A Conflict of Evidence

Waihi Daily Telegraph, Volume V, Issue 1322, 10 May 1905, Page 4

A Conflict of Evidence

CHAPTER Xyil-rrContiniiecl "Itwillapffico. burdto. siatb that wo readily had Maryd arrested, and tried. For, howover lsx the Parisiiins may bo in morals, bigamy is a : oiime there, ns else- ' where, and with bub Jitlktrqutilo .wo se-. oured his conviction,: His appointment to his foreign mission had hastened his going ■ abroad, bufthe newspaper had rukdo a , mistake in saying that ho would take a :<r wife with him,: Hohndbeeh engaged to marry this woman, but sho and her parents had been■ spending soiiio months '-■;-). in Paris, and their ..wedding hud taken place there, '-only a short time prior to our arrival... Thus tho ;•■''. orime had : been committed oti French soil, and was punishable there. My sister maintained her strength, and -appeared at the trial to testify agtunatf Maryol; but immediately after shebecame..quite ill, and died before I relurneito America. :Thus ends the sad histotyofmy. sister and her wrongs. . Now, about myself. " At the tnal, when Marvel was son-* tenced to tho lull penalty of the law, he Btariedup, and.uttered 'the mbßt cruel * • invectives nguiust uiy 6ister, Then turning to me be said—- , "'As forjon, yon infernal rebel,you ate the onb who has honudod me down, djL and I warn you that.when 1 get outol this troublo, wheveevpr you may hide away, I will find you, and Twill kill you, so help moGod I' . It was tetciblo to hear him, and as he spoke Iknew that if cvr be should bavo the chance ho would execute his throat, "It.was tho certainty of this which instigated me in my .subsequent couwe. I ■ concluded that when we should meot, ono of us must dio; and I felt that common jastico made it right that ho should bo the one. Not '.satisfied with hastening tho death of my father and my sister, ho must also threaten my lifo I fcto I 'node my i plaiiß, If hpehbold como with murderous intent, I would be ready, and if he did not no harm could accrue. " I foresaw that somo.shi'owd doteotivo would discover that this man had crossed the ocean to commit a brimei and I dcicr-

mineil to lot it ,fippo& that he had Biio- ' ceeded. I would kilThim,. dress him in. my clothing, and lot it seciii thatl wes tho mardored niati.: ; Bat ds I must farther be able to. account {ot 1 uiyowri presence, I plotted to reappear as my own bod, To this end I visited an; academy on; Washington Heights, and epoko of.placing my eon there, though I afterwards iniormed the schoolmaster that I had: sent him elsewhere. However,,. I ■■ihfestsd myself in 'bis-, institution, and offered to make somo needed repairs, . Then I (pen'. . some time at the EDhool, and wbilsS thote I . wrote to parlies ont'pf towh,:enoioßin» selfaddressed onvelopes. Th'eso were, in due time,"reirirned.to me properly -post-, marked, and it . toan erisy nialtor lor mo to writo fictitious .lottorsj os though to my son, and .placethem in .these covers, These, when tho iime should come, Would be proof enough cf my identity, and I knew that years-would pia?s beforj I could use thoui, I concludod that no ono would doubt that they were genuine.

" Next, I allowod:. my board to grow to its full length; that being the style in .' whioh Marvel always wore liii?. Iknew that his wonld bo shaved as long as he remained in prison, butl thought.that he would allow..his banr.l to grow a'jaiti •: as Rwnas he ; sh'jiiMrcgiih his as it bid. ; a: scir : from, a wound that would otherwise' greatly disfigure him. Then I dyed my. whiskers, eyebrows nhd ■hair black, in imitation of his, my own being quite red. I had no .relatives, end : absolutely no friends in- the North, and I determined;. hot to revisit Richmond. Consequently Tliad all.my Southern property converted into ; cosli and .'fdrwnrdpd tome. I then looked about (or a suitable place to live, and foledted Lao. i " I did nothing moro in furtherance of my plans, except to speak to all of my ' new friends of tho sohwho had loft mo and bad ruu away; .iwa3 qiiiteyoung ot this limo, bin nineteen in fact, although I was fully matured, and looked much older. "The years rolled, by,; and nothing occurred; to disturb the serenity of pur home'in this; little. New England.town, execptthatthe Marvel family came hero ■to reside,,- This I .considered anothor fata%,.4hd for that roaspn.l did not move away. /■ ; " At last cattle ilip birthday which would make it npcsss'ary for'ino'to explain more to .Virgio : than 1 had over yot- done. After dinnor I war listening to Squire Obey, but at the s'aina tiuao I was moodily thinking over tho pust, with its terrible memories, when young Marvel asked to f peak ttf, .speak- to me. I. was then, ste lied to bear him, another Walter Marvel, declare that, ho had won the. heart 'of my . ittle girl.,; Was it'surprising thut Ifhould

3 Eodi igues Ottolen gui

Author of "An Artist in Grime,"

act as I did, and deny his suit ? Or, that in my pnger I should blurt out a part of the truth? Tho events which followed are too well known to neod iteration here. So I will ooino a. ouco to tho nifht of tho murder. "I was sitting in the parlour, pOmleriug bittorly ovor my position, I had begun -to. realtor the fat that if I should pursuo the couho which I hud begun, and should prosecuto -Marvel, it must be at the cott to [mystlf ofVirgie's lovd. I was debating as to the most sensible course to adopt when, surid-nly, I heard a pistol-shot, and a bullet broke through the pane. I jumped up, hurried to the window, ar.ddis. titictly saw a man gmbblin? with my dog, Tbe snow had ceased to fall, and there Was light from tbe moon, which wai visible through tho clouds ns they broke away, I thought this was young Marvel, and that he had deliberately fired through niy window, in pursuanco of tho threat niade ou tho day of tho pji ty, I had seen Virgie pass through tin parlour and loavo her pistol on' the mantel, fo, quickly poseesjintr mys?lf of it, I fired at tho retreating figure. At tho same nioinotit a seojnd shot was fired, this time at me, for it struck mo on tho head, though it inflicted but a slight wound. " I learned at tho inquest that these shots were fired respectively by Lucas and Miss Marvel; tbe tir.-t accidentally and tho s:cond deliberately, though at the time I did not sco whence tho latter came, and supposed th-it it was tho man's weapon. 11 A very few minutes aficr this I heard the knocker at my door. Thinking it mi-tht bo Marvel stiil desirous of injuring me, I concluded lo go prepared, and tooku weapon in my hand. 1 did not again t ike Vtrgie'.-) for as I was pisstbly about to take a life, it 6ccurrod to mo that it would not do to use Virgio's pijtol, bxausD it to her name on it. At tho sanio moment it flashed across my mind that young Marvel's also bore his name, and thnt it was in my posiession, I took it from the drawsr where I kepi it, and went to tho front rinor, where tho map outside was again knocking. I opened it and a boardod man cntorod, When I enw it wns not young Marvel, 1 led the way back to the parlour, Beaching there, t faced tho man and Inquired'his name. To be continues,