The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-11-24

under berth, pale ana motlOnleSs as
death. | felt the body: it was cold and
rigid. If this We're not death, he sim
ulated it to perfection. ! sent for the
sailmaker, who sewed the body up in
my presence When his task was COM
peted | dismissed him, and securing
the cabin door inside with sharp
knife, rpped open the stitches. My
hand shook painfully. What if he were
really dead?
confess to experiencing singular
feeling of relief when the man opened
his eyes, and the resuscitatcd Brandon
sat up ! administered some brandy,
which helped to revive him. He quick
ly and noselessly dressed himself.
Then he produced from an American
trunk a dummy figure which he had
previously prepared and weighted, and
incloscd it in the shroud. This he sewed
up with his own hands. Not n ward
was spoken by either Of use. When all
was completed | stepped out to recon-
hotter. Seeing the coast clear, l sig
nailed him, and he Crept swiftly across
the passage into his daughters cabin.
where he concealed himself.
In the first dog-watch of the same
afternoon, the bell commenced to toll
its solemn knell for the funeral of An
thOny Brandon. Officers and men and
passengers stood around me with heads
uncovered as ] read from the Book of
! Common Prayer the beautiful and i'm
pressive burial service. God forgive
! me. it was an awful mockery. l don't
know how I got through with it. Af-
! tcrwards l heard it commented that |
was much affected during the service
| Heaven knows / was, but twas with
guilt and fear.
After the funeral Brandon returned
to his own cabin, which was kept con-
stantly locked, and the key of which
! ! retained in my own possession. With
my connivanCe Alice smuggled food to
| him from day to day.
| About two weeks afterwards, while
proceeding up the channel under all
| sail we were hailed by a tug. Antici-
| pating danger, slipped down the COM
| panion-way, and conveyed Brandon to
my own cabin for conceament. When
| got on deck again, was just in
! time to see a stout well-groOmed party
| clambering over the vessels side. With
| out any preliminares he brusquely de-
| manded:
Got a passenger of the name of
| Brandon on board?"
| Il had, stranger; | had"
| lie gazed al me inquiringly.
Come below, sir" said |.
AS we descended, he explained that
he was a detective in pursuit of Bran
| don, who had absCOnded from Aus
| tralia with considerable sum of
money and valuable negotiable secur-
| tiles. When he had produced his war
| rant, | ordered the mate to fetch the
| lOS-book. Under date OF the 18th of
January. he read this entry:
| "Buried at sea in lat. So degrees 10
minutes ~, long. 80 degrees l6 min
utes w. Anthony Brandon, cabin pas
senger Cause of death unknown"
He muttered something under his
| breath which was quite unintelligible
to me. Then he demanded TO see
Brandon's effects. H. ransacked every
| trunk and pOrtmanteau; but not a ves-
tiSe of paper or anything of value did
he discover. The expression on his
face when he left the ship some hours
later was not particularly pleasant.
| When we arrived in the docks at
London, ! smugglcd Mr. Brandon
ashore in one Of his daughters trunks.
after they had been searched by the
| customs officer. No one in the ship
ever suspected the truth. Their Sec
ret remained alone with me.
1t was arranged that Alice and I
should be married quietly before set
ting out on my next voyage. and our
honeymoon was to be spent on the
bosom of the deep. When we parted
| that night she promised to commune
cate with me when her father had Sc
| cured some quiet retreat in the coun-
| try. She kept her promise. Here is
| the letter. ] have preserved il all
these years. 1t has neither SUPER
scription nor signature
| Dear old Captain: Many. many
| thanks for all your kindnesses. NV
| husband and I-fCr Mr.. Brandon is
my husband, though it was not known
| In Arlington, will never forget them.
| Pray forgive the deceit we found il
eXpedent to practice on you in order
to carry out our plans. We are in
fairly afIuent circumstances for NV
husband did not lose the money in
speculation, as thought it necessary
to tell you. Dear captain. | know |
can rely upon you, for your own sake.
not to inform the authorities about my
husband As he died at sea, we ex-
pcct to live securely, unmolested by
the bank officials or the police. Good
by forever"
And that was the end of my romance
No, never heard anything more about
them. Whether they lived to enioy their
ill-gotten gains or whether they didn't,
! cannot tell. But this | do know. she
was the first woman that ever fooled
me, and, by heaven, she was the last.
l never gave another the chance.