Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1893-08-31

little you know the terrible mischief you
have doneI"
Her eyes were full of tears, and she
was pale and trembling with apprehen.
sion. The kitten must have carried of
the confession in this way to play with,
and its recovery was hopeless.
''Lor, miss" suddenly broke In Mrs.
Morton, ''now rememberl When the
gent shot isself, l was working in the
'ouse opposite, and came back to see
what was the matter. That little kitten
belongs to the party in the next set, and
when come up to the landing she was
a-playing just like that with bit o. pa.
per, which she runs away with and leaves
on the stairs"
EYES," said Edith, in breathless eager.
ness.
"Well, paper about the stairs looks SC
untidy, miss, so picked it up and"-
what did you do with itF'
~ threw it in the pail with the other
rubbish"
For the second time the contents of the
pail were emptied by the laundress and
carefully examined. 1t was absolutely
certain that the paper was not there.
"Are you positive that you put the pa,
per in the pailY' asked Edith.
''Pd take my 'davy on it, miss. And
1t was just such scrap of writing as
you say"
Edith sent the laundress home, shut
herself in the solitary chambers and be.
gan the hunt afresh.
1t was late in the evening when she
ceased her fruitless search.
Next morning she returned to her
hopeless task. Mrs. Morton she had re.
ieved from further attendance, and was
walking up and down the chambers in
thought when there came knock at the
door. 1t was the laundress herself.
"I know where that bit o paper is,
missl remembers that, when the police
was here that morning, steps into the
bedroom to hear what they has to say
One of 'em says to me, impudentGke.
We'll, what do you want, old ladyT and
I says I wanted the bedroom candle.
stick"
eyes," interrupted Edith, "but where
IS the paper?'
'I'm just coming to that, miss. stays
a bit in the kitchen-just to see if might
be any use, you understands-and while
was waiting, I puts new candle in
the candlestick. Them mines is rather
small for the candlestick, SO takes bit
O paper out O the pail to make it fit.
Come into the bedroom, miss-why, it,
gonev'
"Good heavensl" cried Edith. "Do
you mean to say that the paper round
that candle was the missing document?
That's my belief, miss. Where is il
gone?"
81 was here late last night, and
burned the candle very low-and the
paper took fire!'
"And you burned it, miss"
"Only slightly, I remember. blew
it out, threw the paper away, and put in
a new candle that I removed from the
piano. What did I do with the paper!
Oh, I remember, l threw it under the
CRATE. You'll find it there. Thank
heaven, we have found it at last! Gill
bert is saved"
"There is nothing here, miss, said the
woman on her knees. "The CRATE is
quite empty"
It was true, and the shock was ter
rible one to Edith. She tainted in the
old laundress' arms. Mrs. Morton, how
ever, soon restored her to consciousness.
"You can take my word for it," she
said, "that papers bewitched."
II don't care whether it is bewitched
or not" said Edith. II mean to find it.
Fetch me that magnifying glass from
the table in the next ROOM"
Edith removed the fender and care
fully examined the dust that Mrs. Nor
toms not overscrupulous cleanliness had
allowed to accumulate.
II thought as much" she said. "Mice!
They have been attracted by the candle
grease and have dragged the paper to
their hole. Every moment now is valu-
able, or it will be all destroyed"
They searched round about everywhere.
but no mouse hole could be found. Edith
then directed the woman to mix q quanti-
ty of whiting which sheplaced in large
fiat dish on the floor in the middle of the
room. In the dish was laid small saucer,
and in that piece of toasted cheese. They
then left the chamber for several hours.
When they returned, there was a track
Of little white footprints across the
room that led to little hole above the
narrow skirting board, hidden by loose
piece of the wall paper. A man was
called in, and after breaking down some
of the plaster and taking up corner Of
the flooring the coveted scrap of paper
was at last secured.
The confession was of course in part
destroyed and required very delicate
handling, but when the precious relic
had been carefully mounted on another
piece Of paper it was found to read as
follows, the words in brackets being
supplied by supposition:
| I ami sick of my life and tresolved1 to put an
end Ito it, In case suspicion falls on Gilbert
Stanton, Lhe isl innocent. l die [by myl own
hand. RAYMOND WLtDl.
Gilbert and Edith are now married,
and Stanton insists that he owes his life
to the persistent and intelligent manner
in which his wife followed up that vital
and mysterious clew.-Londcn Tit-Bits.
| bG'5S5re NeignDorIy:
The statistics relating to our export
trade with Mexico, which we published
yesterday, are interesting and instruct
i've, although they are three years old.
The Mexican government does not col
lect and publish reports Of imports
promptly, and so it happens that the Off
cial record for the year ending on June
80, 1890, is now for the first time accessi-
BILE. This was the year Immediately
preceding the imposition Of the McKin.