HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Herald, 1907-06-21, Page 7o.......... .............
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"It is too horrible."
"What, the dream?"
"To hear you trifle so with such tre-
mendous guilt!"
"It was but a dream, you know!"
"Ah!" she exclaimed, shuddering,
"You don't believe me?"
' "Tut! Come, draw up the curtain!
let us see what this very dramatic
dream is," he said, disdainfully.
"Ohl do not thus play with your
primes and their consequences. You pre-
; tend not to credit me ,and you treat
my words lightly; but you shall soon
know better. You shall hear from my
lips the dream in which each night you
re-enact the tragedy at Lester House,
revealing not only- your acts, but your
passions and emotions—your hatreds,
fears, hopes and purposes—speaking nut
what then you only thought and felt!"
"Come, this is the prologue! let us
have the play," said Thugsen ironically,
"Listen then, Robert Thugsen," con-
tinued. Ruth, in the tone and manner of
one speaking under a powerful inward
impulse. "Each night, in dreams, again.
you lurk around Lester House, hiding
in the deepest shadows, and from your
lair, like some wild beast crouching to
spring upon its prey, you watch until
it has passed; then swiftly and silently
you dart down the basement stairs; you
examine all the doors and windows, and
find one window carelessly left unfast-
ened; you raise it and creep into the,
kitchen, closing it after you; you pause,
watching and listening for the slightest
sound or movement in that dark, still
house; but hearing nothing. and believ-
ing all the household to be buried in re-
pose, you draw from your pocket a bunch
of well -filed skeleton keys, and creep
up the stairs and along the passages;
a single bolt or bar shot into its place
would have arrested your progress, and
saved you from crime and him from
death, and you wonder as you :teal
along on your fatal errand that neither
bolt nor bar obstructs your way; you do
not know that the butler, whose last
duty it is to secure the house, has not
yet retired to bed, but is shut up in Lis
office, casting up his accounts; oh, fatal
carelessness! And so silently and so
breathlessly you glide like e. serpent
from landing to landing, until you reach
the fatal chamber door,
"You pause again, and, standing
breathless. there you watch and lietert;
allele dark .and still without and with-
in. Yea insert the key, silently turn
the lock and enter.
"How still the room—the only sound
the ticking of the ormolu clock upon the
niantlepiece. By the dim light of the
taper burning on the hearth, you see the
closely -drawn curtains of your victim's
bed. You !creep toward it, and stand-
ing beside it, bend your head and listen; i
by the regular breathing of the sleeper
you know that he it sound asleep; you
push aside the curtain and look upon j
his face; it is a face full of
care and sorrow ,even in its
repose; he is lying on his right side,
fronting you; Ms left aria is thrown
up over his head; his motion has slight-
ly disordered the bedclothes, os that his
left side is entirely exposed; there is
nothing to shield his heart from your
dagger's point; if the fiend had prepared
his victim for the sacrifice, he could not
have been readier for your hand.
"One blow and all will be over! But
one or all will be lost! You clutch your
dagger with a firmer grasu, and bend
until you can hear the monotonous beat-
ing of that heart you mean to stop for-
ever! You direct your dagger's point—
one firm plunge, and the dead of death
is done."
"But the blow that kills first awakens!
The wounded man bounds up! glares up-
on you with his dying and affrighted
eyes—shrieks forth that alarm of 'enur-
her,' that arouses the household! You
flyl With the swiftness and silentness
of the serpent you slip through the halls,
glide down the stairs and so effect your
escape. Satan favors you, for as you l
.merge again from the kitchen window, .
the watch has just passed; they have
not heard that smothered cry of mur-
der; nor through the thick walls and
closed shutters can they hear the hurry- :
ung footsteps of the aroused household•
as it pours on toward the chamber of
murder!
"'You escape; you think your deed of
darkness hid forever from the world;`
but, Robert Thugsen, I repeat, each night
when sleep has closed your eyes and
steals your senses, conscience awakes and
re-enacts every minute scene of that 1
tragedy, epeaking out, when then you
only thought and felt, as well as what
you saw and did!" conoluded Ruth, shud
dering.
