Williston graphic. (Williston, Williams County, N.D.) 1895-1919, 1898-01-21
"You might have shot Hedges down

like dog, and, telling the reason, been
eNculpated. Men would have called 1t a
praiseworthy act-yes, and women,
too"
The prisoner c1apped his hands to-
gcther again, applauding the unseen
thing which pleased him.
"Ah, but here's the reason you didn't
do that: You wanted to avoid the dis
grace of it. You wanted to savc--well,
you wanted to save her. So you cal
culated how you could punish Hedge:
without loosening the tongues OF lit
tie babel. I'm not accusing you; 1'nl
not extenuating. I'm just telling what
| conceive to be the facts. The question
was how to kill Hedges as he deserved
to be killed without risk of-of-Well,
I'll be plain--without risk of execution
for it and without risk of hue and cry
Of scandal for the woman. So you
chose to go insane. That would make
it easy. You could kill anyone ana
there would be no danger Of either OF
the things which you dreaded. But the
insanity must be well established and
incontrovertible. The plan of commit
| ting the crime and then suddenly los
ing the mind-always the recourse OF
the clownish and second~r;ate> murder
ers-would not do. A jury looks will.
suspicion on a case of insanity which SO
accommodatingly reveals itself. Isn't
!! that what you reasoned" stoppins
suddenly.
The prisoner had been listening with
eager attention and with the fire OF in
telligence in his eyes.
! "Who-' he began, and then the per-
SEPARATION started from his forehead. He
trembled and the hollow laugh sounded
again.
! ''You know that's what you thought.
You know you were afraid of hanging.
! So you started in to establish yourself
| ahead Of time. For weeks before the
day you selected for the killing you
practiced system OF progressive
lunacy. The first day your actions
were just little odd, rs the people
whose memories go back that far now
remember. And afterward your alb
sence of mind became more pronounced.
Yes, you studied it carefully. You
worked up to small violences-petty
fits of disquiet. You met DR.. Parsons
on the street and struck him and would
not tell why. Not a word to Hedges
yet. Not a word of accusation to either
of them. You acted still as his lifelong
friend. But in hundred little ways
you built a frame of detail for the
bloody picture which you planned to
paint on the 14th Of October. $780,.
T1o< Il j. ;o1, oy.a
to cancel the crime of Hedges-to blot
out his deception: but to do it in per-
fectly safe way. But you were afraid.
Oh, how fearful you were that some
body would find out! How you dread
ed the possibility of somebody else
stumbling on that volume OF Changers
Progressive Insanity which furnished
you with the basis for your calcula-
tions!"
"Where-how did, the prisoner
| cried, but suddenly checking himself
he cackled his discordant laugh again.
But Hartley could see he shivered.
''That's all there is to it, said Hart
| ley II wanted you to be fair with me.
Keene, but you wouldn't. 1t took me
| three weeks Of hard labor to get on the
| track of the things, but know the Sc
crct of it. know with what ingenuity
you calculated your every act. All that
you did was planned to have its bearing
on the coming crime. Yon made AL
art of insanity. You lived, moved and
had your being in an air of mental dis
order. You gave your mind up to j..
How cleverly you did it! But always
there was that underlying dread that
| somebody would find you out. and that
then, instead of eXcusing your Grim.
as a righteous punishment of false
friend, or as the woeful act of a crazy
,xn,,, "1l4E@M,n