Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1894-05-31

"But the present is not the future, ~
cried Miss Maxey, with warm glow in
her cheeks. Perhaps, in spite of all her
enthusiasm, she felt it was Lamar she
spoke to. Nothing can make me believe
that she will die like this. God would
not permit such crime to go unpunish.
ed. "
Without discussing that, my dear
Miss Maxoy," replied the physician,
smiling, "Inced hardly remind you that
there are other and much more obvious
ways of accomplishing that end than by
working a miracle in this poor girl s
brain. And, by the way, Maxey, how
does your part Of the case stand?"
Sit down" said Maxey. DO You
can spare a minute, l know, and OF
course You must be interested We all
are. True 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 out now rapidly "
Shameful" calculated Miss Maxey.
"Just because of few obstaclesr'
"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 a 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 i'll the subject of con-
vcrSation.
An exceedingly sensitive and emo
tiOnal creature was this Miss Maxey,
and i'll matter such as this, where hel
whole nature was aroused, she was a
powerful friend and most dangerous
adversary. 1t was entirely at her solici-
tation that the poor sufferer in the al
cove chamber had been brought to the
house. Miss Maxey listened to what hel
brother had to say with quick breath
and shining eyes. All, if DIR. 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. 1T is now the 10th of De-
cember. On the 9th was the first sleigh
ing of the year. The evening of that day
belated sleighing party Just after
nightfall discovered q wOman's shawl
in the middle of lonely road at 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 a 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
clcw either to her identify or to the
strange position in which she was found.
Nothing remains but to make a careful
examination into the circumstantial
evidence i'll the case. This turns out to
be exceedingly meager, but such as it is
1t 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
short detour lead around in the direction
Of the city into the road again. where
they are lost irretriovably. In the alb
sence Of all other evidencewe must sup
pose, then, that the girl was set upon
and robbed by a person unknown and
thrown over the bank to get rid of her
Let us suppose the police take this for
granted at the outset. "
''1t is all they are good for, taking
things for granted" commented Miss
Maxey. II can't see that they ever dis
cover anything"
VERY WI. 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 poin.
we find ourselves utterly unable to
form any plausible theory. There is not
single clew to her identity, not 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 world
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
Gus fact that one of the toes of her left
foot ia mjSeinp hrOa6caSt ovar tba con,-