The San Angelo press. (San Angelo, Tex.) 1897-1907, 1905-03-09
CHATTER XVIII

! remembered that this man had
held some conversation with the
Jefreys at their carriage door
previous to their departure from the
Moore house, and found myself COM
PEELED to believe that only matter of |
Importance to themselves MS well as
to him would have detained them at |
such n minute. oh. that Tampa were |
not so far off or that had happened |
on this clew earlier! But Tampa was |
at that moment Il far prospect for me. |
and / could only reason from such |
facts as had been able to collect in T,
Washington
Fixing my mind now on Mrs. Jeffrey
I asked the cause of the many caprices
which had marked her conduct on her
wedding morning. Why had she per.
sisted in dressing alone, and what oc
casioned the absorption which led to
her ignoring all appeals at her door at
n time when woman is supposed to
be more than usually gracious? But
one answer suggested itself. Her
heart was not In her marriage and
that last hour of her maidenhood had
been an hour of anguish and struggle.
Perhaps she not only failed to love
Francis jeffrey, but loved some other
man. This seemed improbable, but
things as strange as this have hap.
pened in our complex society. and no
reckoning can be made with wo
mans fancy. If this was so-and
what other theory would better or
even so well account for her peculiar
behavior both then and afterward?
The hour usually given by brides to
dress and gladstone expectation was
with her one of farewell to past hopes
and an unfortunate If not passionate
attachment. No wonder that she
wished to he alone No wonder that
interruption angered her. Perhaps 1t
had found her on her knees. Perhaps
Here | felt myself seized by strong
and sudden excitement ! remembered
the filings had gathered up from the
small stand by the window. filings
which had glttercd and which must
have been of gold. What was the con-
clusion? In this last hour of her maid
en- life she had sought to rid herself Of
some article of jewery which she
found 1t undesirable to carry into her
new life. What article of jeweryf In
consideration of the circumstances ana
the hour could think of but one-a
ring, the symbol of some old attach
ment.
The slight abrasion ut the base of
her third finger, which had been looked
upon as the result of too rough and
speedy q withdrawing of the wedding
ring on the evening of her death. was
much more likely to have been occa'
stoned by the reopening Of some little
wound made two weeks before by the
file. II Durbin and the rest had taken
into account these filings, they must
have come to very much the same con
clusion. but either they had overlooked
them in their search about the place
or, having noted them, regarded then
as a clew leading nowhere.
But for me they led the way to Q
very definite inquiry. Asking to SEE
the rings Mrs. Jeffrey had left behint
her on the night she went for the las
time to the Moore house, looked then
carefully over and found that none o
them showed the least mark of thu
Ale This strengthened my theory. ant
proceeded to take my next step Will
increased confidence. II seemed nj
easy one, but proved unexpectedly DIFF
fcult. My desire was to ascertain
whether she had worn previous to he
marriage any rings which had no
been seen on her finger since, and |
took me one whole week TO establish
the fact that she had.
But that fact once learned, the wa,
cleared before me. Allowing my fan
cy full rein. pictured to myself he
anxious figure standing alone In tina
ancient and ghostly room filing off thi
old ring from her dainty finger, The
asked myself what she would b
likely to do with this ring after di:
engaging 1t from her hand? Woul
she keep It? Perhaps, But II so, VIII
could It not be found? None such b;
been discovered among her effec
Or had she thrown it away, and IL
where? The vision of her which
had Just seen In my minds eye car
out with clearness at this, viii
struck me us pTONluehtihi' NOu
discern as plainly as If | had been
part of the scene the white clad for
of the bride bending toward the liz
which came In sparsely through t
half open shutter she had loosened
this task. This was the shutter viii
had never again been fastened a
whose restless blowing to and fro b
first led attention to this house
the crime it might otherwise have CO
cealed indefinitely, Had some glimI
of the rank grass growing undernea
this window lured her eye and led
TO cast away the ring which she had
longer any right to keep? 1t would
like a woman to yield to such an
pulse. and on the strength of the pos
bility / decided to search this SIN
plot for what it might very reasona'
conceal.
Calling together a posse or str
urchins, / organized them into ba
with the promise of n good supper
around If one of them brought me
pieces of n broken ring which ]