The McCook tribune. (McCook, Neb.) 1886-1936, 1886-06-24

n mother and myself in an adjoining
room, and was sitting at a table facing
one of the open windows. A student
lamp east a soft, mellow light ovcr tn,
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
WELL" said my sister. rising, ''don't
you think l ought to wake him up,
mother?"
YES" answered my mother.
My sister went into the next room.
Father" she said, wake up; it is
growing late"
There was no answer. The next
moment q piercing shrek rang through
the house.
my God! He is dead!"
Horror stricken, we rushed into the
room. The safe had been robbed and
my father shot through the heart while
he sat o 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
bullet and partly like a dart. The
point was sharp and three sharp faces
a back toward the face of the missile.
Experts said the missile had been pro-
jected by some force other than powder,
else my mother and sister would have
heard the report, and they talked very
~learnedly about the application of com
pressed air and even limited at cleo
tricity. But what manner of weapon
the murderer used none could say.
l had mechanically taken the dart
and put it into my pocket, l always
carried it there in the vague hope that
someday 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-
u 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, l did not want en-
planned. The cat turned into a mar.
row lane leading to a piece of dense
woods. l could hear the bell in the ell
thedral tower striking the hour of mid
night. | was cold-almost numb-al-
though the night was hardly chilly. l
wanted to GO back, yet | went on. My
eyes vainly strove to penetrate the
black arches of the forest. The whisp-
ering of the night wind in the trees
was full of hidden meanings. Cold per-
spiration trickled down my forehead.
My teeth chartered. My knees knock
ed together. Yet [ went on.
AT the edge of the wood the cat
paused. I could not see her body, but
her eyes glowed in the darkness with q
wierd light. She began to NEW and
the sound echoed dismaIly among the
trees, dying away in smothered sobs in
the darkness. Icouid tell hy the aeita-
ton of the dead leaves at my feet that
the cat vas scratching, as if hunting
something. Presently she utter
ed a long, piercing cry that seemed to
make the very trees tremble and then
she was silent and motionless. Tremb-
ling violently. l 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
seen before, but still like a gun. l
ooked at it blankly. Mechanically I
1rewfrom my pocket the curious missile
which | always carried and dropped it
nto the barrel. 1t fit perfectly. The
that rushed over me when |
that 1 held in my hands the
Weapon which had slain my father was
90 great to be borne. The skies reeled
lbove ME. l saw Il hundred pairs of
eyes. l tottered, groaned, and
ell senseless upon the earth.
Two years passed away. 1 had not
'et solved the mystery. My sister was
bout to be married. and l was prepar-
ng to go to the wedding. She had
'een living with relatives in Cincinnati.
where she was completing her musical
tudies. There she had met a young
nan whom l had never seen, but who.
Ii my relatives assured me, was worthy
o become my sisters husband. He
.ad been in Cincinnati only two years,
ut he'd IN that time made himself a
in the best society of the city.
lie had plenty of money, which he said
e had made in the West, where had a
arge cattle ranch. | saw no reason
Thy [ should object to my sisters
hoice.
[ had invited Mortimer Melville to 90
18th me. Mortimer was nv most init
friend, although Ihad known him
ess than two years. 1 had the good
ortune to find his pocketbook, which
e lost, and took it to the business adj
reSS written on a card inside. From