Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1901-02-06
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81 slluddered at the awful nearness
of the catastrophe. aud to this day
/. canaot imagine why Mr.. Wentworth
did not use his dagger on me in prefer
ence to the clumsy continuance Of the
exploding pistol. Ii one means to
murder, there is no weapon to equal
the knife. For once that bullet
brings down its intended victim 1t will
miss dozen times. But the knife,
driven by a steady hand, rarely fails In
its mission. 1t is the thing most to be
dreaded by all people whose position
causes the envy of less fortunate NOR.
tfls.
Recognizing, then, Its utility, was
at loss to comprehend the reason for
his neglecting the use of it-taking 1t
for granted, of course, that the pistol
was not fired by accident. And yet
his choice of the pistol was not with
out wisdom. Had it succeeded 1t is
doubtful If even suspicion would
have attached itself to his person. And
how near he bad been to accomplishing
his purposel Just that slight deviation
of the head at the right moment had
upset all his plans and given me anoth.
er chance. The more thought of II
the deeper was impressed with the
belief that n special providence was
watching over me. When one lives in
whirl of excitement, when ones
nerves can no longer be counted upon
to beat regularly, it is. easy enough to
fancy things. And, after all, unfor-
tunate as I esteemed myself, could
not deny that had some share of luck,
We returned to town that afternoon
and in due course called at the victo.
ria hotel, but learned to our chagrin
that the widow and her daughter had
already left with friends. Where had
they gone? The hotel officials did not
know, hut suggested that we should
make inquiries at Great Scotland Yard,
which was just round Mt the back. We
thanked them. but did not take their
advice. Unlike the police. we knew
who had committed the murder; Mt
least we had very few doubts. How
ever we thought that a glimpse of the
weapon might confirm any lingering
suspicion and with that object in view
called at the police office and begged
permission to inspect the knife, per-
mission Which was peremptorily refus-
ed by a red faced savage clothed in a
little brief authority.
But am not without information
which may throw considerable light
upon this crime" said my uncle.
. The red faced one smiled q superior
official smile.
Eyes; know" he said "I've lad Is
ERE already who can lay their lands on
the murderer at a moments notice"
do you know" said my uncle, that
your tone is hardly the one to adopt
when speaking to gentleman"
IF gentlemen will come ERE with
such yarns he muttered as he turn
ed his great back on us. The sentence
was left unfinished. but 1t really re-
quired no completion. The tone, the
movement and the shrug of the mass
i've shoulders finished it as no words
could.
you are an exceedingly Intelligent
fellow" said my uncle. You ought to
succeed"
After the first vain attempt to discov-
ier the whereabouts of the widow and
her daughter we abandoned our in
lquiries. After all. we could only have
heard what we knew or imagined, and
our story, If accepted, would render
us anything but desirable acquaint-
ances. Therefore, after duly taking all
things into consideration, we decided
not to intrule upon the privacy of the
ladies', but from distance watch the
efforts of the law, rendering such aid
as we could. Indeed, our suspicious
We're written out and dispatched to
Scotland Yard, aud in due time we
were waited upon by one of the chief
inspectors. but as our story would
serve no good cause by being made
public 1t accordingly never reached the
newspapers. But the Police were duly
informed of the society and its do
lngs, and for some time afterward
ekeir vigilance was such that we ate,
ilept and walked in safety, knowing
hat our house was watched at night
nd that wherever we went a police
jilicer was at our heels.
Unfortunately Scotland Yard had
net its match in the society. Nothing
chat could by the greatest stretch of
Imagination be construed into q sus-
picious incident occurred during the
three months we were under police
protection. The reason was naturally
a subject of much conversation be-
tween my uncle and me, he contend
ing that the fear of detectives had
rendered them impotent, airing my
hopeful views as to the, grim tiger Of a
society being at last satiated. But he
refused to share in the hope. Indeed, 1
sometimes harbored the belief that he
had no wish for the enemy to with
draw. So far he had done nothing but
stand upon the defensive, and his soul
wearied Of receiving thrust and stab.
He longed to hear the advance sound
ed-to do some cutting and thrusting
on his own accodE.
As there had been NO sign Of the en-
envy during the whole Of the period we
were under police surveillance think
ofaciallsm came to the conclusion that
1t had attached undue Importance to
our story, for we were somewhat curt
ly informed from headquarters that
there being no longer evidence of dan
ger our guard would be withdrawn
forthwith. And 1t is not a little singu-
lar that two days after this notification
as we sat at dinner in well known
house off Coventry street the waiter
brought letter to our table, inquiring
as he looked from me to my uncle for
Mr.. Kingston"
l held out my hand and took the mis-
sive and with but an ordinary amount
of curiosity opened 1t. A sheet Of pa
per somewhat curiously folded met my
gaze. This opened gingerly, for it
seemed to me that the paper was a
blank, and l was getting just trife
weary of mysterious communications.
However. 1t was not all blank, for in