The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1896-09-24


minnie | found my gaze resting upon
the honse opposite.
| saw the two windows of Madame's
sitting room closed as they always
were at night, and man standing at
the foot of a ladder. the head Of which
reached to one of the windows.
At the instant in which / took in
the scene, something fell or was
thrown apparently from the window
above, and striking the man on tho
head, hurled him 10 the ground.
1t all passed in the space of a brief
second or two. while the long culver
ing glare OF lightning continued, and
then, closing my blinded eyes / drew
in the shutter, and having secured it,
returned to bed.
The next morning all the neighbor
hood, all the town even, was in state
Of Mortified excitement
Old Madame Castine had been
found dead in bed, with marks of
fingers on her throat and a box con
tanning money and jewels missing
from the desk in which she kept it,
and which had been broken open,
The case was, of course, immediate
ly taken up by the authorities, and
proved most puzzling one. No clue
whatever could bc discovered to the
identity Of the perpetrator of the
crime; no sign of hls presence even,
except in the broken lock of the desk.
the contents of which had been rum
mayed over, and the finger marks on
the dead Woman's throat.
All the doors and windows were
found to be securely fastened on the
inside. and the most rigid examina-
ton failed to bring suspicion on the
inmates of the house, who were only
the old gardener and mulatto wo
man-faithful servants who had been
in madame's employ for over twenty
years. But finally suspicion became
directed to the dead woman's neph
ew, Eugene Arnold: and such was
tho train Of evidence gradually
brought against him that ere long
few persons entertained doubt about
his guilt
In the first place it was known that
between himself and Madame Castlne
had occurred of late several serious
disagreements at first on account of
his extravaganza. she being called up
on to pay some of his debts; and after
wards because of his attachment to a
young lady Of whom, as her nephew's
wife, Madame did not approve
The young man had, however, call
cd on the following day, when Ma
dame had sent him a sharp message
refusing to see him. And on the
next day the old lady had been found
murdered, and her money aud jewels
missing. Ii had been shown that any
person possessed of false keys could
have entered the house, ana on leav-
ing have secured the doors behind
him; aud this young Arnold had abun-
dant opportunity of doing, even in
the five minutes in which he had been
kept waiting in the hall on his last
visit 20 the house. When | heard of
these things through the papers, l was
led to speak to my landlady on the
subject of all that [ observed at the
succeed house opposite, even to the
appearance Of the man at the foot of
the ladder on the night of the storm.
/ had not doubted that this was the
gardener perhaps removing the lad
der, or securing something against
the storm: and but for the murder
should never have recalled the cir
cumstance Aud the result Of my
communication and the landlady's
gossip was that / found myself sum
mOned to court as a most unwilling
witness in the trial of Mr. Eugene
Arnold for the murder of Madame
Castine.
Eyerything,apparently,w went against
him. The garden ladder had been
seen the day after the tragedy lying
IN it's usual place under the back
piazza. and nothing of it in connection
with the murder But now, on rigid
examination, it was ascertalned that n
loose slab had been slipped out of the
window shutter, and afterwards re
placed. By this means, doubtless,
the iron bolt on the inside. with which
be was familiar, had been loosened
when there would be no difficulty III
entering the window. the sash having
been left raised on this war 1 summer
night, or in securing the shu ter upon
leaving.
This coarse he had taken. knowing
that the door of Madame's rooms up
stairs were always, on his retiring,
locked on the inside, and trusting to
the noise and darkness of the stormy
night to screen him in his guilty
work,
She had threatened to dieinherit
him nnless he promised to give up
this marriage. and he had replied that
he would not resign the woman he
loved and honored for all the wealth
that the world beStow Then Madame
had consulted lawyer about making
a new will, and so informed her
nephew.
This was two days preceding the
murder; and on this occasion Delphine
remembered to have seen her mistress
take out box of jewels from the writ
ing desk in which it was kept and
show it to Mr. Eugene, saying that
she ''had intended it for his wife.
should he marry to suit her. but that
it should never be worn by Alice
Meredith" Then he had .fared up"
as Delphine expressed it. and said
something about Miss Meredith being
worth all the diamonds in the world,
and that he meant to marry her at
once aud make home for her, how
ever humble where she would be pro
tected from unkindness and insult.
All this the woman had seen and
heard from her mistress adjoining
bedrot m, where she sat mending a
rent in the curtains.
With an intuitive conviction of the
young mans innocence, formed main
~ from his frank face and fearless
bearing, and with all my woman 5
sympathies enlisted in his behalf and
thot Of thn al, 1. =