El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1901-03-16

nv interest in what went on within.
and. turning as quickly as | could, !
hurried into the road and followed the
shadow could just perceive disap-
pearing in the woods above me. l was
bound. gentlemen. as you see, to fol-
low out my adventure to the end. But
my task now became very difficult. for
the moon was high and shone down
upon the road so distinctly that l could
not follow the person before me as
closely as wished without running
Ne risk Of being discovered. | there
fore trusted more TO my ear than TO
my eye. and as long as | could hear
his steps in front of me l was satisfied.
But presently. as we turned up this
very hill. | ceased to hear those steps
and so became confident that he had
taken to the woods. ] was so sure of
this that l did not hesitate to enter
them myself. and. knowing the paths
| well, as | have every opportunity Of
doing. living as we do. directly oppo-
site this forest. I easily found my way
to the little clearing that have reason
to think you gentlemen have since be-
come acquainted with. But, though.
that the person was following was
not far in advance of me, | did not
dare to enter this brilliantly illumined
space. especially as there was every in-
'dication of this person having COM
pleted whatever task he had set for
himself. Indeed | was sure that
heard his steps coming back So. for
the second time. | crouchcd down in
Al Il 4 4 t,,1 "a Lot
this mysterious person pass me- When
he had quite disappeared. | made my
own retreat. for it was late. and | was
afraid of being missed ut the ball. But
later, or. rather. the next day, | re-
turned and began IL search for the
money which. was confident. had
Deen left in these woods 10y the person
Il had been following. | found it, and
when the man here present. who.
though mere fiddler. has presumed
to take a leading part i'm this inter
view. came upon me with the bills in
my hand. was but buryinG deeper the
i'll gotten gains had come upon"
"Ah. and so aking them your own"
quoth Sweetwater. stung by the sar-
casm in that word fiddler.
But with a suavity against which
every attack fell powerless she met
his significant look with one fully as
significant and quickly said:
IF l had wanted the money for my
self. / would not have risked leaving it
where the murderer could find it by
a bunch of sodden leaves. No. l had
another motive for my action. a N olive
with which few. IL any. of you will be
willing to credit me. l wished to save
the murderer, whom I had some rea-
son. as you see. for thinking / knew.
from the consequences of his own ac-
ton"
Mr.. Courtney. DIR. Talbot and even
MIR. Sutherland. who naturally believed
she referred TO label and who. one and
ALL had a lingering tenderness for this
unfortunate old man which not even
this seeming act of madness on his
part could quite destroy. felt n species
of reaction at this and surveyed the
singular being before them with per-
heps the slightest shade of relenting
in their severity Sweetwater alone
betrayed restlessness. Knapp showed
no feeling at all. while Frederick look
ed like one petrified and moved neither
hand nor foot
Crime that is the outcome Of fore
thought is despicable." she went on.
with deliberateness so hard that the
more susceptible of her auditors shud
dered. But crime that springs from
some imperative and overpowering ne
cessity of the mind or body might we'll
awaken sympathy, and | am not
ashamed of having been sorry for this
frenZied and suffering man. Weak and
impulsive as you may consider me. |
did not want him to suffer on account
of n moments madness. as he undoubt-
eddy would if he were ever found with
this money in his possession, SO l
plunged it deeper into the soil and
trusted to the confusion which crime
always awakens even in the strongest
mind for him not to discover my sub
terfuge."
Hal Wonderful Devilish subtle,
eh? Clever. too cleverr' were some Of
the whispered Explanations which this
curious explanation on her part brought
out. Yet only Sweetwater showed his
open and entire disbelief OF the story.
the others possibly remembering that
for such natures as hers there is no
governing law and no commonplace in
depreciation
To Sweetwater. however. this was
but SO much display of feminine re-
source and subtlety. Though he felt he
should keep still in the presence of
men SO greatly his superiors. he could
not resist saying:
Truth is sometimes stranger than
fiction. | should never have attributed
any such motive as you mention to the
young girl l saw leaving this spot with
l., l.. Ill
which we afterward extracted the
large sum of money i'm question But