de and resignation. That he
deserved his fate few will be inclined to deny. The attempt to procure
blood, the questions about the dissecting-room vault, the appointment
made with Parkman at the college, the statement to Pettee, all point to
some degree of premeditation, or at least would make it appear that the
murder of Parkman had been considered by him as a possible eventuality.
His accusation of Littlefield deprives him of a good deal of sympathy.
On the other hand, the age and position of Webster, the aggravating
persistency of Parkman, his threats and denunciations, coupled with his
own shortness of temper, make it conceivable that he may have killed his
victim on a sudden and overmastering provocation, in which case he had
better at once have acknowledged his crime instead of making a repulsive
attempt to conceal it. But for the evidence of Dr. Keep he would
possibly have escaped punishment altogether. Save for the portions
of his false teeth, there was not sufficient evidence to identify the
remains found in the college as those of Parkman. Without these teeth
the proof of the corpus delicti would have been incomplete, and so
afforded Webster a fair chance of acquittal.

The Mysterious Mr. Holmes

"The Holmes-Pitezel Case," by F. B. Geyer, 1896; "Holmes' Own Story,"
Philadelphia, 1895; and "Celebrated Criminal Cases of America," by T. S.
Duke, San Francisco, are the authorities for this account of the case.

I

HONOUR AMONGST THIEVES

In the year 1894 Mr. Smith, a carpenter, of Philadelphia, had patented a
new saw-set. Wishing to make some money out of his invention, Mr. Smith
was attracted by the sign:

B. F. PERRY

PATENTS BOUGHT AND SOLD

which he saw stretched across the window of a two-storied house, 1,316
Callowhill Street. He entered the house and made the acquaintance of Mr.
Perry, a tall, dark, bony man, to whom he explained the merits of his
invention. Perry listened with interest, and asked for a model. In the
meantime he suggested that Smith should do some carpenter's work for him
in the house. Smith agreed, and on August 22, while at work there saw a
man enter the house and go up with Perry to a room on the second story.

A few days later Smith called at Callowhill Street to ask Perry about
the sale of the patent. He waited half an hour in the shop below, called
out to Perry who, he thought, might be in the rooms above, received no
answer and went away. Next day, September 4,