The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1901-08-24
been, before. Oh, horrible! She could
not think Of the dreadful cause which
Ind n~rauanfod him

II FEESgGEAHs.EaG rEtElF4
been, before. oh, horrible! She could
not think of the dreadful cause which
had prevented hint
And then, having reverted to IT. her
thoughts would become fixed in that
direction, and she began to wonder and
speculate as to the preparation Of the
murder, and to AJAX herself YET over and
over again. the perplexing question:
AFTER ALL couldSft have been Robert?
And IL so. what had become OF him, and
what would be done to- him Z"
He was q madrnan, and, therefore
they could not hang him.. No; the worst
they could do would be to put himsiH a
%lunatic asylum for the rest OF his days
and bad enough surely. Poor8old Rob-
ert! s6gs
But It seemed impossible. He would
have taken no pains to conceal his
crime. Rather, on the contrary, he
would probably have remained, with
the dripping weapon In his hand, stand
ing over the PROSTATE form, ready to
proclaim to all the world the propriety
and justice of the dreadful act. A.
Besides, where could Robert have
possessed himself Of that stiletto and
beyond question, with hatSweapon ths:
deed had been done. Who, then, SO Hke-i
ly to have done 1t as Shirley Austin.
surprised and maddened at seeing his
long-promised bride leaning. a welded
wife, on a rivals arm?
He, indeed, might have had the
weapon, for had he not held Clarice In
his arms? And from that frantic en-
brace Philip had torn her forcibly.
leaving-what could be more probable?
the stilettO either in Austin's hand, II
he had plucked 1t from her veil, OF
dropping 1t at his feet II It had, in the
struggle, fallen out of the lace folds?
Eyes, yes!" Kate Martin exclaimed.
exuItantly, ut seems almost a foregone
conclusion. Let me remember, now.
What was 1t I heard that old simpeton.
Mrs. Mowbray, say about the stiletto?
I COULD not have imagined 1t, though
her husband So quickly hushed her up.
All. now I know! The weapon was a
gift from Shirley Austin! Yes, I re-:
member her very words now Probably
in his rage he tore it from her veil in
the very moment that she lay faintins
in his arms-perhaps with the inten-
ton, even then, Of stabbing his success
full rival, and, failing in that. he came
to the house and lay in walt for Philip.
"Of course he had an accomplice-the
Frenchwoman! She must have krs,wn
from Clarice OF the unhappy love affair.
and, at her mistress orders. shielded
the murderer, red-handed,, from his
victim, and enabled him to escape whflA
that sharp-eyed detective and his po-
licemen were safely disposed Of up
stairs, trying to make discoveries-ha,
ha! It's always the way. But the de
~tectiye is q keen fellow, and I must see
him again"
At this point Mrs. Martins reveries
were brought to an abrupt conclusion
by the stopping of the carriage; and,as
the coachman assisted her to altght,
she found that she was at her own
door.
It was hurriedly opened before she
could knock or ring the bell, and Bertha
and Lettie both received her with loud
demonstrations of grief and terror and
ordinations at her long absence.
ooh, mamma, how dreadful! Poor
Uncle Philip-Poor, dear Uncle Philip!
Who could have been SO wicked and so
cruel? We have been so frightened n
SO much5alarmed when oudidn't come
horHe!"
Mrs. Martin kissed both her daugh.
tiers. and soothed and quieted them.
She was fond of all her children, but
Bertha and Lefty were her favorites.
They were both approaching woman>
hood-Bertha nearly eighteen and Lefty
Just sixteen-and in their youth and
beauty she saw. her own happy girlhood
again, and the possibilities Of all the
successes which she had missed or Ia
| red in her own life.
Don't be noisy, my dear girls! You
have kept this shocking affair from the
Children, I hope? That's well. I would
not have had you know of it myself un-
til I had time to break the news, at any
rate. How came you to hear Of IT."
why, mamma, dear, Of course, we
followed in our carriage, with the rest
Of the. guests that had been invited to
the breakfast. When we arrived there
seemed almost a riot in the street, there
was such aIcrowd, such an excitement.
Policemen were standing about, n
someone said that other policemen We're
already in the house. We We're SO
frightened! But that was nothing to
what followed. When we cached the
door. at length, we learned that q
der had been committed. oh, mamma.
dear, perhaps it was not SO bad! lnsthA
excitement 1t may have been exagger-
ated! Say 1t Is not true!"
"Too true, unfortunately! My poor
brother is dead-foully murdered"
Mrs. Martin spoke with solemn en-
phasis. and the two girls broke into
passionate weeping.
Philip Grayson had been the ktndest
Of uncles to Kate Martins children, ana
he was much loved by all Of them
For some minutes b w young girls
wept without restraint, but their moth
er insisted that they should cont troll