WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:03.560 A difficult problem by Anna Catherine Greene. 2 00:00:04.679 --> 00:00:08.320 A lady to see you, sir. I looked up and 3 00:00:08.480 --> 00:00:10.919 was at once impressed by the grace and beauty of 4 00:00:10.960 --> 00:00:14.679 the person thus introduced to me. Is there anything I 5 00:00:14.720 --> 00:00:18.640 can do to serve you? I asked, rising. She cast 6 00:00:18.679 --> 00:00:21.879 me a childlike look, full of trust and candor, as 7 00:00:21.879 --> 00:00:23.480 she seated herself in the chair. 8 00:00:23.519 --> 00:00:27.559 I pointed out to her, I believe so, I hope so. 9 00:00:28.120 --> 00:00:29.519 She earnestly assured me. 10 00:00:30.280 --> 00:00:33.640 I I am in great trouble. I've just lost my husband. 11 00:00:33.799 --> 00:00:36.560 But it is not that. It's the slip of paper 12 00:00:36.600 --> 00:00:38.560 I found on my dresser, and. 13 00:00:38.640 --> 00:00:43.840 Which which she was trembling violently, and her words were 14 00:00:43.880 --> 00:00:47.799 fast becoming incoherent. I calmed her and asked her to 15 00:00:47.840 --> 00:00:51.159 relate her story just as it had happened, and after 16 00:00:51.200 --> 00:00:54.640 a few minutes of silent struggle, she succeeded in collecting 17 00:00:54.679 --> 00:00:58.759 herself sufficiently to respond with some degree of connection and 18 00:00:58.840 --> 00:00:59.719 self possession. 19 00:01:00.439 --> 00:01:03.960 I have been married six months. My name is Lucy Holmes. 20 00:01:04.760 --> 00:01:07.359 For the last few weeks, my husband and myself have 21 00:01:07.439 --> 00:01:10.079 been living in an apartment house on fifty ninth Street, 22 00:01:10.599 --> 00:01:12.319 and as we had not a care in the world. 23 00:01:12.359 --> 00:01:15.640 We were very happy till mister Holmes was called away 24 00:01:15.640 --> 00:01:20.120 on business to Philadelphia. This was two weeks ago. Five 25 00:01:20.200 --> 00:01:23.879 days later I received an affectionate letter from him, in 26 00:01:23.959 --> 00:01:26.920 which he promised to come back the next day, and 27 00:01:27.000 --> 00:01:30.079 the news so delighted me that I accepted an invitation 28 00:01:30.200 --> 00:01:33.400 to the theater from some intimate friends of ours. The 29 00:01:33.439 --> 00:01:36.920 next morning. I naturally felt fatigued and rose late, but 30 00:01:37.000 --> 00:01:40.040 I was very cheerful, for I expected my husband at noon. 31 00:01:41.040 --> 00:01:44.560 And now comes the perplexing mystery. In the course of 32 00:01:44.640 --> 00:01:48.159 dressing myself, I stepped to my bureau, and, seeing a 33 00:01:48.200 --> 00:01:51.319 small newspaper slip attached to the cushion by a pin, 34 00:01:51.599 --> 00:01:54.439 I drew it off and read it. It was a 35 00:01:54.480 --> 00:01:57.920 death notice, and my hair rose and my limbs failed 36 00:01:57.959 --> 00:02:01.239 me as I took in its fatal and incredible words. 37 00:02:02.120 --> 00:02:06.760 Died this day at the Colonnade. James Forsyth de Witt Holmes, 38 00:02:07.280 --> 00:02:12.199 New York Papers, Please copy. James Forsyth de Wit Holmes 39 00:02:12.240 --> 00:02:15.479 was my husband, and his last letter, which was at 40 00:02:15.520 --> 00:02:18.919 that very moment lying beside the cushion, had been dated 41 00:02:18.960 --> 00:02:22.560 from the Colonnade. Was I dreaming or under the spell 42 00:02:22.599 --> 00:02:26.159 of some frightful hallucination, which led me to misread the 43 00:02:26.240 --> 00:02:29.400 name on the slip of paper before me I could 44 00:02:29.400 --> 00:02:33.639 not determine. My head, throat, and chest seemed bound about 45 00:02:33.680 --> 00:02:36.240 with iron, so that I could neither speak nor breathe 46 00:02:36.280 --> 00:02:40.240 with freedom and suffering. Thus I stood staring at this 47 00:02:40.360 --> 00:02:43.759 demoniacal piece of paper, which in an instant had brought 48 00:02:43.759 --> 00:02:47.319 the shadow of death upon my happy life. Nor was 49 00:02:47.319 --> 00:02:49.840 I at all relieved when a little later I flew 50 00:02:49.879 --> 00:02:53.360 with the notice into a neighbor's apartment, and, praying her 51 00:02:53.400 --> 00:02:56.120 to read it for me, found that my eyes had 52 00:02:56.159 --> 00:03:00.000 not deceived me, and that the name was indeed my husband's, 53 00:03:00.240 --> 00:03:04.319 and the notice one of death. Not from my own mind, 54 00:03:04.439 --> 00:03:08.479 but from hers. Came the first suggestion of comfort. It 55 00:03:08.520 --> 00:03:11.280 cannot be your husband who is meant, said she, but 56 00:03:11.439 --> 00:03:13.879 some one of the same name. Your husband wrote to 57 00:03:13.919 --> 00:03:16.400 you yesterday. And this person must have been dead at 58 00:03:16.479 --> 00:03:19.240 least two days for the printed notice of his decease 59 00:03:19.400 --> 00:03:22.400 to have reached New York. Some one has remarked the 60 00:03:22.439 --> 00:03:26.080 striking similarity of names, and, wishing to startle you, cut 61 00:03:26.080 --> 00:03:29.520 the slip out and pinned it on your cushion. I 62 00:03:29.560 --> 00:03:32.360 certainly knew of no one inconsiderate enough to do this. 63 00:03:32.840 --> 00:03:36.120 But the explanation was so plausible I at once embraced 64 00:03:36.159 --> 00:03:39.840 it and sobbed aloud in my relief. But in the 65 00:03:39.879 --> 00:03:42.800 midst of my rejoicing, I heard the bell ring in 66 00:03:42.879 --> 00:03:47.759 my apartment, and running thither, encountered a telegraph boy holding 67 00:03:47.840 --> 00:03:51.599 in his outstretched hand the yellow envelope which so often 68 00:03:51.639 --> 00:03:56.039 bespeaks death or disaster. The sight took my breath away. 69 00:03:56.719 --> 00:03:59.719 Summoning my maid, whom I saw hastening towards me from 70 00:03:59.719 --> 00:04:02.879 an inn room, I begged her to open the telegram 71 00:04:02.960 --> 00:04:06.800 for me. Sir, I saw in her face before she 72 00:04:06.879 --> 00:04:10.120 had read the first line a confirmation of my very 73 00:04:10.159 --> 00:04:12.719 worst fears. My husband was. 74 00:04:13.840 --> 00:04:18.319 The young widow, choked with her emotions, paused, recovered herself 75 00:04:18.319 --> 00:04:19.480 for the second time. 76 00:04:19.399 --> 00:04:23.639 And then went on, I had better show you the telegram. 77 00:04:24.000 --> 00:04:26.680 Taking it from her pocket book, she held it towards me. 78 00:04:27.360 --> 00:04:30.279 I read it at a glance. It was short, simple 79 00:04:30.439 --> 00:04:34.839 and direct. Come at once. Your husband found dead in 80 00:04:34.920 --> 00:04:37.879 his room this morning, doctor Sehart disease. 81 00:04:38.279 --> 00:04:43.360 Please telegraph you see it says this morning, she explained, 82 00:04:43.519 --> 00:04:45.399 placing her delicate finger on the word. 83 00:04:45.480 --> 00:04:46.720 She so eagerly quoted. 84 00:04:47.480 --> 00:04:50.439 That means a week ago Wednesday, the same day on 85 00:04:50.480 --> 00:04:53.360 which the printed slip recording his death was found on 86 00:04:53.439 --> 00:04:57.120 my cushion. Do you not see something very strange in this? 87 00:04:58.439 --> 00:05:01.519 I did, But before I ventured to express myself on 88 00:05:01.600 --> 00:05:04.360 this subject, I desired her to tell me what she 89 00:05:04.439 --> 00:05:08.600 had learned in her visit to Philadelphia. Her answer was 90 00:05:08.639 --> 00:05:09.360 simple and. 91 00:05:09.319 --> 00:05:13.319 Straightforward, but little more than you found in this telegram. 92 00:05:13.720 --> 00:05:16.600 He died in his room. He was found lying on 93 00:05:16.639 --> 00:05:19.040 the floor near the bell button, which he had evidently 94 00:05:19.160 --> 00:05:22.920 risen to touch. One hand was clenched on his chest, 95 00:05:23.120 --> 00:05:25.759 but his face wore a peaceful look, as if death 96 00:05:25.800 --> 00:05:29.199 had come too suddenly to cause him much suffering. His 97 00:05:29.319 --> 00:05:33.480 bed was undisturbed. He had died before retiring, possibly in 98 00:05:33.560 --> 00:05:36.439 the act of packing his trunk, for it was found 99 00:05:36.560 --> 00:05:40.600 nearly ready for the expressman. Indeed, there was every evidence 100 00:05:40.639 --> 00:05:43.279 of his intention to leave on an early morning train. 