The Washington weekly post., 1899-12-12

her teweiry. her earrings having been
torn through the Iobes OF the ears, ana
both hands had been mutilated 20 obtain
her rings. This ghastly discovery ap-
pailed me. In an instant saw tnat ban
been entrapped- / had valuable waten
and chain, diamond scarfpin which was
worth at least fifty pounds. and about
three pounds ten 10 my pocket These peo-
pie were no doubt. conHoisseurs OF jewels,
and my pin had attracted them.
In the remaining flicker shed by the
brush handle / dressed completely and
made my way to the door. only. however,
to find II secured on the outside.
] was prisoner.
Who. ! wondered, was the beautiful girl
who had been the previous victim In that
room? Had she, like myself. been a guest
Al diner. and been induced TO spend the
night in that fatal chamber? Ny knOwl-
edge of surgery was sufficient to tell me
that the finger I had found had been cut
of before death The reflection caused me
10 shudder
| sank again In the armchair, and was
puzzling to devise a way out OF the horri-
bic situation, when. Of a sudden, without
warning and swift az lightning, frightful
crushing blow was dealt me right on top
of the skull. For a single instant / saw
sparks of light dancing before my eyes,
and felt myself falling like a log TO the
ground. Then the blackness of uncon-
| sciousness fell upon me, and I knew no
more.
How long I remained in that condition.
IL Is impossible to tell. When, however,
i struggled back 10 consciousness / found
myself lying In pool of blood, and suf-
fering from frightful wound in the head
staggered with difficulty TO my feet
dazed and weak. and saw, to my delight
some faint rays of daylight showing
through cracks in the shutters. In an in
stant / recollected my scarf pin, watch
and money, and discovered that they were
gone.
j went to the dressing table and raised
| the drapings to make sure that my grew
some discovery was a reality. But the
body was no longer there, although there
still lay upon the floor the hideous evi.
dence, the severed finger.
i carefully examined the chair In whicf
l had sat, and found that by a cunningly
| contriyed device. worked by an electric
wire somewhere outside the room, 2
| small steel ak with spiked head emerged
| from the high back of the chair and de
/ scended with crushing force full upon tht
| head of any unfortunate person sitting
there-a truly devilish contrivance.
First arming myself with a heavy iror
| bar, which i wrenched from the shutters
l went to the door. 1t had been relOcked
but, using the bar as a lever, | sooI
wrenched it open. The hour, / afterwarC
| found was o'clock in the afternoon Tit
| house was in silence.
The interesting widow and her brothe
had flown.
| On gaining the street, ! wandered abou
the new, eminently respectable roads un
| til, in the Lewisbam high road, found
| policeman, who directed me TO the station
| where | detailed my experiences to the in
spector on duty. At first he seemed in
| credulOus and inclined TO believe M
| wound attributable to Christmas festivi
| ties; but when he accompanied me to tn
| house and i showed him the dead finge
| and the mechanical device for the com
initial of nurder-which we found wa
worked from ar adjoining room, wher
| there was a small hole for observa ton
the electric current releasing very stron
| spring in the head of the chair-he quicixl,
| became interested and took down m
! story In detail. Half an hour later. with
couple of detectives. | assisted to searcl
the place from garrtt 10 cellar, and in tn
latter place we discovered undoubte
| traces Of more than one terrible crime
| Beneath the fiagstones. buried in quick
lime we found quantity of bones as we
as the body of the fair-haired girl which
had discovered on the previous night. Tn
| further result of oUT search made it evi
dent that a number of persons had bee
| enticed there, ingeniously done TO death
their clothes being burned in the furnac
of the kitchen copper, and their remain
buried in most methodical manner.
How / escaped being killed outright b
the pair is accounted for by the fact tina
early on the morning of Boxing Day the
called a four-wheeler cab and placed
number of trunks upon II preparatory I
escaping, something having alarmed then
A constable CHANGED TO be in the road a
the time, and his attention being attracte
by the unusual amount Of luggage.
spoke TO the cabman. This seemed t
have caused them uneasiness. and the
escaped hurriedly. without completin
their preparations for departure which. q
course, would have included my prems
ture interment in the cellar.
Ny scarf pin was found next da
pawned at Hackney and recovered by tn
police, while week later 1t was disco,
cred that the fair-haired girl who la
fallen a victim was the daughter of
wealthy city man living in Granville Pari
Blackheath. 1t was known that while o
her way to a neighbor's to dine a couple {
evenings before Christmas she had discoN
cred a child-having been seen with he
on Elliott Hill by laboring man-and
was now apparent that she had taken CT:
sic home afterward being done 10 deatl
having her jewelry torn from her and he
fingers hacked off to obtain her rings
Thus far has Scotland Yard been SUE
ceSsful. They have not yet. however. SUI
ceeded in tracing Mrs. Matheson, NJ
Paul, or the precocious golden-haired Ci'
sic, whose lisping righteousness and pc
sonal charm rendered her such an intel
estlng and successful decoy. No effort
now being spared, and their description
have been circulated throughout Europ
for it is only plain that during the thrt
years the trio lived in Clifton road a goo
many people shared a similar fate to til
unfortunate girl whose dead finger CAV
| mo nlaU ta fprrihla trurh