Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1876-01-28

people 10 suppose he naQ uleQ naturally
in his sleep, hailed the guard with ev-
cry stimulation of trepidation, and stopped
the coach. The outside passengers got
down, and a scene hof, great excitement
occurred. At the next village, the local
doctor, who, as it happened, WIS a man of
no great skill, was sent for, and dexter
ously insinuating to him that had: known
my companion to have suffered from heart
disease of some years standing. with
many compliments to the professional
acumen Of the doctor himself, that worthy
was not long in pronouncing itga case of
sudden death from disease of. the heart;
and Twas suffered, in view of my repre-
sensations as toYthe urgency of my mis-
sion to Bristol, to proceed on my jour.
ney. This is the bare outline offny
crime; the'details would only weary. you,i
| and my time is short | succeeded in
leaving England and reach ing Brazil.
where / have amassed a fortune. Thatfor
tune is within the box which lies beneath
my hand.'' y 81 .I5ap8o aan88 4 IS
He paused, for violent spasm seized
him, and it was not for some time that /
could recover him sufficiently to enable
him to proceed. .@2a4
Raising himself IN bed with difficulty,
| he unlocked the box and disclosed an
array of unset diamonds whose .brilliancy
fairly dazzled me-
"Here are 100000 worth of diamonds"
proceeded Mr.. Grierson. $ have, con-
verified all my fortune into these gems, and
! these | intend to intrust to your care.
Take this box at once to your own cabin
and return to me for your instructions as
to the disposal of the contents. 5ns7 riads
| | hesitated, but he. was, imperative.
!" Not a word. / am dying fast and I
| implore you to accede to my last re
| quest" atha @f"ild "a as@l5t }fai
/ took the box, locked it and left the
| cabin. IS ers,fi 5ea .o4g - ,.l@f 4
40 l opened the door ran up against
Pete.
What the devil are you doing herep'
Nothing, nassau &la9 3igU BLOT
passed on along the main. deck to-
| ward my cabin forward, and on my way
met Capt, McFarlane.
| How is your patient, doctor ?'''A 'ast
Dying, fear. He cannot last long.p
Ipassed on, and depositing the box in a
place of safety returned. sGrierson was
rapidly sinking, and in a few broken sen
fences he instructed me as to the disposal
of his property. Ten thousand pounds
| was to go to the bankers, MessIs. Holt
81 Wardley, of Lombard street, and the
balance to the family of the murdered
| man, whose name was given me, and
whose representative / pledged my word
70 do my best to discover. 20 8i2ri e3fat
Finally, binding me over not to dis
close what had just been told, eXcept,to
the parties named by him in his dying re-
quest, Grierson .relapsed into state of
partial insensibility, from which / in vain
attempted to rouse him, and before half
an hour had elapsed the unhappy man was
no more. 80 -
Going on deck I communicated the
news to the Captain, who gave the neces4
sary directions as to the funeral, which
took place next day; and once more we
were blowing our way through the blue
water as though nothing had happened
/ was an altered man. The strange
commission with which / had been in
trusted weighed on my mind. Over and
over again in the stiffness of the night |
opened the box of diamonds and gaZed on
the brilliancy of the gems. What proof
was there that they were not mine; the
box with the GRASS plate bearing The own
er's name could be destroyed in a mo-
ment, and then Over and over again
the devil whispered to me, but, thank
God! [ resisted the temptation. Iwould
fulfill the trust cOnfided to me, and j
prayed tervently for strength to resist the
evil promptings of my baser self.
One day sat alone, the box unlocked
on my table, gazing with an irrepressible
curiosity, which | was unable to control,
ON the jewels which scintilated with a
devilish luster before my dazed vision.
The door suddenly opened and Capt. Nc
Farlane entered. '*t" ~#8t"gF
II beg your pardon, doctor didn't
know you were engaged But before |
caught the simmer of the brilliants.
''Halloo what's here?''
With firm hand he closed the lid and
read the name upon the plate. Innocent
as was, involuntarily stung by the re-
membrance of what my thoughts had been
| but a moment before, | quailed before his
| eye. A''Dfe =" A3A st"t
| 81 know all now-that man was poi.
soned-consider yourself my prisoner.
| | endeavored to explain. 4 told every
| thing as it had occurred, and l appealed
to the Captain to believe the story, or at
| least to await its reasonable confirmation
| before acting on. his rash conclusion. lie
| was incredulOus. One concession L OBJ
tanned and that was that all should bekept
secret till our arrival in port and thatiI
should not be publicly branded as a. sus-
pected murderer before the crew. sxa y
| A fortnight passed, weary, fortnight,
during which | repeatedly endeavored to
shake the conclusion at which Capt. Nc
Farlane had so hastily arrived. Sudden
ly, without a moments warning, the
Captain fell sick. q He was suffering from
low fever, begged him to accept my
service.
Never; you shall not poison me, too. ~
| DAYS passed, and the Captain got worse
and worse; he babbled in his ,delirium of
poison, of stolen jewels; and night and
day watched at his bedside, jealously
excluding everybody who might per
chance overhear his rawlings and rise up
in Judgment against me. gss S&4ett
One day the crisis came. A few hours
would determine ALL If he died | was
once more free man, free from the i'm
putation of foul crime, free to carry out
my honest intention of fulfilling the dead
mans wishes, but also free from the dread
of exposure, which 10 me would be worse,
as bare suspicion, than death ITSELF
IF the Captain could but sleep, his life
would be saved How easy to make that
| sleep his Iast-the devil was at my ell
bow, the laudanum bottle in my hand.
| Rut AT my sorest need the strength to re-
sist was given to me. / poured out the
proper dose, and advanced toward The cot,
| in which the Captain lay. A strangelight
was in his eyes. Rising suddenly, and
throwing the bed-clothes off his tall, lean,
sinewy form. he halfleaped from the bed,
and Selling the box of diamonds, which
he had throughout his illness never al
lowed from benz ,th his pillow, in one
hand, he shrieked
Never, neverl Will you allow me to
be poisoned like dog! Help some of