The Red Cloud chief., 1882-08-25

80 VI tSlOflAiUtfttt III WDifu
don't believe. and ! viii take pleasur
IN . conflict with you on these point
next week. And now. do you know IL
confounded cold? ! am half inclined .,
drive you away, old friend; can you de
duce anything mathematical or psyche
logical from thatf'
BOTH" said Crane. 1.-TWO straigh
lines intersect in only M point Fi.,
minutes might make a man too late To-
the inevitable. / certainly ought not {.
be too early for my fate" And will
these laughing words on his lips he, in
deed. went straight 10 his fate.
Crossing the little park which seemes
doubiy desolate from night and storm
Is though 10 balance its summer beauty
there was . sudden cry q little ahead
"A quarter minute two men seemed en-
gagged in a terrible struggle. but befor,
he could reach them one had rushec
away among the trees. and the othcl
lac fallen to the earth. Cranes frs
impulse was 10 follow the runaway; hi,
second. and the one he acted upon. wa
"a assist the other. Crane had studies
medicine before his Esther had prevailed
upon him Ia be . banker. so a TO per
Petuate the business in which the famil,
had grown rich for three generations
1t scarcely needed more than IN,
glimpse he could get of the wounded
mans face in the darkness and Tn.
sound Of his failing vo;ce TO prove u
him that all that the poor fellow had Il
say must be said at once The knife il
the other mans hand had done its work
only too well.
"How long will I live?' said thu
stranger, In a wonderfully calm ant
even voice. There was perfect SINGER.
ity in the tones he used; he evidentl,
felt that "Will / live?'' would have
been a wasted question.
Crane answered with equal frankness
"NOt five m~inutes!"
Are you rich7" in . weaker tone.
Eyes"
"CharitableT"
Thomas Crane felt q doubt, but he
said Yes again.
"Wil you give a stranger-a dying
stranger year Of your timer"
vii ! give began Crane.
LISTEN" with sudden energy. 81
hadn't an enemy i'm the world. / am
dying by the hand of a murderer. viii
you give one year to find the nan who
is responsible for this? And will you
make it cost him his lifc?'
Crane hcsitated, but looked into the
eyes turned towards his face and said
"Yes'' again.
"Swcar it?"
A longer pause, and then Crane said
solemnly: II do swear itr'
A wilder blast swept across the park.
and when il had past, Crane was look
ing down on the dead face of the man
whose path had crossed his that fearful
night, and 10 whom he had pledged n
year OF his life.
ii.
Thomas Crane testified ut the inquest
to the conflict be had seen. and to be-
ing with the man at his death. To his
father and to Harry Fenton only did he
tell Of the fearful oath he had taken in
the tempest Of hat January night.
Both grievcd that he had taken il, but
neither said one word 10 induce him to
break il.
MY legal knowledge is at your COM
mand," said Harry Fenton.
My fortune is at your command"
said his father.
Long before noon the dead mans
relatives had come to claim him -his
widowed mother and his sister; but they
had nothing TO tell which would throw
any light on the murder. Charlie Jack
son had spoken the truth when he said
he had not an enemy in the world. He
had no great amount Of money. 1t was
a most terrible mystery.
The next day Thomas Crane began
his search. Search around the scene of
the murder was rewarded by finding the
knife with which the deed was done.
The police had failed To find il. Crane
found it himself.
Days followed in which he carefully
the stock of cutlery in one
store after another in his search for
knives like it, He found its mate at last
i'm q little variety store far out in the
suburbs, the only u like it which he
had seen for sale in the whole city. He
bought it. treated the man who sold it
to q glass of beer, praised the little child
who came into the store from the dwell
ing behind it. and SO won upon the man
he learned where the other two
knives from the quarter dozen he had
had, had gone when sold.
He took the likelicst case first
A fellow who had been indicted for
manslaughter once, and who was popu-
larly believed 10 have escaped by false
swearing. was followed first Whatever
he had been doing. he was evidently
covering up his tracks. But when
found at last. late in March. a thousand
miles away from where Crane had COM
Ia follow Inn. he was sitting in
4 bar-room whiting a shingle with the
If the knife which had killed
Jackson. and two months of hard work
had come Ia nothing. Crane was dis.
not disheartened.
The next day he was on his way back
20 begin again.
The other man was m express mes
An honest, Woodworking, !
straight forward man. Ii seemed al
most a mockcry to follow him. Crane
.ook another step forward in regard to
he knives themselves before he began. !
He went tn Tie manufacturers. and from
HUH W TUG "Ipit>tic uSdttiS. tciAillx q
hem just enough of his purpose to Sc
,urc their aid. and traced the knives
rom the place where they were made.
In towns not far away knives like
hese had been bought and sold again.
,ut only the three he had already known
# had ever been sent to the city in
which the murder took place.
There was nothing left to do but to
ollow the express messenger. Crane
,egan his work. He had seen the man
or twice. and 50 knew him by
light. He found him one morning in
his neat yard at home. He was cutting
from the trees next the walk; and.
o Cranes disappointment, the knife he
lsed ara not The mate of the one which
lad killed young jackson. |
Thomas Crane went that afternoon to
the Jackson's. They had known
or some time that he was following up
he case. and he had been to see them
everal times. He told them what he
lad done. and what he had found out:
'at be did not tell them vet rhy he was
Glowing the murderer. II was begin
ing to be . ghastly piece of business
a his estimation, yet he scarcely dared