THE MAM WITH THE KNIFE.

Bruce Herald, Volume XXXXI, Issue 4, 17 January 1905, Page 3

THE MAM WITH THE KNIFE.

, Jjtj . ■£ 2jD By Elizabeth Cherry Waliz. £ (OopyrlJgllt, 1901, by Authors Syndicate.) #7. : ' -- BERTHA DUNN, leaning out from a fourth-story window to enjoy the sunset and river breeze, chanced to see one man murder another in an ; alley below.j -; .-. y < ; ' It was over in a brief moment.' A ' sound, inarticulate and sudden, ■ caused her to turn her eyes from th? | unfathomable sea of amber, opal and mother of pearl across .the'shiming .river. She saw two ; men, 'both clearly defined in the ambient glow coming in an opening between two buildings. They struggled a second, 'and then there was a sudden double flash in the , right hand of one. Then the other man fell, and Bertha gazed, horror-strick-en, at one huddled heap, lying alone ■where two forms had been writhing madly." y'■ , yy j_ The shock of it photographed on her brain the face, the form, the uncovered head of the man with the knife. She would know him if she met him among a thousand others. Then the horror of it came home to her. - She, Bertha Dunn, the shyest and the meekest of all the teachers in the Tenth ward school, had witnessed- a' murder. She would have to appear in court, to testify, to explain, to identify. She closed her lips very resolutely. No one must know it from her. God had such matters in His hand, not man. 'She closed the window softly and went about getting her frugal, meal with shaking hands but a firm determination not to give way. It was a courageous thing to do, butBertha had need of courage. Some 50 miles away in the deep green country her invalid and widowed mother and several small brothers and sisters lived upon .hei- salary — that is, all she could spare. This made her live in a small, hdgh-up room and ak>ne ; — that her economies be not known., It was in the blessed rest hour after school that Bertha leaned out and witnessed the tragic fate of the unknown. Long she sat in thought over her cup of tea. .-'Bertha had that rare thing, a conscience, and she weighed the matter carefully. : The deedjthe motives* wh^ the man with the reddish hair . might be — these things haunted her dreams and broke her sleep. She was glad when morning dawned and she could go to her school. „ But first she bought a morning paper to see if the murder had Ijeqn discovered. There' it was in big, black headlines.! : A mysterious murder of an unknown '^man, a well.dressed stranger, in whose pockets was nothing by which to identify him. And, as sh^ read, Bertha Dunh realized withav shudder that the murderer, also, had been well dressed and that the double flash in the sunlight had been a great 0 jewel on the hand that drove home the ; shining knife. 0 ■ •The police wer-e making every effort v ; to get a clew to the murder. 'So i Bertha was prepared to, meet a re- . j spectful policeman in plain clothes'*^ j near her door that afternoon. Had j she seen any people in .the. alley the ■' I day before? Did she know anything. L of the murdered man? To which ques- ; tions Bertha was able to give a shy I negative. She trembled to think that they might ask her if she had seen the .murder committed — but they did hot,' and she went up the stairs very thankful. , ■ ' .. . The little teacher bought papers the - two next mornings and read them over her >desk before the school bell rang-. . The third day she read with a wildly beating heart. -The -identity of the murdered man had been discovered.:. He was one of the city's' retired cap-;, italists, a man. of wealth, culture and .-travel. He-was supposed to.be in New' York, and it was only by accident that heiwa's known. The face of the murdered maii had been badly slashed, probably after death, and this rendered identification difficult. Now the chase was on. The city was roused,' the murderer must be found, and money was plenty. Bertha closed her little red month more firmly, and went about with a white face. Drag her into a courtroom? She would rather die a hundred deaths. _ "* ' ' • I In those days she had troublesof her* own. Her sister, the one who kept the family together down in the country, , ?. $*aA l:ii i 9

