THE TIMES, NEW BLOOM FIELD, PA. JULY 27. 1880.
THE STRANGE CLUE.
By en Ex-Dotecttve.
' C'O.N'CJATDEJ).
IT was a plcturt representing Hie find
ing of old Trnpbols, the miser, In the
Fortune! of Nigel, The heavy dull
room was lighted only by, the candle
which tho young tioblemnu held above
his head 5 and It appeared to be excel
lently painted. But what drew iny
attention was, that as a part of the
confusion In which the struggle between
he old man and his murderers bad
placed the, room, the washstand had
been upset, hud fallen Into the fireplace,
and the ewer had rolled Into the grate,
where It was shown as unbroken,
althbugh the water was flooding the
hoards afl exactly as I had seen the
same things five years before so exact
ly, that I wbb perfectly sure no chance
coincidence had produced the resem
blance, but that whoever had painted
this picture had seen the room where
Mies Parkway was murdered, and had
had the features of the scene stamped on
his memory. Who so likely to have the
scene so stamped, I instantly thought,
as the murderer himself? As this rush
ed on my mind, I could not repress an
exclamatlon.although pretty well guard
ed as a rule. The only other person In
the room heard me, and came to see
what had excited me so strongly. Ap
parently, he was disappointed, for . lie
looked from the picture to his catalogue,
then to the picture again, then at me,
-back to his catalogue, aud thou went
away with a discontented grunt. I did
not move, however, but remained quite
absorbed In tho study of this mysterious
painting', and the more I looked the
more convinced I became that It was
copied from the scene of Miss Parkway's
murder. There were several little
joints which I had not at first noticed,
aud In fact had quite forgotten ; such as
the position of the fire-irons, the direc
tion in which the water had run, &o.,
-which were all faithfully shown in the
picture. To be brief, I had made up my
mind before I left the room that I had
at last found the real clue to the Combe
stead murder.
The artist's name was Wyndham;
and I determined that I would very
soon, as a natural beginning, make
some inquiries about this Mr. Wynd
ham ; aud, indeed, I began before I left
the exhibition. I engaged the hall
keeper to have a glass with me at the
nearest tavern, and when I got fully
into conversation with him,, asked care
lessly where Mr. Wyndham lived, as I
thought I had known him many years
-ago, giving a description of some entire
ly imaginary person. The hall-keeper
said no : " No. that was not the sort of
man at all. Mr. Wyndham was" (here
he described him ;) "and he doesn't live
at the west end of London, as you said,
Sir, but at a place in Essex, not very far
from Colchester." He knew where he
lived, because he had' several times
posted letters to him at " The Mount."
This was all that I got from the hall-
keeper, but It was as much as I
wanted.
I am not greatly in the habit of taking
other people into my confidence, but
this was altogether an exceptional case ;
so, after a little reflection, I went
straight to the address John Lytherly
had given me, and told him what I had
seen. He of course' introduced me to
his wife, a very pretty dark-eyed young
woman ; and when I had told all they
exchanged looks less of surprise than
triumph. " Oh, it is coming all right I"
he exclaimed. " I knew the murder
would cry out some day. And now you
will have a little more respect for Indian
fortune-tellers."
" I am not quite sure about that," I
said. " But don't you go making so
certain that we are going to find out
anything, Mr. Lytherly ; this may be
only an accidental resemblance." Be
cause, as you may suppose, I had not
told them how confident I . felt in my
own mind.
"Accidental 1 Nonsense 1" was all he
said to that ; . and then he asked me
what was the first step I proposed . to
take. - J told him that I thought we
ought to go down to this village and see
if we could learn anything suspicious
about Mr. Wyndham ; and by my old
detective habits, and the way in w hich
- the officers about would be sure to help
me, I thought we might reckon on
finding out wnat was wanted, lie was
delighted, and asked when , we should
start, and when I said that very night,
he was more delighted still.
