Mexico weekly ledger., 1891-09-17

Bracing-his feet against some fragments
| Of wreck, he grasped the body round the
! waist and dragged it from its position.
It was, as he had surmised, that of the
young man in whom he had fancied a
resemblance to himself.
He had been killed by a mass of metal,
which had struck him in the face, crush
ing in the features and the front of the
brain. Except that the countenance
was thus rendered utterly unrecogniz-
able. the body seemed uninjured. Keppel
chuckled. "You have died to save me-"
he said, tat the right moment and in the
right way. May your soul have peace,
brother"
As quickly as possible he removed
the dead mans coat and w~aistcoat
and exchanged them for his own,
putting the latter upon the corpse.
Then, drawing the ifeless arm into
a suitable position, he passed the
free handcuff round the wrist and sprung
the lock. The body was now chained to
that of the dead detective. "You must
submit to be mistaken for a murderer,
my good fellow" he muttered. "You
will never know it; and, besides, l am
innocant-if that is any consolation to
you. So now-goodby!"
Clamberins out Of the wreck, he stood
upon the track beside the shattered
train. He could vaguely see people nov
ing about or standing in groups. The
noise Of escaping steam had ceased, but
the groans Of the wounded and dying
passengers could still be heard intermit-
tentiy. A figure approached him carry
ing o lantern. 1t was one Of the brake
men.
"Are you hurt, sirT?' he said, ~pausing.
"Only a few bruises" replied Keppel.
"But l believe most Of the others in Il
car were killed. And, by the way. there
was n odd thing
"What vas that, sirY"
~Why, there was a prisoner aboard
he was handcufed to an oficer-they
were taking him to Sing Sing, l suppose."
"Why, that was the fellow that killed
/ Harry Trent! What became of himS'
Il was sitting in the seat next him.
He's lying there stone dead, and the de-
tective's with him. His life imprison-
ment didn't last long"
dead, is her said the brakeman.
"Well, if I was he, I'd rather be killed
in a moment in a railway accident than
live fifty years in a prison. Some said.
though, that he new murdered Trent.
But l guess he got his deserts"
mo doubt of it Well, good night. !
shall walk on to T~arytown."
"Good night, SIR"
Keppel stepped of up the track. He
had no settled plan Of flight, but 80 long
as he did not meet any n who knew
him he felt little Or no apprehension. In
the belief of the world, tomorrow morn
ing he would be dead; his obituary would
be read In the papers by millions of peo-
pie. Nevertheless, it behooved him to
keep out of sight, and as soon as might
be, to make whatever changes were pos
sible In his personal appearance. He
would cut his hair-he might be able to
bleachit, perhaps-he would let his beard
grow. He must move out Of the country
too; if he could contrive to get to Europe
SO much the better. He must take ar
other name, and look forward to a life
under totally changed conditions. A
new life, q lonely life. Henceforth all
his old friends and acquaintance were
his deadliest enemies. All but one! Olym-
| pia had said that she believed in him.
that she loved him and would marry
none but him. Aye, but she, with the
rest Of the world, would think of
him as dead. Death obliterates all things
memory and love and the rest. But
what if he should send her a secret mes
sage or sign informing her of his safety?
He paused In his walk to reflect. No, it
would not do, as the message might mis-
carry; and, If not, what avail to write to
her? She could not come to him. They
could not get married and go off togeth-
er. To know chat he was alive might
give her happiness for a moment, but in
the long run it could only make her mis-
cradle. Moreover, money would be in
d~ispensable, and where was it to come
from? He might still paint pictures, it
was true, but it would not be safe to do
80 In this country; and as to Europe
It was better to select some other pro-
fession. Yet what profession could bring
the immediate returns that were neces-
sary7 Robbery was the only one, and
there were objections to that! How was
he to procure the means of buying his
next meal?
A sudden thought caused him to
search the pockets Of his coat and waist
coat-the garments which he had taken
from the dead man.
There were papers and letters, and in
the right hand pocket of the waistcoat
there was q small roll Of bills-four or
five in all. 1t was too dark to discern
the denominations, but there could not
be less than five dollars. It was enough
for the present; and indeed Keppel,
who still had some traditions of con-
science left, was glad it was not more.
Nobody could feel the loss Of 30 small a
sum, andit was Of dispoportionate value
&c Koppel himself.
He now left the track and turned off
to the eastward. The rain gradually
cleared and the stars came out. Guild
ing himself by them, Keppel walked on
and on, nov clambering yer steep &C
chvities, now p~lunging into hollows,
now toiling over plowed meadows, fore
ing his way through bits Of woodland,
stealing past farm houses, where dogs
barfed and cocks crowed, but occasion
ally coming upon a stretch Of road that
went his way. Presently the short night
wore away and dawn began to appear.
Keppel hailed and spent half an hour in
removing the stains of mud from his
clothing and making himself look as pre-
sentable rs possible. His left arm panied
him severely. bat he thought himself
lucky IN having no bones broken. III
one Of his new pockets he found a PEN
knife, and with this, as well as he could,
he cut his hair short. In q couple of
weeks his beard would have begun to
grow, and he would be tolerably dis
guised
He now proceeded slowly, for he was
very tired, and also sleepy and hungry.
He had walked more than twenty miles.
At length, as the sun rose, he saw, half
q mile of, a railway cutting extending
toward q small town. Thither he
directed his steps, but fingered on the
outskirts for an hour or two until the
to~wnspeople should be awake. Finally
he heard q train coming, and managed
to reach the station at the same time
that the engine drew up at the platform.
Then, as 1t steamed away again, he
walked into the town, as If Just arrived
from New York, and seeing Q plain but
comfortable looking inn neal at hand,
he mkarpd and askod sor n ro,r, ,n1