Sullivan republican. [volume] (Laporte, Pa.) 1883-1896, 1890-01-03


marry her, and he was heard to say
more than once that not one of his rela-
tives should ever get a dollar of his
money.
One night, two months after the
Thatcher woman went to keep house for
him, he got bad fall while bringing
in wood. He had TO be helped
to bed, but only portion
of what followed was known for
many months afterward. The old
man felt that hi, last hour had come,
and he got rid of her for few minutes
by sending her out to the barn. Which
know, but he got up and burned one OF
them. Both were duly sealed and
attcsted, and both were equally good in
law. That he did burn one of them
was sur. Thirty hours later some one
happened to visit the cabin, and the
old man was found dead in his bed, the
woman had disappeared, and the wills
were missing. With all that money at
stake there was great excitement, Of
course, and the relatives gave me the
case to work up. No one knew, until
| overhaulcd the ashes in the fireplace,
that anything had been burned. l
found scraps of paper, proving that at
least one of the wills hal been de-
stroyed SO far as l could tell, both
might have been burned at the same
time. OIe had been, anyhow, and the
question OF which it was interested every
relative.
1t seemed curious why Mrs. Thatcher
had gone away, and still more curious
that she had escaped observation. As
no one had met her in the village or on
the highway, it must be concluded that
she had reasons for hiding. If one Of
the wills had been preserved, she prob
ably knew of its whereabouts, as the
whole cabinet had been hunted over
and over again without bringing it to
light. My first step, therefore, was to
discover her; but when fairly sharp
man pits hum self against half idiot ke
may be beaten. l made circuit for
thirty niles around on horseback, and,
while l met a hundred people who
knew the woman by sight, l could get
no trace of her. A robbcr could not
have hidden his trail more successfully.
When l found that the hunt was to be
cx ended, l notified every sheriff in
that part of the state. l got out circu-
lars and sent them to town marshals,
constables, postmasters, and farmers,
but no good resulted.
Then, one day. sat down to put
myself in her place. For all l knew
then she was with the old man when he
died, and it might have been her hand
which held one of the wills to the
flame. Just why she should fly and
hide herself when not guilty of any
thing was n puzzle. So far as we could
determine she had taken nothing. One
day Martin had gone with her to the
bank and drawn out and presented to
her the sum of $500. This she had
taken, as was her right; but the few
dollars he had in his pocket were there
when we searched the dead body.
had not thought to overhaul her ward
robe, but when l came to do so | got a
pointer. She had dressed herself in
her best, and gone without taking even
a hand satchel. Her best was a black
silk, fine red shawl, a fashionable
bonnet, and fine shoes. She would not
only look very much like laly, but she
would not set out for walk across the wet
fields or along the muddy highway. She
would take the train at the nearest
point of course, and that happened to
be at station not over thirty rods from
the old mans cabin and on his land.
Freight and accommod alton trains
stopped there always for water. and the
regular passenger trains sometimes. For
instance the express for Cincinnati
would not stop at the village, but
would at this county station to get
supply of water for the engine.
As soon as l struck this trail was
ony few days in ascertaining that
Mrs. Thatcher, dressed in her best. did
actually board the express that night as
ii stopped for moment, and that she
paid her fare and was carried to Gin
cinnati She had four weeks the start
of me, but had strong hopes of find
ing her. | reasoned that the fact
of her being simple minded and
Of never having travelled much