101 00:05:44.160 --> 00:05:46.959 He had even desired to be awakened at six o'clock, 102 00:05:47.639 --> 00:05:50.120 and it was his failure to respond to the summons 103 00:05:50.160 --> 00:05:52.439 of the bell boy which led to so early a 104 00:05:52.480 --> 00:05:56.000 discovery of his death. He had never complained of any 105 00:05:56.040 --> 00:05:59.160 distress in breathing, and we had always considered him a 106 00:05:59.199 --> 00:06:02.759 perfectly healthy man. But there was no reason for assigning 107 00:06:02.839 --> 00:06:05.759 any other cause than heart failure to his sudden death, 108 00:06:06.639 --> 00:06:09.600 And so the burial certificate was made out to that effect, 109 00:06:10.040 --> 00:06:12.279 and I was allowed to bring him home and bury 110 00:06:12.319 --> 00:06:13.839 him in our vault at Woodlawn. 111 00:06:14.439 --> 00:06:18.160 But and here her earnestness dried up the tears which 112 00:06:18.160 --> 00:06:21.480 had been flowing freely during this recital of her husband's 113 00:06:21.480 --> 00:06:23.279 lonely death and sad burial. 114 00:06:24.480 --> 00:06:27.160 Do you not think an investigation should be made into 115 00:06:27.160 --> 00:06:31.360 a death preceded by a false obituary notice? For I 116 00:06:31.480 --> 00:06:35.120 found when I was in Philadelphia that no paragraph such 117 00:06:35.120 --> 00:06:37.399 as I had found pinned to my cushion had been 118 00:06:37.439 --> 00:06:41.160 inserted in any paper there, nor had any other man 119 00:06:41.199 --> 00:06:44.639 of the same name ever registered at the Colonnade, much 120 00:06:44.720 --> 00:06:45.600 less died there. 121 00:06:46.839 --> 00:06:51.040 Have you this notice with you, I asked. She immediately 122 00:06:51.079 --> 00:06:55.160 produced it, and, while I was glancing it over, remarked. 123 00:06:55.639 --> 00:06:59.279 Some persons would give a superstitious explanation to the whole matter. 124 00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:03.480 Think I had received a supernatural warning and been satisfied 125 00:07:03.519 --> 00:07:07.319 with what they would call a spiritual manifestation. But I 126 00:07:07.360 --> 00:07:10.000 have not a bit of such folly in my composition. 127 00:07:10.720 --> 00:07:13.399 Living hands set up the type and printed the words 128 00:07:13.439 --> 00:07:16.839 which gave me so deathly a shock, And hands with 129 00:07:16.920 --> 00:07:19.480 a real purpose in them cut it from the paper 130 00:07:19.519 --> 00:07:21.680 and pinned it to my cushion for me to see 131 00:07:21.720 --> 00:07:25.439 when I woke on that fatal morning. But whose hands? 132 00:07:26.199 --> 00:07:27.959 That is what I want you to discover. 133 00:07:29.240 --> 00:07:32.240 I had caught the fever of her suspicions long before this, 134 00:07:32.800 --> 00:07:37.240 and now felt justified in showing my interest. First, let 135 00:07:37.279 --> 00:07:41.000 me ask, said I, who has access to your rooms 136 00:07:41.040 --> 00:07:42.360 besides your maid? 137 00:07:43.319 --> 00:07:46.120 No one, absolutely no one? 138 00:07:46.560 --> 00:07:47.399 And what of her? 139 00:07:48.920 --> 00:07:52.519 She is innocence itself. She is no common housemaid, but 140 00:07:52.600 --> 00:07:55.480 a girl my mother brought up, who, for love of me, 141 00:07:55.800 --> 00:07:58.480 consents to do such work in the household as my 142 00:07:58.560 --> 00:07:59.800 simple needs require. 143 00:08:01.040 --> 00:08:02.240 I should like to see her. 144 00:08:03.600 --> 00:08:06.079 There is no objection to your doing so, but you 145 00:08:06.120 --> 00:08:09.560 will gain nothing by it. I have already talked the 146 00:08:09.639 --> 00:08:12.360 subject over with her a dozen times, and she is 147 00:08:12.399 --> 00:08:15.439 as much puzzled by it as I am myself. She 148 00:08:15.519 --> 00:08:17.959 says she cannot see how any one could have found 149 00:08:18.000 --> 00:08:20.560 an entrance to my room during my sleep, as the 150 00:08:20.639 --> 00:08:25.680 doors were all locked. Yet, as she very naturally observes, 151 00:08:26.160 --> 00:08:28.319 some one must have done so, for she was in 152 00:08:28.399 --> 00:08:31.480 my bedroom herself just before I returned from the theater, 153 00:08:32.000 --> 00:08:35.440 and can swear, if necessary, that no such slip of 154 00:08:35.519 --> 00:08:38.399 paper was to be seen on my cushion at that time, 155 00:08:38.679 --> 00:08:42.039 for her duty's letter directly to my bureau, and kept 156 00:08:42.039 --> 00:08:43.679 her there for full five minutes. 