Year: 1865

stead? Twas as / said-she did noe mnIy
| him. There's comfort in the tnougn' Ts'71 Sof91
her so well-so well that did stay noi. oou,o 10
| have seen her as his wife ana hoe Sono llAe
| Ye cruel fates, We were 100 llally ioi Anc ~
| the unennal strife. when twas woman's
heart hecame the price of gold; but my good
stool d;d End its wav where gold was powerless.
I,lI Nd her vet. for here is that which will
give me quick conveyance to the shore where
/ she has gone.


draught, and then resumed ms writing.
zee il all now, 1 thought. 1t is as / ex-
nected. This is the murderer; the lover who
| did the deed. BE is committing suicide and
writing out his confession.


was not inclined to disturb man under
such circumstances, so / lay still and awaited
the result. His pen dashed on more furiously
than ever Occasionally his hand would 90
to his bottle, whose contents were evidently
working on his brain. One of the candles had
gone out and the other burned low in the
socket. He threw down his pen and applied
his bottle once more to his lips and swallowed
the last drop it contained, and in sepulchral
tone gave expression to these words as he
stood before the expiring light: t{..


"That is all. When they look ON this, then
they will know why twas they tho't me
strange. There's my confession written for
those who think it a little thing that she re-
jected me. They shall know what swore |
had the courage 10 perform. I'll to my couch,
and let the morrow tell tale of horror which
shall make their drowsy souls believe there is
love far stronger than grim death.-Fare-
well, earth, where gold doth rob me of my
love, and hail thou strange unknown where
she doth wait for my coming!'


The candle burned blue as the excited man
uttered these last words with gestures and
tones of one talking with the spirit of the muir
dered Mary The last glimmer OF the light
was gone, and then heard the man throw
himself heavily ON the bed. tf aa0


My first impulse was to give the alarm, but
a second thought told me that if he was the
murderer, and had written out his confession,
and was taking himself off by dose of poison,
l could do no go d bringing him back to life
again only to be strung up and die like dog.
l did not see why should try to keep poor
wretch in this world when he had become
convinced he had better leave it. He might
make his exit under worse circumstances, and
of charity interfere.


With quiet conscience, dropped asleep,
and did not wake till after daylight the next
morning. looked towards my neighbor's
bed. There he lay on the outside of the bed
with his back toward me and none of his
clothing removed. The candle stick, the black
bottle, the papers were on the table with him.
l rose and dressed myself and glanced at the
papers. They contained murderers confess
sion, evidently. The bottle was labelled "Pois-
on" with deaths head and cross bones, and
had strong smell of brandy. / bent over the
motionless figure on the bed. He was asleep.
The whole thing was so mysterious that said
nothing about it, but after eating my breakfast
and settling my bill, left for home wondering
whether should see in the papers the next
morning "The Murderers Confession"
looked for it sometime but as it did not ap-
pear, / began to suspect that something had
been the matter with my brains during my
stay at Steinton. e sra e d


Several weeks afterward went into thea
tire, to hear a sensation play which was that
night to be brought out. | took my seat in
the gallery, and watched the development of
the plot. 1t was one of the @love and mur-
der' stamp | could not help thinking how
similar were the circumstances to the trial in
Steinton. When in the last act the murder
er's confession was reached, it seemed but the
repetition Of the scene in the double-bedded
room, which have already described. There
was the actor striking his hand against his
forehead and finally, with outstretched arms
and eyes gazing into futurity, uttering these
words which had been so deeply impressed up
on my mind:


Farewell, earth, where gold doth rob me of
my love; and hail the strange unknown where





He then staggered toward couch, and fell
senseless upon it, as becomingly as could be
expected of suicide.


The applause was deafening. Ny neghbor,
whom had not particularly noticed before,
clapped his hands and beat the floor with his
boots and cane till there was no breathing, from
the dust he raised. was about to demonstrate
when my eyes assured me that he was no 9TH
er than my lean friend of the double-bedded
room.


The truth flashed upon me. I had heard of
poor authors mingling with the crowd and
going wild with the success of their plays. But
the opportunity was too good to lose.


"My friend" said /, "you seem to consider
the play master stroke.r


GIndeed do" he replied, hammering away
to keep up the applause. at takes, you see,
the first time knew it would" s


81 think have seen it acted before,n / Ie-
marked. rt


''Never, sir, assure you, for wrote Tiny
self, and this is the first time it has been put
on the stage"


II do not doubt your word, sir; but, perhaps.
you have forgotten the double bedded room in
the hotel at Steinton, where the '1nurderer's
confession first saw the light of two tallow can
dies"


aAh, yes / recollect trying it on that night,
after l had worked it out of that murder
trial" g4 "a


"But why did you have your brandy bottle
labelled 'poisonP


'Well, sir the fact is, that sometimes forget
to put it away, and it lasts longer with that
label"


There was both philosophy and common
sense in the answer, and / was satisfied