The record-union., 1898-12-18

VI SiSHett, IurtnerHCfe, because ne
| could keep secret-for whatever had
overtaken Vizeen drink, 1 feareD.
Wilson had pride and discretion enough
| to keep his mouth shut
! During all this time Signett was car
rying burden that none of us knew
anything about-a letter from Vizeen,
and it bore him down like a vital all
fmeH. 1t came to light afterwards, as
you shall see, that Signett was haunt
ed with the fear that his harsh dis
missal Of faithful, competent man.
had caused the victim of that unjust
discharge to end his life in great misery,
! by his own hand. The first knowledge
that l had of this state of affairs was
some days after Signett's funeral.
| succeeded him as city editor, and when
l cleared out the desk, the letter I refer
to lay there open. The concluding sem
tences, in the ragged, familiar back
hand of Vizeen, were as follows:
If die by my own hand swear that
Will haunt you, for you drove me from
my family, and to despair I will come
to you When you least expect me-and
you will see and hear me in the deep
silence of many a lonely night"
| That letter must have turned Sig
nett's brain, for after his death there
were stories Of the strange conduct that
marked his last days. The fear that
| the perturbed spirit of one who had died
| by his own hand might be lowering
near often drove sleep from his eye
| lids, and finally racked his nerves until
he was not fit for business. In truth,
the landlord of the hotel where he lived
told me only few days ago that Sig
netts last days We're not far removed
from lunacy; that he once ran out into
the hall in his pajamaS, declaring that
a ghost had disturbed his rest
Il thought he'd been drinking too
much,' said the landlord, so l quieted
him with bromides, and the matter
was a secret between us to the end
Well, Signet grew worse as the weeks
wore on, and it was generally thought
that he had softening of the brain. He
suddenly died one night in his room
at the Tell House, passing away in
violent spasm of fear. When the Cor
oner came for his body the eyes were
wide open, his face was of ghastly
yellow and his lips and chin were COW
cred with froth and blood. The body
crouched in a corner, by the bed-the
hands clutching the clothing, as if the
dying man had perished in the convul-
sions of some horrible fright
At the Coroner'S inquest the principal
testimony was that of Frank Wilson
and Henry Bishop, the latter a night
Watchman at the Tell House.
Bishop sWore that he passed Signett's
room at 2 a. m. on the morning of
his death; that he heard the dying
man cry out in great agony, Spare me,
Vizeen.' as if in imminent peril. He
also swore that he knocked at the door
and asked what was the trouble, where
upon Frank Wilson opened it and said,
Help me, old fellow, for my friend
seems to have a severe spasm."
Wilson and 1 saw Signett die in
great agony ran the watchman's tes-
timony, repeating Spare me, Vizeen!
and clutching at the bed clothing in
| the throes of DEATH
| A puzZling feature of the case was
that the autopsy afforded no evidence
as to the cause of death. Every organ
was normal, and a chemical analysis
of the contents of the stomach showed
/ that there were no traces of poison. l
suppose the doctors are still trying to
find out what killed poor Signett.
| w llSOil Vas d Ulie WllIlcSS-IlOilcSl,
direct, positive in all he said. He cor
roborated the night watchman in every
detail.
Il was visiting my friend when he
was first seized with Illness he said,
''and he died just the way Bishop has
told you. He was overcome with a
whitening fright, and died in the pain
full agonieS of fear
About ten years after Signett's
strange taking off Wilson, who was still
a reporter for the .Bugle,' died of
pneumonia. We had grown to be such
! stanch friends that his death was
heavy blow to me, besides a material
loss to the paper, of which l was still
the city editor.
When the undertakers stripped the
body to embalm it for shipment to his
mother, these letters Of crimson shone
plainly from the white flesh between
his shoulders:
........ ......... .......... ......... ..'..'''