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Haunted Hearts, by the Author of 'the Lamplighter'.
Haunted Hearts by the Author of 'the Lamplighter' Author:Maria Susanna Cummins General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1864 Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million book... more »s for free. Excerpt: CHAPTER XII. WEIGHING THE TESTIMONY. The murder -- its perpetrator -- its motive -- its manner of execution -- its probable consequences, -- these, of course, constituted the nine days' wonder of Stein's Plains and the neighbouring district. Every ascertained detail of the affair, every reasonable supposition, every absurd conjecture, was discussed, . and the tavern was naturally the nucleus of the county gossip -- the centre where rumour held her court, and whence all her emissaries radiated. Stein was in high feather. Never, according to calculations of his made during the small hours of the night, when there was a temporary lull in the business, had anything brought so much money to his till as this murder. The Stein races were the product of his fertile brain, and he appreciated the genius which had fathered and fostered such a lucrative institution; but murder was the devil's own invention, and never before had Stein fully realized the allegiance that he owed to the Prince of Darkness. Why, this one murder was worth to Stein, in hard cash, more than a dozen horse-races, more than twice that number of Christmas balls, more than the ordinary profits of a whole year. The weather on the day succeeding the catastrophe was indeed unfavourable, for the air was sharp, the snow deep, the roads heavy; still, on the other hand, it was Sunday and Christmas -- the former fact giving the news an opportunity to circulate in the churches; the latter, taken in connexion with the cold, making it reasonable to throng the public-house, and indulge in a holiday drink, flavoured with " the latest particulars." The...« less