The farmers' union., 1894-08-16
CHAPTER III.


cCme to certain point, and with very
little difficulty found what he wanted.
The box was three parts full of ar
senic. He locked the box away, said
nothing to anybody, but watched the
papers carefully. He had not long to
wait. On the fourth morning he read
how in buttery, or we'll, dug deep for
the sake Of GOODNESS, under the house
where the prisoner had lived, had
bocn found the dead body of man
whose appearance gave rise to suspi-
cions of foul play. and who, on examin-
atiOn, was found to have in his viscera
sufficient arsenic to kill three Or four
men. The man was we'll clothed, we'll
pOurished, and in his pockets was plen-
ty of money. He was identified as
Henry Mercer.
We shall introduce q witness who
will testify to seeing man enter the
bOu g ut seven o'clock the g. .cEing be-
fore the pair left, but he saw no one
come out. though hi, work kept him
near bv till eight, when Dawers him.
self me home. He was not close
enough to hear voices, tn, ugh he could
easily nave heard i; cry had here been
one. He peeped, u, would be shown
in his evidence. but cOud see nothing.
With what superhuman swiitneSs and
strength must this woman have over
.ci ME her victim. SO that not even Il
moan or cry reached the spy without!
What self control must have been her
that she c1u 4 meet her husband with
a smile and sit at supper with h III that
night. however absolutely she might
break down on tho morrow. In one
short hour she had done as much and
more than man could Go, and she had
done it thoroughly. Secure by her
hearth. the murdered man hidden at
her feet. she sat with undauntcd front,
not the smallest trace around of the
victim VINO had visited her. Without
that hollow cav. below, she might have
murdered. but cou d not have concealed
him, iut as it wa>. this hiding place
favored the swiftness and subtleHcss of
the crime to an extraordinary degree.
For who could believe that he walked
of Ills own free will to the disused trap
door and deliberately elected to be
lowered by a rope t. IA cold, nOlsOme
-dungeOn-fOr this unusual buttery had
not been used for 4 long time. No. 1t
WIS for Albert Dawers to quail, to
slink out of sight as Il defrauded man,
or ii Mercer showed himself moved by
his wife : entreatic-. and actually con-
scnted to leave her to her happiness,
would he not have left, As he came, by
the house door:
N'c see no such scene when in i'm
agina,iOn we project our gaze upon
that bare. dismantlcd room. We sec a
man who whatever he may have been
TO c.: in the past, had since possibly
rclcnted He had remembered the
woman he had once loved, and returned
to.hare his prosperity with her. He
y. md hslI.
and probably the very thought Of tax
ing her away from another man en-
hanrel her value in his not Over-fa -
tidiOus mind. He III ant to have his
rights, and tod her so, while the mis-
cradle woman only haf heard him in
str.ining her eyes for her present and
beloved partners step without. She
mu It ha, Q ac4uiesced to all appearance
in his demands, or he would not have
taken from her hands the cup OF milk
with which she stealthily mixed the
poison. And, strangely enough, >he
must have also been possessed at the
time Of a strong narcotic, since traces
nf ono were found in the ST. mach. SO
nh II the cool, firm hand doubly doc
'torcd the drarght she handed to the
snsnspecting nan. Let Us picture hor
then, watching his unavailing strus-
ened the effects OF the poison. and he
sank down in stupor that she knew
must end in death-nay, that may
!ha\e ended abruptly in death. as she
stool by and watched him.
Fer crime is accomplished, but how
70 hide it: See. her eyes wander
Ehither and thither over the walls -
sthc toor-upon the door through which
.ilc might drag this heavy weight,
but that she may meet Dawcrs on the
threshold. Her glance falls; ON Il dis
cOlore1 ring level with tho floor. and
scarcely visible save to those who
KNOW wlerc to look for it. She creep
nearer and nearer TO it. She kneei>
down and drags ut the rusty ring. \
square door. about the width of q
strong mans shoulders rises toward
her beneath is Il black void. and tina,
void is to be the hiding place of he,
husbands body. Close at hand lies /;
ccii of cord. She deliberately cuts il
in half. and kneeling down beside him
makes one portion fast around hi body
below the armpits. thrn with the two
ends drags that huddlcd. helpless body
easily e!ough along the floor, until the
open square is reached. And nov
comes the most difficult part. physi
cally. OF her enterprise. To thrust
him feet foremost down that pit would
bc easy enough, yet, with all wom
ans extraordinary in>eusibility I,
crime. but sensitiveness to cruelty
she could not bring herself to do this
but with arms stronger surely than
wCman's ever we're, lowered him :,
carefully that not Il brllsc or mari
was anywhere to be found on his per
son. Picture her placing her hus
hand. his feet to the pit. his head t,
her knees. See. she gives him q stron:
push that sends his feet over the edge
and instantly the body disappear, will
such u jerk a> nearly to throw her for
ward on the ground. bat with strain
ing muscles she holds firmly on. he
,hape beat back. and resisting in ever,
fiber the dead weight that seeks I
drag her down. down u the place I,
which she has condemned MIN No,
tic head is over-has vanished Bit
by bit she lets out the cords that ar
,:wi ted round and round her han Is
Nr>scntly they grow slack. \ du>
trc,nuie runs through them. The bod