Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1870-07-10
Piled with the first fb that came to

| the street. He said there was g bill
\ of eight and twenty shillings owing
by me on account OF board and lOdg.
ing for the lady in black. 1t appeared
she had represented me as a very old
friend ''of years gone By who wa:
willing to pay her hotel bill. The
landlord had at first doubted this, IN
til, on my Immediately coming on re.
ceipt of a note, and spending ar hour
in her company whilst she played the
piano, it seems he had believed me to
have reasons of my own for wishing
my acquaintance kept secret-had
TRUSTED her, and allowed her to 20
away on the understanding / was tC
pay her bill / paid it, not wishing
my folly to become tap-room talk
but honestly told the landlord the
facts of the case, denouncing his late
lOdger as an impOstOr. The fact ol
my paying the bill, however, only
served to confirm the mans suspi-
ciOns. ~ Fa- ft
T. L felt that now there was far too
much to tell my wife; the fainting la
dy-taking her to an inn-receiving q
note from her under false colors, then
bClLuk u LO dDOut bAAdb DOtC LAy5C1-
visiting her at the hotel to hear her
play-and finally paying her bill,
The lady in black might be as old as
Methuselah, but it would appear sus-
picious for all that, and not caring to
arouse suspicious difficult to allay
without the production Of the lady in
black herself, / was silent.
Two months passed. Then / re-
eeived a mote as follows, dated from
an entirely different part of the town:
GALLON VILLA, BURNHAMR ROAD.
SIR: l am desired by my father, Major
Lindsay, who has recently returned from
India, to say that he intended calling on
you, but is prevented by Illness, and
therefore begs you will be good enough
to come and see him about eleven O'Clock
tomorrow morning, at his temporary
lodgings as above. Yours, etc.,
MARIA LINDSAY.
IsayI received this note. 1t was. in
fact, my wife who opened it. Did l
just possible that he might be a for
mer customer, who had purchased
some of the commodities l used to
send to an agent in Bombay-and /
said so, although l had no moral
doubt it was from the lady IN black.
AT first / thought of making a clean
breast of it, and getting my wife to
call at Gallon Villa. But, if l did 80,
| reflected there was no knowing
what plausible tale this very accom-
plished parsonage in black might in
vent to the injury of my character;
and again, the note might not be from
her after all.
| went. Gallon Villa is a large and
respectable house in Burnham Road.
The family, it appears, was away,
and the lady in black had obtained
admission there through acquaintance
with the servants, for whom she was
doing a little plain needlewOrk, and
had cajoled them into giving her per-
mission to meet a gentleman for a
few minutes in the dining-room of
the house on this particular morning.
This the lady in black told me with
great cOolness-proceeding to assure
me that pressing need was her only
excuse for imposing on me in the
matter of the hotel bill, and that self
preservation is a great instinct of ma
ture; insOmuch as a drowning man
will save himself even at the expense
of thrOttling a swimmer. 1t appeared
she wanted some money, which l
gave her, glad enough to escape from
a house in which l felt | had no bust
ness.
OF course, this only added one more
to the many suspicious elements ]
was now anxious to keep to myself.
The particular ib by which | ex-
planned it to my wife l really forget
there were so many to fOlloW-but l
felt that truth was no longer possible
to me in the matter, except the whole
truth, which had now become far too
involved to make a respectable APP
pearance.
1t is needless to describe the notes,
some haif-dozen, which followed, each
requesting IN appointment at a differ
ent place; or to tell how, after hbbing
so much, | feared to evade a summons
from this miserable impOstOr in black,
lest a woman so skillful in intrigue as
she proved herself to be, might COM
bine truth and falsehOOd too deity for
the peace of nay home. She called
herself by many names. but was gen.
orally known to me as Mrs. George.
Her messengers were selected with
remarkable skill. Now il was a sol
der who had served with my brother
in the Bengal army, and brought a.
request that l would call in the even
ing; now a tTadesman about an ac-
count; and once il was a parson, who
was himself deceived, and told me
the note which he had brought had
been delivered to him by a sick wo-
man, who prayed him to give it into
my hands, and to say that an old
to see me before she died. 1t was evil
dent that this lady in black had de
voted a great deal of her time to max
ing inquiries about my previous life
and circumstances, in order to use
them in such a way as to make me an
aceompliee in aNclandestine CORES
pOndence resulting in interviews.
One evening, visiting at the house
of a married friend, a much older
than myself, l told him my
whole case. To my utter sstOnish-
ment, he was groaning under the very
same affection. The same lady in
black had aecOsted him one night,
to be shown the way TO a GER
tain road. Seeing her to be an old
woman, well spoken and apparently
in trouble, he had no scruple in ac-
companying her, so far as his road lay
on her way. AT the door of an inn
she had tainted, and the same plot as
mine was gone through, almost iden-
teal in its particulars. He admitted
having fbbed to his wife about it,
even more than 1 had to mine, and
was really more frightened at expos
lre, since his age approached more
to that of the lady in black
than mine did. He was far too terri
fed to suggest a remedy. So far our
was fruitless; but, l admit,
the knowledge of some one else being
swindled in the same Way gave me
courage to look the matter in
the face.
The very next night, as / was sit
ling in my Don expecting a visitor
TO smoke a pipe with me, there was a
knock at my door. Thinking it was
The young friend l expected, l opened
the door myself. A figure, so muf1ed
Ip in black that il would be imposSi-
Die TO tell whether it was man or wo-
man, thrust a note into my hand IN
and disappeared. 1t was a
.ong nOte-fOur pages, and partly
Although undoubtedly the
production of Mrs. George, it professed
be written by Maria Williamson.
It was only by importing a second
md fictitious woman into the cores
oondence, that the sting at the COM
nencement of the letter could be
Mr. Dear Sir: Having for some time UR-
iUOSddbty become Rcqusinted with the
of your repeated PTtOGts f~nterVieies
With Mrs. George, | write this to assure
7ou that you may depend on my keeping
hat 1 know an lRViOta6le secret. etc.
The rest of the note referred to my
dear friend's'' illness and destitu-
that she had not received
s'eustOmarv DreSpntD from me- 4