St. Landry democrat., 1892-07-23
RANG THE BELL?

W nv Lou pCHl fOutH III tilo JloN IliNIul
city where the event related by him had
occurred. | will give the history as he
told it to me, only altering the name of
the chief actor i'll the terrible drama and
suppressing that of the town. may
add that this suppression is not, in this
case, the mere trick Of the professional
tictionist. The actual name Of the GRIM
inal and the bare facts of his crime, may
be found in any catalogue of famous
trials. But the man belonged to re-
spectacle family -; relative of hs-in
his day d fashionable litterateur and pop
ular diyine-found it advisable to modify
his own cognomen to veil SO sad con-
nection, and it is possible-nay, prob
able-that some of the line still survive
who might be panied by any public re-
turning of this dark page of their rec
ord.
Therefore, we will give the family
name as Mildon, and their abode as the
populous and gay town Of X.
The leading part in the little drama is
played by one Charles Mildon, fashion
able young gentleman, mixing in respect
able society, Of popular manners and
many accomplishments, but also, unfor-
tunatel y, of extravagant habits, and, it
seems clear, of those darker shades of
vice which frequently upderlie these.
He lived alone i'll quiet, genteel lodg-
ings, where it appears that the character
he maintained was fairly good. If at
times he got into debt, he presently got
out of it, owing to the good offices of an
old bachelor uncle who had repeatedly
come to his rescue; but whose patience,
young Mildon felt was fast wearing out.
This uncle, Mr.. Mildon, ST., inhabited
small house in q lively, well-freQuented
part of the town. He was an elderly man
slightly crippled and otherwise so in
valided that he never left the upper floor
of his abode, where he was served and
attended by faithful old housekeeper,
who had been with him for many years
She and her aged master were the sole
inhabitants of the dwelling.
There came a time-t was rather late
one evening when people passing by
the abode Of Mr. Mild n. ST., became
aware of signals of distress from the
first floor window. Having succeededin
arresting somebody's attention, the old
gentleman, in a very excited manner
proceeded to explain that he felt sure
there was something grievously amiss III
his lower premises, and to request that
assistance should be fetched to his res.
cue, to enter his house and discover the
true state of matters. A curious and
eager crowd soon secured the presence
of the proper functonaries. They pro
ceeded to break open the hall door, think.
Ing, probably, to come upon nothing
worse than an inebriate cook or the de
vastations of a bungling burglar.
But single glance round the interior
changed the aspect of things. Face:
grew pale and solemn, and defensive
missiyes were grasped, the excited crowt
was pressed back, and further help sum
moned.
From mouth to mouth went the grin
whisper: "NIurder.'
liz less than half an hour it was noise(
abroad all over X that q terrible anC
mysterious tragedy mad been enacted ii
| the house of old Mr.. Mildon. His house
| keepers dead body had been found Just
behind the hall door, and farther up tho
passage, at the head Of the kitchen
stairs, lay the corpse of another person
readily identified as respectable ole
body who bad occasionally visited Mr.
Mildon's housekeeper.
1t was only to be expected that thu
old gentleman nephew was speedily OF
the scene. The succor of his aged ant
intrm relative, SO awfully left alone
naturally demanded that.
But young Mr.. Mildon had also some
information to volunteer.
During the afternoon of that day, hi
| had himself visited his uncle. He re-
membered the exact hour Of his arrival
for while awaiting admittance he hac
casually glanced at the clock in neigh
boring steepe. The housekeeper hat
| opened the door as usual. He hat
noticed nothing special about her but
then he had noticed little, going straigh
| up stairs to his uncle With him he
had sat chatting for nearly On hour, dur
ing which time he had observed no un
usual sound in the house. Some sounds
however, he observed, might easily pas:
unnoticed, owing to the roar of traffic il
| the street below.
But he had further to narrate tha
his visit had been brought to prema
ture conclusion, and he thought that thi
might shed some light on the mystery
While he and his uncle had been con
versing, the doorbell had rung violently
His uncle had wondered who the ringer
might be, and they had both listened fol-
| the opening of the door, or, rather, fol-
its closing, as it shut heavily, reverber
ating through the house. They had list
ened in vain, and young MIR. Mildor
thought he would 60 down stairs and SCI
if the summons had been attended TO
He had gone straight to the stree
door, had opened it, only to find no
body! Thinking that the ringer nigh
have retired few PAGES, young Mildor
said he had stepped out into the stree
| and looked to the right hand and to tn,
| left, but in vain. While he was doing
this the hall door had suddenly closed be
hind him. banged as he had then believed
| by a draught of wind. His hat had beel
shut within the house, left, in short, OF
a chair in his uncle's room. He had, h
said, hesitated for moment what h.
should do. He presumed the house
keeper had gone out marketing, possibly
taking advantage of his visit to do s.
without leaving her master alone; there
fore any ringing on his part would be a
futile as the runaway ring had been. ST
he had decided to go quietly and hatles
to his own lodgings, which were, fortu
nately, not far off, intending to return
in the course Of the evening, when tn
housekeeper would have resumed he
post. He had actually been on his wa,
back when the excitement in the stree
apprised him Of the horror which ha,
been enacted in his uncle's house.