Could you have seen his face as she t••
finished her narrative, she had not
trusted her own life in his hands for an-
other hour; but the gathering shadows
of night concealed it from her; but his
tones were light and bantering, as he
said;
"A singular psychological phenomenon!
What else? That cannot be all upon
which you found your opinion of my
guilt ?"
"It is enough, yet it is not all,"
"What more?'
"The dagger!'
"The dagger?"
"Yes, Robert Thugsen, the dagger that
was found in Mr. Cassinove's hand, but
with which you had done the murder!"
"What the fiend are you driving at
pow? What about the dagger? Come,
what about it?"
"It was produced to -day in court; I
recognized it; it 'was yours."
"Upon my word, you are trying to get
cup quite a case against me. Anything
more?"
"Alas, yes!"
"Out with it, then! Let us have the
whole at once. `Never make two bites
at a cherry.' You, I think, have made
ten at this, and have not finished it
yet. Come, what more?"
"The sheath."
"Oh, ha, ha, ha! this woman will cer-
tainly be the death of me! ha, ha, ha!
Well, what about the sheath?"
"The night upon which you came to
me al the cottage at Chelsea, you threw
off your Boat upon the bedroom floor, I
took it up to hang it—"
"As you would like to hang its owner,"
interposed Thugsen, with a sardonic
laugh.
"As I raised it up, something fell
from the pocket;; I stooped to see what
it was, and picked up the empty sheath
o fyaur antique Toledo poignard; it was
crusted thickly with dried blood—"
"Why the demon did you not speak
of it at the time, then?" interrupted
Thugsen.
"Horror transfixed me. When I recov-
ered the' use of my faculties, fear for
you sealed my lips,"
"Fear for me?"
"Yes, fear for you. Laura Elmer, as I
told you, was my guest that night. Her
suspicions were already aroused against
you; she might have overheard any
words that passed between us. So I hid.
away the telltale sheath, and should
! never have spoken of it again, had not
young Cassinove been convicted. Oh,
Robert, the guiltless must not die for
the -guilty."•
i "Hush!" exclaimed Thugsen, with dif-
ficuity controlling his emotions, "From
the accident of an empty dagger's sheath
and a disturbed dream, you thank Mat
you have made out a very Strong case
against me; it is nonsense, but let that
pass for the present. You have also
charged me with the deception of the
young Duchess of Beresleigh; now, what
have I to do with the Duchess of Beres-
]eii h, or the Duchess of 13eresleigh with
"You should have nothing to do with
her, more than a spirit of darkness has
to do with an angel of light; and yet
you have twice cruelly deceived her."
"Explain yourself, Ruth; by my stout,
I do not understand you."
"Thugsen, you have buried ene here,
in the obscurest part of London. 1 am
as completely ieolated in this crowded
quarter of the town as though I were in
the midst of the deserts of Asia, or the
forests of America, I speak to no per-
son --I see no paper—and you think
that I am, therefore, ignorant of what
goes on in the great world, and so 1
am, to a great extent. But this morning
a piece of an old newspaper fell into my
hands. It came aroundo, parcel that 1
hacl brought frown the draper's. Your
name attracted me to a paragraph, and
there I read a short account of the
charge brought against the young Duch-
ess of Beresleigh,"
She paused, and held her hand to her
side, as though in•aafin.
."Go on," said Thugsen.
"I discovered by that account that
you head cruelly �deeeived her twice.
First, when she was a young girl, and
you were hiding in her -foster -mother's
house, you passed pourself off as a sin-
gle man, and attempted to consummate a
marriage with her, a crime the comple-
tion of which was prevented only by the
timely arrival of the constable in search
of you. And now, when years have
peeked, and she is the lawful wife of one
of England's proudest peers, you, know-
ing that you have not the smallest sha-
dow of a &aim upon her notice, dare to
denl'and her as your wife, and threaten
Mr with a criminal proseeution if she
repulses you, Of course you are aware
that that high -!writ lady can know noth-
ing of :the poor, obseure woman, who.
owns the position into whieh you would
force her, nor could you suppose that
400
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A New Orleans woman was thin.
