The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-04-29

preston that there might be hope for
Preble yet.
The girl followed her mother to an
other part of the house. and l walked
to the generals side. He was bent over
his desk, and his head rested upon his
hands. / spoke, and he did not move.
l laid my hand upon his shoulder. MY
touch disturbed the equipoise or ms
body. 1t slowly, heavily slid from the
chair, and fell to the floor where 1t lay
face upward.
A single glance at that face showed
me that General Holiday was dead.
am not one of those who tremble in
the presence Of death. The dominate
sentiment of my heart. as knelt beside
this lifeless form, was poignant gricf
for the loss of one whom | had loved
and reverenced many years.
But when, after moment, | saw
blood upon him and upon the floor
where he had fallen, and much more
beneath the desk. l was alarmed and
cried out for help. stephen Hanley.
mp uncle's butler. ran into the room by
| n door close to where | stood beside the
corpse. He was the only person who
heard my cry. Il Is notable about the
Long Room that sound does not readily
pass out of it. The butler was SO ter
ror-strlcken as TO be of no use to me.
He dared not touch the body. The
sight of the blood, which had startled
me- seemed utterly to have unnamed
him.
Find Or. Hilton" l cried. land send
hi ~, hppD In r'pl1 A -
Hanley obeyed with alacrity. and in
scarcely more than minute DR. Hilton
came. He was a young physician resi-
dent in the family. with which he had
distant relu tlonship. General Holli-
day had paid for his education, and had
supported him since he had taken his
degree. Hilton was not a money ey-maker,
and would have Jared badly but for the
generals charity, disguised in the form
of Il salary to Il family physician;" but
with so generous Il helper the young
men might have been an ObieC of envy.
He was assured OF Il luxurious home
during the generals life, and of COM
potency after his death, under the will.
| have never thought well of DR.. lii
tons professional attainments, but the
foremost practitioner of the world
could have done no more in this in
stance. General Holiday had been shot
through the body The bullet had
shattered the spine. and death had re-
suited instantly from shock. So much
DR.. Hilton was able to say with perfect
certainty. He added that the murder
er must have stood directly behind his
victim, and have aimed we'll. for the
bullet. If it had not been DETECTED
slightly by the spine. would have
pierced the heart. General Holiday
had been dead a very short time-cer.
tainly less than an hour
Considering his medical training.
Hilton was extraordinarily affected by
this terrible event. He was far less
calm than | was, and for that reason l
decided that it would be best for me to
do what must be don't about inform
ing Mrs. Holiday and her daughter.
Hilton begged me to do it, speaking
with pallid and trembling lips. 1t even
seemed to me, as | turned away that
he dreaded to be left alone with the
body.
We speak in the most ordinary way
of breaking such news as that, to those
who will be heart-broken when they |
hear it. l did my best, speaking to |
Margaret first, because she was strong
er than her mother; but l doubt if |
either could have suffered greater pain
at the most brutally sudden announce
ment. Mrs. Holiday was utterly pros |
trated and | believe that nothing but |
her mothers dire need saved Margaret. |
L have already confessed my preju- |
dice against Capt Marshall, and it is
therefore with the greater pleasure
that 1 admit him to have proven him
self a serviceable man in such an emer- |
gency. If it is in him to face the perils
of battle with an equal calmness he |
must be good soldier.
1t was under his direction that we at |
last began to make an investigation of |
the tragedy. We had already tele-
phoned to the police of West Point.
Evidently the extraordinary circum- |
stance-the seemingly impossible de-
tail which distinguished the case from
all other mysteries-was the presence
Of Margaret when the shot was fired.
OF that fact there could be no doubt
She told us that she had come to the
Long Room Immediately after lunch
con. Her father had come in, very
soon afterwards, and had gone at once
to his desk. She must have fallen asleep
Immediately; and she remembered
nothing more till the moment when
she saw me standing beside her.
This Is beyond belief" said Hilton.
1T is utterly incredible that Margaret
should not have been awakened by the
report of the weapon; but it is even
more preposterous to suppose that any
human creature would have had the
hardihood to commit the crime right
before the girls face, even though she
slept"
He might have felt sure that she
wouldn't wake" said MARSHALL; and
noticed that his cold gray eyes scanned
Hllton's face narrowly
The suggestion seemed to escape the
physician, but it came like a blow 20