Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1898-09-02

TO the reader. Coming down to his inves-
tigatlon of the death chamber, he said:
i observed, on the outside of her door, II
little splash. II mere speck, of blood, low
down near the floor, and Il speck near the
handle, which those dunderheads, the po-
lice, had not detected. You see, they
We're all so taken up with the notion that
the murderer came in from outside, that
they never looked into the interior of the
room itself except to search the poor SER
wants boxes, l believe! Besides these, 1
picked up. half under the bed, where, no
doubt, it had been pushed by some of the
feet that trod there, this bit of a silver
ornament" He drew it from an inner
pocket. and laid it before Standish, who
stared at it with distressed eyes.
You don't happen to have seen it be-
fore. Mr.. Srandish?"
mo. certainly not" replied Standish
sharply. while he thought with dismay
of porotliy's description of the broken sill
ver shell with the half holes at one side.
We'll, sir, thought YOU might have
seen it. l showed it once to Miss Wynn,
and she said she had never seen it before,
though her eyes didn't back her up! That
little bit of silver has given me Il deal of
trouble. l have hunted to and fro to find
the other bit of it, but l did at last"
"For heavens sake, go on!' cried STAN
dish. What have you discovered?
Whom do YOU suspect"
Hear me out" replied Dillon, sitting
upright. and assuming a more earnest
look. II made up my mind when I rubbed
away those sparks of blood, that someone
i'll the house did the deed, someone to
whom the poor lady was accustomed,
whose presence did not disturb her, or
brighten her. who would come in md out,
and knew the ways of the place, where
the ladder was kept, and how long it
would be before amy one would come to
find her stiff and stark! Those strange
sailors would never have dared to come
INTO Il house with IL master and two men
sleeping in it! No. sir; the hand that
struck the blow was her h%usband's!"
You are raving!!" exclaimed Standish.
NO. l am not. sir. Listen! From many
Il tritiing Indication l got out of Collins,
and the old nurse, l believe the unfortu-
nate mar was eaten up with jealousy. The
more l watched him-nnd l have shadow
ed him for months-the more convinced I
grew that, i'll some mad fit, he put an end
to her, and then tried to mislcad us all by
laying that ladder on to the window
lcdge!'
at is IMPOSSIBLE" circulated Standish.
NO. it ain't. Jealousy is the under
m%iningest thing out. 1t works like rats
through IL wall. gnawing and gnawing
for many Il long day unhcard, till all at
once its ugly head gets out to the light to
kill and TO destroy! All. Mr.. Sta1niish.
the biggest lot of cruel deeds l have traced
home took me straight to jcalousy!!"
Standish stared at him with blank, he
wildercd eyes.
We'll. though l was pretty sure it was |
he as did the deed. it was very hard to get
proof. l followed him pretty close; wher- |
ever he Went l WAS by him in some dis |
guise or another. and an awful time he
has had of it. From all l can see. I'd
! say hanging is IL tritle to what he has |
gone through. Still l could never get Il
glimpse of any knife that had ornaments
on the sheath answering to this. Another |
thing puzzled me-he always kept in with
Egerton. l got to SEQ Egerton more than |
once. but he was uncommon naughty and |
nutf-the-moo in his ways. l wasn't
good enough to touch with II pair of tongs
oh. dear. no! I'd have rather proved
him guilty than the other poor fellow.
I%atterly I've begun to think he suspects
the truth. Anyhow, after waiting and
1 NAlNiLies I fOS AA i IA III lGSl. |
When Colonel Cailander came back |
from the Continent the other day, l began
to hang about. and pay Il visit now and |
again to that respectable. civil-spoken !
man. Mr.. Collins. and one morning l
found him packing up the Coloncl's buds, |
SO l sat dow and d;scOursel with him II
bit, watching him sorting the things.
Presently he came to pistols and II queer,
long. narrow. foreign looking knife, with
an inlnid handle. and shell-like bits of
silver stuck on to the sheath. 1t was I'M
COMMON like the queer sort of weapons
hung up in Mr.. Egerron's rooms, but the
ornaments were different. l took it to the
light to examine ii. with my back to Mr..
Collins, and tried this bit where one of the
ornaments WAS jagged and broken. 1t
fitted perfectly. thoroughly!"
"Still-" urged Standish. starting up
and moving restle<sly to the fireplace.
Zone moment said Dillon. raising his
hand. 1.-The man who had seen the figure
carrying the ladder. l ought to mention,
in conversing with me. said it was a
broader. larger man than Egerton. though,
about his height. Last of ALL" he con-
timed. speaking more quickly, Il follow
ed the Colonel to Forlsea, where he wan
derei about on land and sea. He was al
, ways going OFF III Il boat With that Old
tar-you know him!-or else he'd be off,
stirling so fast that there was no keeping
mp with him. to the little churchynrd by
4 the hillside. with n basket Of flowers for
the grave. At last l hired IL dog-cart, and
used to drive past as if quite on my w
, business. He never noticed! Twice 1
saw him outside cropping under some gorsc
: bushes that grew above the low wall. You
know the wide view there is all around.
Not a soul was to he seen stirring. I
drove past, and waited under u piece Of
+ broken bank IL little further on. told
the boy I had with me to hold the reins,
8 us 1 wanted to gather some of the ferns
about there. and l gradually got my head
over the bank, and saw the Colonel com
ing slowly down the road. l watched till
he disappeared on his way back. then I
went on picking specimens here and
there. till l came pretty nigh where I had
watched him STOPPING down. Not a soul
XaS to he seen. When 1 was there in the