The herald. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1905-1953, 1913-02-06
THE WOMAN
WITH
THE BIRD HAT
By DONALD CHAMBER. AIN

from a woman. and the only thing
about her | remembered was that she
wore a hat with a bird on it.
Not long after | took up her ticket
the train shot into tunnel. Nowadays
in all 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 q very long one. | was in the car
where the woman with the bird hat
was sitting, and when we entered the
tunnel | sat down in the rear seat next
the door. During the passage in the
darkness-when we were about half
way through, reckOn-I heard a moan.
OF course one can't tell where sound
comes from without the aid of his
eyes, but it seemed to me in this in
stance to come from about the center
Of the car. remembered that there
were two men sitting on the left In
different seats and a man and a wO-
man, also in different seats, on the
right. The woman was the one with
the bird in her hat and was sitting a
few seats forward OF the center of the
car. We were approaching the end of
the route, which accounted for there
being so few persons in the car.
Naturally, as soon as we shot out of
gers to see if anything had happened
to any of 'em. / noticed that the wo-
man in the bird hat had sunk down
against the window. | ran to her, and
the first thing | noticed when l reach
ed her was blood on her dress. Her
face, too, was white as a sheet. She
looked to me as If she were dead. and
1t turned out that she was. There was
a doctor in the next car in the rear,
who. being summoned, examined her
and found a wound in her breast. made
evidently by knife.
As soon as I regained my wits l
looked over the persons who had gath
cred around the woman. l didn't see
guilty face among them. l recalled
how many passengers were In the car
ed one man, but which one Of the men
l couldn't tell. Then it occurred to
me to go through the train ana investi
gate. l also questioned the brakemen.
All the information | gathered was
from the brakeman on the car where
the murder had been committed, who
said that when we entered the tunnel
he came into the car and sat down in
the forward end seat, as l sat on the
rear end. While we were in the tun-
mel the forward door had opened and
closed, it seemed, very carefully so as
to make no noise. He felt 1t press
against his foot.
Months passed. and there was no ex-
PLANTATION of the mystery. / confess l
never entered the tunnel after that,
and l passed through it every day.
without a bit of a shudder, though
after the murder we always had the
cars lighted before going into it. But
after a year had elapsed | grew used
to 1t and thought no more about it. |
One day when we were approaching
the ''hole." as we railroad men called
the tunnel. 1 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 abb
normal cerebral activity. so l 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 a wash |
basin next to the saloon washing his |
hands.
Having no duty to perform till we
reached the next station. / took a 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 a bit
surprised, [ thought nothing of the
matter, but when, after the next stop,
l went through the car to take the
tickets I saw the same man washing
his hands again I began to notice the
fact Within an hour he washed them
FIVE times. i
l 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
ng link was remembering that MUIR
derers are drawn irresistibly to the
'cene 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
had sat. | said to him:
THAT woman over there seems to
,e ILL.,"
There was no woman near where I
pointed
What woman he asked. a fright
,ned look coming over his face.
''The one with the bird on her hat"
He had no power to speak further
had applied the third degree" which
n his case was very simple process.
left him. but kept an eye on him to
he end of the route. having Instructed
brakeman to telegraph for the police
% meet us at the tation on our ar
ival.
The man pleaded guilty . the muir
Ter and suffered the penalty Of his
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