Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-03-23
,eseech you, therefore, follow it atten

| began long ago. As you know, John
never recovered from the disaster which
first brought him down in the world. =
| With fresh load of debt thus accumulat-
ing over our heads, our position became
| desperate. How desperate, however, |
scarcely knew until John communicated
to me the wild plot which has ended as
| you see. This was his plan: An addition,
as large as we could afford to pay for. was
to be made to the insurance on his life.
He was then to disappear under circum-
stances which would raise a presumption
of his death, and to make his way secretly
to one of the colonies. / was to prove his
will, obtain the insurance money and join
him as soon as all doubt or suspicion had
blown over. So far, l do not know that
there was anything out of the common in
| the fraud. 1t was in the scheme for sup
| plying fictitious proof of his own death
that my husband displayed such perverse
and horrible ingenuity.
About two years ago, on the death of
my uncle Angus some few of his goods
| and chattels, including various odds and
ends from his surgery, for which no pur-
| chaser could be found at the time. was
sent to US. Among them was-how the
very mention of the thing makes me shud-
| der now Ia human skeleton, which nv
uncle had kept in a case in corner of his
| room ever since he resigned his professor
ship. For this CHASTITY object John con-
ceived an unaccountable fancy, and he had
it taken to his workshop, with view of
studying the construction of the bones.
10 me, however, it was from the first an
object Of unspeakable terror and aversion.
| insisted on his putting it out of the way,
and ultimately it was removed to the
large cellar which runs under the house at
the billiard-room end.
This loathsome thing John now pro-
posed to employ in the preparation of his
fraud. His scheme was to secretly re-
move the skeleton to the room where he
sometimes slept; to set fire to that wing
OF the house, after preparing a confagra-
ton on such scale that the discovery of
nothing but the scorched bones among the
ruins should occasion no surprise and
then to make his escape as I have already
described. Only, in order to facilitate his
escape, it was desirable that | should I'M
dertake the actual firing of the premises.
why did consent you will ask. Think
of what you have heard during the last
few days. At first | refused Indignantly.
Then 1t was that he told me of the worst
danger hanging over him, and showed me
that our choice lay between this, on the
one hand, and on the other ruin, coupled
| with disgrace.
The arrangements having thus been
made, the fatal night arrived. Up to this
point, you will understand, though the
place had been so prepared that, when a
light was once applied the whole wing
would be in flames in a few minutes. the
skeleton still remained in the cellar. For
fear of possible intrusion into the room.
we dared not bring the thing up until the
servants were in bed. l may here remark
that was extremely suspicious of the girl
Gosling, having repeatedly caught her
prying and eavesdropping. We settled,
therefore, that | should bid John good-by
as soon as possible after the girl had gone
to bed. To avoid all possible risk of our
| being observed, he was not to come near
me again. | was to retire to my room he
| to his. He had then nothing to do but to
fetch the skeleton from the cellar, put it in
the appointed place, lock the bedroom
door and make his way out by the billiard
room window. There was another reason
for this. | dared not have gone near the
thing. Already my nerves were at their
utmost tension. To have placed any
further strain upon them would have in
capacitated me for my share in the con-
spiracy. John himself was excited TO
degree which added to my alarm. He had
suffered acute neuralgia during the day.
and told me just before we parted that he
must take desc of morphia before he
completed the work.
II said good-by to him and retired.
listened at my door for the sounds of his
CHASTITY task. But he was very quiet, and
the noise of my own beating heart
drowned all else. Oh, the horrible hours
that followed The haunting sights and
sounds-the visions of the nameless Thing
upon his bed; the incessant terror of acct
dent or intrusion! Amid an infnitv of
fortunes such as these, one, two, three, four
hours dragged slowly by. Then, trembling
and conscience-stricken, l stole down
stairs. After half-a-dozen abortive efforts
l struck match and fired the train. In
a moment-but why prolong the torture :?
You know the rest.
There is my story. What is to be done
for me? If only he knew of my danger.
he could at once save me- But it was
agreed that, for greater security, he should
hold no communication with me for three
months. 1t may be longer. The only
thing fixed for certain was that he should
let me know his whereabouts, and fix the
time and place for me to Join him, by
Christmas next at the latest. Now. say. is
it better to disclose the truth and accept
what must follow, or to keep silence and
face the chances of my present position =?
l must have some one to advise me, or I
can hold my tongue no longer"
On the following morning the Christmas
party at James Stands were lust rising
from breakfast, when a knock was heard at
the door, and a telegram was handed to
the master of the house.
"A telegram on Christmas Day. ex-
claimed Mrs. Shand anxiously. II hope
it is nothing serious"
"See for yourself" replied her husband,
handing her the document, which ran
thus:
Something terrible has happened. Come at
once. CURTIS
There was nothing for it but to go; and,
trains being few and far between on this
particular day, James Shand was in few
minutes on his way to find out what was
the matter. He was accompanied by Mr..
Arthur Dallas, his sister-in-law's intended
husband
The journey to Croydon was slow and
dispiriting; that from Croydon to Wick
stead worse. A dense fog hung over the
country. As the two gentlemen at last
approached the Grange, they saw that the
blinds were drawn down in all the win
| dowS Tho uaparo1 o,,.aot oc Al.