Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1891-01-16

tragedy, over which the reporter fondly
fingered He had gone to his office, so it
was stated, on the evening previous with
the design of making up some arrears of
correspondence. In tossing the papers In
his desk about he had come upon re-
volver, which he had picked up and started
to load Through some carelessness on
his part the weapon was fired while pointed
at his breast and the shot had proved NOR
tai The report was heard by several per-
sons in the building, and forcing the door
they found tableau which told the entire
story as plainly rs though each act had
been witnessed and recorded On the desk
were letters laid out to be answered.
Drawers were open and papers scattered
about, showing that he had been in search
of some document when he happened upon
the weapon In the center of the desk was
a box of cartridges and the pistol ramrod
and cleaner, and near the feet of the dead
man lay the weapon, four chambers empty,
one loaded and one filled with n shell.
The discovery was made at IL o'clock in
the evening
When he reached the end of the nara
tive Mostyn laid down the paper and stared
at the wall. He was dazed for the moment
and could not make an effort to accommo-
date the facts that he had just read with
what he had known before. At last it be-
came clear to him. for one thing, that Red
stock was dead, and he heaved long sigh
of relief
That danger was passed
Was it an accidents he asked himself;
or was it not more likely a suicide, with
this arrangement of things about the desk
cunningly designed for the purpose of
throwing off suspicion? Well, what did it
matter? Mostyn's secret was safe.
Safe" he muttered; "safe-yes-but
hold-the people at the house-they heard
him cry out to me from the street-must
have heard it-why, that can't be-let me
sell o'clock?-but it was 3 O'Clock when
he called to me-dead at Ill know it was
3-yes, and later it was 5-the second time
-impossible-there is some mistake-the
paper is wrong-no, | am wrong-but |
certainly heard it's o'clock-11 o'clock
why, that is five hours-yes, five hours"
Repeating it over and over did not make
it any clearer In the end the only conclu-
sion which Mostyn reached was that some
thing was wrong-and this meant nothing
at all
AS he was ostensibly one of the nearest
friends of the dead man, it was natural
| that he should make inquiries about the
accident. a small amount of investiga-
ton satisfied him, beyond all doubt, that
Basil Redstock had shot himself intention
ally, and also that he was dead by II
| O'Clock in the evening
But that was before l went to bed,"
thought Mostyn.
That evening he expected to hear his fell
low boarders refer to the strange noises of
the night before; but no one spoke of them.
| Then Mostyn himself told about drunken
man who was crying out in front of the
house-about 3 O'Clock in the morning and
surprise was manifested by his listeners.
! None of them had heard a sound.
Having had no sleep in thirty-six hours
Edgar MOstyn was inclined TO retire early.
He went To his room at o'clock and as a
| preliminary of undressing took the revolv.
er out of his pocket and put it away in the
desk The act brought back to his mind
the singular half dreams of the previous
night, when he had repeatedly seen him
self shot and felt himself falling. After
he got into bed, in the dark and stiffness
the weird and awful panorama began once
more to " hirl past his tightly closed eyes
In vain he tried to drive it away. There
was always the same scene-varying in de
tails, bur unchanged in the principal ele
mcnts-l'asil Redstock aiming the weapon
firing, and MOstyn falling.
At last, in spite of 1t all, he was becOm
ing drow,y, and almost ready to sleep.
"Mostyn! Coward! Come out and be
shot,
There it was again.-loud and clear, al
most shrek. 1t came from the middl,
of the street and was the voice-yes, plain
ly the voice-of Basil Redstock. Why, h,
was deadl But this was his voice. What
did it mean? A dream? A hoax? Or mad
ness?
Before Mostyn knew what he did h,
stood by the window looking into tn,
street. There was no one to be seen. H,
shivered and turned back toward the bed
room.
Then he heard a noise of talking in tn,
hall just outside his door. Plainly th
time the cry had reused the house, and 1t
hurriedly slipped on a dressing gown to b.
ready should any one enter the room
No one came. Presently he opened tn
door and looked out. Two men stood a
the front end of the hall in the large ba,
window which overhung the street, The,
were fellow dodgers of Mostyn, and the,
were conversng with apparent unconcern
did you hear u" asked Mostyn.
Hear WHAT" said one of the men.
"The-the crazy man yelling in tn
street.
Not "A sound
"How long have you been standing heres
"Ten-fifteen minutes"
Mostyn noticed that one of the window
was open. How was it possible that tn
cry should have penetrated to his bed
room, to rouse him-half asleep-and We
be unnoticed by these men standing b
the open window?
AS he turned this question over in hi
mind, gazing in dumb wonder at the ma
who had last spoken, the words came agai
to his startled ears, this time in wild an
terrible yell;
"Mostynl Coward Come out and
shot!''
1t was such cry MS might have belche
from the jaws of some fierce animal tina
had acquired the power of speech.
seemed to echo and re-echo through all tn
/, house, making the windows rattle and tn
doors shake, and Mostyn listened for a
answering uproar. He looked to see tn
men at the window turn upon him wit
horror in their faces, and demand to knov
7 what it meant
n,,t l,a % ~ L., 4; 10