The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1888-06-01

eo6exv q spsne Sarn e rubea1fnn
Vknf a. yoo m1ke - ~ Fe1eUikers
II wno 3nfne 5Dany Il Wust hnyeb ee1
spzne4kinx a. en.n4 npEt-r - xp5ied-
The face looks cun&ez1ed- He was
a r1fhes . fun kahif- whese - ~
foundf-
Lying By ~ hsteavsy. Just .hass
ben sudden l I'D seen him not Z
quarter Of an hour before, aliye and
vel.
aHe always lsoAed 70 me Hlx msn
IfahSe 70 this soFt of death = sid Felt
wike. The excitement of the even
ing may hare brought Il on There =
certainly no sign a viQieree on toe
body. I dont Sc What else tic be,
surgeon.
Horn wskxed his head sIcomiiy in
assent and sighed-
II am Esd you xre agreed on that
point. gentlemen, said the captain
at remains for me to cause strict
inquiries 10 be made through tie ship,
with Z view 10 discovering whether
any one saw Mr.. Staplefon later than
the parser did, and whether there Is
any other evidence tending to throw
HKht upon the matter. Ii vi ] also be
necessary to inform Mrs La Serre-
Mrs. Stapleton, would say-of what
has happened As regards the inter
ment, ne are but day or two from
port, and think We may defer the
ceremony until we arrive. That Is all,
believe
We all went out except BroxiIl. who
RAD some last duties to PERFORM The
officers dispersed to prosecute in
quiries shout the ship. Feltwike asked
me 70 let him spend the night in my
room. II ann completely upset BY this
Affair." he said. A sudden death
like this II terribIe--and at such .
time, too. Fate might at least have
spared the poor fellow until tomor-
row. Intact. though he had ap-
peared unusually calm and self-pos-
sessed heretofore, l noticed that he
was now shivering all over. l took
him to my room and gave him . stiff
horn Of grog. He lay down on the
bunk. turned his face 10 the wall, and
at length seemed to fall asleep. As
for myself l did not feel At all sleepy.
To distract my thoughts. | busted my
self for time in writing. Then /
took book from the shelf and tried
to read, but could not fix my mind
on the page II am tremendously
happy kept hearing in my ears.
Poor Staplesoni That ship that had
80 nearly brought death TO all OF us
had brought it indeed to him. After
all. what strange death II was
Could il be possible that it had not
been accidentai-that he had met his
death by violence7 But who could
have inflicted il? Who on board was
his enemy? All Of a sudden, | don I
know why, l remembered that boat
swinging on its davis. What could
have set il swinging? Notthe motion
OF the vessel; at that time she was GO
ing as steadily as a church. No, some
one must have set il swinging. II
hung right opposite the place where
the body lay. suppose somebody had
been concealed in the boat. and
| did not care TO complete my own
thoughts. But my speculations had
made me so uneasy that I ran from
my seat and opened the door to go
out
Broxill stood before me; he had
just been on the point Of surnmoning
me. They have made some discover
les, )" he said in an undertone. as we
were on our way, land the captain
wants you. She has been told,h he
added.
How did she take it?"
Step this way and see for yourself, ("
was his reply.
He led me to the door Of his room,
which stood partly ajar. He pushed
it open and entered. Mrs. Stapleton
was sitting beside the body of her hus-
band, with her hands folded in her lap.
She greeted me with q glance. She was
changed; her face and lips were white
and drawn, but her eyes were larger
and blacker than I had ever seen them
and her black hair hung down over her
shoulders. But she was perfectly calm
-nnnaturally so.
g II is sad loss TO all of U.S. / said,
not knowing what TO say. "But it's
awful to think what it must be TO you.
1t is Gods viii, Mrs. Stapleton."
She looked me straight in the face.
Murder Is not Gods willn' she re-
piled.
Murderl" | repeated. The assur-
ance with which she spoke, coming on
the heels of my own fnisgivings, star
tied me painfully.
Look here she returned; "does
this look like apoplexy? They none
of them saw it, but saw i'll And l
call il murder"
As she said this she lifted the thick
beard that covered his throat, and
there, on either side of the Adam 3
apple, | saw two small discoiorations,
such as would be made by the forcihle
grip OF thumb and finger. could
not repress an exclamation. Mrs. Sta
pleton smiled.
1.-The man whose fingers made those
marks is on board this vessel" she
said, land he will be known before we
reach port. He has been cunning, but
be will be known. | could name him
now, but it will not be necessary"
81 can only say hope you are mis-
taken" ] replied. She said nothing,
but leaned back in her chair. assuin-
ing the same impressive attitude as
when entered. I then left her and
rejoined Broxill. who was waiting out
side.
"She means all she says, = he observ-
ed; land when you have heard some
other things. you may be more inclined
to agree with her."
As we emerged upon the deck, I no
ticed that the wind had changed, and
the steamer was rolling heavily in a
long swell. The storm had set in, but,
coming SO gradually. il did not promise
anything more than We; deck. When
We reached the captains quarters we
found number of men assembled
there. When we had taken our places
the captain. who looked very grave,
addressed Us as follows:
Gentlemen: This case, I'm sorry
10 say, has another look than il had
at first want you 10 hear the evil
dence before proceeding further. Ian
"a. stand forward and tell what you
saw"
Lana was one OF the firemcn who
stocked the engines. His testimony
was To the effect that shortly before
the alarm of the ship he had come up
and put his head ont of the hat,hway
for a breath OF air, He had then seen
two men standing between him and
the boat ON the davits. One was a
hroad-shouldered man; the other was
taller and slender. Both had their
backs toward him. The taller one had
his arm round the others neck. and
they were swsying this way and that.
He supposed they were merely iarking
together, and after y moment he was
called from below and went down AGAR.