157 00:08:44.919 --> 00:08:47.720 And you believed her, I suggested. 158 00:08:48.240 --> 00:08:51.440 Implicitly, in what direction. 159 00:08:51.200 --> 00:08:53.039 Then do your suspicions. 160 00:08:52.440 --> 00:08:57.919 Turn alas in no direction? That's the trouble. I don't 161 00:08:57.919 --> 00:09:01.360 know whom to mistrust. It was because I was told 162 00:09:01.399 --> 00:09:03.679 that you had the credit of seeing light where others 163 00:09:03.679 --> 00:09:06.320 can see nothing but darkness, that I have sought your 164 00:09:06.399 --> 00:09:10.360 aid in this emergency, for the uncertainty surrounding this matter 165 00:09:10.440 --> 00:09:13.799 is killing me and will make my sorrow quite unendurable 166 00:09:13.840 --> 00:09:15.679 if I cannot obtain relief from it. 167 00:09:17.000 --> 00:09:19.879 I do not wonder. I began struck by the note 168 00:09:19.879 --> 00:09:22.919 of truth in her tones, and I shall certainly do 169 00:09:23.039 --> 00:09:26.440 what I can for you. But before we go any further, 170 00:09:26.879 --> 00:09:29.720 let us examine this scrap of newspaper and see what 171 00:09:29.799 --> 00:09:32.960 we can make out of it. I had already noted 172 00:09:33.000 --> 00:09:35.480 two or three points in connection with it, to which 173 00:09:35.480 --> 00:09:39.399 I now proceeded to direct her attention. Have you compared 174 00:09:39.440 --> 00:09:42.279 this notice I pursued with such others as you find 175 00:09:42.279 --> 00:09:46.120 every day in the papers. No, was her eager answer. 176 00:09:46.639 --> 00:09:47.600 Is it not like them? 177 00:09:47.600 --> 00:09:52.639 All? Read? Was my quiet interruption on this day at 178 00:09:52.639 --> 00:09:56.720 the Colonnade. On what day? The date is usually given 179 00:09:56.799 --> 00:09:59.279 in all the bonafida notices I have seen? 180 00:10:00.399 --> 00:10:00.639 Is it? 181 00:10:00.960 --> 00:10:05.480 She asked, her eyes moist with unshad tears opening widely 182 00:10:05.519 --> 00:10:09.480 in her astonishment. Look in the papers on your return 183 00:10:09.519 --> 00:10:13.360 home and see then the print. Observe that the type 184 00:10:13.440 --> 00:10:16.799 is identical on both sides of this make believe clipping 185 00:10:17.200 --> 00:10:20.360 which in fact there is always a perceptible difference between 186 00:10:20.399 --> 00:10:23.320 that used in the obituary column and that to be 187 00:10:23.360 --> 00:10:27.639 found in the columns devoted to other matter. Notice also, 188 00:10:27.879 --> 00:10:30.799 I continued, holding up the scrap of paper between her 189 00:10:30.919 --> 00:10:34.759 and the light, that the alignment on one side is not 190 00:10:34.840 --> 00:10:39.320 exactly parallel with that on the other, a discrepancy which 191 00:10:39.320 --> 00:10:42.080 would not exist if both sides had been printed on 192 00:10:42.120 --> 00:10:46.480 a newspaper press. These facts lead me to conclude, first 193 00:10:46.919 --> 00:10:49.679 that the effort to match the type exactly was the 194 00:10:49.720 --> 00:10:52.000 mistake of a man who tries to do too much. 195 00:10:52.840 --> 00:10:56.720 And secondly, that one of the sides, at least presumably 196 00:10:56.799 --> 00:11:00.720 that containing the obituary notice, was printed on a hand press, 197 00:11:01.120 --> 00:11:03.639 on the blank side of a piece of galley proof 198 00:11:03.720 --> 00:11:08.600 picked up in some newspaper office. Let me see, and, 199 00:11:08.720 --> 00:11:11.759 stretching out her hand with the utmost eagerness, she took 200 00:11:11.759 --> 00:11:15.320 the slip and turned it over. Instantly, a change took 201 00:11:15.360 --> 00:11:19.000 place in her countenance. She sank back in her seat, 202 00:11:19.120 --> 00:11:22.480 and a blush of manifest confusion suffused her cheeks. 