Rocky Ford enterprise., 1909-08-06
Y THE comparatively de-
S9&

J Tour persons. all strangers
30 one another. met in front Of the
sshouse' numbered 76. One of these
zindividuals was Russian rag-picker.
ianother had g the appearance Of an
aaIrish working woman, the third
booked as II he might be an italian
sbarber. and the last. II by his man
7ner. cast Of features and the me-
1'tlange Of perfumes radiated by his
clothing. could only be an American
drug clerk. Precisely at the moment
when these types OF a cosmopolitan
civilization were about to pass the
! house . pistol shot rang out from II. &
closely followed by a scream. which
stopped suddenly before 1t was fin.
ished. as II II had been stineds AL
four Of the pedestrians halted. star
ing up at the window on the first
floor. Then the Russian shifted his
bag to the other shoulder, said: Nit
chevo" lit is nothing). and walked on
puning his cigarette: the Irish woman
began to cry out and call upon the
saints: the barber ran away to the
police station. and the American. dart
ing up the steps. rang the bell fu-
riously.
There was a sound within Of creak-
ing boards and rustling. as II q num-
Der OF women were hurriedly descend
Ing the stairs. and the young man ex-
pected the door to be opened at once,
but the noises died away and the
house became still. He shook the:
door. but 1t was Of oak. well.built and
solid. and he could make no impress
~ ell twht tapN
hesitation he put his elbow through
the glass of the bay window at the
side Of the steps. reached In. unfas-
tened the catch. pushed up the sash
and crawled into the parlor. There
the first object to meet his astonished
eyes was an old woman fast asleep in
a corner. her arm chair facing the
old-fashioned doorbell which, at the
end OF its long coil Of nat steel spring.
was still jangling noisily with the en-
erRy his own arm had communicated
to II. On a table at the woman's side
lay an ear trumpet OF exaggerated
dimensions.
Excited and alarmed he threw her
an impatient glance and them rushed
out and up the stairs. On the first
the open doorway Of the front cham
ber saw the body of 4 man on the
floor. blood flowing from a wound in
the temple. while n large revolver lay
across the threshold Of the nom. Ex-
cept for one overturned chair and a
Z rumpled couch-cover the apartment
was In perfect order, its peaceful as
pect and its luxurious furnishings
forming an incongrous setting for the
tragedy.
As the stranger sprang to assist the
wounded man the deaf woman came
hurrying up In pursuit OF him.
Isn't there anybody but us In this
house?'
NO" she answered. "All my lod-
gers are men. who are away down
town during the day--except Mr..
Hines here. who Is In and ont at all
times. He is wealthy and does no
business
Then he raised his voice: you say
Mr.. Hines had one visitor-was 1t a
man or woman"
"A man-Mr. welis-Clements. the
young society millionaire of Common
wealth avenue" She was conspicu.
ously proud to mention the fact of
such an aristocratic caller at her
house. ..a1 .a-..a. r-..-.H
At that moment the doorbell rang.
On opening the door Mrs. Rogers
found the doctor standing there with
two policemen and ndyanother individual,
who proved to be q detective.
4 While the doctor began to work on
the patient the officers listened to the
story OF the young man. He told In
a few words what Mrs. Rogers had
said and what little he personally
knew OF the matter. laying stress ON
Ithe fact that he had certainly. heard.
sounds in the hall as II at least two
women with rustling skirts were hur-
lrying up or down stairs. stepping
several times on loose and creaking
boards. Then the policemen separat-
ed to search the house. the young man
left his card and returned to his bust.
ness. while the detective occupied
himself with an examination Of the
victim and his room.
How bad Is it," he asked the doc
tor In a whisper. He was a short.
heavy. clean-faced man. deliberate in
speech and manner, Symonds by
name.
81 can't tell yet. He is stunned. and
there's a slight fracture Of the skull.
] haven't finished looking him over
yet" ....a
Symonds peered into the thin. young
face a moment and then entering an
inner room. which was evidently a
study, began without compunctions to
read the opened letters which he
found on the desk. In one short note
he found the following. dated the day
before:
Dear HinesY: Ill sec YOU tO.mor.