Show wf vs THE H ed MISSING MAN by MARY R P HATCH author of the bank tragedy CoPy copyright richt 1892 by ide tee and shepard ii CHAPTER the test A stillness so tense as to be almost painful succeeded the plaintiff s words and the summons to admit the defend ant while the plaintiff passed him on his way to the seclusion ot of the office mr hamilton tor for such he was un whether the true or false claimant was deeply moved in ove k d as ras apparent to all when he stood in the witness box before them all his face was pallid his eyes were gleaming his hands were tightly clenched all glances were riveted upon him with astonishment as he said in a strange tone not waiting to be ques cloned at all 1 I will go gd to get it I 1 will go to get it twice he said it and then stood looking at vacancy rather than at the judge the judge directed that the counsel for both i 1 artles and the jurymen at tend the defendant to his destination it if not too distant and see the search take place meanwhile the court would adjourn until one 0 clock and his honor went to dinner the sher iff followed the thirteen who filed down the street toward the bank build ing no doubt the place to which the defendant was leading them tall erect impassive he passed on as in a dream never hesitating never speaking neither looking to the right nor to the left thus he led them to the bank and up the steps pushing open the door mr morley explained their errand to the cashier it Is in the vault the safe the small drawer said the defendant and the cashier successively opened each receptacle except the drawer I 1 have no key to that he said I 1 have never been able to find it the directors told me nothing was ever kept in it because it was not account ed a safe recep lable being poorly con strutted ted at this moment tony tny osborn came forward with a I 1 y I 1 found it not long ago he A explained under the corner of tho safe try it said mr morley but the cashier banded it to the defendant who irber ted it in the lock tb jurymen crowded forward to bec ec what was in the drav drawer er nothing evidently but a piece of tissue paper 1 a iless that pa paper per contained the dia n ond stud it did A flash a gleam and the defendant thrust it into the hands of mr morley instead of his own counsel counsels s for my wife give it to her and then he tell fell prone on the floor had he fainted 7 was it a fita the doctor was called and pronounce pron unc ouno ed it the last but he soon revived and was in a short time apparent apparently as R ell as eer he ile attended the afternoon sess bess on of court and was the cen er of curious interest to all indeed it was generally admitted that he had tri implied by leading the jurymen straight to the ailing hilleg place though tt it could not be denied that the other lalmant had ind bated the place just as surely by his words strange that both should know knor what was as a secret except to one of them and to mrs hamilton she seemed dazed by the circumstances while a hopeless de ejected look settled over her counte nance tony osborn s testimony was taken talen in the after afternoon poon and told against the defendant since it was R as pla aly made evident that he had distrusted him from the first mr osborn said mr morle have you any reason for be leving 1 evig that the claimant is not the true vane bane hamilton none sir except the color of his big bair hair he has stood eiery test I 1 have applied to him he lie knows all about he affairs that took place at the bank when we were there together he seems to be the true vane hamilton as I 1 knew him two witnesses testified that solomon marks hid been seen by them near the mill knothe on the day before the shooting of the plaintiff and that he appeared to wish to avoid recognition nest next se several eral citizens of Gr Grove dalt were examined and they bestif testified d th that 1 a t they bellev bellen ed the plaintiff to b be var va y le e hamilton forbe for he had bad told them of many lantai coi 0 11 n v aly to himself and them that he seemed familiar with all their past lives while the other claimant did not the test mony of these witnesses was very strong and upon it the plaintiff s coun sel set relied much for the success of the case the last witness to be called was a man from valparaiso who testified stifled te to the fact that ashley was 1 knevin jovn to him and that he recognized the de fondant as the man the plaintiff re ie I e had never seen but once before he stated that he hid been engaged in various nefarious undertakings with ashley who he knew to have been in boston at the very date when the al at note was presented at the bani that since then he had been convert ed under the auspices of the salvation army and had seen in a newspaper the advertisement inserted by the plaintiff plaintiffs s counsel for information re garding the suit and he had answered it in person when he left the witness stand and the case closed for the plaintiff there were many among the audience and among the jurymen too if their faces face s did not belie their minds who rho were w ere more than halt half p persuaded ot of the claims of the plaintiff next day mr air ferguson spoke for upwards of an hour in an easy graceful manner natural to him and his outline of the case held the enrapt at of every person in the court room flat viat morning there was little of labored E aument but starting with the supposition that his client was suffering a fraudulent attempt at ejection from his own premises he proceeded to put the matter before the jurymen in this light he said in sub stance something like the following my client who is none other than the true vane hamilton as ou can