Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1888-03-12
FOR AONOR'S SAKE.
BY B. L. rAnJeON.
Az Or Of ~ursas Pssssr sqsars," "Ihs
BssgAs ssas % Lsse." ne
,oosssrss,n.,

-
While he was speaking to his friend, the
lawyer was busily engaged writing upon
. blank telegraph form, which was In
closed in the envelope delivered by the
messenger.
what Vim you do m the natssrr'
"a Here s I. I: |. my reply" said tho lawyer
"From Mr.. Bainbridee, q. c., Harley
street, London, to Archibald Laing, Boz
1924, r. O., Pittsbufg, U. 8.
"'Your cable received. Iundertake the
commbsiou, and wf1l use every EFFORT to
establish LAyten's innocsnoe, In which
Armly believe There II q mystery in
the matter, and I will do my best to get
at the heart Of 1t. will write to you a.
you desire'"
He touched the bell and the servant ap-
peared.
"Give this TO the telegraph boy" he
said, land pay his cab fare to the tele-
graph ONCE, In order that there shall be
no delay"
When the servant had departed, the
lawyer rose from his chair and paced the
room slowly In deep thought, and It was
during the intervals In his reflections that
the convsrsatlon between him and DR..
DAincourt was carried on. H
'.Is IL not very strange" said the law
yer, that am advised in this cable mes
sage to seek Information from the one
juryman who pronounced Layton inno-
cent, and whose address I have not OBJ
tainedf ~
Eyes, 1t is indeed" replied DR.. Dain-
court, ''very strange"
''Of course shall find him; there will
not be the least difficulty in that respect.
Tell me, doctor. It was proved at the
trial that Mrs. Layton's death was caused
by an overdose Of morphia, taken in the
form OF effervescing lozenges. 1t was es-
tablished that she was occasionally in the
habit Of taking one Of these lozenges at
night to produce sleep, and her maid
swore that her mistress never took more
than one, being aware of the danger of an
overdose. The usual mode Of administer
ing these i,oxious opiates is by placing one
in the mouth and allowing 1t to dissolve;
but they will dissolve in water, and tho
medical evidence proved that at least eight
or ten of the poisonous lozengcs must
have been administered in this way, In
one dose, to the unfortunate Indy. The
glass from which the liquid was drunk
WbS lOuLuy uOO Dy uCI UCu64uc, Out Ou bllo
mantel shelf, which Is at some distance
from the bed. 1t ia natural inference,
II the unfortunate woman had admin
istered the dose to herself, that the glass
would have been found on tho table by
her bedside. It was not 30 found, and tho
maid declares that her mistress was too
weak to get out Of bed and return to 1t
unaided. These facts, II they be facts,
circumstantially prove that the cause Of
death lay outside the actions Of the invar
lid herself. The maid states that when
she left her mistress the bottle containing
about dozen lozenges was on the table
by her mistress bedside, and also glass
and o decanter Of water; and that when
she visited her mistress between and z
O'Clock in the morning there were no log
engcs left in the bottle, and tho glass from
which they were supposed to be taken,
dissolved In water, was on the mantel
shelf. Now, in my view, this circum-
stance is in favor Of the prisoner"
II cannot see that" observed DR.. Dain-
court.
"Yet it is very simple, ;" said the lawyer.
''Let us suppose, In illustration, that am
this lady's husband. For reasons into
which it is not necessary here to enter
resolve to make away with my wife by
= administering to her an overdose Of these
poisonous narcotics, and naturally re-
solve that her death shall be accomplished
In such o manner as to avert to some rea-
sonable extent suspicion from myself. /
60 into her bedroom at midnight. Our
relations, as has been proved, are not of
the most amiable kind. We are not in
love with each other-quite the reverse
and have been living from the first day
Of our marriage an unhappy life.
Indeed, my unhappy life in relation
to the lady commenced when I was
engaged to her. Well, go into her room
at midnight, resolved to bring about her
death. She complains that she cannot
sleep, and she asks me to give her NOR
phia lozenge from the bottle. suggest
that 1t may more readily produce sleep If,
instead of allowing 1t to dissolve slowly in
her mouth, she will drink it Off at once
dissolved in water. She consents. ! take
from the table the bottle, the decanter Of
water and the glass; empty secretly into
the glass the eight or ten or dozen lozenges
which the bottle contains; pour the water
from the decanter into the glass, and / tell
my wife to drink it off Immediately, She
does so and sinks into slumber, overpow-
cred by a sleep from which she will
never awake. Perhaps she struggles
against the effects of the terrible dose I
have administered her, but her struggles
are vain. She lies before mo in sure ap-
preaching death, and both she and have
escaped from the life which has been q
continual source of misery to US. The
deed being accomplished, what do ], the
the murderer, dor There are no evidences
Of struggle; there have been no cries
TO alarm the house; what has been accom-
plished has been well and skillfully &C
complished, and ! am the only actual
living witness against myself. What
then, repeat, Is my course Of
actioni Before I killed her I re-
moved the bottle, the glass and the de-
canter from the table by the bedside. ]
wish it to be understood that she herself,
In fit OF delirium; caused her own death.
IL I allowed the glass from which the
poison was taken to be found at some dis
tance from the unfortunate lady's bed
side. Very carefully, therefore, ! place
not only that, but the decanter which
contained the water, and the bottle
which contained the lozenges, within
reach OF her living hand. To omit that
precaution would be suicidal, and, to my
mind, absolutely untenable in rational
action under such circumstances. Do you
see, now, why the circumstance of the
glass being found on the mantel shelf Ii q
proof Of my innocencef"
"Yes," replied DIR. Daincourt, 'T rec.
ognize the strength Of your theory--un-
less, indeed, you had In your mind the
B..
idea that It would be better to throw sus
picion upon third person; say, for thu
sake Of argument, upon the maid."
"That view," said the lawyer, ode
molishes itself, for what / would natur
ally do to divert suspicion from myself, [
third person would naturally do to aver
suspicion from him or herself"
'"True," said DIR. Daincourt; "you seiz
vital points more readily than /. Hay
you any theory about the strange lad
who accompanied Layton home from Pre-
vost's restaurantr'
81 have theory upon the point" re