Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1888-10-14
Mjeelins gssister
THE MYSTERY
HANSON CAB.
BY FERGUS o. HUME.
IcoSTISUED.l
CHAPTER XXXIII.
TNE CONFESSION.

TIVE CONFESSION.
'wba. I am now about to write Is set
firth by me so that the true circumstances
connected with the Hanson Cab Tragedy
which took place IN Melbourne In 49,,
may be known. / owe o confession, par
ticularly to Brian Fdz yersld, seeing that
ne was accused of the crime. Although
know he was rightfully acquitted Of the
charge, yet / wish him to know all about
the case, though am convinced from his
altsred demeAuor towards me, that be lie
better acquainted with it than he chooses
TO confess. In order to account for the
murder of Oliver Wbyse, must 90 back
to the beginning Of my IFS in this colony,
and chow how the series Of events hesaD
which culminat ID in the committal of the
crime.
should il be nee sssaIy to make this
confession public, in the interests of justice.
! can say nothing against such course ba-
ing taken; but ! would b, grateful if il
could be suppressed, both on account OF
nv good name end Of ny dear daughter
Margaret, whose love and affection have so
soothed and frightened my life,
"If, however, she shout be Informed Of
the cont ants OF these plges, ask her to
deal leniently with the memory Of one
who was sorely t led and tempted.
az came to the colony of Victoria, or
rattle, as il was called then, New South
Wales, in the year IS. l had been in q
merchants offics in London, but not sse-
ing much opportunity for advancement,
locke about to see if could better myself.
l heard o. this new land across the OCEAN,
and thoagh it was not then tie Ell Dorado
which il after wards turned ont, and, truth
10 tell, had rather q shady name, owing to
the transportation Of eonvicis, though j
louged to 70 there and start q new life.
Unhsppily, however, had not the meme
t. 90, and SAW nothing better b3fore me
than the dreary life Of a London
clerk, as it wes iupoS sible that j
could save out Of ths snail salary got.
Just at this time, however, an old maiden
aunt of mine died ard lsfs few hundred
rounds to me, so, W tn this, came out to
Aussrsla, determined TO become q rich
man. l stayed some time in Sydney, and
then came over to Port Phillip, now 90
widely known "a marvellous Melbourne,
where l intended to pitch my tent. I saw
that It was 8 young and rising colony,
though ofeourse, coming as did before the
DAYS Of tie gold digging, never dreami
il would sp,iog up, as IL has done since, to
q nation. wa' careful and saving in
these days, aud indeed, think it was the
happjes! time Of my life.
II bought land whenever could scrape
the morey together, and, at the time Of
the gold rush, was considered well to do
When, however, the cry that god had
BEEN discovered was raised, and the eyes
of all ths nations were turned to Australia,
with her glitteripg treasures, men poured
10 from all parts Of the void, and the
Golden Age commenced. / began to get
rich rapidly, and was SOON pointed out as
the wSalthiest man in the colonies. l
bOngbt q stSt OF, and leaving the riotous,
fsverish Melbourne life, went u live on
il. / enjoyed myself there, for the
wild, open air lite had great charms
ior me, and there was a sense Of fresdom
TO which had hitherto been 3 stranger.
But man is gregArious animal, and /,
growing wesry of solitude and eommun
ings with Mother Nature, came down OF 3
visit 10 Melbourne, where, with companions
as gay as myself, eat my money fIesly,
ami. "a tie phrase goes, saw life. After
clnfeSsDg tbs. l loved the purs life Of the
country, il sounds strange 10 SOY that ]
enjoyed the wild life Of the town, but
did. was neither o joseph nor St.
Anthony. and / was delighted with Bohe-
mia, with its good fellowship and CHARM
ing suppers, which took plaza in the
small hours of the morning, when wit and
humor II Intd supreme. 1t was at one OF
these suppers thst first met Rossnna
Moore, the woman who was destined to
curse my existsuea She was q burlsque
actress, ami all the Dung fellows in those
days were msdly in love with her. Shs
was rot exactly what was called beautiful,
bat there was a brilliancy and fascination
about hir which few could resist On first
te.ipg her, did not admire her much, bat
laughed at companions as they Iaved about
her. Ga becoming personally acquainted
with her, however, found that her
powers of fascination had not
bean oyerIa.sd, ard ended by
falling desperately in love with her. j
made Inquiries about her private life, and
f,uld that it was iIreproschable, as she
was guarded by a vsritable dragon OF
mother. wkO would let no one approach
her daughter. need not tell about my
eourtship, as these phases Of a mans life
sre generally the same, but II will
besufiicient to prove the depth Of my pas
sion for her when ] at length determined
to make her my wife. 1t was on condition,
however, that the marriage sfO1ld BE- kept
secret until such time as should choose to
reveal il. My reason for such course was
this: my father was still alive, and he,
being O rigid Presbyterian, would never
har,rr, y,arrfoA O
woman of the stage; 80, as he was old and
feeble, did not wish him to learn that
l dad done 50, fearing that tho shock
would be too much for him IN his then
present st Ite Of EeIlth. told Rossnna
wouli marry her, but wanted her to leave
her mothe-, who was o perfect fury, arr
not IN sgst cable person to live with. As
was rich, Young, and not bad looking,
Ro5snna consented, and, during an en-
gasement she had in Sidney, went over
there and married her. Size never told her
mother she had married me; why, do
not know, as never laid any restriction
on her dong Sd. The mother made great
noise over tie matter, but 1 gave Rosanns
q large sum Of money for her,
and this the old hlrridsn accepted
and left for New Il lalsnd. Rosanns went
with me- 10 my station, where We lived ~
man and wife, though, in Melbourne, she
was tupro ed to be my mistress. At last,
feeling degraded in my own Eyes as TO the
way was living to the world, / wanted
TO reveal our secret, but this Rnsanna
wcnld not COlseat to. l was as;onished
at this and could never discover the IeEoa,
bat in many ways ROsanna was an
enigma to me. She then grew wes'y or
the quiet country bfs and longtd 10 re-
turn to the glitter ard glare Of
the fooslights. This / refused to
let her Go, and from that moment
she took q dislike 10 me. A child
was born, and for q time she was engrossed
with it, but soon wearied Of tie new plsy-
thing, and again pressed me t. allow her
TO return 10 the stsge. again refue1,
aud we becl estrsnged from one an
other. l grew gloomy and irritab! e, and
was secust1med to take lorg rides BY my
SET, frequently being sTsy for dsys
There was q great friend Of mine who
owned the next station, fine, handsome
Young fellow c>llsd Frank Kelly, with 3
.NWaI