The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-03-04
..Hypnottii.z,Iir a Soul,

/ iy heard It again. It was the newsboys
OF the street crying their wares. and,as
strained my ears l could catch now
and then. the sound OF my name. l
laughed. as heard L. for would not my
friends hear OF my misfortune and
come TO my relief? Then was SELF
,ol by desire to see with mine own
eyes IN account OF the crime for which
l seemed to be thought responsible. By
supcrhuman effort / succeeded in secur-
Ing n copy OF the paper, and with
trembling fingers spread It out on the
floor where the light from the little
| square hole fell. ~
The haic column OF glar!ng head
lines was devoured At n glance. and I
began nj the solid matter with some-
thing OF the trepldlty felt by an ex-
! nlorec In country Astounding In un-
! known dangers. Every pnrlgraph reek-
\ ed with the revolving details OF the
crime, and accusation after accusation
was hurled ut me. I stood the ordeal
well until l reached the eighth para
| graph and there I found food fit for
the thought OF an Internal being. It
! ran thus: lE
Gifted in many ways. the murderer
stands as n shining example Of the
result Of n misguided ambition coupled
with an matchmaking conscience. His
Is a soul void OF humanity. What mat
| ters Il to such as he whether L man
lives or dies. so long rs that man
stands In the way OF his ali absorbing
ambition? While tangible motives are
| s.lll lacking. we venture to say that
sufficient cause will be found In the In
ordinate ambition of the accused to ac-
| count for the brutal murder Of his SUI
| perier. We refer our readers 10 the
mysterious death OF clerk in the pat
ent office last year. and call their at
tetltlon TO the fact that 1t was none
other than Frank Bethune, the man
who stands accused of the murder Of
, Harry Canton. WHO stepped Into the
dead mans shoes and received the
emoiuments attached to his Office"
| Utterly Frustrated by the volume Of
my calamity, | hailed with some de-
gree OF delight the appearance Of the
last paragraph, the closing sentence of
which ran:
watkins, the. workman, who holds
the key to the mysterious crime, Is a
ravlng maniac. and has been placed in
q cell at the asylum"
At last I knew the details. and sitting
there on that cold stone floor ! dellber-
| atSd dS ptst L tbuIl' o.l IL tOuEst " puI :
sue to establish my innocence. but the
more / reasoned the more stupendous
| appeared the mountain OF evidence
against me.
| Weeks passed and my trial began.
Listlessly l sat In the prisoners chair
and heard the masses OF testimony that
seemed to surge about my throat.
threatening 20 choke me. was defend
ed by the ablest lawyers that money
could secure. but they Strove in vain to
batter down the walls o. proof thrown
up by the relentless attorneys across the
oaken table. The evidence was prepon-
deratinsly against me.
One afternoon ] stood up while the
solemn voice OF the judge pronounced
sentence up on me. ,Hls
| Hanged by the neck unti,-dead."
Somehow did not faint. as l expect
ed. and next morning the daily papers
reveled In extended discourSes on the
remarkable nerve displayed by the
prisoner" I laughed as l read what
| purporteG 10 be 4 history OF my past
life. Never before had I suspectedthat
! was aught bu. an honest American
citizen. but here. in black and white.
were the proofs of my long career of
crime.
| IL LAY SCI AOi NY tNCttLlO.L
| preached all too rapidly. Ispent my
time as gailv us IS possible for 4 man
who feels that he is soon to pay with
his life the penalty of 4 crime not his
own. Hope. that still. small voice that
IS all but unquenchable. bore me on.
Hope-did l say? Was 1t hope that kept
my reason intact. and that gave me the
strength to resist the temptation to
gnaw at those iron bars? What pre-
1 sumption was mine that dared hope
against such overwhelming odds, but I
still hoped,
| One afternoon I was aroused from 4
troubled sleep by the peculiar con-
sciousness that I was not alone and.
upon sitting up, was amazed to OBJ
serve a man standing al the foot OF my
cot. Els eye caught ms motion and
leisurely blowing cloud OF fragrant
smoke from his cigarette he stepped to-
ward me.
so you have awakened. have you?"
"Ye-es. Was I asleep"
"You were"
HOW did you get in here?" was my
next query.
The turnkey let ne in" said the
man. smiling, showing n perfect set OF
white teeth
well, who are You and what do you
want Eere?"
An amused twinkle lowered about his
eyes 10. a moment. and. pickering his
lips, he emitted 9 low whistle before re-
j plying.
Seems to me you are rather iHQu!sI-
tive, my friend. But tnen-I presume
you have RICH; 10 be. However. II you
are not particular. we'll let my identity
rest FOR the present. As for my object,
am here TO try an experiment"
Experiment"
Yes. and II I succeed It may save
You from the ga,lows."
] saranE to my feet and clGsped his
hand In mine. but he withdrew It with
the remark:
You are not yet saved. young man"
Seating himself on the stool that COM
/ pr!sed part OF my scanty furniture, The
stranger puffod away in silence 70. n
moment while | waited In almost
breathiess expectancy. Al last he re-
sITed:
Young man. you are soon 10 be cx-
ecUted for a crime" His eyes fell on me
With such peculiarly inqu!sitive ex-
hT"essIon that felt constrained TO rcit-
ierate the awful truth.
Il Everybody thinks sou are gullty?"
1T appears So
"Are y5u guilty." The question was
spoken calmly enough, but with an In
tcnsIty that might well have compelled
confession from the decpest-dyed GRIM
inai. and I hastened to repeat my pro-
testatlons OF innocence.
! Enough 1t Is as | thought"