The Portland daily press., 1885-12-19
"a flor nrenarinq for he'd" continued Ham

own room was dark, was annoyS2 ny a line
which was a bright beam Of the moon pierre
ing though smell knot hole about nall way
up the wooden partition between the two
roomS-ShOne across my room anu hasheo IN
the face of the looking glass on my dresslng-
turned ttt he fr ont of my bed. 1t was a
tritie, but it kept me awake TO become the
witness of a e-providentially,, perhaps.
What do you think? ?" demanded the nara
tor. suddenly pausing to put the question
Harcourt never replied by WORD OF look,
and his accuser continued his story.
81 heard my neighbor come up into his
room, lock his door, and move about, prepar-
ing to get into bed. / hoped that ne would
close his windows. He had two windows TO
that corner room; one south window, open
ing on the balcony in line with nine, and
one east window, opening on roof knew
that troublesome moonbeam came tnrougn
the open east window. the moon being In the
east. PRAY, excuse these detailsi they are
really necessary to the understanding OF the
case" said Hanson, interrupting himself to
cast glance at his wretched companion.
But Harcourt might have been dead for
any sign he gave. 80
II heard Yelyerton go to bed, and-with-
out closing any of his windows. After a
while heard him snoring, while still lay
awake tormented by the moonbeam as well
as by the snores. Are you listening, or are
YOU in trance?' inquired the speaker, sud-
II am listening" replied Harcourt, in
hollow voice that seemed to come from sub
terranean depths rather than from the mo
tionless man in the chair.
siVery well, then, / will go on. | lay
awake harassed by the SHORES and the moon
beam until heard some distant clock strike
two. A few minutes later the sound OF the
Then T thought if could stop up that knot
hole through which the moon shone might
90 to sleep. put out my hand and picked
up one of my socks from the floor and
thought would poke the toe OF 1t INTO that
troublesome hole. / stood up on my bed un-
til my face was opposite the hole. l looked
into the moonlit room and saw-but you
were there, You know what saw,
"Oh, Lord in heaven! Why was | eyer
born?'' walled Harcourt, startled out OF his
stiffness and wringing his hands above his
head ~, 49, s.o.,+h;,, o,,
must have entered! / never heard you, but l
saw you in the brilliant moon-llt room. gu
did not see me with my eye at the knot-hole,
fornay room was dark ;but saw you and saw
all that happened.
ssYou stood by his bedside. You took his
trowsers; you searched the pockets. and
your bosom. At that moment Yelverton
awoke, discovered you, seized pistol from
under his pillow and leveled it at your head.
You sprang upon him and threw up, his arm
before he could pull the trigger. Inere was
momentary struggle for the possession OF
the pistol, then an explosion. Yelverton fell
back shot dead" 49,,
"Oh, that it had been myselfl' walled the
youth. q.
have thought that to have been your sentl-
ment at the time, for / think | never saw an
instapcelof the instinct of Self-preservatloR so
instantaneous in asserting itself, or SO
promptly obeyed. One moment you gazed
-. @hay, yfQ In
locked it on the inside, leaving the key In it.
snatched up another key from the floor, bur-
ried to the open window on the roof and
closed it fast, darted to the open window on
the balcony, passed through lt and closed me tn
shutters, which fastenedby spring on the
inside, and could not be opened from the out
side Thus you made good your escape,
leaving the room locked and bolted from
tgithin, even while the reused house was hur-
rying along the hall towards the, spot from
heard. They tried the door. and finding 1t
locked on the inside, burst it open. They
found the man dead in his bed. they found
the windows fastened on the inside.
No one could have entered the room, they
said. Yelrert0n had shot himself. was their
verdict. He had attempted suicide once be-
fore, it was said. Every one was shocked,
but no one was much surprised. man
who led such a life as Yelverton might have
ended it 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 myself. But gave no sign.
'Why did you not?" breathed Harcourt, in
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 wus an accidentV
pleaded Harcourt.
san accident?-was it accident that you
stole to Yelyerton's room in the dead OF
night to rob him of his money!
mo, no; not to rob h1m--to get back my
own, or what was more sacred than my own
another mans money that had been In.
trusted to my keeping as clerk OF the hotel
moaned Harcourt.
"And that you staked at the table and lost
to Yelverton-"
"a blackleg-a sharper, who won by cheat
ii:g,'' broke in the youth, in a tone of desper-
alton, trying to Justify himself for endeayor-
ing to get the money back.
''Don't malign the Dead" sternly COM
manded Hanson.
Il do not wish to. but t1ld the piam
truth
''What business had you to be in the COM
pany of backleg and sharper, and of all
things, what right you had ito stake anothe
mans money!"
scent to HE'LL" groaned the miserable Grim
inal, tearing his hair.
eyes" assented Hanson, coldly; 'and in
your case it was not only descent; 1t was
plunge, a tumble, dive. You were half
way down before you realized that you had
started. But come you need not go head
long to the bottomless pit unless you choose
l am willing to admit that, from y0ur point
of view, the death of Ielvcrton may have
seemed an accident; but under the circum-
stances of your presence in the room, no jury
in this world would call it an accident The
law would call it murder
81 was trying to wrest the pistol away, to
prevent him from shooting me, when it went
off and killed him."
"And he was trying to prevent your escape
with his property, when the pistol went off,
shot and killed him. The law would call it
murder, my boy. But come! Do not despair.
defence though in self-defence while COM
hitting robbery. You did not mean to be-
come criminal. You did not voluntarily
descend into the dark abyss You made one
misstep and fell headlong.
But the verdict of the coroner'S jury was
that Nathan Yelverton came to his death by
a bullet shot into his brain froma pistol held
in his hand This verdict was literally
true. The pistol tcds in his hand when the
shot was fred" said Harcourt, speaking
with difficulty.
Eyes, the pistol was in his hand, but he
did not fire is. The pistol was in your hand,
also, for you had hold of trying to wrest 1t
from him. And between you, the weapon
was discharged, and Yelverton killed.
ut was an"
'.Now, don't say that again; it is stupid
and monotonous Pull yourself together,
man. and face the music. The coroner's jury
have found 1t suicide, and suicide 1t rests
Poor Yelverton's body has this day been CIV
en- up to his friends, and shipped to Wash
ingt0n to be buried there, with the stigma Of
suicide on his name. The curtain has fallen
on the last act of the tragedy. This settles
it-unlesS /, the hidden witness of the crime,
should come forward to give information
concluded Hanson, with penetrating gaze
into the gloomy face of his companion.
"Why did you not give this information
before the coroner's jury?" demanded Har-
court, in tone of despair.
'Why? Because, in the first place, ! never
was called as a witness; in the second place,
make it a rule of life neUer to give anything
for nothing; in the third place, | kept silence
that might sell it to you.'
ITO me?"
ITO you"
81 am too poor to offer you bride, Mr..
Hanson"
"And too rich to need bride of the sort
you must mean"
what, then, do you want?" asked the
terror-stricken clerk.
mot your money, even if you had it to Of
fer me. l wish you, in return formy silence,
to do something for me-
What is it?"
Hanson bent nearer to the dropping figure
before him, and peered into the death-like
face.
ST want Won he said ato do something