The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1915-10-01

ASKING Brood . single question. -
though be knew him 10 Be- q witness
to the shooting.
Yvonne saw the reporters and later
on an inspector Of police. Ranjab told
his unhappy story. He had taken tAo
weapon from q hook on the wall for
the purpose of ~cieaaing 1t. 1t had been
hanging there for years. and all the
time there had been . single cartridge
left in the cylinSer unknowG to Any.
one. He had started 10 remove the
cylinder as he left the Naom. All these
| years the hammer haA been raised;
death had been hanging aver them all
the time that the pistol occupied its in
| secure position on the wAN. Somehow,
| he could not tell how the hammer fell
as he tugged at the cylinAer. No n
could have known that the revolver
was loaded. That was al that he
could say, except to declare that II his
masters son died he would end his
own miserable, valueless life.
His story was supported by the dec
larations of Mrs. Brood, who. while
completely generating her husbands
servant, had but little to say in expla-
nation Of the affair. She kept her wits
about her. Most people would have
made the mistake Of saying too much.
She professed to know nothing except
that they we're discussing young MI.
Brood's contemplated trip abroad ana
that her husband had given orders to
his servant to pack . revolver in his
sons travelling bag when the time
came for his departure. She had paid
but little attention to the Hindu's
movements. All she could say vas
that 1t was an accident-a horrible,
blighting accident. For the present. Il
would not be possible for anyone to
see the heart-broken father. Doubt.
less, later on, he would be In the mood
to discuss the dreadful catastrophe,
but not now. etc.. etc. He was crushed
with the horror Of the thing that had
happened.
The house was in 4 state of subdued
excitement. Servants spoke in whis.
pers and tip-toed through the halls.
Nurses and other doctors came. Two
old men, shaking as with palsy, roamed
about the place. intent only on worm.
ing their way into the presence OF
their friend and supporter to offer con.
ISOLATION and encouragement to him in
his hour Of tribulaticn. They shud-
| dered as they looked into each others
faces, and they shook their heads
without speaking, for their minds were
A11nA Vr,Sth dC,,h< Th4u Atl 40 -.~
ton the truth Of the story as told. but
they had their " opinions. In sup
port to the theory that they did not
believe there wal anything accidental
in the shooting Of Frederic 1t is only
necessary to speak Of their extraordi.
nary attitude toward Ranjab. They
shook hands with him and told him
that Allah would reward him! Later
on, after they had had time to think IL
all out for themselves-being some
what slow of comprehension-they
sought out James Brood and offered to
accept all the blame for having loaded
the revolver without consulting him.
their object having been to destroy .
cat that infested the alley hard by.
They felt that 1t WAS absolutely neces-
sary to account for the presence OF
the unexploded cartridge.
Brood. coming between them. laid
his hands on their shoulders, shaking
his head as he spoke to them gently.
Thank you, old pals. l understand
what it is you are trying to do. It's no
use. | fired the shot. 1t isn't neces-
sary to say anything more to you, I'm
sure. except that, as God is my wit
ness. ! did not intend the bullet for