Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1905-12-13
CHATTER j.

Ni1II tlHlOSltutIc u llie oilCe tIitl /
morning was Il shade less gen |
ial than usual. We had all |
of us fought our way down
town through such storm of wind,
snow, slush and sleet as is to be found |
nowhere save in MIDI March New York, !
and our tempers had suffered accord |;
ingly. had found cab unobtanable, I
and there was, of course, the inevitable
jam on the elevated, with the trains
many minutes behind the schedule l |
was some half hour late in conse-
quence, and when l entered the inner
office was surprised to find Mr.. Graz
ham, our senior, already at his desk.
lie nodded good morning little curtly.
81 wish you'd look over these papers
in the Hurd case, Lester" he said,
and pushed them toward me.
took them and sat down, and just
then the outer door slammed with
violence extremely unsual.
had never seen Mr.. Royce, our jun
ior, SO deeply shaken, so visibly dis
tracted, as he was when he burst in
upon us a moment later, newspaper
in his hand. Mr.. Graham, startled by
the noise Of his entrance, wheeled
around from his desk and stared at
him in establishment.
why, upon my word John" he be-
gan, you look all done up. What's
the natter"
"Matter enough, sir" and Mr.. Royce
spread out the paper on the desk be-
fore him. "You haven't seen the morn
ing papers, Of course. Well, look at
that" and he indicated with trem
bling finger the article which occupied
the first column of the first page, the
place of honor.
saw our seniors face change as
lie read the headlines, and he seemed
positively horror stricken as he ran
rapidly through the story which fol-
lowed.
"Why, this is the most remarkable
thing ever read!" lie burst out at last
"Rcmarkablew cried the other "Why,
it's an outrage, sir! The idea that Il
gentle, cultured girl like Frances Hol-
laday would deliberately murder her
own father, strike him down in cold
blood, is too monstrous, too absolute
~ preposterous, too-too'- And he
stopped. fairly choked by his emotion.
The words brought me upright in my
chair. Frances Holiday accused Of
Well, no wonder our junior was up
set!
But Mr.. Graham was reading through
the article again more carefully, and,
while he nodded sympathctically to
show that he fully assented to the
othar's words, Il straight, deep line Of
pcrpleXity, which had come to recog-
nize, formed between his eyebrows.
PLAINLY" he said Mt last, the whole
case hinges on the evidence of this man
Rogers, Holidays confidential clerk,
and from what | know of Rogers ]
should say that he'd be the last man
in the world to make u willful mis-
statement. He says that Miss Holla-
day entered her fathers Office late yes
terday afternoon, stayed there ten
minutes and then came out hurriediy.
A few minutes later Rogers Went into
the Office and found his employer dead.
That's the whole case, but it'll be
hard one to break"
''Wcll, 1t must be broken" retorted
the other, pulling himself together
with supreme effort. "Of course III
take the case
''Of course
Miss Holiday probably sent for me
last night, but l was out at Babylon,
you know, looking up that witness in
the Hurd affair. He'll be ali right,
and his evidence will give US The case.
Our answer in the Brown injunction
can wait till tomorrow. That's all, /
think"
The chief nodded
Eyes, see the inquest is to begin at
10 o'clock. You haven't much time
mo, I'd like to have a good man with
me-" and lie glanced in my direction.
Can you spare me Lester?"
My heart gave q jump. 1t was just
the question l was hoping he would
ask.
why, yes, of course" answered the
chief readily. "ln Il case like this,
certainly. Let me hear from you in
the course of the day
Mr.. Royce nodded as he started for
the door.
81 will Well find some flaw in that
fellows story, depend upon it. Come
on, Lester"
snatched up pen aud paper and fol
lowed him to the elevator. III Il mo
ment we We're in tile street. There
We're cabs in plenty now, disgorg.ng
their loads and starting back uptown
again. We hailed one, and in another
moment We're rafting along toward
our destination With such speed as the
questions surginS through my brain to
which should have welcomed an an
swer. The storm had cut off my pa
per that morning. and l regretted nov
that had not made a more determined
effort to get another. A glance at my
companion showed me the folly Of at
tempting to secure any Information
from him, so l contented myself With
reviewing what l already knew of the
history of the principals.
knew Hiram w. Holiday, the mur-
dered man, quite well, not Only as cv-
cry New Yorker knew that nultimil-
lionaire as one of the most successful
operators III Wall street, but personal
ly as well. since he had been a client
of Graham g. Royce for twenty years
and more. He was at that time well
on toward seventy years of age,
should say, though he carried his years
remarkably well. His wife had been
long dead, and lie had only one child.
his daughter Frances. who must have
been about twenty-five. She had been
born abroad and had. spent the first
years of her life there with her moth
err, who had fingered on the Riviera
and among the hills Of Italy and Swift.
Yerland in the hope of resaining a
health which had been failing, SO
understood, ever since her daughters
birth. She had come home III last,
bringing the black eyed child With her,
and within the year was dead.
JJol1aluy'S affections from tI,nt mo.