The Irish standard., 1889-04-06

woman was was to go to 1onkers. 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 It took him nearly two weeks to
come to the conclusion that in Yonkers
there was 40 clew whatever to the mystery
which he was endsavoring TO ferret out.
Then he determined to visit in similar
way all the towns along the river between
New York and point from forty to fifty
miles 70 the north. He began with the set
Elements included in the city limits, like
Spuyten Duyvil. From Spuyten Duyvl 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 10 him that
he had made an egregious blunder; he had
not taken into account al all tue fact that
Mrs. Brownlow's opera cloak had been
found in the river.
';What an ass was," he exclaimed, i'm
patiently. "Aere have been searching on
the east side Of the Hudson for four pre-
cious weeks, when the plainest evidence i'll
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 cher
SIDE OF course / can not say, but shall not
take another step in the matter until con-
slider what might have happened had she
crossed the river.'' Therefore he set his an-
alytical powers at work again and reasoned
that If she had crossed the river, as I'M
doubtedly she set out &c do, she must have
had some point in view to which she want
ed to go. The hypothesis that she was going
to seclude herself at the house If her old
servant stuck in Mr. Parker head IN spite
Of himself. <'She must have KNOWN" he
said to himself, 'swllere this woman lived;
or, il not this woman, she must have known
where she was going. She would not nave
set out blindly, not even III 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 at once TO examine Mrs.
BroWnlow's correspondence. A large
bundle of letters were turned over to him
and he set about inspecting their post
marks and the handwritlngs on the en-
velopes. AL those that were postlnarked
from cities or towns at a 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 Or
three hours work he had sifted from the
mass OF letters half dozen in different
hands which he considered it worth while
to look into.
The first one he opened was Il begging
letter from some one who had announced
herself as widow and an entire stranger
TO Mrs Brownlow. Mr.. Parker proceeded
no farther he threw that aside and took up
another. This was an application for a po~
sition as u 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-
age1nent 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 tor 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. 1t read as follows:
DEAR MRS. LEoNoRA: 1t is such a long
time since have seen you, that don't know
YOU will re1nber me. take my pen to rite you
becaws iwood Xix to no how you ar Ihave not
bin to the City for seyrel years and ispose
shood not find my way, il went ther. think
fyou CRATE meny times aud wunder if you
ar as prity as you wer wen IL little CURL. hurd
that you wer marid and got yur address from
lizy, the Curl as worked Tor you for a fue
weaks last Spring. she cam Up to yonkers to
work and saw hur Their wen Invent over to
get sum Stuff from the Marketr i doanr ask
you to anser this letter bscaws you may Four
get me and ma not care enything about me,
but awlwas Luvd you when a little CURL and
went to tel you how Glad j am that you are
happy and hoap you VIII be so.
MARY DONNELLY."
CHAPTER iii
This letter, In a cranlpad hand, written
in pencil, was without date or any other
evidence as to the place where it was writ
ten. The postrnark was badly blurred, but,
looked at upside down, cressWise and in
every other way imaginable, MIR. Parker
thought that he could see that it was Yonk-
ers. He read and re~read che letter, and
wondered how it could be that in all his
patient searching through Yonkers he had
not discovered any trace of this woman. 1t
,vas evident TIL at the letter bad been written