Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1889-12-18
with the case. He was perfectly sane

with the case. He was perfectly sane
and in good health, and no conceivable
reason could be imagined Tor his COM
uniting suicide. #
ale may have been murdered, of
course" thought Sir Toby, but this res
olution seemed comn onplace-" there
may bea woman in the case. Begad, [
believe he is alive. at any rate. He
may have disappeared out Of pure ca
price-found his responsibilities too
troublesome; or perhaps be wanted to
spite somebody" This last notion
seemed to interest Sir Tohy-it was.
really original that man should disap-
pear for such motive He pondered
deeply for several minutes, and then
he said to himself quite slowly and de-
liberately: He may have bolted to
spite his heir !" And then Sir Toby
chucked. "a lovely ideal he contin-
ued. "Old Brown must have an heir
everybody has, or nearly everybody.
Brown disappears-delieh OF heir-long
Thames-much decom posed-but ssily
identified as that of BIs Wns by servants
in pay of heir--heir ias es possession of
property -has splendid time for few
weeks, when behold Brown redivivus-
Brown alive and we'll promptly kicks
out the heir, and declines al RESPONSE
bility for his debts What splendid
situation Wonder how my dear
nephew would like it I'd give $1,000
to see him" And Sir Toby burst into
harsh, unpleasant laughter, end posi-
lively rolled about in his chair with
ghoulish merriment The idea pleased
him SO much that he sat up good two
hours later than usual. and when at last
l l. L, \
termination tC carry out his extraordin
airy scfem and to execute d vengeance
upon Jack Bunskin, the ingenuity Of
which should only be exceeded by its
completeness.
Upon Sir Toby's preparations it is un-
necessary to dwell. He contrived to
possess himself without suspicion of
several thousand pounds in ready
money, for he had no idea of being LETT
penniless during an absence that might
be prolonged He had to make up his
mind as to what country he should Sc
lect for the scene of his adventures,
and, after much elaboration, he fixed
upon America, with view of enjoying
some wild sport in the Rocky Noun
tains and elsewhere; he also had to in
vent sufficiently trustworthy disguise
Tor himself, and to lay in stock of
der to accentuate the change in his APP
pearance.
Now, Sir Toby was a smart, dapper
man, who dyed his hair black and
shaved clean his face, so he argued that
if be bought red wig and beard they
would effectually disguise him until
his own beard and moustache had had
time to grow. When this happened he
would exhibit his undyed hair to the
pubic, and with white head, a grizzly
beard and moustache anu pair of
spectacles instead of his eyeglass, he
felt sure that he could defy reco gnition.
The mere question of getting away was
simple, the main difficulty, of course,
being how to furnish Jack with proofs
of his death Strong enough to enable
him to take possession of his inherit
ance. But Sir Toby knew that queer
things could be done in America, and
once there he thought he could easily
arrange by bribery that the body of
some unknown traveller should be iden-
titled rs that of Sir Toby Bunskin, Bart.
Mindful of this necessity he armed him
self with a pocketbook containing pa
pers calculsted to place the identity of
the person carrying them beyond rea-
sonable doubt. He also destroyed ev-
cry will that he had ever made, for he
wished his nephew to inherit as much
as possible. "Ihe greater the rise, J"
he chuckled, ''the greater the fall Up
like rocket, Jack, my boy, and down
like stick p'
When all these preparations were
Fallowland one day and did not return
to it, His ostensible destination was
the house In Grosvenor Square, but he
passed the night at hotel and started
Tor Liverpool. In his red wig and
aueerly-cut clothes his own valet would
not have recognized him. At Liver
pool he took steerage passage for New
York, for he was a man who rather
liked 'sroughing it" than otherwise,
and once on the voyage, he began to
feel that half his plan was accomplished.
But the question as to how he was to
prove his own death bothered
him considerably. The ship had not,
however, been a day at sea before q
most remarkable and fortunate circum-
stance occurred. Sir Toby was a light
sleeper, and was not very much at
home in his uncomfortable quarters, go
the first night after leaving Queens
town he paced the deck for several
hours. In the course of his nocturnal
ramble he kept meeting man whom
he could not help noticing from the
very fact that he seemed desperately
anxious to avoid his, Sir Toby's, obser-
walton. Some thief or forger boiling"
thought Sir Toby and he kept his eyes
on the man from idle curiosity, and
gradually tell to lodging about the
deck and watched him closely. Pres
emily the man, when he thought him
self unobserved, did a very strange
thing: he took off his coat and laid it
carefully on the deck. Then he glanced
hurriedly round, mounted the bulwarks
and leaped into the sea. One Of the
ships officers just caught sight of him
as he disappeared. An alarm was
quickly raised, and the engines were
reversed. No one had time to notice or
to think Of the coat, but Sir Toby always
prided himself on his presence of mind.
Instantly he seized it, tore off his
own coat, which contained the
pocketbook and the papers, laid it
down on the deck, and put on the coat
left behind by the suicide. 1t was a
master-stroke, a veritable inspiration,
and Sir Toby retired TO his berth know
ing that the odds were at least one hun