Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1900-04-19

ninQ oil in the darkness. lIC stood
looking after him. realizing the utter
nSelcsSpcss of following and poudercd
over the strange occurrence
What did slippery sam know Of the
Mora murder and Of this woman that
he should be so frightened when hc
learned that Mr.. Mitchell was interest
cd in the affair."
Mr. Mitchell had just asked himself
! this question when nc thought ne
heard angry voices and then n sound
as Of mon struggling coming from the
direction in which slippery Sam had
run off. He went down step or two
and leaned forward listening. when he
was thoroughly startled TO hear a
piercing shrek, followed by the sound
of feet rapidly recedng. without rc-
turning TO the house for his hat he ran
rapidly down the street, determined to
invcStigai" the matter. Less than
hundred yards away he came upon the
! body of man lying beneath street
lamp. his head in pool Of blood.
/ Turning him over so that he could
sec the face. he was horriied to dis
cover that it was slippery sam
As MIR. Mitchell bent over him he
! opened his eyes and looked mp. an cX-
! preston Of deep agony on his countc-
nance. Evidently he recognized Mr..
/ Mitchell for ne attempted to speak. but
! after on" or two vain efforts his Mt
/ tcrances were completely shut off by
/ rush Of blood from his mouth with
one last effort he placed his hand to
! his Side. where h" had been stabbed.
and then rolled over unconscious Mr..
/ Mitchell noticed knife upon the pave
mcnt and, picking it mp, was sure that
it was the same with which the man
( had threatened him. Could this be
/ suicide? Impossible. for he had plain
I ly heard man running off besides
the sound of a struggle.
This was destined to he night of
surprises to Mr. Mitchell. for just at
this critical moment Mr.. Barnes came
mp and stood staring at the scene be-
fore him
What is this?" asked the detective.
( This is murder, ! believe replied
Mr. Mitchell.
! Murder" calculated Mr. BARNES.
not at once compromising what was
/ meant.
yes; that is slippery Sam He is
either dying or dead. Help me TO lift
him into my house, and will explain
more fully"
Between them they carried the bleed
ing man into the house, whereupou
| Mr. Mitchell requested Mr.. Barnes to
| call the nearest physician. and while
| the detective was gone he did what
! he could to stanch the blood. Very
shortly after MIR. Barnes returned with
! the doctor. who. after examining the
wound. declared that nothing could hc
done. and within half an houI" the I'M
fortunate crook had brcathed his last
Left alone with Mr.. Barnes. Mr.
/ Mitchell related all that had passed be
tween himself and Slippery Sam and
expressed the opinion that his death
was misfortune. since ne evidently
knew something of the Mora affair
which in time they might have cy-
tractcd from him.
"IeS. indoed," said Mr. Barnes. This
Is perhaps n serious obstacle in our
r
dent. Either this man has been put
out of the way because OF what he
knew or else he was the guilty man
himself"
81 do not quite follow that last de
duction," said Mr.. Mitchell
"Oh. ! mean said Mr. Barnes. that
either this murder has or has not Il
I u-it u ffa IT, 2
has. then the true murderer may have
been At work here disposing of dan
gerous witness. If il has not that is
TO say. If this killing is entirely apart
from the other then we must consider
the mans fright when he learned Of
your interest in tho Mora murder I
account for it 10y the possible suppos-
ton that he was the guilty party"
"How readily YOU abandon your
beautiful theories about young Mora. -
said Mr. Mitchell
"Not al all. only say that this last
theory is possible. | think it highly
improbable. Vet we must not over
look the fact that this man had the op-
portunty to commit the crime"
How sol'
some theory. advanced. I think. by
Preacher Jim to you. was that the
murderer may have been any regular
criminal. who first stole the will 10 he
used as an instrument of blackma il
and then killed old Mora to make the
will operative
yes: that wa one theory. Go on
Then we know that the murderer
wore a certain suit of clothes. which
was possibly taken from the Essex
street house and subsequently re-
turned
81 follow Won. Proceed"
"Woll, slippery sam according Ia
Preacher Jim and 10y his own admiS
sion. lived in that Essex street house.
Therefore | say he had the opportu-
nifty"
Very we'll argued. Mn Barnes II
is worth looking into when We have
: moro time. But our first duty is tu
get this corpse out of my house.
wish YOU would relieve me by notify
ing the authorities VIII you|'
"Ceranly. am ut your service and
will go at once. But before | 20 let
me tell you something. II was Il most
fortunate impulse which led me To-
ward your house tonight"
Undoubtedly. since you may he OF
great assistance TO me. But why did