IKSkS
,rf
?j
SECOND PART.
fOW FIRST
I SERIES OF SHORT STORIES
By J. Marsden Sutcliffe,
ENTITLED
THE EOMMOE OF AN INSURANCE OFFICE,
Beiso Passages ix the Experience of Me. AUGUSTUS "WILLIAM "WEBBER,
Formerly General Manager to the Universal Insurance Company.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
THK CROSS HALL TRAGEDY
n.
An inquest was held in due course on the
body ot Timothy Bradburn, -who had been
o foully slain, when a startling array o f
facts was presented tending to implicate
Frank Trestrail as the perpetrator of the
crime. It will be convenient to state the
circumstances sworn to before the Coroner
in as succinct a form as possible. They were
as follows:
That Francis Trestrail and Selina Gub
bins, growing alarmed at the non-appearance
of their master, when his usual time
for rising was long since past, entered his
room and found the body of Mr. Bradburn
lying half in and half out of bed, bearing
the marks of a terrible injury on the head,
from which the blood had flowed freely,
forming a large pool on the floor. This was
proved on the testimony of Selina Gubbins,
and the position In which the body was
found was subsequently corroborated by the
police, who also added that there were no
signs of any struggle. The bedclothes had
not been disturbed beyond being turned
back by the deceased, who, on being aroused
out of sleep, and discovering the presence ot
a midnight maurader in his room, appeared
to have attempted to rise for the purpose of
grappling with his assailant, when he was
immediately struck down.
That the bedroom of the deceased con
tained a safe in which he was accustomed
to deposit his securities and valuables.
That an attempt had been made by the use
of a crowbar to detach this safe from the
wall, with a view to carrying it off bodily,
bnt that possession had been obtained of the
old man's keys, which were found in the
lock, and the contents of the safe had been
removed. The safe was absolutely empty.
That there was found standing on a table
near the bedside a stiff glass of brandy and
water, which appeared to have been left,
barely tasted, and this had been handed over
to the medical men for analysis. Their re
port was that the brandy and water was
strongly impregnated with laudanum. It
was further shown that Mr. Bradburn was
not in the habit ot Ukiuc laudanum with
his brandy and water. The circumstance
was relied upon to indicate that the crim
inals (whoever they might be) had not con
templated murder as a part of their proceed
ings, but had relied upon the drugged
liquor insuring the old man's quietness
while tfcev peaceably obtained possession of
his hoarded wealth. Further, the circum
stance showed that either the criminals bad
accomplices within the house, or that the
crime had bsen perpeirated by some mem
ber of Mr. Timothy Bradburn's establish
ment. That, lying on the floor of the bedroom,
apparently dropped there by accident when
the spoil was removed from the safe, was
fount! a large diamond.
That the late Mr. Bradburn, shortly after
a iamous bank failure had expressed himself
on many occasions in very strong terms of
incredulity about the safety of banks and
public investments generally, and had made
no secret of the lact that he had turned his
securities into cash, and bought diamonds
with the proceeds, at which time also he
purchased the safe.
That the lock of the hall door at the front
had been violently broken, in a manner
evidently meant to suggest that entrance
had been effected from the outside, but that
a more careful examination of the tactics
pursued revealed that the lock had not been
burst open from the outside, but wrenched
off from within, as the impression left by a
crowbar on the jamb clearly showed. The
damage inflicted on the outside of the door
was, therefore, an after-thought, which had
been acted upon in order to start the police
on a false scent by raising a suspicion of
burglary.
That every other door and all the windows
were found securely fastened, and there
were no means of entry indicated except
such as were furnished "by the ball door in
front; showing that as the lock had been re
moved from within, and not by battering
the door on the outside, the crime must have
been committed by one of the inmates, or by
someone acting in collusion with those
within.
In this connection, the attempt that had
been made to drug the old man by mixing
laudanum with the beverage that he was in
the habit of taking when he retired to rest,
became of startling significance. The at
tempt to drag Mr. Bradburn had, undoubt
edly, been made by some person on the
premises. The inference seemed inevitable
the crime had been committed by the same
hand.
That the shirt of Francis Trestrail, which
he was wearing on the morning that the
murder was discovered, bad several large
spots of blood on the front, and a large
smear of blood on the sleeve of the left arm,
as though made in whiping off the stains
from a bloody thumb and forefinger, and
that the stain on the sleeve having been first
noticed by Sergeant "Williams, the stains on
the front had been voluntarily shown by the
prisoner himself.
That further search bad failed to detect
any other stains on Trestrail's clothing, and
that the clothing worn fcy the rest of the
household bad been subjected to the closest
scrutiny without discovering any evidence
to connect them with the crime.
That Trestrail professed himself unable to
account for the presence of these stains on
his shirt, but contented himself with af
firming his innocence.
That four large diamonds, similar in size
and luster to the one found on the floor of
the deceased man's bedroom, were discov
ered in Trestrail's waistcoat pocket.
That Trestrail was the first to appear in
response to John Gubbins's endeavors to
rouse the family; that such an event as to
find the whole household asleep on his arri
val at the farm had not occurred in John's
experience before, and that Miss Baddeley
had only been wakened with much difficulty
at nine o'clock in the morning, and when
seen by the doctor, on his arrival at 10
o'clock, she was found suffering, not only
from shocks to the svxtem, occasioned by
her indiscreet visit to Mr. Bradburn's room,
bnt from the effects of narcotic poison. It
was suggested, therefore, that the house
hold had been drugged, after the manner of
the abortive attempt made to drug Mr.
Bradburn.
That all attempts made so far to trace the
missing property had resulted in failure,
though every room and hiding place in
Cross Hall had been searched diligently.