Because she did not extract sufficient
nourishment from her food.
She took Scotf.r >graagl.�II�► ¢P��
Result:
She gained a pound a day in weight,,
0
106
,,pp�� Au. DRUGGISTS' 50a, AND $1,00
'Sid'**0......0000* t'''0.
any atinident would reveal the rwe ngs'of
the Vietehees ofBeresleigh to nae,"
`.L'hugsen started, and waked ones or
twice up and downthe floor; then paus-
ing before her, and epee king with en much
calmness as he could assume, he said;
"To whom have you gossiped of these
matters?"
"To no one on earth."
"So help you Heaven?" '
"So 'help me heaven, in my dying
hour,"
"It is well; ! I believe hiyou," said 'Thug -
sen, taking s seat near her, and con-
tinuing; "You scent to have taken the
demon into your counsel, else I' do not
see how you ever contrived tde amass
such an amount of evidence against an
innocent man, . and bhat pian your awn
husband-. ' ;And now, what do you, mean
to do with It?"
"Nothing, Robert, until you have fled
the country." '
"And if .1 do not choose to fly from a
false charge?" - -
"It willnot be a false charge."
"But if I do not choose to fly?"
"then your blood be upon your own
head;. for whether you fly or not, 1 b;
ert Thugsen, 1 must do my ditty. It
will bleak my heart, :but I must do it,"
"What duty? Iiow 'will you do it?"
inquired the roan, in a low, stifled voice.
"Listen,` This is. Thursday. Oassiitove
is ordered;'`for execution on. Monday.; On
Monday; also, the trial of the Duchess of
Beresleigh'•comes. on. I will, give you
until to -morrow •ever-ing to make- yoiir '
escape. You will have, plenty el tone
to ?'each Dover, and take the boat dor
Cal]s. To -morrow evening I will plce
all the facts with which I am acquaint-
ed iii the hands of the polies."
"Ha! hal ,ha! Why, even if the evi-
dence were 4'orth anything, it could not
be taken from you. You are my wife."
"I know, and my evidence against you
could not be received in court, but I
could give ea hat information I possess to
the police, and let them -follow it up as
they please. I must do this; it will kill
or craze mei but I must."
"And this is your final resolution"
"It is; oh, Robert, fly and save your-
self! .1 here still a little money deft;
you can take it all." •
"Come, I !tare' had. no diner to -day,
light the lamps and see to the soup."
With a deep sigh at his apparent in-
sensibility, Ruth lighted a lamp and sat
it upon the table, and then went out to
attend to the dinner.
Thugsen made a turn or two around
the room, muttering •to himself:
"She knows: too 'much; she knows too
much; her own lips have spoken her own
doom; it can be delayed no Ionger, Yet,
poor Ruth! but she is so very wretched,
that it would be a mercy to put her out
of her misery, by some quick and easy
process, especially as it must be done if'.
I would have spared her as long as pos-
sible ;spared her forever, if I could have
smuggled her off somewhere. Aliens, a
willful woman must have her way; it
is her fault, and not mine"
Here he drew from his pocket a very
smq;l 11ed- with a4A'ra-eda-white
powder, ,and muttering: •
"I have had this quietus about me for
the last ten days, without having the
courage to:atimin-tater it to the only one
on earth that loves me. But now that
very one, besides being the greatest ob-
stacle to my worldly advancement, is,
also , the most dangerous enemy to my
safety. Her life or mine must fail. Well,
self-preservation is t11e first law of na-
ture. It will soon be over; she will not
suffer much, and then—why, then I shall
be at peace—o-- Ile suddenly ceased
muttering, and closed his hand upon the
little vial as he heard the approaching
footsteps of his doomed wife. •
Ruth cane int hez"ing in each band a
basin of soup. She sat one down beside
her own plate at the head :of the table,
and the other beside his, at the foot.
