The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1880-04-02


room. and the man followed her.
The dead woman pointed to the table
where the pen and ink were, and
the man obeyed her gesture mechanic
ally.
"Write allr'
I could see from . rent in the valance
the whole scene. The man, white with
terror, the beads of cold perspiration on
his brow, sat and wrote.
The apparition glided behind him and
looked over his shoulder.
Once he paused in his task.
write ALL" said the white figure.
And again the man wrote.
The figure then grasped the paper
with its waxen fingers. "Gor' it said,
pointing to the inner room.
With his eyes fixed upon its livid face,
the man backed slowly for some PAGES.
With q violent effort and little scream,
he seized the door, swung it to, and
bolted it on the inside.
Then, for the first time, the dead
woman trembled.
She seemed strangely nervous and
agitated now. She clasped the paper
closely, then put it in 6er bosom. and
glided from the room.
had got over the sudden terror in
spired by such strange sight. and
had made up my mind that I had de-
tected some terrible imposture. There
was slight pause in the lobby, and
the noise of q garment being drawn
off; then the outer door opened and
the visitant passed out on to the stair
case.
1 followed as quietly as I could. The
staircase was lighted with gas. As 1
trod on the second landing the ghost
heard the noise and looked up. She
was dressed in an ordinary black cos
tune now, and her face was a natural
color. To my intense surprise she
neither screamed nor attempted to run
away. She stood still, and beckoned
me to her side.
"What are you going to do?" she
said.
ITO give you into custody"
care you a friend of his?''
1 answered eyes," mechanically.
"Then let me 60 free if you value his
life.''
"H I let you 60 am your accom-
plice," 1 murmured; ':your accomplish
in some vile imposture."
"No. If you are my accomplish to-
night, you are an accomplish in the
hottest deed q woman ever wrought.
Pass me through the gates if you doubt
me; watch me; follow me home; give
me into custodyif you like; I don't care,
I've got what I wanted"
I took her arm as though 1 had been
a policeman, and said: "Pass through
the gate, then, and if you attempt to
get away from me I shall call for
help"
She nodded to the proposition. The
man at the gate was half asleep. Iroused
him, and from his box he pulled the
cord and let.us pass through the wicket
door into the strand.
l then listened to the strangest story
that ever mortal lips had uttered, and
there was no doubt that every word of
it was true.
The confession which the trembling
wretch had written at her dictation as
he believed at the dictation of his dead
wife-I had read. 1t was plain state
ment of how he had poisoned the poor
girl whom he had welded in fit of
mad jealousy, and how he had concealed
his crime; how at the last moment he
had overheard whisper that some one
suspected foul play; and how, fearing
the body might be exhumed, he had,
with the assistance of an accomplice,
since dead, stolen the body that night
and re-buried it in the garden of house
in a lonely part of the American town
where this accomplice lived.
This woman was his wife's sister, and
she had suspected foul play from the
first. She was an actress, and was
away on provincial tour when Blissett
Emerton wooed and won Drusilla and
took her abroad with him. Emerton
had never seen this sister. The mar
rage had been secret and hurried, and
he had seemed strangely anxious to
leave the country. They were to be
back in five months.
Drusilla-poor trusting fool!-idol-
lied the man and obeyed him. To her
he was knight without reproach.
But soon his conduct to her altered
and she began to suspect that
all was not right. He grew cold and
cruel, and she was miserable and I'M
happy.
She wrote secretly to her sister, told
her troubles and how quickly her hus-
bands conduct had altered. The sister
urged her to leave him and come home.
She was expecting her to do 50 when
here came the news of her illness and
death, and then of the mysterious disap-
pearance of the body. From that mo-
ment Drusilla Emerton's sister made up
her mind to fathom the mystery and
bring the guilt home to the murderer.
She refused to accept the explanation of
her sisters death. She believed Blissett
to be quite capable of carrying