Kootenai County Republican. (Rathdrum, Idaho) 1899-1903, 1899-10-27

The detectives triumph It was tri-
umph-every one said so-and yet new
or had he succeeded in case that had
left behind such an unsettled feeling
such degree Of uncertainty and doubt
as to whether he was really right after
all He could not understand it him
self. Everything had seemed 10 be az
clear as daylight. and the Judge and
jury-aye. the very spectators-had
shared the view that his deductions had
led him to form long ago-that Astray
Marsden was the culprit.
'An for effect. he muttered again
to himself, his mind still on the final
scene in the court, with the last ray Of
sunlight falling full on the woman's 3
face as she avowed before all her unsl-
terable belief in the innocence Of Astray
4Narsden. "Theatrical; that was all. F."
And yet somehow. he could not shake of
remembrance of that final -scena
Whether it was acting or mot, 1T had
made deep impression on Herbert Oar
rent.
''shouldn't wonder If 1t has good
result for him; rouses sensation and
sympathy. and they may get up petit
tion for life imprisonment. It's q clever
dodge. He called it "a dodge" to
shake his own doubts. and yet he could
not help. feeling that there was no col
lusion in that last scene Of all Still, it
Is best to try to delude ones conscience
at such times as these Dull it. stife It
If it wants to speak and disturb that
supremely happy feeling Of self satisfac-
tion that is SO pleasant to experience.
To be emotional in this nineteenth
century Is to be weak. or, worse than
old fashioned If something
happens in the course Of ones daily life
that is keen and painful enough to
wiring ones heart. the formula is-give
sympathy q stunning blow and call tho
whole thing "a dodge" and then go on
with life exactly as before. Yes; that
is the wiser, the better and very fire.
quently the cheaper way. It's only q
dodge; that's all Pass on and forget it.
Having stigmatized the dramatic de-
nouement Of the trial rs "a dodge" in
sufficiently stern voice to frighten
away. for the time beisg at any rate,
all his inner promptings Darrent picked
up the paper again and began reading
an editorial-the trial again. of course.
It was headed 1.-The American Le-
COG" and 1t set forth with abundant
praise the ability, tho zeal. the acumen.
of one Herbert Darrent detective-set
1t forth in such forid high flown style
that the subject Of these concentrations
would have flushed. except that his
inner self had not yet recovered from
the stunning blow that had been dealt
it.by modern cynicism.
Then the article went on to refer to
the emotional scene ut the conclusion Of
the trial
''Astra niger scene. it remarked. "it
has never been our lot to witness :
And Darrent. startled from his habitu !
composure, jumped to his feet. with an
exclamation of surprise
Perhaps the compositor engaged upon
setting mp that editorial had been car
ried away by the sensationalism Of the
trial l.or perhaps by something else. but
in setting that line he had made q pc
culiar mistake. which had been passed
by the proofreader and now appeared
in every issue of that days paper. He
had misplaced tho spacing which should
have made the division between the
words "A" and stranger. and the
sentence which had SO startled Herbert
Darrent read. '"Astra niger scene it has
never been our lot to witness
The second combination Of letters.
''nger. might have been a portion Of
a cryptogram. it was 30 meaningless
The first. "Astrs. had a meaning for
Darrent that set his brain wildly at
work and caused heavy feeling at his
heart
1t was a strange coincidence that the
editorial on the trial should contain
such q glaring error. Emotional people
would have called it 1.-THE finger Of
Providence" but Of course it was not
II was simply the error of compositcr
who perhaps had had too much to drink
or at Cny rate was not at the instant
thinking Of what he was doing
Let us account for all things natural
~ il we can We abominate superstition
in the nineteenth century and really
never care to discuss 1.-The finger OF
Providence at all
''A-s-t-r-a-A A stranger. Oar
rent muttered Suppose old Marsden
died before he could write what he in
tended tol Suppose another second of
life would have altered all things Why
did not the defense think Of that :!
Astray Marsden quarreled with Josiah
and left him A third person entered.
and that person was the one who COM
mitted the deed Josiah Marsden. dying
and alone. remembered Something
warned him that Astray would be &C.
cused. and he wrote what he intended
should prove his innocence. No one can