Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1888-04-13

When he awoke from his chlorofor1
slumber he looked at me steadily for
moment then smilingly said: doctor
you're trump"
The hospital he had mentioned wa
within short distance from my Office
My assistant ordered carriage and h
was removed there with no difficulty.
called upon him regularly for tw'
weeks. but at the end of that time wa
no nearer the solution of his mysteriou
action than at first.
/ found him to be man of intelli
gence, though apparently of taciturl
disposition.
He seemed to be exceedingly CRATE
full for my service, and when J. dis
missed him, he cordially pressed my
right hand with his left, remarking as
he did so, 81 thought you We're a sen
sible man and now 1 know it. You
have proved yourself possessed of the
rare virtue of knowing how to hold
your tongue"
was much occupied that spring and
summer, but often thought of my mys'
FERROUS patient, although I learned
nothing more from OF about him.
Early in September, however, l re-
ceived a sealed packet accompanied by
a brief letter from him, in which he
said that, owing to my consideration in
not harrassing him with questions, and
the kindly interest l manifested in his
case, he sent me ali explanation OF his
conduct, now that the time had come
when silence was no longer necessary.
His name was James Riley. his orr
gin Scotch. For several years he was
cashier of private bank in an interior
town in Southern Indiana, and fully
won the confidence of his employer, a
genial, middle-aged man named Ed
wards, whose pride and delight was an
only child, lovely girl of Is, with
whom James Riley was deeply in love.
His affection was returned, and the
father, seeking only his daughters
happiness, consented to their mar
riage.
just when his prospects were bright
est an event occurred which blighted
his career forever.
One evening, Mr.. Edwards, his
daughter, and James Riley, were re-
turning late from an entertainment,
and seeing flicker of light in the
bank had stopped to Investigate the
cause of it.
James Riley slipped around to the
rear entrance to see what he could dis
cover, hastily advising his employer
and the young lady to remain in the car
riage.
Mr.. Edwards was an excitable man,
and being convinced that something
was wrong he rashly opened the front
door with his latch key and surprised a
gang of burglars. who greeted him with
a shower of bullets.
The daughter, seeing her father fall,
sprang from the carriage and rushed
into the building, where she was in
stantly shot dead.
The robbers fled past their victims,
down the deserted streets, taking with
them nearly all of the money and valu-
ables deposited in the bank.
James Riley heard the shots and APP
peared on the scene just in time to see
his promised wife's lifeless form. flung
roughly aside as the villains escaped.
Mr.. Edwards injuries We're very
serious but not fatal. One bullet had
penetrated his side, another his thigh,
and third had totally blinded him.
When he was brought to conscious
ness he was questioned in regard to the
momentary view he had caught of the
robbers.
All he could tell was that there were
three Of them, and that the leader was
a tall, dark man, whose right hand was
badly mutilated and bleeding probably
from some accident which occurred in
blowing open the safe.
Strenuous efforts were made to cap
ture the wretches, but all to no avail,
and after time the officers became
discouraged and relaxed their exartions.
Not so with James Riley, however.
BY the side of his dear ones coffin
he had registered vow that he would
bring to justice her cruel murderer.
AS self-appointed detective he fol-
lowed up every clue he could discover,
and after months of patient search his
suspicious we're conferred upon man
called Dave Glicker. who was the
owner of small cheese-factory located
in the southern part of the State, some
hundred miles distant from the scene
of the tragedy.
Everything about this place wore an
innocent aspect. The man himself was
rather disliked and feared in the COM
munity, though no one could positively
accuse him of any crime.
There were, however, whispered
rumors concerning number of strange,
lawless men, who seemed to be rather
frequent visitors at the cheese ia ctorv.