The Big Sandy news. [volume] (Louisa, Ky.) 1885-1929, 1889-07-04


isavery vague impression, and it may have
been in quite a contrary direction"
"Do you know" persisted Mr.. Parker,
whether she had any other relatives be-
sides her mother in this part of the coun-
iryi"
mo, l think she had none. All her other
relatives remained in Ireland"
A few more questions in the same vein
concluded the interview, and Mr.. Parker
went away feeling considerably depressed
with the magnitude Of the undertaking
which he had on his hands. He felt certain
that if he could only find this Donnelly or
Donohue, as the case might be, he should
discover some clew to the whereabouts of
Mrs. Brownlow. The more he thought it
over the more he became convinced Of that
theory and the more he felt that he had
made favorable start in his inquiry. His
first step towards finding out where this
woman was was to go TO Yonkers. He Wis
tied every family of either name in the
town, but learned nothing whatever con-
corning the woman. He could not even dis
cover that any such woman had ever lived
there. 1t took him nearly two weeks TO
come TO the conclusion that in Yonkers
there was no clew whatever to the mystery
which he was endeavoring TO ferret out.
Then be determined to visit in similar
way all the towns along the river between
New York and point from forty TO fifty
miles to the north. He began with the set
Elements included in the city limits, like
Spuyteu Duyvil- From Spuyten Duyyil he
worked his way gradually north, and when
three weeks had passed he had secured the
river settlements and had found absolutely
nothing. Then he returned to the city and
spent a day or two in rest and looking after
his business, which was suffering sadly
from neglect. When he began to think
over the case again it occurred TO him that
he had made an egregious blunder; he had
not taken into account at all the fact that
Mrs. Brownlow's opera cloak had been
found in the river.
"What an ass was,n he exclaimed, i'm
patiently. "Here have been searching on
the east side of the Hudson for four pre-
rious weeks. when the plainest evidence in
the case shows that Mrs. Brownlow crossed
the river before starting elsewhere. Now,
whether she met her death while crossing
the river or soon after getting to the other
side, of course can not say, but shall not
take another step in the matter until l con-
slider what might have happened had she
crossed the river Therefore he set his an
aiytical powers at work again and reasoned
that if she had crossed the river, as I'M
doubtedly she set out to do, she must have
had some point in view TO which she want
cd TO go. The hypothesis that she was going
to seclude herself at the house z her old
servant stuck in Mr. Parker's head IN spite
of himself. 'sShe must have known" he
said to himself, .-where this woman lived;
or, il not this woman, she must have known
where she was going. She would not have
set out blindly, not even IN her rage, upon
journey without having some plan in her
mind, even if it had not been formed until
she had reached the sidewalk of her house
after leaving her husband
The upshot of his reasoning was that he
secured permission nee to examine Mrs
Brownlow's cos.es, .,ndence. A large
bundle of letters were turned over to him
and he set about inspecting their post
marks and the handwritIngs on the en-
veopes. All those that were postmarked
from cities or towns at distance were i'm
mediately cast aside, and of all those that
came from points in this immediate vicinity
he did not stop to read any whose super
scription was particularly legible or which
showed in It's style that the writer was in
the habit of letter-writing. After two CT
three hours work he had sifted from the
I1ass of letters half dozen in different
hands which he considered it worth while
10 look into
The first one he opened was begging
letter from some one who had announced
herself as widow and an entire stranger
20 Mrs. Brownlow. Mr.. Parker proceeded
no farther, he threw that aside and took up
another. This was an application for a po-
sition as d waiting maid from girl who
SAID that she had heard of Mrs Brownlow
through some Of her friends This also Mr..
Parker cast aside. and a feeling of discour-
agement began to settle down upon him.
The next one was another begging letter.
The fourth he opened with the idea that he
was simply wasting his time and injuring
his business by neglect for a merely
Quixotic enterprise, but as he read the let
ter his eyes began to open, his face flushed,
and perspiration started out upon his fore
head It read as follows:
DEAR MRS. LEoSoRA: II Is such a long
time since 1 have seen you. that don't know
gou viii rember me- take my pen to rite you
bocaus wood lik 10 no how you ar. Ihave not
hin 10 the Cify for sevrel years aud spose
shood not ind my way. II went ther. think
OF you a crate meny times and wunder Il you
hr ns prity as you wer wen n little gurL 1 hurd
that YOU wer marid and got yur address from
llry, the Curl as worked for you for fue
weaks last Sprng she cam up % yonkers TO
work and saw hur Their wen went over to
ret sum sun from tho Markett doant ask
you 70 ansor this lettet becaws you may -Four
get mo and ma not caro- onything about me,
but aulWas Lnvd you when little Rurl and
want TO TEL you how Glad am that you arc
HAPPY and hoop you WIN ooso.
sMARr DosNnLLy."
CHAPTER Vim.
This letter, IN a arnmped hand, written
n penoII. was Without date Or any other