St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-08-10
station in life when he should come into

and Ezra was given an interest i'm the
leather business of his father, becoming
member of the firm of Foot, SchulZe
d Co., OH East Third street. He also
became vice president of the Duluth,
Red Wing & Southern railway, and
abandoned toOth-puiling and repairing.
Those were glorious days for Florence
Blood, alias Matte Lawrence. alias
Maggie Murphy. Instead of singing in
and drinking stale beer. she queened it
i'll elegant parlOrS and sIpped cham
payne.
A year went by and Mother Campbell
had not heard of her little Willie. The
rich lady had promised to write often
and occasionally let the mother see her
boy. She had done neither Mrs. Camp
bell did not know Willie's adopted
mothers address, and she began going
to DIR. Landau's for information. DR..
Landau would give her none. Then she
went to Supt. jenkins, of the Society
for the Prevention of Cruelty to Chill
dren, and poured into his ear her sad
tale. Her husband had left her, she said,
because she had parted with Willie and
couldn't tell where he was or who had
him. Supt. Jenkins sent her to Lawyer
William Travers Jerome and Mr. Jerome
began to think.
He sent for DR.. Landau. She had
heard of Mr. Jerome when he was as
Slstant district attorney. and she obeyed
the summons. The lawyer told her he
wanted the address of the woman who
had Mrs. Campbell's baby. DIR. Landau
said she didn't have it.
A Faint Clue Obtained.
"Well." said the lawyer, "you had
better have it here by this time tomor-
row it you want to avoid trouble"
The next day Mir. Jerome received
slip of paper marked. Foot, st. Paul"
That wasn't much, but it was an OPEN
ing. The lawyer searched ST. Paul
directory and saw the name of Silas
Foot. He wrote to the old gentleman,
explaining matters.
Shrewd Old Silas kept his counsel.
He wrote back and learned more. 1t
was hard not to believe that little
Willie was his grandson. for Willie was
handsome child, and his merry laugh
ter and cute prattle had wound around
the cookies of the old mans heart. How
he did glare at Flo. though. He had
learned to call her Flo, but he cid it no
longer.
Little Willie's picture when he was
younger was put in Grandpa Silas' grip.
along with dozen other photographs of
babies. Grandpa was shrewd, and he
was not going to be robbed of his Willie
too easily. He came to New York and
saw MIR. Jerome and Mrs. Campbell.
The real mother repeated her story. and
the rich man from st. Paul spread out
a lot of babies photographs and
asked her if she could pick out her
chiid's. Instantly she picked out Will
lies. MIR. Foot had had babies of his
own. and he knew that they all look
pretty much alike in photographs, SO he
was convinced that it was mothers
instinct which prompted Mrs. Camp
BELLS Identification.
And Florence, what was she doing?
The mysterious mission east of the old
man mad alarmed her guilty conscience.
She had felt an intuitive dread from the
first moment he looked at her in
changed way, and stopped addressing
her as "FlO" and ''daughter.
Florence Disappears.
When Grandpa Siias got back to st.
Paul Florence was gone, and so was lit
tie Willie. Ezra knew nothing about
them. He appeared distracted. Grimly
did the Old gentleman remove that dis
traction. He insisted that his son should
Immediately apply for divorce. Flor
ence had been faithful wife so far as
they knew. and deSertiOn was the plea.
They had to wait year. though. and it
was only recently that the laws limit
expired. Ezra is now a single man
again.
What had become of Florence and the
Campbell baby no one knew. Silas
Foot was old. and the little fellows
pranks had been enjoyed by him so
long that he missed them more and more
a hn 40 In1
were no little hands to pull his beard,
and no little voice to ask unanswerabie
questions. Silas Foot felt that he could
not live with that void in his heart. He
came back to New York and proposed
to Mrs. Campbell that she allow him to
adopt her child. She was still working
in d store as a SaleSWOman, and con-
sented. Willie would be great and rich
some day, and she agreed 10 let him go.
Alas, she had no Willie to give away.
He was in the hands of the brazen
creature who had stolen him to win
husband and wealth. Silas Foot said he
would pay the expenses and the search
began. Naturally Philadelphia was
selected as the starting point. 1t was
here that Ezra had become involved
with Florence, and it was there that she
cOncOcted the scheme by which she was
lifted to the position of wealthy dame
of society.
1t was learned that her father was
private detective in Philadelphia, and
the directory showed that H. C.:Blood
lived at No. 454l Saybrook avenue, on
the outskirts of the city. Supt Jenkins
gave Mrs. Campbell a letter to Supt.
Crew, of the Society for the Prevention
of Cruelty to Children in Philadelphia,
and she went there. The Blood house
stands at the foot of the hill. Sunt.
Crew and Mrs. Campbell took up
position on the hill one evening and
watched the windows of the house.
When the lights We're lit they saw
baby boy playing On the floor of the
room into which they looked.
There he is. There's nv child?" ex-
claimed the mother. "Oh. yes, it is;
could never mistake him. Willie!
WP'--
Baby Willie Recovered
Officer Crew placed his hand over her
mouth, for detectives are always mys-
FERROUS and cautious. They went away,
and the next morning with Matron
luncheon, Of the society. they returned
to the house and asked for Mrs. Foot.
She came down and matters were ex-
planned. Mrs Campbell recognized her
and she knew Mrs. Camp
bell. She did not deny that she was not
the mother of the boy, and Matron
PuncheOn took charge of him in the
name of the society. They proposed, if
necessary. to go into the courts and
prove ownership. Silas Foot would pay
the lawyers. Mrs. Foot kept the ap-
pointment she had made for the next
day, aud met Mrs. Campbell in Lawyer
Germans Office, No. $50 Walnut street.
She knew it would be useless to fight.
She consented to release the child if no
proceedings would be taken against
her. Mrs. Campbell brought Willie
back to New York. and later he was
taken to st. Paul. occupying a lower
berth all to himself on palace car. He
is brother now of Ezra, who only a
year ago was his father
Baked in her magnificent scheme
after she had achieved success, and
that slight inadvertence of Civ
ing the name and address she expected
to bear, Florence Foot returned to her
old ways. She had not fought the di-
vorce suit because she knew the result
in the Robert Ray Hamilton case, and