Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1889-11-15

/ trains sometimes For instance. the OK
press for Cincinnati would not stop at the
village but would at this country station.
TO get supply Of water for the engine
As soon as | struck this trail ! was only
| a few days in ascertaining that Mrs. Thatch
er, dressed in her best did actually board
the express that night as it stopped for a
moment, and that She paid her fare and
was carried to Cincinnati. She had four
weeks the start Of me, but | had strong
hopes of finding her. | reasoned that the
fact of her being simple minded and ofneyer
having travelled much would make her keep
clear of the hotels. She, doubtless, feared
that she would be blamed for the old mans
death and a search made for her. In that
case she would hide herself | had my
mind made up when | reached Cincinnati
to look fol her among the boarding houses,
and look | did. After a vain search of
week | got one of the regular detectives
and in another week we got track of her.
On going into the city she had entered in
to conversation with fellow passenger,
anu llt A4ttl 4CNbIllA4AN4AdNu iNA W a. 'NtAAo
ing house kept by his aunt. They gave her
n room at the house, but soon saw that she
was queer. The situation sharpened her
wits, and she claimed to be a Mrs. Rose, of
Chicago, who had come to search out rela-
tives As she never went out. received no
letters and employed assistance her
story was not believed and she was an OBJ
iect of wonder to the other boardcrs. In
about three weeks she one day paid her bill
and walked off, but one of the boardcrs fol
lowed her to another boarding house. We
hoped and expected To find her there, but
she had again changed and no one knew
where she was. 1t took Us three days TO
locate her again, and this time we were too
late by an hour only.
In making her second change Mrs.
Thatcher had gone to a boarding house
kept by a woman who had n brother on a
farm. lie supplied her with vegetables
and as he came in one day Mrs. Thatcher
saw him and at once decided to 90 out to
his farm. She arranged for her board,
bought herself Il cheap dress or two, and
the pair had been gone about an hour or
two when we rang the bell. The detective
was busy ON another case and decided that
he could not go with me. | therefore got
horse and buggy and drove of alone 1t
was about three o'clock in the afternoon of
June day, and was hardly clear of the
city when | noticed that a thunder storm
was coming up from the direction in which
| was headed. | drove fast hoping to make
the ten miles before was caught, but when
seven miles from the city the storm broke.
The only shelter / could secure was an old
wagon shed, but-whilo the thunder and
lightning were scvere-little rain fell
In the half-hour | was under the shed
the lightning struck near me three times,
and [ was greatly relieved when the storm
passed on I drove forward for about n
mile and then suddenly came upon a Gu
rious sight in the highway. A farmers
wagon was smoking and burning, while
one horse lay stone dead and the other was
plunging about. On one side of the wagon
lay the body of woman, on the other side
that of a man. | leaped out and secured
my horse, and the man was the first ap
preached. His clothes were on fire over
his breast and his face was discolored One
glance satisfied me that he was dead. The
woman lay in heap, but when | took hold
of her hand there was futter of the eye
lids A bolt of lightning had killed one of
the horses and the man, but the woman
had only been stunned. Ny first move
was just what any physician would have
recommended. ] tore open the bosom Of
her dress and cut her corset-strings to give
her lungs a chance to play. As the knife
parted the string and the corset flew open
paper was displayed. | reached for it,
and one look told me that it was the last
will and testament of Thomas Martin.
Then the woman must be Mrs. Thatcher;
but should never have known her, dress
ed as she was. She came to while | was
releasing the plunging horse and putting
out the fire in the wagon. The accident
had come about as ! supposed, and in half
an hour she was quite herself again. !
went to the nearest farmer, got him to
come back and assume charge of things,
and then drove back to the city with my
prisoner, On the way in she fully explain
cd everything When Martin found him
self about to die he told her to burn the old
will. In her nervousness and being un-
able to read, she burned the wrong one.
When he discovered this he berated her in
as forcible language as he could call up
indeed, he fell back and died while cursing
her Fearing that she had committed some
awful crime, and hoping that if she carried
the other document off with her she might
escape all consequences, she dressed her
self, took the paper and her money and
walked over and boarded the train.
Under the will had recovered all tho
relatives shared alike, which was fair and
just under the circumstances, and instead
Of making any trouble for the grass widow,
they presented her with purse of 5000
and headed her for Oregon, where she got
another husband in less than Il month after