In conducting their search the police stated
that they had not thought it right to neg
.lectthe premises of John Gubbins, but
nothing was found to implicate honest John
wiin tne crime.
Finally, tue medical testimony ran to .the
"effect that the deceased bad died from a frac
ture of the skull, which was horriblv shat-
ter?Vand that a crowbar, such as might
yjhari'bcen employed to dislodge the safe
THE
PUBLISHED.!
from the wall and to wrench off the lock
from the hall door, would be a likely weapon
to produce the wound. Further, that the
body had been examined by the doctor at
10 o'clock in the morning, and, from the ap
pearances presented, death must have taken
place 10 or 12 hours earlier. The family
usually retired to rest soon after 9; so that,
assuming the murder to have taken place at
12 midnight, the murderer had seven clear
hours at his disposal to secrete the proceeds
of the robbery and the crowbar, before the
arrival of Gubbins at 7 o'clock, the hour for
milking at that season of the year.
When these facts had been marshalled
before the jury, Trestrail, who wag present
in custody, was asked by the Coroner
whether he wished to give evidenee. Tres
trail declined.
"I know nothing about the murder or the
robbery," he said, '"so that it would bequite
uselcrs for me to be sworn. I admit that
the evidence makes the case look very black
against me, but before the jury say I am
guilty of this horrible deed, I will ask them
ns men of common sense whether they think
that if I had been artful enough to plan this
crime to drug everybody, to hide the
stolen property and the crowbar that has
been talked about, 1 should have been such
an utter fool as to have gone about wearing
a shirt stained with the dead man's blood,
and carry abont with me the missing prop
erty and even leaving behind in the band
basin in ray room such evidence of my sup
posed guilt? I have nothing more to say
than that I am innocent, and that after re
tiring to rest on the night ot the murder I
remember nothing until I was awaked by
hearing John Gubbins knocking at the
door."
"As you are not legally represented here
to-day," said the Coroner, "I may inform
you that the points you havr just mentioned
are not without interest to this inquiry, but
they are not evidence unless you make these
statements after coming to the table to be
sworn. More than that, I do not think it
consistent with my duty to say. I do not
wish in saying so much, to hold out any in
ducement to you to give evidence in con
nection with this case, or to dissuade you
from doing so, if you feel inclined to submit
to an examination. You can either give
evidence or reserve your defense."
"I will take the latter course, and reserve
my defense," the prisoner said.
Then the Coroner began to sum up the
case to the jury.
"We have at last," he said, "reached the
final stage of this preliminary inquiry.
That our late lamented friend) Mr. Timothy
Bradburn. is no more, is unhappily too
true. That he has not died from disease, or
by the judgment of God, or by his own
hand, is too clear. Ton are sworn to in
quire into the manner in which the de
ceased met his death, and after the medical
testimony, you will have no difficulty in
showing by your verdict that he has met his
death by a foul and horrible murder. So
much as this is clear.
"This is one of those cases in which the
element of mystery is conspicuous by its ab
sence. "We have not to search into hidden
causes to find 'a motive for this crime. That
motive was robbery, as the open safe, stand
ing empty of its contents, proves without
a shadow of doubt. It appears that the de
ceased gentleman had grown alarmed in
consequence of a well-known bank failure,
and doubting unreasonably, I must say
me Btrcuribv ui mi puuuc investments, naa
converted his securities into cash, which he
employed in the purchase of diamonds,
making no secret of what he had done. To
obtain possession of these diamonds and
they must have been of great value, since
Mr. Bradburn was in the enjoyment of an
excellent income and had lived frugally for
many years was the motive of some evil
disposed person or persons that ultimately
issued in this dreadful tragedy. It is in
the endeavor to ascertain who that person
or those persons were that our difficulties
begin. Such difficulties as are presented by
this case seem, however, to be more ap
parent than real.
"First of all we must regard it as quite
certain that when the robbery qf Mr. Brad
burn was resolved upon, murder formed no
part of the scheme. That is shown by the abor
tive attempt that was made to drug the poor
gentleman into unconsciousness, by mixing
laudanum with his nightly potion of brandy
and water. Unfortnuately for himself the
deceased did not drink of this decoction,
otherwise he would have been alive now,
and the robbery would have been committed
without interruption, and the criminal
would have stopped short of murder.
"But that was not to be. Whether Mr.
Bradburn having tasted of his glass found
something unpleasant in its flavor and laid
the glass down will probably never be
known. It is certain that he did not drink
it, and that as he was a light sleeDer he
was aroused by the noise made in the at
tempt to dislodge the safe from the wall,
and was then and there felled with some
heavy blunt instrument, which inflicted
such injuries that he must have almost im
mediately succumbed to their euect.
"Who wns the person who. sought to
deaden the senses of the victim by adminis
tering a strong dose of laudanum? It could
not have been administered by any person
outside Cross Hail. The evidence on this
point is very singular. We have heard
that Mr. Bradburn mixed his brandy and
water himself from a decanter that was
kept on the sideboard in the oak parlor,
and that this decanter was nearly empty;
glass, he handed the decanter to Selina
Gubbins, and instructed her to see that it was
washed before being re-filled, and that the
woman Gubbins washed the decanter out
immediately with her own hands. Either
the laudanum was already in the decanter
when Mr. Bradburn mixed his glass or it
was added afterward. That is a point which
it may be impossible to clear up, but it
must not be lost tight of that the first of
these alternatives is the more probable inas
much as the decanter lay within reach, and
was not kept under lock and key, while
there is no evidence to show that any person
could have obtained access to Mr. Brad
burn's grog after he had mixed it If
therefore the laudanum was poured into the
decanter, it is manifest that it could only
have been done by some inmate of the house
who was well acquainted with the deceased
man's habits.
