Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1888-10-11
being able to touch this money until
after my niece's death?"

/ DCiuS dUl0 u tOuCu bIlIS utOu0y uubl
after my niece's death?"
| Eyes, recollect them distinctly. "
| s.My niece has disappeared since
yesterday morning" he continued
turning even paler than before, land i
any thing serious should have hap
pened, you know, and you should re
peat those expressions, they might be
laid hold of. and I don't know what
| would be the consequences. I nigh
| be suspected of having murdered her.
Poor fellow. If had not known thu
| truth I should have suspected it mysel
from his excessive terror AID anxiety
He wiped the Precipitation from hi
face and sank into chair. The sigh
of a person more frightened than my
self treasured me. / was calmer thar
had been the preceding morning.
where did she go? How was she
dressed?" l inquired, anxious to know
| all I could on the subject.
II don't know. She told me she was
going shopping and calling, but no one
saw her leave the house, and none Of
| the servants know exactly how she was
| dressed. When Invent home to dinner
the first thing heard was that she had
| not returned"
What have you done? Have you
sent to the police and to the hospitals?'
Eyes, and to every friend and store
where she was at all likely to CALL"
you may depend upon it," I re.
piled, very impressively, ''that l will
not repeat what you said yesterday,
You are right in supposing that it
would tell against you very much il
she should be found dead under sus-
picious circumstances"
He talked little longer, and Their
went to renew his search for his niece.
How l preserved my self-possession
during the interview 1 do not know; so
far from being really calm, could
have gnawed the flesh off my bones in
my agony.
That night, when the doors were
fastened and was alone, l shut my
self up in the closet for two hours to
ascertain whether she had died from
want of air, for I distrusted my own
knowledge of the appearance of suf.
located persons. The place was we'll
supplied with air from several large
crevices. My first idea was corr ect-
she had died from other causes.
When l emerged from the closet
found that the lamp had burnt out, and
that the night was intensely dark. 1t
was raining in torrents, and the thun-
der and wind roared a terrific chorus,
based by the sullen booming of the
river, then at high tide. sat there in
the dark upon the floor, holding the
cold, stiff hand of the dead within my
own. thought dreamily how often it
had welcomed me with its soft pres
sure, while the sweet eyes had beamed
brightly in mine, and. the full-pouting
lips had wreathed into dimples of de-
light. Now, that hand, that used to
be so plump, so full of warmth and
life, was rigid and cold; those eyes
were dazed and CHASTITY; those lips
were clammy. and hard! Tears came
to my relief; wept as grown men
seldom weep, and with that heart-eas-
ing gush came new idea of escape for
her and me. was ready to believe at
that moment that her spirit rested upon
mine, and inspired the thought, for it
burst upon me so suddenly. with a
conviction that if executed at that
instant it would be crowned
with success. How could I other
wise have had the temerity to
snatch her up in my arms, carry her
down stairs, at the risk of being en-
countered by some of the other inhabi-
tants of the house, bear her through
the streets, and by a way that knew.
The tide was running strong and deep
against the wall. 1 pressed one kiss
against the cold forehead and threw
her into the black, hurrying waters.
Gladly, gladly would I have gone with
her, and held her to my heart in death!
but the impulse was still on me, and,
without delay, fastened back. No
one saw me.
A few days after saw by the papers
that her body had been found in the
upper bay. The medical evidence
after post-mortem examination, was,
that she had died from rupture of the
heart, and that death took place be-
fore the immersion in the water. So it
was conjectured that she had been
standing by the river when the fatal
attack seized her, and had fallen in
unperceived; and a verdict of accidental
death was returned.
Her uncle is stout and rudy, and
laughs as heartily as ever.
I shall die bachelor. I am lean
and pale, and bowed and gray-haired,
and the sound of my own laugh is
strange to me.-Once o. Week.