Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1900-10-14
WITNESS TO THE DEED.
BY M. QUAD.

lost a 95 note in the house, and the
thief was the parlor maid, | knew it
from her actions, and three months
after I left the house she was caught
in a similar offense and owned up to
the first theft. However, the crime
made indignant and pefhaps impu-
dent protest was flung out Of the
house at half an hours notice and re-
fused a character. l was die for the
next three months. The first thing de-
manded when l applied for a place
was a character. AS % as it was
learned that had none it was useless to
talk further. 1t was for this reason that
| finally paid a fee to an intelligence
Office in Margate street and "a at
length sent for to take a place at gen.
eral homework. 1t was an old
man named Dyson who wanted me.
He wa willing to take me without a
character because ihe would have to
pay less wages and because, as he
grinly asserted, there was nothing ly-
ing around loose in his house for one
to steal. AS we sat face to face l
sized him up as mean and penurious,
but | did not see any evil in him. He
had an aged and infirm wife, he told
me, and l was the only servant.
1t was not for me to pick and choose.
l must have a place and hold it long
enough TO get a character again. l
went with him miles and miles out ON
the Hclborne road. ard we at last ar
rived at the cheaply built and cheap
locking cottage he occupied. 1t was a
place devoid Of almost all -convenlences
and had been selected for its cheap
rent. found the old wife deaf, almost
blind and palsied, and it was apparent
that she had no care whatever. She had
become childish and petulant, and be-
fore l he'd been in the house half an
hour Mr.. Dyson whipped her with a
strap for saying she was hungry. AS
he whipped her l saw him look at her
in a way to give me a chill. In the
course of three or four days l made up
my mind that he regarded her with de-
t~estation and adherence and was hour
ly hoping for her death. l wondered
that he mad not pushed her down stairs
or found other means to bring about an
Gz-~.IA-{olS INa%L h,% ~ old y
was full Of craft and cowardice. I
soon had evidence that he was in love
with a widow in the neighborhood, or
at least he desired to be free so that he
could marry her. The man had no oc-
cupation and seldom left the house.
During my first two weeks in the place
he never allowed me to see the wife
except in his presence and found fault
if I cooked anything extra for her or
expressed my sympathy. He had a
way OF whispering to himsels, and a
dozen times over I heard him say:
I've waited for five years, but l
won't wait much longer. III get rid of
her and be happy"
My natural impulse on finding out
how he felt towards his wife was to fly
the house, but I have explained how I
was situated. And, too, I soon got the
feeling that l ought TO stay to protect
the poor old woman. | figured it out
that. while he might thirst for her
death, he would not proceed to ex-
tremities while I was in the house. It
seemed as if he would have lived on
alone, as he had done for the last two
months, if he meditated anything of
that sort. l didn't know the depth Of
his craft, however. He had brought
me there to work her death through
me. The first thing l suspicioned this
way was n morning when he asked
me to help her down stairs. The stairs
were steep and shaky and he had pried
one of the steps loose, that it might
slide from under her feet. AS a mat
ter of fact it did give way, but I
caught myself and saved the woman.
When old Dyson saw the failure of his
plot he looked chagrined and savage
and presently found excuse for cutting
the poor wife's ears.
In the course of a couple of weeks
he declared that the cellar was full of
rats and gave me money and com-