Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1898-11-02

POShct, duu dfu IL De1Orc SuanuiSu, wiz
stared at it with distressed eyes.
you don't happen to have seen it be
fore, Mr.. Standish?'
mo. certainly not" replied Standisn
sharply, while he thought with dismay
of Dorothy's description of the broken sil-
yer shell with the half-holes at one side.
"Wa& SIR. l thought yOu miaht heve
zen it. i 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 a deal OF
trouble. have hunted to and fro to find
the other bit of it, but l did at last"
For heavens sake, go onW 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 rubbed
away those sparks of blood, that someone
in the house did the deed, someone to
whom the poor lady was accustomed,
whose presence did not disturb her, or
frighten her, who would come in and out,
and knew the ways Of the place, where
the ladder was kept, and how long it
would be before any one would come to
find her stiff and stark! Those strange
sailors would never have dared to come
into house with master and two men
sleeping in it! No, sir; the hand that
truck the blow was her husband's"
You are raving! exclaimed Standish.
mo, am not, sir. Listen! From many
n tritiing indication 1 got out Of Collins,
and the old nurse, / believe the unfOrtu-
nate man was ca ten up with Jealousy. The
more watched hfm-and have shadow
cd him for months-the more convinced 1
grew that, in some mad fit, he put an end
to her, and then tried to mislead us all by
laying that ladder ON to the window
ledger
1T is impossiblev' CALCULATED Standish.
mo, it amt! Jealousy is the under
.niningest thing out 1t works like rats
through a wall, gnawing and gnawing
for many a long day unheard, till all at
once its ugly head gets out to the light to
kill and to destroy! All, Mr.. Standish,
the biggest lot Of cruel deeds l have traced
home took me straight to jealousy!'
Standish stared at him with blank, be-
xildered eyes.
"WeN, though was pretty sure it was
he as did the deed. 1t was very hard to get
proof. followed him pretty close; wher-
ever he went was by him in some dis
guise or another, and an awful time he
has had Of 1t. From all I can see, I'd
say hanging Is a trifie to what he has
gone through! Still could never get a
glimpse of any knife that had ornaments
on the sheath answering to this. Another
thing puzzled me-he always kept In with
Egerton. I got to see Egerbon more than
once, but he was uncommon naughty and
snuff-the-moon in his ways. I wasn't
good enough to touch with a pair Of tongs
oh, dear, no! I'd have rather proved
him guilty than the other poor fellow.
Latterly I've begun to think he suspects
the truth. Anyhow, after waiting and
watching, I got what wanted at last.
when Colonel Callander came back
from the Continent the other day, began
to hang about, and pay a visit now and
again to that respectable, civuspoken
man, Mr.. Collins, and one morning I
found him packing up the Colonel's duds,
so l sat down and discoursed with him q
bit, watching him sorting the things.
Presently he came to pistols and q queer,
long, narrow, foreign looking knife, with
an inlaid handle, and shell-like bits OF
silver stuck on to the sheath. It was un-
common like the queer sort Of weapons
hung up in Mr.. Egerton's rooms, but the
ornaments were different. I took 1t to the
light to examine it, with my back to Mr..
Collins, and tried this bit where one Of the
ornaments was jagged and broken II
fitted perfectly, thoroughly"
"Still-" urged Standish, starting NJ
and moving restlessly to the fireplace.
Zone moment" said Dillon, raising hii
hand. '.The man who had seen the figure
carrying the ladder, ought to mention
in conversing with me, said 1t was q
broader, larger man than Egerton, though
about his height. Last Of all" he con
tinued, speaking more quickly, II follow
ed the Colonel to Fordsea, where he wan.
dered about on land and sea. He was al
ways going off in boat with that Ole
tar-you know him!or else he'd be off
striding so fast that there was no keeping
| up with him, to the little churchyard by
the hillside, with a basket Of flowers fol
the grave. At last hired dog-cart, ant
used to drive past as il quite on my owl
| business. He never noticed! Twice
saw him outside cropping under some gorst
bushes that grew above the low wall. YOt
know the wide view there is all around
Not a soul was to be seen stirring.
drove past, and waited under a piece o,
broken bank a little further on. told
the boy had with me to hold the reins
as wanted to gather some OF the fern:
about there, and I gradually got my heat
over the bank, and saw the Colonel com
! ing slowly down the road. l watched til
he disappeared on his way back, then
went on picking specimens here anf
there, till I came pretty nigh where l ha'
watched him STOPPING down. Not sou
was to be seen. When l was there in tn
autumn time, there used to be bits OF boy
herding sheep and goats, but there wer
none now. When got As~=et the par
| where I had noticed the Colonel, locke
| well around under the bushes, and at las
came upon a spot where the grass locke
1t bit disturbed and mixed with mould. n
if someone had been digging fof roots:
took the bearings of it Hi4 went AVA
back to Fordsea with enough leaves an
| twigs to set up q bOtanist. Very earl
next morning found the Colonel was &c
ing off to London. so l bought trowe
and then 1 watched him start off in tn
train. AS soon as saw him safe / trudg
cd away to the place l had marked.
would take no one with me. 1t was cas-
10 dig, for the soil had been lately stirred
and scarce a foot below the surface
came to a gold chain and locket, then
bra celet. then picked out three or fou
rings. then gold bangle all messed wit
mould. There are more there, but thes
are enough for me-
He took brown paper parcel from hi
pocket, and opening it carefully, displaye
the trinkets, soiled and bent.
Standish took up and examined eacl
He was stunned, yet die not let himse
go. Dillon was not the man to whom on
should make an unguarded admission.
Your extraordinary ingenuity has III
earthed an extraordinary story" he sal
at length. The circumstantial evidenl
gainst Colonel Callander is of cours
very strong, but it is not conclusive"
Perhaps not" returned Dillon, car