Newspaper Page Text
THE BURLINGTON FRHI5 PRESS: THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12, 1903. 9 r MYSTERY OF THE BAYOU WOODS By WALKER KENNEDY. CoorUM, 1WM, br A. K. HYMIPMS. SSWV'u t"iliS!',i""r WTi tPS?,,!? rhlef of pollen of Nlhis In Kfi'Ht eKiUtion nnd tells hlin of his discovery of the tnur- dcrccl I ody of Ms father. John T Wr'K1.1'- lias been estraiiKed, In the Unou Woods , The next morning .Vilus was treat near the town, Tho chief oii'stlnns Her- . , ,ti., t, herf wllftft ntlsu'piw r.itise fe'tner lo suspect hlin of the erlrne The chief, with n reporter, IrvinK Warde. Koea to scone of murder i-HAI'TF.U II -Thev find bodv and e amine siirroimtlliiRs but Mil to discover ny reliable clue. "HAPTHH III Wnrdn examine? toys t"llou footprints In the snow and tell? I'nt. Franklin, an old nco.imlnt.inre of lh murdered man. of them Herbert Is arrested on suspicion of belnc lnipllca.lr.1 '"iHHiv.-Cnl. Franklin is . br.l- K.v .onHPne,. hnd ondcav llant lawyer, but nays ha Ih iniabln lo nred to take his own life. Tim at olv the mystery. tempt, it seemed, was dlseovered by "H.nKll V. - At . coroner o inmieM f tron.t circumstantial evldeni e ns'iii mnsi Herbert Wrlphl Is submitted nnd the Jnrv charge him with tho murder. rflAl'TWU Vt -Warde sues to Her- bsrl's sifter. Miriam, who believes hlni ifl?Xw"nk W - 1-ranMln savs he thiiiKs n sirens cu has been made, against llnbei-i. Of A PTKIl VII. After slipper Warde wan busy In his tiflien writing 3 resume of the facta brought, out in the. Wright ease and Whu employing considerable skill ia I'uking prominent, the, unexplained ,de of the crime. He knew very well Wright was wry glad to see him. iow the other morning paper, the nnd the jailer allowed the newspaper Seminal, would treat it; how it would ian and the. prisoner to hae an in to described as a perfect ease of cir- tervi.-w in the rotunda of the jail. eumstaniial evidence; and how th old proverb "murder will out" would hp worked into its weary place, again for the edification of those who liko their crime mulled with a hit of mor olizing. Warde waa ondearing in a really skillful way to einphasi.c the jnystery in which the case was in volved, and to create a doubt, in young W'right's faror. Jt was while he was occupied thus that he realised fully how strong a chain of evidence had been wrought around the man he be lieved to be innocent. How was it, possible for an innocent man to have got. himself tangled up in this way? 1 While he was working away at his task, DeteetivB Kenton entered the of fice and said ho had secured some ad ditional evidenre in the case, which lie had no objection to making' pub lic. "What is It?" asked Warde. inter ested at once. "Lto this afternoon the chief in structed me to go to Wirght's house and search it for weapons, T found Mrs. Wright at home and told her what I must do. She made no objec tion, and led mo to the place where she. snld her husband kept his pistol. There T found this weapon," taking from his pocket a handsome Ivory handled pistol, "which, ? you see, hat one empty cartridge iji it " "That looks ugly for Wright," said Warde. regretfully. "Ordinarily it would, but thera ia tnmething behind all this." "What do you mean'.'" '"iv. when T took out this pistol Mrs. Wright was dumfounderl for a momnt. Then she dnelnred that it .1 n fc not her htihband'a pistol, and that when the had left the house this afternoon that weapon had not been there, for she had examined the one that was an old affair--in order, she mid, to see whether it had been fired or not. She asserted ositlvely that mm one had changed the pistola in ber absence " "By .love!" cried Warde, "this prows exciting. ' j "T don't claim to lie an extra good lodge of human nature," said the de- I iective. "but in my opinion the. wo- ' man was telling the truth. She led mo to the pistol without a particle nf hesitation, and I never saw any person's fneo fall as hers did when I took out the shilling revolver. I put t up this way, that the man who flmnged these revolvers must have hiken a hand in the murder, or ele 1 s a bitter enemy of young- Wright. 1 M anv rate, my idea of the 'hm hasj-l hnneed considerably since this ; nurninsr" I "1 have nn idn." said Warde, "and ii you will help me perhaps we can kit on a solution of this riddle" "I w?Jl do anything consistent with toy ctl!?ial duty." "I ask nothing more. It is your Suty, as T conceive it not to bolster np anv pot theory or anybody's hob by, but to get at the truth and nn-1 mask the real criminal." "You are right, t agree with you thoroughly " "Let me make a suggestion to you. Bo bark to Mrs. Wright to-morrow md find out whether :1c has any proof that, the old pistol was there yesterday morning; if she has not, perhaps some of her neighbors could tell whethor anyhody visited the house while sho was aw.iv. If you, 'an find the man who put the pistol, there, yaw arc in a fair way to tind the man who killed John T. Wright." "Til go out there to-morrow and lee what I can do. In the mean time f must turn in this new link of evi Sence againsl that young fellow." . The dotectue retired, and Warde muud nwhile before resuming bis ivork. It was indeed singular that ivhile the m.vMery was deepcniiiif, at the same time the visible proof were icciimulating against Wright. Me hud more reason now than ever to believe thnt a still darker crini'1 that involved lomethinff besides murder l.iv beyond the prima fncie ease that had been made out, Kor the first time he felt lhat he was contending with an nn i?on antagonist, and thnt while ho ivas endeavoring to clear tho name rif Herbert. Wright some one was' fighting him step by -tep and was trying to fasten the guilt uijon the roung man. It could not be the nu-1 