Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1916-02-24

away from that HOUSE"
said at last. Il had Mrs. Royce wri.s
her: l save it to her this afternoon"
What did she say"
she didn't say anything, but |
could see the idea didn' impress her.
And had thought all along that she
would Jump at it."
Godfrey gave a little grunt, whether
of surprise or satisfaction | could not
tell.
Why didn't o put her on the
stand today, Lester?" he asked Afraid
of upsetting her?'
Il wouldn't have stopped for that, if
her evidence would have helped Swain.
But 1t would only nave put him deeper
in the hole"
I'm what way?"
Wen, in the first place, she says
that as she and her father returned tc
the house, she heard footsteps behind
them and thought it was Swain fol-
lowing them, because that would be a
natural thing for MIN to do; and, in
the second place, she saw that blood
stained handkerchief on the. floor be-
side her fathers chair when she came
INTO the room and found him dead
So said Godfrey slowly, lit
coudn have been dropped there by
swan when when he stopped to pick
her up
No; besides, we know perfectly we'll
h a ii wasn't about his wrist when he
came back over the wall. Goldberger
knows 1t, too, and Well be asked about
it, e time
1t might nave been pushed up his
sleVee-we weren't absolutely certain.
But TINS new evidence settles it."
l assented miserably II Godfrey
smoked on thoughtfully. But nv cigar
a lost some of its flavor.
How did Miss NauShan come tn find
the body"' he asked at last, and | told
nm The story as she had told it to me.
He thought it over for some moments:
then he leaned forward and laid his
hand ON my knee.
Nov, Lester" he said, lets review
thls thlng. 1t can't be as dark as it
seems-there's light somewhere. Here
is the case, barred of all i~nessentials:
Swain crosses the wall about IL O'Clock,
cutting his wrist as he does so; Miss
Vaughan meets him about 1880, and
after a time, finds that his wrist is
bleeding and ties her handkerchief
about it; they agree to have her
father examined for lunacy ar
range a meeting for the next
night, and are about to separate, when
hef lalher ruSheS IN upon them, saw
agely berates Swain and takes his
auShle away. That must have been
about u o'clock.
+ha.a 49, - " MS STORY, SllS
theie ior ~ or 10 minutes, finally sees
.he COBRA, or thlhks ne does, and makes
d uash LOT saIety, striking his head
9halPis against d tree. de tumbles
Gnei the wan IN a half dazed condition.
The handkerchief is no longer about
ms wrist Ihat' you VIII remember,
was ABOUT l2:2o.
Almost at once we heard Miss
Va~ughan's creams. After that, Swain
isn't out of our sight for more than a
mlnute-too short a time, anyway, for
anything TO have happened we don't
know about,
meanwhile, Miss Vaughan has re-
turned with her father to the house,
hearing steps behind her and taking
it for granted that it is Swain, follow
ing ttem at a distance. She goes to
her room, stays there Is minutes or
so, and comes downstairs again TO find
her father dead.
Now let us see what had happened.
You We're right in saying that her ia
Their must have been ~strangled imme-
dlately after she lett him. Otherwise
he would still have been twitching in
such a way that she must nave no
ticcd il. No doubt he dropped into the
chair exhausted by his fit of rage; the
murderer entered through the garden
door, stopped to cut off the end of the
curtain cord and make a moose of it
that would nave aiken at least a min