1850                               "THOU ART THE MAN"                               by Edgar Allan Poe   I WILL now play the Oedipus to the Rattleborough enigma. I willexpound to you- as I alone can- the secret of the enginery thateffected the Rattleborough miracle- the one, the true, the admitted,the undisputed, the indisputable miracle, which put a definite endto infidelity among the Rattleburghers and converted to theorthodoxy of the grandames all the carnal-minded who had ventured tobe sceptical before.  This event- which I should be sorry to discuss in a tone ofunsuitable levity- occurred in the summer of 18-. Mr. BarnabasShuttleworthy- one of the wealthiest and most respectable citizensof the borough- had been missing for several days undercircumstances which gave rise to suspicion of foul play. Mr.Shuttleworthy had set out from Rattleborough very early one Saturdaymorning, on horseback, with the avowed intention of proceeding tothe city of-, about fifteen miles distant, and of returning thenight of the same day. Two hours after his departure, however, hishorse returned without him, and without the saddle-bags which had beenstrapped on his back at starting. The animal was wounded, too, andcovered with mud. These circumstances naturally gave rise to muchalarm among the friends of the missing man; and when it was found,on Sunday morning, that he had not yet made his appearance, thewhole borough arose en masse to go and look for his body.  The foremost and most energetic in instituting this search was thebosom friend of Mr. Shuttleworthy- a Mr. Charles Goodfellow, or, as hewas universally called, "Charley Goodfellow," or "Old CharleyGoodfellow." Now, whether it is a marvellous coincidence, or whetherit is that the name itself has an imperceptible effect upon thecharacter, I have never yet been able to ascertain; but the fact isunquestionable, that there never yet was any person named Charleswho was not an open, manly, honest, good-natured, and frank-heartedfellow, with a rich, clear voice, that did you good to hear it, and aneye that looked you always straight in the face, as much as to say: "Ihave a clear conscience myself, am afraid of no man, and am altogetherabove doing a mean action." And thus all the hearty, careless,"walking gentlemen" of the stage are very certain to be calledCharles.  Now, "Old Charley Goodfellow," although he had been in Rattleboroughnot longer than six months or thereabouts, and although nobody knewany thing about him before he came to settle in the neighborhood,had experienced no difficulty in the world in making theacquaintance of all the respectable people in the borough. Not a manof them but would have taken his bare word for a thousand at anymoment; and as for the women, there is no saying what they would nothave done to oblige him. And all this came of his having beenchristened Charles, and of his possessing, in consequence, thatingenuous face which is proverbially the very "best letter ofrecommendation."  I have already said that Mr. Shuttleworthy was one of the mostrespectable and, undoubtedly, he was the most wealthy man inRattleborough, while "Old Charley Goodfellow" was upon as intimateterms with him as if he had been his own brother. The two oldgentlemen were next-door neighbours, and, although Mr. Shuttleworthyseldom, if ever, visited "Old Charley," and never was known to takea meal in his house, still this did not prevent the two friends frombeing exceedingly intimate, as I have just observed; for "Old Charley"never let a day pass without stepping in three or four times to seehow his neighbour came on, and very often he would stay to breakfastor tea, and almost always to dinner, and then the amount of winethat was made way with by the two cronies at a sitting, it wouldreally be a difficult thing to ascertain. "Old Charleys" favoritebeverage was Chateau-Margaux, and it appeared to do Mr.Shuttleworthy's heart good to see the old fellow swallow it, as hedid, quart after quart; so that, one day, when the wine was in and thewit as a natural consequence, somewhat out, he said to his crony, ashe slapped him upon the back- "I tell you what it is, 'Old Charley,'you are, by all odds, the heartiest old fellow I ever came across inall my born days; and, since you love to guzzle the wine at thatfashion, I'll be darned if I don't have to make thee a present of abig box of the Chateau-Margaux. Od rot me,"- (Mr. Shuttleworthy hada sad habit of swearing, although he seldom went beyond "Od rot me,"or "By gosh," or "By the jolly golly,")- "Od rot me," says he, "if Idon't send an order to town this very afternoon for a double box ofthe best that can be got, and I'll make ye a present of it, I will!