St. Landry democrat., 1892-07-23


was certainly important. 1t opened up
two or three matters:
Had the housekeeper really been ab-
sent from the house at the time OF the
runaway ring?
If not, what had been the hindrance
to her answering it?
Young Mr.. Mildon was asked why he
had net called her, instead of answering
the door himself? Was it because he
had thought it likely she was out? lie
answered at once that he had not thought
about it. The bell had rung and it
had been neglected II" had gone to
the door simply as the most direct and
natural thing.
Another question wcs, "Nho rang the
bell?'
Was this mysterious runaway the same
who subsequently returned and commit
ted the dreadful crime? Had his heart
failed him on the first occasion: Or had
he gained an inkling that the house ust
then had a stalwart guest as well as ITS
usual feeble and aged occupants: lie
himself had not approached any of the
windows during his visit His uncle had
sat in his accustomed chair by the win
dow; q watcher outside might have OBJ
served the old gentleman turn to speak
to somebody in the room. But there had
certainly been nothing to show that this
interIocutor was other than the old ser
want.
Mr. Mildon, the uncle, confirmed his
nephew in every respect, There was
f,1J,,,t. bo& tho chair whprtI
he had left it. The old gentleman had
little to add. After his nephew had
left him to attend to the ringing
bell he had heard the street door slam
sharply, and, looking from the window,
had seen his nephew go off, bareheaded,
and had guessed accurately enough at
the apparent state of matters. He had
returned to his newspaper reading and
had not troubled himself further for some
time. Then it occurred to him that his
housekeeper was late in bringing up his
tea and he had rung his bell-had runs
it again and again, with as little effect
as the runaway ring had produced. At
last he had managed to hobble out of his
room and as far as his stairhead, whence,
looking over the banister he had caught
q glimpse of the skirts of the woman be-
hind the hall door. HIS only idea had
been that his old servant had been seized
with fit, aud he had at once given the
alarm. From the starhead it was i'm
possible for him to see the other pros
trate figure at the top of the kitchen
stairs.
Young Mr. Midon expressed the live
Hest interest in the mysterious ringing
of the bell. He seemed to lay great
Importance ON that point.
Another difficulty was presently found
attaching to this tragedy. 1t was i'm
possible to gain any conclusive idea as
to what had been the weapon which
had produced such deadly results.
In the case of each woman the fatal
wound had been blow on the skull-so
direct, SO well aimed, and SO incisive
that it had needed no repetition. But
doctors differed as to what instrument
was likely to effect its purpose in the
peculiar way manifest. 1t seemed that
no clue to the identity Of the criminal
was likely to come from this direction
Another moot point was the possible
motive for the crime Its two victims
were respectable old women, little likely
to provoke enmitv Of the violent kind.
The motive could scarcely be plumber,
for nothing in the house had been re
moved or even tempered with. spoons
and other silver table articles lay on the
kitchen dresser, just in the order in
which the housekseper herself had evi-
IDENTIFY arranged them Also, there was
large sum Of money on the premises,
for the elder Mr. Mildon had consid,r-
able house property in n, and as it was
lust after quarter day his rent receipts
had been large and he hal delayed to
bank them, q fact which might well
have been suspected by many people.
| This money was kept in an old fashioned
/ bureau, at the back of Mr.. Mildon 5
room. 1t was found intact, and the oil
gentleman himself could testify that
there had been no attempt on the part
of any stranger to enter his apartment.
If anybody had entered the house with
this object why had he not effected it:
The crippled invalid upstairs would have
| been even moro easily disposed of than
the old woman below. One detective
suggested that the old gentleman had
never left his chair by the window
whence any deed of violence might have
been seen by passersby. But ano hen
replied that such a murderer as this
would scarcely have been defeated in
this way, since few ingenious sounds
on the stairhead would certainly have
easily deceived the old man to the door
OF the apartment.
"GentIcmen,' said the younger Mr.
Mi!don, "the great question is: Who
rang the bell?'
Among the detectives and legal func
! tionaries who met in conclave with the
very few witnesses who had any testi-
mony to offer, there was one Young man
who filled such a subordinate place that he
had scarcely any right to speak in the
councils of his seniors and superiors ;and
certainly he received very little encour-
! agement when he ventured to suggest
that he had his own doubts as to the in
nocence of young Mr.. Mildon himself.
The others scorned him. Had not
young Mr.. Mildon come on the scene OF
his own free will and volunteered q state
ment which set him in the line of sus-
picion? ale could scarcely help that, y
murmured he of the doubt; "for, even il
his uncle had forgotten or overlooked his
visit, his hat would have been found in
the house and he would have been called
upon to account for it.
1t was further urged that the singular
absence Of apparent motive became, in
the case Of young Mr.. MiIdon, an alb
sence of all motive whatever. He, of al
people, was most likely to know of the
money his uncle had in the house, and
where he kept it: yet he had certainly
been in the old gentleman room, every
thing there had been at his mercy, and
still the invalid was safe and his store in,
tact. To these pleas the young man