The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-08-20

held a revolver in his hand. half con-
cealed by the folds OF his dress.
"T don't want to commit another
murder, said he. but / shall have to
IL you continue to show a disposition
to give an alarm, and thus intention
ally jeopardized my personal safety
CoMPoUNDING A FELONY.
II had been away from the hotel Of
flee about fifteen minutes, and I was
afraid that l might be wanted there"
continued Mr.. Rice, $50 / explained
the matter to the man. and after ex-
acting from me a solemn obligation to
reveal nothing that 1 had seen or heard
in the room, I left him to go back to
the office, promising to return to his
room when / got off duty at midnight.
/ wasn't afraid Of the man. His whole
bearing, despite his disguise, betoken-
ed the man of polish and refinement
and judged by his conversation, he
was a person Of good education. I
was convinced that he was neither
crazy nor drunk, and there was some
thing about him which not only excit-
ed my curiosity, but gave me conf
dence that he really meant no harm IL
1 kept my own counsel about him. The
mystery surrounding him interested
me, and / decided to learn more about
him,
at midnight I returned to his room.
He was waiting for me and welcomed
me In an exceedingly pleasant and gen.
ial manner, although 1 could not help
noticing that he was very nervous and
i'll at ease After we had exchanged
few remarks he reluctantly confided to
me his secret, which was, in short,
that he had killed a German army Of
fcer in a duel in which he claimed that
the requirements Of the code had not
been scrupulously compiled with, and
that the affair, for that reason, had
assumed the character of murder.
REVEALED.
II had noticed that he had copies Of
all the daily papers received at the
island sent to his room Immediately
after the various steamboats, arrived.
He picked up one Of these papers, and,
pointing to an item, told me to read it,
which 1 did. The item was a cable
dispatch from Berlin to the effect that
the German authorities had been ad-
vised that Wilbur Fawcett, who had
killed a German army officer, had es-
"T am Wilbur Fawcett,' said the
| man, and have been hunted by de-
tectives ever since the occurrence of
this miserable affair referred to In this
newspaper. 1 feel positive that / mar
| rowly escaped arrest upon landing in
the United States and it seems to me
as IL my footsteps have been dogged
| from New York to Washington, thence
kte1@,, .n,,a
where 1 firmly believe 1 barely eluded
my pursuers by assuming this disguise,
which have since maintained. 1 can't
dispossess myself of the feeling that
somehow or other it has been discover
ed that have left Cincinnati for some
point in the northern portion of the
state. They would never thing of look
! ing for me, however, at summer re-
sort I had hoped to get a little peace
and rest here, but my craving for
liquor in my present nervous condition
has betrayed me, as you would not
have suspected ME, had it not been for
my indiscretion in having drinks sent
to my room. I want to leave here now,
and l want you to help me get away.
l am becoming afraid of my own shad-
oW. l must leave the United States,
and l think l had better go across the
lake to some small, quiet town in Can
ada. / have. therefore, determined to
hire some man to take me to the Can
ada shore from here under cover of
darkness, in small boat, and land me
at some isolated spot where there arc
no customs officers to interfere with
me. You must engage me a boat and a
| discreet man to take me-
Il dislike to engage in a transaction
OF that Sort" continued Mr.. Rice, "but
Fawcett pleaded with me so earnestly
that he awakened my sympathy and ]
nnally consented to send him a man
with whom he could make such ar
rangements as he wished, which did
ana in good time Fawcett was landed
on the Canada shore, and a certain
Put-in-Bay boatman ws $50 richer thar
before the trip.
CAPTURED AT A CARNIVAL
After remaining in Canada a couple
OF years Fawcett attended an ice car
nival at Montreal. There was as usua
a great gathering of crooked men al
the carnival. and many detectives were
in attendance to look after the fellows
One of these detectives arrested Faw.
|
guilty, but the arrest, unfortunately 70,
Fawcett, developed certain facts which
disclosed his identity and resulted ir
his detention on charge of murder, tn,
affair, 1t appears, as he intimated tC
me at Put-in-Bay, having been nothine
less than capital offense Fawcett'.
killing of the officer being held to bt
without that justification which, il
duelling countries, strict compliance
with the requirements of the code af
fords. Fawcett, it appears, had become
respondent and utterly reckless as t
his fate. Life, as a fugitive from jus
tice, had no further charm for him
and he offered no resistance to his re
moval from Canada to the United
States, en- route Germany. He wal
taken from Montreal at night He haC
J previously, of course been deprived O
his pocket knife and all else of his per
: sonal belongings that it was though
could, by any possibility be used IL
any manner to aid him to defeat tn,
ends of justice. While lying on hi
. seat in the passenger coach he man