Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1903-06-17

expect to sail for Japan from San Fran
cisco. 1 have enough money left to
| get me to Yokohama. Suppose you got
| the paper all right.
| Yours respectfully.
.'THOMAS NORRIS"
| When this letter had been read and
the hum of interest incident thereto
had subsidized, Hillsman resumed his
story: whether Col. Franklin sent
him the money ! caanot say; but l
heard no more of that agreement
until two days before Mr.. Wright's
death. Mr.. Wright was in the Office
that afternoon and heard him tell
Franklin to come to his place in the
morning and fix up matters in ac-
cordance with the terms of the
agreement. 1 heard him say that he
was going hunting in the afternoon
of that or the following day, and he
wanted to settle the business in the
morning. Well, the next morning, of
the fatal day-it was showing, I re-
member-the colonel left the office
after looking over the mail. He bor-
rowed my arctics, i remember, too,
and he did not return to the office
| AhJ lhpIC thdO L IL al
very well, for it was the day Mr..
Wright was murdered, and that
event created great impression
upon me. l didn't see the colonel
again until the next afternoon. He
was sick then, complained Of having
/ terrible headache. One thing about
the colonel struck me as strange
he kept his hat on whenever anyone
/; came in to see him, but in spite Of
| this / discovered that he had been
/, hit on the head. / put it up that he
z had been on u secluded bum, had got
whacked over the head some way.
and naturally did not want anybody
to find it out. He actually bought
himself a wig, with which he man
aged to conceal the wound when he
had to appear in court, he was so
squeamish about it,"
The witness at this point was
! shown pair Of arctics, which he de-
clared were his. These were then
ures made by Irving Warde, which
had already been placed in evidence,
and were found to tally Herewith.
thus establishing the fnir inference
that the man who wore those rubbers
on the morning OF the murder was
the man who made those tracks
which had been studied SO sedulously
by Irving Warde.
1.-THE day quilted the employ Of
Col. Franklin I devoted to celebrat-
ing" said Hillsman, resuming his tes-
timony. 81 know that had the
agreement / have referred to in my
/. pocket when I met Irving Warde at
the restaurant; and 1 remember say
ing something to him about it, but 1
couldn't swear gave it to him, rs
1 do not recall everything that
passed; and when looked for the
paper the next day it was gone. Col.
Franklin has never since that day
made any demand on me for it, and
in fact have seen very little of
him."
Hillsman was then questioned re-
garding the attempted poisoning of
Herbert Wright. He said: 81 was
responsible partly for the publica-
ton in the Journal. Col. Franklin
told me that Herbert Wright had
tried to commit suicide, and he gave
me the details that afterward APP
peared in the Journal. He said an
effort was being made to hush it up,
and he thought had better give the
facts to the paper under pledge of
secrecy as to the source Of its infor-
nation. Under no circumstances
was l to give the story to Irving
Warde. So about midnight met Jim
Holcombe, the city editor OF the
Journal, and told him the coloners
fairy story"
The cross-examination which fol-
lowed did not shake the testimony,
but brought out some amusing and
curious facts concerning the varie-
gated talents and tastes of the wit
ness. Finally he was dismissed.
Uncle Dick Norris, the old hunts
man, gave in some testimony which
was pertinent. II recollect the day
John Il. Wright was killed very well"
he said.
did you see him that afternoon?"
asked Mr.. Everett.
Eyes, sir"
"Where was it?"
II saw him pass my house."
"Was he alone?"
mo, sir; Col. Jeems Franklin was
with him; but Col. Jeems just seemed
to be out for the exercise and didn't
have any gun with him."
did you see anything more of
them that day?"
| ,,,,, ro1 T,a,,,, ,.,,,, l,,,l. 1>,,
himself an hour or SO afterward, but
1 never saw Mr.. Wright come back
at ALL"
"You are positive that Col. Frank
lin was in the Bayou Woods with
John T. Wright the day when the lat
ter was lilled2"
Eyes, sir, am positive"
The prosecuting attorney asked
him whether he had seen Herbert
Wright that day, and he replied that
he had not.
At this point the defense called
George B. Fenton. The name rang
out over the expectant crowd, and
Franklin looked trifle uneasy, as if
he wondered what information the
ex-detective had secured.
There.was movement along that
part of the crowd which was stand
ing up as the witness made his way
toward the stand; and when the
spectators looked in that direction
they beheld the flushed face, the
carefully parted blond whiskers, the
, dull specialized eyes and the dressy
: form Of
Frederick Merivale, the capitalist.
CHAPTER XVI.