The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1897-08-03
CHAPTER XVII.

His first endeavor was to learn how
this man had taken his life. This was
not difficult. A small charcoal furnace
and the strong odor Of gas permeating
the place for some time after he had
opened the skylight, which was the on
ly means of ventilation and light,
plainly suggested suicide. This point
being settled, he examined the other
things lying abcut. These were neces-
sariiy few, as the place was very small.
The only articles Of furniture were ia
Bile aud a chair unless account be taken
Of small closet nailed against the
wall, in which was stock Of provi-
sions. He also found a suit Of clothes.
Mr.. Barnes pondered over this for few
minutes, and then the idea occurred to
him that 1t was to bring these, the gar
ments which Lewis had worn on tho
night Of the crime, and for which, it
will be remembered, Burrows had
searched in vain, that tho man had en-
tered the secret room on the night when
Burrows was disturbed by his move
ments.
1t will also be recalled to mind that
the younger detective had theory
which would in measure be substan-
tiated if these were found to be perfo-
rated by bullet, as that would tend to
show that the deceased had been shot,
that he had then undressed and retired
to his bed, to be afterward awakened
and killed by second shot. Mr.. Barnes
examined these articles with interest.
If there were any bullet hole, it would
not fit his own theory of the case. 1t
was therefore with much satisfaction
that he soon determined that there was
none. Next he turned over the papers
with which the table was Uttered, and
soon an ejaculation Of surprise and
pleasure attested the fact that he had
made an important discovery. He held
in his hand bundle of. manuscript
bearing the ominous heading, my Con-
fession," followed by the words, For
Mr.. Barnes, should he find this first"
With impotence and curiosity Mr..
Barnes sat on the one chair and read
the following, occasionally emitting a
grunt Of satisfaction az point after point
in tho mystery was explained and all
fitted in with his own theory Of the
crime. The confession is here given
verbatim:
AFTER years Of preparation I find
that my plans have miscarried. How
ever, am fatalist, and therefore bow
to the inevitable. l have been bitterly
wrongcd, but in some degree have had
revenge. Now am forced by the i'm
mutable laws of circumstance to choose
between my own miserable life and
that Of her when l love most dearly,
and do not hesitate 10 sacrifice myself
that she may live and be happy, even
though it DO in the arms Of man
whom should like to grind beneath my
heel. Yet what has he done to me?
Nothing! He is one of the same family
as the villain who wrecked and destroy
ed the life Of my dearly beloved sister.
Beyond that there is nothing. Strange
that mother and daughter should both
love the same name! 1t is the finger Of
fate, and yet there are many who scuff
at the idea Of predestination. But as
wish to be understood by the one who
may find this paper, and that one I am
confident will be- Mr.. Barnes, must be
more explicit. Therefore 1t will be as
we'll to give detailed account Of the
sequence Of strange events in my life.
SAT the outset let me say that my
name is John Lewis, but as that is also
the name under which I have passed
since the tragedy Of Sunday night will
add that am the man who is supposed
to be dead. The corpse is that Of Walter
Marvel, the uncle Of the young man at
present accused Of my murder. will
now 60 back to my youth and relate tho
events in the order Of their occurrence.
II was born in Richmond, Va, and
my family was aristocratic. OF course
when the civil war began our sympa-
thies were all with the secessionists.
My father entered the Confederate serv-
ice and soon, by his gallantry, won
distinction, being advanced several
times on tho field until at length he
had reached the position Of colonel. 1t
was during his absence with his regi-
ment that, in the latter part Of 1868,
some prisoners of war were brought into
Richmond. Some of these were wounded
and sent to the hospitals. 1t is a curious
fact that however eager men may be in
battle to destroy each other, after the
fight is over they appear to be just as
anxious to save the lives of those who
may yet have lingering spark within
their veins.
my sister, together with many other
noble women, gave her entire time to
the nursing of the wounded and so spent
all her days among the soldiers in the
hospitals Thus when these prisoners
of war were brought in and the sufferers
placed in the kind care Of these women
my sister met and nursed many Of them.
Among the number was Walter Marvel,
an officer in the Union army. At once
she was attracted to him. How or why
let those explain who disbelieve in fate,
for he was neither handsome nor pleas
ant either in countenance or manners.
Besides, he was the avowed enemy of
all that we held to be our sacred right
and for which our young men were
pouring out their LIES blood on many
fields She was one of the fairest daugh-
tiers of the south, and it was not sur
prising that Marvel soon found himself
fascinated by her charms.
AFTER time he recovered sufficient
ly to be removed from the hospital, and
in the natural order of events would
have been taken to prison but for the
interest which my sister evinced in
him. Naturally she possessed much in
fuenoe with the officers, and she repre-
scented to them that, though we'll
enough to leave the hospital, he was
still so weak that if confined in cell
he would probably not survive. Thus
she succeeded in having him paroled.
So there was opportunity for them to
meet and exchange loving VOWS, al
though they conducted matters SO adroit-
ly that I, who was present all the time
in the home, never suspected the true