The Kemper herald. (Scooba, Miss.) 1875-1908, 1907-10-10

faith. he deserves It, for thus care.
lessiy forgetting to look after .
trinket said to be worth $4,000
forms; but as he seems really uneasy
about It, / must beg the person who
has taken it to instantly return 1t.
and confess the joke"
And the noble affected to laugh.
None, however, responded, and Ethel
| saw, with increasing uneasiness, that
he must now take up the matter more
seriously.
my friends, you cannot feel
offended when I offer myself as the
first person to undergo an ordeal
| which, / almost blush to say, WI must
ale submit to. We must be searched!
None but the guilty can feel annoyed
at this proposal" ~
Charles Hoffman started up.
"By heavens! I'd sooner die!"
Another was on the same opinion,
and objected to undergoing an opera.
ton, which, at the very least, implied
a doubt. Poor Ethel grew very pale.
He glanced appealingly toward Sell
den. who now rose.
"Let the door be locked" he said,
in a grave voice; "let it be well sc,
cured"
1t was done.
"Now, gentlemen, you must either
acknowledge the correctness of the
measure l adopt, or /, the disciple of
a Juggling SCIENCE perish!" and he
drew from his pocket a small pistol.
may, start not, my friends; against
myself alone / mean to use this
| weapon, and that only in case ]
wrongfully accuse an individual now
| present. You may remember, before
dinner l phrenologically examined
| you all. There was little to say about
you generally; but there was one
among you in whom l could not be
mistaken-one whom l wished not to
| have named-whose presence ever
| since has made me shudder. l see
the gentleman to whom l allude al
| ready turns pale. Nay, attempt not
to smile. l am either a villain for
| dllOWlUS d ldloS IACOly W LlloACud
me, or you, Charles Hoffman,. are
both a robber and a murderer"
A thunderbolt would have caused
less CONSERVATION. The baron start
ed up in rage and agony. The prince
thought that Selden had suddenly
| gone mad, while the others looked
with searching glances alternately at
| Selden and Charles. The former had
now resumed his chair, the latter
sat, pale, immoyable. What would
it all come to?
Baron Ethel was about to speak
in no gentle terms to the nan who
had thus insulted his future son-in-
law, when Selden, waving his hand
quietly said:
Search him."
The baron, in his eagerness to de-
fend his protege from any n who
should attempt to do so, sprang for
| ward; but Hoffman, installing his
| purpose, let fall the snuffbox ON the
table.
The worthy old man sank, over
NhOlblOdt lAtO q CAdll. tOI q low
moments there was a deathlike pause.
The company seemed petrifed, while
the trembling Charles struggled
fiercely to- subdue his emotions. At
length, as if overcome by the tor
ments of conscience, he staggered up,
and incoherently cried:
"The hand of God is on mel /
would, but I cannot escape His judy
ment. Professor Selden speaks the
truth. I am a robber and a MUIR
derert Under the name of Gratz l
wooed and won the lovely maid of
whom we spoke just nov In mad
ness I espoused her. Tired, however,
In a few days, of being tied for life
to n uneducated and lowborn, hear
ing that Minna Ethel possessed I'M
bounded wealth, and knowing that
my rustic wife alone presented an
obstacle to my marrying this fair
heiress, I slew her, yea, cruelty slew
her, and caused her innocent lover to
be seized. AS for the robbery, / can
only say, 1 have long headed a bold
band, whom even now I'll not betray.
Oh, that cursed box was too brilliant.
Some spell lurked in it which drew
me with a force I could not resist,
and lured me to my ruin. But ]
laugh at fate-I am prepared"
Before any n could prevent him
he had swallowed the contents of a
vial of prussic acid, and fell back in
the agonies of death.
Three months afterward Selden
and Minna Ethel were married.
New York Weekly.