Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-06-29

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1 then left the room, and closed and locket
the doc behind me.
Everything seemed plain enough now, i
one were only willing to leap at conclusions
| but the trouble was that there were severa
items that disturbed me, and would be thu
better for explanation. 1t is a maxim o
mine that nothing is gained by haste, ant
that quick ending is generally a very un
satisfactory ending. / now began to see 8
case where wheels were working withir
wheels, where large crimes and small crime,
were mingled together in tempting but an
moving comparison. A hastv step or action
were now worse than mistake; 1T was
nothing worse than disaster. There mus
be some guiding thread through this maze
thread which I must discover. And il
came soon enough, sooner than expected
or even hoped. But it is more frequently
accident than design which leads to success,
and conquest is not SO much wisdom as op-
portunity.
Once more in the open air, breathed
freely. and walked onward with brisk
strides. Glancing back, 1 saw Miss lone
Grande standing on the end of the veranda
facing me, at the back of the house. She
recognized me and bowed, and although
somewhat annoyed at being seen, gal
lantly took off my hat and returned the
salute. then continued my journey, but
now plunged down to the shore and walked
onward. When was behind the shelter OF
a high rock, paused and drew the dagger
out of my pocket. The ornamental metal
case did not interest me, and so 1 drew out
the blade and studied it. The end of the
polished mesal was stained; yes, and stained
with blood. A few fragments OF the dried
clotted stuff dropped into my hand
did not return TO DR.. Brandt's cottage
until the dinner hour, when he again treated
me to the most tempting repast. The spray
of goldenrod that had seen in the morn
ing in the window still remained there,
showing that the doctor did not share the
little Ione's anxiety. I was more chary of
drinking wine on this evening, for believe
it was drugged for the kind purpose of put
ting me into a sound sleep, as on the even
ing before, although then it had only mud
died me. Not to arouse the Doctors sus-
picion I pretended to drink 1t, but the
handkerchief, large red one, with which 1
wiped my mouth, received the larger portion
of my share. If DR.. Brandt was cunning,
Lecoq Fox could give him points and still
win.
I retired to my room that night, but not
to bed. 1 sat down and patiently pieced to-
gether the fragments of letters that had
found in the waste basket in the man
Durand's house. With one exception,
there is no need Of literally transcribing
them; they simply re-enforced facts already
known. There were three touching letters
from Ella Constant to her indifferent lover;
letters that almost moved a world-toughened
man like am to tears; letters pleading for
love or death, written with the life blood
of an agonized lover. If at that moment
my fingers had been on the man Durand's
~, L., ,ol
some labor. There were five letters from
Amelia Glaye; the letters of a furiously
jealous woman. She had evidently taken
possession OF Durand, and, tigress like, was
guarding him. The letters fairly foamed
with love and Jealousy, and 1
was staggered to believe they had been
written by the placid matron who had
allowed me to question her in her room.
They might rather have been written by a
maniac. If Durand was the moral coward
he confessed himself to be, he must have
had pretty bad time of it in the clutches
of this mature tigress; slavery would have
been a luxury to the position he held. In
one of the letters were these words: "Come
to mel If you dare to see that vile woman
woman again, will murder you and her.
You have lied to me, and you will lie to
me again, but look out. If am insane, as
her. Insane people are not responsible for
their crimes. Come, then, and lie to me.
and while looking at you I will believe
you and be happy. You are mine now, and
nothing shall tear you from me-"
The good lady was evidently in earnest
and Durand must have felt that the money
that would come to her on her marriage
would not pay for the wounds her claws
and teeth inflicted.
The following brief letter is quoted in
full. 1t was written in a woman's disguised
hand, and demonstrably on the day after
the murder was committed:
Put wings on your coward feet and fly, or
your coward soul will rust in. Jail. Flyi it
not for your own sake, for the sake of 9TH
ers. Look into your heart for the reason,
and, if you can discover none, remain and
tempt all. Murder calls aloud for revenge
Take the warning you do not
deserve and fly"
gulsed hand, but I saw no reason to doubt
re-en forced an old thought of mine that she
had witnessed the murder, if she had not
in it. Woman-like she still
loved the wretch, and love, as usual, made
her lose her wits.
The patching together of these fragments
took me into the early morning hours.
Nothing of a suspicious nature occurred in
the house up to this point so far as knew.
The doctors snore from a neigh ghboring room
had saluted me uninterruptedly for several
hours, and when tagged out 1 jumped into
bed it was still vibrating through the house.
slept like top until the morning sun
blazed into my eyes with its welcome light.
[ raised myself into sitting position, and
was dazed at discovering I was still sur
rounded by darkness. Through the window
| saw the stars still shining in the pale sky,
and the chill night air set my teeth chatter |
ing. was walked by the light, and 1 had
not dreamed. 1 assured myself that nv
door was still locked, and that nobody was |
in my room but myself. While was puz-
zling myself over the matter another fash |
Of light came into my room, followed by a |
small stone flung against the window
pane. I then remembered these were the
signals agreed on in case Policeman
Blind needed me in the night. quietly
dressed myself, all but my shoes, which I
carried in my hands. 1 listened for a mo-
nent; the doctor was still snoring. l raised
nv window, stepped out on the veranda
roof, closed the window behind me, and
climbing down the trellis work soon stood
IN the solid ground beside my assistant.
BLOW out your lantern, Blind. and tell me
briefly what you have to tell while I am
putting on my Shoes"
"She has left the hotel. I mean Mrs.
ilave, and she is wandering about the
ields. She first went to the blackberry
pushes where the body was found, and then
% the deserted old house by the pond, where
lett her to run to you. She's got lighted
,andle and is poking around the place as if
'he is looking for something. You can see
he light from here"