thorities. Tho, were, of course, mere-' lv doing their duty to the best of their nbilltv and they could not be fxpecled to yiepl anything to tho trntiiwntal side of the case. From this time cm Warde never 1 leased to feel that he and tho uuseeu KclluM NeDapcr Co. tvere engaged In a desperate game, In which a human life was involved. He silently accepted the unwritten , ,, ' , , . , . rhnllongo to battle nwl made tip his ,,) thai he would not he defeated. rd to a sensation, the startling evi dence obtained 1v the authorities be ing supplemented 1 an exclusive) piece of news puhlislicd in the Jour nal. When Wardo sat. down to break fast, anil picked up that, paper he was rold with amazement at what he rend, for in large, glaring headline, he saw that Herbert. Wright, "stung , 4t,.pll,KU !lr" t nn .n. . ., - - ' " hnd promptly sent for a physician, ,. .,,.. ijf.. .,. .,Trd "d the oung mini s 111. was s ived. VVright had taken morphine, but the. physician, who had arrived prompt- iy, nuinimsici on nn cmci.c, ,inu so checkmated the would-be suicide. Warde was in despair when he read this. It was the irtual confession nf a guilty conscience, and it would be useless to couliniie his investiga tions. As soon uit he l.'ud swallowed his breakfast he jumped on a street cnr and lrnt, to the iail "You haw read the .lournalV" said Wright, with a smile. ' "Yes, and it. knocked me cold!" "15. 't 1 am prepared to astonish you." "What do yon mean?" "Why. that account is a lie from be ginning to end." "Well, 1 am certainly glad to hear that." "The fact is, an attempt, was made, here in the jail last night to poison me." "To poison you!" "Yes. to poison me. The drug wns put into my food, and of course 1 ate it. 1 noticed a peculiar taste, and shortly afterward found myself grow ing -very drowsy. 1 called for the jailer at once and told him I thought, 1 hud been drugged, fortunately ho had a doctor here In five minutes who detected the evidences of morphine and immediately took steps to relieve me. The eructation was preserved and examined at my request, and tho doctor found that the poison in it would have rendered me a corpse in less than an hour." "Have you found the man who made this attempt?" "So. and I fear it will be impossi ble. It was agreed by the jailer, tho doctor and myself to suy nothing about it until a thorough investiga tion could be made. The poison could not, hnvc been put in accidentally by the cook, for no one else in the jail was effected. The food rnut have been poisoned afier it whs put into the bowl--my supper was a wort of gruol and it must have been done by the man who handed me my howl. I could not tell who did this, as sev eral of the prisoners volunteer each Jav to act as waiters." "Of course," said Warde. "you could not have a personal enemy among these men." "Certainly not." "It is evident that this poisoning clieme was designed outside of the jail, and that onie one of the prison ers was bribed to slip th drug into vour portion if the food." "It looks that vvn.v bev oud a doubt." Irving Warde felt that the unseen Antagonist was again at work. He ihivered when he thought of the re sources of his advoiMirj, who could affect tho changing of the pistols in Ihe bitburbs south of the city, and Hie attempted murder of n prisoner in tho jail in the northern part of the town. He realized now that it was no ordinary foe that youn Wright had to tight. KiirPWu intelli pence, an abundance of money, a com mand of ready tools, perfect nn scrupulousness, and murder itself ivern all pitted against the man. The attempt on Wright's life hud one reassuring iiiaiil. it convinced W'arde that the mind eiixiueering lliesn operations was not satisfied with the ease already made out ugainst the yo.iug man, othei v ise the l.i w might have been allowed to take Its course. There were flaws in the evidence, fatal wen l.nes.ses, vvoich night lend to the discovery of the real riminal; ulid somehow the life of Herbert Wright stood in the way of tho accomplishment of a veiled pur pose. The same motive which de manded the life of .loan T. Wright now demanded that ot his son; and W'arde could not help thinking that mini1 tieii.i udoiis Issue was at stake, or some ,.1 hh . 1 prgr:imm was In jeopard.v fncri lleroert's being alive. These thoughts weie running inpid ly through his mind while Wright rontiliued to discu- the affair of toe night before; and linall the reporter asked; "If you threw made up jour minds to keep this tiling secret, how did it leak out?" "That 1 cannot say. The jailer says the only person who left the jail last night was the. doctor. The doctor, who was here quite early, tells n rather curious tale, lie Miys that at Ihe nearest eorui r be was saluted by rough-looking fellow who wore a red ilanel shirt and whose fare was rovored with stubble. 'Is he dead, doctor'." lucked this mun. 'Who?' said the doctor. 'Why, Wright. I heard a nigger say that he hud taken poison.' 'No, he is not dead.' ruplled tho doc tor. That was all that was said. It did not occur K the'doctor till after ward that It would have been impos sible for any news to have got out when all tho prisoners were in tholr cells nnd the jailer nlone could have communicated it to the outaide world." "Then the Journal reporter did not iujiiic hero to i I tl e f.iels?" "No; he must, hnic obtained them outside of the jail " "This mati lit the red fliinnel shirt was nothing further heard from him7" "JCothinrr. But the jailer remom hers thnt such a man had applied for udmlsiiion to the, jull yesterday to eo a prisoner named Billy Maloncy." I "Haie you questioned Maloney .' "Yes, and he tells a pretty straight story, lie Maya that he neer saw the. stranger before, and that the man told hlni of a friend named Hill Ma loney, and he eauie to see if t Ills was the same fellow, but it wiifi not, Ma loney snys the man hung around some time talking to the prisoners, but he did not pay any particular at tention to him. lie evidently got hold of the name of one of the prison ers and then earned out his sehetno with another of them. if. Indeed, he U the man who out up the poisonlne- j Wright asked thai Warde should ' publish the facts in the (iaxetto and j place him right before the public, the jailer e.orroborat insr all ho had said. During the afternoon Warde ran ,1 Int.. II.. I I.