The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-01-05
|GHE GREAT MILL STREET MYSTERY.
-ADElIIN E MT
jacobs "RoYs "r-
FALSE PREEYCEs, Ere O-N
CALL RIGHTS RESERVED

II me that have been a-dodgin' of him
you Know, sir. He's made for MiIl streel
Ihree times, and each time he's sean ms
ana turned straight round again. Pm moi
80 easy to hide as some folks" said Dick
cneerIuiIy, owing to tine queer shape OF
my oack and legs; but folio wed him up as
I0hg as L could, and when he did give ms
the ship at last, l saw you and I thought
you'd come along and help."
certainly, Dick. It's pity can't see
isn't 1t! We're a sad pair Of cripples. both
OF US. But l can't held hoping that Stephen
mas not come here at all, and that in .tead
Oh being. as you thirk, at No. 20. he has
| gone straight home to his bed
I'm pretty sure that saw him turn the
| corner o. Baldwin's Market said Dick
positively, land If he came down that wav
ne must come through Mill street, and he'd
never go past No. 20 Mill street. if he
thought as how jess was there. That there
JeSs-I wish she was hung on a gallows.
uo-she's ha' been the ruin of Steyen
Poor Stephenl-and poor .Jessl" sighed
the parSon. II don't think she's bad girl.
Dick So -
Then l never saw a bad 'un," said Dick
Sharply; and for moment or two the con-
versation came to pause.
Then the clergyman-whose name. nv
the-bve, was Francis Helmont-spokea again
is to be found?"
Nobody, sir"
"Nobody?n
Its an empty house. That's the queer
part OF it, sir. Look 'ere-you remember
Mill street well enough, don't YOUR
II remember 1t well. II is a lost place. q
God, forsaken place"
There's pickle factory in it, amt therel
Wei, nobody works III it nov; it is always
empty and mostly open, and they saw
tramps sleep no there among a lot o.
broken boxes and machinery and things.
Well, next to that is the three houses that
got turned out little while ago by the in-
spectors and Scripture-readerS and people.
and they're all empty too. And No 20 is
the one next to the pickle factory"
And you think Jess is there?"
BLACK Sal said so. And the gentleman
with her. "
That is impossible" said Mr.. Helmont.
with a sharp ring of pain in his voice.
line gentleman-if you are thinking of the
one [ mean--n
The one you brought here The artist
chap that painted Jess picture"
he is abroad-ln Egypt, l believe. He
cannot be beren
BLACK Sal said it was him." muttere1
Dick. And it's him Steve wants to see.
And if they gets together it's my belief
therell be murder done"
1--WE must 60 upstairs at once" said the
clergyman, hastily. "Show me the place:
we will go up together. IF they are there,
we may still be in time"
But Dick held back.
"We can't do any good if Steve is I'D
there already" he said, gruffiy. ''But what
L think is that he hasn't gone into the house
at all-yet. He's lurking about somewhere
And thought that if you could catch him
before he went into the house, 'twould be a
good thing, that's ALL"
"But wnat if he is there noww
"We should have heard him by this time
if he'd been there" said Dick, with a dark
suggestiveness of tone which made the par
son vince.
10, if I'd but my eyes" he said to him
self, as the sense Of his own powerlessness
made itself felt. ''If l could but see as well
as hearl ALI what was thatY
His quick ear bad caught the sound made
by an opening window
sits a woman" said Dick, in the whisper
of suppressed excitement. II see the shad-
ders on the blind. The light is brighter in
the room now; there's white blind so one
can see--Look! look!" he cried, clutching at
Mr.. Helmont's arm with his long bony
fingers, and forgetting that the man wnom
he addressed was blind, ''look she's strug-
Cling and fighting with some one-are there
TWO people or three? One wants to get to
the window and. the other won't let him.
that's what it is. Look outthele! look out.
mate you'll falll'
Lead me 10 the door; let me 90 in for
Gods sake~ cried the clergyman. Don't
hesitate, bOy-rouse the neighborhood-
quick! quick! Help! Murder! Help, l
say"
He raised his voice in stentorian tones.
hoping to bring succor to those in need; but
tbs cry of murder" was familiar one in
Mill street. 1t was raised too often by
drunken men and women Keeling home from
the public house. to excite much attention
nov.
No one stirred in the houses near; no police
man was in sight; no one came TO aid.
Dick broke away from Mr.. Helmont's arm.
81 shall go up" be painted; and darling
across the road he pushed open door
which had been left ajar, aud hobbled as
fast as his legs would carry him up the
stairs. The parson, Francis Helmont, was
left alone ! the middle of the snow-covered
street. Above him was the sound of
scufflo, of struggles, of cries, of blows but
he could see nothing and do nothing-he
could only listen What was going on he
could but dimly guess.
His position was a strange and terrible
one. The gentleman" of whom Dick had
spoken as Jess lover, the man whom
Stephen Eyre had vowed to punish, had
once been Helmont's dearest friend Hell
mont had firmly believed, up to that mo-
ment, that this man was away in foreign
land. far out of his eaemy's reach. But, if
Dicks informant had not been mlstake1-
il HelmJnts old friend George Eastwood,
the man who had wronged Stephen Eyre
by taking away from him and running the
woman tuat Eyre had loved, were now in
that empty house with poor Jess Arm strong
and Stephen Eyre; if Eyre's long planned
vengeance were about to be fulfilled-then,
what could the blind man do? He could not
see; he could not act; he must wait until
more help came. And in the meantime he
redoubled his cries; and up above his head
the terrible, mysterious strife went on.
Could Helmont have seen, ie would at
last have beheld the top window of that
silent house pushed widely open, while two
or perhaps three-persons struggled vlo-
lently together at the sill. There was an
iroa bar across the center. This was at
last forcibly torn asunder, and then-then
came the catastrophe. One of the persons
stru gglng-a man-lost his balance, and
fell out.
He chung for a moment or two to the
window-sill, frantically struggling, but not
calling for help. There was an iastant's
curious stiffness. Then some ones hand
Gods eve and that of the man himself only
saw to whom that hand Lelonged-pushed
his straining fingers from the window
ledge. In another moment there was h)r-
rible sickening thud, as the victims body
dropped helples5ly upon tho snow-covered
pavement underneath. And strange cry,