-ye needn't say a word now- I will, I tell ye, and there's an end ofit; so look out for it- it will come to hand some of these finedays, precisely when ye are looking for it the least!" I mentionthis little bit of liberality on the part of Mr. Shuttleworthy, justby way of showing you how very intimate an understanding existedbetween the two friends.  Well, on the Sunday morning in question, when it came to be fairlyunderstood that Mr. Shuttleworthy had met with foul play, I neversaw any one so profoundly affected as "Old Charley Goodfellow." Whenhe first heard that the horse had come home without his master, andwithout his master's saddle-bags, and all bloody from a pistol-shot,that had gone clean through and through the poor animal's chestwithout quite killing him; when he heard all this, he turned as paleas if the missing man had been his own dear brother or father, andshivered and shook all over as if he had had a fit of the ague.  At first he was too much overpowered with grief to be able to do anything at all, or to concert upon any plan of action; so that for along time he endeavoured to dissuade Mr. Shuttleworthy's other friendsfrom making a stir about the matter, thinking it best to waitawhile- say for a week or two, or a month, or two- to see if somethingwouldn't turn up, or if Mr. Shuttleworthy wouldn't come in the naturalway, and explain his reasons for sending his horse on before. I daresay you have often observed this disposition to temporize, or toprocrastinate, in people who are labouring under any very poignantsorrow. Their powers of mind seem to be rendered torpid, so thatthey have a horror of any thing like action, and like nothing in theworld so well as to lie quietly in bed and "nurse their grief," as theold ladies express it- that is to say, ruminate over the trouble.  The people of Rattleborough had, indeed, so high an opinion of thewisdom and discretion of "Old Charley," that the greater part ofthem felt disposed to agree with him, and not make a stir in thebusiness "until something should turn up," as the honest old gentlemanworded it; and I believe that, after all this would have been thegeneral determination, but for the very suspicious interference of Mr.Shuttleworthy's nephew, a young man of very dissipated habits, andotherwise of rather bad character. This nephew, whose name wasPennifeather, would listen to nothing like reason in the matter of"lying quiet," but insisted upon making immediate search for the"corpse of the murdered man.- This was the expression he employed; andMr. Goodfellow acutely remarked at the time, that it was "a singularexpression, to say no more." This remark of 'Old Charley's,' too,had great effect upon the crowd; and one of the party was heard toask, very impressively, "how it happened that young Mr. Pennifeatherwas so intimately cognizant of all the circumstances connected withhis wealthy uncle's disappearance, as to feel authorized to assert,distinctly and unequivocally, that his uncle was 'a murdered man.'"Hereupon some little squibbing and bickering occurred among variousmembers of the crowd, and especially between "Old Charley" and Mr.Pennifeather- although this latter occurrence was, indeed, by no meansa novelty, for no good will had subsisted between the parties forthe last three or four months; and matters had even gone so far thatMr. Pennifeather had actually knocked down his uncles friend forsome alleged excess of liberty that the latter had taken in theuncle's house, of which the nephew was an inmate. Upon this occasion"Old Charley" is said to have behaved with exemplary moderation andChristian charity. He arose from the blow, adjusted his clothes, andmade no attempt at retaliation at all- merely muttering a few wordsabout "taking summary vengeance at the first convenient opportunity,"-a natural and very justifiable ebullition of anger, which meantnothing, however, and, beyond doubt, was no sooner given vent tothan forgotten.  However these matters may be (which have no reference to the pointnow at issue), it is quite certain that the people of Rattleborough,principally through the persuasion of Mr. Pennifeather, came at lengthto the determination of dispersion over the adjacent country in searchof the missing Mr. Shuttleworthy. I say they came to thisdetermination in the first instance. After it had been fullyresolved that a search should be made, it was considered almost amatter of course that the seekers should disperse- that is to say,distribute themselves in parties- for the more thorough examination ofthe region round about. I forget, however, by what ingenious trainof reasoning it was that "Old Charley" finally convinced theassembly that this was the most injudicious plan that could bepursued. Convince them, however, he did- all except Mr.Pennifeather, and, in the end, it was arranged that a search should beinstituted, carefully and very thoroughly, by the burghers en masse,"Old Charley" himself leading the way.  