The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1899-02-09

Fenton stopped and once more coverct
his eyes ,CeartlU auth his hands.
tellectual advantage. Then, perhaps
her father died and his affairs wer'
found to be embarrassed. Grief ant
anxiety hurried her mother to prema
ture grave, aud the daughter, theil
only child, too independent to owe any
thing to relatives, too proud to let bel
friends know what che was doing, se
about to earn her own living, ut first BY
the exercise Of her talents, and, thai
failing, by accepting the situation il
which I found her. At other times
thought it possible that an unhappy
home had driven her out into the world,
there to make her way as best she could.
Of course, neither Of these aolutions Of
sne enigma may De right, ana yes I,
seems to me that either one or the Other
Of them would account for all. I am
utterly incapable Of solving the mystery
that surrounds her death. Without any
special circumstances, mere robbery
would hardly be sufficient reason for
the murder; for was so near that it
would have been all but impossible for
the murderous thief to have rifled her
body, and then what likelihood was
thee Of sufficient spoil to compensate
him for the awful risk be ramp
Fenton stopped and once more COW
cred his eyes YEARLY with his hands. I
felt it would be useless to dwell longer
on the details of the murder. He had
told me all he knew, and further dis-
cussion seemed needless cruelty to my
friend. Besides. my time had expired.
So I rose.
"By the bye" I asked, "have you no
photograph Of her you could let me
have2 I feel confident that we could
throw some light on this awful mys-
terry il va could only trace her ante
oedents. If you have her picture, it
would no doubt help u.s."
YES" he replied, II have one pho
tograph of her which she gave me after
much pressing and reluctantly enough
In all conscience. left It at home that
awful night. You will find it in a
leather case in the top left hand drawer
Of my dressing table, In which I keep
my ties, under the paper at the bottom
Of the drawer. Ask Mabel to give 1t
you"
said goodby to my friend a. cheerily
as possible and assured him that we
were doing everything that could be
done in his interests and that no stone
would be left unturned to prove bis in.
nooenoe, but I left him with heavy
heart, for felt the all but utter hope.
lessness Of the task before us.
got the photograph that same day.
1t was cabinet vignetts Of remark
ably handsome girl. and for the mo.
ment ! could not believe this was the
poor woman, the memory of whom,
huddled in the gutter as l had first seen
her, would forever remain with me,
but second glance showed me that it
was indeed the same woman before the
storms and blasts of life had furrowed
her cheeks and dulled her eyes. Here I
saw face breathing inward happiness
and contentment-the face of a woman
to be remembered. Beneath a wealth Of
dark hair were broad forehead and
eyes Of marvellous depth and beauty.
The chin betokened unusual decision,
and 1t was evident she was not woman
to be lightly dealt with. On the other
hand, her nostrils and lips gave the i'm
preston that she sought some one to
care for and even lean upon and on
whom the wealth Of no ordinary love
would be lavished in return. Altogether
it was an exceptional faee-one Of q
woman whose influence for good should
have reached far and wide. What ter
rible fatality had warped her path so
that 1t led through trouble to such a
piteous end?
The photographers name had been
erased and turned the card round, hop
ing to find some clew on the back, but
1t was blank. say the name had been
erased, but 1t had not been completely
scratched away, and there were still in
dications of print, but so trivial that 1t
seemed hopeless to expect any olew
therefrom.
My next business was at Scotland
Yard. There was just hope that Hsr-
riet Staples had been advertised for as
missing by her friends. and II 60 her |
photograph would probably be there. I
explained my business to an official,
and we soon had before us the albums
Of some years back. We went carefully |
through them, comparing each one with
the photograph I had with me, but Of |
the many thousands I saw not one bore
any resemblance to it, and at last we !
gave up the search as hopeless. A
young detective helped me in my search,
and as was about to place the picture
in my pocket he pointed to the nearly
obliterated letters at the foot
"There's the clew, sir take my word
for II. If you could only restore the
whole word from those fragments, you
would have it at once"
"That's all very well.' said I, "but
I'm afraid it's an impossible feat"
II wouldn't be too sure Of that" he
replied. "I've known good deal come
from a slenderer hint Why not have a
few faosimiles made Of them and send
them to experts?'
I left the place with this suggestion
ringing in my ears, and as I turned it
over in my mind 1t bore unexpected
fruit. Capital 1t should be as he sug-
gestad, but instead Of few facsimiles
I would have hundreds Of thousands
struck of and carried the length and
breadth Of the land. Fow2 BY enlisting
the popular press in my cause.
The next day managed to obtain a
letter Of introduction to thu editor of
one Of those weeklies which have 60 hit
the public taste that there ia scarcely
one household In the country which
does not buy its weekly COPY. To him
I broachsd my plan, which was nothing
lsss than securing the services Of his
la ~ at 1,~. Ys~LnA