The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1891-11-18

friends Of the deceased, that a photo
graph should be taken Of the body. !
am an artist, and my friend, the cor
oner, insists"
"Oh, certainly" Mrs. Evesham inter-
rupted. So her distinguished visitor
was after all only photographer. Why
on earth couldn't the man at once have
stated his business without SO many
stammering apologies?
"You will perhaps at once permit me
to visit the room where the corpse Is
lyingP" he continued.
"Yes, but" Mre. Evesham in turn
hesitated. 81 could not offer you any
assistance; even my servants am sure
would dislike"
'Not for worlds" the stranger inter-
rupted eagerly. 81 require no aid in
my manipulations-in fact would rather
be free from interference. The whole
thing win not occupy me more than
half an hour"
How could she refuse so natural re-
qucstP So she ordered the servant to
show him to the death-chamber, and re-
turned TO her children.
Mrs. Evesham's sensitiveness would
not have been shocked had she accom-
panied her visitor into the somber pre-
cincts OF number six, with its drawn
blinds and the undefinable shadow Of
the presence Of death.
The stranger, though he must in his
professional experience have been ac-
customed TO such gruesome scenes, was,
however, evidently impressed with the
gloom, for after locking the door with
deliberate care ho stepped noiselessly
over the carpet and paused for q mo-
ment at the foot of the bed where IL
was lying covered with o sheet. He
had apparently peculiar ideas about
taking the picture of dead man, for,
instead Of arranging his camera and
posing his subject, he turned TO the
wardrobe, where hung the clothes the
deceased had last worn, and nervously
searched until he found bunch of
keys. With these he unlocked drawers,
desks and bureaus, and piled every
scrap Of paper he could find upon a
table. His search was hurried and eff
fective. When the last likely receptacle
had been ransaclsed he opened his
leather case and into It's capacious jaws
stuffed his findings, examining them In
TO his pockets too, until the last scrap
was disposed Of Then, replacing the
keys, he for the first time raised the
sheet from the dead mans face and took
one long, intense gaze on the waxen
features. "Poor fellow" he muttered,
"after life's fitful fever he sleeps wellr"
And now, seizing his leather case, he
quietly unloclss the door, steals silently
downstairs, and, unobserved by any
one, is lost in the hustle Of the crowded
streets.
The next excitement for the Eve
sham's on that eventful day was the ar
rival Of the undertalser's men TO remove
the body, and, shortly afterwards, a
fussy official came armed with author
ity TO examine and seal the effects Of
the deceased.
But the worst trouble OF all was Civ
ing testimony at the coroner's court In
the afternoon. Poor Mrs. Evesham had
sad time Of 1t. Never was coroner
more exacting nor witness moro timid.
II she had been tried for her life, she
could hardly have felt her position 30
acutely. Then. she could tell them 30
little, and her examiner made her feel
uncomfortable at her lack Of lSnowl-
edge and shrugged his shoulders 80 and
winlxed 30 hard at the jury while she
gave her evidence, that he created the
impression that she was suppressing in
formation.