The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1898-02-26

and Corsica. .f, ~.l. 81 scz e:z. L
Then with the greatest preeaution,
masking my curiosity under the form
OF a deep interest in him, i asked o few
questions about his life and his plans.
Ie answered with unembarrassed
frankness. told me he had travelled
great deal, in Africa. the Indies, and
in America. He added, laughing:
"'Oh, yes! I've had a great many
adventures. i -.
S II: began to speak of hunting, and
! lie gave me the most singular details
OF hippopotamns hunting, tiger and
elephant hunting, and even gorilla
hunting. .....-.
II remarked that such animals were
dangerous game. IT. I'D
..He smiled: oh no.! man is the
I worst Then he laughed outright a
big Englishman's laugh. tl've hunted
men good deal, too,' he said. Then
he spoke of weapons. and invited me
into his house TO show me different
kinds OF guns. r.
':His parlor was hung with black
elk embroidered with gold.. Great
yellow flowers sprawled over the SOM
bre material, as brilliant as fire. He
announced that it was q Japanese
stuff.
But in the middle of the largest
panel a strange thing caught my eye.
On a square OF red velvet there WAS a.
black object. drew near; it was q
hand, a mans hand. Not a. skeleton
hand, white and clean, but a. dried-up
black hand, with yellow nails, start
ing muscles, and traces of blood that
was like mud on the cleanly cut off
bones, severed as with an ak near the
middle of the forearm. Around the
wrist an enormous iron chain, riveted
and soldered to the uncleanly limb,
fastened it to the wall by staple
strong enough to hold an elephant.
81 asked what it was. The English
man cody answered:
That was my dearest foe. He
came from America. That was cut
off with q sword, and the skin scraped
off with flint and dried in the sun for
eight days. Pretty good for me,
wasn't it.
II touched the remnant of human.
ity, which must have belonged to a
Colossus. The immoderately lone
fingers were attached by enormous
tnndons. to which shreds of the skin
still adhered. The hand was frightful
to behold, aayed as it was; it natur.
ally suggested a barbarous revenge.
+" The man must have been very
powerful said I. -
- oh, yes,' said the Englishman,
! / gently, but Iwas. stronge. than he
HSwas. fputz that chain on it to hold
it, III ,~-s~~
'Thinking he was testing, said:
=" The chain is rather useless now
The hand won't get away
"Sir John replied, seriously: sIt's
always wanting to get away. The
chain is necessary Wy
II gave him a quick look, wondering
whether he was a madman or a. prac.
tical joker. But his face remained un.
moved, calm, and kindly. l changed
the subject, and examined his guns.
noticed, however, that three loaded
revolvers lay in different places on
the furniture. as if the man lived in
/ constant fear of an attack.
Il called on him several times, and
then went no more. Every one had
grown accustomed to his presence,
and consequently wholly Indifferent
to him.
"A whole year went by, when one
morning my servant awakened me
with the news that Sir John Rowel]
had been assassinated in the night.
Half an hour later entered the Eng
zlishman's 8 house with two police offici-
ais. The French valet, frightened
and overcome, was wringing his hands
at the door. He was the man I first
suspected, but he was innocent.
1.-THE murderer was never discover.
ed.
Entering Sir Johns drawing.room,
at once perceived his body lying
stretched on the floor in the middle
OF the room. His coat was torn, one
sleeve was wrenched off and hanging,
every thing gave evidence of a terrific
| struggle. The Englishman had been
strangled to death. His black, swollen
face expressed the most horrible fear;
he held something between his clench-
ed teeth, and his throat was pierced
with five bleeding holes as if made by
iron points. A surgeon jolned us,
and examined the finger.marks IN the
flesh. He uttered the singular words:
"1 should say he had been stran.
gled by a skeleton ~.
Il felt the chills run down my back,
and glanced up at the wall where
had seen the horrible fayed hand.
ut was there no longer The chain
hung broken. % -. =. u
II bent over the corpse. and found
in its teeth one of the fingers of the
vanished hand, cut, or rather shaved
off by the teeth Just at the second
joint.
The inquest was. held, but nothing
was discovered. No door had been
forced, no window opened, no furni.
ture displaced. The two watch. dogs
had not Wakened. ;.s. 81.
'"The servant s testim ony was about
as follows: For a month past his
master had appeared troubled. He
received a great many letters, which
he burned as fast as they came. Often.
picking up a ridding-whip IN a rage
that appro cached insanity, he would
lash the dried hand that was fastened
to the wall, and which had been re-
moved SO nlysteriously the night Of
the crime. He went to bed very late,
locked himself in carefully, and always
kept WeaDOnS close nj, hand sss EIa