Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1904-10-07

futile left the house.
As we all knew what was kept In
that drawer, the conclusion was obvi-
GUS. She wished to see II his pistol
was still there or II It had been taken
away by her sister.
The temerity which had made it pos
sible to associate the name Of such
man as Francis jeffrey with IN out
rageous crime having been thus in
measure explained, the coroner recall
cd that gentleman and again thorough.
y surprised the gaping public.
Had the witness accompanied his
wife to the Moore house7
mo"
Had he met her there by any ap-
pointment he had made with her or
which had been made for them both
by some third person?
mo"
Had he been at the Moore house on
the night Of the 18th at any time pre-
vious to the hour when he was brought
there by the of1cials7
mo"
Would he glance at this impression
of certain finger tips which had been
left in the dust Of the southwest cham
Der mantel2
| He had already noted them.
Now would he place his left hand on
the paper and see
ut is not necessary" he burst forth,
in great heat. " own to those marks.
That is. have no doubt they were
made by my hand" Here, uncon-
Sciously, his eyes few to the member
thus referred to, as II conscious that
In some way it had prc-ed traitor
to him; after which his gaze Travelled
slowly my way, with an indescribable
question in it which reused my con-
science and made the trick by which
] had got the impression Of his hand
seem less Of triumph than I had
heretofore considered it. The next
i minute he was answering the coroner
under oath. very much as he had an
ewered him in the unofficial interview
at which had been present.
" acknowledge having been in the
Moore house and even having been in
its southwest chamber. but not at the
|
night" He went on to relate how.
being In nervous condition and hav-
ing the key to this old dwelling in his
pocket, he had amused himself by go
ing through its dilapidated interior.
All Of this made doubtful impression
which was greatly emphasized when,
In reply to the inquiry as to where he
got the light to see by. he admitted
that he had come upon candle in an
upstairs room and made use of that;
though he could not remember what he
had done with this candle afterward,
and looked dazed and quite at sea, till
the coroner suggested that he might
have carried 1t into the closet of the
room where his fingers had left their
impression In the dust of the mantel-
shelf.
Then he broke down like man from
whom some prop is suddenly snatched
and looked around for seat. This
was given him, while silence, the
most dreadful ever experienced, held
every one there in check. But he
speedily rallied and, with the remark
that he was little confused in regard
to the incidents of That night, waited
with wild look in his averted eye for
the coroner's next question.
/, Unhappily for him, It was in continu-
alton Of the same subject Had he
bought candles or not at the grocer's
around the corner7 Yes, he had. Be-
fore visiting the house? Yes. Had he
also bought matches7 Yes. What
kind? Common safety matches. Had
he noticed when he got home that the
box he had Just bought was half emp
V7 No. Nevertheless he had used
many matches In going through this
old house. had he not? Possibly. To
light his way upstairs, perhaps7 1t
might be. Had he not so used them
Yes. Why had he done SO II he had
candles in his pocket, which were SO
much easier to hold and SO much more
lasting than a lighted match7 All, he
could not say; he did not know; his
mind was confused. He was awake
when he should have been asleep. II
was all dream to him.
The coroner became still more per
Sistent.
ibid you enter the library on your
solitary visit to this old house7"
n believe 3d."
::..What did you do thereY
::.Pottered around. don't remem.
bes:"
"a candle, think"
"You must know"
::'Well. had candle. It was in q
candelabrum."
:'What candle and what Candida.
brumT
@The same used upstairs. Of
course"
"And you cannot remember where
you left this candle and candelabrum
when you finally Quilted the housef'
INC. I wasn't thinking about can
dies" s9
i "What were you thinking about|
1.-THE rupture with my wife and the
bad name Of the house I was In"
"Ohl And this was on Tuesday
nightT
Eyes, SIR"
"How can you prove this to usr'
II cannot"
"But you swear
II swear that It was Tuesday night
the night Immediately preceding the
one when-when my wife's death rob
bed me Of all earthly happiness"
1t was feelingly uttered, and severa
faces ughtened; but the coroner re
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