prison, and he went there; but he was not admitted. Not being a

newspaper reporter, he could not see either of them that night; but the

officer questioned him suspiciously and asked him who he was. He might

perhaps see Brierly in the morning.

The latest editions of the evening papers had the result of the inquest.

It was a plain enough case for the jury, but they sat over it a long

time, listening to the wrangling of the physicians. Dr. Puffer insisted

that the man died from the effects of the wound in the chest. Dr. Dobb

as strongly insisted that the wound in the abdomen caused death. Dr.

Golightly suggested that in his opinion death ensued from a complication

of the two wounds and perhaps other causes. He examined the table

waiter, as to whether Col. Selby ate any breakfast, and what he ate, and

if he had any appetite.

The jury finally threw themselves back upon the indisputable fact that

Selby was dead, that either wound would have killed him (admitted by the

doctors), and rendered a verdict that he died from pistol-shot wounds

inflicted by a pistol in the hands of Laura Hawkins.

The morning papers blazed with big type, and overflowed with details of

the murder. The accounts in the evening papers were only the premonitory

drops to this mighty shower. The scene was dramatically worked up in

column after column. There were sketches, biographical and historical.

There were long "specials" from Washington, giving a full history of

Laura's career there, with the names of men with whom she was said to be

498

The Gilded Age