Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1903-02-06

CHAPTER XVI.

1
this chapter. There YVES somethin,
about his calm bearing. his mute &C
| ceptance OF his fate, that to me wal
sacred His white hand scarcely
trembled as he carried match to hi
! cigar, even after he must have beck
4 convinced that his race was run.
His face was ashen, and the hand
| some mouth was set firm and white.
After the preliminary announce
ment OF our discoveries, which he &C
cepted with sad bow of his aristo
cratic head. ] said:
Il have here, Grayiscourt, the
s..orn statements Of the man who wal
supposed to have killed Alice Gravis
court. the man who was hired to kill
Mia Barlotti, and the man who saved
the child from the numbering physi
clan. Shall ] read them, or do you
place yourself In the hands Of the Law
without further agony?"
Proceed" he said quietly.
With voice shaking with emotion,
read to him the statement Of Antonio
Sigmotta. During the reading he sat
finished, he raised glass of wine to
perfectly motioniess, and when ] had
his lips, firmly replaced the glass On
the table. and sat waiting.
Proceed" he said, as ] paused
4the next" ... ..
Then l read the statement Of Luigi
Dambo, and still the doomed man sat
v,, ri Nv 10 ~ fc
face and hands being the only indica-
tions OF the awful tumult that must
have been In his brain.
When had finished this he drained
the glass again, and again sat wait
ing. ..-
Proceed" he said. and this time
there was distinct sneer In his voice.
There is anotber-that OF my friend,
Charles Sigmotta."
began 10 read. Charles Sigmotta's
statement was as follows:
Il. Charles Sigmotta. otherwise
known as Tortoni, the druggist, being
duly sworn, do say and declare that
the following statement is absolutely
true:
Il have listened to the statements
OF my brother, Antonio. and Luigi
Dambo, and confess that all that is
In them concerning myseIfis abso-
lutely true.
Il was the familiar friend of Ralph
Grayiscourt, who is is well known,
was poor map With expensive tastes
and heavily In debt, when, by the
death OF ks brother, he became the
guardian Of the child Alice, and the
execp.Sor Of his brothers will. BY this
VIII. In case Of the death OF Alice be-
fore marrying, Ralph Grayiscour be-
came sole heir to the fortune Of a mil
lion.
He ut once plotted to get rid OF
the child, and my own financial neces-
sites made ne g willing ateotnpiffCe;
for the terms he offered were liberal.
The plan was this: | had child
who had died OF smallpox child OF
poor Italian parents, who gladly con
scented when / offered to take her
away and bury her without expense to
them. ! took this child to Grayis-
courts house, and took the real Alice
Grayiscourt away, first giving her a
powerful drug, which | expected would
kill her. Our reasons for making this
substitution were that Grayiscourt
feared that some Of the friends of his
brother and his wife would demand TO
see the body. and II it were known
that she died OF smallpox, this curl
osity would no doubt be stifed; and
then again. 1t provided against a pub
lie funeral and viewing OF the corpse.
And the child substituted was so
strongly marked by the foul disease
that one look would convince the most
curious and satisfy all misgiyings.
But there was no trouble. The
italian child was buried as Alice Ora.
viscourt, and what followed with the
real heiress Is truthfully told in my
brothers statement, though up to the
advent OF Maligni's circus both Grayis-
court and believed that Alice Grayis-
court was ct the bottom Of the East
river.
"Grayiscourt came to me In great
alarm one day and said that girl who
closely resembled his brothers wife
was an actress In Maligni's circus, and
demanded to know more about the dis
position had made OF Alice. / reas-
sured him and said that the likeness
was merely q coincidence, and so |
firmly believed. knew that my
brother had claimed to have a daugh-
ter Nita, but never saw her, and now
understand why he so carefully kept
her out OF my way.
When Grayiscourt had gone, got
to thinking over the matter, and my
curiosity was aroused, and / went to
the circus to see Nita, my brothers
child. ! was stirred by the striking re-
semblance she bore to the wife OF
Charles Graviscourt, and sought Ma.
light to learn more OF her. Maligni
told me how Antonio had given her to
him, and seemed to attach no impor.
lance to my visit. But 1t seems that
he had neglected to read the contents
OF the red box. having no interest in
II. until ] aroused his curiosity.
The next day Graviscourt came
again. and said that Maligni had Wis.
tied him and claimed to have proofs
that Nita Barlotti was his niece. even
going 10 far rs to tell Of the box and
Its contents.
"MAligni had demanded one hun
droE thousand dollars for his silence,
And 1rayiscourt promised 1t to him II
he would kill the girl. This Maligni
refused to do, saying he intended to
marry her. Grayiscourt insisted that
! make good my former efforts. and
also that kill Maligni and obtain the