The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1897-07-16

ending With the idea that both or thes
pistols were fred at the dog. But ther
is another aspect which you must nc
neglect, and that is the 'circumstantia
possibility Remember that both Lu
cas- and this girl, according to tn
squirrels story, had threatened the dea
man. They both came here armed, a
unusual thing for a woman at al
events. Suppose that Lucas saw Levi
through the window and shot at him
The noise may have attracted the dog
and thus that contest may have occur
red after the discharge of the weapon
instead of before. Further, suppose that
seeing that her lover had left, the gin
had also taken aim at the same target
One shot may have made the hole in til
ceiling, and the other may have reache'
the mark"
"Why, this becomes more complicate'
every minute. What about the pistol il
Miss Lewis room?'
"Ah That is the problem. But
come; we will go across the river"
Thereupon they proceeded to the boa
landing, marked L in the diagram, an,
crossed in a light rowboat, which the.
found fastened at that place. On th
other bank they found a continuation O
the footprints marked No. 2. These LEI
to the base of gigantic maple (R)
around which seat of boards had beer
arranged. Mr.. Barnes examined tn
spot critically and finally said:
II guess it was Miss Lewis after all
See, this tree is covered with carvet
monograms of her initials and Marvel's
Evidently this has been trysting place
for that pair Of lovers. Here is anothel
evidence that tho snow stopped shortly
after the meeting at the summer house
for, whereas she came here directly, he
footprints Oh this side Of the river arr
quite distinct, showing that the snow
ceased during her trip over to this
place"
She met o man here too. See hi
footprints. Could it have been the love-
this time-I mean Marvel?'
Possibly. Bat let us see il we car
trace him to where he crossed the river
if indeed it was he who did"
They followed the tracks, but they
entered the woods just back of the ma
pie and were lost. However, diligen
search along the river bank discovered
track which emerged from the Woo
and approached the river. They go
into the boat, rowed across to poin
opposite and found there the beginning
of the track on that side marked in thu
diagram No. 1.
1.-THE directness Of this trail from
this point to the house." said Mr.
Barnes, sis circumstantial proof thai
the man crossed the river with the in
tention of visiting that place. Fol
what? Whether he was or was not Lu
cas-, he had already had an interview
with Miss Lewis, and therefore his visit
was scarcely to her. :"
How could it be Lucas?"
'Supposing he intended to kill Lew,
is after being interrupted by the dog,
could he not have gone around by these
woods and returned later to complete
his work? 1t is barely possible that the
whole thing was planned, that the in
terview at the summer house was pre-
liminary, and that Miss Lewis went to
the maple, where she was later joined
by Lucas, who told her the result of his
first attempt and arranged the second. "
How could he know that he had
failed in his first shot?"
II don't like to follow this line of
thought much, as it is all guesswork.
Still, it is one of the possibilities, and
in case it turns out wrong will teach
you how easy it is to misconstrue cir
cumstantial evidence. To continue it,
suppose that at the meeting over the
river Miss Lewis and Lucas determined
to finish what they had begun. The OBJ
ject would be that by killing old Lewis
the prosecution of Marvel would cease,
the complainant being dead. Miss Lew
is undertakes to furnish weapon be-
cause he had lost his. She owns one, as
the squire has explained. Therefore Lu-
cas- enters the house through the side
door, and from the dining room has ac-
cess to the girls bedroom, where she
gives him a pistol; thence he easily en-
ters the parlor. Such an arrangement of
events would readily account for her de-
stroying the evidence that her weapon
had been used. But don't lay too much
stress OIL all this, for, as I said, it is
purely guesswork. There is flaw in
it too. Why did Miss Lewis leave her
coadjutor Oh the wrong side Of the river
when they separated, and thus force
him to wade stream Of water on IA
cold night?"
"That may be discovered later. But
look; there she is, leaving the house.. "
Nov, Tom, will give you a chance
to do some work alone. That girl has
gone to mail her letter. The nearest
postoffice is in the vicinity of the bridge
and in private house. See; she is 60
ing in that direction. BY the road it is
more than mile. By the river you can
readily reach there first, as it is shorter.
Row as hard as you can and hide near
the postoffice. If she enters, wait till
she comes out and then go in and learn
the address OH the letter. You will find
it in IA cupboard in the hall, where the
mail is kept. That is the main thing
which we want. will wait for you at
the house unless something should turn
up to make me change my plans.
Burrows was already in the boat and
started as soon as these last words were
uttered Mr.. Barnes waited till the girl
was out Of sight and then returned
quickly to the house. He went straight
to Virginia's room and over to the writ
ing cabinet il which she had placed the
pistol To obtain this he meant to break
the lock if necessary. Greatly to his
surprise, he found the key in the lock.
He opened the drawer, but did not find
therein the object of his search. Look
ing around the room, he was startled to
find the pistol lying on the bed. He
picked it up and noted that it was of
the same pattern as the other two which
he already had and, like them, bore a
plate with its owners name, in this in
stance, Virginia Lewis"
Is my last guess correct" thought
NJ, poS,,n. .i,rI ,l;d that x,n,,nr 81