The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-10-18
Come" I insisted, something has

Come, / insisted, something has
happened" sr~
As we descended the same low, .rumb-
ling sound was audible. In the flicker
ing light the wall was crossed again
by. a rapid line of shadow line that
new assembled Then all was silent.
Even the clock stopped By this the
almond smell was overpoWering /
made the man protect his mouth and
nostrils. The first thing my light
flashed ~on was the door OF IlovelPs
room, the door of which a minute
earlier there had been no trace Heav-
ems! what deviltry was this? And what
the calamity? I knocked loudly on
the panels. AnsMominous. stiffness
| reigned. 1 knocked again. Then
turned the handle and twentgin. 8 ='fs
They were dead. They lay quiet as
in sleep, only curious blueness of
skin and glassiness of the widely-star-
ing eyeballs showed the sleep final. Her
hand was in his; her head lay on his
shoulder So they stared straight into
eternity smile on their faces. = $
But this was not all. The pitifulness
of 1.-THE pitifulness. For at her side.
curled up as if in slumber, lay a new
born babe-a tiny premature thing that
nestled a darkly-curling head against
her arm.
Before it was day 1 interviewed
tie magistrate and police They pooh
pcohed my version of the case, reject
ing it as melodr2ma; such things were
not out of ronlances. The case was
manifeStiy I. one Of concerted suicide
The sliding wall excites smiles. In the
middle of the night, they said, eone
can be pardoned some fogginess of
sense ohThey did not consider there
was SO far a tittlelof evidepee ongwhich
tC arrest Simpkins. 5af1gonCos 81
sent for, a london detective T. set
an expert to explore the wall. 1t were
impossible, he said, to explain "a singu-l
lar construction without some prelimi-
nary and considerable damage which
pending theAsinquest was mot advise
able. There were grooves in the door
jainbs of ot1e small rooms ff5the-4 pas,
Sage-there- was space to contain such
a Sliding wall as 1 had indicated. ss~
That might secreted in the house my
detective, two police officers and a
friend. II knew Simpkins would come,
and he came, as 1 likewise expected.
withi materials for "a confagration.
Hopkins admitted him. He would re-
main the night, he said. He progressed
an overwhelming grief. He had al
ready supped. He would go straight
to that room where the dead lay
Through a peep-hole punctured in the
wall we watched him from one of the.
TOO1IlS. mo SOOlltI was lllC
door shut than he dragged chairs, cush-
IONS towel racks. alfA else combustible
towards the door. He even tore the
curtains from the bed Then he. ,satu-
rated the whole With oil he had with
him. He had lignteaa abuse and was
making for the door1when suddenly he
stopped. SOL Qes1 + Td - ~
Tick! tick. began The o'clock. Tick.
tick! 1t startled US With it's sudden
ness and nearness,, III a panic he flung
his fuse. 1t fell Shorthand lay smoul-
deringa on the. flooraadf But The needed
nothing. He was beating frenziedly
upon the door. However, we had seen
to 'ithat. Tick! tick. went the clock.
He Numbered with his fists and feet
and shouted desperatelE
\ A rumbling began. He flung HIM
out brave1y. Tick! tick! went the
clock; rumble, rumble. rolled the de-
scending wall. He sprang to the win
dows; but we had seen to those. Sud-
denly 1 realized what was about to
happen The deviltry planned by
himself was on his track, fastened, it
might bee-by the explorations Of my
expert.
.'Quick quiek! urged. Unlock the
door; we must not take the law into
our own hands,. -
But we were too late. Outside, in
the corridor, the sliding wall came
down-thes door was sealed The rum
BILE ceased: but the clock licked on,
counting his moments. The almonds
smell rose. strong.
where do the fumes come from 2" I
questioned. $50
The detective, with. an impressive
face, stepped aside from a peep-hole.
I looked long enough to see that soft
spraying like tiny rain was falling in
the room Already he lay on the floor
with gasping breath and distended
eyes. / left the peep-fole to more in-4
terested watchers. Tick! tick! went
the clock, counting the moments. Tick!
tick. tick! n Hes dead, they said.