The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1917-06-30
BIZ JACK LONDON

A strange life has come to an end
e. the death Of Mr.. Sedley Crayden of
Craydcn Hill. Mid, harmless, he was
the victim Of q strange delusion that
kept him pinned, night and day, in his
chair for the last two years of his life.
Tile mySteriUu. death, or rather disap-
pcarance, Of his elder brother, James
Crayden, seems to have preyed upon
his mind, for it was shortly after that
event that his dclusi0n began TO mani
fest itself.
Mr.. Crayden never vouChsafed any
explanation of his strange conduct.
There was nothing the matter with
him physically or mentally; the alien
lists found him normal in every way
save for his one remarkable idiosyn-
Grassy. His remaining in his chair was
purely voluntary, an act of his own
will. And now he is dead and the
mystery remains unSOlvPd.-EXtract
from the Newton Courier-Times.
Briefly, was Mr.. Sedley Crayden's
confidential servant and valet for the
last eight months Of his life. During
that time he worked a good deal on
manuscript that he kept always beside
him, except when he drowsed or
slept, at which times he invariably
locked it in desk drawer close to his,
hand.
| was curious to read what the old
Eartleman wrote. but he was too eau
tious and cunning. never got a peep
at the manuscript. If he were en-
gagged upon it when attended on him,
he covered the top sheet with large
b!ottcr. 1t was l who found him dead
in his chair, and it was then that
took the liberty Of abStracting the
manuscript. I was very curious to
read it, and have no excuses to offer.
After retaining it in my secret pos
session for several years, and later
ascertaining that Mr.. Crayden left no
surviving relatives. / have decided to
make the nature Of the manuscript
known. 1t is very long, and 1 have
omitted nearly all Of it, giving only the
more lucid fragments. 1t bears all the
earmarks of disordered mind, and va
rious experiences are repeated over
and over, while much Is so vague and
incoherent as to defy comprehension.
Nevertheless, from reading it myself,
I venture to predict that If an exca-
Walton is made In the main basement,
somewhere in the vicinity of the foun-
dalton of the great chimney. collec-
ton Of bones will be found which
should very closely resemble those
which James Crayden once clothed in
mortal flesh.-Statement of Rudolph
Heckler.
Here follow the excerpts from the
manuscript, made and arranged by
Rudolph Heckler:
l never killed my brother. Let this |
be my first word and my last. Why
should kill him? We lived together
In unbroken harmony for twenty years.
We were old men, and the fires and
tempers Of youth had long since
burned out. We never disagreed even
over the most trivial things. Never
was there such amity as ours. We
were scholars. We cared nothing for
the outside world. Our companionship |
and our books were all-satisfying.
Never were there such talks as we
held. Many a night we have sat up
till two or three in the morning con-
verslng, weighing opinions and judy
ments, referring to authortties-in
short, we lived at high and friendly
intellectual attitudes.
He disappeared. I suffered great
shock. Why should he have disap-
peared? Where could he have gone?
It was very strange. | was stunned.
They say / was very sick for weeks.
1t was brain fever. This was caused
by his inexplicable disappearance. lt
was at the beginning of the experience
/ hope here to relate that he disap-
peared.
How have endeavored to find him
7 am not an excessively rich man, yet
have I offered continually increasing
rewards. l have advertised in all the
papers, and sought the aid OF all the
detective bureaus. At the present mo-
ment the rewards have out aggregate
over fifty thousand dollars.
They say he was murdered. They
also say murder will out. Then l say.
why does not his murder come out7
Who did It? Where Is he? Where is
Jim? My Jim.
We we're so happy together. He had
q remarkable mind, most remarkable
mind, so firmly founded, so widely In
formed, so rigidly logical, that 1t was
not at all strange that we agreed IN
all things. Dissension was unknown
between us. Jim was the most truth
full man I have ever met. In this, too,
we were similar, as we were similar
In our intellectual honesty. We never
sacrificed truth to make q point. we
had no points to make, we so thor
oughly agreed. 1t is absurd to think
that we could disagree on anything
under the sun.
I wish he would come back. Why
did he go? Who can ever explain it!
I am lonely now, and depressed with
yrova Observation-Disclosures by ter