The Portland daily press., 1895-04-20

argue with him.
"'You dare not she said so fercely
that l could hear her plainly You dare
not commit murder
Pardon me, replied the villain in his
clear, distinct voice, L dare do anything
that IS not punishable. And my way of
killing renders it impossible for the death
to be brought home to me.
L found it hard to keep still in my hid
ing place under the deep shadow Of the
deck house, while my brothers. fancee
seemed to argue and plead in turn with
him. Her voice was not clear enough for
me to hear many of her sentences, but I
was pleased to gather from his replies that
she absolutely refused the rupture he pro-
posed with her husband elect. At last he
turned away
"'All right, as you will, Miss Gavin,
he said impressively; remember that his
death will be upon your own head
She did not reply, but from the way
her hands clasped and unclasped over the
taffrail 1 could tell how deeply the threat
affected her. / was in doubt whether to
go to her and set her mind at rest as far as
l could or to stop Lyas and carry him off
to be interviewed by her lover
LAS it was l was saved tho trouble of
deciding by being obliged to take a third
course. Although 7 had no idea of the
fact, Mrs Maple, who had recovered suffi-
GENTLY TO come on deck, had been stand
ing almost close to my side, in the deep
shadow. She attracted my attention now
by fainting again. as she had done during
the experiment in the morning. For the
next ten minutes all my thoughts were
taken up by attending to her The stew
ardess had luckily passed at the moment [
found the lady swooning, and we got her
below without anybody on deck being the
wiser. / left her in the stewardess' charge
as soon as consciousness returned and hur-
ried off to the cabin where I had left Rob
in. He was still there, wondering what
had happened, and we remained for lit
tie while considering what course we ought
to pursue, whether to put the matter in
the hands of the captain or to content our
selves by warning the professor what
would happen if he continued to annoy
Miss Gavin. When we had decided on the
former course, we opened the cabin door
to carry it into execution at once. But at
the very doorway we met Katie herself
coming to u.s. her eyes starting with ter
FOL, her beautiful face blanched.
% have killed himi I have killed him
to save your life!' she cried Historically as
she threw herself int6S'f3obin's arms, and
without waiting to hear more hurried
on deck, oppressed by terrible fear.
could understand so plainly how the poor
girl could have been driven into what was
scarcely crime by the panic for which
her victim was himself responsible. If she
had indeed killed Professor Lyas, it was
clearly case of justifiable homicide, but
what jury could understand the case sufff-
GENTLY to view it as such? / was sick with
fear, and when reached the deck, only to
find that the professor had really been kill
ed l foressiw nothing but tragedy and hor-
TOR in store for the couple who seemed the
happiest in the world The rest of the
case 1 suppose you will remember reading
in the papers at the time-ten years ago
now'
We could none of us claim a memory SO
long for newspaper reports, and Major
bennett asked eagerly whether Miss Gavin
was acquitted.
"She was never tried" said Macpher-
son, with his quiet smile. "The murder
ess got off with imprisonment for life''
"The murderess?" we all exclaimed in
one wondering breath, and the doctor nod
ded
Yes, Mrs. Maple, as she called herself.
She was, as you will have guessed an
accomplice of Professor Lyas and Travelled
separately for the benefit of their schemes.
They were well known swindlers, and the
will killing was probably part of their
stock in trade. 1t must have proved rath-
er useful III wringing money from nerv.
GUS people afraid of the man exerting his
power against them. His mistake was to
use it to the detriment of his partner in
crime. It was his pursuit of Miss Gavin,
or Mrs. Robin Macpherson, as she is now,
which raised the jealousy of an ill balanc-
ed mind and made the woman go to his
cabin and stab him Immediately she re-
covered from the swoon into which she
had been thrown by hearing the converse
ton to which 1, too, played eavesdropper. -
fBut what made Miss Gavin accuse
herself of the crime?" I could not help
asking.
'That was the result of most remark
able coincidence" explained the brain spe-
cialist. IT left Miss Gavin, you know,
imagining that Lyas was about to kill her
lover by his will power. After the expert
ment in the morning she never doubted
his ability to do SO. Suddenly it came to
her as an inspiration that her will might
be stronger than the professors; that if
she concentrated her mind on killing him
she might be able to save her lovers life
At the end Of her effort somebody rushed
on deck with the news of Lyas' death-a
coincidence which would be too remark
able for story
The doctor glanced at me as he spoke
for he is OF course aware Of the use which
make of his club anecdotes.
eff it is true, must risk it's improba
bility, l said. But my readers will
want to know why Mrs. Maple tainted
during the experiment.
sit is gift that some historical pa
tients have of becoming cataleptic at will, -
answered Macpherson readily. "You see
cases of it at public mesmeric exhibitions
sometimes"
bennett only had one more point to set
tie.
81 do not see what this has to do really
with the subject on which I was speak
ing" he said, and the doctor smiled his
quiet smile.-Pall Mall Budget.
How They Settled It.
cJ17,io,1- c+o,,yr of ho Lotto Co,,,+o l.