Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1904-04-29

This last negative was family
spoken.
The captain noticed this and ven
tured upon interrogating her further.
"How long had he been gomez"
Her lips parted; she was deeply
agitated. but when she spoke It was
coldly and with studied precision.
| "Mr. Jeffrey was not at home to-
night at Ill. He has not been in all
day"
Not at home? Did his wife know
that he was going to dine outT'
"She said nothing about it.
The captain cut short his questions
| and in another moment understood
why. A gentleman was standing in
the doorway, whose face, once seen,
was enough to stop the words on any
mans lips. Miss Tuttle saw this gem
tleman almost as quickly as we did
and sank with an involuntary moan to
her knees. 81
| 1t was Francis jeffrey come to look
upon his dead bride. Breathlessly we
i awaited his first words. His eye,
which was fixed on the PROSTATE body
of his bride, did not yield up its secret.
When he moved and came to where
she lay and caught his first sight OF
the ribbon and the pistol attached to
It, the most experienced among us were
baffied as to the nature OF his feelings
| and thoughts. One thing alone was
patent to all. He had no wish to
touch this woman whom he had so
lately sworn to cherish. His eyes de-
vouretl her, he shuddered and strove
| several times to speak, and, though
kneeling by her side, he did not reach
| forth his hand nor did he let tear fall
on the appealing features SO pathetic.
ally turned upward as il to meet his
look.
Suddenly he leaped to his feet
Must she stay hereyv he demanded,
looking about for the person most in
authority
II, The captain answered by question:
How do you account for her being
here at all? What explanation have
you, as her husband. to give for this
strange suicide Of your wife,"
For reply, Mr.. Jeffrey. who was an
exceptionally handsome man, drew
forth small slip of crumpled paper.
which he Immediately handed over to
the speaker.
LET her own words explain" said
he. II found this scrap Of writing in
our upstairs room when II returned
home tonight She must have written
1t just before before" y
A smothered groan filed up tho
break, but it did not come from his lips,
which were fixed and set, but from
those OF the woman who crOuched
among us. Did he catch this express
sion of sorrow from one Of whose pres
ence he as yet had given no token OF
recognizing? He did not seem to. His
eye WINS on the captain, who was slow
" reading, by the light Of a lantern
held In a detectives hand, the almost
illegible words which Mr.. jeffrey had
Just said were his wife's last commu-
nication.'
Will they seem as pathetic to the eye
a they did to the ear in that room OF
awesome memories and present death?
find that do not love you as
thought did. cannot live, knowing this
to be so. I pray God that you may for
give me. VEhoNACA.
A gasp from the figure In the corner;
then silence We were glad to hear
the captains voice again.
"A woman's heart is great mys-
terry" he remarked. with a short glance
at Mr.. jeffrey.
1t was sentiment we could all echo,
for he to whom she had alluded In
these few lines MS one she could not
love was man whom most women
would consider the embodiment OF all
that was admirable and attractive.
That one woman SO regarded him
was apparent to all. II ever the heart
spoke in a human face 1t spoke In that
Of Miss futile as she watched her sis
ter's husband struggling for composure
above the PROSTATE form of her who
but a few hours previous had been the
envy OF all the fashionable young wo-
men in Washington. found it hard
to fix my attention on the next ques-
ton, interesting and valuable as every
small detail was likely to prove in
case my theory of this crime should
ever come to be looked on as the true
one
.'How came you to search here for
the wife who had written you this
vague and far from satisfactory fare
we'll? see no hint in these lines of
the place where she intended to take
her life"
mo! Nor Even this strong man
shrank from this idea and showed
very natural recoil as his glances flew
about the i'll omened room and finally
rested ON the fireside over which SO re-
pellent a. mystery hung in impene-
trable shadow. "She said nothing Of
her intentions; nothing! But the man
who came for me told me where she
was to be found. He was waiting at
the door Of my house. He had been on
. search for me up and down the town.