"But that is not the whole of the evi
dence on this part of the case. We have
this household, contrary to the usual habit,
found fast asleep w. en Gubbins arrived to
commence his day's work at 7 o'clock. On
the fact'tbat Trestrail was the first to put in
an appearance, after the witness Gubbins
had remained knocking a long time, it is
not necessary to comment. Taken by itself,
there may be nothing in that circumstance,
but the jury would no donbt consider it
along with the rest of the evidence. What
was of more importance was, that Selina
Gnbbins, who had never overslept herself
Delore, had done to on this occasion, and
that Miss Baddeley was found at 10 o'clock
still suffering from the effects of a narcotic.
Could there be a doubt that an attempt had
been made to drug the whole household, and
that the narcotic bad taken least effect on
the prisoner, assuming even that he had
drnnk of it at nil?
"By whom was the narcotic administered?
Certainly nut by any persons outside the
PITTSBURG
PITTSBTJEG,
walls of the establishment. Selina Gub
bins had stated that she drew the supper
beer and left it on the table in the scullery
while she obeyed a call from her master.
While the beer, ready-drawn, was atanding
in the scullery, the opportunity was afforded
to add the drug. On what passed, however,
in those critical moments when Selina Gub
bins left the beer in the scullery and re
turned ior it, no evidence was forthcoming.
But could there be a doubt that such an op
portunity was not lost? The evidence on
other points suggested the conclusion at
which the jury ought to arrive. At any
rate, the attempt was made by some per
son to drug Mr. Bradburn, aad it looked
exceedingly likely that the same attempt
was made with better (success to drug the
other members of the household.
"Did Trestrail drink of this beer? Selina
Gubbins thought he did, but would not
swear it. There were difficulties about this
side of the case not cleared up with all the
conclusiveness that could be wished, but the
presence within the house of an associate
with the perpetrator of it, was made out
satisfactorily.
"Then to come to another part of the
case. Were there any indications that a
burglary had been attempted? This was
the opinion of the police in the first instance,
when they went round to the hall door at
the front, and saw it apparently battered in
from the outside. But a later examination
showed that the lock had been wrenched off
the door from within, and that the blows de
livered upon the door ontside had been de
livered with the object of diverting suspicion
from the inmates, and to suggest that it was
an ordinary case of burglary ending in
murder. But, thanks to the shrewdness
shown by the police, that attempt to send
them forth on a false scent was defeated. The
circle was thus narrowed, and the question
now for the jury to consider was this: Who
was that person lurking within, who, hav
ing completed the robbery, and left Mr.
Bradburn lying dead in a pool of blood, had
wrenched off the lock from the door, and
then, to give an appearance of a burglari
ous entry into Cross Hall, had battered the
door on the outside, having first drugged
the inmates lest they should be alarmed by
the noise. . ,
"Three persons only, besides the deceased,
were inmates of the house. Those were
MissBaddely, Selina Gubbins and Trestrail.
There was nothing to connect either of the
women with the crime, even if it were sup
posed that either or both were capable of
such a scheme, which manifested a skill and
ingenuity worty of a better deed. There
only remained Trestrail.
"What about Trestrail? The jury had
heard Evidence. No one knew who Trestrail
was, where he came from, or why he, a man
ol eduoation, and superior to his avowed
calling in life, was acting in the humble ca
pacity in which he was found as bailiff on
this small farm. Trestrail's unknown ante
cedents must not be allowed to press against
him unduly; but, taken consistently with the
stains of blood on his shirt, the diamonds,
part of the proceeds of the robbery, found
on his person, and the condition of the
hand basin in his bedroom, showing that
the murderer had washed his guilty hands
there, it must be admitted that there was a
case made out against Trestrail for him to
answer
"What was his answer? That he was
innocent, and that he could neither account
for the presence of the stains on his linen
nor the diamonds found in his pocket.
They had heard Trestrail's state
ment. That statement was not evidence, in
asmuch as he had declined to make it on
cath, but it would be expecting too much
from human nature to suppose that the jury
would be able to dismiss it entirely ironi
mind. It therefore became his (the Cor
oner's) duty to remind them that while
Trestrail undoubtedly made a strong point
in his favor by insisting upon the folly of
him, a supposed murderer, walking about
and assisting the police in their inquiries,
with palpable evidence connecting him with
the crime that he had had opportunity to
destroy, there was, notwithstanding, an
other side to the matter. There wa nothing
more common than for criminals to defeat
themselves by oversights like these, which
men of prudence found it difficult to account
for. It seemed, in fact, that an Almighty
Providence saw fit to overrule attempts to
defeat the ends of justice, by permitting
criminals to go so far and no further.
It certainly aid often occur that some
slight precaution was neglected by crimi
nals, who made themselves secure on other
points, which, if adopted, wouldhave insured
their safety, yet these oversights served to
defeat their schemes and to direct suspicion
to the guilty and bring forth deeds done in
the darkness into the light of dav.
"If the jury were satisfied that the evi
dence connecting Trestrail with this crime
was not to be relied upon they would say so
bv their verdict. But before they could do
that they mnst be satisfied that the evidence
that the crime had been committed by some
one within the house was untrustworthy,
and that the stained garments, togetherwith
the proceeds of the crime fonnd on Trestrail
and the evidence which showed that the
murderer had washed hisblood-stained hands
in the washing basin in the prisoner's room,
were all compatible with his innocence.
"In conclusion, it only remained to be
pointed out that the jury had all the evi
dence before them that it was possible to
procure. Only Miss Baddely was absent
from the inquiry, but her absence was ac
counted for by the doctor's testimony.
