| Show f lilvia by W hopkins t jack bobblin at america 1 th chin sea two 1 I haell pale burst etc leht ll ht ajr I 1 boeti CHAPTER XV good heaven murmured the ital tan sinking again into his chair and you are further charged with the attempted of the child alice Gravis court whose body ou threw into the east river on a certain night and on the same day you filed a certificate of death of alice gravis court of smallpox good heaven gasped the quiver ing wretch his face was pallid his eyes staring his manner that of a man beside himself with fear the superintendent paused giving the italian a few minutes in which to recover after the pause the superintendent turned and looking the scoundrel full in the face he said now Sig motta you see we know all about you how would you like to spend the remainder of your days in a dark cell in sing sing prison j excitement and exclaimed it is all a lie it is all a lie Is it replied the superintendent Sig motta cried out in his fear and now listen to while I 1 read you two little documents I 1 have here did iou ever see the original of this he held the portrait of charles Gravis court s wife before Sig motta yes yes I 1 knew her he abis now listen the superintend ent then proceeded to read the statement of antonio sig and the wretched brother of the trapeze actor sat shivering and quailing as the damning sentences were hurled at him in the superintend ent s stern voice by the time byrnes had finished that statement the wretch in the chair seemed ready to die of fright now listen to this said the super In and he continued to read as follows the sworn statement of lulal bambo before me the profetto Pre fetto of cagliari Cag llari on the ath day of in the year 18 I 1 leigl bambo being sworn and compelled by the obligation thus put upon me by my fear of future punish ment to tell the truth do declare that this Is the true statement of my con with the murder of pacho and the affairs in which he was an actor I 1 became attached to s cir cus in new york and knew no person connected with it save my employer and him only in the sense named after a few days of the exhibition at madison square garden in new tork city I 1 was met by an italian who gave bis name as who offered me a large sum of money it I 1 succeeded in killing the girl nita bar lotti in some way that would not drag him into the matter I 1 made one attempt by cutting the rope of the trapeze on which nita barlotti acted in the hope that her weight might cause the other strands to break and thus she would be killed by the fall the severed rope nas discovered for the girl did not appear that night and a new rope was substituted tor the one I 1 had cut on the following night I 1 tried fire and saturated the ropes of the trapeze with oil and when barlotti was aloft I 1 set fire to them but she was saved y the lion tamer and a man from the audience tthum I 1 now as signer wilberton on this same night some person fired at maligna and shot him in the cheah the next day and the girl were missing and so was I 1 kept myself secreted knowing that the affair would stir up the police and I 1 saw neither maligna barlotti Dar lotti inor for several days then it became known to me that maligna had taken passage tor europe with barlotti and that he had plenty of money and would perhaps return to sardinia and settle I 1 sought and found him ahe told me that he had fired the shot at maligna and that he wanted me to follow the showman to sardinia and ethere complete the work that he and I 1 had begun in new york informed me that maligna was in pos session of certain things contained in a red tin box which were most essen elal to him and I 1 was to get the box at hazards the murder of would avail nothing unless the box and its contents were obtained I 1 came to sardinia and awaited an opportunity at last it came I 1 had obtained an entrance into the villa dl maligna by bribing some of the servants and one night I 1 killed ma and seized the box which I 1 found lying OB the table in his room but it was empty 1 I would have killed the girl too but the american had taken her away and I 1 could not find her in her room where I 1 went immediately after kill ine maligna there Is nothing more tor me to I 1 am the murderer of pacho ma for which I 1 was to be paid by ot new york again I 1 swear that the above state anent Is true and may jesus and the virgin pity me as I 1 deserve and as no man on earth will pity me I 1 am lost lulal bambo when the superintendent had fin dished this Sig eyes were glassy and he seemed almost ready to collapse now Sig motta said the you are not the bird we are after all this sardinian affair does not interest us any more than to show you our power the man we want Is the man who first employed you to kill alice and then to kill maligna and nita barlotti aalph Is your master and it Is tor you to choose whether you or be suffers the penalty for the crimes the italian e face flushed with hope as he beard this and looked from one pt us to anesther in a vain search tor a jook of pity what do you want of me he asked we want full and statement from yu of Gravis court s crimea and yours telling how the infant alice Grav licourt disappeared and how the smallpox fraud was perpetrated hiding nothing but revealing everything that Is what we want of you and then what will you do with mea asked Sig motta hold you until the truth of your statement Is proven and then release you there was a pause the major walked back and forth uneasily thor lane sat as calm as byrnes himself 1 was feverishly eager very well said Sig motta fina llly I 1 ready shall I 1 no the stenographer wl 1 take down your words and then put it in proper form for your signature and then began ahe unraveling of the last knot in the exciting mystery of the Gravis court millions Gravis court met us as he had al ways met us with the placid smile and the shaie dignity of the man of wealth leisure and culture there was perhaps a degree of pallor in ats face that was unusual but thia might easily be attributed to the return of a rival whom he had believed dead and out of his way he greeted me cordially however and congratulated me upon the fact that the rumor of my demise was un founded he led us into his cozy library the very room in which dicuns had covered the photograph of alice gr viscount viscourt vis court and placed chairs for us and urged us to sit down there were four of us the major thorlene Th orlane myself and a special officer in citizen s dress detailed by to accompany us and to take graal court into custody I 1 bad insisted upon my plan of action being followed which was to proceed to Gravis court s looms unmask his vil lanies there and read to him the statements of bambo and of the two Sig when this had been done it was to be the boffl cers duty to arrest Grav lacourt and my connection with the case ceased it must have been clear to gravis court that something serious was corn ing tor the major was as glum and grim as an old coula be and the stern face of thorlene Th orlane must have seemed to Gravis court an omen but no sign of trepidation showed in his manner and he politely offered us cigars and wine which we all declined while he waited tor us to an bounce the object of our visit the moment was a painful one and although I 1 had worked for this nuns downfall now that I 1 had the depons wherewith to destroy him in my hand I 1 sincerely pitied him but there was no receding now and I 1 plunged at once into the subject to be continued |