- .1 I , . .1 ". Where stale vegetables and not-breed-tdi.or of the .lonrna . and asked h.m s su, incihrr with how he got the points about the stu- t)p r(rtaintv 1llIlt wollM tnkp llp eiilc 111 jail. the trail of death where, the. other ... . .....K..ru ...... so u . seoopc. you badly 011 thai, didn't I, old 111:111? That item was a bird." "Hut I have some curiosity, ,fiin, to 1 know how you got it. Who gave it, I to you?" "I can't tell you that. 'Ihe party 1 who pit 1 me on made me promise not I to give him away, lie also made me I promise not, to go to the jail for it. Said he thought Ihe authorities were Irjiug to keep it dark, as it occurred shortly after supper, and nothing was known of itat least, not for publi cationat the station house at mid night." "He made, a great guy of you, who ever he is." "What do you mean?" "Why, there is scarcely a word of truth in his story from beginning: to end. The man did tin', try lo commit suicide, and your report Ilia I he is not expected to recover is all bosh. I found him sitting up in the jailor's' office smoking a cigar this morning.' "Well, I'll be damned: If I find out. that, i have been imposed upon in that way I'll wring the neck of that, little skunk!" "Who is thnt"" 'Why no; that won't do. Warde. 1 won't give him away until I've given I him a chance to explain himself." Holcombe departed in a brisk dud geon and Warde sought the ofiioe, where he found Kenton awaiting him. j "1 got, what 1 wanted this morn I ing." he. said. "Tell me," said Warde. 1 "Mrs. Wright said that her nearest, 1 neighbor, a kind-hearted widow by I the name of Mrs, nderson, had been ! there at noon to take care of her child while she visited her husband, should blow it. the detective would .lust, as Mrs. Anderson was about to know that he was in danger ami take the child away Mrs. Wright had would hasten to his assistance, l'eii oMiminod the pistol and called Mrs. ton was not at all satisfied with this Anderson's attention to the fact that adventure of Warde's, hut he did noi it had not, been shot ofV for a long communicate any of his uneasiness, time. I then went to see Mrs. Ander- ! He merely cautioned him to be on his on. She remembered the pistol very ginrd. as the crowd he was going well, and knew where it had been among was not very particular about placed. The ivory-handled rev olv er 1 taking either property or life, was not the weapon she had seen r,p aimospbere in the saloon was there. Rut Mrs. Anderson had somo othor facts. She had seen a man coming out of the side dour of the Wright house and she accosted him jnd told him there was no one in at present. He icplied that he had found thnt out and would drop in again when Mrs. Wright was ai home. Mrs. Anderson had thought nothing hr t)ll, M,n ,,f ., honcv melodrama further of it until she was told about r a prominent character in a I.011 the pistols." ',),, chap-book. A couple nf dissipated 'Ilid she describe the man?" "Yes; she aid he was a rather stoutly built man with probably a couple of weeks' beard on his face, nnd that he wore a red flannel shirt." "Kenlon. you have done splendidly, and if von will agree to help me fur ther, we will unravel one of the deep- rst-lnid crimes ever planned in this section of the country. "I'll help you any way that I can." "Then we will win the game yet." niAl'TF.R vin. The next evening at nine o'clock, Warde was working in the office when n negro boy brought him a note. He opened it casually and rend the fol- lowing: "Mr. Warde f'ome as soon as you can 10 Peter's West, 'o, I.OOfi Com- merco street. river man there can give you a great story for the (ia ette. Bis name is William .lacUson. "A Kriend." Irving received a great many notes like this, and It occasion-d him no surprise. Peter's Rest had a reputa tion of a not verv reassuring charac ter; still he was often called to such places, and he gave it no particular thought. lie finished the work upon which he was engaged, and at 11 o'clock started for the choice locality lo which he had been called. As he was passing the station house, Fenton, the detective, joined him and asked whither he was going, "To Peter's Best." said W'arde. "That's a nice place to go to," said Kenlon. laughing. "I was called there to get n piece , of news." replied Warde. 1 "I -.ill g" with yon." said Kenton; "it ninv be .oi-vet 'dug in my line," "ll right; I '' I'-iucniber that this is mine, and If there's anything in it the daelte gets it oxclusiv ely," j "Of course." I'he localilv which the two men jwere alioiil to visil was a considerable distance ftom the station house, and it abutted on the river. Commerce j street originally ran parnllel with the I liver but the current of the Mississ ippi, which is ever making some ex cuse for a change, had eaten away a large part of the bank so that the upper end of tho street, ran almost into ihe water. The rear end of sev oral houses on flic west sido were ac tually suspended over tho stream, and it. was only a question of timo when they would topple into the swirling waters; but It is rather n venerable observation that becnuse a thing did not happen yesterday people arc inclined to think that It will not happen