The Arkansaw traveler., 1888-11-03
4 Strange PTls0D.
W. II. sTACPOOLE.

W. H. STACPOOLE.
 Coleridge whom saw some months after these terrific murders told me that, for his part, though at the time resident in London, nS n no threw him into a profound reverie upon tl c tremendous power which Is laid open In mo- ment to any man who can reconcile himself to the abjuration of all conscientious restraints, If, at the same time, thoroughly without fear De Qutncey's Works, Uol iu.
 Many years ago an inquiry was held about the conduct, on 8 certain occa- sion, of gentleman who held high position in the foreign office. The re- suit of the inquiry was that Mir Brown, as I shall call the gentleman in question, though Brown was not his real name, passed, either volun- tarily or compulsorily, into the colo nial department of the government service. By the colonial office he was provided with an appointment in a distant part of our empire, where he died few years afterwards.
 Now, the inquiry to which l refer was conducted with the utmost se- crecy, so much so that, with the ex- ception of MT. Brown himself and the persons who were immediately en- gagged in it, nobody knew exactly what 1t was about; and this, I dare say, was one of the reasons why it @. = cited great deal of attention at the time and gave rise to many extraor- dinary rumors, some of which, of course, found their way into the press.
 About year before the death of MT. Brown chanced to be staying for some time in the colony where he held his new appointment. We were then thrown together good deal, and thus became very intimately ac- quainted with each other. A few nights before I left for England I heard from his own lips the real facts that were elicited at the inquiry. Now that he has been dead for several years there cannot be any harm in repeating the story, nor do violate any conf . dence by so doing, as the only promise he required from me was that would not talk about the matter while he was in the government service. Ishall not use real names or dates, as they are not in the least essential to the story, but l dare say they will be rec ognized by good many of those who, when they have read these pages, will, l think, agree with me that in this, as in some other cases, the true story is very much more curious and suggest i've than any of the fables to which it gave rise.
 We were sitting, then, by ourselves after dinner one evening in & cosy lit- tie parlor, when I ventured to remind him of a promise he had made, or rather profered, day or two before, to tell.me the real circumstances which had caused the inquiry that gave rise to 80 much mystery and gossip.
 "Well, may as well tell you now as at any other time," was the answer; "but the fact is that the story always gives me the jumps' when I think of it. Perhaps, when I have finished, you may be able to understand me when say that can never call it to memory but feel my head swim feel, in fact, as if l were 8 peg upon which, like huge humming top, the whole world was revolving. How ever, fill your glass, and here goes."
 filled my glass, and he proceeded {:
 You must know, then, that on the = of May, 18-,I was the most su- premely happy man in all England, for on that day two events had oc- cured, within a few hours of each other, by which, as fondly imagined, my prosperity and happiness were se- cured for the rest of my life. First, had been appointed to most import ant and confidential post in the for eign office; secondly, and more inn portant, on the strength of this appointment I went straight to the house in Porchester Terrace, where the beautiful Countess Cattani was living with her brother. l proposed to her and was accepted. My acquaintance with the. Cattanis was not of very long standing, and as that has a good deal to do with the story you are about to hear, l may as we'll tell you first how . came to know them. During the previous winter I spent some two months at Nice, or rather Monte Carlo for, though I made Nice my head quarters, 1t was my habit to run up to Monte Carlo every day, generally sstnrnsag by the last train. The fS