They had heard she had not recovered from
the shock of seeing a beloved uncle lying
murdered in his bed and was now lying
prostrated by fever. If Miss Baddely
were able to appear it was difficult to im
agine what light she could throw on the
deed, since the medical testimony was that
she had either received a very powerful
dose of the narcotic or that it had taken a
more powerful hold upon her system. The
jury must remember that they were not in
quiring into the manner in which the pro
ceeds of the robbery had been disposed of.
That was a minor question which they must
leave the police to trace out if they could.
Thev were inquiring into the cause f the
death ot Mr. Bradburn, with the view of
ascertaining first how he died, and next by
whose hand. The matter now rested in the
hands of the jury to declare by their ver
dict an answer to the two questions."
Doggett, who had followed the labored
summing up of the Coroner, felt that that
gentleman had twisted a rope round Frank
Trestrail's neck that would want a good
deal of untying; and he wondered much
how he was to accomplish the undertaking,
which in a rash moment he had given his
promise to Trestrail to attempt.
The room was cleared for a few tuoments
while the jury consulted together, but this
was more of a formality than a necessity.
The verdict, as everyone 'expected, went
against Frank Trestrail, who was committed
o take his trial at the ensuing Chester
Assizes for the murder of Timothy Brad
burn, of Cross Hall.
SATUEDAT, FEBRUARY , 2, 1889.
III.
It is one of the defects in the administra
tion of police, as ii exists in this country,
that whenpnee the mind of "the force" is
made up, and a theory of a crime has been
adopted, it banishes all other alternatives
from consideration, and goes steadily to
work, raking together fact after fact that
makes for the theory and neglecting every
circumstance that tends to its disproof. This
is the explanation of many an unsolved
mystery. If the records of crime were ran
sacked, it would be found in many instances
that the circumstances of the crime offered
explanations widely different from those
whiohwere "officially" entertained, and
that whilst the bloodhounds of the law were
engaged in following up a wrong clue the
real clue lay close at hand, with the actual
culprit in all probability living right under
the noses of the officers of justice and enjoy
ing'their discomfiture.
The Cheshire police had adopted Sergeant
Williams' theory of the Cross Hall tragedy,
and starling with the supposition of Frank
Trestrail's guilt, strained every nerve to
make the demonstration of his guilt 'com-
Elete. What might have happened if they
ad accepted Trestrail's denials as at least
suggesting the possibility of innocence, and
accepted that for their working hypothesis,
will be seen before the end of this story is
reached. It must, however, be admitted
that appearances told heavily against Tres
trail, and that it would require a larger
trust in human nature than the ordinary
member of the force possesses, to have run
away with the idea that Trestrail's denials
corresponded with some parts of his con
duct, and that he was, in truth, what he de
clared himself to be innocent alike of the
robbery and murder.
The chain of evidence which they wound
around Trestrail was so strong that it only
wanted one thing to make it complete.
That was to discover the hiding place of the
spoil and the deadly weapon that had been
used with such terrible effect on the night
of the double crime and trace the possession
of these to the acensed. On the assumption
of Trestrail's guilt it was possible, of course,
that the murderer had hidden or buried the
proceeds of the robbery somewhere in the
neighborhood, unless he had been acting in
collusion with some confederate who had
carried off the spoil to some place of safety.
The medical testimony had proved con
clusively that Mr. Bradburn had been mur
dered some time between 10 and 12 o'clock
at night. Put in at the furthest limit, that
the murder was committed, the contents of
the safe packed up, the murderer had
washed his hands in Trestrail's bedroom
and had broken away the lock within and
battered the door on the ontside by 1 o'clock.
John Gubbins did not arrive untill 7. That
left the culprit nearly six hours in which to
dispose of his booty.
There was many a dell and cave, grown
over with a thick growth of underwood,
within a three miles radius of Cross Hall,
known only to poachers and the like, that
would have to be discovered before the po
lice came on further traces of that night's
work. Such was their theory. Some of
these hiding places might never be discov
ered, unless the police could win the confi
dence of some poacher who would consent
to show them his haunts. But this was an
impracticable notion. The feud between
the officers of the law and the humbler dis
ciples of Nimrod in the county of Cheshire
was too deep to admit of reconciliation on
terms that would have the effect of placing
every poacher in time to come at the mercy
ot his natural enemies.
When all seaich proved unavailing.the
police fell back on the theory that Trestrail
might have had accomplices, and they ap
plied themselves to unearthing his past, in
the hope that this might lead to the discov
ery of someone who was confederate with
him in guilt But as Sergeant Williams
put it pathetically to Doggett, "When you
don't know where a man comes from, or now
he got here, whether he came on wings or
whether he walked, what are you to do?"
That Prank Trestrail had called at Cross
Hall in the summer and asked for work,
that it so happened Mr. Bradburn was hors
de combat and wanted the services of a man
who could be trusted, and had engaged
Trestrail, and that Trestrail understood his
business thoroughly, and was asked to stay
on after harvest, and did so stay, was all
that rewarded Sergeant Williams' inquiries.
And so the weeks wore on and Christmas
came and went and the date fixed' for the
winter Assizes at Chester drew on.
Trestrail lay in gaol at Chester, growing
more and more apathetic as the day when he
must be tried for his life approached. The
chaplain, who was a kind-hearted man.
strove in vain to administer consolation to
the wretched prisoner. In truth, the chap
lain's resourses were limited. The whole
county of Cheshire was ringing with the
terrible tragedy at Cross Hall, and so fierce
was the animus against the prisoner, that
there were some doubts whether he would re
ceive a fair trial. Although the chaplain
did not share in the prevailing animus, he
was convinced of Trestrail's guilt. What
consolation could he oSer, so situated, to a
man 'who would talk about nothing else,
when he did talk which was seldom but
about the crime laid to his charge, and who
never ceaied to reiterate his own innocence?
