The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1880-12-30

he had lately taken from the dead mans
pocket into the doctors hand.
every well, then,' answered that
functionary; Z will manage it, and do all
that is necessary. will send some one
Immediately. Goodnight i
sWhen he was gone I summoned ND
courage to ask the meaning of what I
had heard.
"'What are your Intentions? Pray
tell me, I said.
q" You always were an idiot he an
swered, but will try and make you un-
derstand for once In q way. Any woman
who was not fool, and had been living
wife and alive to her husbands vel
fare, could have seen with half an eye
what my game is. It's very simple
one, and mind you do not spoil it, or it
will be the worse for you; and that you
may have no excuse for doing so, I'll
tell you what it is. There was some
thing like six hundred pounds in notes
and gold in that poor devils pocketbook.
There is nothing to show who he was to
anybody but me, who luckily can keep
secret, so shall not tell you his name;
besides, it does not signify. Not soul
but our two selves know how he came on
to hly premises; he can never be traced
there. pass him off as my brother, and
bury him accordingly. No one here
abouts knows who we are, so who is to
say he is not my y<brother? Had not good
luck brought him to our hospitable gate
at the critical moment, and had you not
been the far-seeing, clever woman you
are, and not let him in, why, he would
have fallen down dead in the public high
way, and his property have been at the
mercy of the first person who found him.
They might have been honest or not.
He would have been taken to the hos
pital, and of course his friends would
have been duly informed of the sad loss
they had sustained. Now, as it is, they
will be spared this sorrow, because they
will never know what has become of him.
He will only be one more victim added
to the list of mysterious disappearances.'
We'll, but, broke in, his friends
will make inquiries after him. He may
be traced to our gate, and we may be
called upon to explain
we may be, continued my husband,
but it's sufficiently unlikely. It will be
a cursed piece of i'll luck if he is. Who
is to trace him into this God-abandoned
region? Under all the circumstances,
and by your own showing, it is most i'm
probable-nay, it is impossible
eyes, again interposed; but he will
be advertised for and described
"'Very likely he went on; but the
doctor and the undertaken are the only
people besides ourselves who will have
seen him, and they will have nothing to
identify him by even if they ever know
| or hear anything about the disappear.
| ance They will never recognize in my
dear brother, poor John Smith, who died
| of apoplexy, here in my house, under the
very eye of the doctor, the forlorn man
by the name of - Cbut will keep tina
to myself who was last seen,' etc., a:
the advertisement will run. No; they
will not know the name. It will convey
nothing to their minds; how should it
For, remember, the moment you SO ju
| diciously let him in and closed our gar
den door upon him, the lost man hat
ceased to be. From that moment he be
came my brother John; the real man wa!
gone as clean out of existence, had a.
clean parted with his identity, as if h,
had never been! By heavens! it's {
stroke of genius on my part. I neve
guessed I was half so clever fellow,
added my husband, triumphantly.
"'But, cried I once more, this is
very dreadful, a very dangerous game
as you call it, to play. 1t is absolut
theft, and worse
"If you can not use better language
he said, hold your tongue; don't insul
me. I tell you the money might q
well have fallen into my hands as int
those of the first policeman or pot-bo
who might have found him. I want
badly enough, and if you don't betra
our secret there is very little risk of IN
right to it being disputed
"'But, said, the watch, the rings
as well as the money-they may lea
to your discovery
"'Not at all, he answered, IF the
are carefully converted, and will MAI
age that. The notes are the only di
} ticulty; but 1 can get over that, too.
| 1 go straight to the Bank of England t,
morrow morning, directly it is opened
and change them into gold, I shall /
there long before their loss is known, o
consequently, the numbers are stoppe'
The young fellow, perhaps, will not
missed for a week; he comes long ws
from here; 1 have seen enough to tell n
: that. We do not know what his habi
were; we do not even know that any ol
was aware he had the money about hir
, No; the more think of it the safer Il
1 whole game looks. You have only
keep your, own and my counsel and O
: fortunes are retrieved for few month
and we have nothing to fear. Ali, tina
the undertaken, no doubt. You get O
of the way; leave it all to me-
HThere was ring at the bell hel
J which he went to answer.
IL 'sAh, that was a dreadful. night, a,
! during the few days following L W
: nearly beside myself with terror
course, the house was closed, as becal
a the occasion. The funeral-a very qu
: one-took place in due course at KEN
y Green Cemetery, my husband followi
i as chief mourner in the coach, acco
panied by the doctor.
II 'No remarks, no suspicion attend
so commonplace a circumstance, q
J. when the ground had closed over the I
re- fortunate unknown man, and when
m week later, modest tombstone record
d the decease of the imaginary 30
le Smith, aged twenty-three, all trace
is the dreadful fraud, save that which
It: printed indelibly in my mind '
D. gone"
n, As my friend reached this part of
story she was a good deal overcome, 6
Sc said she had nothing more to tell;
do after a while learned from her that
w scoundrel had managed the convers
of the notes exactly as he had propos
'r- He slipped away from the house q,
ed early the morning after the death,
II, almost as soon as the Bank of Engl'
nd was opened changed the notes into gc
's. as he could do, by merely writin
us name and address-fcticious, of cou
y. on their backs.
d, He returned from the city with his