It is always my rule to strike the iron
while it's hot, and nothing could possi
bly , be got by waiting now: so I had
made up my mind just to run home,
get a few things in my bag, and go
down by the ten ; o'clock train. My
wife, you may be sure, was very much
astonished ; but, as I expected she would
be, was just as confident in the murder
being found out as young Lytherly him
self. I Of course the latter 1 was ready.
And we were put down at our destina
tion about twelve o'clock ; too late for
anything that bight, but still we were
on the spot to begin the first thing in
the morning. Aud accordingly directly
after breakfast we began. John Lyther
ly would have begun before breakfast,
but as an old hand I knew better than
that ; because the party we were after,
allowing he was the right party, after ft
five years' rest,' wasn't going to bolt
now; so It was no case for hurrying
and driving. Well, soon after break
fast, I sauntered Into the bar, and began
talking with the landlord, who was an
elderly sort of party about my age, and
who bragged as if it were a thing to be
proud of before we had talked three
mlnutes( that he had lived, ! man and
boy, in Chuinply, which was the name
of the lively place, for more than fifty
years.
Then you're Just the fellow for me,"
I thought; and then began talking of
an old master of mine who was now
living somewhere down in this nelguor-
hood, by the name of Wyndham.
"Wyndham? Let me see; Wynd
ham 1" says the landlord, putting on
his wisest look. "No; I can't remem
ber any party of that name.. There's
Wilkinson and Wiggins; . perhaps it's
oneof them." , , ,
I told him they would hot do ; and
then added that the party I meant was
something of an artist, painted pictures
partly for pleasure and partly for profit.
This was only a guess of mine, but it
was a pretty safe one. , , ,
Oh t there's lots of them ; about
here I" exclaims the old boy, grinning
very much as if it was a capital idea.
" There's Mr. De Lancy Chorkle, Miss
Belvedera Smith, Mrs. Galloon Whyte,
Mr. Hardy Canute, and a lot more ; but
I don't think there's a Wyndham."
Ah, well, it don't matter," I said,
very carelessly still ; ' I may be mistak
en. I heard, however, he lived down
here at a place called the Mount. Is
there such a place ?"
"Is there such a place!" Bays the
landlord, with as much contempt In his
voice as if I ought to be ashamed of
myself for not knowing. "Yes, there
is; and a first-rate gentleman artist
lives there too; but his name ain't
Wyndham; his name happens to be
Parkway, Sir, Mr. Philip Parkway,
though I have heard that he Is too
proud to paint uuder his own name."
" I think, landlord," I said, "that I'll
have just three-penn'orth of brandy
cold;" which I took, and left him with
out another word, for when I heard this
name I felt struck of a heap, because it
made a guess into a certainty, though in
a way I had never dreamt of. I couldn't
even ko back to Lytherly for a little
while ; it was all so wonderful ; and I
was so angry with myself for never
havlnir thought at the time that the
man who, of all others in the world,
had the most to gain by the poor worn
an's death, might have been the one
who killed her. In the bitterness of my
feeling I could not help saying that any
one but a detective would have pounced
upon this fellow at the first. However,
I got over the vexation, and went back
to Lytherly to tell him my news. We
were each very confident tbat we had
the right scent now ; but yet it was not
easy to see what we were to do. I could
not very well apply for a warrant
against a man because he had painted a
picture; and so we walked and talked
until we could think of nothing better
than going down to Combes tead, and
with our fresh information to help us.
seelmr if we could not rake up some
thing there. , !