As for the matter of that, there could have been no better pioneerthan "Old Charley," whom everybody knew to have the eye of a lynx;but, although he led them into all manner of out-of-the-way holesand corners, by routes that nobody had ever suspected of existing inthe neighbourhood, and although the search was incessantly kept up dayand night for nearly a week, still no trace of Mr. Shuttleworthy couldbe discovered. When I say no trace, however, I must not beunderstood to speak literally, for trace, to some extent, therecertainly was. The poor gentleman had been tracked, by his horsesshoes (which were peculiar), to a spot about three miles to the eastof the borough, on the main road leading to the city. Here the trackmade off into a by-path through a piece of woodland- the path comingout again into the main road, and cutting off about half a mile of theregular distance. Following the shoe-marks down this lane, the partycame at length to a pool of stagnant water, half hidden by thebrambles, to the right of the lane, and opposite this pool all vestigeof the track was lost sight of. It appeared, however, that astruggle of some nature had here taken place, and it seemed as if somelarge and heavy body, much larger and heavier than a man, had beendrawn from the by-path to the pool. This latter was carefullydragged twice, but nothing was found; and the party was upon the pointof going away, in despair of coming to any result, when Providencesuggested to Mr. Goodfellow the expediency of draining the water offaltogether. This project was received with cheers, and many highcompliments to "Old Charley" upon his sagacity and consideration. Asmany of the burghers had brought spades with them, supposing that theymight possibly be called upon to disinter a corpse, the drain waseasily and speedily effected; and no sooner was the bottom visible,than right in the middle of the mud that remained was discovered ablack silk velvet waistcoat, which nearly every one presentimmediately recognized as the property of Mr. Pennifeather. Thiswaistcoat was much torn and stained with blood, and there were severalpersons among the party who had a distinct remembrance of its havingbeen worn by its owner on the very morning of Mr. Shuttleworthy'sdeparture for the city; while there were others, again, ready totestify upon oath, if required, that Mr. P. did not wear the garmentin question at any period during the remainder of that memorableday, nor could any one be found to say that he had seen it upon Mr.P.'s person at any period at all subsequent to Mr. Shuttleworthy'sdisappearance.  Matters now wore a very serious aspect for Mr. Pennifeather, andit was observed, as an indubitable confirmation of the suspicionswhich were excited against him, that he grew exceedingly pale, andwhen asked what he had to say for himself, was utterly incapable ofsaying a word. Hereupon, the few friends his riotous mode of livinghad left him, deserted him at once to a man, and were even moreclamorous than his ancient and avowed enemies for his instantaneousarrest. But, on the other hand, the magnanimity of Mr. Goodfellowshone forth with only the more brilliant lustre through contrast. Hemade a warm and intensely eloquent defence of Mr. Pennifeather, inwhich he alluded more than once to his own sincere forgiveness of thatwild young gentleman- "the heir of the worthy Mr. Shuttleworthy,"- forthe insult which he (the young gentleman) had, no doubt in the heat ofpassion, thought proper to put upon him (Mr. Goodfellow). "Heforgave him for it," he said, "from the very bottom of his heart;and for himself (Mr. Goodfellow), so far from pushing the suspiciouscircumstances to extremity, which he was sorry to say, really hadarisen against Mr. Pennifeather, he (Mr. Goodfellow) would makeevery exertion in his power, would employ all the little eloquencein his possession to- to- to- soften down, as much as he couldconscientiously do so, the worst features of this really exceedinglyperplexing piece of business."  Mr. Goodfellow went on for some half hour longer in this strain,very much to the credit both of his head and of his heart; but yourwarm-hearted people are seldom apposite in their observations- theyrun into all sorts of blunders, contre-temps and mal apropos-isms,in the hot-headedness of their zeal to serve a friend- thus, oftenwith the kindest intentions in the world, doing infinitely more toprejudice his cause than to advance it.  