The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-01-14
The Cat or the Comet?

/
| Then Aunt Samyra raped on the door
and called to me in excited tones through
| the keyhole
Alicia Deani Alicia Dean. Get up
and dress, quick. There ara burglars up
| st2irst
| Fortunately 1 was already dressed. hav-
| ing sat up later than usual that night.
waiting for my roommate, Susan Ellen.
| to come back from the concert.
So l opened the door at once. and as L
| did SO Susan Ellen almost ran into my
arms, looking white and scared and al
| most ready to drop.
Now, girls. follow me- and don't speak
a word" commanded Aunt Samyra. as
cending the stairway.
We now saw that Aunt Samyra had
stepped in front of Uncle Ra1ph's door
and was making Intellectual attempts to
| rouse him.
The door opened readily. and Aunt Sa-
myra stepped in, but sprang back in
stantIy with a cry of horror, for Uncle
Ralph lay on the floor, under the win
dow, with a pistol beside him.
1t did not take me many minutes to
decide that he was dead. with bullet
through his heart
Take me away said Susan Ellen,
| its chilly up here
1T is chilly 1 answered, drawing her
arm through mine.
Then 1 noticed that strong gale was
sweeping through the room, and that the
upper sash of the window was out.
Look" I said. mo wonder we are
cold.''
But she paid no attention.
After I had put Susan Ellen to bed
and managed to get her warm and quiet
with the assistance Of smelling salts and
a glass of wine, went back upstairs.
/ had already decided in my own mind
that Uncle Ralph had been murdered by
a burglar. but the first glance around
the room seemed to disprcve this the
Dry, for on the dressing case lay the
watch and the purse OF the murdered
man. Nor, after thorough search, could
l find even a pin missing.
OF course we had a coroner's inquest
and This developed the fact, which we al
ready knew that Ralph Morton had
met his death at the hands of party
or parties unknown"
When the verdict had been rendered I
returned to the scene OF the murder and
made another investigation. Under the
window 1 discovered some bits of broken
glass On examining the window itself
1 not only found that the upper sash was
out, but that one pane of glass in the
lower sash was missing. AS 1 failed to
draw any conclusion from these circum-
stances I went back to Susan Ellen and
asked if she supposed the murderer had
carried off the upper window sash.
She burst out crying Historically, and
for a long time l could get no answer
out of her at all But it transpired at
last, that when Aunt Samyra had been
appraised of Uncle Ralph's unexpected
visit the day before, she had sent Susan
III
san Ellen, thinking she had plenty Of
time before his arrival, to clean the win
dows, took out the sashes-they were old
fashioned windoTs-in order to wash
them.
But Uncle Ralph got in two hours
ahead of time, having come on an earlier
train than he expected. The result was
that Susan Ellen had not finished the
windows.
But it was so warm she wound up
with another burst of tears, Il did not
think it would matter to leave out one
sash; and l meant to clean it and put it
in today"
l understood now why it was that
Cousin Susan was so powerfully affected
by the death of great uncle whom she
had never seen till Yesterday; she thought
the murderer could not have gained en-
trance.
Aunt Samyra employed the finest detec-
tives to clear up the mystery, but it re-
maiLed mystery STILL
Alicia" said my aunt, about six
months after the murder, what is your
theory on this subject?"
ID have none"
What sort of mood was lie in when
he bade you good-night!''
"He went off with laugh about te:ng
in The top story, saying he could get i
better view of the comet than any OF
us as he would be so much nearer to
it,"
At the end of this conversation I was
as much in the dark as 1 had been at the
beginning.
But one thing had been borne in upon
my mind very forcibly of late, and that
was the change in Susan Ellen Ever
since that memorable night she had been
a different girl and seemed only the
shadow of her former self.
l attributed this state of things to a
morbid, over-sensitiYe conscience which
would persist in attaching great blame to
herself for having left out that window
sash. One phase of her character how
ever, I was at a loss to account for. and
aversion she had taken to Aunt Samyra
poor old yellow cat
But it was many years before I dis
covered the cause of that aversion. Aunt
Samyra was dead; pussy had died and
been buried by ME with many tears un-
der the cypress tree in the back yard
Susan Ellen had married Mr.. Wentworth
the young man who had been her escort
TO the concert the night of Uncle Ralph's
death; the old home had been broken up.
and I was drifting about the world in an
aimless way.
Susan Ellen had invited me 70 spend a
week with her. and as her husband was
away on business. We had ample oppor-
tunity for the exchange OF long conf
dences about old times.
One night, as We sat by the fire, the
subject happened to turn on Aunt Sa-
myra : old yellow cat I asked her why
ii was that she took sueE/a sudden and
unaccountable aversion TO that poor ami
nal:
You remember the night Uncle Ralph
was killed7'
II certainly do.''
Wen. that evening / went TO a con-
cert with Mr. Wentworth We got home !