Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1895-12-01
THE. MISSING MAN.
n.ondon TRUTH


cried Colonel Croker. cxcitedly and tri-
umphantiy. as he nung down the standard
IN tho Burleigh club resdng-room.
"spaigh wasn't tho sort Of man TO
commit suicide. ana no man would com
NIT suicide by putting his mead. instead
OF his neck. On the rail-. As they were
crossing the line the Australian shot him
from behind through the head, and then
laid the head on the rail. that 1t might
be crushed into pulp-as II was-and the
buuet-hole cifaced. II was sharp Of the
Doctor TO suspect this. and search for
the bullet. which he found id sharp
reiterated the Colonel emphatically, since
praise Of the doctors sagaciiy was praise
OF his own
poor devil" said young fellow named
Grmths. sympatbetically Poor devil!
Just when the luck mad turnedl They
say he had backed Bullyboy at l6 to
against and had made an immense haul
He'd have been welcome here" sneered
Marsden. you might paper the room
with his l. O. Us"
"Wen. well; he couldn't have died at
better time" said the Colonel
All glanced up at him win ioohs VI
surprised inquiry. -.
ersn explained the Colonel. Every creui-
Tor win grieve sorely that he WASH
- spared to pay him.. o., ,,,ss him
"He hadn't many others 10 hl'ss INN
anyway" said the shocked ana syinpa,
thetic Grihiths. 10 whom Spdlsnl nau
owed nothing. "The sole relative at lhe
funeral was a brother he hauh | s''" Az
years" .,.h, o,d
"suppose the Australian was causht anu
made To disgorge. and the brother came
IN for the 'oof-would he pay up mere l
vonderg' speculated Marsden
az most Of the fellows present heio
soaieht's T. O. US for greater OF 'ess
sums lost at cards, the arrest Vi W
Australian became q"es'ion % -
interest and debate, and or some ~.
az can't escape" cried Marsdeh'
'c Why not? why couldn't he go under'
as spot didy' ,o,, start
and SPOT hadn't a bad squint' a DioNen '
nose. and O liVid scar across 'uc 80
cheek. Why, Cain himself couian H'''
been marked more unmistah"DS
"Weu they haven't got him YET any
way and IT'S now just week since lne
murder. II they couldn't run MIN 10 edI'n
when the trail was fresh, they are not
likely 10 do It now. -.,.... arc
"poohl Those Manchester JecuNes az
pc duu and slow as the smoke from tne',
min chimneys. But Barrett was sen,
down yesterday from Scotland laiu' an"
he'll soon run him in, youl see ,,
'I'n tell you what 1 don see pIpes
q shrill-voictd. clptious youth named
skinner Il don't see that it's so certain
he Australian did H. It's only ciTcum-
stantial evidence. after an.
"Oniy circumstantial evidence! II YVu
found a chick in your egg, you'd say !.
WIS only clrcumstanuai evidence, thhl
the egg wasn't laid this morning. h'Te
the fellow this Austraian-brll' va
Rroucb. or whatever his name is-chuihs
with Spaight i'm the same rooms IN Man
chester goes 10 the course with hlih'
suenas the day I'm his company, returns
SIN with him, is seen with him half an
hour before the body was found on me
line and has never been seen since
Didn't even return for his belongings "
the rooms. And you say it's only CIT
,,,,,..,antial evidence. Here is every man,
woman. and child in the three Kingdoms
talking OF him for a week. every news
naper for a week full Of him, every dead
wall plastered with 900 reward, ana ms
nbotograph. with its skew eyes, broken
nose. and SCARED cheek; but he never
reads hears. or sees anything ABOUT 'nS
matter. Tor he never coPes lorWaIu -
clear himself Confound 1t, mani uoi,
know what you'd nave, III ehous" ~
hang an archbishop
.But suppose he sailed from Liverpooi
that night. or the next morning. then ne
would have had no chance 90 see OF near
ANYTHING OF the murder objected IN
contentious Skinner. -
"YOu haven't been reading your paper
my boy. Within an hour from the hhuih6
of the body a wire was sent TO every sea
mort in Great Britain TO arrest any man
answering TO the Australians Description
who attempted 10 embark.
1T seems to me-" piped the ar'gumenta-
tive skinner, that you're proving 700
much. Why hasn't fellow with t-VV
on his head, and marked as unmlstaka-
bly, as Cain, been discovered long ago!
It's no ones interest TO shield a total
stranger and brutal murderer. while
it's every ones interest to pocket zoo.
vet. though, according TO you, every child
must recognize him, he's still at large
This Burleigh Club discussion, which
presently waxed warm and vile, was
only an emphatic variant of the discus
sion which was the chief feature In every
newspaper, and in every conversation
throughout the kingdom at this time.
. it was the dun season certainly; ana
this would not altogether suffice 10 &C
count for the absorbing interest the pub
lie took I'm the Spa eht murder 1t was
n slngularly cold-blooded and atrocious
murder, TO begin with. and there was
fascination of horror for large class
of readers in the penny-a-line's grue-
some description Of the pulp 10 which
the face Of the murdered man had been
reduced by the wheels Of the express.
But the interest Of the public was spc-
ciary focused upon the mysterious and
miraculous disappearance Of the murderer
into space The Australian, as Mars
den had said. was so peculiarly marked
that no one who had once seen his face
could ever forget Il, and no one who
had once read description OF II could
fan TO recognize II; yet. though. this de-
scription had appeared In every paper IN
the kingdom and though every eye in
the kingdom had been sharpened to iden-
tify IL by the offer OF 200 reward, the
man was stil at large. The Manchester
police were so far from deserving Mars
denis disparagement that they acted
with exemplary prompttude and penetra-
ton. They had no sooner identified
Spaight as the murdered man than they
suspected Brough Of his murder. and tele-
graphed their suspicion and the Australi-
ans description TO every seaport In
Great Britain, and TO every station OF
Importance. Every train that left Man
chester about the time OF the murder
was scrutlnized at the first station where
the telegraph could overtake it: while
every train that left that city since the
discovery OF the bedy was narrowly ex-
amined from end to end by policemen in
plain clothes. In Manchester itself al
most every street was placarded with
portrait Of Brough painted from a pho
tograph found IN his rooms. with de-
tailed description Of his height complex
Ion. bearing. etc. and with an offer
OF GOO reward for such Information as
would lead TO his An