So, in the present instance, it turned out with all the eloquence of"Old Charley"; for, although he laboured earnestly in behalf of thesuspected, yet it so happened, somehow or other, that every syllablehe uttered of which the direct but unwitting tendency was not to exaltthe speaker in the good opinion of his audience, had the effect todeepen the suspicion already attached to the individual whose cause hepleaded, and to arouse against him the fury of the mob.  One of the most unaccountable errors committed by the orator was hisallusion to the suspected as "the heir of the worthy old gentleman Mr.Shuttleworthy." The people had really never thought of this before.They had only remembered certain threats of disinheritance uttered ayear or two previously by the uncle (who had no living relative exceptthe nephew), and they had, therefore, always looked upon thisdisinheritance as a matter that was settled- so single-minded a raceof beings were the Rattleburghers; but the remark of "Old Charley"brought them at once to a consideration of this point, and thus gavethem to see the possibility of the threats having been nothing morethan a threat. And straightway hereupon, arose the natural question ofcui bono?- a question that tended even more than the waistcoat tofasten the terrible crime upon the young man. And here, lest I maybe misunderstood, permit me to digress for one moment merely toobserve that the exceedingly brief and simple Latin phrase which Ihave employed, is invariably mistranslated and misconceived. "Cuibono?" in all the crack novels and elsewhere,- in those of Mrs.Gore, for example, (the author of "Cecil,") a lady who quotes alltongues from the Chaldaean to Chickasaw, and is helped to herlearning, "as needed," upon a systematic plan, by Mr. Beckford,- inall the crack novels, I say, from those of Bulwer and Dickens to thoseof Bulwer and Dickens to those of Turnapenny and Ainsworth, the twolittle Latin words cui bono are rendered "to what purpose?" or, (as ifquo bono,) "to what good." Their true meaning, nevertheless, is "forwhose advantage." Cui, to whom; bono, is it for a benefit. It is apurely legal phrase, and applicable precisely in cases such as we havenow under consideration, where the probability of the doer of a deedhinges upon the probability of the benefit accruing to this individualor to that from the deed's accomplishment. Now in the presentinstance, the question cui bono? very pointedly implicated Mr.Pennifeather. His uncle had threatened him, after making a will in hisfavour, with disinheritance. But the threat had not been actuallykept; the original will, it appeared, had not been altered. Had itbeen altered, the only supposable motive for murder on the part of thesuspected would have been the ordinary one of revenge; and even thiswould have been counteracted by the hope of reinstation into thegood graces of the uncle. But the will being unaltered, while thethreat to alter remained suspended over the nephew's head, thereappears at once the very strongest possible inducement for theatrocity, and so concluded, very sagaciously, the worthy citizens ofthe borough of Rattle.  Mr. Pennifeather was, accordingly, arrested upon the spot, and thecrowd, after some further search, proceeded homeward, having him incustody. On the route, however, another circumstance occurredtending to confirm the suspicion entertained. Mr. Goodfellow, whosezeal led him to be always a little in advance of the party, was seensuddenly to run forward a few paces, stoop, and then apparently topick up some small object from the grass. Having quickly examined ithe was observed, too, to make a sort of half attempt at concealingit in his coat pocket; but this action was noticed, as I say, andconsequently prevented, when the object picked up was found to be aSpanish knife which a dozen persons at once recognized as belonging toMr. Pennifeather. Moreover, his initials were engraved upon thehandle. The blade of this knife was open and bloody.  No doubt now remained of the guilt of the nephew, and immediatelyupon reaching Rattleborough he was taken before a magistrate forexamination.  Here matters again took a most unfavourable turn. The prisoner,being questioned as to his whereabouts on the morning of Mr.Shuttleworthy's disappearance, had absolutely the audacity toacknowledge that on that very morning he had been out with his rifledeer-stalking, in the immediate neighbourhood of the pool where theblood-stained waistcoat had been discovered through the sagacity ofMr. Goodfellow.  