Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1897-07-30
n0RNCf AnnfSLET VnCnELr
(copyrieht. 1906, BY J. B. LlppIncou co.l
SYNOPSIS


SYNOPSIS.
Chapter MARK Gerard employs Hugo
Livingston (who tells the tale) to tutor his
little son, and intimates he has reasons for
kceptns the child's existence. secret
CHAPTER II.
The reasons, however, remained for
a minute or two longer in his own pos
session. An. idea, a happy thought,
brought a strange sparkle to his eyes, as
he rose from his chair. crossed the room
and unlocked dispatch box. From this
he drew red morocco case, which he
opened and handed silently to me. It
contained beautiful miniature.
~ very lovely woman" l said.
'My wife, SIR
glanced involuntarily at my hosts
wrinkled face. Was it possible that
once he had played the enchanting part
of Romeo to such a Juliet us this? Or
had she married him for his wealth?
He held out his lean fingers for the
miniature, and, leaving it in the palm of
his hand, continued:
II met her at Red Gulch, where had
made so much money. You have heard
of the Black Gulch excitement; and you
know, possibly, why the place came
to be rechristened. No? Well, I'll tell
you. 1t was the scene of horrible
tragedy, one of those blood curdling
crimes which shock the whole world
and then are forgotten. Any old-timer
will give you the particulars; but such
details are not to my taste; and to be
honest with you"-he shuddered-"I
cannot trust myself to discuss them.
The crime"-his voice sank to a whisper
-"made coward of me for life. Do
you know, Mr.. Livingston, that one may
suddenly lose his grip and never re-
cover it? That happened to me. The
man who was murdered and so horri-
| bly, nutilated was my partner, and
| God!-my emotion will not surprise
| you when | add that he was killed by
mistake. The assassin intended to muir
der me. My partner had arranged to
visit San Francisco to buy some ma
chinery; but at the last moment he was
unable to undertake the journey, and |
went in his stead That night the deed
was done-done, too, in darkness,
which accounted for the blunderin iden-
tity. But the ferocity of the murder
cannot be described. Only a man in
spired by the most malignant hatred
could have butchered fellow-creature
as"
"He was caught red-handed, OF
course?"
| "No. He is still Mt large"
"And you know him?"
"Yes."
"But the motive, Mr.. Gerard?"
He held up the miniature and sighed
"4our wife!" 1 gasped, overwhelmed
with surprise and curiosity.
"She was not then my wife. She was
married at that time to-to-the man
the fiend, l say, who killed my poor
friend Ferdinand Perkins. And, fool
that | was, never suspected the truth
and the devilish cunning of the mon
ster threw suspicion upon another
When learned the real facts, months
after the tragedy had occurred, it was
too late-too late!"
His distress moved me profoundly.
1.-The motive was jealousy, the jeal.
ousy of an Othello. had paid atten.
ton to his wife, blameless woman
Mr.. Livingston, good as gold, and Loyal
to the ruffian whose name she bore
She must have known that loved her
for she came to me one night, two weeks
after the murder, and implorcd me tc
take her away. jumped at the oppor,
tunity, and asked no questions then
We left Red Gulch-it was called Red
Gulch because-you understandable.
hind the fastest team in the country
but none pursued. The husband
didn't know it at the tiInc-was down
with brain fever, and raving. Well
sir, one year later l made that unhappy
lady my wife by the laws of the land
but, at her special request, secretly
She easily obtained divorce from he,
first husband, on the ground of deser
ton and failure to provide. lie had dis.
appeared. But, to my amazement, my
wife refused to live openly with me
She gave these reasons:"
/ He paused and wiped his forehead.
"This fiend had killed Perkins be.
iieving him to be me, and had betrayed
himself to his wife in his sleep. Small
wonder! She dared not tell q soul
fearing for her own life; but she con
suited confidential servant, Greek
who was my right-hand man and en-
tirely trustworthy. Between them they
unearthed the evidences of the crime
the clothes he wore, the knife. The
devil-he is alive. as told you-has a
streak of insanity in his makeup. HI
has madman's cunning, madman'l
strength, and madman's ferocity."
| began dimly to understand my mis-
sion. Sooner or later l might expecr
to pit myself against this crazy Her
cules. The prospect was not pleas
ing.
"Why did you not prosecute"
asked, when you learned the facts?"
prosecutor" he echoed. Not jury
in the land would have sent him to tn,
gallows. The testimony was purel,
presumptiye, and the fact that ! hat
eloped with and married the accused'l
wife would have invalidated her evi
dence. I submitted the case, hypo
thetically, to the greatest criminal law
yer in America, and he laughed at me.
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