Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1899-10-19

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lips As to the identity of the murderer
l was, of course, ignorant but until he
was discovered there was a strong pre-
sumption that my mate vas the guilty
party. Now, | felt morally certain that
Jack was innocent, but unless he proved
as there was some chance of his doing
that he was not John Farquharson,
but Tyndall. and thus gave us time to
bring the real murderer to light, in all
probability he would be hanged. l sup
pose as these thoughts occupied my
mind the girl must have misinterpreted
my silence, for she spoke again
You needn't answer. | dare say it
was silly of me to expect you would
take a woman and comparative stran-
ger into your confidence" there was
just the faintest trace of pique in her
manner my reason for asking if you
knew who gave the information was
simply because / thought there was
something in which | might be able to
assist You.
Still l could not see what good was
to be attained by making a confidant of
her; so | remained silent. Resting her
chin on sun Drowned hand, she looked
steadily at me for a minute and CON
tinued,
'1 can see you think know moth
ing.
eff it's a fair question. what do you
know p l ventured There was IN real
ity nothing l would have liked better
than sharing something of confiden-
tial nature with her, but as yet to me
the life of my friend was a sacred
thing
''You think don't know it was DAILY
who rode into the township last night
and told the police, she answered after
pause. "And you think III not sware
that your friend name is not Tyndall.
But all this is of no accoant. You think
l don't know what you came TO ask.
The hint struck home, and | remem-
bered what had brought me here. 1t oc
Cured to me that seeing | had not in
vited her confidence she might consider
it n one sided bargain | was trying to
drive. As | hesitated she anticipated
me.
eyes, you can tell Mr. Tyndall I'll
come to the examination tomorrow and
prove that my father recognized the
man who was killed by the blacks on
Scrubby creek as John Farquharson. OF
course we can all bear witness to that.
Is there anything more you'd like me
to do2" She rose from the box ON which
she had seated herself.
"You can listen to all know about
the affair, and then perhaps forgive me
for not having told you sooner"
broke out the fullness of the girl s
knowledge, my unjust and uncalled for
reticence and her generous treatm2nt of
the same making me feel considerably
ashamed of myself In as few words as
possible / told her all l knew about the
matter and my contemplated plan for
action. Then l asked for her opinion.
She reseated herself and, clasping her
hands round her knees, spoke.
81 dare say it's possible to have Mr..
Tyndall released tomorrow, If only we
recognize the fact that we've to deal
with men who'll swear to anything.
That of course means we've got to fight
the devil with his own~tools. You look
shocked y
'T'm not. only the devil may-to-
morrow
"You re frivolous sir"-this with
an assumption of severity. "Rsnember
an innocent mans life depends upon it.
Luckily the cargo will be out of the
boat tonight, so that we can all go into
the township tomorrow. In the mean
time go and cheer up Mr.. Tyndall and
tell him from me he shan't want
friends.
| had a pannikin of tea and saddling
my horse, cantered up to the crossing.
Toward dusk, by following down the
beautiful high bank of the river, |
reached the Macarthur township, but
stopped at the police station first, a
large, new, galvanized iron building on
the brow of the dip little to the south
of the town. When the sergeant showed
me into the presence of the police mag
istrate, whose name was Wilcox, l dis
covered him, with a neighboring store
keeper, busily engaged eating canned
oysters. There was also bottled beer
upon the table. / found the magistrate
a middle aged, gentlemanly and some
what talkative individual, with a
shrewd kindly face. In as few words
as possible told him the nature of my
business and also of my professional
qualifications.
''This is rather an out of the way
affair" he remarked, frankly enough.
II certainly received notice. from Rod
erick Mackenzie of the Robinson river
regarding the murder of one John Far
quharson by the blacks on Scrubby
creek, but he didn't say he positively
identified the body as John Farquhar-
sons.
"But Farquharson's papers were
found on the body, insisted
''It was easy to put them there, he
remarked dryly. His eyes wandered
over the table. Have some beer. he
added, heartily enough.
thanked him, but declined, much TO
the astonishment of the storekeeper.
"Of course" continued the magis-
trate "when Sections body was found
no one knew anything about the muir
derer. Since then Farquharson has been
the suspect. Now, this man you've
come to me about, who goes under the
name of John Tyndall, has been recog-