Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1877-06-20

coach, and IN few minutes was
corpse. Emptying the contents Of the
bottle out of window, and placing the
dead man in such an attitude as would
lead people to suppose he had died nat
urally, hailed the guard with every
stimulation of trepidition, and stopped
the coach. The outside passengers got
down, and scene of great excitement
occurred. At the next village, a local
doctor, who as it happened was man of
no great skill, was sent for, and dex-
trously insinuating to him | had known
my companion to have suffered from
heart disease for some years standing,
with many compliments to the profess
sional acumen of the doctor himself,
that worthy was not long in pronouncing
it a case of sudden death from disease
Of the heart; and I was suffered, in
view of my representations as to the
urgency of my mission to Bristol, to
proceed on my journey. [ succeeded in
leaving England and reaching Brazil,
where [ amassed a fortune. That fortune
is within the box which lies beneath my
hand"
He paused, for a violent spasm seized
him, and it was some time before | could
recover him sufficiently to enable him to
proceed
Raising himself in bed with difficulty,
he unlocked the box, and disclosed an ar
ray of unset diamonds, whose brilliancy
fairly dazzled me.
"Here are 100000 worth of dia-
monds," proceeded Mr.. Grierson. 81
have converted all my fortune into these
I ,,,+, ~,
your care. Take this box at once to
your cabin and return to me for your in
structions as to the disposal of the con-
tents"
I hesitated, but he was imperative
"Not word! [ am dying fast, and |
implore you to accede to my last re-
quest"
took the box, locked it, and left the
cabin.
AS I passed along the main deck
toward my own cabin forward, | met
Captain McFarlane.
How is your patient, doctor?"
"Dying, fear. He cannot last long"
I passed on, and, depositing the box in
a place of safety, returned. Grierson
was slowly sinking, and in few broken
sentences he instructed me as to the dis
posal of his property, of which 100000
was to go to the bankers, Holt & Wardly,
Of Lombard street, and the rest to the
family of the murdered man, whose
name was given me, and whose represent
ative pledged my word to do my best
to discover. Finally, binding me over
not to disclose what | had just been told,
except to the parties named by him in
his dying bequest, Grierson relapsed into
a 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. Going on
deck [ communicated the news to the
captain, who gave the necessary direc-
tions as to the funeral, which took place
next day; and once more we were plow-
ing our way through the blue water as if
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 and gazed on the
gems. What proof was there that they
were not mine; the box with its brass
plate bearing the owners name could be
destroyed IN a moment, and then!
Over and over again the evil one whisp-
cred to me, but, thank God, [ resisted the
temptation. [ would fulfill the trust
confded to me, and I prayed fervently
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 con-
troll, on the jewels which scintillated be-
fore my dazed vision. The door sud-
denly opened, and Captain McFarlane
entered.
II beg your pardon, doctor, didn't
know you were engaged" but before 1
could close the box or reply, his eve had
caught the simmer of the brilliants.
"HolIo! 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 moment before, [ quailed be-
fore his eye.
81 know all now-that man was
poisoned consider yourself my prisoner"
endeavored to explain. / told every
thing as it had occurred, and I appealed
to the captain to believe the story, or at
least to await its reasonable confirmation,
before acting on his rash conclusion. He
was incredulous. One concession [ OBJ
tanned, and that was, that all should be
kept secret till our arrival in port, and
that [ should not be publicly branded as
a suspected murderer before the crew.
A fortnight passed, weary fortnight
during which [ repeatedly endeavored to
shake the conclusion at which Captain
McFarlane had SO hastily arrived Sud
denly, without a moments warning, the
captain fell sick. He was suffering from
low fever. [ begged him to accept my
services.
"Never! You shall not poison me,
too"
Days passed, and the captain grew
worse; he babbled in his delirium of
poison, Of stolen jewels; and night and
day [ watched at his bedside, iealously
excluding everybody who might per-
chance overhear his rawlings and raise up
in judgment against me.
One day the crisis came. A few hours
would determine all IF ba diad T woo