Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1885-12-18
THE MURDER.

6=o-V7 e.
THE MURDER.
And then one hand clutching the back of
chair for support, he watched his victim;
waite ed him with staring eyes AMI half.
parted lips, and with his guilty heart
humping at his ribs, as if it would pound
its way through them; he pressed his left
hand over it as if to holl it back, while his
right hand drag red the chair as he fell
back a pace or two con templating the
dying man. Then with sudden effort he
tore off his coat AMI flung it over the terri
bly, upbraiding eyes OF his murdered guest
This done he stood again apar5, away
from the dread thing now half covered up
in the chair-stood and waited and trem-
hled, waited and waited, 1T seemed hours,
though the time in which so much evil had
been accomplished was very short. Pres
entity he thought he heard footstep in the
house; then he thought there was listener
at the door. It required tremendous
effort to move; but at last he crept to tha
door. opened it, and listened The hall
Clock was beating out the time in its usual
way, but to Needham the sound was Oil in
Gus; it had 8, deathly sound, warning
sound, aud it seemed to threaten him.
He won't into the hall. 1t was dark. He
had purposoly allowed the gas to remain
unlightod A flicker of the street lamp
came in over the glass above the door,
There was a lantern on the hall table He
crept to it and took it up, and returned to
tie library. All still, deadly still He
heard for the first time the ticking of the
clock On the mantelshelf. He lowered the
gas in the chandelier, as if he feared to see
too much when he should remove the coat
from the silent figure in the chair. He went
tel nd it and lifted the cover gently, bit by
bt, until the face was exposed Then he
retolled from it. then approached it afresh;
touched it, listened to it, raised one of its
hands, felt its pulse. listened at its heart
All still; no sound, only the two clocks and
distant roll of thunder.
Pull yourself togetherr' Kissed between
his teeth the living man, who now almost
envied the dead every thing works for
ycu-heaven and hell, even the night, dark.
mes: and Storm"
The hall clock struck ten. He listened and
counted every stroke as the hammer fell
mo more!" he said, taxing out his watch,
looking at it, and then placing it to his ear.
"iSo mora! The Fates are with me. Now
to !;usinoss WAT is there to fears A dead
Ian is nothlng-dust clay, clo1. notn-
ing. Come, john Needham, to businessr
lie reached over to the spirit decanters
and pouring into glass a large quantity of
whisky drunk it Off Then stretching him
seif up to his full height, he turned up his
sleeves, apostroph ling the corpse as he did
SO.
you are John Needham-poor Needham,
member of parliament, banker, the ruined
Gnancler, and you must not be found dressed
in Joseph Norbury's clothes-come 1t will
nat matter to you how you are dressed; it
will to me. Joseph Norbury must not go
about in John Needham's Goa. nor wear
Joseph Norbury's watch, nor carry Joseph
Norbury' purse, nor any thing else that is
his! Conner
1t seemed as if the situation, the whisky,
and the gift of life with new name, made
physically new man of the villain. He
worked at his CHASTITY business with the
energy of giant and the v1gor of a looter
on battlefield. Once or twice he refreshed
himself from the spirit decanter, and wiped
the perspiration from his face.
When the changes had been mads be-
tween the living and the dead, which the
living considered sufficient, then came the
no less difficult work of removing the
body; but the murderer was equal to the
occasion. He carried it out into the yard
and thrust it into the brougham, which he
Louise for the purpose There was not a
single detail that he had not thought out on
the lines of his own proposed suici1e.
He had not permitted himself, SO far, to
change a single item of his original plan
except this incident of driving to Hamp-
stead; for he had argued that if his scheme
was simple and had no hitch in it, all he
had to do was to fit his substitute into the
plan. The only change was tine brougham.
His own idea had been to walk to the
scene Of his own death, favorite resort in
Life, and there take his fatal dose. The in
PRODUCTION Of the brougham had necessi-
tated the absence of the servants These
supplementary incidents had worked cut
so far to his satisfaction, the most tremen-
dous of all of them, the discovery of the
substitute having been in Needhams opin-
ion little less than miraculous.
Having deposited his CHASTITY load in tho
brougham, he leaned, gasping, against the
coach house; for though he had carried his
load with something like the grip of an ex-
the difficult ami awkward burden so as to
make 1t bearable, he could hardly stand
erect for some minutes Presently, how
ever, he went back into the house. straight
ened his room, washed and lad aside the
extra coffee cup, placed in his pocket the
phial OF poison, carefully removed all traces
Ct his visitor; then going into the hall and
putting on Norbury's light overcoat taking
his own on his arm, and his crush hat in
his hand, he returned to the sta bles and har-
messed the cob to the brougham. Opening
the gates steal thily he looked out. No one
stirring, the night dark. steady ram fall
ing; everything still favored the criminal
and his WORK. He led the horse through
Tho gate way, put out the Ian tern, placed it
inside the doors, which he carefully closed:
and then, mounting the box seat, drove
quietly through tho News and out into
road.
The rain fell in steady downpour The
perfume Of roses and stocks from adjacent
gardens filed the dripping atmosphere; but
in the imagination of the solitary driver of
the silent passenger the gas lamps pointed i
their short arms at him. The long. gIarine
reflections of the lights Oh the wet pave
ments seemed to follow MIN He drove on.
nevertheless, and to his troubled fancy the
wheels of the brougham made an awful
noise. His horse clattered over the stones
as if with the design Of calling attention to
the awful thing be was dragging. THAT
is why they walk the horses in q hearse.
and the mourning coaches that follow Green
along" the driver thought, 1.-THE noise is SO
great!" He pulled the cob into walk,
Yes" he thought, that must be it; there
is more noise attending the removal of the
lead than the living-a kind of sympathy,