It was not the chaplain's cue to discuss the
crime' with Tfeslrail, but what was the poor
man to do when Trestrail would speak of
nothing else?
"I don't want sympathy," he would say,
"I want help. I don't want consolation, 1
want justice; justice, mark you, that doesn't
err; justice with her eyes open, swift to dis
cern between the innocent and the guilty,
and that does not leave the guilty to go free
wnue tne innocent is being detained behind
these grim walls."
At last Trestrail's fervid appeals for jus
tice made some impression on the cbap
ain's mind, and he ventured one day to ask
meekly:
"Have you no friends?"
"None," was the fierce reply; "not a
friend in the wide world. Why do you
ask?"
"Because if you have friends you ought
o communicate with them."
"To what purpose? "
"That they may assist you to break
through these toils, if so be that you are
innocent."
"Why, man, my friends wore mourning
for me five years ago. They believe me
dead, and my brother has the estate that
should be mine."
"How can that be?" asked the Chaplain."
"In this way. I got into trouble never
mind what it was about it was not lelonv
and I enlisted in the line. We were sent
ont to India, and the vessel went down.
There were only five of us saved. I had had
enough of the army, and took to the sea
with my four companions. I landed at
Liverpool nine months'ago, and thought of
DISPATCH.
making for home. I fonnd out that my
father was dead, and my younger brother
was reigning in his stead or rather in my
stead. The trouble that I had run away
from was still alive. I walked from Liver
pool intending to go through Chester to
Wales, careless whither I went.but meaning
to keep quiet until I could decide what to
do next. I called at Cross Hall on my way
to Chester, and the rest you know; or if you
do not know, the newspapers will tell you,
and a good deal more than is true."
"Then your name is not Trestrail?" the
chaplain asked.
"It is not. Ask- me no further. If I
tould see any hope of breaking through
chis terrible web that they have woven
round me, so that I could look my fellow
men in the face without shame, I would
reveal my situation. But ours is an old
name, and it shall pever be known that one
of our blood perished on the gallows."
From this determination the worthy
chaplain strove to move the man in whom
he began to feel a profound interest. But
Trestrail remained obdurate to every argu
ment, and nerved himself to meet his fate.
Finding him obstinate on this point, the
good man wrought a deed that deserves to
be recorded to his honor. He sat down pa
tiently to listen to Trestrail's brief account
of what he knew, which was little enough,
and he listened as one who believes every
word that he hears. Trestrail could only
tell the chaplain that he was the first to go to
rest on the night of Mr. Bradburn's murder,
as he was the first to rise in the morning.
He had worked hard that day and was very
tired. After supper he felt himself very
drowsy and went to bed. On reaching his
room, he felt so weary, that after disen
cumbering himself of his coat and waistcoat
he threw himself on the bed to sleep, and
remembered nothing more until the follow
ing morning, when he was aroused by John
Gubbins knocking at the door. When
Gnbbins drew his attention to the stains on
his shirt, he did not know what to make of
it, but he felt so heavy that he did not
trouble about the matter until the murder
was discovered. Then he grew too dazed to
think until the police came. As he
knew he was innocent he expected
that the arrival of the police
would be followed up by some
discovery that would explain the entire oc
currence; and when he accompanied Will
iams and Doggett to the hall door at the
front of the building, and saw the door
smashed in, he considered the crime was ex
plained, and thought nothing of the blood
stains on his person until his attention was
directed to the smear on his sleeve; "and
then," he said. "I opened my waistcoat and
showed them tne stains there."
"And what theory have you formed of
the crime?" the chaplain asked.
"I am tired of thinking out and weaving
theories." Trestrail answered. "I have
thought the matter over and over, until I
have nearly thought myself daft. When I
have pieceil a theory together I find it
broken to pieces as soon as I begin to ask,
'Who drugged the liquor?' If I could un
riddle that mystery the rest were easy. It
seems as if there could only be three persons
ior it: Selina Gubbins, Nancy Baddely, or
myself. I dnn't, Selina wouldn't, she was
too deeply attached to her old master,
Nancy I would sooner think I had done
everything myself, in my sleep, than believe
that a gay, light-hearted girl like Nancy
could have become the companion of thieves
and murderers. No," Trestrail resumed
after a paifte in which the chaplain sal
thinking, "I have thonght that the thieves
were hidden within there are plenty of
places in Cross Hall where men might hide
and that they come forth when all was
qniet and decamped after completing their
errand."
"But you forget the door," said the chap
lain. "No. I have not forgotten that. The lock
could have been wrenched off the door in
two minutes by a strong man armed with a
crowbar, and there may have been reasons
why they should take that means of exit."
"But surely there was the key to unlock
it?"
"Not sol" Trestrail answered. "The
door was seldom opened, except in summer
for the air, and when it was not in use there
was no key there."
"But you forget the marks on the out
side," said the chaplain. "If, as you say,
that means of exit was adopted for reasons
of their own, why should they have battered
it on the outside when they had forced it
from within? It burglars had secreted
themselves on the premises they would nat
urally seek to direct suspicion to the in
mates." "Who knows?" Trestrail answered
wearilv. "I have asked myself that ques
tion a hundred times. The only explanation
that I can think of is that it may have been
done in the mere wantonness of triumph."
"What I cannot understand," continued
Trestrail, after a few moments' silence, in
which both sat buried in thought, "is, how
they doctored the liquor. I can understand
them doctoring the brandy, but how they
could have doctored the beer in the few mo
ments that Selina was absent I canpot
fathom. One of them may have poured the
laudanum into the supper beer when Selina
left it lor a few minutes in the scullery."