see for yourself his looks fully cordob dating my statement returns after an absence of many months to his home he has been in the habit of taking bis his yearly outings in n may as he is inci ned tied to bilious difficulties and for my wife dye it to her and then fell rone crone ifon uron the floor Is not so well able to pursue his bus bust ness in the arring as in the summer par from making mahin any astery of the matter he has al ly told his wife that be he went awa foi fol hs balth op on one or tm two 0 occasions he had other bL business sIness of a spec al at nature connected with the mill which it was believed best to keep secief for a time yo i all know how that la io and that ladles ladies are sometimes apt to mention such matters in their confidences with other women so that they leak out often to the detriment of their hii husbands bands bus ness knowing thi this mr hamilton did not always explain the full reason of bis its tops trips and ht hl wife chose to mal male e a ms astery of them they had nothing to do with bt eking tor for a twin brother that silly fiddle fadde faddle has no part tn in the de tense the only other children born to the hamilton parents were a boy and a g rl A who died in their inanc the confession of hannah sargent is of no account she having told at least half a dozen different stories about the when mr nir hamilton was ras away he was taken with a peculiar malady a species of insanity lie ile forgot his rame place of residence eler thing mr barnstead I 1 shall prove by py the ev idenie of his fruend hurd did not see hamilton on the fifteenth that it ras as the next thursba da that he witnessed the meeting at portland depot instead of frada when rhen mr air hamilton left home the claimant Is none other than the notorious ashley who got cornered at portland depot that very day and nd was arrested by the sheriff from goodwill Good Bill harrson harr son county nebraska you will recollect that mr barn stead in his testimony could not swear that he saw the meeting take place friday but mr air hurd Is ready to at af firm on his oath that it was nearly a week later that he heard the account from mr air barnstead and that it was told to him as it it occurred on thurs day ashley was taken to goodwill and incarcerated in jall jail there and lt it was in that town his hair changed from light to dark the prosecution does not deny that this man the prisoner was the claimant or that it was there I 1 h he e remarkable change in the color of his ls hair took place it would be useless to do it they only venture to out in tbt f ale vit it he lie r vas as arresta arres arre td fw r in the place of another and to base this they are compelled to set bet up 0 absurd surd story of the twin brother there Is no twin brother tor for he died I 1 in n infancy ashle nas ras visited next morning in jail by his wife he denied that she was his wife and she did not contra diet him until afterward after Aard then she said that she was his wife rife ashley got clear on the plea of bein being insane and was sent to the amylu asylum m from t there h e r e h he e es escaped c a p e d was wa s supposed to nave i a v e b been e n d drowned r 0 w n ed w worked awhile at a mill and then came to gro gron eda e where he got employment in the in 11 here he ile gaie his name as primus edes said he was never married could not write indeed he appeared to be very illiterate he ile wort worl ed as a common hand at the mill until he chanced to meet mrs hamilton at church and fell violently in love with her he ile began to persecute her with at tensions tent ions and finally won ron her interest by finding her little boy who wandered away to the woods and got lost mrs hamilton made him sundry presents and professed to think he resembled her husband ashley alias edes be gan to learn to write and learned as toni fast writing the name constance over and over a again sin he ile purchased a violin and began to play ashley was a fine placer as we shall prove and he was also well educated educate d mr hamilton could not play at all lN neither either was he an ingenious wort work man ashley was mrs hamilton p on mourning and had a made to erect to the memory of h husband she often opened her widow to listen to the strains of the vl vi lin played by primus edes as el sl gnew nim film then mr hamilton returned wit RP a straightforward story of loss memory as the reason tor for his dete tion from home and very hono rabi rahl settled up the bank troubles as 17 said he could not absolutely affair that he had not done what was at alleg t eg of him for he knew nothing of h acts after he left grovedale Grov edale on the f of may mr air carter and children received him with open arm an tot not so his wife she preferred doubt him mr air hamilton took up h place in the mill and in the comma I 1 ty unchallenged by a soul except h wife reports were brought to him her affection for the man known edes but he paid no attention to the except to call him to the office at a warn him against being seen on 1 ii premises in about a weak week afterwards ed m was as shot there by some one probably by edes himself to awak on against mr air hamilton I 1 was ill III for three or four weeks aft wards and when rhen he was partially i covered he professed to recollect tb th he was hamilton instead of ed mrs hamilton professed to believe I 1 statement or at least did not deny I 1 claims proof would be offered tb I 1 afore J his illness she wrote him a I 1 ter calling him her dear husband a signing herself calla lily as s sometimes did in her letters to ekr hi friends it being a pet rame pame applied to her fair stately beauty when a girl to be continued |