The Irish standard., 1903-07-25

wealthy.
y dislike to disappoint You. mad.
am, but ! may rs well tell YOU that
there is no fortune"
''ut-- began Mrs. Wright.
And, continued the lawyer. eve
will be very fortunate if we can
snatch from the estate enough ia
secure maintenance for Yourself
and Ga,lghter."
"WhN. Mr. Everett. thcrr-there
must be some mistake. II is true
that J was never my husbands con.
!isnn'e in his business. but I have
known of several of his Investments.
lEls place which We are now occupy,
ing Is one of th" most valuable in
this section of the Statc--''
Every true: but it did not belong
to your husband"
Not belong TO my hushand?"
ut was sold many years ago to the
Shelby Real Estate & Investment
company"
"l'ut--my husband owned several
Plantations in Arkansas and Missis.
sippi."
THAT is also true: but all those
We're sold to the same company at
the same time. with the exception of
one plantation in Mississippi and one
in Arkansas, which your husband
purchased three years back SO far
as can see. these two plantations
are all the assets in sight,
IL remember a good many years
ago my husband bought Il large tract
OF land in Texas, and he invested in
some mining lands in Colorado"
Every true: but all of that prop
erty was sold. The former to the
sam" real estate company. and the
i latter Judge from some imperfect
memoranda left by your husband was
sold t" some mining company organ
lied under the laws of Colorado.
Everything that your husband then
owned was sold"
"But what could have become Of
the money!"
''That is the question l asked my
self. The answer ! got from the old
records in part You are. of course,
aware OF the fact that YOUR husband
many years ago was tried on the
charge of killing Baxter, his foreman.
BY referring to the records I discov-
cred that his property was trans.
ferred just after that event and be-
! fore his trial took place. The prop
erty was sold at an enormous sacri-
flee, only 100000 being realized so far
as I can make out"
"What became of that?'
IL called upon Col. Franklin, who
was one of your husbands lawyers
at that trial, aud asked if he could
give me any idea as to the disposition
that had been made of the cash. He
smiled rather significantly and said
he could. DO you know he said,
what it cost to clear John T..
! Wright?' OF course not answered.
1T cost Il cold $4,000, and he had to
have the money ready. Of COURSE
he went on, smiling, Il cannot say
anything about where it went, nor
need ! account Tor the fact that GER
tain officers, by dealing very gingerly
with the law and the facts. made it
comparatively easy to bring in a
verdict of ncquittal.' I need hardly
tell you, madam. what | think Of
such an admission coming from a
member of my profession. Franilin's
explanation. in short. is that Mr..
4 Wright had to sell off his property
to raise ready money for the pur-
pose of buying an acquittal. But
there are some aspects to this case
which will render further investiga-
ton on my part necessary"
eff my husband did not own this
place and the plantations to which
why did he show so much activity in
improving and supervising theme"
you have struck, madnm Il hard
question to answer. 1t may be he
was in the employ of the company
that bought him out; but what I
cannot account for is the fact that
nc should have spent nearly all the
profits of his business in improving
and clearing up these plantations in
Arkansas and Mississippi. intend
ascrrtaining il there is amy law for
claiming he value of these improves
ments. and in this WAY | shall prob
ably make the real estate company
show its hand. During my partial in
rcstigntinn OF your husbands papers
] came across Il memorandum upon
which you can perhaps throw some
light"
''What is ito"
This paper. as you will observe,
is Il map or plot of a piece of land"
The lawyer here handed Mrs. Wright
a paper. evidently of secret design,
with IL craving upon it.
"On the back of this paper" said
he. you will observe the memoran-
dun which | cannot understand"
Mrs. Wright turned the paper over
and read the following:
See schedules in agreement with
Franklin
Can you tell me what agreement
it is that is referred to in this memo.
-andum?" asked the lawyer.
Il have no idea whatever" said
Mrs. Wright.
THAT is strange. In the cNamina-
ton of Your husbands papers l have
me across several references to pa.
,cts which ! cannot find. hints OF
something hidden in his business
Papers which ! ana satisfied are i'm.
portant are missing
RIO Be Continuedl