The San Francisco call., 1905-03-26

ford. the forger. Now, Miss Violet.
what has happened TO you, near Farm
ham, on the borders of Surrey?"
The young lady, with great clearness
and composure, made the following
curious statement: -
Ny father is dead, Mr.. Holmes. He
was James Smith, who conducted the
orchestra at the old Imperial Theater.
My mother and l were left without a
relation in the world except one uncle.
Ralph Smith, who wellt TO Africa
twenty five. years ago. and we have
never had word from him since
When father died We were left very
poor. but one e1y we We're told that
there vas an advertisement in the
Times. inquiring for our whereabouts.
You can imagine how excited we were
Tor We thought that some one had left
US fortune. We went at once to the
lawyer whose name was given in the
paper. There we met two gentlemen,
Mr.. Carruthers and Mr.. Woodley, Who
were home on a visit from South
Africa They said that my uncle was
friend of theirs, that he had died
some months before in great poverty
in Johannesburg, and that he had ask
ed them with his last breath to hunt
up his relations, and see that they
were in no want. It seemed strange to
US that Uncle Ralph, who took no no.
be so careful to look after us when he
was dead, but Mr.. Carruthers explained
that the reason was that my uncle
had just heard of the death of his
brother, and so felt responsible for our
fate"
Excuse me- said Holmes. when
was this interview"
Last December-four months ago.
Pray proceed
Mr. Woodley seemed to me to be
most odious person. He was forever
making eyes at me-a coarse. puffy
faced, red -moustached young man.
With MS hair plastered down On each
side of his forehead. I thought that
he was perfectly hateful-and was
know such a person.
Oh, Cyril is his name," said Holmes
smiling --''e7 :
The young lady blushed and laughed.
Yes, Mr.. Holmes, Cyril Morton. an
electrical engineer, and we hope to be
married at the end of the summer
Dear me, how did 1 get talking about
niIn MN what l wished to say was that
MT Woodley was perfectly odious. but
that Mr. Carruthers, who was a much
older man, was more agreeable. He
wassa dark, sallow, clean-shaven.
silent person. but he had po-
lite manners and pleasant
smile He inquired how
we were left. and on find
ing that we were left very
poor, he suggested that /
should come and teach music
TO his only daughter, aged To-
I said that l did not like to leave
my mother. on which he suggested
that should go home to her
every weekend, and he offered
me hundred a year, which was GER
tainly splendid pay. So it ended bv
my accepting, and went down to Chill
tern Grange, about six miles from Farm
liam. Mr.. Carruthers was a widower
but ne had engaged lady housekeeper,
"a very respectable, elderly person,
called Mrs. Dixon, to look after his
establishment. The child was a dear,
and everything promised well. Mr..
Carruthers was very kind and very
inusleal, and We had most pleasant
evenings together. Every weekend I
went home to my mother in town
The first flaw in my happiness was
the arrival of the red-moustached Mr..
Woodley. He came for q visit of q
week, and oh! 1t seemed three months
tc me. He was a dreadful persona
bully to every one else, but to me some
thing infinitely worse He made odious
love to me. boasted Of his wealth, said
that II married him could have the
finest diamonds in London, and finally
when would have nothing to do with
him he seized me in his arms one day
after dinner-he was hideously strong
and swore that he would not let me go
until 1 had kissed him. Mr.. Carruthers
came in and tore him from me- on
which he turned upon his own host,
knocking him down and cutting his
face open That was the end of his
visit, as you can imagine Mr. Car.
ruthers apologized to me next day. and
assured me that should never be ex-
posed to such an insult again have
not seen Mr.. Woodley since
And now, Mr.. Holmes, come at