Middletown transcript., 1891-10-15

II
cause this town depresses me. I have
been here twice in my life before, and
when I connect the experiences of the
first visit with those of the. second, il
makes me shiver; it saturates me
with an uncanny feeling. to avoid
which is quite to my taste"
"Then let us stay where we are, "
said I. "There is no use of splitting
up the party, and, after all, it is better
to sleep over damp sheets than under
them"
That has been my idea all along"
said g aCaddy," whose way il was
never to be on the wrong side of any
thing. "Only I think that Valentine
ought to be compelled to tell US the
mysterious tale connected with this
place that turns him into an icicle
every time he thinks of it-that un-
cans him, if may be allowed the ex-
preston. He has aroused my curl
osity to concert pitch. and unless I
hear the whole Of the incident OF
which he speaks, / shall not be able
to sleep; and, as you all know. when
/ cant sleep, / whistle"
:" In selfdefense, then," Valentine
replied, II shall Lave to tell you the
whole story
"Caddy" Immediately selected the
sottest spot he could on the deck, the
rest Of us lit our pipes, and Valentine
began
"There may be something in my
experience or there may not, just as
you choose to regard it." he said. sit
has bothered me considerably. and
has had more or less to do with my
'age,' as Caddy ; is pleased to call
it,
It is just five years since | first
visited this town. / was then a re-
porter on the Evening Star; and had
a special knack, which stood me in
good financial stead, for reporting
mysterious murders. Every. possible
murder assignment was given to me
by Barnett, who was the Stars city
editor at that time. As you may all
remember, it was in 1879, that the
famous Mary Martin murder occur
red. Her body was found in an old
deserted mill two or three miles from
this town, which was then about half
its present size and Importance.
There was every evidence that it was
case of murder and not suicide.
The woman's limbs were securely
bound together, weight was tied to
her body, and her throat had been
cut from ear to cal"
"You had nothing to do with it l
hope?" murmured "Caddy." g If
you did, I'm bound to go ashore"
" My connection with the case was
purely reportorial," returned Valen-
tine. :" / came here in obedience to
my assignment, an entire stranger co
the place, never having even heard Of
it before, and yet when I arrived |
seemed to recognize my surroundings.
When I left the railway station to
walk to the hotel I was singularly at
home on the road. Everything about
me seemed familiar, and although l
did not even know the name of the
hotel or the street ON which it stood,
I did not find it necessary to inquire
the way, but walked there without
deviating one inch from the proper
path and it was not path entirely
free from complications either. On
the way I passed several persons un-
known to me, who yet appeared not
entirely as strangers. was conscious
of names. seemed to myself to have
seen these people before, in spite of
the fact that it was absolutely impos-
sible for me to have done so all of
which I then put down as to instinct
peculiar to the true newspaper re-
porter.
81 passed the night in the hotel,
but could not sleep Why, I cannot
say. Ionly know that my. mind was
filled with a constant food of fancies,
in which the people I had met during
the afternoon, grown younger, played
an important part, and every part
had for its stage setting some bit 0.
woodland or other scene In this vicin-,
ity.
"At six o'clock the following
morning I rose up from my bed and
set out for walk before breakfast.
Everything was still strangely famil-
lar to me. passed, on my way
around the town, Old farm houses
whose windows my fancy. 'iiled with
children and women and men whom !,
to my knowledge, had never before
seen, and yet who seemed to know me
and whom in turn seemed to recog-
nize, and whom l saluted. I found
myself raising my hat and addressing
by name the farmers and their wives,
knowing all the time that they exist
ed only in my Imagination. In fact,
so vivid were my impressions, and yet
so certain was that they we're only
and not realities, that I
began to fear that the dire hour
prophesied by my physician, in which
| was to be prostrated through over
work, had arrived. To struggler
whose income depended entirely upon
actual production of copy this was a
serious matter but it was no time to
give up. right in the middle of an as.
signment as l was, and SO | stuck it
put. The results of my sticking it
we're valuable to the cause of Justice,
and in no way detrimental to me,
'ave in the matter of comfort.
" After breakfast / set out for and
found the mill within whose walls the
murder had taken place, and whittier
had gone the detectives in whose
hands the few clews there were to the
had been placed. The coun-
Try had been secured for traces of the
criminal without avail, when sudden-
y there came to me, how or why ! do
not know, prompting to speak, and
with no control over my speech what
sver, did speak, and what I said