The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1907-10-02

faith, lie deserves it, for thus are
Iessly forgetting to look after 8
trinket said to be worth 50.O0G
florins; but as he seems really uneasy
about it, | must beg the person who
has taken it to instantly return it
and confess the joke
And the noble affected to laugh
None. however, responded, and Eitzel
| saw, with increasing uneaslness, that
he lhust take up the matter more
seriously.
MY friends. you cannot fee,
offended when | offer myself as the
first person to undergo an ordeal
which, 1 almost blush to say, we must
all submit to. We must be searched!
None but the guilty can feel annoyed
at this proposal ..
Charles Hoffman started up.
by heavens! Id 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 Sci
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
- o1,r or.1 olr fhn onrrnnfnncc ~ tho
measure l adopt, or I, the disciple of
a Juggling SCIENCE perish" and he
drew from his pocket a small pistol.
NAY, start not, my %friends;- against
myself alone I mea to use this
weapon, and that only in case
wrongfully accuse an individual now
present. You may remember, before
dinner I phrenologically examined
you all. There was little to say about
you generally; but there was one
| among you in whom I could not be
mistaken-one whom I wished not to
have named-whose presence ever
since has made me shudder. l see
the gentleman to whom I allude al.
ready turns pale. Nay, attempt not
to smile. I am either a villain for
allowing a false theory to mislead
me, or you, Charles Hoffman, are
both a robber and a murderer"
A th~underbolt 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, immovable. What would
it all come to?
Baron Ethel was about to speak
in no gentle terms to the man 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 Go so, sprang for
ward; but Hoffman, mistaking his
purpose, let fall the snuffbox on the
table.
The worthy old nan sank, over
Whelmed, into a chair. For a few
moments there was a d~eathlike pause.
The company seemed %petrifed, while
the trembling Charles struggled
~iercely 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 me!
would, but cannot escape His judg-
ment. Professor Selden speaks the
truth. I am a robber and a MUIR
derer! Under the name of Crate
wooed and won the lovely maid of
whom We spoke just now. In mad
ness I espoused her. Tired, however,
in a few days, of being tied for life
to one ~uneducated and lowborn, hear
ing that Minna Ethel possessed IN
bounded wealth, and knowing that
my rustic wife alone presented an
obstacle to my marrying this fair
heiress, l slew her, yea, cruelty slew
her, and caused her innocent lover to
be seized. AS for the robbery, 1 can
only say, I 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 one 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.