Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1896-03-26

ylng rne moor after sne IeTr MN. linen.
turning with fury in his heart and re-
pressed passion in his voice, he exclaim-
ed:
"Mr. Mitchell, either you are the
most contemplate villain on the face Of
this earth, or else there is some hideous
mistake here. Explain it, man | must
know at once "
Must, Mr.. Neuilly, is word that !
seldom obey. But l know how You have
suffered. and have no desire 10 prolong
this interview a moment more than is
absolutely necessary First, however, /
must understand the situation. What do
you and Mr. Barnes here think it to bef"
II will explain briefly" said the de-
tective. provided your wife will with
draw.
MY wife is now part Of myself, ;"
said Mr.. Mitchell, proudly placing an
arm around her as she stood beside
him. "You need not hesitate TO speak.
She has promised to share my life with
me, to take me as am. She will begin
the task at once. Go on"
$50 be ID. I know now that Rose
Mitchell, who was murdered, was known
in New Orleans as Rose Montalbon.
and that she was your wife. have also
discovered that you deceived young
creole the mother Of that child who has
Just left us; that when you deserted
her she died broken hearted, while you
allowed the Montalbon woman to take
the girl and pass it off as her own,
though later she was kidnapped by you.
The woman suspected that you would
wish to marry again and swore to pre-
vent it. Her appearance upon the scene
just as you were to become q husband
must have been menace to you. Do
you see the pointi Murders have been
committed with less motive. think,
therefore, that have sufficient evidence
upon which TO arrest you.
"You might arrest me upon less evil
dence," said Mr.. Mitchell. "It is done
every day. But to convict me you would
have to prove all this. "
How do you know that I cannot
prove it?"
For the very simple reason that your
facts are all wrong"
"very good, Mr. Mitchell, but you
will have to prove that "
"I am fully prepared to do so. To
begin with, according to your story, !
abducted this child. There you are only
partly right l did take her away from
the Montalbon, and l did it, as you
might say, by stealth and force But I
had the fullest right to do So"
lyon admit, then, that You are her
father?"
"On the contrary, I deny 1t, and
there Is the weak point In your story.
Your argument all depends upon my
having been guilty of wronging that
girls mother and the Montalbon's g hav-
ing me in her power. In point Of fact,
am not her father, and the Montalbon
had but slim chance to blackmail me. "
"But you admitted to me that you al
lowed her to do SO; that you gave her
a large amount In Jewels"
"That is true. yet I did not submit
| TO blackmail.
"Mr. Mitchell, / seldom forget a
mans words. You told me that day in
the vaults that you were in the woman s
power; that she could ventilate certain
scandals which might break your en-
gagement- Yet now you say you were
not in her power and that you did not
submit to blackmail How can You ex-
plain such conflicting statements?"
1.-TWO conflicting statements may both
be true, provided a lapse Of time occurs
between them. When / admitted that I
had been in the power Of that woman,
! thought so; therefore spoke the truth.
When I say now that I was not. I also
speak truly. In the interval have
learned to appreciate the character Of
the woman who is now my wife. That
Is all. know now that the Montalbon IS
story, blazoned forth to the world,
would not have affected her faith In
me if had told her my own version.
For heavens sake. gentlemen, in
eerrupted Mr.. Neuilly, "stop this argu-
ment and get down to the facts. am
impatient to know the truth. F"
Eyes, Roy" said Emily. why not
simply tell the story as a narrative, and
let the whole truth be known?'