The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-10-06

their only child, Ger
trude. One summer af-
ternoon Mr.. Heaton was strollinS on
a little knoll at his country home.
There was terrific blow from behind
with a Jagged billet, and Merrill Hea-
ton lay dead in the sunlight, while the
rattle and plunge of his murderers re-
treat down the embankment mingled
discordantly with the shrill piping of
birds protesting against so rude an
invasion of their paradise.
The police came, the police went; the
papers theorized, the papers scolded,
but the mystery of the death remained
unsolved. According to medical judg-
ment, full hour had elapsed before
the body was discovered. In the mean-
time, there had been violent SHOWER,
completely oblterating any tracks. No
inference could be derived from the
weapon, a stick picked from the wood
pile, except that the assassin had been
prudent in its choice. Interest waXed
and interest waned; other crimes more
sensational occurred, and the Heaton
case was by common consent relega ted
to that limbo of oblivion, where so
many murders that will not out are
confined.
There is no forgetfulness, however, in
the homestead where two women,
mother and daughter, mourned for the
one who had been it's head. The widow
looked forward to another existence
for the recompense of reunion. But
Gertrude was consumed by the fires of
a righteous wrath. Somewhere on the
face Of the earth, in fancied security,
was the villain who had slain her ia
ter. Until he was caught and pun
ished there could be no rest of body or
soul for her. Her mind, overwrought
by horror, dwelt on her supreme duty
to avenge. until it became fixed idea,
and so she declared, and in such a way
that 1t became we'll known in the little
community of the vicinity that not only
would she never marry while her ia
theirs murderer was at large, but that
she would give her hand and ample
fortune to the man who brought him to
justice. should he exact such a reward
for his deed.
RIVALS FOR GIRLS LOVE.
Young Herbert Lowering, who lived
in the adjoining place, heard the tale
and was greatly distressed thereby.
Not only did it disappoint the hopes
which his lifelong intimacy with Ger
trude had naturally encouraged, but it
raised an unselfish dread lest she
should be sacrificed. A quiet, scholar
ly man, without robust health and un-
knowing of the world, he realized that
he was unfit for such feat: therefore
he sought the advice Of Josiah MARCEL
lus, his former guardian, who was now
the executor of Mr.. Heaton's will. The
judge shrugged his shoulders, with the
resignation Of an old bachelor for wo
mans whims. and then, after some
philosophic reflections on the prudence
of always employing a substitute, sent
him to Abe Cronkite for the assistance
which the eX-detective was so well
qualified to render him.
Paul Poloff, at the works, heard the
story, and it caused him hours of medi-
tation before he acted. A valuable man
was Poloff, Hungarian by birth, who
had passed an exhaustive apprentice
ship in the best scientific workshops of
his country before coming hither to
put the one finishing touch OF perfec-
ton on the Heaton lenses. A young
man still was Polotf, in the thirties,
unmarried, occupying in an eccentric
way one Of the towers of the factory,
sleeping during the day. toling
throughout the night, yet always
prompt with orders and satisfactory
in their execution.
Gertrude Heaton had never fancied
this man the few times she had met
him at her fathers table. There was
an effuSiveness in his manner which
struck her as insncere; there was
difference to her opinion which their
svatvn nk0S u
her impulse to take advantage of her
seclusion was so strong, one day, when
his card was brought to her, that she
would have dined by herself, had it not
been for line beneath the name, 'o'n
a matter close to your heart" AS it
was she descended to where he waited
all a-tremble from hopes indefinite but
tumultuous.
the murder?" she cried abruptly.
Softly, my dear young lady" began
Paul taking the girls hand and leading
have? If, though far distant at the
time, I was nevertheless an actual eye
witness to the tragedy, what then?"
PoLoFFs TRAGIC STORY.
"Why, your love Of justice, your re-
spect for my father, your employer,
your character as good citizen, all,
all, must impel you to reveal at once
to the police what you know; to"
''Softly, my dear lady; l am poor
foreigner unacquainted with your legal
forms, timorous of your police. l be-
;lieVe In justice, yes; but, il every man
Will mind his own affairs, then justice
Will. reign undisputed. Your honored
father, truly. was a good man. but l
rendered him faithful service for his
wage: we are quits, and he Is gone
forever. / say again, what then
Then why did you come to me?"
moaned the girl in a torment of uncer-
tainty.
because / adore you" returned
Paul; and then followed scene which
can be readily imagined. In WHICH the
poor girl. led on by furtive promise and
threat, finally agreed that she would
marry him when he had made good his
word and brought about the punish-
nient of her fathers murderer.
The story which Poloff told was
strange, but not unnatural, In its de-
tails. He had been working that af-
5ternoon, he explained, over in his
room. In the tower of the factory, on
q telescope of unusual power. When
the last lense was completed and Slip
ped into place he had raised the In
strument and leveled it at the further
side to test 1t. What had he seen?
Mr.. Heaton standing on the knoll; a
man creep out from the shrubbery with
IA stick In his hand; a cruel, cowardly
blow from behind; and then q head
long fight down the embankment. Was