Grand Rapids herald. [volume] (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 1892-1959, 1893-11-10
The Pretty Miss Taylor.



oharvs Of the jail. Of coslrse. and though
an Old bachelor I occupied shs apays-
meats sd assds for the 1siIers family IN
: wing q the building Ny turnkey was
also . single razn. flnss by name. and
while We slept AZ nse jail We to.,k our
meals oufssas. Oursw3sA peaceful COM
munIfy, and IL was ssidCu ~s had =
prisoner who hsd heen ssrltsoced fsf any
thing beyond theft or vagrsEey. In :
town Of thai sizs everybody Knows ey-
srybody else. und tho arrival Of . rsw
family u matter Of putiie talk.
One day about six nnonths after l had
become sheriff . new family arrived IN
lEonroeviile. IL wasn't mach OK family.
% far - numbers went, consisting only
of father and daughter, but there was .
bar ripple Of excitenaenst nevertheless.
There were several reasons for thiA The
name Of the family was Taylor. and il
Was reported that Miss Bessie Taylor.
the daughter. wa going to apply for .
position as schoolteaeher. She was
young woman Of %. sylish and hand
come. II wns also sad that the father
was old and blind. but we'll Oh in purse.
and that he had iost his sight by acct
dent while testing an fnyennon- Again.
the gossips had u that siiss Bessie could
have been married half dozen times II
she had consented To leave her father.
bat that her love for him was % great
that she had determined not to fall In
love al after his DEATH Ine story. a
n whrla a IL nassau ar,,und the town
was quite romantic, and when the young
woman appeared on tho streets and was
declared to be tho handsoniesf girl In
the county, and when It became q settled
fact that the gray haired old father
couldn't distinguish day from night,
there was more tai about the Taylors
than about any 10 other families In town.
After three or four weeks 1t WAS learned
that Miss Bessie was not going 70 teach
school The doctor had prescribed coun-
try air and perfect rest tor her father.
who had money enough and 70 spare. 1t
was further learned that the father was
great chemist, and that he had lost bis
eyesight while seeking the antidote OF a
subtle poison. They rented pretty
house. put IN very stylish furniture. and
In few weeks the young woman was
at the top OF the social ladder. This
story IL sort Of confession. and l may
tell Jon at the outset that fell In love
with Miss Bessie at first sight AS
was twice her age aud not at all her
style OF man. II was silly In me OF course,
but the man who makes fool OF him.
self seldom realizes " until too late to
save his reputation. Through some rel
atives OF mine who called on the family
hs soon "A etiquette permitted, was In
trodnced and PAID my respects, and l
made no great effort to conceal my feel
ings found Mr. Taylor very quiet
and reserved man. Indeed. a. he him.
self gave me to understand, he had q
horror OF strangers and avoided them
whenever possible he had not only lost
his sight. out was 40 lame ne could only
hooble about After my hrst call did
not meet HIM again. though sometimes
heard him moving about IN the house.
The Iayior had not oeen with Us over
TWO months wnen one OF the society In
dies gave party to which all the best
people IN town were invited Miss Iay-
Tor was there OF course. had the DIS
unguisned honor OF escorung the TAR
young lady 10 and ITO, ana II Is needless
10 add that the rafne OF love burning IN
my bosom increased by several candle
power. got home soon after midnight,
to be upset oy the news OF burglary in
town Within an hour II was known
tnat the posto1ice ano store mad oeen
entered and robbed. aad two dwellings
had been visited and plundered. As
sheriff assisted the town marshal tom
sestlgate. In the postotiice the safe had
been blown open and about 500 secured.
In the dry goods store the safe, which
was an Old fashioned one. had been
opened WITH a f.llse key and plundered
Of about $40. In the other cases the
robher had gone in bv the x;ndow ,rbA
monet Ind iaxs,ry secured Amounted
IN nea,lv A. ooo
TIL two fa,oi,,a. rohhs.5 ,vsra =, ,h.
nartx a. va. alsa ,ba o,rrar 90 ,ha
.tore- who wss a sinvle man ard slaos in
. room, or his ofsica Nans 81 -. co,,ld
Law any claim 10 detective alsl,,v hnt
the investigated sa,is6sd ma th.s one
man had doae ths four ,obs The Ca.
.on wa. tho l.st ~ Novauh..r ard a
light snow rad faiien early in the even-
ing. In tho aIIev t..ek ~ ~, ,o.tosfics
wa foupd certain f,otur,nt, We fo,,rd
The same under the sliey window Of tha
ary goods store and the very same
around the two urivntehouses. The sel-
-. w..,ia - ,h.--.....h - -.