wrote- of the • mother's increasing •weakness and need of luxuries; of the 'need of books and clothing foi * the boyt;, ar.d that delicate Jenny aiust ■have new flannels for the late autumn. Bertha reduced her own food to the f least possible quantity and sent the money horae that should haye purchased her three meals; every; day. •Suddenly something happened. When Bertha, weak f-rom fasting; dragged up 'the stairs one.eveningand. unlocked her door, a large white envelope lay ■upon the floor. She stooped to pick it up and fell dizzily. It was addressed to her plainly; Within Avas a bundle of crisp bills and a slip of paper on which was printed only four words: . "The reward of silence." Bertha drew back in horror, but the money lay in her lap, crisp new bills, $500 in all. -Who can. measure what that sum meant to the half -starved little wom'aii sick with the clamor of need in her; ears and with six souls des>endj ent upon her exertions? - J The next day she read an announceI ment of a. thousand-dollar reward for j the arrest and conviction of the mur- ■ i derer or the information leading to it. \ Then she understood. But her lip "curled; Desperate as was her need she would not have gone into a courtroom to testify for SlO.Wd. However, the notice had a euriouseifect.. She decided ; 'td use the other money, \a little at a j time. She went to the post office and. : sent a generous remittance home, al- '.. though not enough to; excite any susr picion. This quiet' little woman, was not without: much shrewdness. She : felt that /any change in. her circum- [ stances would excite suspicion 1 among : those who still watched the neighbor- - ':, hood. ; So she continued her frugal life, : , only once in awhile allowing herself I a good warm meal in a' down-town restaurant. . The rest of'the money she ' sewed into the hem of her school gown ;, and went about without any anxiety concerning it. It must last along time. In a month's time, during which the : search for the. murderer was unavailing, Bertha found another white envelope on the floor and the same in- ! closure. She wondered how it came ! there,' how anyone knew of her k'nowl- ■ edge, whoit was that commanded so I muph money and whether this was the | end of it. Bertha, knew she was not i silent for the money, but. she would j be silent with the money. ) Then an arrest earner the arrest of a relative of the murdered man. Bertha had not calculated on the«fEect - such news would have upon. ber. In. her- soul -burned the truth— 'the knowi- --.■-- ..-■' .--%■' -'.r edge that a: r glance would tell her the truth. She was ih a fever. An innocent man might suffer. Her clear duty shone before her and. on the afternoon of the examination Bertha; Dunn, ;. pallid and grave,? worked- her. way into the much-dreaded courtroom, packed with spectators. Unaccustomed, to the scene, she Aid not even- locate the prisoner, but she y failed to fin d x within the room, the man of the dark red hair, the pecuKar.attitude, the long, lithe, arm, the haughty profile. Nor did she understand the ... procedure of events. . She had hurried dowh'-iaft'er her school hours and aim- '--••'. lessly wandered about the" city; hall a longt ime, too shy to inquire her way inside. There had been a number of "witnesses examined and nowthe judge • and several lawyers were, consulting • together in loavj tones. Suddenly the ' group fell apart and a stern v voice . sounded through; the ; room: "The prisoner will stand up!"---j Bertha could not see for the Crowding forms pushing before and beside her. She struggled under one man's elbow .and emerged, hatle'ss, to hear the rest of the judge's words: . ' "Arthur Kirby, yoii stand committed . to jair without bail for- the murder of Kincaid Homerson!" But upon the silence that followed the last word broke, in a woman's cry: "He! O, no, he did not murder the 'man, not he!" ■■'''—/■ Then arose the wild sounds of men shouting and women .weeping; with joy. And the little school teacher was j swept to'the front ami questioned. She...y. neVer once swerved. That was not the fman nor anything like him. She knew that. As to the .real murderer,- she * might or might not l>:npw him, but tbis - -young-man-— he -wa s nothing like him. ;He'was innpetent, because she hadseen ■■'•HBe.:.r'e;ar : -murdere^,- : 'and i this was not j;;li,fttti;;at;ali. : ; 'Ay A-y Ary ■ . _ A ... i ;v;Why;had^ • " '• A VBecause:^.h_i ; wa's;?^^ble / 'to d& any '; AnjfaL thah .save sl tbe ; inh©cerit. J Think Ai o-iOit— -a flash; of. : 3t.&&l ~int a moment-— two forms; in a sunshine shaft, then a body on' the grounds And she — alone in a great building with few tenants • and night coming f.n. „. i•: ... ■ #j . . ' The prisoner, w.^a discharged.' 'Dg-Tlv' ''-^ ; tectives and, officers pliddOßerth a with : . questions. But s.he,^asreticent.//"Shef , v 0 had saved the inioceht^shey^ould not r . A betray anyone else.; O ' J A'-'a '■ .' A L As she entered her humble home ' after nightfall shejwas.conscip.vs'/^j.fja., - f, , presence oh the stairway behind her. •As she fled tp. the fiecurity of her room a hand detained herin the darkness. ... A "Goodmnd wise littl^ *. a deep : voice, "jpjjC>^_.a>l" never bV-fciV-y -■ E-otteiiin all the^years to' coine .^ThiiiJ;^.-.^ : iivriii. cruelly "ifnid"' deserted inyA A: -, Hst.e.r years' ago;-. H.e, .^e^>vedvit^_i|' \ ■C.Ls. :hs. Yo ; j-sh^li;t'^^:fie/place iii my ."' A although you may npve^^seevan^. ■;• - X ana 'go_ng f .away 'tfbw. -'God help and -..-y, bless you!" ; „. '-.-.„ .'..'. ' "'-'■■' 'J'' Bertha f cit 'a warinjciss'oh her hand. 'A ■ '■' moment ~ later ? thp _ street) '.'ddor i '. a. ; slammed.-" ;■:;.. JA.-JL -. .'.-. t . ... .-A ..yi