to-morrow. And so, many persons on upper Commerce street continued to reside above tho river, knowing full wejl that there would be an i.'evL L" it borne time, but fondly expecting that somehow they would move out a day or two before the crash came and the river claimed a lot of refuse not Its own. That porllon of the city Warde nnd Kenton entered knew no such luxu ries as lamplight, nnd depended en tire' upon such Illuminations as a complacent moon would furnish, fin Ihls particular night, the moon was contending Intermittently with a sea of crested clouds. To the right as they traversed tUc rounded street tending with tho river bank, several totlun sheds spread their huge di mensions in solid blackness. The houses were moatly old and dilapida ted and peopled with the city's dregs. It, was hero that thieves, rough boat men, Idle plantation hands, and that, great herald of the transient, and the shifting' known as the tramp, were fond of congregating. And It was apparent that the ac commodations were nmplo-for thin kind nf population. There were dona of various shades of iniquity: ram shackle sheds wlioro the trump could readllv find free accommodation- for K .' F. ,pf( (i(T. h ,,1,,. houses where river and plantation hands were parked Chinese fashion. In short, one could see here every sort of building, ex cept the church and the school house. As tho two men continued their walk the houses became less numer ous, and they passed wicnnl. lots, be yond which they could see the sil ver cleam of Ihe river. ' At Inst they came to rcterV West. It wa a two-storied house, which in its day had been considered one 1 "f the handsomest residences in the j city; for, in the early dav s of Xilus, 1 this e'ongeries of tilth, crime and deg 'reilalliin had been the must rllgil.lo part r.f the town. Yet nobody ever I dreamed at the time of this story that. Hell's Half ere. which lay banked in shadows to the north, would one day be veelaiined again land traversed by railroads and re wound with the hum of business; for now the desperado and the rough I were omnipresent in thai locality. 'Ihe evigcucies of the time h.nl con- trover'ed this old mansion 'nto Hie , .very worst resort of its kind in the I fit v. It was become the rendezvous i "f " "rts f disreputable men and women. It was here 111:11 nnoer tno influence of liquor, which was nn ' equaled in vil. n.-ss. all sorts of evil I pacts were si ruck, crimes were planned and new lessons of deornv 1 v were learned, dust this side of the 1 !nl ., nl l,,l wf i',,t ,.li 1 nrr I down to'the river. Here IVntor said 'he would stop while Warde went in. liefore thev scpareled I'e.ii.iu handed him a p. dice wh! .,!, and it was agreed between tlicin thai if Warde so heavy and malodorous that the 1 lights burned dimly and reluctant l . . Itehind ihe bar was a stolid ruilinn , who looked as if he might have taken all fie degrees of crime. low lirnw, heavy bla.-k mustache, small animal eves nnd a profusion of cheap jewel- rv aduuralilv titled Ihllv .Mci.ee to voting men were throwing dice be- fore liillv. who watched the result with the interest of a dispassionate referee. A number of persons em bodying various degrees oT disreputa- j bilitj were I'oncregated ab"iil the tables, some handling gre.T v decks of cards, some "shooting craps," some 1 'drinking whisky and other congenial liquors and some talking apart 111 whispers on subjects not to be re vealed even in that favorable atmos phere. Tin-re were also mi band a few faded parodies of womankind, whose efforts to be jav and mirthful were of a piece with their L'linsllv , uri-oiindintrs. , Wi)jj ,-,,. n n.dresscd, .,. looking youna man was seen in , I'eier's Host, and his advent might to lure occasioned some surprise, out it j did not. The lies! pursued ils dark 1 and devious occupation), ,is repose- fully as though Warde had been regular font lire nf 111" establishment. niJl.V Modee din llnl e.ei. Inok up f 1 0111 the important business that wa.. transacting before him. Warde al once strode up to Ihe bar end asked if there was present a man l the name nf William .lacksoii. "l-'our deuces," said Mr. Mctiee. "It will be hard to ie-ut that. William? Oh, yes. Mil! was here about half an hour f.go, Are 011 tho gent ho win c. pectin".'" "Yes." "lie said if you come to tell yon to wait for him. He'll be back d'rcc'ly. You'll have to throw again, Dock. Take a scat in the parlor," continued Mr. Mctiee lo Warde, waving his hand ln'vrd the door of an adjoining room, As W'arde stood before the bar he was somewhat startled to find thai his coming had not been vv II hunt sumo interest In al least 011c or two of those present. In one corner of the room two men sat at a tattle drinking. Thej were sturdy -looking fellows, who were slightly better dressed than their as sociates, but tln-ir faces were almost startling in the prominence of evil displaced theieiii. One of them wn-. a e r( muscular man. whose strength had a certain cat-like clement in it. which had been very cleverly celo braled by his associates in the nick name of Old Tom, which the.v had given him. His companion was nn almost perfect specimen of physical manhood. The mirror revealed the fact that theso men were watching Warde with an intensity it seemed to him a inn lignify of interest for which he could not account; hut he betrayed no surprise, nor did he give any evi don e that he had olnevved lliem. Taking from his pocket a cigar he lighted it coolly, and then noiichn hint ly entered the parlor This was a simple room with a table, and several chairs In it. A swinging lamp was suspended from above. The walls wcro covered with choice pic torial selections from tho ilustratcd criminal weeklies. A few sensational papers suitable to tho clientele at T'ctor's Ilest wcro on the table, and Wardo Idly scanned theso with about Ihe same interest that a seraph might take in readinp; tho liondon Times. Ho had been thora barely five min utes when the door opened nnd Old Tom entered the room. At first, ho seemed n bit embarrassed before Warde's cool and searching gaze nnd then he said: "You come hero to see Bill .Inckson, did you?" "Yes; has' he. comn back?" "Xo, but maybe my pardncr can tell you something tibout him." "I'm not, particular about that. If he does not, come soon 1 shall go. time joti itn.V idea what, ho wants with mo? I'm n newspaper man." "Walt 1ill 1 call my pardncr. I think he knows something about it." "Never mind your partner. 