Jasper's Folly.

was !—the boy was to be taken from mc and sent' to one of the Public Schools . "When fhe conversation look a general turn I entered and apologised for my , fo them , strange' behaviour in thc early part oftho evening . "When Mr . Mortimer retired I followed and privately overheard the conversation that , took place between him and his wife .

In examining some time before a quantity of old manuscripts I came across thc plan of a portion of the Hall that had been bnilt shoi'tly after the Reformation . The Mortimers down to the time of AVilliam and Mary hael been Romanists , and there were in the Hall several secret rooms and passages contrived for thc lodgment of thc priests . I turned my knowledge to account and was enabled to hear all :

" A feeling then took possession of me which I cannot describe . The being whose character I had formed , whose natural gifts I had improved by my fostering care and whose destiny I intended to control was to be taken from me . Base ingratitude . All night I brooded o )\ thc subject and in my sleep Siva appeared to me and bade mc kill the boy . lt was the custom of the youth to bathe in a pool within a retired and private part , of the grounds .

" Leaving thc house unobserved I went to the spot and there beheld him disporting in the water . I undressed and joined him in his diversion . My evil spirit urged me to take life . For a . time I fought against it but fell at last . He struggled and pleaded for life but I held him under the water till he was dead . I returned to the house without being observed . They all thought that his death was thc result of an accident . At the funeral a terrible revulsion of feeling came over me and I wept like a child .

" The next idea that took possession of mc was to bring my power of will to bear upon the weakness of Mrs . Mortimer . The writings and practices of Frederick Anthony Mesmer were regarded b y the million as idle and superstitious . I have studied his teachings , but they are as nothing compared with the laws of animal magnetism as taught by my father whose influence over man and beast has many times held me enthralled . He told mc thafc in time his gifts would pale before mine .

" In Mrs . Mortimer I had an excellent subject , upon whom to experimentalise . She was of a romantic and highl y strung temperament . In thc absence of her husband I exerted my powers and she became a mere puppet to my will . I left the mansion and gave out that I was going abroad . I only waited for a fitting opportunity to carry ont my scheme , ft soon came . Mr . Mortimer went to the

North to sec some friends . I secretly returned to the Hall the night before his expected return . By means of the secret passage I made my way to her chamber , and concealed myself therein till the departure of her maid , and , calling ( o my aiel my art , 1 made her leave the Hall for ever . We went abroad , and under assumed names lived as man and wife . I was devoted to her and so she was to me . It came to my knowledge some time after that enquiries were being made .

Jasper's Folly.

"A friend of Mortimer ' s named Aldborough had seen me , and his suspicions were aroused . I determined upon a great step . I went fo England , and on fhe ni ght before the great storm I secretly visited the Hall and remained there in hidinu * . Ou that night , I acted the

ghost . , and Mortimer , the doting idiot , imagined that his wife in spirit was at his bedside and that she spoke to him . On the following night I watched my opportunity , and during tho height of the storm I strangled him . I had painted my face to resemble that of a typical demon .

'" The poor fool took mc at firsfc to be onc . He fought stubbornl y for life and got hold of the bell pull , but I had cut the wire . The stops 1 took to throw suspicion on Jonson the valet were successful . The hidden waistcoat and the detached button served my turn . Thc newspapers of tho day fully reported the case . The man was

acquitted , but many believed him to be guilty . I returned to Franco intending after a time to make Ethel my wife . Shortly after landing and whilst travelling in the diligence I heai'd the awful news that she had perished with others in a ( ire that , destroyed the hotel where

we had lived . I cannot say anything further . I am choking and have but a few minutes to live . My confession and my life ' s history here ends . I am going blind Oh , Brahma ! my heart , my heart . Quick , give mc the pen . ' Guide my hand ! " MiciMur , TIMVEHS . "

NOTI :. — " The above confession was taken down by my clerk , Mr . John Robinson , on the ni ght of thc first of September , 1831 , iu my presence and in the presence of Mr . Edgar Rail ton , a Member of the Royal College of Surgeons , England . The dy ing manrefused to take the customary oath as he said vihat , ifc would nofc be binding on his conscience . — CIIAHM : S MACDON ' , Commissioner . "

' A most dreadful and cold blooded confession , " remarked Mr . Courtley . 'In it the wretched man expresses no regret for his crime , and yet with a strange inconsistency was anxious nofc to leave fcho world without offering sonic reparation to the man Jonson , who although hehl blameless b y tho law , yet has , for many years , been regarded with suspicion by those to whom the crime is yet fresh . '

Another phase of Traver ' s dement ia , " observed the doctor . " Ho was one of those who would have submitted to torture unmurmuriiigly , * or mounted the gallows intrepidly , nofc in the spirit of mere bravado , but with perfect sangfroid . He possessed good and bad qualities . Unhappily the latter werc predominant , but hereditary madness was the primary cause of his downfall . "

Mortimer Hall has long since been demolished , but the Black Copse Pool still remains , and the superstitions say that at times they can hear in the wailing wind the moans and pitiful cries of tho murdered boy . Fix is .

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