203 00:11:23.159 --> 00:11:27.879 Oh, she exclaimed, what will you think of me? I 204 00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:31.039 brought this scrap of print into the house myself, and 205 00:11:31.120 --> 00:11:33.279 it was I who pinned it on the cushion with 206 00:11:33.320 --> 00:11:37.240 my own hands. I remember it now. The sight of 207 00:11:37.279 --> 00:11:39.600 those words recalls the whole occurrence. 208 00:11:40.919 --> 00:11:43.559 Then there is one mystery less for us to solve, 209 00:11:43.720 --> 00:11:48.559 I remarked, somewhat dryly. Do you think so, she protested 210 00:11:48.639 --> 00:11:49.840 with a deprecatory look. 211 00:11:50.519 --> 00:11:54.480 For me, the mystery deepens and becomes every minute more serious. 212 00:11:55.679 --> 00:11:58.000 It is true that I brought this scrap of newspaper 213 00:11:58.039 --> 00:12:01.279 into the house, and that it had then, as now, 214 00:12:01.799 --> 00:12:04.919 the notice of my husband's death upon it. But the 215 00:12:04.960 --> 00:12:07.840 time of my bringing it in was Tuesday night, and 216 00:12:07.919 --> 00:12:10.600 he was not found dead till Wednesday morning. 217 00:12:11.480 --> 00:12:13.480 A discrepancy worth noting, I. 218 00:12:13.519 --> 00:12:17.120 Remarked, involving a mystery of some importance. 219 00:12:17.399 --> 00:12:21.879 She concluded, I agreed to that, and since we have 220 00:12:21.960 --> 00:12:24.799 discovered how the slip came into your room, we can 221 00:12:24.840 --> 00:12:28.080 now proceed to the clearing up of this mystery. I observed. 222 00:12:28.720 --> 00:12:32.240 You can, of course inform me where you procured this clipping, 223 00:12:32.320 --> 00:12:34.080 which you say you brought into the house. 224 00:12:35.480 --> 00:12:38.799 Yes, you may think it strange, but when I alighted 225 00:12:38.799 --> 00:12:41.639 from the carriage that night, a man on the sidewalk 226 00:12:41.720 --> 00:12:44.840 put this tiny scrap of paper into my hand. It 227 00:12:44.960 --> 00:12:47.799 was done so mechanically that it made no more impression 228 00:12:47.840 --> 00:12:52.240 on my mind than the thrusting of an advertisement upon me. Indeed, 229 00:12:52.279 --> 00:12:55.399 I supposed it was an advertisement, And I only wonder 230 00:12:55.480 --> 00:12:58.200 that I retained it in my hand at all, But 231 00:12:58.240 --> 00:13:01.200 that I did so, and that in a moment of abstraction, 232 00:13:01.519 --> 00:13:03.200 I went so far as to pin it to my 233 00:13:03.279 --> 00:13:06.919 cushion is evident from the fact that a vague memory 234 00:13:07.000 --> 00:13:10.240 remains in my mind of having read this recipe, which 235 00:13:10.279 --> 00:13:12.799 you see printed on the reverse side of the paper. 236 00:13:14.159 --> 00:13:17.039 It was the recipe, then, and not the obituary. Notice 237 00:13:17.080 --> 00:13:19.480 that attracted your attention the night before. 238 00:13:20.480 --> 00:13:23.480 Probably, but in pinning it to the cushion, it was 239 00:13:23.519 --> 00:13:27.679 the obituary notice that chanced to come uppermost. Oh, why 240 00:13:27.679 --> 00:13:30.679 should I not have remembered this till now? Can you 241 00:13:30.759 --> 00:13:33.799 understand my forgetting a matter of so much importance? 242 00:13:34.600 --> 00:13:39.799 Yes, I allowed, after a momentary consideration of her ingenuous countenance. 243 00:13:40.759 --> 00:13:43.360 The words you read in the morning were so startling 244 00:13:43.639 --> 00:13:46.960 that they disconnected themselves from those who had carelessly glanced 245 00:13:47.000 --> 00:13:47.919 at the night before. 246 00:13:49.320 --> 00:13:52.720 That is it, she replied, And since then I have 247 00:13:52.799 --> 00:13:56.039 had eyes for the one side only. How could I 248 00:13:56.080 --> 00:13:59.519 think of the other? But who could have printed this thing? 249 00:13:59.639 --> 00:14:02.000 And who was the man who put it into my hand? 250 00:14:02.720 --> 00:14:03.879 He looked like a beggar. 