122 



THE AMERICAN BEE KEEPER. 



April 



empty dog cart, with the runaway horse 

 quietly croppiug grass by the roadside. 

 Here was luck iudeed. I jumped into 

 the cart as speedily as ruy exhausted 

 strength would kt me, and, gatherirg 

 up the reins, I struck the whip, and we 

 were ofif as fast as the animal could 

 run toward the station. 



I estimated that there was still two 

 minutes before the train was due, and 

 I felt sure that tlie station could not be 

 more than a third of a mile distant. 

 Suddenly I heard the whistle of the 

 locomotive, and with it came au inspi- 

 ration. 



The murderer njight never be found. 

 At all events, 1 could not lay hands on 

 him just then. Why not take the train 

 fcnd make good my own escape while 

 the opportunity presented itself? It 

 seemed a terrible thing to thiis flee from 

 justice because of a crime which I had 

 not committed, but I could not for my 

 life see any other course open. So I 

 urged the animal to still greater speed, 

 and, pulling up at a bend in the road 

 before I reached the station, I jumi:)ed 

 down and ran, just in time to scramble 

 upon the train as it was moving off. 



It was a curious freak of chance, if 

 indeed it was chance alone, which had 

 brought me down to Hopeville that 

 morning and thrust me into the unenvi- 

 able position of a suspected murderer. I 

 had received a telegram from Randolph 

 Cutting, the man whom I had just seen 

 murdered, asking me to come down im- 

 mediately to Hopeville, and in obedience 

 to this summons I had taken an early 

 morning train down from New York. 

 Hopeville is an exceeaiugly unpreten- 

 tious little New Jersey villaee, if indeed 

 a country store and two small houses 



besides the station could be so described. 

 When I stepped out of the train, I looked 

 about in vain for Randolph Cutting's 

 carriage. As it was not to be seen and 

 as anything in the shape of a hired con- 

 veyance was au utter impossibility at 

 Hopeville, I set out at a brisk walk in 

 the direction of Randolph Cutting's 

 place, whicli I knew from a former visit 

 was about 1 ^-^ miles from the station. 



Randolph Cutting and I were second 

 cousins, and the very slight degree of 

 affection which always existed between 

 as was not increased materially at the 

 death of au uncle of ours, who left his 



money to me, and whose will was so 

 involved that there was a lawsuit be- 

 tween Cutling and myself. As it hap- 

 pened, Ly the terms of the will most of 

 my uncle's property was left to me, and 

 Cutting tried to have the will broken 

 upon certain technical grounds which 

 are not essential to this story. The 

 courts upheld me, however, and declared 

 the will perfectly valid. As a conse- 

 quence Randolph Cutting and myself 

 had not spoken for five years, and I, of 

 course, had not been near his home until 

 that eventful day, when I hurried down 

 there in response to his telegram. True, 

 I did think that it was a curious thing 

 for Cutting to do — to telegraph for me 

 to come down to Hopeville — but on sec- 

 ond thought I concluded that some busi- 

 ness of impcrtauce in connection with 

 certain iutc re st.s which were still mutual 

 required that he should see me, and that 

 perhaps he was unable from illness or 

 some other cause to leave his home. 



This brief explanation of the cause of 

 my visit to Hopeville was only a small 

 part of the thoughts which crowded my 

 brain when I was safely seated in the 

 train and whirling toward Jersey City. 

 As I have said, Randolph Cutting and 

 I were bitter enemies, and the evidence 

 which pointed to my having committed 

 the crime seemed so blackly conclusive 

 that I could almost feel the rope tighten 

 about my neck. When the train stopped 

 at the next station, I trembled in every 

 limb, fully expecting to see some one 

 come into the car to arrest me. Nothing 

 of the sort happened, however, and I 

 passed several more stations in safety. 

 However, I did not allow myself much 

 hope, for I felt sure I would be appre- 

 hended at Jersey City. After some 

 thought I concluded that it would be 

 the best plan to go right in rather than 

 get off at any of the out of town sta- 

 tions, as there would be much less risk 

 of being noticed in the crowd which 

 would get off the train there. 



When the train pulled into the Jersey 

 City depot, I made my way with all 

 possible haste toward the waiting room, 

 and, preutiy to my surprise, I- was not 

 molcFted. LnddnJy I heard the train- 

 man call out a trtiin for Philadelphia, 

 anil, acting upon impulse, I hastily se- 

 cured a tKi:et and was .'^oon comfortably 

 ensconced in a parlor car on the way to 

 the Quaker City. 



