Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1910-01-21
A FORGOTTEN TRAGEDY.


sex-I will not enter into typographical
particulars and through the open win
dow | had seen the first star ride over
the curve of the downs.
Husbands was there, the stolid man
of the party; Peters, the jester; and
Bilberry, the poet. The landlord pursued
his endless pastime of polishing glasses.
And there was one more man. He had
just come in. He was already drink
ing, having hidden us good evening in
sepulchral tone
Something striking there was about
the man, although he was insignifcantIy
sized and mild-featured. For space
after his arrival we sat in silence. We
imagine that he caused the silence; but
| am inclined to think that he had the
bearing of quite an ordinary person,
perhaps a somewhat gloomy person, but
ordinary. We invented a romantic
element, dramatic touch, for him
fancy because of that which followed.
Perhaps the one palpitant star and the
swelling gray dawns and the rising mist
all had something to do with it. Any
how, after a space-long enough to load
pipe and to light tive talked again.
Absurd as it sounds, we had been dis
cussing the death penalty. In an out
of theway Sussex inn, ON summer
evening, in the lap of the downs
Peters, of course, was the first to
break silence you are too SOFT" he
said. He was addressing Bilberry-the
poet.
Il do not believe in brutality" Bill
berry retorted. with a fine air He had
made exactly the same remark before
the entrance of the stranger
Have you ever sat upon jury?" /
asked the jester.
The jester replied that he had not.
Il have" | said knowingly. "Omly a
county court jury, but juries are much
alike, / suppose. My only enemies at
the present moment, / honestly believe,
are the men with whom | sat in that
jury box" | struck match, to make
an impressive pause. Then / added; Il
held out!"
1t was at this point that the stranger
broke in. We had forgotten him.
you don't remember the Ittley case.
| suppose" he said, slowly NO, you
wouldn't. Before your time Before the
time of the popular press 1t is aston
ishing what little stir sensations used to
make away from the districts in which
they occurred Well. there was a Jury
man in that case who tried to escape
from serving, but the Judge bullied him
into it,"
''Was that murder trial?' Bilberry
asked
yes; murder on the eve of a we'd
ding
you make us curious" said Hus-
bands.
May tell the storyg' asked the
stranger.
And that is exactly how we came to
be present at the resurrection of an old
and forgotten tragedy.
"ittley was a man of substance" said
the stranger, "and man highly re-
spected i'll this neighborhood. lie was a
farmer His daughter was to be mar
ried to a likely enough person, and
everyone thought her lucky girl She
had attracted an artist who was stay
ing down here, painting pictures. And.
of course, she was pretty.
well, Ittley had drawn a goodish
sum of money out of the bank,-in fact.
f50-and he meant to make it a present
to his daughtec for the honeymoon. The
honeymoon, ] shall tell you. was to be
spent abroad Ittley had decided that
this artist had none too much money
to fling about. and the shrewd old man
was right. He was going to make the
gift a surprise Might come in useful
at Paris, or such like places. he was
going to say at the last moment, when
the bridegroom couldn't very well raise
difficulties.
"On the night of which I am telling
you-the night before the wedding-the
money lay i'll his bedroom. Long after
he had gone to bed. he awoke to hear
someone moving He jumped out of
bed, but the man was too quick for him,
and escaped smartly by the window.
lttley seized his gun and hurried along
the corridor. He saw the front door
standing open, and man in the hall.
In his anger. and not stopping to think,
he fired, and the man fell A moment
later Ittley was STOPPING over the dead
body--of the bridegroom.
''Of course. lttley was arrested. The
money had gone right enough and lit
ley, limited man and a little pig
headed. was firmly convinced that the
dead man was in some way connected
with the thief whom he had seen in the
bedroom Whatever his suspicious, he
made up his mind to say nothing about
| the $50. lie did not want 1t spread
that his daughter had been about TO
marry a thief. So he declared he had
made horrible mistake; that he had
heard noise downstairs, and had pro-
ceeded to investigate, fearing thieves:
that in the dark he had not recognized
the bridegroom. who, of course. had re-
turned to fetch something he must have
left in the hOuSe~-and SO on.
Not a very likely story. And mat
ters We're not improved when a servant
came forward to swear that she had
heard the two men quarreling earlier in
the evening, Ittley. who was too hon
est, or dull to deny it. found himself
in unlooked-for difficulties. There had
been a dispute, as a matter of fact,
about some question of dowry.
"Ittley, in the course of things, was
tria1 at the assizes. And flor this is
really the point of the talel one of the
imrNmen asked TO be eNcused. He was