Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1901-05-23
CHAPTER VI.

In all the throng that followed to
the grave in Hollywood the remains
of the wealthy and once distinguished
John Brookin there was, aside from
family servants, but one sincere
mourner. The slender figure of his
daughter Frances, supported by the
strong arm of DR.. Brodnar, shook
with an agony of grief. She had not
looked on death since her mother
died, and the passing of the sanity
woman had been but as sleep pro-
longed into eternity. But here was
the consciousness of a great wrong;
the discovery of an error beyond rem
edy; here was the end of "a tragedy
in which she had been made to act
fatal part. Her rightful protector
had been stricken from her.
Courage. my !"-she heard the
doctors voice and felt his arm press
upon her hand-"courage! Save your
strength for the struggle to come. Live
now to defeat the enemies of your ia
ther." Her frail figure strengthened
and grew steady; she no longer leaned
upon his arm.
''Dust to dust, ashes to ashes" The
minister's voice rang out the sad and
solemn words; the clay dropped and
clattered solemnly upon the coffin
box
The prayer that followed was marked
by a drama tic incident. Frances knelt
by the open grave with moving lips that
uttered no sound. DR.. Brodnar alone
understood that her petition was no
prayer, but a pledge that would never
be forgotten. The widow stood oppo-
site, veiled in deepest black, the apothe-
osis of grief.
1t was a matter of general comment
that Raymond Holbin was not present
at the funeral. 1t was given out that
sudden irdisposition had detained
him at home. But the indisposition of
Raymond Holb;n was a fiction pure
and simple. There would have been
no more discreet and well-behaved
mourner by the grave than he; but
there was nothing to be gained in at
tending the funeral, and there was q
matter of vital Importance which must
be settled in the deserted residence
of the deceased.
For Holbin was a bewildered and
unhappy man. Not that he feared Lou
Use. The Brookin will and the death
of the testator apparently secured his
interests, even should Louise be rash
enough to carry out her threats of eX-
posure. This, however, he felt assured
She would never attempt. Terror of
the law had already proved itself po-
tent to control her. In his hurried and
frequent visits to the hotel he had as
certained the fact that she was for the
time being completely in his power,
Reaction from her fierce excitement
had set in; she clung to him, helpless
and penitent. That she had seen man
at midnight in the wing-room of the
Brookin house and had shot him, he
did not doubt that she believed. AS
for himself, there were times when
he had thought her simply insane
the victim of an illusion; and yet the
facts seemed to support her statement
that she had visited the premises.
Clearly his best course lay in the sup
port of the illusion.
This, then. was the invention which
Holbin carried to the ears of the mis-
erable woman: The man she had slain
was indeed the lover of the woman in
that room; he had been killed instant
ly and friend had carried away the
body. To save the family's name a
suicide had been declared; rejected
over and over. it was said, the young
man had come into the garden and had
shot himself. All the evidence and the
surrounding circumstances pointed
plainly to this theory. The man who
discovered him, it was said, had found
a note from the suicide upon his table,
directing him where to look for his
body; but added Holbin, while the
coroner had by a skillful selection of a
jury from among the family's friends
secured a hasty verdict in accordance
with the theory of suicide, it was ap-
parent that the police were suspicious,
and it was said that some of them were
quietly searching for the woman who
had left the imprints of number two
shoes under the window of the wing
room. Such was the story.
Louise believed it implicitly. The
horror of her crime deprived her for
the time of her mental powers and
good judgment. She suffered herself
to be guided and directed by Holbin.
She was consigned to the care of an
elderly, negro woman, and readily ac-
cepted her room as her prison. 1t was
not long before she was physically
powerless to leave it.
Raymond Holbin's most serious APP
prehension during the day which wit
messed the death of John Brookin
grew out of the fact that by infer
ence at least he had been charged with
crime in connection with Louise. His
common sense told him that some thing
said by Frances in her last interview
with her father had provoked the sud
den accusation. What did Frances
know of Louise and who was her in
formant! Gradually during the day
his suspicious nature secured ascend
ancy over his common sense. A Sc
cret visit outside the window of the