The Dakota chief. (Gann Valley, Buffalo County, S.D.) 18??-1913, 1896-04-30
CII.ArTEl, XVII.

For a few moments. in thar wild and
hurrird excitement. Vanity was forgot
ten. She lay upon a grassy bank. ana
none asked if she were alive ur dead. Hui
the detective went - her side. aud saw
that she hrcathcd. although her eyes were
CLOSED and >h" WaS quite UNCONSCIOUS
Will professional presence of mhnd. ne
opened her lips and poured "A ittlc brandy
into her mouth. and perhaps j" saved
her life. for when. an hour after. 81" was
taken into the hospital, the doctor d%r'lar-
I'd that she had just escaped death by eA-
h~austion-a few beats of the pulls" m"ir'
and She would have been past help ANA
hOpr.
But let us return for one moment t. tn"
burning farm. A. said. the most COM
plctc silence prevailed within the walls.
Hardware was neither seen. nor was m
motion of him heard again. Just after the
whisper went round that the fire was 90
ing out, the roof fell in with Il crash.
HardWar" had made elaborate prepare
tions for Il contlagration: and the fire ran
from room 10 room. and seemed to meet
fuel everywhere. lis rapidity was equal
ed by its heat and fury; for when the
ruins were searched there was absolutely
NNlnlllS nul IL tldITtN IIISN. ikikF II w IN
a rake. and pore over every handful and
sift it to the last pinch through Il sieve.
all WAS ashes. and nothing but ashes.
They expected. perhaps. To- find diamonds.
pearls, cIncraldS. ruhieS. >apphircS. cat ;
eyes. and 50 forth. BLESSED are they who
expect not, Have you ever burned a lot
Of old letters in a corner of the CRATE:
Within the four black"ncd walls of old
Vumbledown Farm nothing was left but
such thin ashes. All that raging flames
could consume had vanished.
As Willie Snow came back with help Il
strange thing occurred. \. Il turn of the
pleasant lame. under Il shady Tree where
h and Vanity many a time had stood.
there met him ~ party of bearers carrying
his former Sweetheart Town to The hos
pi'al. N"w. | don'r 10y any means wait To
Pile horror upon horror. and A. Willie told
ne, jhorc was no horror here; for 81" lay
Nnitr and calm. beautiful beyond Words.
t4o >NvotcSi rcp0>" upon her face.
as >hu quito dcad:" Willie %@.l>lcj.
go. buzz going fast cnou-h," some one
replied.
"Niod, spare her Iifc.." The youn@ man
cried. "Oh. God, hear il! prayer, and
spare her ,itc.'
FINDER the excitement of the time. |
suppose. the detectives east off thcir j.
lem Ways and answered questions free
~. Hardware was ~"Nantcd." About two
years ago there had been a most oNtIa-
ordinary jewel robbrry ut Birmingham.
From differentiation received" the police
were led to believe thai Il man named Bar
niri had been connected with I'll" robb,ry.
and his man they traced into connection
with old llardWar" and his daughter.
Now. in this place / had better relate
what came out a~ftcrWard. Hardware
Wa nj Respectable family, and had even
b"rn at Cambridge for ONE or two terms.
But he turned to evil ways. drank. gam-
bled, and took 10 the race course Sub
%sequcntly il was found that he had "rc-
formed. and had married the daughter
of Il clergyman. On" daughter WAS born
10 Them, and the mother stuck To him
through all his viciSsitudcs and protligacy.
Barnitt had early in life been celebrated
2s an amateur actor. and now. in his life
as an %adycnturer. he took to the stage.
and became a small manager. So he lived
on for several years. His wife died: his
daughter. whose beauty and ~yiyacity were
well Known, Went upon the stage. and. for
Il time, father and daughter did tolrrahly
well. Then the TWO vanished. and when
ihny %reappcnrcd Miss Hardware had an
aged father, very dccropit, bat If excel
bent character. Under thi, disyuisr.
throwing it off a~rtfully and hy night. he
had committed several burglaric,. a.d
lrft thc police nowhere at all. 1t i, fair
to say that there never was any proof
that his daughter was connected with his
crimes. ar cyvn knew of them.
Barnitt or Hardware had not only been
in several hur@iarirs. but there was litlr
doubt That lLH was III" hand which had
shot on" Of the birmingham police, VIII"
had tried 10 c~Tl!iur" him. The detectives