The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1886-08-14

d
Yet at this point, upon reviewing what
Paula and / have already written, l see
that the current of the narrative must here
be briefly checked, in order that some
things may be explained, or at least con-
jectured, which lie beyond my actual knowl-
edge When the cowardly and treacherous
blow was struck that stretched me sense
less at the feet of DR.. Beaumont, the night
of the ninth of September had passed, the
early morning of the tenth had come. Dur
ing much of the time for the next ten days
/ was helpless. both in body and mind.
Some of the things that happened to me
during this interval are clear and vivid IN
my memory; some of them come back now
blurred and confused, like the teeming
visions of restless sleep. and some OF
! them are but as so many blanks. Hence
the necessity that l should piece out my
own clear recollection with the things thai
the penetrating investigations of Mr.. War
ner, in his character of pI osecuting attor-
ney, have since discovered, and that, where
these have failed to discover the truth,
more especially as to the reasons and pur-
poses of the conspirators in pursuing GER
tain courses, then to supply the conjectures
of the shrewd lawyer of myself, Of Paula
and others. as to why their course was
shaped in the remarkable way that it took
To me, my own conclusions have assumed
in my mind the form of absolute certainty
for had but to 90 back to the overheard
conversation between Ferrers and DR.. Beau
mont to obtain q clew to their entire con-
duct afterward.
That these men, bound together by the
strong ties of villainy, practiced in partner
ship for high prize-for the possession OF
the immense wealth of Edison Whalley-
| would not scruple to take life in order to
attain their ends. / had heard more than
limited by the nephew on that May morning.
Yet, of course, they would adopt this
course only when its necessity became ap-
parent. No sane man commits murder
wantonly, for the mere sake of killing. and
that dreadful expedient was not adopted by
! Clayton Ferrers and his coad5utor until the
nephew had become seriously alarmed by
the influence that the old gardener was ex-
erting upon his uncle. Mr.. Whalley still
| fingered. His constitution had been ro-
bust until he was far past the middle age
I he might spin out his feeble thread of ex-
istence for months-why not for years
/ The nephew had labored long. assisted by
| his mother, to shut all hostile influences
away from the sick room; but he saw al
last, and had to acknowledge to himself,
| that there was something on foot in the do
/ ings of the gardener something, the ma
|
which was likely to defeat the great object
! for which he had so long labored and
| planned. His disquiet his tormenting
suspicious, reached their climax upon the
night when he surprised a stranger, an I'M
/ known girl, at the bedside which had been
| for few moments left unmatched and I'M
| guarded, and terrified her into the admis-
sion that she had been sent there by Sta
| pies. The resolution of Ferrers was prob
| ably then taken. He would bear this sus-
pense no longer. Whatever this influence
was that was sought to be exerted upon the
mind of his uncle land because that influ-
ence was secret vague. and mysterious, it
probably exasperated the nephew more
than if he had known the actual TRUTH, II
should be met and checked at once He
would take no more chances ID the pro-
! longed existence of his uncle. He would
not be defeated in the accomplishment of
the object of his life by this cunning old
gardener and all the agencies he could bring
| to bear.
| And SO Edison Whalley died-died, as ]
had seen him die; died from the cause that
! haG stated when Beaumont and | were
alone together in that other chamber
But the village paper on the day of the
funeral, in its paragraphs noting this long
expected demise of the wealthiest man In
or near Berkeley, stated, by authority of
DR.. Beaumont, that the cause of death was
cancer of the stomach of long standing,
! and lately of very aggravated form. And
the editor added some complimentary re-
marks as to the skill and tireless labor with
which our most learned physician had long
| fought the insidious disease, and oongratu-
lated the people upon having SO valuable q
profess onal man among them as DR.. Alexis
! beaumont nd a ba orft-
Gle, and never dreamed of the dark con-
spiracy and blacker crime that had just been
| consummated at Fairview.
! But if the surprise of Paula in the man
sion and by the Sickle had filled the con-
spirators with uneasiness, an brought them
sternly face to face with the performance
of their desperate resolve, who can hope to
picture the feelings Of rage, terror, and
CONSERVATION produced in them by my
sudden advent among them on the night of
September ninth A lighted bomb falling
| through the window would not SO have af-
fected them, and this will explain why 1t
was that they did not interfere at once, pre-
cipitate themselves upon me, call in the
help Of the brutal allies whom Hugh Sta
! pies had named. and eject me from the
house. The totally unexpected, when it con-
Germs things of the greatest human interest,
will strike any man, for the time, dumb and
passive with amazement or fear, and thus
1t was with them. For consider moment
| what my presence there meant Not only
was | witness to the circumstances of Ed
! son Whalley's death, but scientific wit
ness, armed with that technical and expert
knowledge that the study of medicine had
given me, to observe, and to describe with
unerring accuracy the cause of that death.
My tale might, nay, 1t would, be treated
with incredulity; wherever I told it should
be laughed at, and treated as base SIAN
derer of the rich and respected Mr.. Fer
rers and of an ADLER and more successful
| physician. Men would say-or, ut least
would believe the story of these two-that
| had intruded myself into the case, I'M
asked and without permission; that l had
/ been elected from the house, and so had
revengefully fabricated this base coinage of
my brain. All this | was prepared to meet
! when | should go forth from Fairview, tell
my astounding story, and make my accusa-
ton. And people might discredit me, the
/ poor, humble physician, who had as vet
gained no standing with the rich and pow
erful of the village, and whose friends
were only among the poor and lowly, for
whose lives and health l had zealously
labored Yes, should be discredited, dis
believed, laughed at; but there was an
would not refuse-a witness armed with
such terrors to the guilty souls of these
two men that they would not dare to con-
front him. That witness was no living
/ person-it was the poor, tormented body
OF their victim. 1t is not always true that
! dead men tell no tales. Almost as long as
the dead human body retains any likeness
of itself under the touch of decay. will the
presence of arsenic administered before
death be discoverable. This / knew; this
DR.. Beaumont knew that knew SO here
was tremendous weapon in my hands,
which no ridicule, no influence, no power
of wealth or social position could blunt or
turn aside. Even before the burial would
invoke the law, and, with that engine start
ed, however slow it might at first move, it
would in the end as certainly bring these
men to the gallows as it should be invoked
L would not rest until | had obtained q
post-mortem examination, even before the
funeral, and then the truth would be known.
[ro BE Continued
Caught on the Fly,