Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1893-09-09
CONTINUED.
CHAPTER XII.

y
thing dwindles into insignifcance in the
presence of a calamity such as this.
How futile and insincere all my specu-
lations seem now! And now repentance
is as futile, however sincere it may be.
But we must not think of our sorrow
yet. The first thing to be done is to dis
cover and to punish.
shall never forget that knocking at
my door. ] can hear it now. | shall
hear it in my dreams. 1t seemed to carry
its message with it before a word was
spoken. And yet, when the words were
spoken, could not understand them.
They fell like meaningless sounds on my
ear. And cannot help thinking that,
had been well and about that night,
this would not have happened. He must
have exposed himself needlessly. He was
always needless, confident and fearless.
remember his saying once that he bore
charmed life. A curse on all supersti-
lions! And be those juggling fiends no
more believed who palter with us in a
double sensel
1t could not have happened earlier
than o'clock in the morning must
have slept more than three hours when
was aroused, and when | last looked at
my watch it was between II and 10. 1t
was when Tom knocked on my door,
and he had just come frcm him. He
found him still warm, and he could
hardly have been dead more than half
an hour. But he was dead, and he must
have died instantly. The bullet fired
from behind, struck him below the left
shoulder and went through his heart.
The body lay at the foot of the cliff,
and from its appearance Henry must
have been standing near its verge when
he was struck and have fallen or been
pushed over The fall was upward of 20
feet There were bruises on the body,
and some dirt and q small fragment of
rock had fallen with him from above
He must have been standing there look
ing down into the wood below when the
villain crept up behind him and fired
The shot was ut close range-not more
than sor 10 feet away. 1t seems strange
that he heard no footstep. Yet if he had
he would surely have turned round, and
then the bullet would have struck him
in front.
These points will probably be eluci-
dated at the trial, when we know whom
to try. OF course there is no doubt that
the murderer was one of the burglars.
Thus far, however, no trace of any bur-
glars has been seen. Neither John nor
Tom discovered any signs of them, either
before or after the shooting. This is
the more strange because the murder
proves that they must have been there
They had made no attempt upon the
house, however, though they must have
known that it was empty, and if they
got wind of our intention to capture
them, or if on arriving on the ground
they discovered our ambush, why did
they not retire at once instead of putting
their necks in moose by wanton as
sassination? Had there been signs that
Henry had attempted to arrest one of
them and that struggle had taken
place we might suppose that they had
shot him self defense, but the indications
are that he was approached unawares.
The evidence on this point will have to
be carefully sifted. AT present it is per-
picking.
The dominion of mind over matter can
seldom have been more conclusively il
Illustrated than it was in my case when
| was made to comprehend what had
happened. A moment before | was as
helpless as any cripple can be and suf-
fering acute pain. Five minutes after
ward | WAS beside my brothers dead
body, n quarter of mile away. have
been conscious of no pain since, and
now even the traces of Inflammation are
gone have no distinct recollection of
what did, but Unjust have sprung from
my chair and run at full speed, all band
aged as was, to the place where he lay.
This indeed is Toms account of the mat
ter.
He says that toward in the morning
he heard a report as of pistol, but ii
was at some distance, and he was at first
disposed to think he had been mistaken.
He had for more than an hour past given
up all expectation of the success of the
what sleepy. However, he went along
in thadirection from which the sound had
seemed to come. stopping every now and
then to look and listen, but detecting moth.
ing, and he was just on the point of aban-
doning the search when he saw something
dark living near the foot of the cliff. He
took it for a small rock or fallen bowlder,
but as he did not remember having be-
fore noticed anything of the kind in the
place he came nearer to examine.
Until he stood within a yard of it nc
suspicion as to what it really was enter,
ed his mind. Then in moment he knew
1t was a mans body, but even then he
thought of tramp fallen asleep and not
of Henry or of any one he knew. But
when he noticed how the body lay-face
downward, with one arm doubled under
it-he recognized death, and bending
down he saw the curly hair that could
only be Henry's. With that fit of the
horrors took possession of him. He doe:
not know what he did, but thinks ht
shouted in the dead mans ears as if tC
awaken him from that irrevocable sleep
and he felt for his heart and got hi.
hand smeared with blood. He was thor
oughly unnamed and ran hither an(
thither, not knowing what to do, bu
probably hoping to meet John. A
length he reflected that was in m,
rooms. and without further delay h,
made straight line for my door.
He was CHASTITY looking object when
the door being unfastened, babe hin
come in. My first idea was that he had
bimsalf baa,1 atfael,ad and bad no ra1v as