The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1913-01-02
THE WOMAN
WITH
THE BIRDHAT
By DONALD CHAMBERLAIN


about her | remembered was that she
Wore hat with Il bird OH it,
Not long after | took up her ticket
the train shot into Il tunnel Nowadays
in ail passenger trains on well regulat-
ed roadS one or more lamps are light
ed. but in those times they didn't light
up-at any rate. not unless the tunnel
was Il very long one. ! was i'll the ear
where the woman with the bird hat
WIS sitting. and when we entered the
tunnel | sal down in the rear seat next
the door. During the passage in the
darkness when we were about hair
way through | reckun-l heard Il moan.
OF course one can't tell where sound
comes from without the aid of mis-
eyes. but ii seemed to me in this in
stance to come from about the center
of the car. | remembered that there
We're two men sitting on the left III
different seats and man and wO-
man. also in different seats. on the
right. The woman was the one with
the bird in her hat and was sitting II
few seats forward of the center of the
car. We We're approaching the end Of
the route. which accounted for there
being so few persons in the ear
Naturally. as soon as we shot out OF
the tunnel. | looked over the phsSen-
gers to see If anything had happened
TO any of 'em. noticed that the wo
man in the bird hat had sank down
against the window ran to her. and
the first thing noticed when | reach
ed her was blood on her dress. Her
face. too. was white as Il sheet She
looked TO me as if she were dead. ami
1t turned cut that she WAS. There WAS
a doctor in the next car in the rear.
who. being summoned. examined her
and found Il wound in her breast. made
evidently by II knife
As soon as | rpgainrd my wits
looked over the PERSONS who had gath
cred around Tile wonai. didn't see
a guilty face among them. recalled
how many passengers were in the car
when we entered the tunnel and miss
ed one Juan. bat which one Of the men
/ couldn't tell Then it occurred To
me to go through the train and inveSti-
All the information gathered was
from the brakeman on the car where
the murder bad been committed, who
said that when we entered the tunnel
he came into the car and sat down in
the forward end seat. as sat on the
rear end While we were IN the tun,
mel the forward door had opened and
mir f,,1I
to make no noise He felt 1t press
against his foot
Months passed. and there was no eX-
PLANTATION of the mystery. confess |
never entered the tunnel after that,
and | passed through it every day.
without Il bit of shudder. though
after the murder we always had the
cars lighted before going into it. But
after Il year had elapsed | grew used
10 it and thought no more about it.
One day when we were approaching
the hole" as we railroad men called
the tunnel. was passing down the
aisle of the second car. which was the
one in which the murder had been
done. when | noticed a man sitting in
one of the seats with wild eye in his
head muttering to himself. He seem.
ed to be one of those persons with alb
normal cerebral activity. SO | passed
on without paying attention to him.
came back into the car Immediately
after we had passed through the tun-
mel and saw the same man at wash
basin next to the saloon washing his
hands.
Having no duty to perform till we
reached the next station. | took seat
in the car and within ten minutes after
the man had washed his hands he got
up from his seat. went to the basin
and washed them again. Though bit
surprised. thought nothing of the
matter. but when. after the next stop.
went through the car to take the
tickets | saw the same man washing
his hands again began to notice the
fact. Within an hour he washed them
five times
| had long before read in a paper an
account of a French murderer who
gave himself away by continually try
ing to wash blood from his hands and
probably this suggested the thought
that perhaps this man was trying to
do the same thing. The next connect
ing link was remembering that muir
derers are drawn irresistibly to the
scene of their crime. and might not this
man have killed the woman in the bird
decorated hat?
Taking seat directly behind him
and pointing to where the unfortunate
woman had sat. Esaid to him:
THAT woman over there seems to
be ILL.,
There was no woman near where
pointed
what woman?" be asked. fright
ened look coming over his face.
."The one with the bird on her hat
He had no power to speak further
i had applied the third degree" which
in his case was Il very simple process.
left him. but kept an eve on him to
the end of the route. having instructed
a brakeman TO telegraph for the police
to meet us at the station on our ar
rival
The man pleaded guilty to the MUIR
der and suffered the penalty Of his
do t,o