Democratic Northwest and Henry County news. [volume] (Napoleon, O. [Ohio]) 1894-1905, 1894-06-14

there ere other ana mucn more obvious
ways Of accomplishing that end than by
working q miracle in this poor girls
brain. And, by the way, Maxey, how
does your part of the case stand?"
"Sit down." said Maxey. 'Do. You
can spare q minute, / know, and Of
course you must be interested We all
are. True, / haven't much to tell you.
There have been half q dozen reporters
here daily and more or less detectives
and police officers, but rather think
their interest is dying ont now rapidly. +"
Shameful calculated Miss Maxey.
"Just because of few obstaclesW
"Obstacles" echoed her brother. "I
should say they were obstaclesl 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 in a matter such as this, where her
whole nature was aroused, she was q
powerful friend and most dangerous
adversary. 1t was entirely at her soIci-
tation that the poor sufferer in 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 paper cutter
as he talked. 'It is now the 10th of De-
cember. On the 9th was the first sleigh
ing of the year. The evening Of that day
a belated sleighing party just after
nightfall discovered woman's shawl
in the middle Of lonely road at a point
where it runs along the borders Of a
rocky bluff. Investigation follows and
eventually results in the rescue of a
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 SO 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 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 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 detour lead around in the direction
Of the city into the road again, where
they are lost irretrievably. In the alb
sence of all other evidence we must sup.
pose, then, that the girl was set upon
and robbed by person unknown and
thrown over the bank to get rid of her.
Let us suppose the police take this fol
granted at the outset. -
'It is all they are good for, taking
things for granted" commented Miss
Maxey. IT can't see that they ever dis.
cover anything"
every well. So far it is all plain and
natural. But where did the victim come
from, and how came she upon the cliff
road alone at that time? At this point
we find ourselves utterly unable tc
form any plausible theory. There is not
q single clew to her identity, nota mark
on the underclothing, not even an ini
tial on the handkerchief. Suppose We
are the police under the circumstances,
what can we do? Nothing in the worlG
except what they did do, photograph the
girl and send her description, not omit
ting the smallest detail of clothing
which she wore, and including the curl
ous 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 worr
out with the footsteps Of people whose
only possible interest is that of curiosity
who come to see the victim under tht
pretext of attempting to identify her. :"
| Sand who stare and gawk about witt
open mouths until they have fairly tx
be pushed out of the roon," added Mis-
Maxey.
| Sin short" continued the artist, ''w,
are in danger Of being turned into I
museum for the exclusive patronage o
all the idlers and deadboats in the city
This clearly will not do, and we mus
get our medical adviser to declare
public inspection irritating and danger
ous to the patient"
II believe it did annoy her, salt
DR.. Lamar. SAT any rate, it did her NJ
good"
"Apd this is the strangest part of tn
mystery to my mind" continued Max
ey, "that with all these precautions
with the newspapers printing, peopl