Morris tribune., 1899-12-16
THE RINDOO DAGGER,

O0OO00OeO@00 O00OO000
I happened to be stopping over nigh
at little hotel in the Berkshire
when there happened tragedy whic
l cannot forget.
/ may say here that l am a detectiv
In the regular employ of one of tn
| largest detective agencies in tn
| world. And that the errand upol
which l was bound was a private one
An unforeseen railway occurrenc
left me stranded over night in the vii
lage of x, and having engaged room
at the only hosiery in the place, re
tired early and enjoyed good night
sleep.
Next morning / arose and dressed
myself. and no sooner had completed
my toilet than was aroused by g
loud cutlery in the next room. Open
ing my door l followed the direction
of the cry and was joined by other.
from the floor below. The cry was
continued and on opening the door We
saw an awful sight.
There upon the bed lay a girl of I'm.
usual beauty, stone dead. Her eyes
were wide open and staring, her fin
gers were extended clawlike, and ner
head was twisted as though she had
died in agony.
Bending over her was dark-halreG
women who was crying out "Oh Eve
Ign! Evelyn, my daughter! Evelyn,
wake up! Speak to mel"
Then turning toward us the woman
said wildly: II left her last night at
her own request. She said she wished
to sleep alone. And this morning l
find her dead. murdered. Oh, Evelyn,
my daughter. speak,"
And so the unhappy mother cont1n-
ued to rave, while we took the girl
from her arms and examined ner TO
see if a spark of life remained. No.
she had been dead many hours anG
we all saw at once that the hand of
the murderer must have been laid up
on her soon after she had retired the
night before.
When the physicians were called
they gave the surprising information
that the girl had died of heart dis
ease. No trace of a wound of any
kind could be found upon her. She
had quietly passed away of heart fail
ure, they said. One eye was terribly
bloodshot, showing the rupture of a
blood vessel in the brain.
At this information the mother be-
came quie er and by afternoon she had
made preparations to return to the
city with her daughter. l learned
from the hotel keeper that they were
summer guests and had been stopping
there for several weeks.
Speak no i'll of the dead is good
rule" said the proprietor, "but for
tempers that dead girl had the worst
one. l wonder how her mother ever
put up with it, poor lady"
After the first the mother bore the
bereavement remarkably well; and
when it came time for them to go she
had even a little color in her face,
though her eyes were haggard.
Travelling alone and in the same
direction I found that | could be of
service to the afflicted woman and so
upon offer she readily accepted my
services. Accordingly | assisted in
arranging her baggage and, with her,
took a last leave of the rooms.
AS we were stepping out into the
hail, the coffin with the dead girl hav-
ing just been borne out, the mother,
either from grief, or through accident,
tripped and l caught her. AS did so
l uttered cry of pain.
Looking down l saw that tiny or
nament which she wore upon her
chatelaine had become Embedded in
my flesh. pulled it slowly out while
a drop of blood followed and settled
on the skin
''Oh, my Hindoo dagger" said she,
hastily; chow careless of me. should
have folded it ND"
And then to my establishment she
pulled out of the shiny silver case
which was only three inches long, a
slender needle of steel, fully a foot
long, fastened together by curious
links, which snapped together as she
pulled the dagger out of the case.
Il was marvel of Oriental wo k
Then, while / looked on, she refold- |
ed the dagger snapped it together, !
link after link, as one closes a pocket |
knife. never saw such curious |
workmanship except upon slender /
steel ruler which had been given me in |
India.
She seemed much confused at the I
accident and blamed herself for my
hurt.
That afternoon I rode beside her in /
the train and talked with her upon /
various topics Yes the dead Girl |
had been her only companion, 1t was
very sad She had wired ahead for
relatives to meet her in Boston.
Suddenly, and without preliminaries
/ picked up the little charm which
hung at her belt and said: us this
The ms tument you ki led your daugh-
ter with? Show me how you jabbed
1t into her eve"
She looked at me Mortified
81 know all about it," | said "You
Il