Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1896-03-19
CHAPTER xIx-,continuea.)

shAsAA ~ ~ W. tVNt 49, 1885, ~ 49,
close he turned to his fair Client and
said:
You are aware. / hope Miss Leaton,
that you should be perfectly frank with
me, n that you can be so with per-
feet safety. In a word. il Is absolutely
Indispensable that Il client should be as
candid with her counsel as a patient is
with her physician
Yes, / am aware OF that: but. really.
i have nothing to tell YOU but that |
am wholly innocent OF the dreadful
crimes they imputc to me-
II have made seyeral notes here upon
stems OF evidence that may be used in
defense, and about which [ wish
To question you. In the first place,
then lin the evidence given by Lady
Ieaton before the ~corcners inquest,
her ladyship testified that ON the same
night of her husbands sudden death.
while the sleeping dr;sught stood on
the stand beside his bed. she being In
her adjoining dressing-room. with the
communicating door open between
them, heard the rustic OF a woman's
silk dress moving about. and saw the
shadow Of Il woman's form gliding
along the wall of her husbands cham
Der. In the second place, the testimo-
ny Of the late Agatha LeatOn proves
that this unknown intruder could not
have been Yourself. IA you were ut that
very hour engagen in reading to her in
her own private apartment. Conse-
4uently. the midnight intruder who
Etele secretly into Lord Leaton's room,
and dropped the fatal drug into the
Sleeping-draght. must have been some
other Suspicion seems 0shaye
r.. T.. ta.t I..-a ,,af 80
in you private thought. some dea as
{ who ibis midnight p~oisoner really
wasY'
Not the remotcst in the world" re-
piled Eudora. in establishment at the
question.
"HHmph-takc ~time-reflcct."
Il have reflected. sir, bit without eff
feet"
again. then" said the lawyer, re-
fcrring 10 his notes; 'in your own evil
,dence given before he second inquest
Won tesiifv thai on the night of your
cousins Sudden death. while watching
beside her sick-bed. you lost yourself
In light slumler for "A moment. but was
almost Immediately awakened by the
impression of some strange presence in
the room. and that. in the ~momentary
rintcryal between sleeping and waking,
you saw, or dreamed you saw. a dark
robcd female figure glide through the
room aud disappear in the communi-
eating one: but that. IN arousing your
self, and searching the room and the
adjoining one. you found no trace of
an Intruder. Now. what | wish TO ask
you is, whether You believe that You
really saw anyone in the sick cham
her AT this hour or not!
II was so shocked and terrified and
xriaycd by the sudden death of my
cousin. that / could not then speak def
inifeE as to whether | really saw or
only dreamed Of that figure in the
room; because the scene passed on the
instant OF my waking up. and while
my faculties were b~ewiidercd by slum-
her But since that night. every time
] have thought OF that strange incident
i'm my watch. Ihaye become more and
more firmly convinced that what | saw
WAS reality"
In a word. that there was a
In Miss Lcaton's room that night
Yes, [ earnestly believe that there
was
And that this woman dropped tho
poison INTO the cooling drink prepared
for Miss Leaton:'
Indeed. | fear so: for when | saw
the figure it was gliding away from
the m~antlepiecc where the jug of tam
arind water stood. towards the door
that opened into my little room"
And might not hat woman have
put the poison into your drawers?
And may we not i'm that way account
for it's presence theref
Eudora started violently and turned
deadly pale. The idea OF such a
depth OF wickedness never before had
been presented TO her mind; and now
IL seemed 10 crush the vc-y soul from
her body.
Because my theory OF the case is,
that the secret poisoner took meas
urres effectually to conceal her own
crime and 10 Tx IL upon YOU. And that
Is also the scheme OF our defense
.soh. Heaven Of heavens! can Il hu-
man being-can a demon be so afro
ciously wicked.' gaspcd Eudora, in a
suffocating voice.
"Yes; a woman can be so. But re-
fiect, and tell me. have you no possible
~sr,snicion as TO who this woman might
have BEEN I
NO: l have not the remotcst idea
We'll, In the first place. 1t must
have been the same woman whose
shadow was seen by Lady Leaton or
the wall OF Lord Ieaton's chamber or
the night of his sudden death"
You think. then. that Lady Lea
tons impression of having seen such :
figure was correct?"
II think so. Now. reflect once more
and tell me II YOU have no clue to thu
identity OF this woman
Can nothing be done to ascertain
Who that woman Is, IL really guilty
and fix the guilt upon her!' inquired
Malcolm.
Yes, much. But the first and mos
important thing to be done Is to kee!
perfectly silent regarding our suspi
ciOns, SO that she may not be put upo:
her guard. The next thing Is to en-
cage the services OF two or three es
p~erienced detectives, but that will ID
expensive
Malcolm.s face cloudcd at the re
membrance of his limited
~ IL n uAy ka~ .nn ~ ho m