The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1894-06-06

does your part OF the case stand?"
''Sit down." said Maxey. "Do. You
can spare q minute, l know, and of
course you must be interested We all
are. True 1 haven't much to tell you.
There have been half dozen reporters
here daily and more or less detectives
and police officers, but l rather think
their interest is dying ont now rapidly"
"ShamefulP' calculated Miss MaXey.
"Just because Of Il few obstaclesp"
"Obstacles!" echoed her brother. 81
should say they were obstacles Why,
there isn't shadow Of light in any di-
rection. Let me state the case now from
judicial standpoint
DR.. Lamar had taken chair by the
window, where. he seemed to be devot-
ing his exclusive attention to the ice
blocks drifting down the river. Miss
MaXey had not seated herself exactly,
but she had assumed an upright position
on the sofa. She was eager, earnest and
wholly absorbed in the subject Of con-
versation.
An exceedingly sensitive and emo
tional creature was this Miss Maxey,
and i'll q matter such as this, where her
whole nature was aroused, she was q
powerful friend and most dangerous
adversary. 1t was entirely at her solici-
tation that the poor sufferer il the al
cove chamber had been brought to the
house. Miss Maxey listened to what her
brother had to say with quick breath
and shining eyes. All, if Dr. Lamar had
had the soul of an artist, he would have
found something more inspiring to look
at than the icy river.
"These are the facts" continued
MaXey, tracing them all out on the top
of the center table with a paper cutter
as he talked. ut is now the 9Th of De-
cember. On the 9th was the first sleigh
ing Of year. The evening of that day
belated sleighing party just after
nightfall discovered a womans shawl
III the middle Of lonely road at u point
where it runs along the borders OF
rocky bluff. Investigation follows and
eventually results in the rescue OF
young woman who was caught by the
clothing upon point Of rock half way
between the top and bottom Of an almost
vertical section of the bluff This young
woman is 50 badly injured internally
that she is incapable of giving the least
clew either to her identity or to the
strange position in which she was found.
Nothing remains but to make a careful
examination into the circumstantial
evidence in the case. This turns out to
be exceedingly meager, but such as it is
it all points one way.
zone Of the pockets of the girls
clothes is found inside out, and the rest
are empty. She has no ring upon her fin
gers nor jewels in her ears, although
the ears are pierced. The dress Of the
unknown indicates that she belongs to
the middle class, but the refinement and
delicacy Of her face and hands, which
are singularly white and free from the
trace Of hard work, are even stronger
evidences that she is not an ordinary
shOpgirl, to say the least. This turning
of the pocket and utter absence Of rings
Or ornaments lead naturally to the con-
clusion that she has been robbed and
thrown from the road. In substantiation
of this, the snow is trampled Just above
the place where she was found and
smooth all along the roadside. One of
the sleighing party is positive that she
saw man leap over a fence and run
across the field on the other side of the
way. A close scrutiny finds footsteps
leading into the field at the point indi-
Gated. They are followed, and after q
short detoQr lead around in the direction
of the city into the road again, whore
they are lost irretrievably In the alb
senco Of all other evidence we must sup
pose, then, that the girl was set upon
and robbed by a person unknown and
thrown over the bank to set rid Of her.
Let us suppose the police take this for
granted at the outset"
ut is all they arc good for, taking
things for granted" commented Miss
NaXey. 81 can't see that they ever dis
cover anything"
"Vory we'll So far it is all plain and
natpral But where did the victim como
from, and now came she uSon the cliT
road alone at that time? At this point
We find ourselves utterly unable to
form any plausible theory. There is not
o single clew to her identity, not mark
On the undertaking, not even an ini-
tial on the handkerchief. Suppose we
are the police under the circumstances,
what can we do? Nothing in the world
except what they did 81, photograph the
girl and send her description, not omit
ting the smallest detail of clothing
which she wore, and including the curl
GUS fact that one of the toes of her left
foot is missing, broadcast over the COM
munity. The result is that the first day
she is brought here the stairs are worn
out with the footsteps Of people whose
only possible interest is that Of curiosity
who come to see the victim under the
pretext of sttempting to identify her"
"And who stare and gawk about with
open mouths until they have fairly to
be pushed out of the room, !" added Miss
Ma&ey.
"In short, continued the artist, 1--WE
are in danger Of being turned into a
museum for the exclusive patronage of
all the idlers and deadbeats in the city.
This clearly will not do, and we must
get our medical adviser to declare a
public inspection irritating and danger
GUS to the patient "
Il believe it did annoy her, said
DR.. Lamar. cat any rate it did her no
good"
"And this is the strangest part of the
mystery to my mind" :" continued Max
ey, "that with ali these precautions,
with the newspapers printing, people
talking and pictures and descriptions so
available, nobody appears to claim her