Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1904-09-28

"That was done by Mrs. Jeffrey7"
eyes, but l did not think Of her
then"
"And you went inT'
Eyes; it was all dark, but felt my
way till l came to the gilded pillars"
"Why did you go there?"
because l felt-I knew-if he were
anywhere in That house he would he
there!
"And why did you stop?'
Her voice rose above its usual quiet
pitch In slirill protest:
You know! you know! l heard a
pistol shot from within, then fall
I don't remember anything else. They
say went wandering about town. Per-
haps l did; it is all a blank to me-
everything is blank till the police.
man said that my sister was dead and
l learned for the first time that the
shot l had heard in the Moore house
was not the signal of his death, but
hers. Had been myself when ut that
library door," she added, after q mo.
ment of silence, II would have rushed
AAA aN VIZ opulltl VI lAlul SuOl uIlu nave
received my sisters dying BREATH"
Cora" The cry was from Mr.. JEFF
frey, and seemed to be quite involun-
tary. "In the weeks during which we
have been kept from speaking together
l have turned all these events over in
my mind till longed for any respite,
even that Of the grave But in oil my
thinking never attributed this motive
to your visit here. Will you forgive
me?"
There was new tone In his voice,
tone which no woman could hear
without emotion.
You had other things to think Of"
she said, and her lips trembled. Never
have seen on the human face a more
beautiful expression than saw. OH
hers ut that moment; nor do think
Mr.. Jeffrey had either, for as he
marked 1t his own regard softened al.
most to tenderness.
The major had no TING for sentiment
talitles. Turning to Mr.. Jeffrey. he
said:
Zone more question before we send
for the letter which you say will give
us full insight into your wife's crime.
Do you remember what occurred on
the bridge at Georgetown Just before
you came into town that night2"
He shook his head.
"Did you meet any one there3"
II do not know"
Can you remember your state of
mindY
II was facing the future"
"And what did you see in the fu-
turey
Death. Death for her and death for
me! A crime was on her soul, and she
must die; and If she, then myself.
knew no other course. could not
summon the police, point out my bride
of fortnight and, with the declaration
that she had been betrayed into killing
man, coldly deliver her up to justice.
Neither could live Mt her side know.
ing the guilty secret which parted us,
or live anywhere In the world under
this same consciousness Therefore, I
meant to kill myself before another
sun rose. But she was more deeply
stricken with sense Of her own guilt
than l realized. When l returned
home for the pistol which was to end
our common misery found that she
had taken her punishment into her
own hands. This strangely affected
me, but when found that, in do
ing this, she had remembered that I
should have to face the world after she
was gone and SO left few lines for
me to show in explanation of her act,
my revolt against her received check
which the reading Of her letter only
increased. But the lines she thus
wrote and left were not true lines.
All her heart was mine, and II 1t was
wicked heart she has atoned"-
He paused, quite overcome. Others
among US were overcome, too, but only
for a moment. The following remark
from the district attorney soon recalled
us to the practical aspects of the case:
"You have accounted for many facts
not hitherto understood. But there is
still very important one which nei-
Their yourself nor Miss futile has yet
made plain. There was a candle on
the scene of crime. 1t was out when
this officer arrived here. There was
also one found burning in the upstairs
room, aside from the one you profess
edly used in your tour Of inspection
there. Whence came those candles?
And did your wife blow out the one
in the library herself previous to the
shooting, or was 1t blown out after
ward and by other Mps?"
'These are questions which. as have
already said. have no means of an
swering," repeated Mr.. jeffrey. "The
courage which brought her here may
have led her to supply herself with
light, and, hard Us it is to conceive, she
may even have found nerve to blow out
the light before she lifted the pistol to
her breast"
The district attorney and the major
looked unconvinced, and the latter,
turning toward Miss Tuttle, asked IL
she had any remark to make on the
subject.
But she could only repeat Mr.. JEFF
frey's statement
'These are questions I cannot an
swer either. have said that stopped
at the library door, which means that l
saw nothing Of what passed within"
Here the major asked where Mrs.
Jeffrey's letter was to be found. It
was Mr.. jeffrey who replied:
Search in my room for book with
an outside cover of paper still on 1t.
You will probably find 1t on my table.
The inner cover is red. Bring that
book here. Our secret is hidden in it."
Durbin disappeared on this errand.
CHAPTER XIV.
MADE my way to the front door.