1 do not care to know what he has to say." Warde's suspicions were now aroused, and ho did not propose to have a tote-a-teto witli these brawny tuftiatiH. There could bo no doubt, about it, a trap of some sort had been laid for him. "!-ee here, young feller." said Old Tom, "you ain't afraid to talk with a couple of gentlemen, are you?" ' "I am not," said Warde, "but I havn nol'iiny lo talk to you about. My time h up. anyhow." He arose as he said this, but Old 'lorn stood befor.i the door leading I into the saloon, and there was some thing In his face thai Irving had not I seen helore, The w ord "murder" was written upon it as plain as could be. Warde saw that not a moment was 10 be squandered. He took the whistle from his noehet and was raising it, to liis- lins when Old Tom sprang ' ivnrdt.i.u ar.d v.J1' one sweep of his , woeful band seal the whistle spin- , t ovv now ,.,.. it,,, fntvle to the floor. Sit vigorous was the blow that Warde but received no response; but he bad The consultation now being held was knocked against a door lo the no time now to look toward the was not the informal business ntrair right : nd it gave war. sending him shore. Old Tom waa nearly upon .which tho ladies had anticipated. It, through it. Somewhat daed. he . him. and he determined that, if he. stow moro and more startling as the plet-d himself up and with mechanic- had to die. it, should only be after lawyer proceeded to unfold what ho nl p-esenee of mind he closed the a game fight. He braced himself had (Uncovered. The public inipres door nniekly. He had touched a key , as' lirmly as he could upon his pile, Hon was that Wright was a verv on the ont-ide. and lie turned it rapid- I prepared to use his li-ts upon his np- , wealthy man, and his wife nnd riaugh ly: and thus a locked door was be- proaching antagonist, and drag him i,r shared in this impression; how Iween him and his assailant. down to death with him. thoroughly everybody had been do- t f'rs-i he could not tell where he old Tom had just lighted on the ceived Lawyer Kverett was now mr.k- wns. it was so dark, nut as soon as he levaine nceust oined to the dark- ... . , 1 1. ' nevs he found that lie was on a oaeK porch shut in with lattice work, lioiind aboMl Vim was the sense of something irliiliug. In the saloon there was a great. 'commotion, and he l.uevy that he was not vet sate, lie vvouui oe pursued. There was a door doubtless lending fj-oni the bar'-oom to the porch, ami the riiClms would come that way or break down the rickety door which he had jn-t bolted. lie felt that 1 they were coining closer all the time, lie could not snare even a moment, ' Jl'irri-llv 1 e felt with unsteady hand I along the lattice work. If he could only find an opening he could cross 'th" back yard and join Kenton in the vacant lot just to the south of the ' Kest. At last he found a door in the rear and a sense of triumph pin- sessed him. He flung it open nnd was about to plunge nut. but for n moment hi paused, appa'h'd by the dense dark pess bete nth him: then he heard his pursuers eo'ning. and a moment later a light Pasiied throiiah the norch, .lust then the moonlight fluttered feebly out of tile clouds and he caught its sheen below. A cold hor ror came upon him Beneath him lay the river. Now his pusiiers wore upon him indeed, .lust below he saw the head of some black object projecting from the water, and as he gacd eagerly out he saw that there was a series of those dark objects loadincr away to- ward where a tugboat lav moored, The object seemed solid, and with- 1 object seemed -olid, and with. out moment's hesitation he leaped "I""1 , , , lie lias gone; no uearo a lionise, voi.e cry. "Then he's in Ih river." came the answer. nd there was a rush toward the rca r. I'he object upon which W'arde had ' lighted was n hnlf sunken pile, and 1 a series of them were driven at in rn .11 tori-als of a yard apart. Some had been sunk deeper than others, and 1 they stood out from the water like Hie black pillars of a ruined temple. If he could wall, along the tops of fiose irregular columns he might teach the tugboat. This would place inn where he could perhaps secure help or where he could defend him- c-ir. The river had eat.