The River Falls times. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1894-1933, 1896-03-23

work, an / guess we'll stop his Jaw
forever. He won't remember nothln'
about Dick Ashland, por nobody else
when we've done with him, yew bet.
CHAPTER X
There were not more than a dozen
residences along the lane where Rec
don Lodge was situated, and the IN
habitantS of none of these took any
interest in the fact that the little fur
nished house had been lot. The three
tradesmen, the butcher. the baker and
the grocer, who called, were told by
Mr.. SylvanUs Thompson, as Mr.. Ed
ward Wall chose to call himself, that
he obtained his supplies from London,
and that a daily quartern loaf, and a
rather unusually large supply Of eggs,
butter and milk were all that was re-
qlired Mr.. SylvanuS Thompson had
one friend staying with him. who, the
tradesmen imagined, was ailing, as he
never, on any occasion, showed him
self There was also, the tradeSmen
told one another, a tall, elderly SER
want, the bakers boy had seen him.
The lad could not in any way describe
his features, as the mans face was
swathed in handkerchief, as though
he were suffering from toothache,
and he was standing at the end Of
the rather dark hall The two last
mentioned perSOnageS must have ar
rived during the night, as no one had
seen them enter the house.
The tradesmen soon became con-
vinced, not only that Mr.. Sylvanus
Thompson obtained his supplies from
London, but also that he was laying
in a considerable store. He was con-
tinually journeying to and from Lon
din in his dog cart, and on his return
invariably brought with him collec-
ton of parcels and boxes of all kinds
and shapes. Some of these seemed
even to be of considerable weight, for,
one day, when Mr.. SylvanuS ThOmp-
son was resting MS horse in front of
the Greyhound" lad playfully put
his hand underneath one of them and
found it too heavy for his boyish
strength 1t was written down fer
moist sugar, and rotten bad moist SUI
gar it must have been, the grocer said,
to be so heavy.
With all that Mr.. Sylvanus Thomp-
son, his journeyings and his ldlosyn-
crasies, excited but faint interest in
the neighborhood. The river was
sWarnling with boating men and their
over the tranquil waters. Inc inn
keepers and lodging house proprietors
had their hands full, and Mr.. Sylvanus
Thompson'S nearest neighbor, Sir Will
lam Cuthbertson, was represented only
by the grave-visaged attendant, who
seemed to be attending to nobody or
nothing but his patient, who asked no
questions and permitted no chatter,
and by Lucy, who never for moment
left her side of the Nest.
Murder as a fine art is taught to per-
lection by two rofessors-masters OF
invention-cupidity and fear. These
fierce and cold-blooded teachers sum
up their pupils ability and capacity of
endurance to a nicely, and find for him
a way of accomplishing his deviilsh
work more suitable to his habits of
- Thus, a man well verSed in the
secrets of chemistry, DESTROYS to rid
himself of an enemy, would most like
ly have recourse to subtle poiSonS. The
platelayer who has deadly quarrel
with his railway company lOOsens a
few screws and throws half a dozen
sleepers across the line. Thus also
George Maclane, with his experiences
as a miner fresh i'm his mind, hit upon
the plan of digging an underground
mine from Reedon Lodge to the Nest,
and blowing Lord Cleve, with his dan
gerous memory, to atoms.
George Maclane was not man to do
things by halves, or without careful
deliberations. To the servants at the
Bottoms the information had been
youchsafed that their masters were
taking short tour in the country, and
Mr.. Edward Wall was left in charge
. 01ac~1 NTnE1 DIV
them enter Reedon Lodge, and nobody
would see them leave. The only per-
son upon whose shoulders the crime
would be laid was MFR. Edward Wall,
and he was promised five thousand
pounds and twelve hours start to get
away. The actual gold and notes were
exhibited before the young mans
greedy eyes, and in doing so Mr.. George
Maclane made the one mistake in
his otherwise nicely calculated ar
rangements. He allowed Mr.. Edward
Wall to see that very much larger
sum in SovereignS and notes was kept
in the strong box at the BOltOus.
The murderous plan was simple
enough They would lay two three
hour fuses to make sure OF success, IN
case, by any passing accident, one of
these should fail. They would resume
their own garments, and in the mid
die of the, night walk as far as Wind
sor, where they would take the early
morning train for some station along
the Great Western line, and hence
pretend to be engaged in a walking
tour: In the meantime the mine would
have exploded and annihiFated Lord
Cleye. They had never been seen in
the business, and could not be sus-
pected. AS to Mr.. Edward Wall, it
was in his own interest TO get away