. The fact tha
: the will of the deceased left bis entir
fortune to his wife strengthened thii
theory. Then, too, the brother oc
e cupied room adjoining that il
. which the tragedy occurred. Wa
} there door between these rooms
a This Vi as matter to be settled frs
/. of ALL
Mrs. Andersen never left her room
3 without locking the door, and as he
, meals were sent up to her, and sh'
t rarely left the house, Mr.. Pryo
| wasted some little time before he hat
, an opportunity to make his desired
: investigation. At last, however
$ Mrs. Anderson and brother-in-lay
] went out together to church one Sun
D day evening, and Mr.. Pryor, provid
ed with skeleton key, promptl,
Y entered the room, and gave it
] thorough examination.
: There was a door leading to th
t brothers room, but in front of
b stood a huge clothes press. Thi
/, must have been in the same positio
at the time of the murder, for ther
: was no other place in the room TO
it. The clothes press annoyed him
o for it seemed out of the question tha
d the door against which it stood coul'
d have been used by a stealthy assas
e sin. However, he undertook t,
e move it, and to his surprise fount
:. that it glided easily and noiselessl
d on its well oiled rollers. The doc
r behind it was locked, but yielded t.
|. the skeleton key, and moved a
d noiselessly as the most careful crimi
g nal could desire. Here was tn
y path which murderer could hav
d safely used, provided his victim lay
d as the murdered man doubtless ha
J. lain, in quiet sleep. A single dar
# apot on the sill of the door attracts
e his attention. He stopped down an
b examined it. Some one had evi
9 dently tried to scrape the place Will
Q a knife, but the stain was in too dee,
e to be removed. Was it blood
# could the murderer, retreatiug to hi
y own room have dropped this trac
of his crime, aud been unable to oh
s hterate it?
n Mr.. Pryor felt conviction that h
4 II n