-n a great semi circle in the bani- uuler the Itest, and Ihe current eddied and circled around therein vvilh silent but tre mendous power. Vntie but an evpert swimmer could save himself from be ing diawn in.ti this impromptu whirl pool. The piles had served the pur nnse of protecting the bank from the further encroachnienls of the river, and the line began under tho Itest and evt ended away from the shore. At first W'arde leaped fim one to another of these Miliars without much trouble, but to climb up to one a little high -r than the others and then let himself down to one far be neath it wus a dangerous task, and the further he c ( out into the river the more difiieull it became for him to make any headway. Hardly had he traversed a doron of these treacherous stepping stones when lie was discovered, and, glanc ing back, he saw to his horror that ho was being followed by Old Tom, lie looked .it the swirling river be low him. and the world was reeling about hint. A cold perspiration stood upon his face. He became nervous, blind almn-.t. anil felt an almost ir resistible impulse lo throw himself into the rivor and end the suspense. Old Tom, how over, wns at home in this kind of an enterprise. It was pastime to him, and he crept from pile to pile with the cat-llkc agility which had won him his name. It was a fearful race. The moon had now made some headway, and its light fell upon Urn black river and gave It the sunblnnoo nf nxj. M ed 1 1 1 !wan' j .1 , , 1 . ' 1 o' " ( something bright In Old Tom's hand. It wns a long, sharp knife. Wardo shivered. On went the two figures leaping from pile to pile, one with trembling and uncertain slops, tho other with tho easy confidence of ono to whom the way wns familiar. Old Tom wns gaining steadily upon him, and Wardo, with somo reeling and despair in his heart, saw thnt he could not. escape, Suddenly ho remembered his pis tol. Ho did not, want, to use It as long as ho had been in the. saloon, for ho knew very well that if ho had killed anyhody the mob would have torn him to pieces with joyous unan imity: and in his effort to escape he had for tho time forgotten it. Tt, was now his only hope unless Ken ton should come to bis assistance. He turned about, upon the pile on which ho was standing so as to con front his adversary. The latter was npproachlng him confidently and res olutely. His one grim object was the death of tho reporter. Th hiidor houses on tho Hhore. were, rlfing and falling as if they ' were about to plunge into the st ream, phretiologieally considered indicated The silver lines of light played over ideality as well a" perspicacity, were the face of the water. He could seo he salient physiognomical features the great fleamboats. with their red , of a man who in his dny was a eele and green lights and their trailing brity in his part, of the country, banners of black smoke, founding the There was the fullnV.ss under the eyes bends or putting into the wharf. All that denotes oratory, and in his cae else wa.s silence. Kvcn the crowd of the sign was prominently true. The reckless criminal, craning their uprightness of his character was no necks from the back door, wore less conspicuous than the. directness dumb with excitement as they wait- , of his intellect. In short, he was ed the duel between tho men upon just the sort of adviser needed by theso black stumps. Alr. Wright nnd her daughter in the The stars were silent, nnd they 1 emergency that now presented itself, were cold, too. Warde felt that they These ladies had an unconquerable did not care. repngnanep to Wright's life-long lo in bis eagerness to get out his gal adviser. Col. h'ranklin, because in pistol, his hand trcmbHd so that the some way he seemed to be identified weapon, ea telling in his clothing, slipped ana leu into tno river. Where could Kenton be, he won dercd in a wiguo way? Had he en- tered the Best and been disposed of? Warde called to him several times- pile next to him and was getting icadv to lap A pistol shot broke upon the air. the gleaming knife dropped into the stream nnd Old Tom gave a terrible cry of mingled pain end disgust, rind then crouched down and held to his pie to prevent himself from falling jnto the river, out 111s sircugui was .mi qreat enough, nnd lie slipped into . swirling water and was dragged , awav from sight. , n the meantime i. skiff which had . j,,.n moored on the bank just under n,,., rer of the Kcst was pushed out. (riun shore, nnd in a few seconds Kenton had Warde safely within it. Oct t ing outside the line oT piles. I'cn- 1on i)(.yan to pull nwn.v. It wa a hhrowd move on his part, for Hie provvd within the saloon had surged !,.,,. through the front door. ;,:.il liill y,.(1(.e could be heard calling tor l is skill. I hen followed nungleu ei .-s of rage and di.-nipo!ntmenl. and when the boat was detected moving; a -viiid the row of piles, a num- be. -at tori na- .hols were fired. Kenton stopl''! long enough in 'ire back at the crowd and as ii turned out. casually shot nay a -mall sec tion of -Mr. McCee's nose. Then 11 bent to the oars with all his might and pulled for the wharf, which was about a mile awa.v. It did not take him long to get li--yond Ihe range of the strange shots that were ,-ent. siing aft-jr him. Warde was couiplctelv exhausted ' by the tense strain upon his physical ami nervous system, and he nfv in the bottom of the boat iu a sort of 1 firadiiallv. as thev a n- , p,-ii..,,.,J the wharf, and as h"c real- , ied thai he had. indeed, escaped with . . ... , . . . . . . .. assert themselves. When they reached the wharf, and j 1 he began to feel more like him-olf. ihe gave Kenlon nn account of his ! ,,.1, ..., 'I",,.. ...-AC,.... . . ',.1.1 ... in lnu vhtv.i! Tim.' I1.1 lit.f mil rriine to Warde's help sootier; but he c- . ,,,, ,, ,..,. M. ' , . , ,,,, , flic whistle, he concluded that tho noise in the saloon was only some i-strn jollification on the part r.f the. fiacchanals inside. He had heard the cry for help, and ran down So the river's edge through the vacant lot. The skill' was lied up, but with his knife he had cut the rope, and suc cessfully made the rescue. It was IU o'clock when Irving Ward" re-entered the Ouetto ofiioe. He had been gone but an hour, and yet in that time he seemed to have, lived an age. At one o'clock the police raided fe tor's Ilest, but the easy Mr. Met, 00 with his mutilated noao and all his guests had mysteriously disappeared and the only persons caught were a boy, who was acting as barkeeper, and se.veral individuals who had straggled into the Best when the fracas was over, and the real dls