Little Falls herald., 1899-06-09

her pocket and eyed him as he perused
IT, IT. ran as follows.

her pocket and eyed him as he perused
1t. It ran as follows:
"Charleston. 8. c., Dec. &
"Dear Dorothy: When you get this you
| will have heard Of the murder of Caruth-
ers. Go at once to the studio and make
| Henri tell you Of my confession. Tell him
want him to testify against me, as wish
| no one else to be implicated in the slight
est. regret what have done, but it is too
late for regrets now. I sail from this
town tomorrow for foreign port to be-
gin Life anew. Forget me and all the
trouble I have brought on you. had one
true friend In New York besides yourself.
It is Count Bantinni. He suspected that
I was thinking Of perpetrating a crime and
plead with me almost on his knees, but
would not listen to reason. was crazy from
it ALL i confessed to Henri and the count
in the studio. The count tried to persuade
me to turn myself over to the police but
eluded him and got away. have been
reading stories of crime and detection, and
that, coupled with my trouble, turned my
head. fancied that could invent plan
for doing away with my rival that would
in its very boldness defy detection. l even
wrote letter to Mr. Mlnard Hendricks to
cause him to think the crime was commit
ted by personal enemy Of his, but at the
last moment I was unable to face it ALL
That you may forget me is the last wish OF
"ARTHUR GIELOW."
"Don't you see that it is the letter of
an insane man?" asked the heiress, her
eager gaze resting on the face of the
detective as he lowered the letter. 1T
is not at all like him."
'Is it his hand ?" asked Hendricks, his
broad brow still wrinkled.
'Undoubtedly, I know his handwrit-
ing well. See, his name is written ex-
actly as he signs his drawings"
Hendricks glanced at the signature,
his mind wandering to other things.
eve must submit it to handwriting
expert" he said. Il know graz pholo~
gist who has never made a mistake.
Will you kindly send me something else
that he has written, and will you let me
retain this?"
"Certainly," answered the girl; then
she nerved herself to ask and hear the
reply to leading question:: do you
doubt his insanity, Mr.. Hendricks ?"
velope.
II have seen nothing in this letter to
indicate insanity on the part of Gielow,"
he said, after moments pause.
"You don't? Well it is not at all
such letter as he would have written
if himself, besides you have only to hear
Henri describe how he acted when he
confessed to the murder to know that
he was insane that night"
Hendricks smiled.
II was behind a screen in the studio
when you and your aunt came in that
night. I heard Henri's description"
Miss Huntington shrank back, white
aud startled.
"You were?" she gasped, and then,
while Hendricks was nodding with the
slow movement of a toy donkey's head,
she added: "And-and you still see no
proof of-of insanity?"
II must say that do not" was the
deliberate reply.
'Che girl sat motionless. It was as if
he had deprived her of her last hope
Her great eyes seemed to expand. Then
she raised her gloved hands half way to
her eyes and held them there as she
said:
"You must believe him out of his
mind! Look at the address on that en-
velope. He has directed it to me at the
general delivery, Charleston, S. C. He
knew I was not there. Surely you
see"
II noticed that" remarked Hendricks
when he saw she was going no further.
''And I also saw that the envelope bore
the postmark Of railway-the Atlantic
Coast line. The letter was mailed on
the train. You see that road runs from
New York to Charleston, and, from this
postmark, it would be difficult to prove
whether a letter were mailed on the
train of that road near New York, or
near Charleston"
II can't possibly see what you mean,"
said the heiress, helplessly.
IF the letter is forgery" explained
Hendricks, 1.-The writer of it would de-
sire two things strongly. First, he
would want it to bear the Charleston
postmark to guarantee the belief that
it came from that place; and, second,
he would wantyou to getit. Now, how
would man without confederate in
Charleston succeed in gaining his point?
II this letter is forged, the writer of it
is an experienced villain, for he knows
that the government prevents its post
masters mailing letters sent to them for
that purpose. It was found to be an
avenue for much secret rascality, so
law was passed prohibiting it. Well,
we will grant, for the sake of argument,
that this forger knew that, so what did
he do but direct this letter to you at
Charleston and then drop note to the
Charleston postmaster requesting him
in your name to forward your mail to
your street and number. I am conf
dent there is sonnet thing shady about it,
for, as you can see from the postmark,
nearly two days elapsed before it
reached Charleston, as is shown by the
postmark of that office. So you will
see that have good reasons for believ-
ing the letter was mailed near New.
York" - .-:.< -
''You must pardon me-" said Miss
Huntington, the Tlanguid largeness of
ler eyes accentuating herdespair; .but
rs cannot believe it is not Mr.. Gielow's