The Argosy, December 1905 — page 123: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

THE OUTCAST. medical opinion on the nature of the wound. Unless that poor fellow, Sey- mour Lloyd, recovers, there is little hope of our ever learning who.fired the fatal shot, I suppose. ~ “'There were two score hunters in the Big Woods yesterday morning, and some people are very careless about shooting across roads and public passways. But this sad case, I hope, will bring the Leg- islature to its senses, and be the cause of the passage, next session, of some better law governing the hunting sea- sons. ‘The death was the result of acci- dent, of course, and perhaps even Lloyd could throw no light upon the matter. Still doctor?” Bursess had found his voice and self- control. He replied quietly enough, but he avoided looking again upon the face of the man in the coffin. “That's very sad,” was Medbury’s comment. “It seems unfortunate that he went into the Big Woods yesterday morning, too. He wasn’t hunting, for no gun was found with him, I under- stand. Nathan couldn’t imagine what took him clear over there. “The old man ”—Medbury indicated the body with a careless jerk of his thumb—“ had started down to the Widow Blythesdale’s after a heifer. He held a mortgage on her place, it seems, and she could not pay the interest, and so he was going to fairly take the chil- dren’s milk from ’em. “Humph! He was your uncle, I s’pose, but I don’t believe you or any- body else will weep much over old Solon’s death.” Burress winced at the brutality of the statement. Medbury was removing the padding of the coffin from about the head of the dead man so that the doctor might see the aperture by which the ball entered and that where it came out. “J want to say in my report what you think must have been the caliber of the rifle from which the bullet was fired,” the coroner continued. “ It’s a mighty clean wound on this side, you see— where it entered. ‘The skull is broken a good bit where the lead burst the wall of the cavity on passing out. Not a large ball, I should say.” How is he, by the way, - Orrin Paddock had crowded forward to look and listen, as usual, his twink- ling old eyes peering over the doctor’s shoulder as the latter stooped to scru- tinize the hole in the head of the corpse. The direction of the lead pellet was plain. It had entered rather high above the ear, its course being obliquely downward, as was natural, considering that the shot had been fired from a,con- siderable height above the level of the wood-road. The point of exit was below the rim of the other ear, and the ear as well as the bone was torn badly on that side. The hole where the ball had entered was almost round, its edge clearly defined, and so small that a lock of the thin hair had been brushed down, covering it completely. Burress’ vision swam. He _ could scarcely fix his gaze steadily. enough upon the wound to see it at first. He 101° was desperately ill—as ill as he had been ° the previous morning after running away from the scene of the tragedy. “Now, what do you think, doctor? ” Medbury asked. ‘“ You have seen simi- lar wounds, I suppose? ” Burress nodded. He could not trust himself to speak for the moment. And then, when his vision cleared and he gained command over his nerves again, he was smitten with a most unexpected aspect of the wound. He had shot several deer and on one occasion a bear with his rifle, and flat- tered himself. that he could not be mis- taken in the mark of his own bullet. Yet, this aperture looked vastly dif- ferent from the hole that his Winchester usually bored through flesh and bone. It would be an easy thing to state as his opinion that the rifle throwing the ball which had killed the man was of different caliber. Why not do so? Would he not be justified in saying that a gun of smaller bore had done the deed ? His lips parted to make this state- ment. Surely a criminal may be ex- cused if, when the opportunity arises, he shields himself. Then he remembered that poor Lloyd’s rifle was of smaller caliber than his own. COMICOOOKS (C@