The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1898-02-24
.yvhere do o get your mcals7"

les.
Where do you get your meals9"
Here. usually; but today the cook
is away on leave of absence. Uncle and
| were going over to the Randolph, the
restaurant on the corner, for meals
tin she returned"
Have you eaten anything this morn
ing?s
no"
well. you'd better go; wen look
after everything and telephone the cor
oner.'
"Al right" replied Wildly. He
turned 10 the wasb-stand and filed a
basin from a pitcher of water. In
my excitement l forgot to wash my
face and hands"
"Stopl" cried Hendricks, and he
caught Whidbyis arm as his hands were
almost in the water. Pardon me. but
you've stained your fingers somehow"
The young man stared at his right
hand in surprise. There was n faint red
smudge on the thumb and fingers.
why" he said. II don't see how it
could have got there, unless Iwon-
der if" WILDLY turned quickly into
the other room and bent over Strong's
bed. "Ahl" he cried, to the Others.
See! l must have got il from the cor
ner of the sheet when l put it back;
you see there is blood on the under
side"
The defective had followed WILDLY
no further than the portiere, where he
stood indifferently watching the young
mans movements.
Yes, from the sheet or this curtain"
he replied, pointing to an almost in
visible spot of blood on the portiere.
''Then the fellow must have been in
my room, too said WILDLY, wonder
ingly.
And just after the deed was done"
Hendricks remarked.
The young man stared ut the detect
i've curiously as he returned to the
washstand and took off his coat.
Look he cried to him, ''here is some
of IL on my cuff"
81 noticed that" replied the detect
i've. at is a drop of blood. Perhaps
you had better detach the cuff and give
il to me. You did not sleep in that
shirt?"
mo" WILDLY ave him the cuff.
where lid you lay the shirt last
night when on took it off?"
'On that chair neal my bed" an
severed WILDLY.
That is all you can do for u.s." said
Hendricks. You'd better go to break
fast"
WILDLY crossed the street and en-
tered the restaurant on the eorner. lie
took a seat at the table farthest from
the door and ordered some eggs. coffee,
rolls and butter; but he found that he
had no appetite, and he drank his cof-
fee when it was so hot that it burnt
his lips. Then he bought ii newspaper
and sat for ter minutes gazing at it alb
sently.
On his return home ne found the yard
filed with IA crowd of curious people.
Some of them stood on the veranda
neal the windows. The door was closed.
WILDLY tried the knob, but it was
locked. Turning, he saw Matthews COM
ing round the corner of the house.
Capt. Welsh asked ms to send you in
at the rear door," the man said.
They're goin' to hold a inquest on i'm"
WILDLY followed the gardener into
the house. How he disliked to see the
body again, and the strange smile on
the dead mans face! But there was no
help for it.. He must do what he could
towards bringing the criminal to JUS
tice.
The atmosphere of Strong's room was
so close that WILDLY could hardly
breathe, and the perfume from the con
'servatory sickened him. The coroner
and his jury had arrived. Indeed, they
seemed TO be waiting for him. He sat
down near a window. lie wondered
what they would ask him, and if he
could make intelligent replies.
The opened the proceedings
with a few words TO the jury, and Wild
by thought they stared at him furtively
whenever his name was mentioned.
Then his testimony was called for, and
WILDLY felt that he was repeating word
for word the account he had given Hen
bricks a short while before.
The detective rose next and told in
tdItlul uttdii nON iHc pNiitc nut bttH
called to the telephone by WILDLY and
first informed of the murder; how the
young man had met him and Welsh at
the door, and what was said about
whether the door was locked. He spoke
Of the blood stain on Whidby's hand
and produced the cuff with the drop of
blood on it. 1t was his opinion, he said,
that the cuff could not have been worm
at the time it received the drop, nor for
at least half an hour afterwards. fol
as the jury could see, the blood had
dried in such a shape as TO prove thai
it had remained motioIless for some
time. Mr.. WILDLY had said that the
shirt with the cuff attached mad lain or
a chair near his bed all night,
Then the coroner called for Nhidty's
nigbtshirt, and the jury passed il from
one to the other and examined il care
fully. AT that moment WILDLY rose to
call attention to the blood on the por-
there and on the corner of the sheet,
which he thought Hendricks and Capt.
Welsh had forgotten TO mention, but
the coroner ordered him, rather coldly,
to sit down.
Matthews was next called, but ne
could testify TO nothing except that he
slept in the cottage behind the house
and had not walked during the night,