Huntsville gazette., 1886-07-03


wide, velvet-like lawn. l saw my
father sitting in his comfortable
library, from which two bay windows
opened upon the piazza. He had left
my sister and mother and myself in
an adjoining room, and was sitting at
a table facing one of the open windows.
A students lamp cast soft, mellow
light over the room. Behind my father
stood his safe, which contained a large
sum of money, put there to pay his
workmen on the following morning.
The door between the library and the
room in which we were was open, and
occasionally he spoke to us. Then
came long silence, and we heard only
the soft patter of the rain on the
piazzas.
"What can father be doing" asked
my sister at length, "that keeps him so
quiet?"
"Writing, I suppose" said my
mother. "He is making up the pay
rolls, you know"
''Then he'll never get through, re-
piled my sister, ''for he has fallen
asleep, I'm sure.''
We listened again. We heard only
the steady, monotonous patter OF the
rain.
WELL" said my sister, rising,
"don't you think ought to wake him
up, mother?' 4u
'Yes," answered my mother.
NV 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 rangout 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
he sat not thirty feet away from Us,
and we had not heard a sound. At the
post-lnortem examination they found
in his body 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.
L had mechanically taken the dart
and put it in my pocket. | always
carried it there in the vague hope that
some day it might help me to unravel
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 l 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 mar
row lane leading to piece of dense
woods. I could hear the bell in the
cathedral tower striking the hour Of
midnight. / was cold-almost numb
although the night was hardly chilly.
1 wanted to go back, yet | went on.
| My 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 trickled down my fore
head. My teeth chattered. My knees
knocked together. Yet | went on. g.
/ At the. edge of the wood the cat
paused Icould not see her body, but
her eyes glowed in the darkness with a
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 4 match and
stopped over her. She had her foot on
something half covered by leaves. 1t
looked like dead branch | 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 l drew from my pocket the curl,
GUS missile which / always carried and
dropped it into the barrel. 1t fit per-
fect1y. The horror that rushed over
me when I 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 hun
dred pairs of glowing eyes. Itottered,
groaned, and fell .senseless upon the
earth. SH@
Two years passed away. / had not
yet solved the mystery. My sister WAS
about to be married, and | was prepar-
ing to go to the wedding She had
]. been living with relatives in Cincin-
1nati, where she was completing her mu-
steal studies. There she had met q
young man whom | had never seen, but
| who, all my relatives assured me, was
worthy to become my sisters husband.
He had been in Cincinnati only two
wears, but had in that time made him
self favorite in the best society of the
city. He had plenty of money, which
he said he had made in the West, where
he had large cattle ranch. [ saw no
reason why l should object to my sis
ter's choice. Gl lt II
Ihad invited Mortimer Melville to
90 with me. Mortimer was my most
| in 70 fr;a,,d al+bo,oh | bod lrpoyy,,