251 00:14:03.960 --> 00:14:09.519 But oh, she suddenly exclaimed, her cheeks flushing scarlet and 252 00:14:09.559 --> 00:14:14.480 her eyes flashing with a feverish, almost alarming glitter. What 253 00:14:14.639 --> 00:14:20.480 is it now, I asked, another recollection. Yes, she spoke 254 00:14:20.559 --> 00:14:22.159 so low I could hardly hear her. 255 00:14:23.039 --> 00:14:28.879 He coughed, And and what I encouragingly suggested, seeing that 256 00:14:28.919 --> 00:14:31.679 she was under some new and overwhelming. 257 00:14:31.000 --> 00:14:35.480 Emotion, That cough had a familiar sound now that I 258 00:14:35.519 --> 00:14:38.039 think of it, it was like that of a friend 259 00:14:38.080 --> 00:14:41.440 who But no, no, I will not wrong him by 260 00:14:41.480 --> 00:14:45.200 any false surmises. He would stoop too much, but not 261 00:14:45.279 --> 00:14:45.519 to that. 262 00:14:46.200 --> 00:14:50.200 Yet the flush on her cheeks had died away, but 263 00:14:50.320 --> 00:14:53.639 the two vivid spots which remained showed the depth of 264 00:14:53.639 --> 00:14:54.360 her excitement. 265 00:14:55.720 --> 00:14:57.759 Do you think she suddenly. 266 00:14:57.320 --> 00:15:00.039 Asked that a man out of revenge might play and 267 00:15:00.240 --> 00:15:02.960 to frighten me by a false notice of my husband's death, 268 00:15:03.480 --> 00:15:06.679 and that God to punish him made the notice a prophecy. 269 00:15:08.200 --> 00:15:11.519 I think a man influenced by the spirit of revenge 270 00:15:11.600 --> 00:15:16.000 might do almost anything, I answered, purposely, ignoring the latter 271 00:15:16.039 --> 00:15:16.919 part of her question. 272 00:15:18.080 --> 00:15:21.039 But I always considered him a good man, at least, 273 00:15:21.080 --> 00:15:24.320 I never looked upon him as a wicked one. Every 274 00:15:24.320 --> 00:15:26.000 other beggar we meet has a cough. 275 00:15:26.080 --> 00:15:30.279 And yet, she added, after a moment's pause, if it was. 276 00:15:30.240 --> 00:15:33.360 Not he who gave me this mortal shock, who was it? 277 00:15:33.919 --> 00:15:36.919 He is the only person in the world I ever wronged. 278 00:15:38.200 --> 00:15:40.000 Had you not better tell me his name? 279 00:15:40.200 --> 00:15:43.840 I suggested, No, I am in too great doubt. 280 00:15:44.440 --> 00:15:46.480 I should hate to do him a second injury. 281 00:15:47.559 --> 00:15:50.639 You cannot injure him if he is innocent. My methods 282 00:15:50.679 --> 00:15:51.519 are very safe. 283 00:15:52.679 --> 00:15:55.399 If I could forget his cough, but it had that 284 00:15:55.480 --> 00:15:58.759 peculiar catch in it that I remembered so well in 285 00:15:58.799 --> 00:16:01.879 the cough of John Gray. I did not pay any 286 00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:05.120 especial heed to it. At the time, old days and 287 00:16:05.200 --> 00:16:08.679 old troubles were far enough from my thoughts. But now 288 00:16:08.720 --> 00:16:12.840 that my suspicions are raised, that low choking sound comes 289 00:16:12.879 --> 00:16:16.080 back to me in a strangely persistent way, and I 290 00:16:16.080 --> 00:16:19.080 seemed to see a well remembered form in the stooping 291 00:16:19.120 --> 00:16:22.840 figure of this beggar. Oh, I hope the good God 292 00:16:22.840 --> 00:16:25.720 will forgive me if I attribute to this disappointed man 293 00:16:25.720 --> 00:16:27.519 a wickedness he never committed. 294 00:16:28.960 --> 00:16:32.000 Who is John Graham? I urged? And what was the 295 00:16:32.080 --> 00:16:35.960 nature of the wrong you did him? She rose, cast 296 00:16:36.039 --> 00:16:39.360 me one appealing glance, and, perceiving that I meant to 297 00:16:39.399 --> 00:16:43.080 have her whole story, turned towards the fire, and stood 298 00:16:43.080 --> 00:16:46.240 warming her feet before the hearth, with her face turned 299 00:16:46.240 --> 00:16:48.080 away from my gaze. 300 00:16:48.480 --> 00:16:52.240 I was once engaged to marry him. She began, not 301 00:16:52.480 --> 00:16:55.200 because I loved him, but because we were very poor, 302 00:16:55.639 --> 00:16:58.519 I mean my mother and myself, and he had a 303 00:16:58.559 --> 00:17:02.600 home and seemed both good and generous. The day came 304 00:17:02.639 --> 00:17:05.319 when we were to be married. This was in the west, 305 00:17:05.480 --> 00:17:08.319 way out in Kansas, and I was even