The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1880-07-24
THE MISSING MAN.
From All the Year Rouud.l

She was curious sort of Il woman;
could never quite make her out Evi-
IDENTIFY she had - a past, but she would
not tell me much about it, until Il mere
accident opened ii allup. [ wilInot stop
to relate how | knew her, but come to
the point ut once.
Her husband must have been a man of
good family, but an inter scamp, gam
bier, spendthrift and drunkard; all his
own people turned their backs on him
Dropping lower and lower, he reached Il
very low ebb indeed at last, and she had
bad time Of it with him They had
been living somewhere in Yorkshire, he
racing, betting-heaven knows what.
The Doncaster meeting was coming
round, and he found the region getting
too hot for him, 50 hemade a bolt Of it and
came to London, bringing her with him
lthey had no childron); came, as [ under
stood, with a couple Of portmanteaus,
and under an assumed namC-Of course
she never told me his real one He took
a small, Old-fashlOned furnished cottage
for three months; Il diIapidatcd place
somewhere near kuburn, quite on the
outskirts, and where the new neighb0r-
hood, which has now sprung up, was
only then first beginning to be thought of.
They had been in this precious abode
but for three days, when what happened
They were without a servant-in the
house alone, in fact, the wife becoming
the drudge meanwhile \ high wall sur
rounded the garden in which the cottage
stood, 1t having been neat little box in
its day, quite III the country An old
aud now almost disused road ran along
one side OF this wall, which had a door
in it amongst some thick trees. Wen, it
was early in September, the weather was
close and sultry, and on the third even
ing as 1t was getting dusk, she strolled
ont and sat down on bench under these
trees near the door, leaving him sUlkiiy
smoking in the house.
Sad and miserable indeed | was rs
sat there, went on my friend, "think-
ing, thinking, thinking, IN the silent
cleaning. Everything was as still as
death in that drearv neighborhood, So
that when the sound of a footstcp com
ing slowly along the road by the side Of
the wall caught my ear, | almost started;
but when | heard the footstep suddenly
tOtter. then stop close to the door, and
some one stagger against 1t, | rose from
sheer nervousness. When 10 this sound
succeeded Il lOng-dT;tWn gasp and moan,
and then a heavy thud, as OF the person
falling to the ground, with an instructive
pity ! flew to the door, and drawing
back the lock, gently opened it. There
on the step, lay, as well as | could see
by the twilight, a young well-dressed
man. He made an effort TO rise when
ne saw me, partly regained his feet,
caught ut the door-post, staggered and
fell headlong into our garden. All this
was but the work of moment, and now
thoroughly alarmed and hardly knowing
what | did, | closed the sloor and rushed
into the house. My husband met Inc on
the threshold.
- What now? What's all that Scrlm-
mage about? he sad.
" Im1dly / told HIM
80 lou fool, are we not hard-up enough
already, but You must be playing the
Good Samaritan, and let the man IN
DO Won want to turn the place in ar
hospital? He's drunk, no doubt.
"NIth tins he reached the spot where
the unfortunate man lay lace dOwnwards
upon the edge OF the soft, unknown
lawn. Gently turning him over, my
husband went On:
:" Why, he's dying, II not dead; we
must fetch a doctor. \ pretty mess
You have got us INTO, but We must so
through 1t honestly, or else VINO knows
what we may be charged Wlth-murdef,
perhaps . BE OH ana get doctor;
there 5 q red lamp at the second turning
on the lett down thus 52ad
I flew to ms bidding, tNrrlfed by
his words, winch L saw had some reason
III them, ana Hau htatf reached me
house, when ne called out:
Here, 60 ont TINS way, ny ms t'oof
here, INTO the road; 1t nearer.
/ returned, and was about to open
the garden door, close 70 when ne was
still bending over the body. When saw