Windham County reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1901-1906, 1902-08-15
LOST MANS LANE.
By ANNA KATHARINE GREEN.
Copyright, 1897, by Anna <. Rohlfs.l
CHAPTER XXIV.

meant out of the question for Won. She
was subject to be handled by the 20.
lice, and we have handled her. Yester.
DAY afternoon l made a search of he1
cabin. y Here Mr. Gryce paused and
eyed me quizzically. He sometimes doe.
eye me, which same am not bound ia
cake as compliment, considering how
tond he is OF concentrating all his wis.
dom upon small and insignificant OBJ
jects.
Il wonder" said he, what Won
would have done in such a search as
that 1t was no common one, | assure
you There are not many hiding places
between Mother James four walls. :"
felt myself begin to tremble, with
eagerness, of course.
Il wish | had been given the oppor.
tunity," said I-"that is. if anything
was to be found there "
He seemed to be in svmpathetic
mood toward me, or perhaps--and Thu.
is the likelier supposition-he had a
minute of leisure and thought he could
afford to give himself little quiet
amusement. However that is, he an.
swered me by saying:
1.-THE opportunity is not lost You
have been i'll that cabin and have noted.
l have no doubt, its extreme simplicity
Yet it contains, or rather did contain
up till last night, distinct evidences of
more than one of the. crimes which have
been perpetrated i'll this lane.
Good! And you want me to guess
where you found them? Well, it's not
fair
''Ah, and why not:''
Because you probably did not find
them on your first attempt You had
time to look and change your mind and
look again. l am asked to guess at once
and without second trial what | war
rant, it took you several trials to deter.
mine.
''Humph!" He could not help but
laugh. And why do You think it took
me several trials
because there is more than one
thing III that room made up Of parts.
PARTS He attempted to look puz-
zled, but | would not have it,
you know what | mean l de.
clared; go parts, 2S or whatever the
numbers are she so constantly mutters.
His admiration was unqualified and
sincere.
Miss Butterworth, said he, you
are a woman after my own heart. How
came You to think that her mutterings
had anything to do with hiding
place.
Because it did not have anything to
do with the amount of money gave
aer When l handed her 20 cents, she
cried, Seventy, 2S and now l0H Ten
what? Not 10 cents or $40, but TEN
why do you stop!''
81 do not want to risk my reputation
on a guess. There is quilt on the bed
made up of innumerable pieces. There
is a pavement under foot of neatly laid
brick -
and there is Bible on the stand
whose leaves number many over TO-"
"Ah, was it in the Bible you found
His smile put mine quite to shame.
II must acknowledge, " he cried,
THAT l looked in the Bible, but found
nothing there beyond what we all seek
when we open its sacred covers, Shall |
tell my story"
He was evidently bursting with pride,
You would think that after a half cen
fury of just such successes a man would
take his honors more quietly. But
pshaw! Human nature is just the same
III the old as in the young. He was no
more tired of compliment or of awaken
ing the astonishment of those he confided
in than if he was out on his first great
case. OF course in presence of such
weakness | could do nothing less than
give him a sympathetic ear. l may be
old myself some day Besides, his story
was likely TO prove more or less inter
esting
Tell your story, " repeated. Don't
YOU see that am II was going to say
ION pins and needles till hear it, y but
that is vulgar expression for woman
like myself and might prove was be-
deteriorated by the business into
which | had been pushed more or less
against my will so | altered the words
happily before they We're spoken into
that am in = state of the llvellest
curiosity concerning the whole matter
Tell your story, of course.
"Well. Miss Butterworth, if l do 1t
is because | know you will appreciate
it. You, like myself, placed weight up
on the numbers she is forever running
over, and You, like myself, have con
ceived the possibility of those numbers
having reference to something III the
one room she inhabits. At first glance
the extreme baroness of the spot seem
I'd to promise nothing to my curiosity
T locked at the floor and encountered M
signs of any disturbance having taken
Mace in those symmetrically laid bricks
for years. Yet counted up to 20 one
way and 20 the other, and marking the
prick thus selected began to pry 1t out
II came with difficulty and showed me
nothing underneath but green mold ana
frightened insects. Then l
,ounted the bricks the other way, but
,otbinp came of il. The floor does not
,nnear TO have been disturbed for years
Tnrninp nv attention away from the
1oor. | began upon the quilt. This was
, worse job than the other, and 1t TOOK
ne an hour to rip apart the block l set
led upon as the suspicious one, but IL
Ill came to nothing also There was no ,
hidden treasure in the quilt Then L
searched the walls, using the measure !
,,on,s IN hy 2S. but no result followed ,