| Show rim V aw T THE MISSING MAN 4 MARY R P HATCH author of the bank tragedy copyright 1892 by bee lee and shepard CHAPTER continued this letter was found by detective swan or rather by mrs airs fry pry in the lining of edes coat but through his efforts and he transmitted it to de bruce it would be produced in court in due order of the testimony the rest was anon n the claim to mr hamilton s estate and famil at this point nothing would be said about the motive which was only too apparent but allusions must be made to a seri ous charge against henry ashley alias primus edes for the murder of his wife the beautiful unfortunate le nora who died of poison but two weeks previous to the claims sot set up by edes she received by mail a pois boned ring and was asked to wear it in remembrance of her husband who would soon return to her the name signed was henry ashley and it had been proved that after wearing the ring a week she died the body was buried but afterwards disinterred and it was proved that she was poisoned by the ring without doubt this charge would be proven by competent witnesses to be true it was very startling when taken into account with edes infatuation for mrs ham ilton and his claim that she was his wife you will see how diabolical was his plan and you can also see his motive but for his love for mrs hamilton he would never hae dared to thrust his claim before the public but as sam son was shorn of his strength by the fair hands of delilah so has many a weaker man been robbed of his reason by love of woman mr air hamilton s course has been straightforward throughout having nothing to con ceal there have been no efforts at con ceal ment he warned edes not to come near his house ap a you or I 1 would have done but when he heard the shot fired he jumped from his bed rushed out saw that he was lying wounded upon the ground and forgot his fits displeasure in doing all that he 0 4 all t i t ceby sat 13 9 could for the sufferer mr marks Is a respectable man who was known to the hamilton family in early life and as an old acquaintance was kindly received by my client he has followed the calling of book agent and lingered a few days in grovedale Grov edale till a consign ment from the publishers should ar rive mr air ferguson spoke with earnest ness iless and eloquence well sustaining his reputation the counter charge of murder against the plaintiff created no little excitement among those who now heard it for the first time mrs hamilton hamiltons s letter signed calla lily was produced in court and sworn to as genuine even she did not deny it but said it m was as one she wrote to hr husband at least a year ago and she preferred to believe it proof that the claimant really was her hus band her declaration was evidently so sincere that many gave it instant be liet lief they felt convinced that in some way the letter had come into the pos session of edea edes perhaps with the key and notes this was the one which mrs fry rry found in the lining of his coat and which she sent to mr swan and by him was transmitted to mr bruce two witnesses from the neigh boyhood where mrs ashley resided testified to the manner of her death and the curious report was read in court the letter written by her hus band they stated could not be found but one witness a woman mrs mann testified to having seen and read tt it that mrs ashley showed it to her and the ring on the day of its receipt at the tile close of the testimony for the respondent it seemed a clear case in his favor and as the public judged it lust so appear to the jury still the interest did not subside and c c the morning of the seventh day of the trial the court house was thronged to hear the closing arguments by the counsel CHAPTER the clos ng arguments mr stone whose mind was particularly I 1 een and abelt reviewed in a tell ing manner the evidence which had been presented for the defense it had ad been cla med he said that cite case was on out of identity only but it was not so t m as a wife s unfaithful ness that was the root of the whole matter no une one had denied ue tze identa ty of sr mr hamil on P calit his wife at the time when he returned and she had no other reason for her denial ex capt the absurd one of individual odor something which never before had been broached in any court of justice she had fainted when she first saw him which tact fact spoke of instant recognition but claimed to have imme afterwards doubted nim by the ole absence of the individual odor the cutill y of such reasoning as this must be appal apparent rent to every one who heard it A matter of breath or diet it was not worthy of the least consideration but other matters were at the moment of his return mrs hamilton was talking with mr alien allen about the monument which was just completed to be erected to the memory of her husband slie was dressed in blace but she was far from being unhappy for she had other hopes in her heart regarding the un known primus edes who in some nl mysterious manner had succeeded in getting a nola noli on her heart and sym cathles she fainted because she saw her hopes dashed to the ground by the return of her husband whom she had thought dead but all this time her husband had been suffering with a mental malady malady that robbed him of memory what he did or did not do at that time could not be discovered he went away on friday the fifteenth of may he re turned january twenty fifth and the interval was filled in with labor to sup port his necessities could