turners of the pence had fled. CH APT Ell IX. John T. Wright left no will, nnd the scttlcmont of his estate became involved at. once in difficulties that were never anticipated by his family. It had never been a happy family for the reason that. Wright was a "old, austere man, who long ago had banlhed nnytldnp like tenderness from hii heart. His family were to him merely a part of his establish ment. They were, he knew, against lit in in the quarrel with Herbert, and lie would never permit them to men tion the name of his son, while he Mimic It impossible for them to aid the young man in his pecuniary dis tress. Mrs, Wight's life did not dif fer very materially from that of a captive who has lived in comfortable tiuarters and had nil that could be Wished in the way of clothing and i'ooiI. Such a thing as amui-ment hover etit.'red her thoi'ghts. As for M-iria.n. her life was deeply embit tered. Her sympathy for her mother nd made her abnosi hn'e her father, I h r bre.iht was filled with rebel Instincts only awaiting a favorable opportunity to break forth: but. tho opportunity never came. Her father always treated her as if what sho thought was of absolutely no conse quence; nnd as for what she should do, hn would detarmlnn that. No doubt the time would have come vhen Mlrlnm would have clashed with Iter stern fnther, and as It. was tho dearest wish of her heart, to do so, It. is not unlikely that, she would have come out victorloun. Ruoh was tho deadening, soul-destroying influence, exerted by John T. Wright, on his family and all those associated with him in business. The day after tho events described in the foregoing chapter Mrs. Wrights a jjcntlc, elderly lady, on whom sor row hnd set its seal, and her daugh ter Miriam, wcro in consultation at the Wright, place, with their lawyer, ."lohn W. Everett, regarding the. con dition of the estate. Lawyer I'verett was a vigorous!, brainy man about, 43 years of age. A clean shaven face, conspicuously firm in its outlines, ti cold, resolute blue eve, and n contour of head which 'with the tlintiness which was the Heading characteristic of the rour ! tiered man. nnd neither had any de- 1 sire to employ as their lawyer so , intimate a friend of Wright as Frank lin hud been. ing clear. ' 1 have examined all of Mr. Wright's papers," said the lawyer, "and I wns never more astonished in my life. You are. 1 presume, under the Impression that be left a great fotfun"." "I thought my husband verv wealthy." 1 oisiikc to disappoint vo.i. man aTrii ), ,llilv !1S W(.u yolI t,)nt there is no fort line. "But " began Mrs. Wright. . "And." continued the lawyer, "we will be very fortunate if we can snatch from the estate enough to secure a maintenance for yourself and daughter." "Why, Mr. Everett, there there must lie soi. e mistake. It is true 'hat I was never my husband's con fidante in his business, but I have known of several of his investments. This place which we are now occupy ing is one of th" most, valuable in this section of the st.ile " "Very true; but it did not belong to your husband." "Vol belong to my husband?" "It wn sold many years ago to the Shelby Unl Kstate ,v Investment company." "Bui - my husbjnd owned several : plantations in Arkansas nud Missis slppi." "That is also true; but all those were sold to the same company at the same time, with the ception of one plantation in Mississippi and one .in Arkansas, which your husband purchased thre- years back. So far i as I can see. these two nlnntntinnf : a re a 11 the a sets in sir-lit ." 1 "I remember a good many years , ago my husband bought a large tract . . . . T . . , . v..a,. . some mlninsr hinds in Colorado.' "Very true; but all of that prop erty wa sold. The formor to the same real estate company, and the 'after I judge from some imperfect memoranda left by your hmband wa sold to some mining company orffan i.:ed under the laws of Colorado. Everything that your husband then owned was sold." "Rut what could have become of the money?" "That is the question J asktel my self. The anwver I fiot from the old records in part. Ynu are, of course, aware of the fact that your husband many years ago was tried on tho charge of killing Bater, his foreman. By referring to the records T discov ered that his property was trans ferred just after that event and he fore his trial took place. The prop erty was sold at an enormous sacri fice, only 530,000 being- reali7ed so far ai ) can make out." "What became of that?" "T called upon Col. Franklin, who waa one of jour busband'H lawyers at that trial, and asked if he could give me any idea as to tlm disposition that had been made of the cash. Ho smiled rather significantly and said he could. 'Do you know,' he said, 'what. it. cost to olear John T. Wright?' "Of rourao not,' I answerwd. 'It. cost, a cold $25,000, aud ho had to havo tho money ready. Of course, he. went on, smilinir. 'I cunnot say anything about whore it went, nor need I account for the fact that cer tain oftioers, by dealing: very gingerly with the law and tho facts, made it comparatively cacy to bring in a verdict of acquittal,' 1 need hardly tell ynu, madam, what I think of such an admission coming from a member of my profession, Kranklin'tJ explanation, in short, is that llr. Wright had to sell oft' his property to raise ready money for tho pur pose of buying- an acquittal. But there urn some aapaets lo this case which will render further investiga tion nn my part neecHsary." "If my husband did not own this place and the plantations to which lie was eoustnntly making visits, why did he show so much activity in improviug and supervising them?" "You have struck, madam, a hard oue-vfinn tn auswei It may he he wa in the employ est rlke c-otupujiy that bought him ,,. , I, ,1 