Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1893-11-15

miserable end.
For several minutes no one spoke. A,
last, the lawyer said:
"Gold is worse than an enchanter; il
is demon. AS you said, judge, men
will sell their very souls for its posses-
sion. II any one of US could be given
the power OF seeing all the passions anl
motives of men laid bare, it would drive
him crazy in day. If what men con-
ceal could be opened to the light, hoH
men would recoil from their own doingsl
1t is only By conccGlmeut that the petty,
the mean, the dishonest can be satisfej
with themselves"
,"Very true" said the Judge, still.in
clined to be silent.
Another spell of musing, which was
broken by the lawyer. ~ once had 4
queer experience in my own practice, il.
TACT as odd case as ever knew. Ona
Of my first clients ih New York was
wealthy, retired merchant, named Be;
trand. He lived very simply, alone ex.
cept for his housekeeper, In a retired.
but very respectable part of the city. "a
had a nephew, rTauS EeFIf4lJ, ErOeiI-
er's son, whom he regarded as a scape-
grace, and with whom he was not at all
on good terms.
Frank seemed to me to be a modest,
sensible sort of fellow, and wondered
at the old mans feeling towards him,
when he vas the only relative he had in
the world. Ny curiosity aroused, pom
dered the matter somewhat, and came to
the conclusion that the fault was the old
mans, not Franks. He was rather high
spirited and wllful about making mis-
own way in the world and doing as he
pleased with himself, instead of allowing
uis rich uncle to dictate what he should
do. This seemed to be the extent OF
his offence, so far as could learn. The
old man was testy and choleric, and
childish about having his own way q
family tIGit, guess, and not only for
bade the nephew the house, but required
me to make his will, cutting Frank off
with only a very Insignificant sum. All
the rest OF his large property he gave TO
his kousekeeper, because, as he said, she
had been kind to him, and would take
care of him as long as he lived. talked
with Frank about this disposition OF the
property and advised him not to throw
away such q chance but to attempt
reconciliation with his uncle, so he might
change his will. The young fellow was
obdurale and would promise nothing.
He was an artist and his whole soul was
in his work. THIS his uncle detested
more than all else as a species of vaga-
bondjsm he could nevIr tolerate. no
reconciliation was possible while this re-
mained, ana l could not help admiring
the boys energy and spirit when ne de-
clared he would not give up his proles-
sion tU- all the fortunes in New York.
lie said he had no i'll will against his
uncle, his property was his own to do
with as he pleased; he spoke pleasantly
of his uncie's peculiar notions, his tenn
per and his weaknesses, and mentioned
the housekeeper kindly as one who had
treated him well. As he left my Office
sad tc myself, We'll, Frank Bertrand,
you deserve fortune if you don't get
one. \ maa las reason TO be proud Of
such 4 nephew as you
"NOt month after that interview
w0rd was brought me that Mr.. Bertrand
Lad been fourl murdered in his library.
l summoned the ba st detective l knew
of and fastened to the spot. An en-.
trance lad been made through the or
dinary passages of the house, as there
was TO breaking. The victim had been
struck from behind as ne sat in his chair.
The instrument used was a heavy one;
the skull had been crushed and death
was instantaneous. At first we thought not
a thing in the room had been touched,
but the housekeeper called my attention
to the fact tnat a nugget Of gold which
remained attached to piece of its quar,z
matrix, the single geological specimen
and curio which adorned the library,
was missing, as well as the little velvet
lined box in which it had rested. Every
thing else was in its usual place as if
nothing had happened there. This was
our only clue, and to my astouishInent
and iismay it speedily led TO the arrest
Of Frank Bertrand rs the murderer.
al had formed SO good an opinion o.
the boy, aud his manliness seemed 50 GER
tain, that l found it hard to believe that
ne was even accused of numbering his
uncle. That he was guilty was to my
mind beyond the bounds of probabilitS.
( resoluely put that down for fact. It
being learned that he was seen in the
vicinity of the house at the time of the
murder, the detective went to his room
70 interview him as to his knowledge of
the affair, and found him standing in the
n;ddie of the apartment in a state Of ez-
.;tsn,enF. and ho,dinr III his hand that
ame tell tale nugget of gold. So ab-
arhed was he in it that he did not notice
he quiet approach of tie officer until be
vas close upon him. Then he made
novsmeut as if to hide the nugget. 1t
vas perfect case of circunstantial evil
.ience against him. Being arrested -be