Enigmas of yustice. ture she had made at the moment of expir ing, and clearly proved her own guilt and her father's innocence. The judges of a certain old German town were sadly perplexed over a case which it became their duty to solve, and which at first glance seemed simple enough. A rich but ill-tempered and truculent fellow named Ruprecht, a goldsmith, on going one night to a low grog-shop, was assailed at the door, and fell at the foot of the stairs with a loud groan. The cronies of the den hastened down, to find him in great distress from a deep wound on his head. He stammered out, " The villain with the axe! My daugh ter, my daughter! " This was his only child, who, being married to one Berenger, lived in the suburbs of the town. Ruprecht was taken to the hospital, and the next day revived sufficiently to answer the questions put to him, though very briefly, and with evident difficulty. He was asked who dealt the blow. He said it was Schmidt. What Schmidt was it? The one who resided in the Most-Strasse. With what weapon? A small axe. How did Ruprecht know him? By his voice. What was the motive of the assault? An old quarrel. What was Schmidt's occupation? A wood-cutter. The case seemed to the judge marvellously simple. He had only to find a man named Schmidt, who lived in the Most-Strasse, and was a wood-cutter, to accomplish the ends of justice. The difficulty began when, on the Most-Strasse being reached, two Schmidts, brothers, and both wood-cutters, were found dwelling there. Yet a third Schmidt, a wood-cutter, was discovered, but he lived in another street, the Hohen-Pflaster. The brothers Schmidt in Most-Strasse proved to have long known Ruprecht. They were called "Big" and "Little" Schmidt. Big Schmidt had not long before been a witness against Ruprecht in a civil suit. In the dilemma between these Schmidts, it became important to ply the wounded man with new questions. Fortunately he was still alive and in his senses. But it was
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impossible for him to utter a word. He was asked whether the assailant was Big or Lit tle Schmidt. He tried in vain to answer. Then he was asked if the Hohen-Pflaster was not the street on which the man lived, when he replied, with a struggle but em phatically, that it was. The three men of the implicated name were confronted with Ruprecht, but he was now so far gone that he could not open his eyes. The brothers spoke to him, and mani fested much feeling. Schmidt of the HohenPflaster, on the other hand, was uneasy and silent. Suspicion now fastened on the latter. On searching his premises, the handle of his axe was found to be bloody. He was known to be a disreputable character. But on ex amination, though inconsistent in his state ments, he succeeded in establishing an unimpeachable alibi. He, moreover, ac counted for the blood on the axe entirely to the satisfaction of the judge; when the brothers were once more brought up, they, too, proved alibis which could not be shaken. Then it was discovered that there were two other wood-cutters named Schmidt, who lived in the suburbs. One of these was employed by Ruprecht's brother-in-law, Berenger. Here seemed the explanation of Ruprecht's calling out, " My daughter! My daughter! " It now appeared that Beren ger and his wife lived unhappily together, that Ruprecht had recently threatened to make a will excluding Berenger from any control over his property, and that Berenger, on hearing of the assault, did not seem in the least surprised or moved. Other things seemed to bear against the son-in-law. But he, too, showed conclusively that he was, at the moment of the murder, in the parlor of an inn some miles away; and the two sub urban wood-cutters were equally fortunate in proving alibis on the best possible evi dence. Ruprecht soon died without again opening his lips; and the mystery which so severely perplexed the judges as to who killed him is a mystery still.
