Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-05-19
Tffff& Tffff& MAN
OUTSIDE
Bv CLARENCE BoUTELLE.
Bv CLARENCE BoUTELLE.

man on whose lace He Ildu never lOoh'
ed.
But, into the place Of one lurking
doubt-a doubt which had troubled
him when he had spoken so firmly OF
Elsies guilt-had fallen steadfast GER
tainty. There was no doubt now
With the knowledge of the fact tina,
the same one had written the letter ht
had received in prison, letter in which
he now saw nothing more than a crue
scheme looking to the forcing Of hin
Ia deny Aldrich's aid, that had penneC
the graphic account of the murder he
had seen done, came the undoubtine
and unconditional belief that he hao
made no mistake regarding Elsie
Sem.
But ne could not tell PrIer all this
not yet.
And so, he made no answer.
Prier had waited some seconds. He
repeated his question again, repeated
it in a little louder tone, a little high
er key, and in a manner which was
intended to be conclusively argumen-
tative.
And yet-the murderer of Constance
Craig wrote this?" he asked.
Sem was silent. What could he say:
Prier spoke again. the same ques-
ton; clothed in the same garb OF
words:
And yet-the murderer Of Con-
stance Craig wrote this?"
Yes, unless this is copy!" cried
Gilbert Sem. as he flung the package
from him with as much loathing in his
look and act and tone as would have
been there had the sheets Of paper
been some venomous reptile instead.
A copy! He had spoken the cOnvic-
ton of his soul.
To him it was evident-of course II
was a copy.
A copy! To Prier it was not a con-
viction it was a suggestion, and nc
more; a something to think of and
disprove-but never, never, anything
to believe. And yet 1t made his
blood turn cold, and his brain reel be-
meath its load and his heart falter al
its task A copy! That would mean
that the letter might not be, perhaps
could not be, clew; that would mean
that the weary end of all this search
had dithdrawn itself further still into
the veiled future; that would mean
that his verdict of innocence might be
false as regarded one-any one-of
those in whose favor he had recorded
it, in his heart or in his book; II
might mean that Gilbert Sem was
right, and he wrong; it might mean
that he had voluntarily shut himself
from the vengeance the hope of which
had alone made his life worth living
A copy! 1t might be. But God for
bid.
'I-I-you say you saw Mrs. Semi
or Miss Barron as she was then
commit this murder. 1 am free to
confess that the possibility of this be-
ing a copy had never occurred to me
and, of course, unless it is, her guilt Is
an untenable theory. II was stu
dent in physiognomy before l became
a detective. and l have not lost all in
terest in the art Of reading the human
soul in the face, and
And it s-sometimes-does il
not?"
Sometimes it does: not often"
And you think my wife's face says
she is Innocent"
1T certainly says So"
Then 1t lies: then this is one Of the
cases in which your reliance on phys
iognomy must fail
Il think not. Are you willing to tel
me all / may wish to ask regarding
this natter"
Il am"
Fully"
Yes"
Freely"
Yes"
Patiently"
Yes, patiently. Begin, please; yo,
ask your Questions-I will answer
them"
VERY we'll. You say you saw Mis-:
Barron commit this deed. Did you SEE
her face?"
Not clearly. Her back was toward
me, and. though she faced mirror
the light was poor, there was mucl
moisture on the window through which
| looked. and her hair had been disar
ranged in the struggle and concealed
her face from view, and so | know
nothing of her features"
Nothing"
Next to nothing"
You could not identify her. then
as Miss Barron?"
Not positively"
Not we'll enough to swear to he
being the guilty one?"
NO"
That settles it. You were mistak
en-"
Il think not. Let me tell you"
You shall tell me all. But let i
be in answer to my questions. Let i
he in my own way"
Very we'll"
Il will ask you this, then. Did yo'
suspect Miss Barron that night"
Certainly not; had never seer
Miss Barron.
Did you suspect her before yo'
married herr"
Yes; l did suspect her before
married her"
Before you proposed for her ham
in the strange way you took for doin
that"
mo. l have never looked her in tn
face until she came into the bank tina
well-remembered morning when
demanded that she should marry me.
Il don't understand that. How di
it happen that you had worked 70
Mr. Barron so long. and yet had neve
seen his daughter"
Il can scarcely explain it. There
probably nothing more to say than tina
| it happened so. l worked hard an
late; you must remember that 1 ha
been promoted from almost the low