Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1902-07-24

when the jirymen returned the in'


seen the body lying by the roadside,
had called to the man, had touched
him; and being unable to detect
movement or to obtain an answer. had
run with all speed to give Information
of his discovery.
The second witness was the detec'
tive, Hemming He admitted the open
secret that he was private inquiry
agent, and that he was staying mt
Stroan on business. He had been the
first to reach the body after Walletts
discovery of 1t, and he had been ono OF
those to identify the deceased as Jem
Stickels, the fisherman. The man was
quite dead when he found him, but the
body was still quite warm
"At what tine was 1t that you first
saw the body?" asked the coroner.
81 heard 1t chime the half-past eight
by st. Martins Church clock when I
was about halfway between Stroan
bridge and the place where we dis
cOycred the body"
"Was there anything about the posi-
ton in which the body lay. {" anything
else, in fact, to enable you to form an
opinion as to the cause of death?"
"Nothing whatever, sir" answered
Hemming, who gave his evidence In
the clear voice and confident manner
of the old policeman, who feels that
the court is his own theatre, where he
is bound to get hearing and deserves
H.
WAS the body lying face downward,
in such position that the man may
have been too drunk to rise, and have
been suffocatcd in the grass and mud?'
"Hc was lying face downward. as !
have said. sir. But his mouth was not
close to the ground. don't think 1t
possible that he could have been suf'
located His clothes were quite loose
about his neck Also
"Then you formed no opinion as to
the cause of death?'
"Wcll, sir, had heard something;
md it made me jump to a conclusion
ms | should not otherwise have doEe.
With your permission. sir, ! would
rather not say at the present stage
what that conclusion was. 1t was
formed from nothing | saw about the
body"
There were whispers In the court
Thp people In the crowd looked Mt one
another and intmatcd that there was
not much worth knowing that the Lon
don chap didn't know. They all felt
,i,,-. r,n INN
out so that they could hear him, an
accomplishment in which the nOnprO'
Cessional witness is so lamcntably de-
licient
This was the gist of Homming's cvi'
dencc, the few further questions
which he was asked producing unini'
nortant answers Each witness had
to put up with trivial question or two
from the members of the jury, who all
wished to make the evidence given
bear more weight than the givcr IN
tended.
The third witness called was Lucas
Mann, In whose house the deceased
man had been n lodger at the time OF
his death.
Mann deposed that Stickels was
brought home by two men at time
which he fixed as between a quarter
and half-past six. Stickels, who was
in n nalf -dazed condition when he
arrived came to himself entirely with
in few minutes and told him n story
as TO how he came to be stunned.
I'll. .,ln
had had cup of tea by the fire, and
had expressed his intention of walking
to Stroan that night Then there had
been knock at the door Stickels
himself had opened 1t, and after con.
yersation with two ladies who had
come to see him, he had gone out by
the bacl; door abruptly. The next thing
Mann had heard of him was that he
had been found dead OIL the road.
The next two witnesses We're the
men who had picked Jem Stlckels up
from the ground, at the back of the
Blue Lion, after his encounter WITH
Clifford. These both deposed that the
man was unconscious when they
picked him up, that he began TO re-
cover almost Immediately, and that
they did not have to carry him to the
cottage where he lodged, but OILY to
support bin little, as lie complained
of feeling "a bit giddylike." They
said that he seemed to be quite Himself
before they left him at the cottage.
There was Il buzz OF excitement In
court when Miss Bostal was called.
With the feminine witnesses began the
real interest of the case. Enough han
leaked out by this time for every gos-
sip in StrOan to be aware that the
quarrel between the gentleman, Clif.
ford King. and the fisherman. Jem
Stickels, had been on Nell Claris's ac-
count; and everybody knew, also, that
Miss Bostal had espoused the cause o:
Jem Stickels, and so had brought her.
self prominently forward into the. rU
mantle story. Although Jcm Stickels
had not borne the best Of characters,
1t was natural that after his sudden
and mysterious death there should b'
n strong revulsion OF popular feeling
in his favor.
Poor chapw they said TO one an
other. ut was clear he was awful
foni of the girl, and, to he sure, she
must have given him some encourage
ment for him to have made bold to So
for her fine gentleman loves"
To be Continued.
Familiarity Breeds Contempt.
"Theres one thing am sure cannot
be denied" remarked tho Observer of
Events and Things; "anl that is no
golfer is hero to his caddie." ."-YOnk.
srs Statesman.