Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1894-06-22
BY ALEXANDER ROBINSON, M. D.
CHAPTER Xxnl. -tCOntinueD.

! Ventured to turn 10 inc attaCk,
adroitly at first, so as not to alarm him.
Colonel, you left that house without
making haul-was it on account OF the
old mans death?'
That was it, Joslyn.'
"Thc papers say he committed sui
eide"
''They don't know"
"But the corOner'S jury viewed the
corpse, and their verdict was the same
Fools" he muttered.
I was gradually getting deeper and
dceper into the stream, but l ala not
mean to make any halt.
Only persistent effort would carry the
day now The time had come for this
man to declare his innocence or else be
placed in a cell as the guilty assassin.
He would soon be given his choice when
had cornered him.
Come, Colonel, you excite my curios-
itv. If the old Doctor did not commit
suicide. what was the manner Of his
death2"
My pointed question must have startled
him a little. He looked at me kceny
moment, as though debating point III
his bcfOgged mind.
Ny curiosity was natural enough, how
ever. and he did not seem to suspect
Il tell you, JOslyn, that man never
committed suicide. He was murdered
''TAe deuce You say, COloncl!'
'It's the truth. know it,.
"Come, come, you didn't have hand
in such thing, CoOnel?'
He shuddcred all over.
"Of course not. JOSlyn. ! amt in that
line, You know, though sometimes man
will be driven by circumstances into
committing a crime his soul naturally
revOltS from"
"Yet you say the Doctor was murder
ed?o
"Yes."
"Dd you, then, see the crime commit
tcd?"
al did not"
"Wcn, Colonel, you bewilder me. II
YOU didn't kill the old Doctor yourself,
and even failed to see him killed, how
the Ceuce do you know he was murder
cd?"
That was shot straight home.
If he answered it my end was achieved,
and | could finish my work.
Here fortune took a whirl. Colonel
Cain became reserved. | saw his lips
close firmly, and my hopes took fail,
for knew in my mind what that meant
81 don't care to talk any further on
that subject, JOSl!n."
"Why not? You have interested me. "
"Oblige me by letting it drop. 1t has a
very painful memory connected with IL
that | wish to Danish"
] rather thought so myself; at the
Z nt my
lhis t. the Colonel
"Scc here, you don't realize what you
are doing. Colonel. You say You were in
that house the night DR.. Seabury died
that YOU know he was murdered, and
that there are painful recolectionS con-
nected with the case which prevent yOu
from speaking further Now, all this
leads me to believe, as it would any one
else, that you had hand in that affair. A"
He turned on me sayagely
81 tel you, man. had nothing to do
with tiny hands have not the blood of
this old Doctor upon them.
"You swear this, COlOnel?"
81 do"
"Then why do you object to telling
me what you saw on that night?"
"Why the deuce do you want to
krow?"
"My curiosity has been aroused, as l
said before"
81 believe there is another reason"
"Namc it"
"Joslyn, you are more than you pre-
tend. have SusI e ted it once or twice,
but your actions allayed my fears. Now,
know by your perSiStency in pursuing
this subject that YOU are more than Joe
JOslyn, an amateur burglar"
There was no denying it that the man
had struck near home.
did not care now. The matter had
gone so far that it was of little impolS-
arce whether he learned my identity or
not.
If could but get the truth out Of him,
would cast him aside like an old glove
or a squeezed lemon, such was my eager
ness to push forward
"Colonel, what do you mean? Speak
out"
"You are detective"
"Well?"
"And you have been hunting out the
truth of this mans death"
"Coonel, admit all you say"
"Who are you, then?"
"Have you heard of Abner Ketcham?"
He wiped his forehead with his hand,
but at the same time laughed harShly.
Il reckon have. It's been sly game
vcu set for me, Ketcham suppose those
there policc officers in III" house | W. Mt
10 crack. and the chase over the roofs,
was part Of the affair, to make las