dressed for 306 00:17:08.359 --> 00:17:10.880 the wedding when a letter came from my uncle here, 307 00:17:11.240 --> 00:17:14.720 a rich uncle, very rich, who had never had anything 308 00:17:14.720 --> 00:17:17.720 to do with my mother since her marriage, And in 309 00:17:17.839 --> 00:17:21.279 it he promised me fortune and everything else desirable in 310 00:17:21.359 --> 00:17:25.000 life if I would come to him, unencumbered by any 311 00:17:25.000 --> 00:17:29.400 foolish ties. Think of it, and I within half an 312 00:17:29.400 --> 00:17:31.680 hour of marriage with a man I had never loved 313 00:17:32.119 --> 00:17:37.559 and now suddenly hated. The temptation was overwhelming and heartless, 314 00:17:37.559 --> 00:17:40.680 as my conduct may appear to you, I succumbed to it, 315 00:17:42.359 --> 00:17:44.799 telling my lover that I had changed my mind. I 316 00:17:44.920 --> 00:17:48.160 dismissed the minister when he came and announced my intention 317 00:17:48.319 --> 00:17:52.480 of proceeding east as soon as possible. Mister Graham was 318 00:17:52.519 --> 00:17:56.680 simply paralyzed by his disappointment, and during the few days 319 00:17:56.680 --> 00:18:00.640 which intervened before my departure, I was haunted by his face, 320 00:18:00.880 --> 00:18:02.920 which was like that of a man who had died 321 00:18:02.960 --> 00:18:06.680 from some overwhelming shock. But when I was once free 322 00:18:06.720 --> 00:18:09.799 of the town, especially after I arrived in New York, 323 00:18:10.200 --> 00:18:14.519 I forgot alike his misery and himself. Everything I saw 324 00:18:14.680 --> 00:18:18.079 was so beautiful, life was so full of charm, and 325 00:18:18.160 --> 00:18:21.000 my uncle so delighted with me and everything I did. 326 00:18:21.839 --> 00:18:25.599 Then there was James Holmes, and after I had seen him, 327 00:18:25.920 --> 00:18:29.039 but I cannot talk of that, we loved each other. 328 00:18:29.119 --> 00:18:32.440 And under the surprise of this new delight, how could 329 00:18:32.440 --> 00:18:34.720 I be expected to remember the man I had left 330 00:18:34.720 --> 00:18:37.799 behind me in that barren region in which I had 331 00:18:37.839 --> 00:18:41.319 spent my youth. But he did not forget the misery 332 00:18:41.319 --> 00:18:44.480 I had caused him. He followed me to New York, 333 00:18:45.160 --> 00:18:47.480 and on the morning I was married, found his way 334 00:18:47.559 --> 00:18:51.519 into the house, and, mixing with the wedding guests, suddenly 335 00:18:51.559 --> 00:18:55.079 appeared before me, just as I was receiving the congratulations 336 00:18:55.079 --> 00:18:58.799 of my friends. At sight of him, I experienced all 337 00:18:58.839 --> 00:19:03.039 the terror he had called upon causing, But remembering at 338 00:19:03.079 --> 00:19:06.319 whose side I stood, I managed to hide my confusion 339 00:19:06.519 --> 00:19:11.880 under an aspect of apparent haughtiness. This irritated John Graham, 340 00:19:12.680 --> 00:19:17.200 flushing with anger and ignoring my imploring look, he cried, peremptorily, 341 00:19:17.839 --> 00:19:21.240 present me to your husband, and I felt forced to 342 00:19:21.279 --> 00:19:25.680 present him. But his name produced no effect upon mister Holmes. 343 00:19:26.400 --> 00:19:28.880 I had never told him of my early experience with 344 00:19:28.960 --> 00:19:33.559 this man, and John Graham, perceiving this cast me a 345 00:19:33.599 --> 00:19:38.240 bitter glance of disdain, and passed on, muttering between his teeth, 346 00:19:39.039 --> 00:19:42.359 false to me and false to him. Your punishment will 347 00:19:42.400 --> 00:19:45.119 be upon you, and I felt as if I had 348 00:19:45.160 --> 00:19:45.799 been cursed. 349 00:19:47.039 --> 00:19:52.160 She stopped here, moved by emotions readily to be understood. Then, 350 00:19:52.279 --> 00:19:56.079 with quick impetuosity, she caught up the thread of her story. 