The chaplain's income was small and his
wants many, but he went forth from this in
terview with the prisoner to instruct his to
licitor to put in an appearance in Trestrail's
behalf when his case came on for trial.
January came in cold and bleak even for
that inclement season of the year, and before
the month closed Frank Trestrail was lying
under sentence of death for the murder of
Timothy Bradburn, of Cross Hall.
The weak points in the case 'or the Crown
were belabored by a rising young barrister,
who defended Trestrail with relentless logic
and a fine scorn. He boldly started the
theory that his unfortunate client was the
victim of a vile conspiracy, and that on the
head of the conspirators would devolve not
only the guilt of the murder of Timothy
Bradburn. but the guilt of the blood of the
unhappy man then on trial for his life, if
the issue of that day s proceedings ended by
dooming him to a felon's death.
The line taken by the defense was that
Trestrail had himself partaken of the nox
ious draught that had been administered to
the rest ot the household at Cross Hall,
and, while thns incapacitated, the assassins
had diverted suspicion from themselves by
staining his linen and putting in his pocket
a paltry portion of the spoil. It was a
daring and ingenious theory, supported by
keen argument and powerful' eloquence.
But when the Judge began to sum up in
even, level tones, adopting the theory ot.the
prosecntion and treating the facts, sworn to
by the witnesses, in, a narrative and dra
matic style, there was probably no one in
court, and least of all Trestrail' himself, who
felt that the trial could have other than one
ending.
When the Judge had concluded his dra
matic narrative of the facts deposed to, he
turned to the theory set up for the defense,
and having complimented the counsel on
the skill with which he had condncted his
case, he proceeded to shatter the theory that
he had broached.
The defense, he said, could not be dis
missed as idle and impossible per se. But was
it sustained by any evidence? Yes, there was
one piece of evidence, and only one! It
was that the prisoner had'eonducted hlra-elf
with the air of an innocent man throughout
his association with the constables when the
investigation into the crime was proceeding,
and in conformity with that role he had
neglected to destroythe evidence that tended
to connect him directly with the crime.
Bnt was that solitary piece of evidence if
it were evidence, and not exquisite acting
to be placed in the scales against the case of
the prosecution, that had been prepared
with so much care, and the evidence upon
evidence tending to an opposite conclusion
that the jury had heard with their own ears?
Who were these mysterious assassins?
Where were they now? How had they man
aged to visit and leave the neighbor
hood without betraying their presence?
How had they contrived to enter this old
man's dwelling by stealth? What oppor
tunity could they have had without
the assistance of someone within to inter
fere With the murdered man's domestic af-
fairs preliminary to the crime by pouring
laudanum into the brandy decanter, pou 7
ing the same drug into the jug of supper
beer? On these points the defense was al
together silent It was a theory without
evidence to support, and in the judgment of
12 honest men it would receive the atten
tion it deserved, but not to the exclusion of
the clear and unfaltering testimony that
had been given by the witnesses for the
Crown.
And so Frank Trestrail was left for death,
and on the last day of the month he died on
the scaffold for the murder at Cross Hall.
There was one man in court when the
prisoner's counsel urged his plea who was
convinced by it. That man was the young
Officer Doggett.
Let us look now, for a moment, at Cross
Hall. The new master, William Bradburn,
who, in default of a will, succeeded to the
estate, had not yet taken up his abode there.
He had shrink from any steps toward
claiming his inheritance, until after Frank
Trestrail had paid forfeit with his life for
the deed that had been done in the darkness
at Cross Hall. To those who congratulated
him on succeeding to the estate, and con
doled with him on the serious diminution in
the fortune that came to him, owing to the
robbery, he gave ever the same repfv: "We
must wait abit It is too early for either
congratulation or condolence at present
Trestrail may speak, and if he confesses, he
may tell what he has done with the contents
of the safe; and when those are found, there
may be a will; and it may chance that my
name is not in it"
So William Bradburn resided still with"
his mother in their little cottage a mile
away from Cross Hall. He continued to act
as bailiff on the estate where hewas em
ployed, and generally conducted himself in
an exemplary manner that sent him up
many degrees higher in popular estimation;
and already his position stood high, as a
steady, well-conducted young fellow, unas
suming in his manners, and with a good
knowledge of his craft.
But Trestrail not only died without mak
ing any confession of guilt, but affirming his
innocence to the last. Before being led
forth for execution, he had extorted a
promise from the chaplain that he would lay
a dying man's commands on Doggett, and
bid him remember his promise.
After Trestail'8 execution, there was no
reason why William Bradburn should
hesitate to take up the position of hisuncle's
heir. There was ho will to be discovered.
If any will had been made it had been re
moved with the other contents of the safe.
But the fact that Timothy Bradburn bad
not consulted any lawyer with regard to his
testamentary intentions was held to negative
the idea that a will was in existence.
Timothy Bradburn had in fact died intestate,
and William Bradburn had no difficulty in
obtaining letters of administration, bv
which he became possessed of the heritage of
his fathers.
The moment long looked for by Nancy
Baddely, with feeling of increasing dread
and dismay, drew near, when William
Bradburn would be installed as master at
Cross Hall.
For many weeks since she fell down in a
dead swoon in the bedroom of her uncle,
after gazing on the awful sight that smote
on her bewildered vision, Nancy's life had
hung on a thread. Nothing but her strong
constitution enabled her, to pull through
the wearisome weeks of illness that fol
lowed. The crisis of the fever passed, leav
ing her a very infant for sheer helpless
weakness, and long after the fever bad left
her she remained in the same condition of
utter lassitude, completely baffling the skill
of the doctor who attended her.
Week after week passed by, during
which William Bradburn proved himself
an assiduous lover by the constancy of his
inquiries. Still Nancy grew no stronger.
