The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson by Mark Twain
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up by his campaign work, and will not get out for a day or so; but when he_does get out, you_want to_be on_the alert ."

about eleven at night the twins went out for exercise, and started on a long stroll in_the veiled moonlight .

Tom Driscoll had landed at Hackett's store, two miles below Dawson's, just about half an hour earlier, the only passenger for_that lonely spot, and had walked up the shore road and entered judge Driscoll's house without having encountered anyone either on_the road or under the roof .

he pulled down his window blinds and lighted his candle . he laid off his coat and hat and began his preparations . he unlocked his trunk and got his suit of girl's clothes out from under the male attire in_it, and laid it by . then he blacked his face with burnt Cork and put the Cork in_his pocket . his plan was to slip down to_his uncle's private sitting room below, pass into_the bedroom, steal the safe key from_the old gentleman's clothes, and then go back and rob the safe . he_took up his candle to start . his courage and confidence were high, up to_this point, but both began to waver a little now . suppose he_should make a noise, by some accident, and get caught-- say, in_the act of opening the safe ? perhaps it would_be well to_go armed . he_took the Indian knife from its hiding place, and felt a pleasant return of_his wandering courage . he slipped stealthily down the narrow stair, his hair rising and_his pulses halting at_the slightest creak . when he_was halfway down, he_was disturbed to perceive that_the landing below was touched by a faint glow of light . what could that mean ? was his uncle still up ? no, that was not likely; he_must_have left his night taper there when he went to bed .Tom crept on down, pausing at every step to listen . he_found the door standing open, and glanced it . what he_saw pleased him beyond measure . his uncle was asleep on_the sofa; on a small table at_the head of_the sofa a lamp was burning low, and by_it stood the old man's small cashbox, closed . near the box was a pile of bank notes and a piece of paper covered with figured in pencil . the safe door was not open .Evidently the sleeper had wearied himself with work upon his finances, and was taking a rest .

Tom set his candle on_the stairs, and began to_make his way toward the pile of notes, stooping low as he went . when he_was passing his uncle, the old man stirred in_his sleep, and Tom stopped instantly-- stopped, and softly drew the knife from its sheath, with_his heart thumping, and_his eyes fastened upon his benefactor's face . after a moment or two he ventured forward again-- one step-- reached for_his prize and seized it, dropping the knife sheath . then he_felt the old man's strong grip upon him, and a wild cry of " help ! help ! " rang in_his ear . without hesitation he drove the knife home-- and was free . some_of_the notes escaped from_his left_hand and fell in_the blood on_the floor . he dropped the knife and snatched them up and started to fly; transferred them to_his left_hand, and seized the knife again, in_his fright and confusion, but remembered himself and flung it from_him, as being a dangerous witness to carry away with_him .

he jumped for_the stair- foot, and closed the door behind him; and as he snatched his candle and fled upward, the stillness of_the night was broken by_the sound of urgent footsteps approaching the house . in another moment he_was in_his room, and_the twins were standing aghast over the body of_the murdered man !

Tom put on_his coat, buttoned his hat under it, threw on_his suit of girl's clothes, dropped the veil, blew out his light, locked the room door by_which he had just entered, taking the key, passed through his other door into_the black hall, locked that door and kept the key, then worked his way along in_the dark and descended the black stairs . he_was not expecting to meet anybody, for all interest was centered in_the other part of_the house now; his calculation proved correct . by_the_time he_was passing through_the backyard, Mrs Pratt, her servants, and a dozen half- dressed neighbors had joined the twins and_the dead, and accessions were still arriving at_the front door .

as Tom, quaking as with a palsy, passed out at_the gate, three women came flying from_the house on_the opposite side of_the lane . they rushed by him and in at_the gate, asking him what the trouble was there, but not waiting for an answer .Tom said to himself, " those old maids waited to dress-- they_did the same thing the night Stevens's house burned down next door ." in_a_few_minutes he_was in_the haunted house . he lighted a candle and took off his girl- clothes . there_was blood on him all down his left side, and_his right hand was red with_the stains of_the blood- soaked notes which he has crushed in_it; but otherwise he_was free from_this sort of evidence . he cleansed his hand on_the straw, and cleaned most of_the smut from_his face . then he burned the male and female attire to ashes, scattered the ashes, and put on a disguise proper for a tramp . he blew out his light, went below, and was soon loafing down the river road with_the intent to borrow and use one of Roxy's devices . he_found a canoe and paddled down downstream, setting the canoe adrift as dawn approached, and making his way by land to_the next village, where he kept out of sight till a transient steamer came along, and then took deck passage for St . Louis . he_was ill at ease Dawson's Landing was behind him; then he_said to himself, " all the detectives on earth couldn't trace me now; there's not a vestige of aclue left in_the_world; that homicide will take its place with_the permanent mysteries, and people won't get done trying to guess out the secret of it for fifty years ."

in St . Louis, next morning, he read this brief telegram in_the papers-- dated at Dawson's Landing:

judge Driscoll, an old and respected citizen, was assassinated here about midnight by a profligate Italian nobleman or a barber on account of a quarrel growing out_of_the recent election . the assassin will probably be lynched .

" one_of_the twins ! " soliloquized Tom ." how lucky ! it_is_the knife that has_done him this grace . we never know when fortune is trying to favor us .I actually cursed Pudd'nhead Wilson in my heart for putting it out of_my power to_sell that knife .I take it back now ."

