The times., 1897-09-26
FRANK. R. STOCKTON.


] said I'd Ike TO fish. WIN y0u sell me
your line? Tn give you so cents for it "
The tuv looked 1T me astcnished. If had
said / Q cents he would probably have
thought it a good offer.
-.Au right " said he, 'you can have it
for thai"
1 banded him the half dollar, and than.
apparently afraid that l might recon
s.der the bargain, he said that he gJessed
he had better hurry home if he wanted to
get his fish cooked that day, and he forth
with departed.
[ stood upon the bridge seeing nothing
that was about me, but with my brain
filled with tumultuous crowd OF ideas
which seemed intent upon driving ont my
reason aud ny senses. These ideas soon
formed Themselves into a regular sequence
with horrible and awful conclusion
which chilled me as II | had been sud
denis turned into ice.
now knew tina; my work as detective
had suddenly come to an end / had
succeeded III mS search for the man who
had stricken Reuben Farris 10 the earth,
who, perhaps, had murdered him.
That man was no other than myselfi
MOlionless, J. stood upon the bridge,
sui holGing in my hand the fishing tackle
/ had purchased from the boy, still that
awful procession passing through my brain
always enuing with the figure of Reuben
Farris stretched on his bed in the hospital.
III mind was stunned. | seemed to have
lost the power cf thinking l was merely
the prey OF thoughts which came to me
unbiddeR and relentless.
Suddenly l heard rustling sound;
started frightened, it was bot bird flying
out OF a lush, but it startled me into my
senses. i knew l was frightened. Quickly
] cut the !eaden sinker from the fishing
line and threw the latter with its hooks
into the water Then with the sinker in
NY hand, and my hand in my pocket, 1
walked toward the town.
NJ cnain Of events could be clearer or
better defined than those which led from
me to the man in the hospital. l had al
ways been fond of fishing, and before
came TO Camb0r ouGh l used 10 fish a good
deal for perch in the Della ware River, using
a very peculiar tackle called a bow line, or
dipsy line THIS apparatus, which was
intended to catch several fish at once
was lowered to the sandy bars freqUentad
by perch, L s. OF leaden sinker gen.
orally called a dipsy lead, very heavy and
OF comic az form its broad base ena bling
it to rest upright on the bottom I did
not now use bow line, but among my cf-
fects I had found a dipsy lead which for
some time had done service in my office Is
a paper weight.
On the evening Of AUGUST 81 had been
sitting in my office, which was on the
third floor of the tuilding i'll which the
/ rooms5f Mt. Kefrcrd We're situated. was
rsrf IN s,Tp t,f.r-rr-. n, mind
/ irritated and it annoyed nae to think that
! 1t was 50. / had been rhnre deeply touched
by the manner in which had been ignored
4 in the matter OF Nicolas Kefford's viii
than [ had supposed. With the Kefford
/ faI0ily, and with ever zone else, I had en-
I deavored to treat the matter 5 if 1t We're
! quite natural that / should not be retained
or consulted regarding the affair; but when
/ found mysel1 alone III my office l could
} not treat it in that way l was very mucn
! veKed aud piqued.
Suddenly my Ccgitations were broken iT
upon by the lugubrious wall OF a cat ia
the street below me. This sound was a
/ disae aeTeca ble one to me at all times, tut
( in nay present state or mind it enra ged ire.
/ I seized the first heavy object which
I came to hand, which happened to be the
dipsy lead, and, rushing TO the open win
/ dow, ! looked out. There l saw in the
4 darkness a hght-colored object moving
on the sidewalk Instantly l hurled my
dipsy lead at il with all my strength.
/ ! heard a tl.ud, but whether my missile
: had INT its object OF had merely struck
the sidewalk, which In this back stree:
was not Uaved. hIt covered With gravel.
/ / did not know, nor did I care. / could
Lot see into the darkness, and if l had
/ driven the cat away 7 was satisfied.
returned To my table and my thoughts,
and soon afterward went out.
Not until ] had stood on the bridge 10y
| tie side Of the boy, gazing with astouisl-
1 Inent at the heavy lead which was attach
ed to his little line, aud which knew 20
/ be my own as soon as my eyes fell up1n
| it-for / had nodded { myself, after d fash
! ion which suited Ine-Ead I remembered
| what had occurred in my office on that
fatal evening; but when the boy had told
me lie had found this dipsy lead in a gutter
| and when. upon further questioning, he said
that il was IN a gutter of Decatur street,
J just back Of the office buildings, and that
he had 10 ID it on the da = after what he
called tile F@rris murder, l had reInegu-
bered everything.
Reuben Farris had worn a light-colured
felt Lat, aud wheii / had looked ont into
the darkness below my window, had seen
| nothing but this hat moving beneath ne.
| At this hat | had hurled my dipsy lead
and II ned struck FarriS fair ON the top
( Of the head, the broad flat bottom Of tn.
leaGen cone coming horizontally down
1 ward because it Was the heaviest part
1 Of tie sinker 1t had broken through
7 the skull OF the unfortunate man, fore
/ ing downward not only circular piece
of the skull, but that part OF the hat
with wnich it came in contact. AS
( had noticed when examining the hat the
Impression % the heavy object with which
Farris had been stricken down was well
marked. The lead had rolled Off into tie
gutter Frhere the boy had found it the
next day.
/ reached the town and hurried 70 NY
/ oIfiee, fortunately meeting NO one. !
Went into the building by back wa.
and as l passed the place where Far
ris had fallen [ shuddered as If l had
seen the accusing blood from the vounG
OF a cnrpse
The first thing ! did when I reached
| InE room. was Go measure the lower surface
! Of the GipSy lead. II was exactly one inch
and sevaH-eiEhths in diameter. This 81
! lowing for Il thickness OF felt all around
the bottom efge of the lead would prob.
ably make fracture two inches wide.
With AR X eGrord'S adze the circular fra
tITe would have been somewhat larger.
Every link i'll my chain of events " IS
perfect.