This latter now came forward, and, with tears in his eyes, askedpermission to be examined. He said that a stern sense of the duty heowed his Maker, not less than his fellow-men, would permit him nolonger to remain silent. Hitherto, the sincerest affection for theyoung man (notwithstanding the latter's ill-treatment of himself,Mr. Goodfellow) had induced him to make every hypothesis whichimagination could suggest, by way of endeavouring to account forwhat appeared suspicious in the circumstances that told so seriouslyagainst Mr. Pennifeather, but these circumstances were nowaltogether too convincing- too damning, he would hesitate no longer-he would tell all he knew, although his heart (Mr. Goodfellow's)should absolutely burst asunder in the effort. He then went on tostate that, on the afternoon of the day previous to Mr.Shuttleworthy's departure for the city, that worthy old gentlemanhad mentioned to his nephew, in his hearing (Mr. Goodfellow's), thathis object in going to town on the morrow was to make a deposit ofan unusually large sum of money in the "Farmers and Mechanics'Bank," and that, then and there, the said Mr. Shuttleworthy haddistinctly avowed to the said nephew his irrevocable determinationof rescinding the will originally made, and of cutting him off witha shilling. He (the witness) now solemnly called upon the accused tostate whether what he (the witness) had just stated was or was not thetruth in every substantial particular. Much to the astonishment ofevery one present, Mr. Pennifeather frankly admitted that it was.  The magistrate now considered it his duty to send a couple ofconstables to search the chamber of the accused in the house of hisuncle. From this search they almost immediately returned with thewell-known steel-bound, russet leather pocket-book which the oldgentleman had been in the habit of carrying for years. Its valuablecontents, however, had been abstracted, and the magistrate in vainendeavoured to extort from the prisoner the use which had been made ofthem, or the place of their concealment. Indeed, he obstinately deniedall knowledge of the matter. The constables, also, discovered, betweenthe bed and sacking of the unhappy man, a shirt andneck-handkerchief both marked with the initials of his name, andboth hideously besmeared with the blood of the victim.  At this juncture, it was announced that the horse of the murderedman had just expired in the stable from the effects of the wound hehad received, and it was proposed by Mr. Goodfellow that a post mortemexamination of the beast should be immediately made, with the view, ifpossible, of discovering the ball. This was accordingly done; and,as if to demonstrate beyond a question the guilt of the accused, Mr.Goodfellow, after considerable searching in the cavity of the chestwas enabled to detect and to pull forth a bullet of very extraordinarysize, which, upon trial, was found to be exactly adapted to the boreof Mr. Pennifeather's rifle, while it was far too large for that ofany other person in the borough or its vicinity. To render thematter even surer yet, however, this bullet was discovered to have aflaw or seam at right angles to the usual suture, and uponexamination, this seam corresponded precisely with an accidental ridgeor elevation in a pair of moulds acknowledged by the accused himselfto be his own property. Upon finding of this bullet, the examiningmagistrate refused to listen to any farther testimony, and immediatelycommitted the prisoner for trial-declining resolutely to take any bailin the case, although against this severity Mr. Goodfellow very warmlyremonstrated, and offered to become surety in whatever amount might berequired. This generosity on the part of "Old Charley" was only inaccordance with the whole tenour of his amiable and chivalrous conductduring the entire period of his sojourn in the borough of Rattle. Inthe present instance the worthy man was so entirely carried away bythe excessive warmth of his sympathy, that he seemed to have quiteforgotten, when he offered to go bail for his young friend, that hehimself (Mr. Goodfellow) did not possess a single dollar's worth ofproperty upon the face of the earth.  The result of the committal may be readily foreseen. Mr.Pennifeather, amid the loud execrations of all Rattleborough, wasbrought to trial at the next criminal sessions, when the chain ofcircumstantial evidence (strengthened as it was by some additionaldamning facts, which Mr. Goodfellow's sensitive conscientiousnessforbade him to withhold from the court) was considered so unbroken andso thoroughly conclusive, that the jury, without leaving theirseats, returned an immediate verdict of "Guilty of murder in the firstdegree." Soon afterward the unhappy wretch received sentence of death,and was remanded to the county jail to await the inexorablevengeance of the law.  In the meantime, the noble behaviour of "Old Charley Goodfellow, haddoubly endeared him to the honest citizens of the borough. He becameten times a greater favorite than ever, and, as a natural result ofthe hospitality with which he was treated, he relaxed, as it were,perforce, the extremely parsimonious habits which his poverty hadhitherto impelled him to observe, and very frequently had littlereunions at his own house, when wit and jollity reignedsupreme-dampened a little, of course, by the occasional remembrance ofthe untoward and melancholy fate which impended over the nephew of thelate lamented bosom friend of the generous host.  