The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1899-08-18

IrrnN
immediately after the funeral occnm.
panied by his little daughter Tho
Idhulady OF the lodgings gave mo tho
auureSs OF the medical man who had
attended her, and on him I ot once
called. He courteously answered NV
inquiries, and Informed me- that rho
cause of death was catalepsv
tatalcpSy again. That was ;ndood
""s ui'r' But my suspicious were nor
- AWAKEN q. There vas no trace
nothing. N wv
Another period of three wears
passed. and | had set up NV brass
piate here in birmingham, and had
uuil' up a prosperous and remunera
1--WE practice. One lovely summer af
Prhooh | received telegraphic call
10 an accident ease at Dudley. The
carnage came and started. Rut we
had not passed through Handsworth
When 1t became evident that one of
the horses was dead lame. accord
m@ly dismissed the carriage. and de-
cnhed to complete the journey by cab.
} ms was done, and it was nearly nine
eciOcK when. after partaking of some
I"od. l left my patients house.
There is always scarcity of cabs
IN the outlying parks of the Black
Country. and | had perforce to make
my return by tram. At Handsworth
changed on to cable tram, and
mounted TO the top of the vehicle to
enjoy cigar In the pleasant night air
My nearest neighbor on the tram
was tall. thin man. cloSe-shaven and
with short iron-gray hair, and appar-
emily hfty years of age. though he
might he younger. He had mounted
the vehicle at its first stopping place,
bearing in his arms a little girl-a Wee
winSome maiden of four or five sum-
mers. with long silken blonde hair and
lovely violet eyes Surely | had seen
those eyes before. could not see the
mans face; it was too dark night
suddenly, from some failure of the
brake. our car collided roughly with
the preceding one. and was thrown
off the lines. The child was ierked
violently from her fathers knee on to
the back of the so-called garden seat
IN front of us, and her face was badly
cut. the blood streaming down.
u had never seen such horror and
dlSmay as blazed forth in an Instant
the silent self-cOntained man snatched
VI his child'S senseless form, sprang to
| his feet and almost screamed: My
child is hurt! Run for doctor; don't
lose "A moment | put my hand on his
shoulder, and said quietly, L am a
medical man. and as | saw those
stcely gray eyes, | added. Capt. Ru-
| pert Kerr
He turned angrily upon me, and
| thought he was about to strike me
| Then he remembered his little one. and
said: DIR. Dawson. | did you great
wrong once. But be merciful, and
save her child"
"'rhe child was carried downstairs
and into a shop close by. l took out
my Instrument case. lint, etc. and
washed. stitched and bandaged the
wound in the babyS forehead Then
l asked, Where do you live? | Will
see her safely to bed Thank YOU
was the sullen response. my address
is my own business and he carried
his child out, got into a cab with her,
and said, birmingham to the driver.
There was no means of stopping him.
but | had presence of mind enough to
jot down that drivers number on my
shirt-cuff
The next day | employed a secret
inquiry agent to find Rupert Kerr He
had driven to New Street. taken a
fresh cab. and doubled back to Hands
worth. where he directed the cabman
to take him to II Roman road. The
second cabby had been found through
the help of the police ut New street
station.
Il now did what should have been
done before. While the first agent
was instructed to find out Kerr'S pres
ent manner of life, Il second detective
was sent to Clendennin to inquire into
his earlier proceedings.
Kerr was. as | had always known
an inveteratc gambler. 1t was aScer-
tanned that he had brought to England
with him the greater portion of his
first wife's property. and had almost
dssipated this, when poor Laura
death put him in possession of her
fathers savingS-for poor Col White
had died soon after his daughters
elopement, and had bequeathed his
possessions to her. Moreover, both
wives had been heavily insured From
the other detective I learnt that lie
followed no occupation. but frequented
betting clubs and hotel-bars. and
seemed to be rather deeply involved.
Moreover. it was popularity believed
that he would soon marry lady of
supposed wealth, whose acquaintance
he had made at local garden party.
Fagg, the inquiry agent had also as
certaned that his daughter Laura had
recently been insured for 800 pounds.
She had hitherto enjoyed absolutely
good health. hut since the assurance
had been completed she had suffered
from cataleptic fits.
when this last development of the
situation reached me, my smOuldering
suspicious of the man blaZed into
fame at once. Remembering that
Percival. who had been stationed with
the cavalry brigade at the canton
ment. was then in command at Lich-
field, | wired TO him TO come over at
once on a matter of life and DEATH
as / really feared it was.
Gen. Percival arrived that night,
and we sat up till dawn discussing the
state of affairs. He had remained in
India some years later than l had, and
was dDle w give uIV " NiV". II oSSlhS
that previous to his marriage with
the half-caste woman who was his
first wife. Kerr had been on terms Of
friendship with several Brahmin
magnateS.
His most usual associate was man
named Saga Nuni-and this same fel-
low had afterward been convicted of
poisoning his brother and had been
hanged for the crime.
I'VE at last resolved to seek the adj
vice and assistance of the local police