Then she returned to the kitchen for
something, else, ,
As soon as she had left the room,
Thugsen went to the table and poured
the contents of the little vial into her
basin of soup. saw the powder dissolve,
and then immediately went into the'
adjoining, bedroom to destroy the vial.
Ho loked around, and seeing a hole in
the plastering,, dropped it through, where
it fell into sumo inaccessible depth of
the wall.
Meanwhile .he heard her ineving about,
the dining -room, and arranging the dish-
es upon the table. Be paused a moment
to compose hematite eita then returned
to the table_
"Your dinner is quite ready, Robert,".
said Ruth, sitting down at the table.
He took nis seat and commenced eat-
ing his roup. Presently he looked up
at Ruth.
Ruth wne looking down upon hers, and.
delicately skiniening it, and dropping the
scum into a waste plate.
"`What is that?" he inquired, uneas-
ily.
"Only, ,;i: little soot fallen 'upon the
soup." she replied. burning to eat.
He was reassured. root was black;
the powder lie had poured into the soup
was 'white, and, besides, he: had seen it.
dissolve. • He 'watched her eating. Poor
creature; notwithstanding her troubles,
she ate rather eagerly, for she war faint
and hengry from long fasting.
"She enjoys her last meal without - a
thought that she partakes of ft in her
last hour.. .Well, after, air, how rata
easier her death will bo titan if , dte
should live to die what is called aDiatom-
al death—a long, painful illness, slowly
wearing out her life, It will seen the
over; I hope, even In that, little tient,
she will not stiffer much,' thought Thug -
sen, as he watched her.
"You do not eat your soup; 'Meg, le
no soot fallen into yours?", inquired
Ruth,
"No; there is none in mine," replied
Thugsen, with a hidden significance, as
he fell to and rapidly finished his soup.
Ruth removed the ,empty basins, and
began to carve :the roasted fowl that
formed the next course, Thugsen watch
•er her for some sign of apiiroaohing 111
nosy.
There wets non:, as''yet, Rnth finish-
ed earving, and set bis favorite pieces
before him.
"Are you not going to take any?" in-
quired.
nquired. 'I'liugsen.
"No; the soup was quite enough for
me; I felt faint and hungry when I sat
down, but •nty appetite has gone off with
the soup:'
"You are not well," said Thugsen.
"I am as well as I can be, with
the anxiety that oppresses my mind;
Robert." : .
"Ah! you are still resolved to inform
the police of what you suspect tomor-
row?"
c`Alas! yes, Robert! but not until you
escape."
"r think you will not," said Thugsen,
laughing, defiantly; but in the midst of
that laugh his face turned pale; and a
shiver passed over his frame.
"What is the matter?" said Ruth.
"A sudden qualm; you upset me with
your diabolical nonsense; it is over now
—bring in the pudding."
Ruth cleared the table, and went out
into the kitchen to fetch the pudding.
When she returned she found Thugsen
'white and convulsed in his chair. She
sat down the dish and ran to him, ex-
claiming:
`:Robert! Robers! whet is the mat-
, tai^'?„
"Ill; ill, ill ti death!" gasped the suf-
ferer, while a cold sweat bathed his pal-
lid forehead.
Ruth poured out a glass of brandy,
and beld it to his lips.
"No! water! water! water! my throat
fs burning up! whispered Thugsen,
hoarsely.
iaait1i hastily poured out a glass of wa-
ter, and held it to him.
`' He drank' it eagerly, swallowing with
difficulty. It seemed to revive him for
an instant; he sat up, wiped his brow,
stared at Ruth with that confusion of
mind that extreme path and exhaustion
produces, and exclaimed: •
"Woman! what is the meaning of
'this? You are not ill!"
"No, Robert, only anxious."
"But I am. How is that?"
"I do not know, Robert. You talk, and
act, and look. so strangely. Come into
your room, and lie down, and perhaps
you will be better," said Ruth, gently
taking his arm to assist him.
