Waterbury evening Democrat., 1894-08-18

He irds Iying on the bed stif and cold. tered under their roof for the night. Yet their flight looked suspicious. If they wcro innocent. why did they leave the inn?
 Another question pregnant with mean ing was th" rras0n of their being alone in the inn fad seen no servants either indoors or out. Father and tlaugh- ter appear, q tn do all the work, yet it was beyond Ill reason that they should have no assistance. Where was the cook, the waiter, the hOstlVr. the cham bermaid: The house was large one. Two people with n!l the will in the world could not thoroughly attend to tho do- mcstic economy If so great n mansion. Moreover. the gi.l had loukcd unused to work. That in itself was suspicious.
 Can it ls:" thought l. Can it be that these two l.ircd this inn to compass the death of Francis Briarficld, and that he was drawn hero ;ls into n snare by his brothers letter? On the face of it, it looks absurd, and yet ill what other way can I explain the absence of serv- ants, the mildewcd aspect of the rooms? Now Francis is dead, and they, with out a word to me, have departed
 1 could not solve the mystery. Far from doing so, the more l thought, the more 1 examined the surroundings, the deeper grew the mystery. The door had been locked. and I could find no key. The window also was locked, and even had it not been no one could havo en- tered thereby, so considerable was the height from the ground. How, then, had tho assassin gained admittance? Yet sure was that Briarfield had been murdered. but by whom it was hard to say-nay, impossible.
 l did indeed think that he had com- mitted suicide, but this was too wild m idea to entertain even for q moment. When parted from him on the previous | night, he was in the best of health, looking forward to meeting Miss Bellin. and was passably content with his life. | There was no hint of self destruction either in speech or action. Tho thought that his brother had deceived him would not havo engendered such an idea. Rather was he determined to un- mask the traitor and regain his prom ised wife by force. Murder it might be. Suicide was out of tho question.
 Thus far I thrashed out tho matter, | yet arrived at no logical conclusion. As | there seemed no signs of landlord and maid, it bchOoved me to consider what I should do. According to Francis, his brother was due at the meeting place l that morning, so deemed it advisable | to wait until he arrived and then ex- | plain the circumstances to him. If he was in league with Strent to murder his brother, he would hardly be able to dis l guise his joy at hearing the success of | his plot. l therefore determined to watcL his face during the interview, ! and if I saw therein any signs of guilt to there and then. in that lonely inn, ac- | cuse him as q second Cain. By thus ter rorizing his soul with such accusation and with tho sight of his victim might force him into confession.
 l If he were guilty, guessed the plea behind which he would shelter himself that ho had not been near tho place on the previous night. ThiI I would counter by the accusation that his ennis saries had carried out his orders and then sought safety in flight It might be thnt suspected Felix wrongly, yet aft
 CT the story told me by Francis could not but think he was conn cted in some | Nhy WI Oi tAtu AA4ttSLs
 But. after all. these suspicious were ye, vague and aimless. All knew for Ger.
 tain was that Francis Briarfleld was dead I swore on tho instant to devote
 myself to finding out and punishing his detestable assassin.
 Having come to this resolution, propped up the open door. so as to close the entrance to the chamber of death.
 and descended to the lower regions Finding victuals and fuel in the kitchen. cooked myself meal and made Q suff. ciently good breakfast Then lighted
 my pipe and took my seat at the frcs'
 door to watch for the coming of Felix
 Briarfeld Whether my suspicious
 would be dispelled or confirmed by his
 iemeanor I was of course unable to say
 until tho interview took place. But
 was most anxious to know.
 All that morning looked down the