We came to the conclusion just as we
reached a toll-gate, close by which stood
a little house, which appeared to be the
beer shop, baker's, post office, and
grocer's for tne neignDornooa. inoi
much of a neighborhood, by the bye,
for, excepting a few gentlemen's seats,
there was hardly another house within
sight. One small but comfortable-look
ing residence, we were informed by the
chatty old lady who owned the "store,"
was the Mount, where Mr. Parkway
lived. He was a very retired, silent Bort
of a gentleman, she said, and people
thought his wife didn't have the hap
piest of lives with him. He had been
married for a few years, the old lady
went on ; Boon after a relation had died,
and left him a good bit of money,
Before tbat he only rented apartments
in the village; but then he married
Miss Dellar, who was an orphan, with a
good bit of money too, but quite a girl
to htm, and they went to live at the
Mount. ' At this point the old lady
broke suddenly off, and said : " Here
they are!" colngtothe door immedi
ately, and dropping her very best court
esy. We followed her into the little
porch ; and there, sure enough, was a
large carriage, drawn by one horse, and
in it sat a gloomy, dark man, whom I
had no difficulty in recognizing, and by
his side a slight, very pretty, but care-
wore-looklng young woman.' Mr. Park,
way looked coldly enough at us, and we
carelessly returned bis glance, .for we
were both so much changed since the
Combes tead days, that there' was' little
fear of his remembering us. "
It seemed that they had called about a
servant, which the post office keeper
was to have recommended, and Mrs.
Parkway alighted from the carriage to
write some memorandum on the busi
ness. Parkway had never spoken, and
I thought I could see in his harsh
features traces of anxiety and remorse.
Lytherly had followed Mrs. Parkway
into the shop, and aa I could see from
where I stood, on the lady asking for a
pen, be drew his gold pencil-case from
bis pocket, and offered it, as probably
containing a better implement than any
the post office could afford. The lady
stared, looked a little Btartled, but after
a moment's hesitation accepted it with a
very sweet smile. While Mrs. Parkway
was engaged in writing her letter,
Lytherly stood by her side, and saunter
ed out after her. I had been waiting in
the porch, watching her husband, whose
face was so familiar to me that I half
expected to see a . look of recognition
come Into his eyes ; but nothing of the
sort happened. Lytherly watched them
drive oir, then turning suddenly round,
exclaimed : " It's as good as over, Itob
Insonl We've got them "
Why, what Is there afresh V" I
asked.
" Just sufficient to hang the, sooun-
drel," said Lytherly. " You remember,
of course, that among other things
which were stolen on the night of the
murder was a curious locket which poor
Miss Parkway used to wear, and that
some fragments of the chain were after
ward found."
I remembered this very well, and told
him so.
" Very good,!' he continued, " I gave
that locket and chain to the poor old
girl ; it was the only valuable I possess
ed in the world ; and Mrs. Parkway has
the central carbuncle in her brooch
now."
" Nonsense !" I exclaimed, not know-
inir exactly what I dare say at the
moment.
"It Is a fact," he said, "and 1 can
swear to It. What 1b more to the point,
perhaps, is that although the Btone Is
In a strange setting, and no one but
myself, probably, could recognize it, yet
I can identify it. On the one side are
my initials cut in almost microscopical
characters. If they are there, that set
ties it ; if they are not, put me down as
an Imnoster. and fix the murder on me
if you like."
There was a good deal more said after
this, but the upshot of it was that we
went over to Colchester, and laid the
matter before the authorities; when
after a little hesitation, a warrant was
granted for the apprehension of Philip
Parkway ; and two officers, accompanied
bv Lytherly and myself, went over to
execute it.
It was after nightfall when we arrived
at the Mount and on knocking at the
door, we found that Mr. Parkway was
in ; but his wife was out, having gone
out, (so the elderly woman that was
called by the foot boy informed us,) to
play the harmonium at the weekly
rehearsal of the village choir. "About
the only amusement she has, poor
thing," the woman muttered, and she
seemed in a very bad temper about
something. We said we wanted to see
her master, and that she need not an
nounce us. And, as I live, I believe
tbat woman guessed' directly who we
were, and what we had come for. At
any rate quite a glow of triumph came
into her face, and she pointed to a door
nearly opposite to where we stood. We
opened it, and found ourselves in a sort
of large study, where, seated at a table,
reading was the man we wanted. He
looked up in surprise as we entered, and
the light falling strongly on his face,
while all the rest of the room was in
darkness, I thought I saw a paleness
come and go on his gloomy features ;
but that might have been fancy.
" What is your business V" he began ;
but Mr. Banes, the chief constable cut
him short.
"I am sorry to inform you, Mr.
Parkway," he said, "that I hold a war
rant for your arrest, and you must con
sider yourself in custody."
