Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1878-12-26
the CRACKED TuMBlER.
From Temple Bar.
CONCLUDED PROM LAST WEEK.


From Temple Bar.
CONCLUDED FROM LAST WEEK.
CHAPTER III.
DR.. Fletcher returned to Dighton
clear upon one point. There was
poison in the gin and-wster-poison
of a description unknown except to
the scientific few-poison which was
not kept for sale (even under the safe
guards which the law enacts) at any
ordinar J druggist's-and enough OF it
to kill two strong men was found,
beyond peradventnre, in that two
tablespoonfuls OF liquor. But this by
no means undid the puzzle. One who
knew enough to procure that fatal
agent would know better than to
employ such quantity of it. Why,
If the tumbler had been originally only
half full, there was death enough to
destroy the whole household in it |!
Then the disappearance OF the tum-
bier. That completely upset Mrs.
Markby's theory. Surprising that the
Colonel had taken the tumbler out of
the first Mrs. Lockwood's room: and
secreted the must have done so to
conceal something, and its reappea,
ance with poison in it by his side was
terribly suggestive of what had to be
hidden. For nearly tour years he had
not left his room. He must, therefore,
have had that poison by him. Where 2
In the same hiding place which con-
cesled the cracked tumbler? Proba
bly,, as both came out together. The
first Mrs. Lockwood had snpplanted
his daughters stood in her way, and
had no use tor the life which practi.
cally made ST., John a widower, but
was bar to his marrying again The
Colonel was just the sort of man to
think it no crime to put human
being out OF pain, particularly a hui
man being whose existence in pain
kept him in poverty. Here. then,
was motive. When he was driven TO
take his own life, he used the agents
he had already employed to take the
life of another. So far the differences
vera of the strongest, the motive
sufficient, and the means at hand.
But the moment that the cracked
tumbler disappears the second time,
the whole chain falls link from link.
These facts, far from inculpating the
Colonel, face round and acquit him.
The backbone Of Mrs. Markby's theo-
ry was that he had possession of the
tumbler. All the other facts radiate
from that and have no force without
it. Now it appears that some one
else had an interest IN hiding that
tumbler, and why should not the hand
which spirited it away after the
Colonel's death have been the same
one that used it for Mrs: Lockwood's
death fourteen years ago?
Was there really any connection
between the two deaths9 Dr.. Fletch.
er tried hard to persuade himself that
there was not. He tried hard to
persuade Mrs. Markby that she could
not be positive about that tumbler
1t was absurd to suppose that she
could recognize it after a lapse Of
fourteen years, simply because of a
crack in the rim. But the housekeep
err was not to be moved. She would
take thousand oaths on it. To sat
,sfy the Doctor she had the house
rummaged from top to bottom on
the prelense Of general cleaning up
and no similar glass was found Dr.
Fletcher tried every shop at Dighton
and Salincham, but conld not match
1t. That pattern had gone out long
ago.
Granted that there was no coDnec-
ton between the two deaths. be was
faced by the terrible certainty that
noU, at any rate, there was poisoner
In the house. As long as his first i'm
preston about the Colonel lasted, he
could honestly follow the course he
had laid down for hinself-persuade
Mrs. Markby to secrecy, and hold his
tongue. Bot now ?-any day third
victim might fall. In whom should
be confide-whom should be warn
The probability that all the poison
had been used gave him a momentary
sense of ease /; but reflection showed
that it would not be safe TO rely upon.
So very little would suffice. What
was to come of his warning ifhe gave
it? Erhume the first Mrs Lockwood
Useless! II she had been killed by
the poison found near the Colonel, no
trace of it would be discovered by the
minutest analysis. 1t operates by
gradually suppressing the action of
the heart, and leaves no sign, even il
search he made, within q few hours
after death. could tell you it's name
bat do not deem it prudent to do so.
The more DR.. Fletcher read and
learned about it, the more he thought
of the appearance presented by tho
two dead bodies, the irmer grew the
conviction that there was q connec-
ton between the deaths.
This being SO, the poisoner had been
in the house for fourteen years-in the
house. because both potions had been
administered or left to be taken at
night, when no strangers were there.
Who, then, Was present at the time of
both deaths? Mr.. and Mrs. Lock
@.