National Republican., 1885-12-19

hOilbN NblNt lllNl bttiUtu W NOUlt lTOIl buu-
terranean depths rather than from the mo-
tionless man in the chair
"Nery well, then, / will go on. | lay
awake, harassedby the snores and the moon
beam until J card some distant clock strike
2. A few minutes later the sound Of the
snoring began to subsidc and finally ceased.
Then | thoughtif | could stop up that knot
hole through which the moon shone might
go TO sleep. put out my hand and picked
up one of my socks from the floor and
thought would poke the toe Of II into that
troublesome hole. ! stood up on my bed
until my face was opposite the hole. |
looked into the moonlit room aud saw-but
you were there You know what saw ~
"Oh, Lord in heavcnl Why was ever
borni" walled Harcouft startled out OF his
stiffness, and wringing bis hands above his
head.
"You were there. oh, how stealthily you
must have entered never heard you, but
! saw you In the brilliant moonlit room.
You did not see me with my eye ut the knot
hole, for my room was dark but ! saw you
and saw all that happened.
"YOu stood by his bedside. You took his
trousers; you searched his pockets and
drew from them packet aud placed 1t In
your bosom. At that moment Yelverton
awoke, discovered you, seized pistol from
under his pillow and leveed II at your head
You sprang upon him and threw up his arm
before he could pull the trigger. There was
n momentary struggle for the possession OF
the pistol, then an explosion. Ielvert0n
fell back, shot dead"
"Oh, that it had been myself" walled the
youth.
'Indeed ~ sneered Hanson, 81 shouldn't
have thought that to have been your sen
tlment at the time, for think never saw
an instance Of the instinct Of self-prcserva-
tion so instantaneous In asserting itself, or
so promptly obeycd. One moment you
gaZed upon your victim, then darted TO the
door, locked II on the inside, leaving the
key in IT, snatched up another key from the
floor hurried TO the open window on the
roof and closed II fast, darted to the open
window on the balcony, passed through 1t
and closed the shutters, which fastened by
a spring on the inside, and could not be
opened from the outside. Thus you made
good your escape, leaving the room locked
and bolted from within, even while the
reused house was hurrying along the hall
toward the spot from which the report of
the pistol had been heard. They tried the
door, and finding II locked on the inside
burst IL open. They found the man dead
IN his bed. They found the windows fas-
tened on the inside. No one could have
entered the room, they said. Ielyerton
had shot himself was their verdict. He had
attempted suicide once before, 1t was said.
Every one was shocked, but no one was much
surprised. A man who led such life as
Yelverton might have ended II by his own
hand at any time these ten years past. Such
was public opinion. Only one man knew
the facts Of the case. That man was my
self. But gave no sign"
"Why did you not 2" breathed Harcourt,
| ina hollow tone.
'Because the secret was too valuable to
be thrown away"
"But as you saw all that occurred, you
must have seen that it was an accident ~
| pleaded llarcourt.
"An accident was It accident that you
stole to Yelverton's room In the dead OF
night to rob him OF his moneyW
mo, no; not TO rob him-to get back my
| own, or what was more sacred than my
own-another mans money that had been
intrusted to my keeping as clerk OF the
hoter'-moaned Harcourt,
"And that you staked at the table and
lost to Yelvertonn-
"a blackleg-a sharper, who won by
cheating,n broke In the youth, In tone OF
desperation, trying to Justify himself for
endeavoring to get the money back.
Don't malign the dead" sternly com
manded Hanson.
~ do not wish to, but / told the plain
truth.n
"What business had you to he In the
| u
Of oil things, what right had you to stake
another mans money!
"None none Oh, God Easy is the
descent to hell,'" groaned the miserable
criminal tearing his hair.
"Yes,n assented Hanson, ooldly; 'and
in your case IT was not only descent; I,
was plunge, tumble, n dive. You were
half way down before you realized that you
had started. But come you need not &c
headlong to the bottomless pit, unless you
choose. | am willing to admit that. from
your point Of view, the death of Yelvertor
may have seemed an accident; but undei
the circumstances Of your presence in the
room, no jury In this world would call 1t al
accident. The law would call 1t a murder"
81 was trying to wrest the pistol away
to prevent him from shooting me, when 4
went off and killed him."
"And he was trying to prevent your es
cape with his property, when the pisto
went of, shot and killed him, The law
would call 1t murder. my boy. But come
Do not despair. You acted, one might al
most say, in self-defense- though In self
defense while committing robbery. You
did not mean to become criminal. You
did not voluntarily descend into the darl
abyss. You made one misstcp and fel
headlong."
But the verdict of the coroner's jury wa
that Nathan Yelyerton came to his dealt
by bullet shot into his brain from pisto
held In his hand This verdict was literall
true. The pistol was in his hand when til
shot was fred,n said lIarcourt, speakin!
with difficulty.
"Yes, the pistol was In his hand, but Ii
did not fire 1t. The pistol was In you
hand, also, for you had hold of 1t trying :
wrest II from him. And Uetween you, til
weapon was discharged, and Yelverto
killed.
at was an
Snow don't say that again; 1t is stupi,
and monotonous Pull yourself together
man, and face the music. The coroner
jury have found 1t suicide, and suicide
rests. Poor Yelverton's body has this da
been given up to his friends, and shipped I
Washington to be buried there, with tn
stigma of suicide on his name. The curtai
has fallen on the last act OF the tragedy
This settles it-unless |. the hidden witnes
Of the crime, should come forward to Civ
information" concluded Hanson, with
penetrating gaze into the gloomy face of hi
companion.
"Why did you not give this informatlo
|, before the coroncr's jury|' demanded lia
, court In a tone Of despair.
"WhyP Because, In the fist place,
!. never was called as witness; In the secon
: place, make II a rule of life never 10 gly
anything for nothing; IN the third place,
kept silence that might sell it to YOU"
'''To me?r
I "To YOU"
: 81 am too poor to offer you bribe, NJ
IIanson.n
"And | too rich to need bribe of IL
| sort you must mean"
, "What, then, do you want ~ asked IL
' terror-stricken clerk.
. "Not your money even II you had II
! offer me. wish you, in return for IN
I silence, to do something for me.h
"What is 1t ~
q Hanson bent nearer to the droopin
a figure before him, and peered into Il
death-like face.
h 81 want you,n he said, "to do somethir
| tI,at ,,,,n la tr,t