Parkway stared at him, mechanically
closed the book he was reading, and
said:
"On what charge, Sirr""
"For murder," says Banes; and then
I was sure Parkway turned very white,
" For the murder of Miss Parkway, at
Combestead, In 180-." '
Parkway looked from one to the other
of us for a few seconds without speak,
lng ; at last his eyes settled for an in
stant on Lytherly; then turning to
Banes, he said, pointing straight at
Lytherly, " It was that man, I have no
doubt, who set you on."
" You had better not say anything,
Sir," said the chief constable, "but just
give your servants what orders you
wish, and come with us as we cannot
stop." ' ' '.' '' ':
" I dare say It was he," continued
Parkway, not answering Mr. Banes, but
seeming to go with his owb ' thoughts.
" I fancied he was dead, for what I took
to be his ghost has been seen ' in my
room every nlgut for this month.
Where is my wife?"
We told him she was not at home,
' and that we were anxious to spare her
as far as possible ; but he gave such a
bitter smile and said : " Bhe' will cer
tainly be vexed to have had a husband
that was hanged ; but she will be glad
to be a widow on any terms." 1 , ' ;
We didn't want to hear any more of
this, so got him away ; not without
some little trouble though ; aud if there
had not been so many of us, we would
have had a scene; as It was we were
obliged to handcuff him.
The servants, four of them, were
naturally alarmed, and were in the hal
when we went out Mr. Parkway gave
a few directions, and the elderly
woman grinned quite spitefully at
him. , .
" Don't insult the man, now he's
down," I said in a whisper, while Park
way and the two officers got into the
fly. Lytherly and I were to ride outside
and drive. '
Insult him I the wretch 1" she said;
" You don't mean to suppose he has
any feelings to hurt. He has been try
ing to drive my poor young mistress,
that I nursed when a baby, into her
grave, and he would have done it if I
had not been here. The only excuse is,
he Is, and always has been, a dangerous
lunatic."
We drove off, and I saw no more of
her, and never heard how Mrs. Parkway
took the intelligence.
The lady was present at the prelimin
ary examination ; and to her great sur
prise her carbuncle brooch was taken
from her and used against her husband.
This examination was on the next
morning, and we obtained more evi
dence than we had at first expected.
Not only was the carbuncle marked as
Lytherly had Bald it would be, but I
had been up to the station, being unable
to shake off old habits, and had made
some inquiries there. Strangely enough,
the man who was head-porter now had
been head-porter five years ago (it is a
very sensible way railroads have of
keeping a good man In the same posi
tion always ; promotion generally upsets
and confuses things,) and be was able,
by secondary facts, to fix the dates and
to show that not only did Mr. Parkway
go to Combestead for the funeral, but
that he went to London and back just
before; from London, of course, he
could easily set to Combestead, and his
absence left him about time to do so,
We proposed then to have a remand and
set evidence from Combestead, but it
was not needed. .
Parkway had been expecting this
blow for years, and always kept some
deadly . poison in the hollow of his
watch-seal. , This he took on the night
after his examination, and was found
dead in his cell by the officer who went
the rounds. He first wrote a very long
and minute confession, or rather justi
Beat Ion, showing that his motive bad
been to prevent his cousin's marriage
with Lytherly, whom he seemed to hate
very much, although the young man
had never harmed him. He said he
went expressly to Combestead to get
possession of the money his misguided
relative had drawn, and to kill her. He
felt that if he left her alive she would
carry out uer scandalous pian, ana
therefore it was his duty to kill her ; so
in doing this he felt he had committed
no crime, but had only been an instru
A. I it C T . V.A n,n
as the housekeeper declared,, a danger
ous lunatic.
However, the reward of JE100 had
never been withdrawn, and I got it ; it
was paid out of Parker's estate, too,
which was about the strangest go I ever
heard of. Lytherly and his wife are
great friends with Mrs. Robinson and
mvself: indeed, we have usually one of
their young ones staying with us, when
we haven't one or two from my married
daughter. Mrs. Parkway, 1 heard, sold
off at the Mount, and went away ; and
some time after I saw by the papers that
she was married to some one else. I
hope she made a better match the second
time. . ; . '
On the whole, on looking back 1 am
inclined to think that of all the clues by
which I ever found anybody out, this
was really the strangest.