anything be simpler of understanding than thise he took no cognizance of what went on during his absence the bank troubles his wife s hollow grief the halfhearted search tor for him the mon ament to be set up in the cemetery he knew nothing of all this and when he returned to grovedale Grov edale he was greatly astonished at the turn affairs had tal en he did his best to set them right took up his place at the mill and would have subsided into his old relation unquestioned by any one had it not been for his wife s tion for primus edes a common work man as he chose to appear but whom we now know to be a most accomplish ed villain he saw the lady at church and was struck by her beauty there can be little doubt but that he was filled by a wild uncontrollable love for her the first time they met he began to lay plans to possess her knowing that her husband had left her perhaps never to return in his love for this woman he for got all else forgot he was a fugitive from justice disguised to appear a half witted workman forgot he had a wife already the beautiful lenora ashley who had clung to him as some women will through evil as well as good report or it if he did not forget it be ae put these considerations one side and set himself to win the notice of mrs hamilton she from the first professed to see a resemblance in primus edes edez to her husband and no doubt he heard of it but be he made no use of this idea until after the we return of her husband and he vas m as warned warped not to go near the premises of tha the hamiltons then he shot himself one morning on those very premises with a pistol without doubt stolen from dan fry in the hopes of its being laid to mr air hamil ton he ile wished to make it appear that he was shot by mr air hamilton and the wound on his head a slight one was to be the groundwork of his claims tor for no doubt he planned the whole scheme of villainy before the shooting of himself mrs hamilton did not go near him indeed she was prudent from the first but when mrs fry went tor for her to quiet her patient who she thought was wilder than ever in hs his ravings mrs hamilton went over edes claimed her as his wife tl ti to moment she entered the room and she did not gainsay him the next thing was to lay claim to the hamilton estates but before this nearly two weel s before the shooting he sent the pois boned ring to his wife to remove her from his path the letter was signed henry ashley and was a loving ten der missive that would have deceived any woman she wore the ring a few days and died there was so much talk about the matter that it led to disinterment of the remains when it was found that she had really been poisoned much corp morp ald aid but enough has been adduced to give some idea ol 01 mr stones able and effective plea there was mas no doubt it had been well considered and it evidently bore upon its face the individual belief of the lawyer at its close friends gathered around him and both e and mr ham ilton were warmly congratulated for court had adjourned it being near noon doon the claimant edes cames in tor for a good share of the popular attention during the plea tor for he seemed instinct with determination and defiance flance de when allusion w v as made to mrs ham ilton he was seen to clench his hand and start wrathfully wrath tully in his seat and he leaned forward to say to his coun sel mr stevens that he was glad she was not present mr air stevens was not glad he ile felt had she been in court mr air stone stones s speech must have lost some of its ac and that her calm ladylike demeanor would have presented a speaking contrast to his words how ever the opportunity had passed and the counsel tor for the prosecution trem bled for the result mr stevens began his argument at about two 0 clock and he rejoiced when he saw mrs hamilton enter the court room for her presence nerved him to greater effort and belief in the justice of the cause he advocated he apol e of the able and ex exhaustive hau stive argument of mr stone and of the manner in which the evidence had been presented to make it show to the best advantage no men know better how to conceal weak points than they but in this case they had overdone the matter when the two men met at portland depot as they most assuredly did meet on the friday in question the respondent had ample opportunity to see for himself the condition of the true claimant claimants s mind at that time it was perfectly evident that he had for gotten his own name and when after the supposed death of his victim he came here to take tale the place of his brother to fraudulently take possess sion what course would look so plaus ible as to pretend he had lost his mem ory cry as he knew the other to have done this would account ar tor the e long absence the probable manner of hamilton on his way to portland and and inconvenient lack of knowledge kow ledge re garding people and events which would of essit recur to him he ile could lay it to lapses of memory as he had done more than once the respondent who was in reality ashley himself was as a man of great resources of great fertility he came to LO grovedale Grov edale to step into his twin brother s possessions after the supposed death of the true vane hamil ton and he laid claim to the latter a 9 manner peculiarities and so forth much of which was natural to him the great resemblance was true and undoubted but probably no greater than is often observed ib served between twins of both sexes to be continued |