But a third, and more violent fit of
pain and shivering seized the man; his
features were blackened and distorted;
his limbs drawn up and convulsed.
Ruth was dreadfully frightened; she
supported his head, and wiped away- the
icy sweat from his brow. .As soon as the
fit passed, and he regained the power of
utterance, he glared at Ruth, and shriek-
ed:
"You have poisoned me, you have poi-
soned me- Murderess, you shall swing
for ,itl"•
"I—I—Robert? I poison you? But
:you don't know what you are saying—
you
ayingyou are so ill.' Come, let me help you to
bei:, and I will run to the apothecary
oven the way!" exclaimed the terrified
t:14 to ::: !.r,...gy•._,:.: .,...
``i a ass! murderess) you have poi-
sons d me, and you know it!"
:t'Oh, Robert!"
'"Answer me, woman! what did you
do to the soup while I was in the bed -
!room?"
• "Nothing, on my soul and honor!"
("Nothing? Think—answer, on your
life, as you would answer on the last
day! what did you do to the soup?"
"Nothing, as I hope for salvation! I
changed the basins, but I never did any-
thing to the soup'."
"You changed the basins!" cried Thug -
sen, in horror.
"Yes; when I came in I noticed, for
the first time, that a little soot had fall-
en into yours. and knowing you to be
very dainty with your eating, I changed
the basins—giving you mine, and taking
yours. You saw me afterward, at din-
ner, taking the soot off."
While she spoke, he sat listening, with
a face blanched by bodily pain, horror,
and despair.
Ruth gazed. at him in consternation,
exclaiming:
"There was no ill in what I did, Rob-
ert, was there? I did it for your sake.
Oh, Robert, what is the meaning of all
this?"
"You have poisoned me! that is ib—
poi—"
His words, arrested by a spasm, were
followed by convulsions so violent that
he fell from the chair, and writhed upon
the floor.
Ruth dared delay no longer. She
rushed front the house, and ran across
the way, into the apothecary's shop, ex-
claiming:
"Oh, Mr. Jones, for heaven's sake;
come immediately! I do fear my hus-
band is dying in a fit l"
"Your husband? Who is he? Has he
been drinking?" inquired thhe druggist.
"No, no; he fears it is poison! but it
cannot be that, and I do not know what
it is! O11, do, pray sir be quick! It
is just over the way," cried Ruth, dis-
tractedly
'Mr. Jones took his hat, and immedi-
ately attended Ruth,
They found Thugsen extended on the
floor, bathed in a cold sweat, and near-
ly speechless through exhaustion.
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SOWING VS. P,IANT1NG.
WITH FOREST TREES, 10R!
METHOD'S RESULTS. •
Reproducing a forest by sowing the.
seed directly on the area to be put ion,
to trees is feasible, It is, however, $1.
method little used on this continent Ult
to the present, for it has been forint
that the hreat, llmas
as that ofcost plantiasng;been owasinggto theat hight
pricemusofbe acedgiven andto thethe cugrounitivationd to whish
t
sown.
A good seed bed is just as important
for sowing forest tree seeds on as it it
for sowing grain on. Hence whole area
on which it is proposed to sow tree seed
must be carefully cultivated, instead of
only a smallrtion as in planting.
A great objection to seeding, at pxe-
semt,.is the high price of seed and, in the'
case of some species, its a£carsity at say
price, The prersent price of white pine
•seed, for example is $2 to $2,60 per
pound. In Germany it is customary to
sow six pounds of white pine seed to
the acre. Thus the expenditure for seed
alone would be $12 to $15. Still, it world'
be possible to do with smaller quantities
of seed, though in this country so lit-
tle sowing has been done that we hard
ly have a standard to go by.
