Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-10-06

Until an arm was raised mat brought
me to a halt.
Brother, I am glad you have come
here. for I wish to right a great wrong.
Ralph Herndon did not kill me, but
Dick Woodson did. He fired from be-
hin yonder monument, for / saw his
face peering above it in the moonlight,
and then came the fash. Right this
wrong, brother, and more, now that I
am in s~hadowland I nd-fo it is given
me to read hearts-that Natalie does
not love me, but instead loves Ralph
Herndon.
You remember how, years ago, when
she and Ralph were capsized in a BOAT
and I swan out n saved them both?'
he went On. Well, she mad accepted
me, when I asked for her love, only from
gratitude; the same motive that made
Ralph decide to go away and leave her
to me, but they love each other, as I
now know
1.-The words died away, the shadowy
form of my brother disappeared and-I
awoke. I had not gone to the grave
yard, had not left my room, as 1 was
still in my bed. 1t was but a dream,
but its vividness impressed me so that
1 determined to right the wrong done
Ralph Herndon. Dick Woodson had
been my schoolmate. He had become
d~issipated. broken his mothers heart,
and at her death had been left the
remnant of the fortune he had squan-
dered. Time n again he had urged
Natai1e Mllbank to marry him and her
refusal had greatly embittered him.
II found the next day it was Woodson
who had left the note for my brother
which Herndon had written him, to
meet him at sunset in the cemetery.
Ihen l decided to act. and I took ad-
vantage of my striking resemblance to
my brother to help me in my plan. I
enlisted the aid of the constable. and
two responsible friends. and with them
to the home of Woodson.
had left the tavern, after drink
Ing. heavily, and had gone home. AS
ne entered his library i stood On the
piazza by an open window. / had whit
ened my face to a deathlike hue and was
dressed IN the hat and clothes worn by
my brother on the day of his death
Iaking up a decanter Woodson was
ABOUT to pour out a drink of brandy
when | stepped into the room.
He uttered a cry, the decanter fell
from his hand to the floor and he saved
himself from a fall by dropping into a
chair.
Dick Woodson, do not commit an
other crime and let poor Ralph Hern-
don be hanged as my murderer. Go at
once and confess your gilt or I will haunt
you night and day to your grave
Il spoke in a low. distinct and sepulch-
raj voice, and there broke from the mans
lips: Leave me, ghost, shade or what
ever you be that represents Horace Dun
bar, and [ will confess all-yes, all-how
I read Herndon's letter and-go! for the
love of God, go"
II stepped backward upon the piazza
and the constable and my other allies en-
tered the room, the former saying:
81 arrest you, Woodson, as the mur-
derer OF Horace Dunbar.
u am guilty, for I felt if I killed
Horace, Ralph would be hanged for the
murder and I would win Miss Milbank.
with both of them out of my way; but
this was a trick to betray me, for that
was no ghost.'
N o you were betrayed by a dream
I said, as I entered the room.
THUS was Ralph Herndon saved, ana
some months after Natalie became mis-
wife, for Dick Woodson died in Jail be-
fore he could be brought to trial.
"And my dream? 1t remains unex-
planned, for what know we in life of the
secret influence exerted upon us by the
Shades of the Shadowland?"