Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1881-12-08

down stairs; everything was locked
and bolted as she had left il the nighl
before.
@Who took that raonev p
That was the qnesti0n that con-
fronted me. There were no sions d
burglary; no lock forced, windows
and doors all right. No one else q
the house but Miss Smith and Mollie.
OF conrse, / at once examined the Girl.
She talked freely, said she always had
q prssenfiment that the money wonld
be alelen IL lait had 1 prasentimsni
that night, but feared to tell the old
lady for fear Of alarraing her. Isoon
learned that Mollie had key that
fitted the bedroom containing the bu-
reau, hence my suspicious were
strengthened that NTollie had arisen
in the night, either unlocked the door
with her own key. or taken the enc
in the wardrobe, and, securing the
money, hid it either in or out Of the
house MISUNDERSTANDING the old lady.
| finally told Mollie that ! should
have to search her and make thor
ough examination Of the house.
"Well, she naively remarked, I'll
yOu do find any money about the
house it won't prove that 1 stole it,
will it?
1T will be prima facia evidence, s.
/ said.
II locked her up in her bedroom
and began thorough search; band
boxes pried into, bureau-drawers
pulled out, cupboards ransacked, and
finally went through her own room.
Under the carpet, under her bed
got in compact wad, twelve 800
bills. Now the total amount known
to be missing was only l,045. Where
had the $l55 come from? Where
had the gold coin gone tOl Was the
6ureau-drawer paying interest on its
deposits?
Now I've got you, Mollie," / said
as confronted her.
Mollie tainted.
A bottle of caInphor and a little
cold water brought her speedily to,
yet she sturdily proclaimed her inno-
cence.
81 didn't take Miss Smiths money;
no | did not" she convulsively ex-
claimed between her sobs.
Miss Smith would not allow me to
take her to Jail, where, / reasoned,
confinement would soon compel her
to confess.
My work, however, was but par
tally done, for the gold coins had not
turned up.
determined that those coins must
be in the house and resolved upon a
thorough search from cellar to garret.
The cellar disclosed nothing, and at
last stumbled upon small stairway
leading to the garret, the door to
which was a common trap-door, and
was securely fastened by a paddock,
TO which was attached three links OF
a chain.
Give me the key" ! said to Miss
Smith, ito that trap-door up in the
attic"
"Oh, no use of looking there; the
keys have been lost over FIVE years.
and no one has ever been up there
since. There were cobwebs on the
door, but / noticed that over the
crack of the doors edge they appear
ed to have been broken away, caused
by the door having been recently
opened. With an axe I speedily got
the door open and saw large foot
prints in the dust. BY the aid of a
lamp / followed the course of the
tracks over the boards which Law
across the shaky rafters to the fur
therest part Of the garret, where.
over an old cross-5ean, hung q pair OF
old fashiond saddle bags. The dust on
the bags had been recently disturbed.
In one of the pockets found the FIVE
800 bills which disappeared on the
night of the S0th of May, the 1896
that was missed in the summer of
1869, the $500 that was lost in 1880
and, better than all, the rare old gold
coins upon which Miss Smith set such
store as an heirloom. / had found
the money, but / found 81, 200 too
much: The mystery deepened. Ire
solved upon one thing. and that was
that Mollie must know something
about the money that was hid under
the carpet beneath her bed. talked
kindly to her, told her that Miss
Smiths money had been found. and
urged her to tell me how the $1,000
came under the carpet of her bed.
You viii not believe me If I tell
you. but if Miss Smith goes out will
explain. / put the money there: il
was my lovers. He had saved it out
Of his wages and given it to me to
keep. | destroyed his letters, for fear
my aunt would find out. There's the
story"
A sOmnambulist. But how did the
old ladys money get into the gar
ret ?'
"She carried it there herself She
was q somnambulist and she walked
in her sleep"
How did You prove it. Mr.. Nor
rise Did the old lady let you occu-
py her bedroom and catch her?"
'Oh, mol ! got the old lady to-
take of her shoes and stockings and
place her No. 7 foot down On 4 sheet
IF white paper. With lead pencil /
marked out her foot on that sheet of
white paper. With Q pair OF scissors
carefully cut the exact shape Of the
I'D lady's foot which fitted exactly Ia
he tracks In the dust on the aarret
boards. Besides that, Mollie's foot
vas much smaller. shs onlv wear;n0