The Black Hills union and western stock review. [volume] (Rapid City, S.D.) 1904-19??, 1909-08-27
EIE N THE comparatively de-
sertetd side street it hap
VIZ pened that, at 20 minutes
~ past three in the afternoon,

~ VH2 III 8lSAtOo SAAoSyN az ~ A41AlulCo |
SiN& past three in the afternoon,
four persons, all strangers
TO one another, met in front OF the
house numbered 76. One of these
individuals was a Russian rag-picker.
another had the appearance Of an
Irish working woman, the third
looked as If he might be an Italian
barber, and the last, by his man
her, cast Of features and the me-
lange 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 a pistol shot rang out from it,
closely followed by a scream, which
stopped suddenly before it was fin
lshed. as if 1t had been stifled. All
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: init
chevo" (t is nothing), and walked on
putting 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 flu
riously.
There was a sound within Of creak-
ing boards and rustling, as IL a mum.
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 vas Of oak, well-built and
solid, and he could make no impress.
sion on 1t. With only the slightest
hesitation he put his elbow through
the glass Of the bay window at the
side OF the steps, reached in, unfas.
tened she catch, pushed up the sash
and cfhwled into the parlor. There
the first object to meet his ~astonished
eyes was an old woman fast asleep in
9 corner, her arm chair facing the
lo~ld-fashioned doorbell which, at the
end OF It's long coil Of fiat steel spring,
was still jangling noisily with the en-.
ergy his own arm had communicated
to III On q table at the woman,s side
lay an 9 trumpet of exaggerated.
dimensions.
He ran forward and shook her. whea
she awoke without surprise, as If
being reused from her sleep by a to-
tai stranger were nothing out Of the
ordinary. and aiming her trumpet at
him said, politely: n beg your par
DOM"
Good ~heavensi" he screamed into
It. ''There's-there's firing in the
house--murder perhaps!'
.WhoY she asked: aYou must
speak right up when you address me-,
sshe continued, chidingly, sfor In one
OF my ears I am the least BIT difncult
of hearing."
Excited and alarmed he threw her
an impatient glance and then rushed
out and up the stairs. on the first
landing he heard means, and through
the open doorway of the front cham,
Der saw the body OF a man on the
1oor, blood flowing from a wound In
the temple. while q large revolver lay
across the threshold or the room. Ex-
cept for one overturned chair and 4
rumpled c~ouch,coyer the apartment
was In perfect order, Its peaceful as.
pect and Its luxurious furnishings
forming ansincongrous setting Tor the
tragedy.
AZ the stranger sprang to assist the
wounded man theadeaf womaei came
hurrying up In pursuit OF him. Seeing
4SAgn NJ 2G9S@lNn