The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1879-04-18

/ was safe from interruption until eleven
O'Clock, and perhaps later.
| He now began to work in earnest.
/ He filled the tank with water. and then
tested his wires over and over again.
/ Everything was in splendid working or
/ der. He calculated that he could en-
/ bed his rival in ice about midnight, and
( then turn on the hot water In the
morning there would be no trace left of
the freezing. He rubbed his hands with
delight, and then poured in the chemical
/ proportions, wherein lay the secret of
discovery. Having done this he went
back to his room and laid the two con-
Meeting wires of his apparatus side by
/ side upon the instrument. It was now
nine O'Clock. He turned the gas up to
full blaze to disperse the shadows, took
an easy chair, and determined to read
until Deans return. The silence of the
! house became unbearable, and the sui
/ triness of the apartment more and more
| oppressive. His excitement began to
| tell upon him, and he was no longer
cool. The man who is about to kill suf-
I feTs more pangS than he who knows he
is about to die. Croftly paced up and
down the apartment, and then a strange
fascination drew him toward the bath
He entered the room again and stood
/ gazing into the motiOnless water in the
tank, and then murmured to himself
-Four hundred and eighty cubic feet,
! 500 omes.'
There was gas jet above the tank,
and it's faint glow was reflected in the
water. The water looked cool and re-
! freShing. There was yet more than an
/ hour. CrOftly turned the catch of the
door from force of habit, and throwing
/ off his clothes plunged in 1t was so
agreeable that he began to reflect in his
mind whether he would not continue to
enjoy the bath and postpone the murder.
Suddenly the hall door was slammed.
and he heard the voice of Miss Arm
strong talking to her father. The pair
had indeed returned, having left the the
ater because they did not care to be bored
with Mrs. Bowers hackneyed rendering
of Queen Elizabeth. Passing along the
hall. they saw the Professors s door open.
and the gas in full blast. Armstrong
hated to see anything go to waste. and
told his daughter to go in and lower the
gas, as the room was unoccupied. Miss
Armstrong went in as directed, and her
. father passed up stairs. While alone
/ 2 Ia ,i,.T
to pull little note from her bosom and
read it again. She had received it that
morning and had already perused it about
twenty times. It read
! DEAR ALICE: VIII you he my wife?
Yours, EDWARD DEAN.
/ Dean was young man, who, when he
had any thing to say, said it at once. and
stopped on reaching the point
She pOred over the letter about five
minutes, and then, returning it to it:
place looked about her. Her eye pres
emily fell on the instrument connected
with CrOftley's battery. She took up one
of the wires, and was about to lay it on the
other and see if there would be shock
when her courage failed her. and sht
dropped it across its mate A spark
flashed out which startled her. She
drew back, lowered the gas, and went t
bed.
At the instant the wires were connect
ed, CToftley was in the centre of the bath
4 shock and terrible chill passed through
his frame, and he felt cloud of yapo
rising from the surface of the water an,
sweeping into his face Myriads o
speaT-like crystals shot out from the edg
of the tank and converged toward hin
like so many shafts of death He real
lied his situation and dashed to reacI
the steps as he did so, he threw himsel
against the Jagged edges of sheet of ic
half an inch thick.
There was a frightful cash in his side
from which blood was streaming. H
struggled madly amid the ice, and ever
throe brought fresh wounds. His limb
moved no longer in the water; they wer
enveloped in slush. The ice close
about him like vice. He was dead.
After the evaporation of the chemi
Gals the electricity no longer had any et
feet, and the heat of the room began t
tell upon the ice. ThemaSs melted am
by four O'Clock in the morning TIN
corpse of Croftley was floating upon tn
surface of the bath, He was not misse,
until nine O'Clock in the morning, whel
Dean burst open the door and found hin
as described.
The rest is known. The jury gave
verdict of suicide, and Miss ArmstTon;
and Edward Dean were married on tn
22d of the same month.-San FrdnciSc
ArqORdld.
H.. A..--..-- Il.