The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-12-01

more or less hair gone there, and this
brooch, with this mans picture in it..
I'D seen standing on the top Of a safe
in the back room Of a fence here in the
city. He'd bought ii of the man that
stole il. and the chap with the chin
ners had happened TO catch his fancy,
somehow, and so instead of melting it
down for what there was in the frame
he'd set the thing upon the top OF his
safe for a kind OF an ornament. and
that picture was just as familiar to me
there. on the top OF his safe, as the safe
itself was. I hadn't the shadow OF a
doubt that that was the picture of her
dead husband. And when l come to
ask her about the picture I found that
that was precisely what il was.
Then L explained to her again that
it wasn't me that took the missing pie
ture, that 1 wasn't the only man in
the business, but ] told her that [
wouldn't be surprised if I could get
track of it, somehow. and that if L
could I'd bring it 70 her This bringing
It 10 her, Of course, was fO0iiShneS5; I
ought TO have sent it TO her. and not
taken the risk of fooling around Elere
with 1t at all, but as a matter CT fact
] didn't think there was any risk. S1d
the whole business was So odd thai
kind o wanted to see it through. my
self. And I made an appointment With
her to call on her, with the brooch, if
1 could get il, a week later. in the even
ing, and Of course put it at such n
hour that it would be after dark. and
of course 1 knew that even SO, when
got there. if there was any neighbors
visiting. I'd wait.
1T was just a simple. plain house,
without any cUTlycUes or jimcracks
about it, and standing back from the
road maybe thirty or forty feet; it was
in MA CO.. - ~ hnd
been ali farming, but was growing up
now with the houses of people from
the cit
The woman herself let me in when
1 pulled the bell. l imagined when I
was there before that she was the only
person living there; [ knew it now the
minute ! got inside the door. Not be-
cause she let me in, OF course; she'd
have done that anyhow; but 1 can tell
an empty house, for instance, the min
ute / get inside of it, and I can sense it,
too, whether there's many or few, or
only one in a house. She lived alone.
THE parlor where she took me when
she'd shut the front door was a room
like I've seen lots Of Square room,
Brussels carpet. hairclOth furniture
cylinder stove, and all that, kerosene
lamp on the shelf, with no shade on it.
SO that I could see her plain--I thought
of it afterWard that maybe she left the
shade off so she could see me-and you
understand ] hadn't seen her at all be
fore; / was actually looking at her now
for the first time OF course. ia heard
her voice. and I could make a fair
guess at her by that, but there she was
now where I could look at her, fair and
square.
And she wasn't a bad looking wo-
man, either, by any sort of means. She
but I'm no judge Of d WOman's age;
but she was under 40 anyhow And a
little above the average height of wo-
man for them days, and a little stock
Ter and heavier; and a reSOlute woman,
as I'd have guessed by her voice. and
Of course as I knew by her holding me
up the way she did the first time 1 was
there about the picture. l had the pic
ture with me now, and I40rked over.
50 Poor man. she said, it's seven
years now since ne died
And then 1 expected to see her pin
it onto her dress at her throat, where
folks wear such things, but she didn't.
She set it up on the shelf against the
wall and left it standing there. She
thanked me for bringing it back and
wanted to pay me for my trouble and
all that. and then she began to talk to
me about myself and to sort of SYM
pathize with me.
She thought ] must be driven into
>
no home. no place to go, and / didn't
let on TO her that I'd got the incest
wife that ever lived and two likelie5t
children. Somehow / thought that that
would only irritate her, and 1 thought
she wouldn't take any mole interest IL
me after that, either. So 1 just says
nothing about that and let's her do most
Of the talking, and in the course Of
that she tells me about how ned left
her that house and 81, 900, and how shed
got that all out on mortgages and 50
on. And she'd had offers, more than
one, but she thought they were all az
ter her money, but she supposed she d
have to get married some time, and 10
on. And 1 don't want to seem vain,
but I was younger then than l am now,
and wasn't that just as fair and square
an offer as anybody could have2
4 amt much of a talker, but of
course 1 made myself as polite as
could, and after a while I gets up and
goes. There was two houses in that
place, Z saw EN- both, both times l was
there. that would have been easy. and
/ would have liked to tackle. but I
never tried EN-; in fact, [ never went
back there at ali; l didn't know, but
what 1 might meet more folks there
that had lost their pictures"