what B ennnot account for is the fact that ho shonld have spool nearly all thm' profits of hlj buirineis in improving and clearing up thos plantations itr Arlrnnnas and Mississippi t intcrnl' ascertaining if there t nny law for clniminp- the vplu 0f theso Improve! ments, and In this wa;, I -.rail pro'H ably make the rct estate company! show its hand. Muring my partial in-"' icstigation of your husband's paper 1 came across a memorandum uponi which yon eao perhaps throw sorawl light." "What is, it?" "This paper, as y..u will observe, Is n map or plot of H pieo of land. The. lawyer here handed Mrs Wrighft a paper, evidently of secret design, with a drawinir upon it "On the biel; of this p.uc" said he, "you will observe the memo no dum which f cannot understand ' Mrs. Wright, turned the. p.ipor over' and read tho following "See schedules in agreement w,t& Franklin." "Can yon te'l me what agroon;". t It is that Is referred to In ttds m.rr o randum?" asked the lawyer 'T have 110 Idea whatever," fa ii Mrs. Wright. "That, is strnnr-e. jn the 'lamina tion of your husband's papers 1 hove rome across se.veral references to pa pers which I cannot find, hint I something hidden in h s b'isine.-,-. Papers which I am satisfied aro in portant are miasmg. " "Ynu may not remember I' b'vt my husband was robbed by one of hm clerks a few months ago. The thief, who hua never been caugat, too scernl hundred dollars In monejj and he may hare accidents v disnr ranged or carried off some of the prx pers." "Or he may hare done o p-irpos ly. Am ong Mr. Wright's last corre sprndence I find an inaddrested end unfinished letter. It is dated a fm days before ho was killed. Let mil read it to you." Mr. Everett then read the follotrinjf fragment: ""Dec Is " 'T have misplaced m crpv of tv agreement. All danger is nn pat and it is time that we should ravv out the l.irinn of the cont-ac, and I i would like for you to appoint a day for a consultation. Kecnf ad 1 vices have satisfied me that th - Colo J ,-!do ' I "This fragment as you will see re j fers to a contract, or an agreement, 1 The memorandum a'o r"f-rs to am I agreement with Kr.inl lin wh'rh con- tained a schedule. It. seen'' reason ably ec.-tsin that this letter was 111 1 tended for Franklin, and that ther ' was some kind of nn ag-e mint in writing between them. VVr somo. reason Mr. Wright did not send tho. letter, and without knowing anything about the provisions nf the agre - 1 ment. I should commend his prudenco in not sending it. If he had lnt ' i copy of the contract he was pr rt- eally at the mercv of the other p.ir'v to it. and to notify that parti if th" fact would have been very poor judg ment. 1 have not gone throu., 1 Mr, Wright's correspondence vet, and t hope it will throw soni T rn bo dark places. T half scsp t that there is something of a mr-st mp r t.int character behind the i vfa ", and 1 hope I shall he able t 1 g & at it." M-. Wright. rnr-ihered ' 1 shortly after the killing o1 Bax'er she had signed some sir if a re.il date trim -for. which x'.e d -1 not un derstand, but which I i husi),'ir d had ' told her ws a meie matter f form. Mr. I'verett wn- of the njurinn that 'this riust have been the transfer to ! the Shelby teal Estate c.-nqMliv j "nd what do ;. e tH 1k f my brother's case?" asked M'H.m, whit h?d been an unmoved surhtor during, 1 the preceding conversation , "I can't give you an opinion on it '' 'said Mr. Everett. "You know I hav' 1 been in the o.fs on!v n 'lav, aid I have done no work on it at tl L have told Herbert to keep his mouli, shut. To-morrow we are to have an,1 ' interview, nnd he is to give m hts ' case." When Mr. Kverett reached his offico Irving Warde was wsitine for him. The lawyer hnd known Irving i since he vvn n b".v and hid always1 taken a warm personal interest in him. Whenever Irving got into any kind of a tangV he consulted Mr Ev-' erett. and it whs owing- to these con-, sulfations that he managed to wTitoil correctly about some abstruse leal topics and to avoid the shoals of libe'.. The lawver had the utmost confidence in the young man and knew thafn1 when he unbosomed himself franHv, but. privately, no public use wm Idl ever be made of his opinions "I came t see vou about thi Wright rase," said irvin? havo just learned that you will d-fend him. and 1 want to tell you what I know" The lawyer eiprcEsed his willing ness to listen. Irving prave hip an account of the striking ineiden. with, which the render ha already bnen made familiar. "In addition." he ssM "to the un explained feature of the cirrumstn tial evidence, you can readily estab lish the fnrt thnt the pistols wero changed. It is generally understood thnt Herbert Wright has a story tej tell which will plaoe a new phase oni the murder nnd possibly Implicate, some one else. So an attempt is made to poison him. 1 have announced my intention of working at the piurle, and have ninde some important dls roveries. Whnt is the result? I am lured into a den f crime and tumblo Into n carefully laid plan to assas sinate me. All these things prove to my mind. Mr. Everett, that there is a powerful organization at work, fc first the life of .lohn T. Wright stood in the way of its accomplishing somo great etui. He was put out of tho way. but not without some telltalo evidence being left behind. Herbert Wright having in some way comn across thrsc ciidences is marked for death: nnd the nttcmpt made on my life satisfies me that T was nn tho right track. Mr. Wright's death wns, I am convinced, but a part of somei' far-reaching enterprise, some great, undertaking that hud been planned with commercial nicety His death was not a matter of passion, bu business, and the interest that de manded it now wish to close Her bert's mouth, and nut a pcriou to my