The Washington times., 1905-06-18
The Crooked Man

now, when she has been married for
upward OF thirty years, she is still of
striking and queenly appearance.
| Colonel Barclays family life appears
| to have been a uniformly happy one
Major Murphy. to whom 1 owe most of
my facts. assures me that he has never
heard of any misunderstanding between
the pair On the whole, he thinks that
Barclays devotion to his wife was
greater than his wife's to Barclay. He
was acutely uneasy If he were absent
from her for day. She on the other
| hand. though devoted and faithful, was
| less ebtrusiveiy affectionate But they
Were regarded in the regiment as the
very model of q mfddle-aged couple.
There was absolutely nothing in their
mutual relations to prepare people for
the tragedy which was to follow.
colonel Barclay himself seems to
nave had some singular traits in his
character. He was a dashing, jovial
old soldier in his usual mood. but there
were occasions on which he seemed to
show himself capable of considera Bile
| violence and vindictiveness This side of
MS nature. however, appears never to
nave been turned toward his wife
Another fact, which had struck Major
Murphy and three out Of five Of the
| other officers with whom ! coaversed,
was the singular sort of depression
which came upon him at times AS the
major expressed 1t. the smile had often
been struck from his mouth, as If by
some invisible hand. when he has been
joining in the gayeties and chaff of the
mess-table- For days on end, when the
mood was on him. he has been sunk
In the deepest gloom. This and a GER
tain tinge of superstition were the only
unusual traits in his character which
his brother officers had observed The
| latter popularity took the form Of dis
| IKE TO being left alone, especially after
| dark. This puerile feature in a nature
| which was conspicuously manly had
| often given rise to. comment and con-
| lecture.
| The first battalion Of the Royal
| MINISTERS (which is the old 117th) has
| been stationed at Aldershot for some
years The married officers live out of
barracks, and the colonel has during
all this time occupied a villa called
| Lachine. about half q mile from the
north camp. The house stands in It's
| own grounds. but the west side of 1t is
| not more than thirty yards from the
| highroad- A coachman and two maids
form the staff Of servants. These with
| their master and mistress were the sole
occupants of Lachine. for the Barclays
| had no children, nor was 1t usual for
| them to have resident visitors.
Now for the events at Lachtne be-
tween 9 and 10 on the evening of last
| Monday.
! Mrs. Barclay was, 1t appears, a mem
Der of the Roman Catholic Church, and
had interested herself very much in the
establishment of the Guild of ST. George
| which was formed In connection with
the Watt Street Chapel for the purpose
Of supplying the poor with cast-otr
clothing. A meeting of the guild had
been held that evening at g. and Mrs.
Barclay had hurried over her dinner in
order to be present at it. When leaving
the house she was heard by the coach
man to make some commonplace remark
| TO her husband, and to assure him that
she would be back before very long.
! she then called for Miss Morrison, a
| young lady who lives in the next villa,
and the two went off together to their
meeting. It lasted forty minutes. and
at quarter past Mrs. Barclay re-
turned home. having left Miss Morrison
| DIT lcI OOOI Sic pdSSSu.
There is a room which is used as a
morning room at Lachine. This faces
the road and opens by a large glass
folding-door onto the lawn. The lawn
| is thirty yards across, and Is only
divided from the highway by a low
wall with an iron rail above it. 1t was
into this room that Mrs. Barclay went
upon her return The blinds were not
| down, for the room was seldom used in
the evening. but Mrs. Barclay herself
| lit the lamp and then rang the bell,
asking Jane Stewart. the housemaid.
to bring her cup of tea, which was
| quite contrary to her usual habits. The
| colonel had been sitting in the dining
room, but hearing that his wife had re-
turned he joined her in the morning
room. The coachman saw him cross
the hall and enter 1t. He was never
seen again alive.
1.-The tea which had been ordered was
| brought up at the end of ten minutes,
| but the maid, as she approached the
door. was surprised to hear the voices
| of her master and mistress in furious
| alteration. She knocked without re-
| ceiving any answer. and even turned the
| handle. but only to find that the door
| was locked upon the inside. Naturally
enough she ran down to tell the cook,
and the two women with the coachman
| came up into the hall and listened to
| the dispute which was still raging. They
all agreed that only two voices were TO
| be heard, those of Barclay and of his
wife Barclays remarks were subdued
and abrupt SO that none Of them were
audible to the listeners. The iady's. on
the other hand. were most bitter, and
when she raised her voice could be plain
ly heard. You coward!' she repeated
over and over again. What can be
| done now?. What can be done now? Give
me back my life. / will never SO much
as breathe the same air with you again!
You coward! You coward" Those were
scraps OF her conversation, ending in
| a sudden dreadful cry in the mans voice
with crash, and a piercing scream
| from the woman. Convinced thar some
tragedy had occurred. the coachman
rushed to the door and strove to force
| it. while scream after scream issued
! from within. He was unable, however,
/ a tya &c x1y,>y In ff,ry tdc