Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-11-28
with my boot, and then drop 1t into the

with my boot, and then drop 1t into the
river. Will you take it?"
Seymour made some Intellectual pro-
He made up his mind, however, that
his possession of it should only be tem-
porary; the whole affair was absurd.
They began 70 play. Ernest had the
luck at first; but it o 10 turned. Sey-
mour won, and by midnight had more
than recouped himself. In another
hour he refused to play any more; he
calculated he had won over twenty
pounds.
"You won't go on?" asked Ernest.
"Then 1 must fulfill my duty. 1 am a
good loser, you see."
He handed over notes and gold
amounting to over f4O. The money
included several napoleons.
81 have not won all this" said Sey-
mour. "You have made a mistake"
"Oh, no; we We're playing for the
same stakes as last night"
81 did not understand that"
"But [ did, and as | lost it is for me
to decide. You taught me last even
ing to insist on paying nay losses"
Seymour protested; but Ernest in
sisted. Seymour resolved to lose it to
him again at the first opportunity.
Three o'clock struck as they parted.
Seymour crept quietly back to his room,
tired out, as he had had a hard day.
He determined to have a good nights
rest.
Ernest did not come down to break
fast next morning. Seymour waited
and at last told the waiter to go
and call him, as it was nearly eleven.
The man was some time in return
ing: Obtaining no answer to his knock,
he had opened the door to take in the
hot water which was standing outside.
On the bed he saw the Frenchman ly-
ing, his throat cut.
The waiter was a mar of sense. He
locked the door on the outside, put the
key in his pocket, and went to tell his
master what he had found.
Before a single person in the hotel
knew what had happened a detective
had the affair in his charge. The wait
err told Seymour that NJ. Dubois was in
bed and would be able to see no one.
Seymour vas obliged to go out to keep
a business appointment; when he re-
turned in the evening it was to find
that he was arrested on the charge of
numbering M. Dubois.
CHAPTER III.
After the first shock of surprise and
horror was over, Seymour began to
recognize his position. He sent for a
solicitor, with whom he was acquaint-
ed, and told him the whole story. Mr.
Fuller listened at%tentively. Fortunate
ly for Seymour's peace OF mind, he was
entirely convinced of his clients inno-
cence, though he did not hold out
many hopes Of being able to prove it
easily.
appearances are terribly against
you," he said. "You are known to
have been on intimate terms with Du-
bois. You are found to have his watch
and his money; there was absolutely
none found on him. Assuming that he
was killed for his money, it is to you
that suspicion must point
Seymour groaned.
81 was afraid sometimes that he had
something on his mind" he said. 81
see now why he gave me the watch and
made me win his money; he recognized
that I had been kind to him, and
wished that what he had of value
might benefit me-"
81 wish to goodness he had found
some other way Of doing it," said Mr..
Fuller. "I'm afraid a jury will not see
things in their real light. Does any one
know you played cards with him? Il
eo that would Lo1,> 10 oao-, Gov -o,,r
possession of the money, and we might
suppose that he committed suicide be
cause he lost so much to YOU"
Seymour was obliged to confess that
no one had entered the room on either
night hat they played. Worse than
that, it appeared that the waiter had
seen him returning from Ernest's room
on the night of his death, at three in
the morning. The room in which they
had played was a large one, with a bed
in the corner; the rest of the room was
furnished as a sitting-room.
Of course, every care was taken te
gather every particle of evidence in
Seymour's favor. The razor was Err
nest's-a small point, perhaps, but
worth nothing. Then there was nc
sign of a struggle. The natural answer
to that was that Ernest was asleep. Il
unfortunately happened that there was
not an atom OF circumstantial evidence
in the prisoners favor which could no
be met, while, on the other hand, were
some of the most convincing facts tina
ever sent a man to the scaffold.
Perhaps the points on which Sey
mour's lawyers chiefly depended wer'
his inexplicable conduct, supposing h
were the murderer, and the hope Of dis
covering who the dead man really was
1t was to the latter point that Mr.. Full
Ter bent his attention.
Seymour had lived in France a con
siderable time, and had numerou
t friends in Paris. Some of these wer
written to, and, as more than one hat
considerable influence in literary circles
paragraphs appeared in several jour
nails detailing the mysteryof the French
, mans death. Advertisements were ais
inserted which, it was hoped, woul
bring some result.
However. more than a week passed