The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1878-07-03
A DAMNING BUTTON.
How IL Led 10 the Punishment of n
Crime.

Crime.
Jane Busy kept small huckster shop in
q narrow street in that part of Sheffield,
England, known as Hallamshire. In the
rear of the shop was kitchen, and stair
way led to the rooms above. The woman
\ lived alane, and was reputed to be rich,
'hough OF very miserly disposition. She
mad resided there five years, and, so reserved
and unsocial had she been, that no one had
ever been beyond the confines of the little
shop. Great, consequently. was the surprise
of James neighbors when they discovered
thai young couple had come to reside with
her, who called her aunt. These people
were about 25 years of age, and appeared to
be of the better class. Soon after their ar
rivsl new furniture was procured for the
house, and the place soon assumed a neat
and we'll kept air. The narrative which fol-
lows begins on January 6, 1884. On the
evening of that day, at about Z o'clock. Mrs.
Busy was seated in her little shop knitting,
when a stranger entered. He asked for a
button to match one be presented, and the
woman turned aside and handed down a
drawer containing buttons
Where is the button?' Mrs Busy asked.
at is here" the man replied, and laid a
large metal button on the counter, such as is
worn by coacnmen, and on 1t was a crest.
All the metal, except a small part OF the
edge. was stained and had lost its polish.
THE WOMAN AND THE BUTTON.
As the woman gazed at the button she
turned deadly pale and clutched the coun
ter, gasping for breath.
You are i'll, the man said, 'let me get
you drink of water"
Never mind" the woman answered. 81
am slbject to spasms, and this will soon pass
off / can't match this button"
II don't expect you to match it, except in
slZe," said the man.
II tell you / can't match it, the woman
answered almost angrily.
The man looked surprised and passed out
into the street. After he had gone a short
way be remembered that he had lefC the but
ton on the counter, and returned for it
When he entered the shop no one was there
There was light in the rear room, and he
heard voices within. He knocked once OF
twice with his knuckles on the counter, but
th're was no response. Then be went TO-
ward the glass door and looked into the rear
room.
The woman whom he had before seen and
younger woman and a man were standing
by side table,
PASSING THE BUTTON FROM HAND TO HAND,
and closely examining it, conyersing the
while in whispers. All OF them had hur
ried, frightened look. The stranger was puz-
Zled, ana afier q moments hesitation he
knocked at the door. There was shuffiine
of feet and the closing of a door, and the nexI
moment the woman came from the room in
to the shop.
Il left the button here" the stranger
said.
Ibid your the woman said, and pre-
tended to look around tor it. "0h, here it is, u
she at length said, pretending to find 1t and
handing it to him. He thanked her and re-
tired.
On the Goth of the same month, this man,
ToIa Al
Junior member of the firm of Briggs, Easton
d Wade, iron founders, of Matterhorn and
Sheffield, was requested to go down to
Thornbury, in Glocestershire, to superlnteud
the putting up iron rails and fences in the
park of a wealthy land owner. This was an
unusual thing for the firm to do, but the
order was lare, and some of the ratings were
of a massive character, and were to be fixed
after given model. Mr.. Wade went by
-cosch part of the way, aud by post chase
the remainder. His journey, however, has
nothing 10 do with this story beyond the
fact that it ended at Thornbury. Mr.. Wade,
on visiting Fobell court, the place whittier
his business called him, was not little sur
prised to find that on the livery of Mr.. Fo-
bells servant was
BUTTON PRECISELY SIMILAR
to that which the reader has already seen in
Mr. Wade's possession. He spoke of the cir
cumstance, and said that one of his children
picked up the button in the garden, but how
1t came there he could not say. The boy tied
string to the button and used ii for his top,
and younger son cried to have 1T. The
father took the button and tried TO get one
the same size, and that is how he came to
call on Mrs. Busy. Mr.. Fobell expressed
his surprise at the button finding its way so
far north, and the conversation grew until
Mr.. Wade referred to the fact that the but
ton was stained
1T was a fancy" he said-"a mere fancy
but used to think the stain looked like
blood"
For the second time Mr. Wade had wit
messed
STRANGE SCENE PRODUCED BY THE BUTToN
the first time by the sight of it, and the
second time by description of it.
Mr.. Fobell, at the mention of the stain and
its resemblance to blood, turned pale as
death and uttered an exclamation of agony.
"Great Godi' he exclaimed; a stain Of
blood2'
s'No, sir" Mr.. Wade replied, cit was only
my foolish fancy, and / regret that made
such a senseiess Re mark"
ALAS, you don't know what dresdful
circumstance your remark has called to
mind" Mr.. Fo6ell said, and then he related
the following narrowing narratives:
''On Christmas eve, 1929, my youngest son,
Charles F0bell, was murdered in his bed.
Owing to my frequent absences In the West
Indies, where own large estates, the boy
had been suffered to run wild, and he got
entangled with a girl IN the village. HeI
friends had driven him to promise to marry
her, and he was just about to do so when
reached home. easily induced him to re-
frain, and very soon managed by kind treat
> asnt to get him under control. The friends