Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-04-13

route to Ranworth
We brought our prisoner into the coloners
library, where he and MIR. Hardwick were
sitting.
q. I'm not quite sure what we can charge
him with, unless it's anatomical robbery"
Hewitt remarked, but here's the GRIM
ipal.'
The man only looked down with a sulkily
impenetrabie continuance. Hewitt spoke
10 MIN once or twice, and at last he said
in strange accent, something that sound
ed like "1<ekin jInaavoy"
'keck tin?' mot understand asked Hew-
lit, in me loud, clear tone one instinctively
jimmy.
The man understood and shook his head,
but not another word would he say or an
other question answer
Hes foreign gipsy" Hewitt explajred
Just as I thought-a Wallachian in fact
Theirs is an older and purer dialect than
thar OF the English gipsies and only some
of the root words are alike But / think We
can make him explain tomorrow that the
rosters, at least, had nothing to do with.
az any rate, cutting off Sneathy's hand
Here IT is, think" and he gingerly lifted
the folds Of sacking from the CHASTITY
object as it lay on the table, and then COW
cred it again.
But what-what does it all mean?" Mr..
Hardwick said, in bewildered astonish-
ment; DO you mean this man is an ac-
compiler"
Not at all-the Case was one of suicide.
as ! think you'll agree when I've explained.
and stole the hand"
But what in the world for?"
For the Hand of Glory. Ehw He
turned to the gypsy and pointed to the
eh?' V' ''A"u''
There was a quick CLEAN of intelligence
IN the mans eye, but he said nothing As
for myself. I was more than astounded.
Gould II be possible that the old supersti-
tlon OF the Hand of Glory remained alive
In practical shape at this day?
fou know the superstition, of course ?"
Hewitt said. TT did exist in, this country
IN the last century, when there were
plenty Of dead men hanging at cross roads,
and so on. On the continent, in some
places, 1t has survived later. Among the
Wallachian gipsies it has always been q
great article of belief, ard the Superstition
Is even said to he active still. The belief is
that the right hand of a dead man, cut
on and dried over the smoke of certain
WOOD and herbs, and then provided with
wlcks at each finger made of the dead
mans hair. becomes, when lighted at each
WICK Che wicks are creased, of course,) a
charm whereby thief may walk without
hirdrance where he pleases in a strange
mouse, push open all doors and take what
he likes. Nobody can stop him, for every
tody the Hand of Glory approaches is
nraee helpiess, ana can neither move nor
speak You may remember there was some
talk OF thieves candles in connection with
the horrible series of Whitechapel murders
rot long ago; That is only one form of the
cult of the Hand of Glory"
Yes" my uncle said, Il remember read
.s ~; mere is a. story about 1t in the
ingoldsby Legends too, 1 believe"
mere HVt is called The Hand Of
Hiofy, IN 1act. You remember the spell:
open lock to the dead mans knock and
50 on. But thlnk you'd better have the
constable up and get this man into safe
quarters 1or the night. He should be
searched, Oh course. L expect they will find
on him the hair 1 noticed to have been cut
from Sneathy's head
Inc Niiiage constable arrived with his
IRON nandcuus In substitution for those of
eofu when hau SO soreiy vexed the wrists
oL OUT prisoner, ana marched him away to
the little lookup on the green.
1.,,.
CHATTER VI
Then my uncle and Mr.. Hardwick turned
on Martin Hewitt with doubts and many
ouestions "yybv do Won col, ., .u,o;da, ~.
FL IJons,,,,.,r - .I. suie'uei
MI nafu"ich asheo. AZ Is pam the fos-
tiers were with him at the time, from the
tracks. Do you mean to say that sthey
stood there and watched Sneathy hang
himself without interfering?"
mo, 1 don't" Hewitt replied lighting a
cigar 81 think told you that they never
saw Sneathy."
Yes, you did; and, of course, that's what
they said themselves when they were ar
rested. But the things impossible Look
at the tracksr"
THE tracks are exactly what revealed to
me that 1t was not impossible" Hewitt re-
turned. III tell you now the case unfOtdeQ
itself to me, from the beginning AS to the
information you gathered from the RAM
worth coachman, to begin with, the con-
versation between the Fosters which he
overheard might well mean something less
serious than murder What did they say?
They had been sent for in a hurry and had
lust had a short consultation with their
mother and sister, Henry said that the
thing must be DONE and at once;' Also that
as there were two of them 1t would be
easy. Robert said that Henry, as a doctor,
would know best what to do Now YOU,
Col Brett. had been saying-before we
learned these things from Mr. Hardwfcx-
that Sneathy's behavior of late had be-
come so had as to seem that of a madman.
Then there was the story of his sudden at
tack ON a tradesman in the village and
equally sudden running away-exactly
the sort of impulsiye wild thing that
madmen do WHY. then. might il not
he reasonable To suppose that Sneathy
had become mad-more especially con-
sider,np ali the circumstances of the case,
his commercial ruin and disgrace and his
horrible life with his wife and her family?
Had become suddenly much worse and
ouite ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. so that the two
v-retcbad women left alone with him. were
driven to send in haste for Henry and
Robert To helm them. That would account
for oil, The brothers arrive lust after
Sna,thv had gone ont They are told in q