Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-12-22

astounded BY my deceit. Still, do not de
! spise me too much. You will find Louise a
good and gentle companion, who will make
you happy. As to the History of Sebeko-
teph, you will be forced to keep silence,
under pain of the bitterest ridicule-unless
you prefer to emulate my example and die
in the midst Of the work, for cannot work
of this magnitude exhaust three savants?''
Dumb surprise fell upon the occupants of
that library. We were minutes in making
even a partial recovery of our speech. and
for awhile our utterances were exclamations
only. Then the letter from Louise's former
husband to her present one was read over
and over, and finally it was freely dis
cussed.
Arthur went again to the cabinet, and
looked it through for any other possible con-
tents. Three letters were found in an OBJ
scure drawer. One was receipted bill and
another was a business note of no conse-
uuence. They were of the same date as to
postmarks, and had evidently been over
looked by Mr.. Bayar1 when he had last
cleared out the cabinet for its odd final use
The third letter was so interesting that it
took our thoughts away from the fraud of
the non-existent manuscripts. It had not
passed through the mail, but the inclosure
bore date corresponding with the other two
envelopes. It was addressed to Mr.. Bayard,
and it ran as follows:
st write this to you because 1 am in fear
of my life. do not know anybody else to
turn to for protection. NY husband means
to murder me. am sure. He is all the
time studying up poisons-kinds that don't
leave any sign on them they kill. Then,
see him often reading about murders-in the
newspapers-and he goes over and over
every case where they don't know who did
the murder, or how. know him well. He
has murder in his heart and he will let it
out on me, sooner or later. Can come and
talk with you about him?"
That was signed by the wife of Josiah
Burnham. What action the recipient had
taken, if any, was not indicated. Probably
he treated it as the idle fears of hysterical
and epileptic woman, for he had carelessly
thrown it aside.
But Arthur Hawsley and I gazed at each
to take the peculiarlV-potent Bible from its
case, and tnrned again to the doubly marked
passage.
That verse had instructed Josiah how to
kill his wife by doing to her what Jael had
done to her victim, We both believed in
stantly that nail had been driven into Mrs.
Burnham's head by her husband.
1t was subsequently, found TO have been so.
The avaricious seoundrel, with the murder
of his ailing and burdensome wife already in
his heart, and the means of perpetrating it
ready in his mind, had been incited immedi-
ately to the deed by his desire to get Mar
tins 81, 900. The deadly nail, concealed by
the victims hair, would never have been
discovered except for the remarkable circum-
stances which have been narrated here.
The next day police inspector, whom we
informed of our discovery, went to Josiah's
house and found him seated alone at the
supper table. The official placed his finger
on the murderer and said, without circnm-
locution:
''You murdered your wife"
The wretch began to tremble, his teeth
chartered. and he gasped ont
eyes, yesl Heaven is avenging her. The
book-the book-I am choking" and he
fell back dead, struck by apoplexy.
Shadowed blackly as was that third
Christmas at Hawsley's, it still was marked
by gifts of happiness. To Arthur and
Louise it was given to be, as they had not
been year before, content and true with
each other.
To Mary Welles it brought Martin JEFF
fries thousand dollars multiplied by three,
for in Josiah's effects was found will be-
queathing all his property to her. The man
left no blood relatives and why should he
not make reparation after he was done with
the plunder?
THE ENDl