Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1898-07-28
CHAPTER VII.
Guilty or Not Guilty.

Winchester may be all that It's anti
uuarian admirers claim for il in respect
TO historical interest. and 1t may still.
in virtue of it's Cathedral. assert its
right to rank as a city. But, as a mas,
Ter of fact. ii is nowadays just a yery
ordinary. dull little town, occasionally
galvanized into life by a royal visit. Il
mammoth circus or a judge on circuit.
And upon the eve of the day when
the much-talked-of "Deanshurst Mys-
terry was to be threshed out before u
jury. beds We're at a premium at most
of the hotels.
From the day when he had first
shown signs of being out of danger,
Oscar Deane's o had beer rap
Id, nor a the tears entertained as 10
his reason been, TO any noticeable eX-
tent, realized. He was, il Is true,
slower of thought. duller, less laxative
than he had been before the injury:
but, apart from an occasional lapse of
memory, his intellect was unimpaired.
So soon as DR.. Rowan permitted him
to speak, his first inquiries had natural
ly been as to nov he came to be in bed,
with his head enveloped in bandages
and smarting so sorely. A few eau
tious questions satisfied the doctor that
his patient remembered nothing of
what had occurred in the wood. eX-
cept that high words had passed be-
tween his cousin and himself; and it
behooved him to be very cautious in
imparting the full, terrible truth.
Then your memory stops short at
the fact that you and he Cuarrelled?'
he suggested.
Eyes. l turned to leave him. fearing
| might lose my temper and strike him.
| have a hazy recollection of a sudden
crash. accompanied by myriads of daz-
cling sparks. and then-a blank"
You were found. many hours later.
with a fractured skull, and suffering
from Il c~oncussion of the brain. which
very nearly proved fatal. The blow
was clearly struck by your cousin with
the butt of his gun"
And what of Derek? Did he leave
me TO my fatel"
Dr. Rowan coughed uneasily. scarce
knowing how best to break the news.
yet unwilling to excite his patient by
leaving him in suspense.
mo, he did not leave you: he was
found lying quite close to YOU
WAS he injured? How inquired
Oscar. ~anxiousliy.
mo one knows exactly how il han
pened," replied the doctor, very slowly:
but you must prepare yourself for
very sad tidings. Your cousin was
shot through the head, and, of course.
stone-dead."
"Merciful Heavens exclaimed the
sick man. in horror-stricken tones.
"Derek dead?. -. Shot through the
heart?.. This is too terrible for be-
lief This is some mockery of my
wandering brain some CHASTITY
lream!'
unfortunately. it is stern reality,
Major Deane.' rejoined DIR. Rowan.
land the general belief Ca belief in
dorsed by the verdict of the jury at the
inquest) is that he came TO his death
at your hands"
"Impossible.,' exclaimed Oscar, with
unlooked-for energy. absolutely inn
possible, When | turned TO leave him
my gun was hanging. mnZZle down
wards. from my right forearm, and IN.
cooked. | am always extremely care
full in handling firearms How on earth
could | have fired after receiving n
blow which instantly stunned meT''
THAT is n point which has puzzled
everyone" admitted the doctor. land
the most reasonable conjecture Is that
your gun went off by accident as you
fell. What is quite certain is that the
right barrel had been discharged. and
that your unfortunate cousin was rid
died with No. g shot-similar to those
In the undischarged left barrel. 1t IL
scarcely to be wondered at IL, under
these bewildering circumstances. the
c%oroner's jury brought in a dubious
verdict"
"What was this verdict?' demanded
Oscar. controlling himself by a great
effort.
We'll. ii was, properly speaking,
scarcely a verdict ut all, but 1t seems,
technically, to have amounted to a
charge of manslaughter against you.
Even the authorities have no taken 1t
very seriously, as you may infer from
the fact that. although nominally un-
der committal to stand your trial, you
are still at Deanshurst. Your brother
watched the case very ably on your be-
half. and even he acknowledged that
circumstances"
os'hi hs bdth upon HIS pllfoWS ana
closed HIS eyes. ms though striving to
brig home all these startling revela-
tons to his s~tillconfused senses.
"Send Stephen to me. II you please
he said. presently: and then he re-
lapsed into thought, awaiting his
brothers coming.
We'll. Oscar?' was the LAWYERS not
very cordial greeting. Rowan tells
me he has placed you in possession of
the chief incidents in this unfortunate
affair.""
Yes" interrupted Oscar, she has:
but ! can make nothing of it all. ex-
ce.:t that am supposed to have shot
Derek."
That's about all anybody could
make of it," rejoined Stephen. shrug-
ging his shoulders. unless we are to
suppose that Derek shot himself, with
your gun, after knocking You down.
which Is. of course, absurd on the face
of Ii. There's no getting away from
plain fact. old fellow. You either
pulled upon him owing TO some invol-
untary muscular action of the fingers.
under the stimulus of the blow. or
your gun went of through the concus-
sion OF your fall. No one blames you,