Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1915-03-26
WITNESS TO
THE DEED
By M. QUAD
Icopyright. 1914. by the Mcclure
Newspaper Syndicate.I

ny miSlFeSS III IdiuSDOfO fOad nau
lost a 70 note In the house. and the
thief was the parior maid. | knew 1t
from her actions. and three months
after | left the house she was caught
In a similar offense and owned up to
the first theft. However. the crime
was laid on me, and because | made
indignant and perhaps impudent pro-
test | was flung out of the house at
half an hours notice and refused a
character | was idle for the mex
three months. The first thing demand
ed when | applied for Il place was a
character. As soon as It was learned
that | had rune il was useless to talk
further. Ii was for this reason that |
finally paid a fee to an intelligence
Office In AIargate street and was at
length sent for to take a place at gem
eraI housework. 1t was an old man
named Dyson who wanted me. He
was willing To take me without q
character because he would have to
pay less wages and because, as he
grimly asserted. there was nothing "
lily AtQOnQ fQOoG III Ills uOubL " LIZ
to steal. As we sat face to face |
sized him up as mem and penurious,
but | did not see any evil In him. He
had IN aged and infirm wife. he told
me, and | would be the only servant
1t was not for ME to pick and choose.
! must have Il place and hold 1t long
enough to get u character again. l
went with him miles and miles out on
the Holborn road. and we at last ar
rived at the cheapiy built and cheap
looking cottage he occupied. 1t was a
place devoid OF almost all conveniences
and bad been selected for its cheap
rem found the old wife deaf. almost
blind and palsied. and 1t was apparent
that she had no care whatever.
| loon had evidence that he was In
love with q widow in the neighborhood.
or at least he desired to be free SO that
he could marry her. My natural i'm
pulse on finding u how he felt toward
his wife was to flee the house. but l
have explained how | was situated
In the course of a couple of weeks
he declared that the cellar was full of
rats and gave me money and command
ed me TO buy arsenic. he recommend
ed me to go to a store miles away and
to say that ! wanted it for my com
plexion INF to give my own name. |
went to a drug store only two blocks
away and gave his name, and when he
discovered this he was highly indig-
nant for q day. and | rather expected
to be thrown out However. in the
course OF three or foul days he devel-
eDed another plan. After coaching the
old wife ne left me alone with her for
the FIRST time, aIig. she begged me TO
get her some laudanuIf for toothache
and not to mention the matter to HIN
It was easy to tell that she had been
coached what to say. and refused to
buy the drug. A few days later as |
was preparing her a soup | had to leave
the kitchen for a minute. When l re.
turned the soup was giving U a
strange odor. and being satisfied that
her husband had poisoned it l, OF
course. threw 1t away. He scolded
about my waste. but when | looked
him squarely In the eyes he dropped his
and had no more to say.
1 had been with the Dysons five years
when the climax came. The old wo-
man was holding her own If not get
ting better. and the husbands impa-
tience had a savage edge to 1t. Their
bedroom was on the north side of tho
house. All along on that side was q
deep excavation for a factory.
At 10 o'clock one night | lay wonder
ing If he really meant to take her life
and how he would finally accomplish
1t, when | heard n half suppressed
scream from his room. | got softly out
OF bed and went to the farther door,
and, looking through a crack, l saw
that the window was up and that he
stood before it with his wife in his
arms. She was hanging on to him with
fingers of steel and making a great
struggle. | heard him breathing heav-
lily and snarling and growing as he
tore her fingers loose. but | did not
know what he planned TO do till of a
sudden he staggered to the open win
dow and flung her out She screamed
as she went to her death, and in my
fright | echoed the cream | remem-
Der the man rushing acros the room
at me. of his dashing open the door. of
his striking me down. and then came
darkness which lasted for weeks. he
had struck me with a piece of iron and
fractured my skull He then carried
my body downstairs and bore it a
quarter of a mile away and flung 1t
into another excavation Before TAX
ing me from the house he put on my
hat and cloak. and thus 1t appeared to
those who found my unconscious body
next morning that | had been coming
home the night before and fallen into
the pit. As to his wife. be gave the
alarm and brought the police and made
out that il was n case OF suicide. While
he was fast asleep. as he claimed. she
"a - -. ~ x-fpd0ru nnd lnona6