The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1876-01-14
TIE MUTE WITNESS.

ary, Byrd Du Peyster a detective re-
ccived the intelligence of a fearful
deed Of crime which had been com
mitted during the siloAt hours OF the
night just departe /. The account OF
the deed was read by boarder while
the detective quietly slipped his coffee,
and the man rem l"l<t as he put the
parer on the chair beside him:
There's another entry for the book
of mysteries. am Wiling to bet one
hundred dollars that the provcrbial
acumcn of our best detectives will fail
to discover the perretrator of the
crime on Cherry street. Gentlemen
and here the speaker fixei his eyes on
Du Peyster, gentlemen, just think Of
it, A vill;ii enters the abo lie of a
Ioor sewing woman, whose only child
is a mute, five years JII. He comes to
do bloody deed, and his stru.gl
with the widow evidently frightens the
child, who runs away, and is found in
the attic among lot OF rags. The
murder committed, the man takes
his departure. The willows meagre
savings are untouched, her bureau
and stands unriie1. Nothing has
been taken save life. That man, who
ever he is, laughs ut the detecti Jes,
and dares them to hunt him down
and tell why he took the life Of a poor
sewing woman. I declare, gentle
r1en, that murder i'll this case will not
out"
The mans words, directed at Du
Peyster, did not elicit sentence in
reply. The detective continue to siD
his coffee with an air that sc,m Il to
say to the man, You cant make me
deliver an opinion"
The other bcarlers, more communi-
cative than the man hunter. discussed
the case until general conclusion
was reached, to wit: That the muir
derer of the nec1le- woman would for
ever remain un lis covered. The first
speaker felt prou1 Of the conclusion
reached, and passed the cigars around
before the company left the table
Il would uygest that we watch the
developments i'll this case" he said to
the company at large. 1T will sun ,e
to amu.e our curiosity, as we'll as to
stimulate research into the mystic
rious."
Byrd Du Peyster walked from the
dining-room to his little chamber on
the second floor, where he picked uc
hat and cane and Immediately left the
house.
lie walked straight % the unpre-
tentious frame br r'ldiny on Cherry
street, wherein tEe murder of the
night before had been committed. He
found a swarm of the denizens of that
quarter in front of the house, but two
policemen stationed at the door kept
them from rushing up stairs to the
scene Of the tragedy.
The detective, after pushing his way
through the crowd, easily obtained
edmittance, and entered the death
chamber, where he found a surgeon,
two police captains, and Il newsl aper
reporter The surgeon was examin-
ing the victims wounl, which con-
sisted Of a knife thrust in the left
breast. 7 lie keen steel hal penetra-
ted the left ventricle Of the heart, rem
dering death instantaneous. But
there were evidences of q struggle in
the room A chair which had seem
ingly been thrown backward was
broken, and ieces Of woman'S work
lay about the room.
Mrs. Nolan, the victim, was a wo-
man about ive-and-thirty years of
age. Her husband had been dead
near six years, and her mute son, Hen
ry, was posthumous child. She
was woman against whose fair name
nothing had over been alleged, and
she piled the needle industriouSly
night and day that her little family
should not want for the blessings that
she, despite her poverty, enjoyed.
Her unfortunate son was the love of her
life, and all Of her n,otherly affection
was centered upon him. A mute from
his birth, Mrs. Nolan could not expect
to hear him speak her name, and the
neighbors sail that she lonSei for the
time when he might so to the proper
school and learn to write, that they
might converse together.
Byrd Du Peyster, the detective exam
ined the apartment without obtaining
any clew to the murder, and the evi-
dence OF the ieniZens OF the neighbor-
hood did not eulighten him to II salts
factory degree 4 man was seen to enter
Mrs. Nolan's houae about eleven
O'Clock on the night OF the crime. The
witness to this was II man named
John Starry, Who dill not bear very
good reputation for veracity, and his
word did not go far With the detective
No one knew of any enemies that the
willow rpsscss".i Willie the circur
stances Of tho crime clearly PRED
that booty was not the mufJcrer's OBJ
jact.
For perhaps the first time in his dc
tective life, the little Huguenot was
completely at fault. lie returned to
his room, and, with a cigar between
his teeth, threw himself upon couch.
There hr comic ectu ID, and built theo-
ries, which he destroyed, till he lit a