Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1889-12-06

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for had supposed him to have been alb
sent for years. He must have been
living in seclusion, fancied, and had
perhaps been i'll, for he was as pale as
any corpse, and his form was gaunt and
shrunken. He held candle, and lift
ing it high peered at the fireplace then,
with a cry, he rushed forward. but one
OF the two men sprang to his feet; |
saw the CLEAN of knife; there was
a horrible shrek, and Barclay fell The
candle was put out in his fall, and all
was in darkness again. There was a
moment of absolute silence, in which
well-nigh tainted from sick horror that
oppressed mo. tried to rise. to call
out, to escape, but my body was power
less to obey my will. A whispered con-
sultation followed; there was hurried
digging at the bricks again; heard
tue chink Of money then the door was
opened and something was dragged down
the stairs. heard the front door Jar
on its hinges, knew from sounds on the
gravel path that it was Barclays body
that was dragged away. Then came u
rattle and plunge in the old well. and
all was still
recovered my power of movement
as if an electric shock had passed
through me and. though | do not know
how | got out of the house, found my
self in the road, and ran to town as il
for life. The clock struck two as en-
tered my door.
In the morning | went to police
station, though with some inward mis-
giving, and reported what had seen.
The sergeant summoned detective and
directed him to accompany me to Bar
clay house, but | saw that he smiled AZ
we went out. We walked at rapid
pace, and | entered the door with
shudder, but proceeded at once to the
room where had seen that fearful sight.
To my surprise there wero no signs ola
struggle. My own footprints were visi-
BILE in the dust of the floor, but no others.
and the stain that | had examined was
old and brown. The box that had sat
upon and my dark-lantern were in tho
corner. The detective looked at mo
little sharply and said; you've been
dreaming, young Teller"
felt foolish enough at tho outcome
of my story, but related explicitly what
| had seen.
'How do you know it was Barclay
who came in with tho candle ? asked
the officer.
because saw him two or three
times tho last year he was living here
or was supposed to be living here" |
added, by way of correction.
snow, look here" resumed tho de-
tective Barclay was seventy -four years
old in that year. If hos alive new hos
let see--this is 1884-he's ninety-one
years old. Now. a man of that age isn't
able to 1.-Two alone by himself, should
think; he'd starve. And you say no
was dressed ? Much less would a man
of that age be able to get up and dress
himself and toddle up stairs here within
half an hour of the time that he heard
the noise. Besides, where did he sleep
Where did the thieves get in The
rooms are all empty, and there's no foot
marks except yours. As for them bricks,
they amt been touched in the last ten
years" And stepping to the fireplace
he carelessly kicked aside two or three
of them. When he had done so ex-
claimed, "Hullo what's this? A ton.
dollar gold piece And this looks like
yes, by George it is--the tip Of knife.
This beats me You've been seeing
ghosts. young Teller, if you haven't been
asleep"
The vindcation of my story was com
plete, or nearly 80. Even had | seen
the murder with the inner eye Of con
seriousness Instead Of the actual organs
of sight, its revelation had been not less
true. Barclay, the miser, had been kill
ed by men who had discovered or sus-
pected the hiding place of his gold.
Whether fate had avenged their crime
by violence can never be known. but
that they are dead | have no doubt.
The actors in the drama that saw that
night were not men of flesh and blood.
The well was ordered to be cleared
soon after, and skeleton and broken
pointed knife were found there An
item in an old newspaper showed that
Barclay was last seen on the evening
of September 9Th, 1867, seventeen years
to night before vision revealed TO
me the manner Of his death.