The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1886-07-02

EOAAcp yOu hnOWs
s'Then he'll never get through" re-
piled nv sister, s'for he has fallen
asleep, I'm sure.
We listened again. We heard only
the steady, monotonous patter of the
''Well," said my sister, ''rising,
''dOn't you think ought to wake him
up, motherP"
eyes" answered my mother.
My sister went into the next room.
''Father," she said, awake up; it is
growing late. "
There was no answer. The next mo-
ment piercing shrek rang out through
the house.
''My God! He is deadr'
HOrrOr-stricken, we rushed into the
room. The safe had been robbed and
my father shot through the heart while
be sat not thirty feet away from US,
and we had not heard a sound. At the
post-mortem examination they found
in his body a curious missile more than
an inch long and shaped partly like a
dart. The point was sharp and three
sharp faces ran back toward the body
of the missile. Experts said the missile
had been projected by some force other
than powder, else my mother and sis
ter would have heard the report, and
they talked very learnedly about the
application of compressed air and even
limited at electricity. But what man
ner of weapon the murderer used none
could say.
1 had mechanically taken the dart
and put it in my pocket. l always
carried it there in the vague hope that
some day it might help me to unrayel
the mystery of my fathers death,
which had slain my mother and had
rested upon my soul like a great pail.
had that dart in my pocket even then.
And there I was following a mysteri-
Gus black cat out of the suburbs of the
city in the gloomy night and down a
country road, moved by some impulse
which could not explain, and which,
strangely enough, did not want ex-
planned. The cat turned into a mar
row lane leading to a piece of dense
woods. l could hear the bell in the
cathedral tower striking the hour Of
midnight. 1 was cOld-almOst numb
although the night was hardly chilly.
I wanted to 90 back, yet l went on.
NV eyes vainly strove to penetrate the
black arches Of the forest. The whis-
pering of the night wind in the trees
was full of hidden meanings. Cold
perspiration triclzled down my fore
head. My teeth chartered. My knees
knocked together. Yet l went on.
At the edge of the wood the cat
paused. I could not see her body, but
her ewes glowed in the darkness with q
weird light. She began to NEW and
the sound echoed dismally among the
trees, dying away in smOthered sobs in
the darkness. / could tell by the agi-
tation of the dead leaves at my feet that
the cat was scratching, as if hunting
for something. Presently she uttered
a long, piercing cry that seemed to
make the very trees tremble and then
she was silent and mOtionless. Tremb-
ling violently, / struck a match and
stopped over her. She had her foot on
something half covered by leaves. 1t
looked like a dead branch. l picked
it up. 1t was a gun-not like any
had ever seen before, but still like a
gun. I looked at it blankly. Mechan-
ically drew from my pocket the Curl
GUS missile which / always carried and
dropped it into the barrel. 1t fit per-
fectly. The horror that rushed over
me when / knew that / held in my
hands the weapon which had slain my
father was too great to be borne. The
skies reeled above me. l saw a hun
bred pairs of CLOWN eyes. Itottered,
groaned, and fell senseless upon the
earth.
Two years passed away. had not
yet solved the mystery. My sister was
about to be married, and was prepar-
ing to 90 to the wedding. She had
been living with relatives in Cincin-
natl, where she was completing her mu-
steal studies. There she had met a
young man whom L had never seen, but
who, all my relatives assured me, was
worthy to become my sisters husband.
He had been in Cincinnati only two
years, but had in that time made him
self favorite in the best society of the
city. He had plenty of money, which
be said he had made in the West, where
he had large cattle ranch. I saw no
reason why / should object to my sis
ter's choice.
had invited Mortimer Melville to
90 with me. Mortimer was my most
Intimate friend, although 1 had known
him less than two years. I had the
good fortune to find his pocketbOok,
which he lost, and took it to the bust
ness address written on a card inside.
From that trivial incident our friend
ship grew up. We never visited each
Others rooms, because we used to pre-
fer TO sit together in the smOkingrOOm
of the modest club to which we be-
longed. Having invited him to go to
the wedding with me, was waiting for
him in my room, where he was to call
for me on his way to the station.
Come in" 1 said, hearing a knock
at the door.
"Good morning, old fellow" he
said, entering, ''it's a little early yet,
but confess L was a tri1e curious to
have peep at your rooms before start
ing. Pretty comfortable place you
have here, Bob. "
Eyes, it is. Make yourself at home,
Mort, while try to coax the total de-
pravity out of this necktie."
Mortimer strolled around the room
looking at the pictures. Suddenly he
uttered an exclamation of surprise. /
turned and saw him pointing at the
black cat, which was lying asleep on
the hearth rug.
''Where did you get that oatP'' he
asked.
''she followed me home one night, :"
I said.
''She's NINE" he exclaimed. ''I
lost her two years ago, before 1 knew
you"
Then he walked to the other side of
the room and called: Here Witch,
Witch" The cat ran to him and
purred around his feet.
'YOu see, he said. "she answers to
her name. But how ON earth did you
get herP"
I looked at my watch. We had an
hour to spare. l sat down and told
him the whole story. AS l went on ]
noticed that look of deep trouble set
tied upon his features. When 1 had
concluded he said:
Have you the gun yetP'
Eyes, - answered, taking IL from q
E closet