Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-07-24

But still" i objected, II don't see that
that explains anything
Let me help you. 1t was this clipping
happened to look at first the night we found
the BODY. l read two or three lines aloud,
then Simmonds put 1t back in the pocket.
1t must have been those few lines which told
Miss Croydon the nature OF the Clippings
ana their Importance to her. The date line
would nave been enough to do that. Be-
sioes. II shed already known of them,
she d have taken them before we got here
You mean Miss Croydon is the girl who
ran away with Tremaine? But then, she
couldn't have been more than ten or twelve
years old in 1891"
Eleven corrected Godfrey, and l was
struck by the radiant expression of his face
as ne took yellow paper from his pocket
Lex me read you two sentences from this
ola report concerning the Croydon family
you ought to have recalled them, my dear
Lester"
GO ahead" I said helplessly
Eioest daughter, Edith born in France
August ~. 1874. Educated at school there
put broke down from overstudy and re-
NOW, he demanded, do you understand
who 1t was married Tremaine at Petits Co.
lombes in 1s91?'
AT last l saw 1t, and could only sit and
stare at him, marveling at my own stupid
ity. This was the key-the KEY to the whole
enigma Miss Croydon had taken her sis
ters place, had tried to buy him off to get
MIN out of her sisters way 1t was Ire
maine who had opened the door-it was Ire
maine whom she had come to the Marathon
TO meet. But-and l started upright-since
they were Catholics, only his death could
release Mrs. Delroyi Perhaps it was
thompson. after all, and his death had re-
leased her! But no; and in an instant the
whole terrible position of the elder woman
burst upon me. She was not Delroy's wife
she was
So l said hoarseiy, "Tremaine is then
the true husband of Mrs. Delroyi'
he Of
before going into that" suggested Godfrey
l confess, l don't quite see the bearing Of
TINS next one. It's a New York dispatch
perhaps to London paper, under date of
february IL, 1892 and chronicles the loss
of the bark Centaur with all on board. off
the coast of Martinique. The Centaur was
bound from Marseilles to Fort-de- France
with cargo of wines and muslins. Let us
leave 1t, for moment, and pass on to the
next one, which is the last
ms Is dated sydney, Australia, October
Is, 1896, and relates how daring scheme to
rob the Bank of New South Wales was
frustrated by sailor who had been A mem
per OF the gang, but who got frightened and
informed the police. The ringleader a
frenchman, was captured and would re-
ceiVe term OF years in prison. There are
TOUR copies of this clipping, which no doubt
means that 1t is the one which Thomson
was sometimes in the habit of sending TO
Iremaine, to remind him of that Austria liam
experience
Now, don't you see we reconstruct the
whole story. Tremaine, starting out as A
ueIauiter ana robber, escapes from prison,
leaving his partner in the lurch treacher-
ousiy. no doubt. since 1t awakened his vio-
lent anger-there isn't any hatred more
Vlndlctive than that of one criminal toward
another who has betrayed him. Tremaine
finally goes back to France and succeeds
IN entangllng Edith Croydon, then only
about sixteen, in a marriage. We know
now fascinating he is, and it's not wonder
iui that he should be able to misead an
inexperienced girl. OF course what he
wants is money, and so she writes to her
father. He comes for her and takes her
home-no doubt paying Tremaine a hand
some sum to take himself off-in fact mort
gaglng his home to do it.
Miss Croydon gradually RECEIVERS; but
she is Tremaine's wife. Yet in 1900 she
marries Delroy. She must. therefore, have
had coca reason to believe Tremaine dead
Don't you see?" l cried. That's the
meaning of that item about the laundering
of the Centaur, with all on board. Tremaine
was a passenger and she knew it"
Good nodded Godfrey. That's I'M
doubtedly it. Let me see" and he turned
back to the clipping; that was in 1882.
His name, perhaps, appeared among the
missing: she waited eight years. and at
last, believing his death established beyond
a doubt, married again.
Now let what Tremane was do
Ing. In 1896 he was in Australia, planning
a bank robbery. He meets Thompson de-
scended from his estate of captain to that
of common sailor. Tremaine takes Thomp-
son in on the plan; and Thompson, TO get
even for that treachery at Sing Sing, gives
him away Tremaine, no doubt, got a pen
itentiary sentence. He probably broke Jail
again, for in 1899 he appears al Martinique
supposedly from South America He has
considerable money, which he doubt
stole somewhere, and perhaps he chose st.
Pierre safe place to stay in hiding
until the hue and cry after him was over.
IA int aT,pa Will II he.
island, If ne landed there from the wreck
Thompson learns where he is-perhaps
even sees him at st. Pierre-and puts a
bouquet to his revenge by driving him I'M
fits of rage by reminding him of that Aus
tralian treachery. But at last he sends him
message, which brings him to New York
Yes" l said, and / have cudgeled my
brain in vain trying to imagine what thai
message could have been"
We'll" remarked Godfrey, while we
can't, of course, give its actual text | don't
think 1T very difficult to guess its general
tenor. We know what Tremaine came here
to do-he came to blackmail Mrs. Delroy.
It's pretty safe. then, TO suppose that the
message told him that she blackmail-
able-in other words that she had married
a rich man No doubt Tremaine's money
running low. and he jumped at this
chance of replenishing his purse. Thomp-
son was working his way toward St. Pierre
to join him, and actually reached there on
the Parma just as Tremaine was leaving.
son raise second time.
Now" he continued. 'let us see how
nearly we can reconstruct the scene which
occurred IN this room. Tremaine supplies
Thompson on the voyage up with whisky,
and agrees to keep him supplied, believing
that he may be useful-not daring, at any
rate, to make an open enemy of him, lest
he spoil his game here-Thompson had only
to speak word to the police to put Ire
maine back in Sing Sing to serve out his
unexpired term. Arrived in New York, ne
establishes himself in the suite across the
hail. and spends week or two in looking
over the ground, ostensihly boosting his
railroad scheme. Thompson, who has been
in jail, joins him and takes these rooms.
AT last Tremaine is ready--or perhaps
his lack Of money forces him to act. He
writes a note to Mrs. Delroy, telling her
that he's alive and wishes to share in her
prosperity He demands that she meet him
in these rooms, asking for Thompson-that
leaves him free from suspicion should she
show the note to her husband and should
he attempt to have the writer arrested for
blackmail. But she isn't sensible. Per-
haps she disregards his first note: perhaps
she's unable to decide what to do. She has,
of course, been thrown into a panic. He
writes again: in despair. she seeks the adj
vice of her sister and Miss Croydon who
by far the stronger of the two, offers to
come here herself, see the man, and find
ont hat ha IN