The Farmington times and herald. (Farmington, St. Francois Co., Mo.) 1902-1905, 1905-02-10

! mad worked Tor revenge and my
7 soul filled with hate. had many
worse times.
II did not welcome the awfu! end
awaiting me, at any rate did not
dread ii.
However, fate-which has played
such queer tricks with me in my time
seemed reluctant to lose such an
amusing toy, and so, at almost the last
moment, interviewed and saved me.
Doubtless for further experiments,
was to die on Friday. On the pre-
| vious Monday, at about two In the
afternoon, | was taken to the room OF
the warden. That gentleman informed
me that was reprieyed for one week.
and at the same time warned me to
build no false hopes on this temporary
! respite.
What had happened was this
On the night of the murder Arnold
Grange was believed TO have in his
possession banknoIes 10 the amount
! of 81 500 OF these only the $500 found
| upon me had been accounted for. 1t
/ was supposed that the banker had
sent off the remainder in payment of
some private debt, unknown even To
| his secretary.
Now, however, Il man had been
caught trying TO pass one Of the miss
ing notes He proved to be man
well known to the police-Sol Prior.
a daring swindler of the flash type.
He could give no satisfactory cx-
PLANTATION OF how he came into posses.
sion of the notes. and he was detained
by the police
One day was taken into the prison
yard, where a score Of men were
ranged up in a line. was asked II
| | knew any Of them.
| had no difficulty in picking out my
man. His mustaChe and beard were
less carefully trimmed, and his face
was even whittier than when he had
| faced me In the bankers room but !
should have known him among thou
| sand.
From that moment events moved
| quickly. and fortnight later | re-
oeiyed II pardon.
The wretchcd man Prior stood hts
trial and was duly hanged, but before
the end ne left Cnllous confession
II was u brief document and may be-
! given here.
"On July II | was down on my luck
promising piece of business haNI
gone wrong. was walking across
! Hammond square when | noticed Il
window Of one of the houses wide
open. 4 light was burning inside, but
! the room seemed TO be- empty No
| one was about, SO climbed on 10 the
stone coping and got into the room
| Then pulled down the blind. AS did
so a man appeared from behind the
screen and confronted me | pre-
tended to be drunk. but he was too
| shrcwd He said nothing. but caught
me by the throat and stretched ont
! his left hand 10 ring the electric hell
on his desk | forced him away from
1t and then struck him as hard as I
| cuul6 on the point Of the jaw He
staggered back and fell and his head
struck ON the marble curb In front Of
the fireplace thought he was only
stunned, but as ! knclt down by him
he Just gave one groan and expired
dragged the body behind the screen
and made Tor tn" window. bur just
then the door opened and some one
said that Mr.. PHI Mason desired
to see me The servant. an old man,
did not recognize me as | stood back
in the shadow To get rid of him
said show him In As luck would
savc it my voice did not bctray IN" to
the old man and he went out | went
to the window again but a policeman
was standing Just outside talking to n
servant girl Not knowing what to do
| turned back to the room and at the
same moment that maniac. Phil Ma
son. came In Again luck helped me
He took me for the banker at once
saw my only chance was TO bluff It,
tried all could to get rid OF the fell
low. but he would moi go At last, on
the prcteXt of fetching my secretary,
got away and went into the autcrUom,
but tn" window was locked | came
back and found Mason walking up
and down the room. While his back
was turned ! managed TO get TO the
window without being seen. hid be-
hind the curtain and he came within
yard of me. Then, when his back
was again turned | slipped out of the
window. The policeman was gone and
| got away without being seen. t is
true killed Arnold Grange, but
swear II was an accident"
The medical evidence declared that
Arnold Grange could not have met his
death in the manner described in the
above confession.
For my own part, having good rca-
son tn look with suspicion on circum.
stantial evidence. | should have given
the poor wretch the benefit of the
doubt. and | still think that the ends
Of justice would have been served by
verdict of manslaughter.
one other curious fact may be- men.
toned. When Arnold Oranges will
was examined II was found that he
had left exactly half his fortune to
philip Mason--if such person can be
found"
Particulars were then given of my
whereabouts ut different periods of
my life, extending over % years. show.
ing that the banker had practically
kept his eye upon me from the mo.
ment he left me to die in the bush to
the moment knocked at his door In
Hammond square
Why he never helped me, why no
never sought to repair the wrong he
had done me. | cannot even guess.
sometimes think that had we indeed
met on that July night he would have
asked my forgiveness, and ! should
have granted IT, and that. after
straight talk between man an man,
we might even have renewed the
friendship Of our youth.-Chicago
Tribune.
Spaniards Emipratinp IN rub.