The subjeefbf the Tragedy as Cross Hall
was strictly tabooed in her presence by the
doctor's solemn instructions. Nancy lying
in her inert state, was too feeble to show a
passing interest in the daily events of the
farm. She rarely spoke, except in answer
to some question, and when she did speak,
she did not refer to her uncle's death, and
no intelligence of what was passing was
communicated to her. She had reasons ot
her own for not wishing to live, and it was
this indisposition on her part to make any
effort to rally that so sorely baffled the
physician.
Frank Trestrail was lying under sentence
of death before Nancy was able to sit up for
a few hours; for at length her strong con
stitution prevailed over her mental inertia.
She looked a poor shadow of her former
self. Gone were the rounded outlines of her
cheeks and the bright carnation flash! Her
face was pale and wan. Gone was the light
of roguish laughter from hereyes! Her fine
form had wasted away. It was a ghost of
the former Nancy that drew tears from the
eyes of Selina Gubbin
When Nancy was able to sit up for a
few hours in a chair, softly cushioned by
Selina's kindly hands, Selina could not
keep back her tears as she beheld the havoc
that the long illness had wronght upon her.
The good soul suggested that her nursling
would be better if she would pluck up her
spirits and go down stairs; but Nancy's
eyes filled, and she motioned with her hand
to Selina to desist
At last there came a day when Nancy was
told everything that had happened since the
day, when horrified by the sight of her
murdered uncle, she fell down in a swoon.
Nancy burst into tears when she learned
that Frank Trestrail had forfeited his life
for the crime, and that William Bradburn
was now master at Cross Hall. She wailed
forth, ''Oh! I wish I were dead too! Why
didn't I die!"
Selina looked on in amazement at this
outburst of sorrow. Selina kuew not that
Nancy was about to become a mother, and
that Nancy's bosom held the secret that the
father of Her unborn babe was the murderer
of Timothy Bradburn!
To he concluded next Saturday.'
CLIMBING PISHES.
The Cnrlou. ntid Ingenious Wny Speckled
Tront Ascend Western btreamt.
Philadelphia Tiraes.l
No doubt you all know that trout are
found in streams away up the sides of
mountains, but did you ever stop and won
der how they got there? Mr. Holder tells
a story in hit latest book which gives us
this information: In the village I men
tioned the climbing of the hill by the fish to
a friend who owned a mill on a mountain
stream, and he told me that the ascent was
a puzzle to him until one day his boy
called him out to the'dam, where the riddle
was solved.
The dam was nearly four feet high and
to relieve the stream several auger holes
had been bored in it, allowing, a small
stream of water to jet forcibly out arid go
splashing down into the clear pool below.
As he approached the spot and looked
through the bushes several large sized trout
were seen moving about under the mimiu
fall, evidently in great excitement and dart
ing into it as if enjoying the splash and roar
of the water. Suddenly one of the fish
made a quick rush that sent it up the fall
ing stream so that it almos; gained the top,
but by an unlucky turn it was caught and
thrown back into the pool, where it darted
away very much startled.
Soon another made the attempt, darting
at it like the first, and then rapidly swim
ming up the fall, but only to meet the fate
of its predecessors. This was tried a number
of times, until finally a trout larger than
the others made a dash, mounted the stream
and entered the round hole.
Here, then, was the explanation. The
trout climbed the mountain by swimming
up the falls, darting up the foaming masses
and adopting every expedient to accomplish
their journey. For these fish deposit their
eegs high up Btream, so that the young fry,
when hatched, may not be disturbed by pre
datory fish aud other foes living in the
lower waters.
GAIL HAMILTON &bZ2Ji
the contributor to the Sundav itsue of Tns
Dispatch. Watch for azd rtad terclaer
ladre in to-morrov'i iuue.
i i
PAGES 9 TO 2."T
r"
SIGNIFICANT DEEAMS
The Explanations Offered by Science
of Some Carious Phenomena.
AGONIZING DEEAMS EXPLAINED.
Hour Time and Space ia Annihilated Dur
ing Dreamy Sleep
ODD WAEXINGS OP PHYSICAL AILMUKTS
From time immemorial dreams have been
the wonderland of waking hours. Hope
and fear have wrought them into their own
fabric. Superstition has seized upon them
and worked up a curious ritual of "dreams
that go by contraries," of "dreams of the
morning light," of dreams with significances,
some of which seem natural enough, while
to a few of those apparently most arbitrary
science herself has offered a certain amount
of explanation.
Dreaming is an experience which may be
called common to humanity, though it
varies so widely in different individuals
that in a few exceptional cases it is abso
lutely unknown. Certainly dreams are
often made of materials very inadequate to
their finished results. Abercrombie relates
that during an alarm of a French invasion
in Edinburgh ft had been arranged that the
first intimation of the enemy's approach
was to be the firing of a gun from tha
castle. A certain gentleman, a zealous vol
unteer, retired to bed, dreamed that he
heard this gun, went put, and witnessed and
joined in the proceedings of the troops. At
this jdncture he was awakened by his wife
in a great fright, she having had a similar '
dream. It was ascertained that the falling
of a pair of tongs in an upper chamber was
the common origin of the dream in two
minds already predisposed to the same lino
of fancy.
Another instance is given of a person
sleeping in a room where a flat-iron was al
lowed to scorch a woolen garment The
sleeper dreamed that the house was burned
down, and that she could not escape because
all her clothes were destroyed!
A HOT WATER TEAGEDY.
