Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1895-01-19

Bel1in's future husband. The Bellins
were the great people Of the neighbor-
hood, and the tradesmen hoped to serve
the hall when Mr.. and Mrs. Brairfield
settled there. They were. therefore, ex-
cessiveiy polite to Francis. but their
frequent marks of attention only drew
from him a bitter smile.
Would they treat me in this way If
they knew alp" he whispered to me.
They will never know ALL" an.
swered in the same tone
! had spoken to the inspector, and he
in his turn had talked seriously with
the coroner. The latter had been told
the whole story, and though astonished
at the folly Of Francis yet found IL in
his heart to be sorry for the young man.
He said he would not question Francis
more than was necessary. and we hoped
to carry through the inquest without
exposing the underlying romance
The first witness called was q local
doctor, who deposed to having examin-
ed the body of Felix. He gave it rs his
opinion that the young man had died of
poison and explained the state Of the
blood with a lot of medical techincalities
which none of the jury understood 1t
was, said the doctor, case Of blood
poisoning. and the deceased had been
wounded in the hand by some sharp in
strument which was STEPPED in poison
l came next and narrated how l had
staid at the Fen inn on that night and
had met there Francis Briarfield, who
was waiting there for his brother Then
told of the discovery Of the corpse and
the finding of the arrowhead in the fire.
place. said nothing about my tracking
the trail to the pool, and if possible we
wished that portion of the evidence to
be passed over in silence. Fortunately
the jury were n dull headed lot and
submitted quietly to the guidance of
the coroner. He only asked questions
pertinent to the death without going
too deeply into the subject. At this
point produced the arrowhead.
Francis explained that he had arriv.
ed from Chile on the 9Th of June and
had gone at once to the Fen inn at the
request Of his brother Felix. His broth
er had not arrived on that night, and
he had gone to bed. He was unable to
say how his brother had come to his
tragic end Then came the critical
point which we wished passed over in
silence.
did you see your brother at the Fen
inn, Mr. Briarfield?" asked the coroner
Il did not see my brother alive, was
the evasive answer.
ssD.-Lo0r tho I,<1~, 1ol l,oo,, v,,,k -,
the pool by the murderer" said one of
the jury,nen, ''in which case Mr.. Briar-
| field would not see him.
Il did not go to the pool on that
night" replied Francis. adroitly evad-
ing the remark. "It was later OH that !
learned my brothers. body was there and
at once gave instructions that the pool
was to be dragged"
At this point Mr.. Briarfield was ask
ed to stand down, and the inspectors
evidence was taken. He dcposed to the
fact that Mr.. Briarfeld had instructed
him TO drag the pool for the body. and
that it was found there.
This piece Of evidence quite put the
Jury off the scent, as, if Francis had
pla cd the body in the pool. he would
not have told the inspector where to
find it. The critical point was thus
glided gently over, and the coroner call
cd Rose Gernon. Once the jury knew
how the crime had been committed, and
they would forget all about the hiding
of the body in the pool, SO that the folly
of Francis would not be made public.
l must say that Rose Gernon gave her
| evidence very clearly. She said she
| was an intimate friend of Felix Briar-
field, statement which rather shocked
Felix asked her to 60 down to the Inn,
as he had prepared it for his brother
and wished to see him there about a
family matter.
But the inn was a ruin, interrupt
cd a juryman. Miss Gerncn said that
was very true. Still it was habitablc,
and Mr.. Felix Briarfield had sent OH
fuel and :.y'ovisions. As the former pro.
prietor lad left all the furniture, the
rooms were fairly comfortable. She
could not say why Felix did all this
! unless it was that he wanted to see his
brother privately.
| ouSA vain was very weak, sAslu tiid
jurymen looked significantly at one an
other. They knew the Fen inn and
could not conceive that any one could bS
so mad as to dwell in it even for night
1t was said to be haunted, and, though
such a superstition might be scoffed at
yet not one Of those present would have
passed l2 hours of darkness in that II
omened place.
Were you not afraid when You saw
the lone inn," asked juryman.
Rose shrugged her shoulders ars
laughed contemptuously.
~ am afraid of nothing" she sal.
coolly. There are no such things a
ghosts. Besides l had my brother will
me-"
"Your brotherv'
YES. Edward Strent."
The inspector gave a low whistle
and catching my eye nodded significant
~. He remembered what had said On
the previous night. and now agrees
with my theory that the secret Of tn
com,nittal of the crime lay in the rela