The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-06-23

encountered frightful spectacle. on
the floor, i'm the center of a crowd of
attendants. lay the man who had sat
at the dinner table with me an hour
Lefore, still extended on the shutter on
which he must have been brought there
from the scene of the crime, and lit
orally weltering in his blood Some of
his clothes had been removed and flung
into a corner, when 1 arrived, and q
doctor who must have preceded me by
barely a minute was turning over the
body of the unconscious man, in his
search for the fatal wound.
81 was just in time to see it-a hide
Gus pit in the back, into which could
have thrust my two fingers, and from
which the thick, black blood began to
ooze afresh as the doctor shifted the
position of the victim.
81 turned my eyes away with a feel
ing of sickness, while the doctor be-
gan to call for lint and warm water. A
child could have seen that no remedies
were destined to be of the slightest
avail. As my gaze wandered around
the hall It was arrested by the pile
of clothing which 1 have already men,
toned.
Something which could not un-
derstand drew me towards these blood
stained garments with a horrible fas-
cination. The overcoat, coat and
waistcoat of the murdered man had
apparently been stripped off together
and lay on the floor at the foot of the
stairs in a confused heap. l stepped
towards the spot slowly and looked
round. No one was observing my
| movements; every eye was turned on
the dying man. With my foot I soft
ly turned over the clothes, till came
to the overcoat. AS / did so 1 sudden
ly caught sight of something which
caused me to gasp and reel back as If
1 had been struck blow.
"There, on the back, within an inch
Of the bloody rent made by the as
sassin's knife, was a long, white
thread, identical in every respect with
the one which 1 had found on my
coat within the very hour!
| Urged by a terrible suspicion bent
! down hastily and snatched at the
| thread. 1t was firmly fastened to the
cloth!
MY first impulse was that which
was natural to a man accustomed tC
live in a civilized society. i turned
round to look for the chief of the po
lice with view to communicating my
discovery. But the chief was still OF
his way, and the time for reflection
thus afforded me convinced me that i
would be more prudent to say nothing
for the present.
"In the meantime a commotion haC
arisen among those who were sur
rounding the body. 1 pressed through
the ring, and saw that poor Starovitcl
had at length Enclosed his eyes. Th
next moment his glance fell on me
and he showed unmistakably his anx
iety to address me.
81 stepped hastily to his side, anC
knelt down to catch the faintest whis
per.
"'Can you speak?' 1 asked. IF SC
tell me how this happened?'
"He made a feeble movement a
though to rise. L bent over him wit
my ear close to his lips.
1.-The cripple-the papers, h
gasped, and ceased.
THAT was all. / was destined t
hear no more. Corpses make no con
| fessions."
The ambassador allowed a decent in
terval to pass, as if to proclaim his re
spect for the memory of the murdere,
statesman. Then he resumed:
Poor Starovitch had hardly draw
his last breath when the chief Of polio
rushed in at the head of a staff of Off
GERS. He frowned when his glance en-
countered me there by the side of tn
dead man, but instantly softening hi
expression he advanced respectful
and said to me:
"I perceive that I have arrived to
late. Perhaps, M. le Baron, you
friend was able to give you some hin
as to the author of this abominabl
crime?'
, II looked him steadily in the face