The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1900-03-15
) M NJ M N AZ m az ~

trate a murder in the presence of an
eyewitness"
Probably not" returned Kotel-
mann, slowly. THAT kind of thing
is usually done in private. 1t may so
Nance, however. that an eyewitness
present of whom the murderer has
40 cognizance."
= After making this remark he walked
by my side for awhile in silence, APP
parently deep in thought. Then he
began again, in his characteristic
fashion:
Zone may travel all round the world
and yet never witness a murder l,
however, have seen one"
"What-you-you have seen one!"
Il exclaimed, almost terrified. ''Ex-
plain yourself, man! Was the muir
derer caught? Was he punished?"
at was no he it was a She" said
, Kotelmann, with laugh. "And as
she was not caught it stands to rea-
son she was not punished"
'Yet you" | began.
companion interrupted me.
othiug to do with it. My
not called for nor re-
ling was accomplished
'ost refined manner
e, 1 will tell you
arS.
was spending my
u the little water
4. This quiet, retired
rell, and 1 stayed there
e.
louise where l found lodg-
Z were already Il. number Of
Sisitors-a fact which. to a So
individual like myself, was in
wise distasteful
Among others I made a slight &C
,quaintance with family consisting
of an old gentleman, his young wife
and his daughter by a former mar
rage. The girl a slim, delicate Great
ure, apparently about 90 years of age,
was blind. She could not be termed
pretty, but her personality was indie
scribably attractive, gentle, and, 1
may say. pathetic. The wife was
beauty. She had a splendid figure and
d pair of gray eyes not easily to be
forgotten. I should judge her age to
have been about 20. These people
seemed to be in very easy circum-
stances and kept themselves as much
as possible apart from the other Wis
1tors.
Il can boast, as you are aware, of
some small gifts of observation. AL
though my acquaintance with this
family was, as | have already stated,
but slight one, yet took some inter-
est in studying the different members
which composed it. For, wherever /
go. make it rule to study all the
new characters | meet. 1t was not
long before | discovered three things
concerning this trio. Firstly, that the
old man was passionately in love with
his wife, but had for his daughter
neither eyes, ears nor heart; secondly,
that the daughter had an almost
idolatrous reverence for her father,
but secret dislike for her stepmoth-
er; thirdly, that the wife had a down
right hatred for the other two.
''None of the other inmates of our
villa, however had any suspicion of
this state of affairs; to the superficial
observer these three persons appeared
to be living together in perfect har-
mony
"One morning the old gentleman did
not appear, and in answer to inquiries
= bis wife said that he was i'll. In the
course of the day a physician was
summoned to him, and in the evening
our host impaired to me in confidence
the distressing fact that the old man
had been attacked by typhus fever
and lay now in very precarious con-
dition.
81 have no fear of infection and
when | told our host so | rose prodi-
giously in his estimation. / even
Ited the invalid and tried to cheer him.
On one occasion, when only a hired
nurse besides myself was present. he
startled me by a fit of delirium, in
which he implored me to save him
from his wife. / did my utmost to
pacify him and soon his mood changed
and he began to-speak of his wife in
the most pathetic and endearing
terms. Ten days after the beginning
of the old gentleman's illness
CHANGED to encounter the doctor, who
was Just descending the staircase.
"'Well,' said l, how fares it with
your patient|
Oh answered he, the symptoms
are very favorable. The crisis is over
or all bI over. We know, of course,
that he is old man, and his consti-
( tuition is k-extremely weak If
tie pulls ri. as / trust he will,
e will wife and daughter to
tanl/ fially his daugI''er'
ne p'se! lie is as
M sleep depends