The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-07-04

step. but except tor the low, hum # ma
chinery and the spiashing Ct the water
heard nothing.
Speak" I said. givlas the ola man
shake. His lips trembled. ms words came
1T was Wentworth's doing" he painted.
Wentworth? Not The murdered ipJnF'
NO, no, his cousin. The rutfian who has
been the curse of my lie. OWloS 10 lhat
last death he inherits the properly. Hr IS
the real owner of the mill, and he invented
the revolving floor. There were deaths-oh
yes, oh yes. 1t was so easy, and / wanted
the money. The police never suspected. nor
did the doctors. Wentworth was bitter hard
on me, and l got into his power Here
he choked and sobbed. Il am miserable
old man. sir he gasped.
so you killed your victims for the sake
of money!" 1 said, grasping him by the
shoulder.
Yes" he said, yes; the bailiff had $50
all in gold. No one ever knew. l took it
and was able to satisfy Wentworth for
Bit
"And what about Archibald Wentworth?"
That was his doing, and l was to be
And now finally you wanted to get rid
Yes for you suspected"
AS I spoke I perceived by the CHASTITY
light of the moon another door near. L
opened it and saw that 1t was the entrance
to a small dark lumber room. / pushed
and ran downstairs. The wife was still
unaccOuntably absent. l opened the front
door, and, trembling, exhausted drenched
in perspiration, found myself in the open
air. Every nerve was shaken. At that
terrible moment | was not in the least mas
ter of myself. My one desire was to ny
the little gate. when hand, hight as a
feather. touched my arm. L looked up;
the girl Liz stood before me.
You are saved" she said; thank God!
I tried all l could to stop the wheel. See,
am drenched TO the skin; l could not man
age it. But at least l locked Grannie up.
She's in the kitchen. sound asleep. she
drank a lot of gin"
Where were you all day yesterday I
Locked up in a room in the further
tower, but l managed to squeeze through
the window, although it half killed me. l
knew If you stayed that they would try 1t
on tonight. Thank God you are saved.
We'll, don't keep me now" L said. 4
have been saved as by asmiracle. You are
a good girl; l am much obliged to you.
You must tell me another time how you
manage to live through all these horrors:
reply "Oh. my God what l suffer- She
| pressed her hand to her face; the look IN
her eyes was terrible. But L could not wait
now to talk to her further. L hastily left
VI
How I reached Harkhurst I can never
tell, but early in the morning 1 found my
| self there. 1 went straight to DR.. Stan
| mOre's house, and having got him up, 1
communicated my story. He and L imme-
| diately visited the superintendent of police
Having told my exciting tale, we took a
| trap and all three returned to the Castle
| Inn" We were back there before clock
| on the following morning But as the po-
| lice officer expected, the place was empty
| Bndloss had been rescued from the dark
| closet, and he and his wife and the girl
Liz had all flown. The DOCTOR the police
| officer and I all went up to the circular
| 6pGRpn6p6 n
ment, and after careful examination We
| discovered a low floor, through which we
| crept; we then found ourselves in a DARK
| vault which was fGl of machinery. By
| the light of a lantern we examined it.
| Here we saw an explanation of the whole
| trick. The shaft of the mill wheel which
was let through the wall of the tower was
| continuous as the axle of vertical cogged
wheel wheel, and by a muItiplicaiti?o on action tioIl
vertical shaft descended. This shaft was
| let into the center of four crosS-beams, sup
had slept. All round the circular edge of
| the floor was a steel rim which turned in
| circular socket. 1t needed but touch to
| set this hideOuS apparatus in motion.
The police Immediately started in pursuit
| of Bindloss, and l returned to London. That
| evening EdgcOmbe and l visited DIR. Miles
| Gordon. Hard-headed old physician that he
was, he was literally aghast when l told
| him my story. He explained to me that a
man placed in the position in which | was
| when the floor began to move would by
| means of centrifugal force suffer from enor-
nous congestion of the brain. In fact, the
| revolving floor would induce an artificial
condition of apOpeXy. If the victim were
drugged or even only sleeping heavily. and
| the floor began to move slowly, insensibility
would almost Immediately be induced
which would soon pass into coma and
death, and post-mortem examination
some hours afterwards would show no
| cause for death, as the brain would appear
I perfectly healthy, the blood having again
left it.
1t this moment Wentworth and Bndloss
committed for trial a the Old R9ilpU
and there is doubt what the result
will be-
The ghost mystery in connection with the
Castle Inn" has, of course, been explained
away forever
L. T. Meade and Robert Eustase, in
CasselIs Magazine.