Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1893-11-12
kill him. No one else could. 1t mtsl
have been an accident"

kill him. No one else could. 1t mlsit
have been an accident"
"Accident?" / exclaimed.
ayes, accident" was the positive an
swer. 'sThere is no other e~xplanatiet,
and 1 1 am going to rent the room whete
the old man died to try and think out
how it happened"
tried 70 convince her that the idea
was absurd, bat she was but firm In her
determination. So l agreed to follow
her directions, which were that was
to z a the old mans apartments for
my cousin, q lady who had come to the
city to study elocution, and Nellie was
to occupy them forthwith. This ar
raugement was carried out the same
afternoon.
The second night after she had taken
possession the people of the same nat
were startled by a pistol shot n q
scream. Running to the room whence
the sounds came they found Nellie ~
ing upon the floor In her night dress
and a small pool Of blood by her heal.
They lifted her upon the bed which
she had just vacated and summoned a
physician. He soon restored her to
consciousness. She looked at him with
a CLEAN of triumph, and whispered
He is innocent" and these were the
last words she spoke coherently For
three weeks.
When her ~disordered brain recovered
its normal condition 1 was sumnonpd
and she told me her story, which was
In substance as follows: s
She had been lying awake trying TO
think what the solution OF the mysas-
rious killing could be when studded y
her eye discovered several raised bst-
ton. like knobs which ornamented (De
high-carved wooden mantei. lie
light of the electric lamps in IPe
street below shone brightly through
the window and fell upon these KNOBS.
They stood out above tbs woodwork OF
the mantel, and presently her idle
thought was specializing as to this
curious freak of the architects.
Certainly their purpose could not have
been artistic, she reasoned. A close
observer could not help remarking
that they were not quite In harmony
with the general design OF the mantei:
Suddenly she sprang out OF bed ana
touched one OF the knobs. 1t yielded.
She pressed a little harder and that
was all she knew until she came TO her
self in the hospital.
To make a long story short l went to
the mysterious room accompanied oy
the ianitor and found the knobs as she
had described them. 1t was the thlrd
from the center which she.had pressed,
so | began by pressing the hrst from
the center. 1t did not move. linen l
tried the second. 1t did not move.
Then telling the ~janitOr TO get out OF
harms way l stood against the wall
and pressed the third knob with the
handle of my cane. The instant l did
so the knob slipped in and the sharp
report OF a pistol rang out. held the
knob back with my cane while the
janitor inserted tho end Of a poker ana
pushed the pistol from its fastening.
We heard 1t when it struck the bot
tom of the compartment into which IL
fell. Safe from the pistol, we began
pressing the knobs n after the other
and then two at q time and found that
when the first and second were pressed
simultaneously they opened a cabinet
In which were some money u nu-
merous papers. Clearly here was the
solution OF the old mans death. lie
had made q mistake In trying to open
the cabinet and had fallen a victim to
his own ingenuity in devising a useless
urotetection for his valuables.
l carried the news quickly to Nellie
49, l. 800 r,o nH no1t haefa m aha
newspapers with the story, for she
wanted everyone to know that Jack was
not guilty. Her Judgment was right,
for the newspapers told OF the discbv-
cry with abundant praise for the young
girl. Jack was declared innocent and q
much abused young man and was urted
to return, marry the graceful, beaftl-
ful and rising operate star and lnhSrit
his uncle's wealth, but the hope was:aX-
messed that he would not feel obliged
10 deprive the stage OF a lady who
promised to be one Of its greatest @.
ments.
Two weeks later or more than six
weeks after old John Hartlepool had
met his fate. a c%abIegram came to his
| late address, also one TO Miss Nellie.
| TIE cablegrams were dated at Liver.
pool and the contents were Identical,
being as follows:
I am all right. Will be home on first
steamer. Was kidnapped and brought To
Liverpool on a sailing vessel. JACK.
1t turned out that Jack had been mis-
taken for an important witness In a big
law suit and had been decoyed on board
a schooner lying at a Brooklyn dock
and taken forcibly to sea.
Jack returned in a few days and OF
course l was present at the wedding.