The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1895-06-07

a dear old papa. o. It's too good to be
true. wish / could cable you. But
here 1t Is o'clock, 1 haven't been to bsd
yet and l must be up to start with the
party by O'Clock. And then for home
home; that means henceforth wherever
you are. I'll write a long letter tomor-
row. Your own loving LILLIAN.
p. Sill leave this open so l can add
line perhaps before we start. The NAH
will not close until this afternoon.
Beside this letter lay another in some-
what similar but less regular handwrlt.
ing, and from the same envelope. 1t
read:
Dear Mr.. Hilton: 1 can do no more
than mail this letter 1 find in Lillian's
portfolio. Before 1t reaches you, you
may have read the news, which is too
heavy for moher's pen to write. l
can simply say that 1t was seemingly
her unusual exuberance of spirit that
caused her to venture too near the edge
Of the crag, and she was gone before any
Of the party could warn her. We leave
for home as soon as possible.-Most sor-
rowfully yours,
HANNAH SLOAN-ENDICOTT.
The medical examiner read the letters
and soon after told the eager reporters:
There is no ground whatever for the
theory of suicide 1t is a plain case OF
heart disease. L am informed that his
accounts are perfectly straight"
When Daskum arrived he was accom-,
panied by George Hilton, a younger
brother of the dead mans, who had al
ways lived in the Minnesota village. He
had been brought on to throw light upon
the mystery, but when he saw the letters
he was more mystihed than the others.
Mrs. Endicott?" said he; Mrs. Endi-
colt? l saw Mrs. Endicott out riding Ill
st. Paul not week ago, and her husband
Is with her There is something wrong
here, gentlemen"
But did you know any one by the
name OF Lillian Enll.cott?" asked Mr..
Throckmorton.
Eyes, as 1 have told Mr.. Daskum, she
was a schoolmate of my brothers. They
were fond of each other. After leaving
school he went to Chicago to earn money
enough to marry her. He thought that
thus he could overcome her fathers OBJ
jections; her mother was kindly dispos d
from the beginning. Soon after that she
removed with her parents to st. Paul.
She always seemed to me rather light,
and when she got in the city she didn't
appear to care for John any more. He
trl-d to think she did, and was just as al
made quite fortune in Chicago but lost
1t all in failure. And that very week
Lillian disappeared from St. Paul. AT
the same time a fast young ST. Paul
broker named Tyron left town. The two
were married in st. Louis and then went
to New Mexico. 1t appeared soon that
tl.ey left the country because Tyron was
heavy defaulter. We've heard nothing
from them since, and we supposed that
the girl had passed out of Johns mind,
as she had out of ours. So these letters
| are bewildering."
Hilton's effects were turned over to his
brother. One trunk was filed with let
ters, on one side those with her name
on the envelope, that had been returned
to him, and on the other those addressed
to him and bearing her signature. They
covered the entire period Of the ten years
since he had seen her in st. Paul. Hers
were full of encouragement to him in his
work of repairing his fortune in order
that he might make a fitting home for
her; they always referred Ito her fathers
opposition as something that must sure
ly be overcome with time, and were ful.
of expressions of fidelity and devotion.
1t appeared that March was his birth
day, June 10 the date of their orlginii
betrothal, and Oct 12 the date once set
or their marriage. Occasionally she was
Respondent end fearing that her health
was falling, her father took her to va
rlous summer or winter resorts, and final
ly to Europe. He told her that she mus
give up thoughts of Hilton; but she r.
NAMED true, and at length became stub
born, with the result as given in her lasl
letter.
An expert declared that all the letters
were written by the same hand, and tina,
tnat hand was Enthusiastically Hiiton's,
rhe man had prauticed deception upoL
himself in order that In his. imaglnatio
he might live the life it seemed to hin
he would naturally be living. Wher
lie unIttainaD4eness of the end he longed
for forced itself upon him, he rang 4,
climax that proved too strong for his
overwrought system.