Another disadvantage of seeding le
that we can never cornu on .getting a
good mixed crop of trees by seeding. ,
To avoid the expense of cultivating
the whole area, various plans have been
tried. Often small spots (seed -spots are
taken and carefully worked, and the
seed sown in these. These spots may
vary in area from one sq. ft. to 30 sq.
ft., the best land being selected, of
course, in every case. Again, furrows
may e plowed at some distance apart
i and the seed sown in them; or strips,Je-
veral feet in width, may be prepared.
For nut trees, such an chestnut, oak
hickory and beech seeding is the beya•
way of reproduction, These trees macro
a vigorous root growth and are very
awkward to handle, even during their
first year. So the best way to do is to
sow the nuts right on the area on whisk
you want the trees, provided you fan
keep away squirrels and such animals.
The depth of the covering of soil is
another point of importance. It will us-
ually be found sufficient to cover the
seeds to the depth of the longest diame-
ter of the seed.
A MOTHER'S GRATITUDE.
Mrs. Y. Cheoret, of St. Benoit, Que.,
writes as follows: "It is with feelings
of the deepest gratitude that I write to
tell you what Baby's Own Tablets have
done for my baby. When I began giv-
ing him the Tablets he was so thin and
wasted that he looked like a skeletoh.
His digestion was poor; he was consti-
pated and cried day and night. I got a
box of Baby's Own Tablets and from
the first they did him a great deal of
good. Bis food digested better; his
bowels worked regularly; his sleep was
natural; he stopped crying and began
to grow fat. I got another box, and
am hajipy to say before they were all
used he was in perfect health, and is
now a plump, rugged child. I always
keep a box of the Tablets in the house
and would advise other mothers to to
the same." The above is a fair sample
of hundreds of letters that come from
all parts of Canada praising Baby's Own
Tablets. The Tablets cure all the minor
ills of babies and young children, and
are absolutely safe, as they do not con-
tain one particle of opiate or narcotic.
Sold by medicine dealers or by mail at
25 cents a box from the Dr. Williams
Medicine Co., Brockville, Ont.
-a! •
COW TESTING ASSOCIATIONS.
Dominion Department of Agriculture,
Branch of the Dairy and Cold Stor-
age Commissioner.
The work of the Testing Associations
in Canada is steadily on the increase;
over fifty, mostly in Ontario and Quebec,
will be in operation this year under the
direct charge of the Dairy and Cold
Storage Commissioner, Ottawa. About
eight thousand individual cows are un-
der regular test, the milk being weighed
every tenth day, and the eomposite sem-
plea tested every month, Reports are
sent monthly to each farmer detailing:
the total estimated yield of milk and
butter fat of each cow whose milk he'
has weighed and sampled, whether he
sends records from five or fifty cowa.
At the Spring Creek Association, near
Woodstock, Ont., for the 30 days endin
April 1, 75 cows were tested, averagip
693 pounds of milk testing 3.7 per seri
fat. The lowest yield was 235 pounds .
milk and the highest 1,460 pounds, test-
ing 3.0.
Disviilq Que., month ending April 20 ,
had an average from 116 cows of 372;
pounds of milk testing 3.7, the highest'
yield of any one cow being 750 pounds
testing 3,2,
At North Oxford, Ont., 106 cows gave ,
an average yield of 726 pounds testing'
3.2, the most from any single cow beim
1,725 pounds testing 3,3. This cow as a
two-year-old gave over ten thousand ,
pounds in twelve months. She is owned
by the Secretary of the Association
there.
St. Prosper, Que., had only 22 cows
for the first period ending April 26, with
an average of 354 pounds of milk testing
3.5. The number of cows will bo largely
increased next month.
The first test at !Keene, Ont., for !•
the thirty days ending April 25 showed
an average from 56 eows of 679 pounds
of milk testing 3.0 The lowest yield was
209 pounds, and the highest 1,120, testi
3.4.
The members of the association at
East and West Oxford sent in records
from 104 cows; average 769 pounds test-
ing 3.3. The best individual cow here !
gavo 1,560 pounds testing 3.7. One good
here. record shows an average from 1'1
rows of 1,124. pounds of milk testing 3.1,
are 85.7 pounds of fat each,