The evening times., 1896-01-07

have Kept my word. But, by heaven"
Astarita did not finish the sentence.
He w;A livid with emotion and tretnbnng
from headto foot. 1 urged him 10 be calm
Yes. / must be calm" he said. what
is going on on the stage?'
/ stepped forward.
"A troupe of acrobats-No. g."
He leaned back in his chair and wiped
his forehead. i gianced at the audience,
and Immediately felt grip on MY, shout-
ders, while Francesca Astarita whispered,
almost Missed, into my ear:
"She is dead"
turned and looked him in the face:
Then try to forget it all" l said. Let
the past be buried"
The curtain h;fd ,desCended.
Give me the program he said, quickly.
He held it in front Of me, with the long
thumb nailof his right hand cutting through
point in the middle OF the page.
Look there! The next ite,n-'Air. Chris
topher Gurney. ventriloquist.' That is the
st.i ge maine Of the scounirel. Herbert Ross.
LET us 20 away" l urged. You are
excited aud unwen. 1t will do you no good
to see him. Come away"
mo. no, not yet" he answered. Pres
emily"
The bell rang and the curtain rose, dis
covering n row of grotesque and grinning
figures waiting to receive animation
quist. Christopher Gurney appeared and
made his bow. Taking his stand in the
midst of his puppets, he began his cnter-
! tainment. His dialogues and jests were
bright and up to date" and peals nf
laughter We're frequent from the audi
ence.
booked around at Astarita. He was
standing behind me, leaning against the
side of the box. half concealed by a long
curtain. | cnuld see his face. and noticed
a wild madness in his eyes.
shall we go?" / asked again.
Presently" was the reply.
The vent riiouuist was now making one
of his figures sing cumic song. 1t was
accompanied by the band, aud had a re-
frain that 1 have never forgotten and
that never comes into my head without
bringing back that night at the Jollity.
The song came TO an end, and loud ap-
plauSe rang through the building. In the
midst of the clamor the performer bowed
his head, and, To the alagm OF everybody,
fell face downward in front of the foot
lights. There he lay mutionlcss. with his
row OF uncauny puppets grinning down
upon him.
Attendants now rushed on from the wings,
and, as they lifted the ina inmate body, l
saw a red stream flowing from his head ana
dark stain on the floor OF the stage. The
curtain was immediately rung down. and
the audience was stunned by the terrible
scene they had Witnessed.
turned iustinctively to Astarita- He
was pale and excited.
This did it, he said.
He held in his hand an air-gun. which
until now he had concealed from my signt.
I was tr7insfixed with horror at his crime.
/ sat like one dazed looking into space,
and lust conscious that some one WAS stand
ing before the curtain addressing the audi
r lys.t 20, fy,lI nf
position, and determined to secure the criihi-
nal. | arose TO do so.
He had gonei
l went out into the noisy streets. There
was fine driZzle, and the roads and pave
ments were slippery, but 1 walked along
like one in a dream. Where went l can
not Iememl,er, but know did not enter my
chambers until nearly 2 O'Clock in the morn
ing. 1 WAS wet through and covered with
mud As crept into bed resolved to tell
the police all knew on the following day.
Next morning / rose caliner, but with
DO appetite for breakfast. l took PIP my
newspaper to see if there was any account
of the tragedy at the Jollity, when my eye
fell first on the following paragraph:
Late last night 4 man was seen to throw
himself into the Thames from Waterloo
bridge. Attempts were made to save his
life but without success. The river police,
however recovered the dead body. From
articles found on the deceased it would ap-
pear that he was an italian named FRANCES
co Astarita. but It present nothing is known
of him nor OF his motive for committing
the crime"
But at the end of the account Of the scene
of the JeIlity was relieved to read:
"On making inquiries at the hospital we
were informed that the injuries to Mr.
Gurney are not SO serious as were at first
feared. and there is every hope of his
complete recovery. There' is at present
no clew whatever to the criminal"
1 have therefore, rightly or wrongly,
held my peace.