Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1899-03-30
LOST MAN LANE.
BIZ ANNA KATHARINE GREEN
CHAPTER XXVI-Continued.


it. You, like myself, placed weight up.
on the numbers she is forever running
over, and you, like myself, have con-
ceived the possibility of those numbers
having reference to something in the
one room she inhabits At first glance
the extreme baroness of the spot SEEM
ed to promise nothing to my curiosity
looked at the floor and encountered no
signs Of any disturbance having taken
place in those symmetrically laid bricks
for years. Yet I counted up to 20 one
way and % the other, and marking the
brick thus selected began to pry it out
1t came with difficulty and showed me
nothing underneath but green mold and
innumerable frightened insects. Then |
counted the bricks the other way, but
nothing came of it. The floor does not
appear to have been disturbed for years
Turning my attention away from the
floor, began upon the quilt This was
a worse job than the other, and it took
me an hour to rip apart the block set
tied upon as the suspicious one, but it
all came to nothing also. There was no
hidden treasure in the quilt. Then l
searched the walls, using the measure
ments 70 by 20, but no result followed
these endeavors, and-what do you
think did then?"
"You will tell me, /" said, "if give
you one more minute to do it in
VERY we'll, " said he. 81 see you do
not know, madam. Having searched
below and around me, next turned my
attention overhead. Do you remember
the strings and strings of dried vegeta-
bles that decorate the beams above?"
II do" said, not stinting any of
the establishment really felt.
well, began to count them next
and when l reached the SEVENTEEN onion
from the open doorway crushed it be-
tween my fingers and-this fell out
madam-wOrthles trinkets, as you will
Immediately see, butt
well, well, urged.
"They have been identified as belong
ing to the pedlar who was one of tho
victims in whose fate we are interested. ="
"Ah, all - l cried out, somewhat
amazed, l own "And number 2S?''
THAT was a carrot, and it held q
really valuable ring-a ruby surrounded
by diamonds If you remember, | once
spoke to You of this ring. 1t was the
property of young Mr.. Chittendcn and
worn by him while he was il this vii
lage. He disappeared on his way to the
railway station, having taken, as many
can vouch for, the short detour by Lost
Mans lane, which would lead him di-
rectly by Mother James cottage
You thrill me-" said |, keeping
down with admirable self possession my
own thoughts in regard to this matter
"And what of No. 10, beyond which
she said she could not count?"
"In 10 was your % cent piece, and in
various other vegetables small coins
whose whole value was of pitiful
smallness. The only numbers which
seemed to make any impression on her
mind were those connected with these
crimes. Very good evidence, Miss But.
terworth, that Mother Jane holds the
clew to this matter, evc,. if she is not
responsible for the acleal killing and
putting away of the individuals repre-
sented by this property"
Certainly" l acquiesced land if
you though to examine her after her re-
turn from the Knollys mansion last
night you would probably have found
upon her some similar evidence of her
completely in the last crime of this ter
rible series. 1t would needs have been
small, as silly Rufus, as l take it,
neither INDUCED in the brass trinkets
sold by the old pedlar nor the real jew
elry of we'll to do man like the young
westerner "
"Silly Rufus?'
she was the last to disappear from
these parts, was he not?"
Eyes, madam.
And as such should have left some
clew to his fate in the hands of this old
crone if her motive in removing him
was, as you seem to think, entirely that
of gain"
II did not say it was entirely So Sill
ly Rufus would be the last person any
one, even such q non compos mentis as
Mother Jane, would destroy for hope of
gain"
but what other motive could she
have, and, ME- Gryce, where could she
bestow the bodies Of so many unfortu-
nate victims, even if by her great
strength she could succeed in killing
them?"
There you have u.s." said he. 1--WE
have not been able as yet to unearth
any bodies. Have you?'
"No," said 1, with some little show
of triumph showing through my disdain,
"but can show you where to unearth
one"
He should have been startled, pro-
foundry startled. Why wasn't he?
asked that Of myself over and over in
the one instant he weighed his words
before answering.
You know something then, definite
ly," he declared. "You have come
across a grave or a mound which you
have taken for grave.
l shook my head.
"No mound" said l. Why should /
not play for an instant or more with his
curiosity? He had with mine.
"Ah, then, why do you talk of un-
earthing? No one has told you where
you can lay hand on Silly Rufus body.