Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1886-10-21

time letter came to the sorrow my
wife cOuched in the most agonizing
language. Its purport was that the inn
pulse of the writer to take his
own life had grown so upon him that
it then overmastered him. By the
time the letter reached its destination
he would be dead man. And with a
thoughtfulness that was worthy of q
better purpose he declared that he
would take his life in . friends
presence, SO that proof of his death
could be readily established. He
further said that he was the only one
of his family that survived, and that
the property he owned in Baltimore
and Philadelphia would descend to his
family, as provided for in will amply
witnessed, then in the custody of 4
friend. Surely enough. the next post
road-brought the sad intelligence of
the husbands death. The body was
inferred in the Trinity burying-ground,
and the stone, with the date of death.
is still standing" The gentle
racOnteuse admitted at this point that
there had been people malicious
enough to say that the man had
abandoned his American wife, and
that. having another spouse in En-
gland, he had invented the neat story
to get away without scandal. But her
(the matron's) granduncle knew bet
ter. 1t WAS a true bill.
1.-The will? o, yes. it was found.
and is the most curious part of the
story. After providing amply for the
maintenance of the homestead, the
widow and the children there was a
supplemental clause reading some
thing like this, as my granduncle re-
peated it:
"'In view of the fact that there is a
recognized faint of insanity in my
blood, and that for three generations
before me there has always been a
demented member of my family, /,
being vet of sound mind. do wish to
provide for the lost one who will in
evitably succeed me. / therefore di-
rect that $4,000. to be realized from
the sale of my property. shall be safely
invested by my executors for the sup
! port of such invalid and his or her sue
cessor.' Then, again, in the form of
codicil, was this clause:
"'To the lost one during life, and to
| to his or her successor, the small house
in the North woods, known and de-
scribed as 'Ashmer," and l suggest
| that he or she be there confined, under
watchful care, rather than in public
hospital
''The widow was terribly shocked
at this revelation. Every thing that a
a wOman's heart could suggest was
done to keep the knowledge of the fam
lily faint from the children. 1t hung
over. the mothers life and blithted it.
The boy grew to mans estate, but was
a sly, secretive person, and was one
day found drowned in the PatapscO.
The coroner's verdict was mercifully
framed to read accidentally drowned.
but nobody doubted that it was the re-
appearance of the suicidal impulse.
What became of the elder girl my in
formant never heard. There was some
mystery there, also, but the matron
never fathomed it.
1.-The younger daughter, however,
married. She had always been of a
lively disposition, had shown no tend
| ency toward mOroseness, and the
mother began to believe that the curse
of madness would pass over her only re-
naming child. The sutton for the girl S
hand had been told the family secret,
and, though staggered for the time, he
had solemnly accepted the RESPONSE
bility. He was very proud of his pretty
wife. and well he mi CHIT be. They lived
| ha,,,il,, fnnafhnr bn xt-ifaf =
mother finally dying. peacefully,
assured of her child's escape. But it
was not to be so. After five years OF
marriage the first child. son, was
born. The young wife's manner
changed completely. Her gayety dis
appeared. In vain the husband tried
to rally her. She recovered her phys
icat health, but her eyes permanently
took on that strange, sleepy look that
her daughter now has. But, not to
get ahead of the story, a trip to Eu-
rope, in the constant attendance of her
devoted husband and maid, was fol-
lowed by the advent of the daughter,
whom we all know. The family had
returned to Baltimore prior to this
event. The mental disease fully devel-
oped in the mother soon after, and.
having tried all the specialists in the
country, the husband was sorrowfully
induced to send his wife to the house
in the North woods, tract of for
est about twenty miles out on the Hag-
erstown road.
"The two children were committed
to the care of a housekeeper. A serv-
ant maid, who had been in the family
of the wife's mother, was also re-
tanned. That was serious error. fol
one day the three were missed. and,
after long and anxious search. they
were found at .Ashmere sitting on
the ground outside watching the antics
and listening to the howls of the de.
mented woman within. She could be
plainly seen through the grated win.
dows. This scene left an indelible i'm.
preston on the minds of both chill.
dren. They knew their mother. And
though they were taken back to town
with the utmost dispatch, they remem
bered the road. and, in after years
they frequently made the journey SUR.
reptitiously. Hours were spent by
them in this sad, speechless associa
ton with the mother they loved. She
never RECOGNIZED Them IT WAS more