, 1884-02-17

SA no was u Gil ~
III.
Joseph Washford had taken the first fatal
step. He had taken two-three-four steps;
and now from n hesitating, creeping, cat-like
mode of progression, he had got into a
frmer tread-an amble-a positive troll BE
took the family linen ITO the wash; - one OF
Mime. Witherspoon's best Holland chemIses
was never seen after.
ILosti-impossiblel How could it be LOST
where could it be gonef-who could have
got i'll 1t was her best-her very besti-she
should know it among a hundred-among a
t~housandl-it was marked with a great w in
the corner. Lostl-impossiblei She would
seer" Alasi she never did see. But Joseph
Washford's Sunday shirt was seen, finer and
fairer than ever.
Tho m~eetingf-ay, the meeting. Joe Wash
ford never missed the Appledore Independent
Westinghouse, whether the services were in
the morning or afternoon-whether the Rev.
Mr.. Slyandry exhorted or made way for the
Rev. Mr.. Tearbrain. Let who would Off
ciate, there was Joe. As have said before. no
never missed; but other people missed-one
missed an umbrella, one a pair of clogs.
Farmer johnson missed his tobacco-boI,
Farmer Jackson his great coat; Miss Jackson
missed her hymn book, a diamond edition,
bound In m-aroon-eolored velvet, with gilt
corners and clasps. Everything, In short,
was missed-but Joe Washford; there he sat,
grave, sedate and motionless, all save that
restless, troublesome, fdgety little pigtail
attached to his wig, which nothing could
keep quiet. or prevent from tickling or inter
fering with Miss T~hompson's curl, as she sat
back to back with Joe in the adjoining pew.
After the third Sunday, Nancy Thompson
eloped with the tall recruiting sergeant Of
the Connaught Rangers.
The gummR- DaSsad auvav Autumn came
and went, and Christmas, jolly Christmas,
was at hand. 1t was a fine, bracing morning,
the sun was just beginning to throw a
brighter tint upon the Quaker-colored ravine
of Orlestone hill, when q medical gentleman,
returning to the quiet little village of Ham
Street, that lies at its foot, from a farm
house at Kingsnorth, rode briskly down the
declivity, when suddenly his active cob
brought herself up in mid-career Upon her
launches, and stood stock still, s~norting like
a stranded grampus, and alike insensible to
the gentle hints afforded her by hand and
heel.
1t IN of no great use, and not particularly
agreeable, to sit still, on a cold, frosty morn
ing In January, upon the outside of a brute
that will neither go forward nor backward
70 Mr.. M~oneypenny got of, in order to dis
cover, IL possible, what it was that so at
tracted the attention of Bucephalus.
His curiosity was not long at fault; the
sunbeam glanced partially upon some object
ruddier even than itself-it was n scarlet
w~aistcoat, the wearer of which, overcome
p~erchance by Christmas potation, seemed to
have selected the thickest clump OF the
tallest and most imposing %nettles, whereon
TO doze away the narcotic effects of super
abundant juniper.
This, at least, was Mr.. M~oneypenny's be-
lief, or be would scarcely have uttered, at the
highest pitch of his contralto, "What are you
doing there, you drunken rascall~ frightening
my horsei Get up, l say-get up, and go
home. you ~scoundrell" But the "~scoundrelH
and drunken rascal" answered not; be
moved not, nor could tho prolonged shouting
of the appellant, aided by significant ex-
p~losions from a double thonged whip, sue
coed in e~liciting a reply. No motion indicated
that the recumbent figure, whose outline
alone was visible, was a living and breathing
man
"Come here, Jack" quoth the doctor to a
passing plow-boy-1come here boy; lay hold
Of this bride, aud mind that my horse does
not run away"
Peggy threw up her head and snorted dis.
dain Of the ~insinuation; she had not the
slightest intention of doing any such thing.
Mr.. Moneypenny meanwhile. disencum.
bered of his FESTIVE nag, proceeded, by manual
~ hae sAtSBSAs
Alasi his was hat "dreamless sleep thai
knows no waking" his cares in this world
were over. There lay before the doctor the
lfeless body of n murdered mani
The corpse lay stretched upon its back
partially concealed, as we have before said
by the nettles which had sprung up among
the stumps Of the half-grubbed underwood
the. throat was fearfully lacerated, and the
dark, deep, arterial dye of the c~oagulated
l. -l.1 Al-N
severed There was little to denote the e1,
istence Of any struggle; but as the day
frightened, the sandy soil of the road ex.
hibited an impression as Of a body that had
fallen on its plastic surface, and had been
dragged to its present position, while fresh
horseshoe prints seemed to intimate thai
either the assassin or his victim had been
mounted. The pockets of the deceased were
turned out and empty; a hat and heavy
loaded whip lay at no great distance from
the body.
"But what have we heref' qunth DR..
Moneypenny: what is it that the Door fellow
holds so tightly in his handf'
That hand had manifestly clutched some
article with all the spasmodic energy of q
dying grasp. 1T WAS An OLD wIGl
In an old fashioned courtroom a hale. 70
bust man., somewhat past middle age, with a
very bald pate, save where a continued tuft
Of coarse, wiry hair, stretching. from above
each ear, swelled out into a grayish-lookine
bush upon the occiput held up his hand before
a grave and enlightened assemblage of jury
men. He stood arraigned for that offense
most heinous in the sight Of God and man,
the deliberate and cold-bIooIed butcher vol
IN unoffending, uuprepared fellow creature.
The victim was one Humphrey Bourne, a
reputable ~grazier, worthy and well-to do,
though, p~erchance, a thought too apt to in.
dulge on a market day, when a score of ewes
had brought in a reasonable profit Some
such cause had detained him longer thar
usual at the cattle show; he had left, tho
town late and alone; early In the following
morning his horse was found standing at his
own stable door, the saddle turned round be
neath its belly, and much about the time
that the corpse OF its unfortunate master
was discovered some four miles Off by oul
friend, the doctor.
That poor Bourne had beer robbed and
murdered there could be no question.
Who, then, was tho perpetrator of the afro
cious deedf The unwilling hand almost re
fuses TO trace the name of|oseph Washford
Yet so It was. Mr.. jeremiah Jarvis was
himself the coroner for that division Of tn,
county of Kent He had not sat two minute.
on the body before he recognized his Quon
dam property, ana started on beholdfng III
the grasp Of the victim. as torn In the death
struggle from the murderers head, his owl
old wigi-his own perky little pigtail tied M
with a piece of shabby shalloon, now wrig
Cling and quivering, as in salutation OF it
ancient master. Tho silver buckles of the
murdered man were found in Joe wash
ford's shoes--broad pieces were found In 10,
Washford's pockets-Joe Washford had him
self been found, when the hue-and-cry was up