351 00:19:55.880 --> 00:20:00.279 And went on, that was six months ago, And again 352 00:20:00.359 --> 00:20:04.680 I forgot My mother died, and my husband soon absorbed 353 00:20:04.720 --> 00:20:08.119 my every thought. How could I dream that this man, 354 00:20:08.319 --> 00:20:10.400 who was little more than a memory to me, and 355 00:20:10.480 --> 00:20:15.279 scarcely that was secretly planning mischief against me? Yet this 356 00:20:15.440 --> 00:20:17.960 scrap about which we have talked so much may have 357 00:20:18.039 --> 00:20:21.680 been the work of his hands, and even my husband's death. 358 00:20:22.759 --> 00:20:25.640 She did not finish, but her face, which was turned 359 00:20:25.640 --> 00:20:30.839 towards me, spoke volumes. Your husband's death shall be inquired into, 360 00:20:30.960 --> 00:20:34.960 I assured her, and she, exhausted by the excitement of 361 00:20:35.000 --> 00:20:38.720 her discoveries, asked that she might be excused from further 362 00:20:38.759 --> 00:20:42.559 discussion of the subject at that time, as I had 363 00:20:42.559 --> 00:20:45.400 no wish myself to enter any more fully into the matter. 364 00:20:45.559 --> 00:20:48.920 Just then I readily acceded to her request, and the 365 00:20:48.920 --> 00:20:54.519 pretty widow left me two. Obviously, the first fact to 366 00:20:54.559 --> 00:20:57.559 be settled was whether mister Holmes had died from purely 367 00:20:57.640 --> 00:21:02.039 natural causes. I accordingly busied myself the next few days 368 00:21:02.079 --> 00:21:05.759 with this question, and was fortunate enough to so interest 369 00:21:05.799 --> 00:21:08.640 the proper authorities that an order was issued for the 370 00:21:08.680 --> 00:21:13.559 exhimation and examination of the body. The result was disappointing. 371 00:21:14.359 --> 00:21:17.119 No traces of poison were to be found in the stomach, 372 00:21:17.359 --> 00:21:19.359 nor was there to be seen on the body any 373 00:21:19.400 --> 00:21:22.559 mark of violence, with the exception of a minute prick 374 00:21:22.680 --> 00:21:26.519 upon one of his thumbs. This speck was so small 375 00:21:26.759 --> 00:21:31.079 that it escaped every eye but my own. The authorities 376 00:21:31.119 --> 00:21:34.279 assuring the widow that the doctor's certificate given her in 377 00:21:34.319 --> 00:21:38.680 Philadelphia was correct, he was again interred. But I was 378 00:21:38.720 --> 00:21:42.519 not satisfied, neither do I think she was. I was 379 00:21:42.640 --> 00:21:45.720 confident that this death was not a natural one, and 380 00:21:45.960 --> 00:21:49.920 entered upon one of those secret and prolonged investigations which 381 00:21:49.920 --> 00:21:54.319 have constituted the pleasure of my life for so many years. First, 382 00:21:54.400 --> 00:21:58.240 I visited the Colonnade in Philadelphia, and, being allowed to 383 00:21:58.279 --> 00:22:01.839 see the room in which mister Holmestead, went through it carefully, 384 00:22:02.680 --> 00:22:05.440 as it had not been used since that time. I 385 00:22:05.480 --> 00:22:08.759 had some hopes of coming upon a clue, but it 386 00:22:08.839 --> 00:22:11.160 was a vain hope, and the only result of my 387 00:22:11.279 --> 00:22:14.480 journey to this place was the assurance I received that 388 00:22:14.559 --> 00:22:18.000 the gentleman had spent the entire evening preceding his death 389 00:22:18.400 --> 00:22:20.960 in his own room, where he had been brought several 390 00:22:21.039 --> 00:22:25.119 letters and one small package, the latter coming by mail. 391 00:22:26.039 --> 00:22:29.119 With this one point gained. If it was a point, 392 00:22:29.640 --> 00:22:33.720 I went back to New York. Calling on missus Holmes. 393 00:22:33.759 --> 00:22:36.680 I asked her if while her husband was away she 394 00:22:36.720 --> 00:22:41.000 had sent him anything besides letters, and, upon her replying 395 00:22:41.039 --> 00:22:44.319 to the contrary, requested to know if in her visit 396 00:22:44.359 --> 00:22:48.920 to Philadelphia she had noted among her husband's effects anything 397 00:22:48.960 --> 00:22:52.880 that was new or unfamiliar to her. For he received 398 00:22:52.880 --> 00:22:56.240 a package while there, I explained, And though its contents 399 00:22:56.240 --> 00:22:59.119 may have been perfectly harmless, it is just as well 400 00:22:59.160 --> 00:23:02.000 for us to be assured of this before going any further. 401 00:23:03.279 --> 00:23:06.039