Omaha daily bee., 1899-03-26

cumstanees certainly favored her. Shall l
show howg'
MIR. Fenton consulted Knapp, who nodded
his head. The Boston detective was not
without curiosity as to how Sweetwater
would prove his case,
"old james label had seen his brother
sinking rapidly from inaniton; this their
condition amply shows. He was weak him
self but John was weaker, and in q moment
OF desperation he rushed out to ask crumb
OF bread from Agatha Webb or possibly
for have heard some whispers Of an old
custom of theirs-to join Philemon at his
yearly merry-making and so obtain in
natural way the bite for himself and brother
he perhaps had not the courage to ask Tor
outright. But death had been in the Webb
cottage before him, which awful circum-
stance acting on his already weakened
nerves, drove him half insane from the
house and sent him wandering blndly about
the streets for good half hour before he
! reappeared in his own house. How do /
! know this? From a very simple fact. Abel
here has been to inquire among other
things II Mr. Crane remembered the tune
we were playing at the great house when
| he came down the main street from visiting
| old Widow Walker. Fortunately he does,
for the trip, trip, trip in 1T struck his
| fancy and he has found himself hummlng 1t
over more than once since. Well that waltz
was played by us at a quarter after mid
night which fixes the time of the encoun-
ter at Mrs. Webbs gateway pretty accu-
ratey. But, as you will soon see it was
$50 before James label knocked at Lotons
door. How do / know this? BY the same
method of reasoning by which l
determined the time of Mr. Cranes
| encounter Mrs. Lotion was greatly
pleased with the music played that night,
and had all her windows open in order to
hear it, and she says we were playing
| Money Musk when that knocking came to
disturb her Now, gentlemen, we played
i Money Musk Just before we were called
| out to supper, and as we went to supper
promptly at las you can see just how my
calculation was made. Thirty-hve minutes
then passed between the moment James
label was seen rushing from Mrs. Webbs
gateway and that in which he appeared at
Lotions bakery demanding loaf of bread
and Offering in exchange one of the bills
which had been stolen from the murdered
womans drawer Thirtyfive minutes! And
he and his brother were starving. Does it
; look. then, as if that money was in his
possession when he left Mrs. Webb's house?
Would any man who felt the pangs of hunger
as he did, or who saw a brother pershlng
for food before his eyes, allow thirty-tiVe
minutes to elapse before he made use of the
money that rightfully or wrongfully had
come into his hand? No; and so say that
he did not have it when Mr.. Crane met him.
That, instead of committing crime to OBJ
tain it. he found it in his own home, lying
, on his own table. when, after his frenzied
. | absence he returned to tell his dreadful
news to the brother he had left behind him.
But how did it come here? you ask. Gentle
men, remember the footprints under the
, window. Amabel Page brought 1t. Having
, seen or perhaps met this old man roaming
, in or near the Webb cottage during the
!, time she was there herself, she conceived the
plan of throwing upon him the onus of the
. crime she had herself committed, and with
a slyness to be expected from her stole up
s to his home, made hole in the shade hang
5 ing over an open window, looked into the
room where John sat, saw that he was
, there alone and asleep, laid on the table
, beside him the $40 bill and the bloody dagger
s with which she had just slain Agatha Webb.
l | Then she stole out again and in twenty
s minutes more was leading the dance again
t in Mr.. Sutherland's parlor."
well reasoned" murmured Abel, expect
= ing the others to echo him. But, though Mr.
o Fenton and DR.. Talbot looked almost con-
n vinced, they said nothing, while Knapp, OF
# course, was quiet as an oyster.
Sweetwater, with a quiet smile calculated
|. to hide his disappointment, went on as il
e perfectly satisfied
Meanwhile John awakes, sees the dagger
- and thinks to end his misery with it, bu
finds himself too feeble. The cut in his vest
:, the dent in the floor, prove this, but if yo,
call for further proof little fact, wnicl
: some, if not all Of you, seem to have over
s looked, will amply satisfy you that this ont
n | at least of my conclusions is correct OpeI
I the bible, Abel; open 1t, not to shake 1t TO
"a what will never fall out from between 1T
~ leaves, but to find in the bible itself thu
= lines 1 have declared to you he wrote as 1
=, dying legacy with that tightly clutcheC
~ pencil. Have you found them?''
no." was Abel's perpleXed retort; %
, cannot see any sign of writing on flyleaf o
~ margin"
o Are those the only blank places in tn
d sacred book? Search the leaves devoted t.
q the family record. Now! What do you fint
IS there"
,r Knapp, who was losing some of his indf
'r ference, drew nearer and read for himscl
'e the scrawl which now appeared to every ey
n on the discoored page which Abel her
h turned uppermost
ID almost illegible," he said; lone can jus
lie make out these words: Forgive me, JAIME
III trleQ 10 use uaBSeT-lounu lylHS-DuL nan
g wouldn't-dying without-don grieye--t"u
ID men-haven't disgraced ouraelves-Go
Is Dless-'. That is all"
81 "The effort must have overcome him.
20 resumed Sweetwater, in a voice from whic
ID he carefully excluded all signs Of secret tr
ID umph land when James returned, as he di
re a few minutes later, he was evidently unabl
rs to answer questions, even If John was in
/ condition to ask them. But the fallen daf
er ger told its own story, for James picked
er up and put It back on the table, and 1t wa
ID at this minute he saw, what John had no
in the 500 bill lying there With its promise G
ut life and comfort. Hope reviYes; he catChc
up this bill, flies down to Loton's procure
ct a loaf of bread and comes frantically back
m gnawing it as he runs, for his own hunge
re Is more than he can endure. Re-enterin
ut his brothers presence he PUSHES forwar
lie With the bread. But the relief has com
IS too late John has died in his absence
" and James, dizzy with the shock, reels bacl
le and succumbs to his own misery. Gentle
~ men, have you anything to say in contra
Ia diction OF these various suppositions?'
ut For a moment DR., Talbot Mr.. Fenton an
10 even Knapp stood silent then the latte
er said, with pardonable dryness: