Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1888-11-28

of the absence of the hayward girl.
The coachman and gardener were igno-
rant of the affair; the cook and two
housemaids had not been made acquaint-
ed with the fact, and but two others
remained. One OF these was the wait
ress who was present when the letter
was read, the other was Susie, the young
ladies' maid; these girls were sisters
and had been in the service for seven
years and were under lasting obligations
to Mrs. Brooke, who after supporting
their invalid mother for eighteen
months, had seen the remains decently
Inferred at her own cost. These two
girls l sent for and asked them to let no
one know what they knew in regard to
Clara's disappearance and they prom
ised not to. Mr. Brooke and l then re-
tired to the library and / convinced
him that the four cardinal points in the
case were:
''To keep the matter quiet, ascertain
who the actor was, to learn where the
lovers had gone, and to get Clara back
before the marriage had been consum-
mated. We agreed that Sara should
set out that very night for Illinois to
visit a conveniently sick relative and
before midnight a society note was sent
to the which appeared the next
day, stating that The Misses Sara and
Clara Brooke had been summoned I'M
expectedly to the bedside of dear rela-
tive in Illinois,
81 instructed the two brothers to 60
to their offices the next day as though
nothing unusual had occurred, and to
blind the coachman, Effie entered the
carriage and was driven to the depot
with Sara, so that he believed two of
the daughters had gone to -, III. /
was in waiting at the depot and took
Effie home after the carriage had been
put up, and of course the coachman
supposed that it was Clara and Sara
whom he had driven to the depot.
"Mr. Brooke and at / O'clock in the
morning, drove to the residence of a
gentleman, who is now retired, but who
at that time was secret agent for three
attorneys-a private detective, whom
nobody knew as such except the three
attorneys, of whom [ was one. He was
thoroughly reliable man and as shreWd
and keen as one of Gaboriau's cbarac-
tiers. We lett our instructions and $500
with this gentleman he's on Change
now and no one knows bis previous oc-
cupation but myself, for the other two
attorneys are dead-and he started off
that morning in pursuit of Clara. For
months he worked unsuccessfullv upon
the case and visited all the large cities
in the North and East, but after $4,000
had been expended we called him off.
Did Clara write to her mother
after her marriage as she had prom
ised ?'' asked the reporter
Yes: two weeks after she had left
came, which said
am in Now Vorl- ND do 70 ,,ot rot,,n, 49,,
to face my shame. He was already married, but
l love him. ana can not tell you who he is Oh,
my mother, could you but know all, how you
would pity me. Farewell forever. C.
cit was given out by the papers very
innocently that Miss Clara Brooke was
for Jew months with her
invalid relative in Illinois, and that Miss
Sara Brooke had returned to the city.
Mr.. Brooke closed out his business, and
the two sons ostensibly travelled for
their health, but in reality they were
searching for their sister independe ntly
of the detective. Thanksgiving eve was
a cold, cherries, raw night. and the
beautiful residences were closed UP to
keep out the bleak wind which whistled
the keyholes and shook the
window frames.
THE Brooke family had assembled
for late dinner to which / had accept
ed an invitation; they were all present
except the misguided Clara, and it had
been tacitly agreed that her name was
not to be mentioned by any member of
the family; they had tried in vain for
months to trace her, had spent vast
perforce concocted various reasons for
her prolonged absence in Illinois.
There was one grim satisfaction howev-
er-the world did not know of her dis
grace, and consequently theirs. To
guard against such frightful calamity
Mr.. Brooke had determined to leave
the city and take his family to Boston.
For months they had lived in retire
ment. giving no receptions and attend |
ing none-out of respect to their sick |
relative in Illinois, it was said. / had |
been detained upon some urgent bust |
ness with client and was rather late |
in getting to the Brooke mansion, and |
feared they were waiting dinner for me /; |
so without waiting to pay the hackman |
| told him to call at my Office, and then |
hurried up the steps. It was very dark /
and abominably cold and cherries. |
and as | rang the bell thought heard |
a moan at my feet; feeling round with |
my umbrella, it came in contact with |
some object lying in the shade of the |
portico. | stopped down to examine |
it as the door opened and threw sub
eiued light upon the steps, crouching |
and iainting on the cold marble vestl- |
bule was poor, wan gill, whose thread |
bare garments were wet and draggled;
her hair, disheveled, fell over her
shoulders and lay on the steps. Stoop-
ing down, found that she hreathed, |
but was unconscious, and told Susie to |
open both doors. while dragged the |
woman into the hall.
"Mrs. Brooke and her daughters.
hearing the commotion, came from the |
dining-room and ordered the miserable |
girl put to bed in one ofthe spare cham
bers; ire was lighted, Dr. Blank was
sent for, and the poor girl dressed in |
clean, dry night-clothes. For two days |
she was delirious when not in quies-
cent state, and Susie was instructed to |
curse and watch her carefully. On the |
third day she became composed and |
conscious, and asked how she came |
there and to whom she was indebted for |
"'You must remain quiet and not |
ask too many questions to-day said |