The New Bloomfield, Pa. times. (New Bloomfield, Pa.) 1877-188?, 1880-11-30
MURDER WILL OUT.
CONCLUDED.

worse tnan tnat, answered Green.
he had lifted the head into his hands.
" His neck was no doubt broken 10y the
fall, but he was dead before he fell.
See.''
With thrill of horror l observed
what be pointed out, "a bullet-hole in
the back part of the head near the base
of the skull There was no hemorrhage,
but everything appeared to have con-
gealed as 1t was, at the moment of the
death blow.
Warwick's gun lay within few feet
of his body, lying carelessly and natur-
ally across the stones, as il might have
fallen with him. / took it up and tried
the rammer in the barrel. The gun
was loaded, capped, and the hammer
down.
"There are not many guns on the
island" said Tom in tone and manner
as If the words had slipped from his
tongue involuntarily. Evidently the
same dreadful supposition was in both
our minds, and the last words spoken
by Preston the night before came up
anew in my memory,
But no; it was not possible that my
tried and trusty friend could have played
the part of an assassin.
Its plain enough what we are both
thinking upon, Tom" said I. "But if
David Preston did this deed, it was
done either accidentally or in self
defence.
Yes, selfdefence is the word" said
Green. "That's the explanation. They
must have met, quarreled, and drawn a
bead on each other, and Preston got
ahead of him, or more likely Warwick
missed fire."
raised the hammer, but the cap was
perfect, unbroken. 1 showed it to my
companion, but neither of us ventured
to say more, whatever may have been
our thoughts.
There was a dark mystery about the
affair that we could not clear up, but
meanwhile our duty was sufficiently
plain before us.
We took the shortest cut inland to-
ward the village, if it may be so called,
but found only the cooks at home, the
men for the most part being far away at
their work. But a party of half a
dozen, who were rolling up casks along
the banks of the pond, were soon made
to notice our frantic signals, and, with
fresh re endorsements, we retraced our
steps to the west beach, with couple of
poles and piece of canvas. A stretcher
had been hastily improvised, and the
body of the unfortunate Warwick was
tenderly borne by stout arms to his own
shanty, and upon the floor.
Meanwhile the sad news had spread
to others down on the Point, an old flag
which Comstock had brought on shore
with him had been hoisted upon the
staff at halfmast, this being understood
as an urgent signal of recall, indicating
some great emergency. 1t was not long
before eagerly excited men were to
be seen coming toward home from
various points, and before noon the
whole population, forty-four in number,
had congregated in and about the house
Of death, and were ready to inaugurate
kind of rude court of inquiry. Each
had studied intently the face of his
neighbor, but few words had been ex-
changed upon the subject. OF course
our own men recalled the words spoken
by their officer, as he went out the night
before with the loaded gun on his
shoulder, but none of us wished to be-
lieve him guilty of foul murder. Preston
himself was one of the last to arrive,
having Travelled several miles, but was
cool and collected, though rather out of
breath from his hurry. When I told
him the cause of the excitement, looking
him square in the eye, 1 could detect no
sign of guilt.
" ] hope you know nothing about this
dreadful business" said suggestively.
"Not 1, he answered. "Good God
you can't think there's any man on the
beach wicked enough to have murdered
him Intentionally +? 1t must have been
an accident of some kind"
s But you may remember" /" said 1, in
low tone, "that you used a sort of half
threat in relation to Warwick, as you
were leaving the shanty last night, and
that many present overheard it,"
He glanced at the faces of his own
men who were grouped together. 1t
was evident that they remembered it,
and it was now brought more forcibly to
his own mind.
Atkins, now the commander of the
BeHORG's party, was on this occasion