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Show I I tli stor icl I Crimes I I I Mysteries 1 I I Will MrKGft H lj 0B.,.T .. rvn I'll H HOW BALFOUR MISSED THE M MAIDEN. rfi V' J tunallJlOXANDIOIl n.M.h'nnt wns b..r:i H lli'r lid thHit if his father, Lord Hur- H H '-'' "'' Kinross, In I lie year 107, H jhiiI lr iiil Scotland there w :i- no infant H (VitUulr(ir prospects. Ills father was a m 13n7dVo.W" tyiere were great people H nibpng his uncle. and cousins and H tlthifs. Among Ills distinguished and H powerful ruin lives were the duke of M '"''xntyVniid tin; curl of Stair. So Al- H '"'TxrtatflT, iik lie jre'w' up, n brew gal- H "''liiiM.'u'reliirtcd dreams of plory. H rIT In the fullnes of time he wont to H bisie IfnVvilrtdty of St. Andrew, where M illie tlltliiwntsiisl himself for Intelli- H (luV'UtCI'OXd '""' "is teachers admired H liim so iiiuih they predicted grant things for lit tit. und said he would inve been destined to greatness, even i'ru he been born n plebeian. Then H IJIWe rniy fjie university shut down for H '''A nVref KAMon, and Aleck went home M linfter A'tiiciitlon. And. having reached H IciMHi'irm'MArnf hull, the first thing he H iiid hois io fall In love with Anne Rot H .viitmn. thu KOvtrtuiH of his little sls- H t'AVWfV T Tim chroniclers my that Anno R W ''" i'i' '"" '""' '""' " uls'' "H " Rr" H Jf'W npKe tried to discourage Aleck's B Infatuation.'' She handed him the Ice H "fmlgs'lh eV(;ry way slie could, hut the B 'jrihitlfc hum wits determined to marry H i.f. '' M ' "I'hei hiw fath.T. old Lord Hurlelyh. H ilflol.'.wlse .to what was going on ar.d H ."ill in hi tiar. Ho discharged Miss . JMei;tij mid (old his son to pack H ;yf) ills, tuips and lake a tour ahroad, RH viu!rVn,," ll'""-v ""'" swimmied home. RlH Ti 1. h'1 !' t,l",lUr(' "titidote for love- H 'WcKh'f'srt io (hose diiyu. KorelfOl travel H 'S rfsi''ri 'iw ft.r niany Ills which now H IAe ViMtehhrr by patent medicine. Al- M iMlnfcr went nway, ImaitnMg him- H oeVfilirokcW-hourte1. Hut lie wrote u iV -ul !lw .I Mm , RRi "Mffo i Calmly Alexander Balfour Aimed Pistol and Fired." RR iiaw B ietr,-r to Miss Robertson, teUtof her M tmtHd mnrry hefore hln return. If she did kii. he would niaUe It ills business H to kill her husband. Then the youux M UMtii hulled ttwuy io foreign pails, und M tlu;, ,nioai hs rolli'il on, and eventually H u Mr. Syme came wooing Miss Hubert- ' B boil, and. found favor in tier eyes. M She went with hltn to the ultur, and the twain aetlltsj down to live huppy M ever after, Alexander's threat caused H nft uneasiness in Anne's gentle bosom. H IfMMvtleHH the young man hud forgot- H ten her by this time. The threuts of H hitl'liirn npringiildH are us idle us the BK MladH. Mi- Die mouths kept rolling IB along, and it came to pass that one HJ ilny .iiimi was aeuted by a window Hi iim-.iuv' her first horn, and a shallow B f'-ll Upon her. Looking up, she found HM ifeVself face to face with Alexand-r HB Balfour; There was murder In his H eyes. She read his fell intention at Hi a glance, and shrieked. Her husband, HRJ who was in a Imck room, rushed to her BB VK' lo see, what dlstreeiwd her. Very H calmly, Alexunder Halfour aimed a HJI pistol und tired, and Syme fell dead. Then was Bufour taken to a Jail, litlil shortty afterwards he was tried, ! tintl sentenced to death. All the pow- Hj er and puii or his influential relative! HH could not avail lit in in this evil case. There vuutv an evening when lie knew B that the next Mnutsc Would he the Hi last he'd ever tee, Prom (he barred RJ window of his dungeon he could see pfl the llistruineni of death, the maiden, HJ whli'h had been elected that afleriioon fl by whlsthrur workineii. It stood upon BRf a knoll, so that the plain people would B be able to see every detuil of his exe- B cutioti. w3 '' The maiden wan the nncesior cf the guillotine. The Invi'lltor of the latter, whose name has become Immortal, was a mere pluiclarlst. Kvcry salient feature of his machine was embodied ' ta tha maiden. Tajs aiRfilra' le con-tflviiBfe con-tflviiBfe iis hilrodtlced In Sotland ! the regftit ijortoa, who encouraged lal" i .ui inu device of every kind. Mortrtti, wiio was the most unpopular man In Ills kingdom, had the satisfaction satisfac-tion of being beheaded by the machine he so greatly admired. TbO maiden consisted of two np- rights with grooves down the Inside. I In tfeeae feruOfOa there slid a heavy I ax, weighted with lead. There was a erosK-har four feet from the ground, j and upon this the patient laid his head ' at the direction of the executioner. Then another crossbar descended ' upon his head and held it down. Kv-( Kv-( crylhliig being in readiness for the op i eration, the executioner requested tax I patient to look pleasant, please, polled ft cord, and the ax descended. There never was any botched work with thW machine, as often happened when the headsman swung an ax by hand. The maiden was largely used In the agricultural agri-cultural districts, where the stealing of live stock was a popular diversion. When the thieves were convicted and brought to execution, a touch of poetic po-etic Justice made their end seem more pleasant. If the condemned had stolen stol-en a horse, the cord which released the ax was pulled by that animal; If a cow or a sheep, a cow or a sheep sent him Into eternity. It was upon this ghastly machine that Alexander Kulfour wits looking when (tie sun went down, and there was despair in Ids face when he turned away from the window and confronted his sister Jennie. She had her finger on her lips, warning him to be silent. Site whispered that she had come to Have lilm. They were much ' of q size, and In a little wb.! Alexander Alexan-der was wearing his sister's dress and bonnet, and she was blushing In Ills unaccustomed raiment. The Hiirlelirh pull was of no avail In Alexander's emergency, but It seems probable that the Ilurlelgh money was not so futile. Kor everything moved like greased clockwork. The sister remained re-mained in the dungeon, and the brother broth-er walked out of the prison, turnkeys and Jailors paying no attention to him Whatever. In u bosky dell not fnr away be found u fleet horse, all saddled sad-dled and bridled, with money and weapons convenient to his hand. Ho he sped away, and gained n foreign shore. Kven at this distance of time one must sympathize with the unfortunate executioner when he arrived on the knoll next morning and found there was nobody to execute. He had looked forward to this affair as the crowning achievement of his career. I'erhaps he figured on taking the lecture platform plat-form or making a tour of the Thau-tauquas, Thau-tauquas, and all bis hopes were shattered shat-tered at one blow. So lie hud to take bis little obi uiahlen uwny and maybe lie used It for slicing turnips for the cows. Lord Ilurlelgh and the various dukes and lairds and other great relatives of the escaped murderer never wear-led wear-led of working for a pardon for Alexunder, Alex-under, and when Queen Anne came to the throne she was Induced to extend ex-tend clemency to him, and he returned to his ancestral halls and lived there in opulence und honor for !:( years. Ills story Is a familiar tale throughout Scotland, hut nobody seems to know what became of poor widowed Anue Robertson Syme. |