Tom was now rich and independent . he arranged with_the planter, and mailed to Wilson the new bill of sale which sold Roxana to herself; then he telegraphed his aunt Pratt:

have seen the awful news in_the papers and am almost prostrated with grief . shall start by packet today . try to bear up till I come .

when Wilson reached the house of mourning and had gathered such details as Mrs Pratt and_the rest of_the crowd could tell him, he_took command as mayor, and gave orders that nothing should_be touched, but everything left as it_was until justice Robinson should arrive and take_the proper measures as corner . he cleared everybody out_of_the room but the twins and himself . the sheriff soon arrived and took the twins away to jail . Wilson told them to_keep heart, and promised to_do_it best in their defense when_the case should come to trial . justice Robinson came presently, and with_him constable Blake . they examined the room thoroughly . they found the knife and_the sheath . Wilson noticed that there were fingerprints on_the knife's handle . that pleased him, for_the twins had required the earliest comers to_make a scrutiny of_their hands and clothes, and neither these people nor Wilson himself had found any bloodstains upon them . could there be a possibility that_the twins had spoken the truth when_they had said they found the man dead when_they ran into_the house in answer to_the cry for help ? he thought of_that mysterious girl at once . but this_was not the sort of work for a girl to_be engaged in . no matter; Tom Driscoll's room must_be examined .

after_the coroner's jury had viewed the body and its surroundings, Wilson suggested a search upstairs, and he went along . the jury forced an entrance to Tom's room, but found nothing, of_course .

the coroner's jury found that_the homicide was committed by Luigi, and_that Angelo was accessory to_it .

the town was bitter against he misfortunates, and for_the first few_days after_the murder they were in constant danger of being lynched . the grand jury presently indicted Luigi for murder in_the first degree, and Angelo as accessory before_the fact . the twins were transferred from_the city jail to_the county prison to await trial .

Wilson examined the finger marks on_the knife handle and said to himself, " neither of_the twins made those marks ." then manifestly there_was another person concerned, either in_his own interest or as hired assassin ."

but who_could it be ? that, he_must try to_find out . the safe was not opened, the cashbox was closed, and had three thousand dollars in_it . then robbery was not the motive, and revenge was . where had the murdered man an enemy except Luigi ? there_was but that one person in_the_world with a deep grudge against him .

the mysterious girl ! the girl was a great trial to Wilson . if_the motive had_been robbery, the girl might answer; but there wasn't any girl that_would want to_take this old man's life for revenge . he had no quarrels with girls; he_was a gentleman .

Wilson had perfect tracings of_the finger marks of_the knife handle; and among his glass records he had a great array of fingerprints of women and girls, collected during_the_last fifteen or eighteen years, but he scanned them in vain, they successfully withstood every test; among them were no duplicates of_the prints on_the knife .

the presence of_the knife on_the stage of_the murder was aworrying circumstance for Wilson .a week previously he had as good as admitted to himself that he believed Luigi had possessed such a knife, and_that he still possessed it notwithstanding his pretense that_it had_been stolen . and now here was_the knife, and with it the twins . half the town had said the twins were humbugging when_the claimed they had lost their knife, and now these people were joyful, and said, " i_told you so ! "

if their fingerprints had_been on_the handle-- but useless to bother any further about_that; the fingerprints on_the handle were_not theirs-- that he_knew perfectly .

Wilson refused to suspect Tom; for first, Tom couldn't murder anybody-- he hadn't character enough; secondly, if he_could murder a person he wouldn't select his doting benefactor and nearest relative; thirdly, self- interest was in_the way; for while the uncle lived, Tom was sure of a free support and a chance to_get the destroyed will revived again, but with_the uncle gone, that chance was gone too . it_was true the will had really been revived, as was now discovered, but Tom could_not have_been aware of it, or he_would_have spoken of it, in_his native talky, unsecretive way . finally, Tom was in St . Louis when_the murder was_done, and got the news out_of_the morning journals, as was shown by his telegram to_his aunt . these speculations were umemphasized sensations rather than articulated thoughts, for Wilson would_have laughed at_the idea of seriously connecting Tom with_the murder .

Wilson regarded the case of_the twins as desperate-- in_fact, about hopeless . for he argued that if a confederate was not found, an enlightened Missouri jury would hang them; sure; if a confederate was found, that_would not improve the matter, but simply furnish one more person for_the sheriff to hang . nothing could save the twins but the discovery of a person who did the murder on_his sole personal account-- an undertaking which had all the aspect of_the impossible . still, the person who_made the fingerprints must_be sought . the twins might_have no case with_them, but they certainly would_have none without him .

so Wilson mooned around, thinking, thinking, guessing, guessing, day and night, and arriving nowhere . whenever he ran across a girl or a woman he_was not acquainted with, he got her fingerprints, on one pretext or another; and_they always cost him a sigh when he got home, for they never tallied with_the finger marks on_the knife handle .

as_to_the mysterious girl, Tom swore he_knew no such girl, and did_not remember ever seeing a girl wearing a dress like the one described by Wilson . he admitted that he_did_not always lock his room, and_that sometimes the servants forgot to lock the house doors; still, in_his opinion the girl must_have made but few visits or she would_have_been discovered . when Wilson tried to connect her with_the stealing raid, and thought she might_have_been the old woman' confederate, if_not the very thief disguised as an old woman, Tom seemed stuck, and also much interested, and said he_would keep a sharp eye out for_this person or persons, although he_was afraid that she or

Section [1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22]