The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1888-10-05
CHAPTER III.

=
wound i had dressed,
But OF what use was pay discovery;
/ had gradually recovered my senses,
the power OF rejecting ana delibcratirs
had returned, and Iscrutinised every thing
around me with eager curiosity.
From the place where / stood leaning
against the door, could survey the whole
apartment,
Nothing. literally nothing, betrayed the
scene OF = murder.
Everything, on tho con trnTy, revealed
comfort, but Mt the same time parsimon-
ious and mcthodical habits. Everything
was III its place; there was not a fold
awry il tho curtains, and the frames OF
tho furniture elittered, Implying daily
polishing. Besides, it seemed evident
that tho suppositions OF the magistrate
and commissary of police were correct,
and thc poor old man had been a,sassi-
mated the evening before, ius& Us be WAS
preparing to 20 to bed.
In fact, the bcdclothes were turned
back, and on the quilt lsy hhirt and
night cap. On the table at tho head of the
bed / saw - glass Of sugar and water, a
box OF matches, and an evening paper
the PGlTic.
On one corner of the rsAatelpieeo gilt
tered q c2ndlestick-a La sc solid copper
candlest:ck- But tho candle that had
illuminated the crime was consumed, tho
III urderer had fed without blowing IL
out, and il had barncd down, blacbnning
the alabaster saVe-sll on which it was
fastened
These details had perceived ut oneA
without effort, wiz out, 10 To speak, any
eIertion OF ny Will
Ny eye performed tho part OF photo
Il, IL, l,A 81,
murder was fixed on my mind rs II on a
prepared plate, with such precision t-nt
no circumstence was omitted. with
such permSrense that even now 1 could
draw tho chamber occupied by the
little old man OF the BatiSnolles"
without forGsttiRg anything, without
emitting even . cork half covered with
green v:I, which j can still see on tho
floor, under the clerks chair.
The faculty Of investigation, which has
been bestowed upon mo, Is n very extra
ordinary ona i had never before had oc-
casion 10 cert it, bat 1t suddenly revealed
itself
At that time was far too deeply aSitn-
ted 70 be able to analyzo my Impressions.
i had but one obstinate. burning. irresis-
tible desire-to approach the corpse, ly-
ing two yards away from me.
AT first / struggled against this wish.
But there was q fatality about il. ap-
preached.
Had my YSeseace been no1eod' Think
not
At any rate. nobody was paying any ~
teution 10 mo-
". Mechinet and the polSs officer rero
still talking together near the window,
the clerk was reading IN q low to1e his
report TO vhe lnazf,trate
So there was nothing 10 prevent the ac-
eomplishment of my plan.
Besides, must confess, sort offeveTf~h
eagerness had taken possession OF ne,
which made me insensible to external cta~
cumstances and utterly isolated me.
Ivcnturcd 20 kncel down by the body,
to see It better mud more closely.
Far from thinking somebody was going
to exclaim: what are you doing here,"
moved slowly and steadily, like n nInn
who, Eav-ag received mission is going
10 execute il.
The unfortunate old man seemed to b,
about seventy or seyenty-hvc years old.
Ho was :nl=ll and very thin, but had evil
dcatly been strong, REd likely TO live to
be hundred lie still had IA great deal
OF hair, OF = yellowish white color. curl-d
on the back OF his heck. His gray beard.
strong aud thk k-Set, did noL TO have
been shaved for five or six days; It must
have gr.wn since his death. This cir
cum~tance, which I had often noticed
among subjects brought TO the hospital
for dissection, caused me no surprise.
What did sstonish me was the unfor-
tunate mans face. II was calm, nay,
smiling.
The lips were parted as :; for friendly
G-ecting.
Death had been tcrTibIJ eSt1-x- taco
be hid kept that pleasant uyrrezssoe-
This Wac the first idea tLas yEeocuted
itself to the mind.
Yes, but how could reconcile these
two irreconcilable circumstances: n sud
den death, and tho fve lctter.-MOnis-
which saw IN chsSTosors OF blood upon
the floor
What efTor, must Il not have cost the
dying man TO wrfle that! Only the hope
OF vengeance could have given him such
energy. And what must have been his
rage to feel himself dying, ere he could
trace the whele name OF his assassin,
Yet the face o< tic corpse seemed 10
emile at me.
The poor old man had been struck In
the throat, and the weapon had cut the
neck from ear to ear.
The instrument OF the crime rnIIst have
been poniard, or rat her one Of those ter
rible Catalcnian knives, rs wide ~ the
hand, which cut on both sides and are a.
sharpa as n needle.
Never in my life have l experienced
sensations 80 singular.
Ny temples throbbed with unprece
dented violence, and my heart swelled a.
II il would burst
What was l going to discover.
1. Tg.mWa - fr-a
sistible power which hnuihilated m,
will, I took between =gy own hand.
the cold. rigid hands of the corpse.
The right one was clean; 10 was one Of
the fingers OF the LEFT, the forefnger, that
was stained with blood
Whist. The old man had written with
his left hand, Come, come!
Overwhelmed by n sort of giddiness,
with Wild eyes, bristIinG hair, and face
paler than that of the corpse lying Mt my
feet. started up, uttering terrible cry.
Great Heaven"'
All the others, startled, surprised and
bewiidcred, exclaimed in \ breath
what Is il? What is the matter!"
/ tried TO answer, but my emotion
stified me: il seemed as IL my mouth was
full of sand
/ could only point to the dead man:
hands, stammering-
There! there!'
Quick as lightning. Mechinet had
thrown himself on his knees beside tn,
corpse. He saw what had seen, and re
ceived the same impression, for, starting
20 his feet, he claimed
1T was not this poor old man wh'
traced these letters"
And as the magistrate ard commissar,
of police stared ut him with mouths wild
open, he explained to item the circuul