Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1896-12-03
|Before TheyWere Married.;
BY HENRY c. PARKER.
By HENRY c. PARKER.


head of the bed up the wall and across
the ceiling, over little pulley wheels
TO the key in the door A glass. with
the dregS of some liquid l. it, was on
| the stand.
Now doctor" whisper Philbrick,
I'm going To 10 YOU in here for a
moment. You keep the lantern and
starl by this chair Ke>1 Your eyes
on the bed.
He withdrew the key from the loch
and opened the door DR.. Williams
into some secret order by means OF Il
trying CEREMONY. He weld not have
admitted that he felt trepidation, but
he was conscious of a sense Of profound
apprehension
You don't mind, hope" suggested
rhilbrick, pausing.
i NO. hurry"
Philbrick stepped into IN hall and
shut the door. \ moment lat,r the doc
tor heard the key grating in the lock.
! His eyes were upon the bed and his
blood ran cold as he saw the edge near
NSI tLS W GIL SlhN, SIhh, ull'll lhN 1AlNAA =
body of the bed hung straight down
from the frame, and in the dim light
of the lantern he saw a hole extending
down through the floor. Up from it's
depths came the gurgling ard hissirg
of the Miniski.
The doctor stood perfectly still
! Again he heard the grating of the key
and with the same steadiness Of motion
the bed resumed its former position
Then Philbrick opened the door and
came in, a somber smile on his face
DO YOU see now, doctor?" he wills
pered.
PARTLY responded the doctor
Lets look more closely"
Philbrick turned the key from the
inside this time and again the bed
side descended. Both men drew near
| the edge of the hole and looked down.
Philbrick attached the rope the doctor
had brought to the lantern and lower
ed it. Part way down it hit an oh
slruction.
That's one of the spikes" rcmall..
ed Philbric.I. Look close and you can
see that the walls of that narrow we'll
are lined with spikes. They are of the
same kind that are uesd on the pro-
lessons wonderful loom for making
wire nets. They account tor the mu-
| tilations on Starkweather's body, and
| they will account for the mutilations
on the professor when he is found.
| rrhhIr oil Tho IN
my hands and face, for though | could
not have climbed up the well without
them, | couldn't dodge them all in the
| darkness"
Then you swan across the river I'M
der the house?"
river from this side, but | got under
| the house and then assembled to this
room. 1t was the only way of verify
| ing my theory, for if the door had been
unlocked the hole would have closed,
and no one would have thought of
the machine work"
But what if the door had been
forcedo"
| 1T might not have worked then, but
in all probability your clever constable
would have taken pincers and turned
! the key from without That would
have released the mechanism, the bed
! would have swung into place by the
! time the door was opened, and nobody
would have been the wiser. Besides,
| wanted to settle the thing in my own
way"
Il can quite understand that" said
the doctor, but this isn't the end of
yor work, I'm sure"
| var from it. There remains for
! your satisfaction an explanation of the
reason why the professor killed Stark
weather ! take it you know how it
was done?"
| I'm not sure Of the details | sup
| posed it was by electric shock, but
where and how Starkweather ignorant
/ ly made the connection, don't
know
lis immaterial, but we can infer 1t
easily. 1t was enough for me when /
saw the symptoms of electricity on
1 Stafkweather' s body that the professor
had killed him. ! knew why 1t was
done, and didn't care how Let's go
/ downstairs
In the corridor where Starkweather
fell dead Philbrick remarked
"Betsey says Starkweather went in
here; the professor said 50, too, though
tnat doesn't count Betsey told me
this evening thai she had seen the pro-
fessor working over this floor at night.
You may have the floor ripped up II
you like, ! don't care for the detail,
but can guess that you will find moth
ing directly beneath this spot You
Will however, be able to trace where
electric wires used % run from the din
ing table % this point, one connecting
with The handle OF the shop door, the
other with the board on which man
stands when he opens the door You
will not find the pole Of battery In the
floor now, or in the shop, for IL is
thousand to one that the professor de-
etroyed il after il had served his pur-