Page:In defense of Harriet Shelley, and other essays.djvu/332

 MARK TWAIN

The scene now changes to Chicago. Time, the autumn of 1901. As soon as the Paris contract released the telelectroscope, it was delivered to public use, and was soon connected with the tele phonic systems of the whole world. The improved &quot; limitless-distance&quot; telephone was presently intro duced, and the daily doings of the globe made visi ble to everybody, and audibly discussable, too, by witnesses separated by any number of leagues.

By and by Szczepanik arrived in Chicago. Clay ton (now captain) was serving in that military de partment at the time. The two men resumed the Viennese quarrel of 1898. On three different occa sions they quarreled, and were separated by wit nesses. Then came an interval of two months, during which time Szczepanik was not seen by any of his friends, and it was at first supposed that he had gone off on a sight-seeing tour and would soon be heard from. But no; no word came from him. Then it was supposed that he had returned to Europe. Still, time drifted on, and he was not heard from. Nobody was troubled, for he was like most inventors and other kinds of poets, and went and came in a capricious way, and often without notice.

Now comes the tragedy. On the 29th of Decem ber, in a dark and unused compartment of the cellar under Captain Clayton s house, a corpse was dis covered by one of Clayton s maid-servants. It was easily identified as Szczepanik s. The man had died by violence. Clayton was arrested, indicted, and brought to trial, charged with this murder, The

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