San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1891-12-19
WITNESSED A TRAGEDY.

wv unSbuNSuliO4ldl III MS ltedS,
de is. however, very good company
and have passed good many evenings
with him over a pipe, and will acGuit
him of ever having bored me.
went to his lodgings with him few
nights ago from the club, and soon found
myself seated in an armchair by the fire.
side, with a pipe in my mouth and a
glass Of NEST excellent whisky and water
beside me. We talked of many things,
Ill at length, forget how. the CONVEX
sation turned on murders and murderers
Some time previous London, and in
deed the whole country, had been ap-
palled by a series of CHASTITY murders
all apparently committed by the same
hand, though in no case was clew af-
forded by which the murderer might be
discovered.
Menken explained theory of his own
on the subject, as novel as it was start
ling, when the subject turned to cir
cumstantial evidence and its value
After ALL" said, lin ninety-nine
murders ont of hundred circumstantial
evidence and motive are the only helps
TO conviction. No one in his senses COM
mits murder if there is any one look
ing on.
No" said Menken slowly, people
prefer doing these things in private, if
possible But sometimes they are not
aware that there are witnesses"
He paused and filed his pipe.
1t Is not every one" he went on,
"who has been Il secret witness of a muir
der, but have"
"You?" exclaimed
Mcnken nodded.
Was he convicted and hanged?"
asked.
at wasn't a he, but She" said
Menken smiling. "And She was not
convicted and hanged, or even tried"
But surely you was beginning
when MenkeE broke in.
my dear fellow, nothing | could have
said could have convicted the woman
1t was a very odd case altogether; one
OF the most ingenious things ever heard
OF. will tell you the story, if you like.
IT viii be simpler than you getting il
out of me by cross examination
About four years ago Twas travelling
IN Switzerland. In the course of nv
rambles | reached Tauserwald. | was
much taken with the place; the scenery
was superb, the hotel old fashioned but
delightfully."- comfortable.
There were several people staying
there besides myself, but as | am gre
garious sort of fellow, was rather glad
of it. After | had been there about a
fortnight, on entering the dining room
for dinner | noticed some new arrivals. |
Among them was party of three Eng
hsh-an old gentleman, his young wife. |
and daughter Of the old gentlemans |
by former marriage. The daughter, |
poor girl, was blind. She was about |
twenty, and looked delicate. cannot |
say she was pretty, but yet she was not |
unpleasing. The old boy, her father. !!
was just like other English gentlemen
You see about.
1.-The wife was decidedly pretty; she |
was about eight and twenty, fair. with |
gray eyes and most undeniable figure. |
They seemed to be well off. but they did |
not hold much intercourse with the rest |
of the inmates of the hotel
you know rather pride myself on |
my powers of observation. Though | |
made no sort of acquaintance with the |
party, used to watch them and study |
them, as | do all my fellow creatures
whom | come across.
81 was not long in finding out three
facts First, that the old gentleman was
madly fond of his wife AMI Indifferent |
to his daughter; secondly, that the
daughter adored her father and did not |
like his wife: thirdly. that the wife hated |
them both.
81 was all the more pleased with my
perception of these facts, inaslnuch as no |
one else in the hotel had the least idea of |
the situation. Outwardly there was
perfect harmony in the trio
"One morning, after the party had been |
in the hotel about a week, the old gentle |
man did not appear as usual at breakfast,
and in reply to inquiries his wife said |
that he was not feeling we'll In the
course of the day the doctor-an English
man, by the way-was sent for, and in |
the evening the landlord, who was as
angry with the old man as if he had got |
his illness on purpose, told me confiden-
TALLY, with tears of rage, that the old |
gentleman had been pronounced by the |
doctor to be i'll of gastric fever, and that |
the case was serious. The landlords
anxiety was not without reason. The
fact could not be concealed, and the Wis
itors began to leave in haste. Only a |
few besides me remained. am not
in the least nervous about illness, and I |
had no intention of leaving the place for |