, 1875-01-24

l. T.
his estate, and, learning the whereabouts Of th.
widow Of Banks, who was living in poverty
sought her, confessed his crime, sued for he
band, and they were finally married. Notnith
standing be VAS the murderer Of ner husband,
do not tLink couple ever lived more happily
| He lavlaAad upon her all tho Affections OF biz
soul. and hla only object in life seemed to be t.
render her happy
II had boen at Hickory Hall I suppose ter
JoaEs' when tragedy, SURPRISING anything il
horror L have syor known, occurred. SIR The
had one Of his spells Ct melancholy, and had
| been secluded for day or two; one evening be
sent fqr me- to come 70 tha library and engage
him in game of chosa. went aud found him
70 flna hnmor. He had been sesd,nc Don
Qnl3ote, and Was laughing heartily about thai
| gente'nxn'a adventure with the wind-mllla We
eommooced the game. he having the white men
and ! ths black, Warily and slowly NO both
ne Eams from being quisa jolly, aud remember
distinctly that We drapx four bottles Of old mort
| When the clock in tho great Hall struck l. ,saa
| ehecknated; ! ought to have had the game, for
| had robped him OF his queeo and two rocks,
but he checkmated mo with h.a kings knight.
| He alept alone in + room adjoining the library
~ aToks late tha following morning and waa
Aatonisaed to hear cries, aud sobs, aud loud
lamentations in the servants halt. quickly
arose and wont to ascertain tho cause. 0n en-
toring the hall found the wita OF Str The LYING
| IN swoon tho servauta we1e 81! pale Is the
| ghose Of Death, and speechless With horror, and
half-dead with fear. After awhile they COM
%snsed 1as1, moaning and wrlagng their hands. and
Heavens name p I inquired. .oh! Oh! Oh i
| Murder! Murder Murder!' .thoy answered in
chorus, and all pointed toward Sir The'a Sleep
ing-apartmeut- I rushed into his room in tho
| widest excitement, aud there = sceno niot my
gaia the most horrible, the most dreadful, tho
frtE{ ri Eel r%,.1
and bloud-card1ing that ever human eye looked
upon. Upon the bed lay the severed head Of
Sir The, tha mouth open, tha eyes staring
classify and CHASTITY:
Starring full ebastly ltks stzsngied man,
and tho hair bEistling with horror: pool OF
clotted gore WAS in the centre OF tho bed. Where
vas the rest OF the body? II Was not in the
found anywhere; all that could be found Of poor
ST. The was that CHASTITY, horrible head We
buried it away tenderly out of 1ight, and then
sought for the remainder OF the body and the
murderar. In the night following this blood
freezing tragedy these hairs OF mine became
white a. you now zee them. u was certain be
was murdered; At least thought 60. We found
neither body nor murderer; no trace or clev
could wo find to the rerpetrator of the foul deed; ;
there Was not . solitary circumstance pointing to
spared; the best detective talent WIS exhausted,
aud not shadow OF evidence against any
person Was discovered. For five yeara the mur-
derer waa hunted for ceaaelssslY. aud was not
found. Sir The's wife, at last despairsug Of ever
bringing the guilty wretch to justice, vent into
convent end left ms in charge of The estate.
Iou may suppose that brooded over this crime
and sought to reveal itH mystery. It was my
study. 1 thought OF it night and day. I rea-
soued upon it. I invented theories pried
into motives. I examined Into the character OF
every person within 10 miles Of the Hall, aud
their relations with Sir The. but could lind no
enc likely to be the murderer. T vissteh eyery
jail 10 England. had read that criminals when
about to be executed would often confess to
committing other crimes tnan those for which
an execution I went to the doomed man. I ex-
hor,ed him, c1t1eated him to confess that he
murdered Sir The. I would tell him If the aw-
fulness OF his situation, OF the myatery that
he was about to go before bus God. to tell the
truth. None knew anything about It, remember
one miserable wretch who had chopped his
grandmother to pieces for 20 shilllngs. as
ce1tained he was stepped IN crime, aud
supposed he might be the guilty man. talked
with him for tHo days, and begged bun it he
knew ANYTHING to tell it, but ELECTED nothing
concerning poor Sir The's DEATH l went 70
Australia among the transported criminals, aud
renamed ! year. using all my ingenuity to dis
cover something, bat failed there. I cana
home in despair. concluded tho mystery would
never be solved. Then ! was seized with new
idea-you know how pernons will grasp at any
thing to clear up amyste1y. l thonght OF sui
eide. Could it be possible that Sir The had killed
himself no, thai could not be; man could not
cut oil his own lead, aud conceal his body the
body, you Tenemoer, Was not fouud-no tracs Of
it had beon discovered. That theory waa absurd.
Had his wife killed him? No. 10, that was im-
possible; no woman ever loved m.n better,
wants killed him : l put myself IN the war OF
watching them. I observed every movement,
every look, every action. would tall to them
aoout Sir The. would tell them how noble,
how kind, how anectiouate aud Living master
ho had been and how cruel. inhuman, barbar-
ous, savage, ferocious, brutal, nnd bloody
minded must hare been the pe1aon vino
could take the life OF 80 amizbla mau. /
thought to mako the guilty one beseaY himself,
but il was not 30. Whenever I talked to them
about the unfortunate Sir The, they would cry
as if their hearts would break.
''Ihe murderer has heavy conscience and
though he may hide his secret IN his waking
hours, I have heard Of criminals who made
known the burden OF their guilty souls in sleep.
Ma,y night at midnight I hays gona to the
bling lips Of sleep thai might solve the mystery.
Once heard old Margaret the housekeeper, c:y
out iu mounful tone, Poor The! poor The !
Oh, the bloody head Oh. the bloody head!
1t sounded like requiem through the a1lent
and aeDs q violent shiver all over me. |
I knew she was innocent for she Ind nursed her ]
master when he was baby aud loved hsm ten
de1ly. l was satisfied tue servants Were guilt |
less. must start new theory. Did murder |
him myself? No, l certainly did not. had |
read Of somuambulsts who had committed |
strange freaks aud frightful deeds. Could It bs |
that L in eomuambullstic state, had gone to /
SIR 1'he's room, cut OF bis head aud concealed |
tho body? No, no. the thought was too horrible, |
It could not be; there would be soma evidence
Df it.
,t r |