Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1901-11-06

son she said, for her own daughter
had occupied the room before hehad
had it, and the photograph was ofinoo
child they knew
NARROW looked at it again and made
a note Of the photographers name,
which was printed on the back II
bore the address Of small town, and
he frowned a little as he looked atnt.
What had Fred Emberson, q thier} ito
do with, a little child? M
He shut his pocketbook with snap
ard gave final look around. 10y
He was just turning away whenbhis
man came back from the station With
the information that Emberson had
been seen taking tichct-not to Lon,
don, as they had expected, but to- Z;
little place called Staybridge. half way
down the line 1t was trick,
course. He would so on to Euston ,anH
pay excess fare. and be lost at once fl
the London crowd.
Still NARROW sent his man to tela
graph to the station at StaybridgS!
and waited, still impatiently, searchsf'
ing the room. for the reply. S
1t came promptly. Only one person
had come by that train on the day bet
fore, and that was a mechanic in
working suit apparently on the ldoks.
out for work Evidently it was, not
Emberson, and NARROW decided thai
his only chance now was to- go to
Topping, where the photograph had
been taken.
He started Immediately, sending his
man en- to London to try to get some
information there, and meaning to
wait for him at Topping. He got out
at a little. quiet country station The
town lay behind it-a sleepy market
town full of sheep and cattle and farn15
ers' gigs, and bright with the spring
sunshine.
He found the photographer easily
enough, and there copy Of the pho.
tograph he had brought from Ember-
sons rooms. 1t had been taken just
about a year ago. The photographers
remembered it distinctly, because the
woman who brought the child broke
down, crying at the finish for no rea-
son at all that he could make out.
81 suppose you know nothing other,
do you?" asked the detective, and the
photographer shook his head.
''No; but she came from place nos
far from here" he said. "At any yrate,
l sent the proofs thereto a plece
called Staybridge, about five miles
away"
Detective NARROW started little
Staybridge! He was on the roadSaf
last, surely! Staybridge was the placa:
to which Fred Emberson had booIss
the place at which the workingmer
had -ant--nutL DatectipezAf artn.cAe;
pulse quickened, and ten minutes lat
er he was walking away from Topping
toward the distant village,
1t was hot walk that day. The
roads were dusty, and he was tired
when he reached 1t at last.
He made his way slowly through the
struggling houses and quiet shops
toward an inn. He would have to
stop, Of course; perhaps for some
days, certainly for one night.
He went in and had some tea. and
then set out to look around. He was
all impatience. The thought of the
$500 stirred him.
He was remembering with a beating
heart the girl he meant to marry
thinking that it would not be long
now-when bend in the road brought
him suddenly upon a small cottage.
1t lay close to the road, a low wall
hemming in its little square patch of
garden, and little wooden gate lead
ing to the tagged path, bordered with
wallfiowers and lupins and lavender,
He looked up half carelessly, WON
dering if Emberson was living In a
cottage like that-if he was in Stay
bridge at all-when the sight of little
child sitting on the wall brought him
to standstill,
Something about her was familiar.
At first he could not tell what, and then
he remembered the braid on her frock
and the braid on the child in the pho
tograph. 1t was the same dress, the
same child, only now she was older
and prettier.
He stopped and went toward her.
She was such little, thin child, and
her face was pale and delicate in spite
of the country air. She looked up at
him with bright eyes and smiled, and
somehow he felt oddly uncomfortable
before her.
He hesitated before he spoke, and
then his question came with gruff,
sharp jerk.
What is your name?" he asked.
Her round eyes searched his face. 1t
looked stern enough just then, but it
id not frighten her. She slipped down
from the wall and held out her hand.
Its May" she said.
"And-what is your fathers name?"
In spite of himself NARROW hesi-
tated.
Fathers called Ed darling,'" she
replied "'Cos mother said so, An
he's been way such a long time, and l
don't fink he'd ever come back
The detective looked down at her,
"Fred. darling!"
"When did he come back?" he
asked, abruptly.
The child, all unconscious, took her
father another step nearer prison.
"Only the day before this day." she
said, land I was s'prised. Il just
couldn't fink who it was. But mother
knew, and she cried, and it made her
iller, and the doctor was very ang'y."
Where is your father?" asked Mar
low.
The child's eyes dilated q little.
"He mustn't be 'sturbed," sne' said,
"He's wifi mother and mothers drefful
i'll. That's why he came back all In
such hurry"
She stopped, looking up at the detec'
tive with eyes that almost unnerved