History and Strawberry Packing.
It Is a curious fact that the packing of
strawberries, . raspberries and similar
fruits on the system of putting all the
choicest fruit on the top and the spoilt
fruit underneath is one of honorable
antiquity, for it was alluded to in the
form of a political apologue by Queen
Elizabeth about three centuries ago.
Speaking of her Ministers, this good
queen said : " When first chosen by tne
all goes well, for they do put forth their
best virtues like the large strawberries
in market-baskets, but by and by small
vices and faults appear in them like the
Utile fruits hidden beneath the big."
S3-w Dr. Llndsey's Blood Searcher'
cured my son' of erysipelas." Mrs. E.
Bmeltzer, Larimer, Pa. '
jypSSER & ALLEN
CENTRAL STORE
NEWPORT, PENN'A.
Now offer the ublb
A BARB AND ELEGANT ASSORTMENT OP
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Consisting at all shades suitable for the season
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ANI "
Mourning Goods
A SPECIALITY. '
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AN ENDLESS SELECTION OF PRINTS'
We sell and do keep good quality of
SUGARS, COFFEES & SYRUPS
And everything under the bead of
GROCERIES !
Machine needles
and oil for all makes
Machines.
of
To be convinced that our goods are
CHEAP AS THE CHEAPEST,
19 TO CALL AND EXAMINE STOCK.
r No trouble to show goods.
Don't forget the
CENTRAL STORE,
Newport, Perry County, Pa.
Tie Blooil is tie Life.
LIXDSEY'H BL00O SEARCHER
Is raoldlv aecltilrlne a national renntntlnn fnr
the cure of .., . ...,,..;
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C W. Llncott. of Mesopotamia, O.. says It cur
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The BLOOD BKAKCFTER Is the safest, surest
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11.00 uer bottle.
. it. skllekb s CO.. rrop'rs, Pittsburgh, Pa.
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Use only SELLERS' LIVER
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Bold by druggists. Price ZAcents each. B. E.
SELLERS i CO., Proprietors, Pittsburgh, Pa.
Beud lor circulars. 10 ly.
NOTICE!
THE undersigned would respectrnlly call the
attention of ttie citizens of Perry eounty,
that he has a large and well selected stock of
HARDWARE,
GROCERIES.
. DKIKJ8.
. WINES & LIQUORS.
IKON.
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HORSE and MULE SHOES,
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IRON AXLES, :
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HUBS,
, FELLOES.
SHAFTS. "
v POLES ft BOWS,
BROOM HANDLES,
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, TWINES, &C
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Paints, Oils, Glass, Plaster,
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SOLE, CALF, KIP and UPPER LEATHER,
FISrT. SALT. SUGARS, BYRUPS. TEA 8. 8 PICES,
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The best Is the CHEAPEST.
And a lane varietvof soods not mentioned.
allot which were bought at the Lowest Cash
Prices, and he oners the same to bis Patrons at
the Very Lowest Prices for Cash or approved
trade. His motto Low prices, and Fair dealings
to all. Go and see hlin.
Jteepectiuiiy. .
, ,, , 8.M.8nULER.
Liverpool, Perry Co. Pa.
POUTZ'S
HORSE AND CATTLE POWDERS
Will nr or DrivMl D4a
No Boa will 41 of Coi.ro. Bora or LCX8 Fa-
vaa. If ftoutz! Powders are fued In time. ,
Puiiu't Po w dtnt w i 1 1 ran and p-rsrea t Hoe Cvourax
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Foul's Powden will can or nrercBt alnMst mu
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roo-n'a rowsaas wu iT aaTiai-Axmoai.
oid arrj-hr.
EAVifl M. TOrm, Yr1ttOT. '
V BAXTIMO&JB, ltd.
ar For Sale by S. B. 8mlth, New BloomDeld
Perry County, Pa. tly