One fine day, this magnanimous old gentleman was agreeably surprisedat the receipt of the following letter:-                 Chat. Mar. A- No. 1.-              6 doz. bottles (1/2 Gross)                  From H.F.B. & Co.         Charles Goodfellow, Esq., Rattleborough   "Charles Goodfellow, Esquire.    "Dear Sir- In conformity with an order transmitted to our firmabout two months since, by our esteemed correspondent, Mr. BarnabusShuttleworthy, we have the honour of forwarding this morning, toyour address, a double box of Chateau-Margaux of the antelope brand,violet seal. Box numbered and marked as per margin.                                     "We remain, sir,                                        Your most ob'nt ser'ts,                                          HOGGS, FROGS, BOGS, & CO.    "City of-, June 21, 18-.    "P.S.- The box will reach you by wagon, on the day after yourreceipt of this letter. Our respects to Mr. Shuttleworthy.                                               "H., F., B., & CO."   The fact is, that Mr. Goodfellow had, since the death of Mr.Shuttleworthy, given over all expectation of ever receiving thepromised Chateau-Margaux; and he, therefore, looked upon it now as asort of especial dispensation of Providence in his behalf. He washighly delighted, of course, and in the exuberance of his joyinvited a large party of friends to a petit souper on the morrow,for the purpose of broaching the good old Mr. Shuttleworthy's present.Not that he said any thing about "the good old Mr. Shuttleworthy" whenhe issued the invitations. The fact is, he thought much andconcluded to say nothing at all. He did not mention to any one- if Iremember aright- that he had received a present of Chateau-Margaux. Hemerely asked his friends to come and help him drink some, of aremarkable fine quality and rich flavour, that he had ordered upfrom the city a couple of months ago, and of which he would be inthe receipt upon the morrow. I have often puzzled myself to imaginewhy it was that "Old Charley" came to the conclusion to say nothingabout having received the wine from his old friend, but I couldnever precisely understand his reason for the silence, although he hadsome excellent and very magnanimous reason, no doubt.  The morrow at length arrived, and with it a very large and highlyrespectable company at Mr. Goodfellow's house. Indeed, half theborough was there,- I myself among the number,- but, much to thevexation of the host, the Chateau-Margaux did not arrive until alate hour, and when the sumptuous supper supplied by "Old Charley" hadbeen done very ample justice by the guests. It came at length,however,- a monstrously big box of it there was, too- and as the wholeparty were in excessively good humor, it was decided, nem. con.,that it should be lifted upon the table and its contents disembowelledforthwith.  No sooner said than done. I lent a helping hand; and, in a tricewe had the box upon the table, in the midst of all the bottles andglasses, not a few of which were demolished in the scuffle. "OldCharley," who was pretty much intoxicated, and excessively red inthe face, now took a seat, with an air of mock dignity, at the head ofthe board, and thumped furiously upon it with a decanter, calling uponthe company to keep order "during the ceremony of disinterring thetreasure."  After some vociferation, quiet was at length fully restored, and, asvery often happens in similar cases, a profound and remarkable silenceensued. Being then requested to force open the lid, I complied, ofcourse, "with an infinite deal of pleasure." I inserted a chisel,and giving it a few slight taps with a hammer, the top of the box flewsuddenly off, and at the same instant, there sprang up into asitting position, directly facing the host, the bruised, bloody, andnearly putrid corpse of the murdered Mr. Shuttleworthy himself. Itgazed for a few seconds, fixedly and sorrowfully, with its decayingand lack-lustre eyes, full into the countenance of Mr. Goodfellow;uttered slowly, but clearly and impressively, the words- "Thou art theman!" and then, falling over the side of the chest as if thoroughlysatisfied, stretched out its limbs quiveringly upon the table.  