Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-05-14

impossible" l answered. "without
the splash being overheard by the man
at the wheel, or by some one on deck.
Besides, / doubt if he could have
squeezed the body through either Of our
| cabin windows, which, You know, are
very small"
Tom, however, seemed to think it
could have been done, owing to Miss
Merwin being so slender, and in spite of
all my efforts, could not entirely rid
his mind of that horrible idea.
Days passed, for we had headwinds,
which kept Us off our course; but as vet
the detective had nothing to tell me.
though he said he soon might be able to
explain the whole affair.
A strange affair enough. Never befors
had such an experience, or anything
approaching to it, in any craft I com
manded. The passengers were equally
puzzled; it was the talk of all aboard
the ship. As for Tom, he grew pa1er,
thinner, wilder every day. At last, one
afternoon, when we had entered st.
Georges channel, he came up to me and
said, in a husky voice: Tits as l thougbtf
Quick! have something to show vouI
Make no noiser'
l followed him. We both wore light
slippers, and without noise entered the
room Miss Merwin had occupied. He
pointed to crevice, which he had evil
IDENTIFY made in the partition, and look
ing through it l saw the detective in the
next apartment, kneeling by his open
carpet bag, from which now prctruded
the identical buskins-I could not mis-
take them-which Miss Merwin had
worn. Spread out before him he held a
1000 bond-evidently the one which
my son had given to the young ladyI
"You see," he whispered "Was not
right? He has murdered and robbed
herr
Low as the whisper was the man evil
IDENTIFY heard it, for he pushed the bus
kins, and after them the bond, hastily
down into the bag, which he then closed.
Before could hinder him Tom rushed
out and threw himself against the de-
tectiye's door with a force which broke
the lock and admitted him into the room.
He flew at the man, clutched him and
shook him. when the fellow drew dirk,
but in his futile struggles to use it-for
| held his wrist and soon disarmed him
his beard fell off, showing it was q
false one, ard at the same time his shirt
bosom was torn away about the throat.
Then both Tom and | uttered 4 simulta-
neous cry Of surprise on perceiving that
this pretended detective was woman
over thirty-ive years of age-or, in other
words, it was Miss Merwin herself de-
prived of the cosmetics and other appli-
ances which had, while in the natural
attire of hel sex, made her look so much
younger than she was.
The whole truth broke upon me at
once. This woman | suspected was in
reality Mary Youngson, the murderess,
for her face and height now answered to
the description 1 had of her, and we
found, while looking for my sons bond
in her carpet bag, some articles bearing
her name, and others marked with that
of her victim. In fact, afterward, while
i'll, she confessed to being Mary Young
son.
Her motive in Disgusting herself was
apparent. She had feared after | dis
covered the strange shortening of her
stature, that l might suspect who she
really was; and besides, the ruse would,
she thought, enable her the better to
escape from Tom and get off with his
So 900. The mystery of her having as
Miss Merwin looked 80 much taller than
she really was we found explained by
her buSk1no, which proved, like these
sometimes worn by actors on the stage,
to be provided with very thick cork soles,
to give an appearance Of elevation to the
stature.
On the night she so astonished me by
the difference in her height she had, in
her hurry and alarm, come up in her
slippers, having forgotten to put on her
buskins.
1t is hardly necessary to say that tie
detectives warrant she had shown me
was forged, written by herself; nor
scarcely need it be mentioned that Tom
was now disguised with this woman
and entirely cured of his infatuation.
Subsequently she died of a malignant
fever while being conveyed a prisoner
back to England-thus escaping the pun
ishment she so richly merited for her
odious crime, although there were not
wanting those who stoutly maintained
that the charge had by no means been
conclusively brought home to her. How
ever, after occupying. the public mind
for more than the proverbial nine days,
the '|Youngson Case" as it was called,
gave place to a fresher sensatiOn.-Ed-
ward Helms in New York Press