A gentleman, who, before retiring to sleep,
had been reading a book ot picturesque
travels, dreamed that he was journeying
across the Rocky Mountains. He was at
tacked by two Mexicans, and atter a gallant
tight was taken prisoner. His captors believed
him to be the possessor of secret treasure, and
in nraer to mate mm reveal its whereabouts
put him to the torture of stripping his feet and
holding them to a Are. Waking with a cry of
agony lie discovered that his hot-water bottle
had escaped from its flannel swathiogs and
that the undue heat of his toes had conjured
up alf the rest of the tragic story. .
A French physiologist caused manv curious
experiments to be made on himself during
sleep. These experiments took the form of
trifling physical sensations, which nroduced al
most invariably a wonderfully exaggerated
effect on the sleeping mind. Thus a feather
tickling the lips was converted Into the horri
ble punishment of a mask of pitch being ap
Elied to the face. A bottle of eau de Cologne
eld to his nose sent him Into a dream of a per
fumer's shop in Cairo. A pinch on the neck
recalled the days of his boyhood and the old
family physician applying a blister to that re
gion. Ono authority declares that In a dream he
made a voyage to India, spending several days
in Calcutta, continued bis journey to Egypt,
visited the cataract and pyramids and held
confidential interviews with Mohammed All,
Cleopatra and Saladln, the whole journey ap
parently occuoying several months; but he had
slept only an hour.
DISEASE FORESHADOWED.
Scientific writers admit that there is a type of
dream in which coming physical disease or dis
aster is shadowed forth some bodilrsnsation,
perhaps too slight to be noticed by the subject
when awake, yet contriving to impress itself fn
some symbolic form on the sleeping mind. The
more striking instances of this sort mar servo
to explain how, in some lesser degree, certain
symbols are likely to attach themselves to cer
tain painfnl sensations or conditions, until at
last they are finally accepted as mysterious
presages of evil.
Conrad Gesner, the em'nent naturalist,
dreamed that he was bitten on the left side by
a venomous serpent. In a abort time a severe
carbuncle appeared on the very spot, terminat
ing his life in the space of three day. An
other scientific man, who dreamed of being.
Bitten by a black cat, also suffered in the samei
way.
A learned Jesuit, author of many erndita
theological works, saw, one night 111 his sleep,
a mar. laving his hand upon his chest, who an
nounced to him that he would soon die. Ho
was tnen in perfect health, bnt was shortly car
ried off by a pulmonary disorder.
A lady who had a dream in which she sawaU
objects dim and obscured by a mist, was soon
after attacked by a disease of the eye, of which,
that was a symptom.
A dream of great fire, in which the sleeper
himself seemed to be consumed, was followed
soon after by an attack of inflammation of the
brain. Apoplexy, epilepsy and similar diseases
are often preceded by frightful dreams, in
which the sleeper feels hi self scalped by InJ
dlans, thrown over precipices or tarn to pieces
by wild beasts. Such
Miserable nights
So fall of fearful dreams, of ugly sights! ,
should be treated as "warnings" in the truest
sense of that word is sent by nature to fore
tell impending evils which skill and wisdom
may be able to avert.
Thus, if science has dispelled snch fold wives'
fables as that to dream of a marriage signified
a death, or to dream of a cat meant to meet a
foe. She has certainly added mysteries and
terrors of her own to the subject. One learned
man has actually tried to systematize these
subtile premonitions to make them morn
available for use and guidance. In his opinion
"Lively dreams are in general a sign of the
excitement of nervous action.
"Soft dreams are a sign of slight irritation of
the head; often In nervous fevers announcing
the approach of a favorable crisis.
"Frightful dreams are a sign of determina
tion of blood to the head.
"Dreams about blood and red objects are
signs ot Inflammatory conditions.
"Dreams of distorted forms are frequently a
sign of obstructions and diseases of the liver.
"Dreams in which the patient imagines tor
ture or injury of any limb indicate disease in
that limb.
"Dreams about death often precede apoplexy,
which is connected with determination of
blood to the head."
HER TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE.
An educated and very sensible lady had been
through a rather fatiguing social day. On re
tiring to bed she soon tell asleep and presently
dreamed that an old man clothed in black ap
proached her. holding out an iron crown appar
ently of enormous weight. As be drew near she
recognized the features of her father, who had
been dead for many years. He addressed her
thus: "My daughter, during my lifetime I was
forced to wear this crown. Death relieved me
of the burden, but it now descends to von."
He placed It on her head and gradually disap
peared. Immediately she felt a weight and
tightness abont her brow. Fnrther. to add
to her torture, the rim of the crown was
studded on the Inside with sharp points, which
wounded her forehead so that blood ran down
her face. She awoke, agitated and excited, but
otherwise quite well, and fonnd that she had
been asleep little more than half an hour. On
falling asleep again the dream was repeated,
with the additional circumstance- that the ap-
Earltlon of her lather now reproached her for
er unwillingness to wear the crown. When she
awoke again she found she had been asleep for .
three hours. Again she returned to bed, and
the dream was repeated in broad daylight.
She now arose and made her toilet. Going
over the circumstances of her dream, she
recollected having heard her father say that
during bis youth, spent in a distant land, he
had been subject to epileptic convulsions con
sequent on an accident, and that be had been
enred by tbe operation of trephining.
On a sister entering her room she proceeded
to narrate the picturesque vision which he bad,
naturally, made such an Impression on ber
memory. While thus engaged she suddenly
gave a shriek, became unconscious and fell
upon the floor fn true epileptic convulsions,
though tbe attack was but a alight one. A
week afterward the dream was repeated, and
Has followed by another attack. Under suit
able treatment both dream and attack ceased
to recur. The Argon.
The Emreror'i Autograph.
Washington Critic;
We print for the first time the private
autograph of the Emperor of Germany, to
wit:
Bis
"William X Hohenzollera.
marck
s
'.
Me.ia2&H&:
.-1 '.
J . J .' 1
StjHRllBfi'U