The scene that ensued is altogether beyond description. The rush forthe doors and windows was terrific, and many of the most robust men inthe room fainted outright through sheer horror. But after the firstwild, shrieking burst of affright, all eyes were directed to Mr.Goodfellow. If I live a thousand years, I can never forget the morethan mortal agony which was depicted in that ghastly face of his, solately rubicund with triumph and wine. For several minutes he satrigidly as a statue of marble; his eyes seeming, in the intensevacancy of their gaze, to be turned inward and absorbed in thecontemplation of his own miserable, murderous soul. At length theirexpression appeared to flash suddenly out into the external world,when, with a quick leap, he sprang from his chair, and falling heavilywith his head and shoulders upon the table, and in contact with thecorpse, poured out rapidly and vehemently a detailed confession of thehideous crime for which Mr. Pennifeather was then imprisoned anddoomed to die.  What he recounted was in substance this:- He followed his victimto the vicinity of the pool; there shot his horse with a pistol;despatched its rider with the butt end; possessed himself of thepocket-book, and, supposing the horse dead, dragged it with greatlabour to the brambles by the pond. Upon his own beast he slung thecorpse of Mr. Shuttleworthy, and thus bore it to a secure place ofconcealment a long distance off through the woods.  The waistcoat, the knife, the pocket-book, and bullet, had beenplaced by himself where found, with the view of avenging himselfupon Mr. Pennifeather. He had also contrived the discovery of thestained handkerchief and shirt.  Towards the end of the blood-churning recital the words of theguilty wretch faltered and grew hollow. When the record was finallyexhausted, he arose, staggered backward from the table, and fell-dead.   The means by which this happily-timed confession was extorted,although efficient, were simple indeed. Mr. Goodfellow's excess offrankness had disgusted me, and excited my suspicions from thefirst. I was present when Mr. Pennifeather had struck him, and thefiendish expression which then arose upon his countenance, althoughmomentary, assured me that his threat of vengeance would, if possible,be rigidly fulfilled. I was thus prepared to view the manoeuveringof "Old Charley" in a very different light from that in which it wasregarded by the good citizens of Rattleborough. I saw at once that allthe criminating discoveries arose, either directly or indirectly, fromhimself. But the fact which clearly opened my eyes to the true stateof the case, was the affair of the bullet, found by Mr. G. in thecarcass of the horse. I had not forgotten, although the Rattleburghershad, that there was a hole where the ball had entered the horse, andanother where it went out. If it were found in the animal then,after having made its exit, I saw clearly that it must have beendeposited by the person who found it. The bloody shirt andhandkerchief confirmed the idea suggested by the bullet; for the bloodon examination proved to be capital claret, and no more. When I cameto think of these things, and also of the late increase ofliberality and expenditure on the part of Mr. Goodfellow, Ientertained a suspicion which was none the less strong because Ikept it altogether to myself.  In the meantime, I instituted a rigorous private search for thecorpse of Mr. Shuttleworthy, and, for good reasons, searched inquarters as divergent as possible from those to which Mr. Goodfellowconducted his party. The result was that, after some days, I cameacross an old dry well, the mouth of which was nearly hidden bybrambles; and here, at the bottom, I discovered what I sought.  Now it so happened that I had overheard the colloquy between the twocronies, when Mr. Goodfellow had contrived to cajole his host into thepromise of a box of Chateaux-Margaux. Upon this hint I acted. Iprocured a stiff piece of whalebone, thrust it down the throat ofthe corpse, and deposited the latter in an old wine box-taking care soto double the body up as to double the whalebone with it. In thismanner I had to press forcibly upon the lid to keep it down while Isecured it with nails; and I anticipated, of course, that as soon asthese latter were removed, the top would fly off and the body up.  Having thus arranged the box, I marked, numbered, and addressed itas already told; and then writing a letter in the name of the winemerchants with whom Mr. Shuttleworthy dealt, I gave instructions to myservant to wheel the box to Mr. Goodfellow's door, in a barrow, at agiven signal from myself. For the words which I intended the corpse tospeak, I confidently depended upon my ventriloquial abilities; fortheir effect, I counted upon the conscience of the murderous wretch.  I believe there is nothing more to be explained. Mr. Pennifeatherwas released upon the spot, inherited the fortune of his uncle,profited by the lessons of experience, turned over a new leaf, and ledhappily ever afterward a new life.                                 THE END.