The Washington times., 1905-06-18

ton.
whole OF that hour and a half. Il was
absolutely certain. therefore. In lite OF
her denial, that she must know some
thing Of the matter.
My first conjecture was that possibly
there had been some passages between
this young lady and the old soldier.
which the former had now confessed to
the wife That would account for the
angry return. and also for the girls
denial that anything had occurred. Nor
would it be entirely incompatible with
most of the words overheard. But there
was the reference to David. and there
was the known affection Of the colonel
for his wife, to weigh against It. to say
nothing of the tragic intrusion OF this
man. which might. of course, be entire.
ly disconnected with what had gone be-
fore It was not easy TO pick ones
steps. but. on the whole. was inclined
to dismiss the idea that there had been
anything between the colonel and Miss
Morrison. but more than ever convinced
that the young lady held the clue as to
what 1t was which had turned Mrs.
Barclay &c hatred OF her husband
took the obvious course, therefore. Of
calling upon Miss NJ, Of explaining to
her that / was perfectly certain that
she held the facts in her possession, and
OF assuring her that her friend, Mrs.
Barclay. mieht find herself In the dock
upon capital charge unless the matter
were cleared UP.
Miss Morrison Is little etheresa
slip Of girl. with tirnid eyes and blonde
hair, but found her by no means want
ing In shrewdness and common sense
She sat thinking for some time after
had spoken. and then, turning to ma
with brisk air OF resolution, she
broke into a remarkable statement.
which will condense for your benefit.
promised my friend that would
say nothing of the matter, and promise
Is promise said she: but II I can
really help her when so serious a charge
Is laid against her, and when her own
mouth, poor darling, is closed by ILL
ness. then I think I am absoIyed from
my promise. I will tell you exactly
what happened upon Monday evening.
We were returning from the Watt
street Mission about a quarter to
O'Clock On our way we had to pass
through Hudson street, which is very
quiet thoroughfare- There is only one
lamp in 1t. upon the Iert-hand side. and
as we approached this lamp I saw a
man coming towards US with his back
very bent, and something Ike box
slung over one OF his shoulders. He
appeared to be deformed, for he carried
his head low and walked with his knees
bent We were passing him when hs
raised his face to look at US In the cir
- Sio3ot 49,
he did SO he stopped and screamed out
in a dreadful voice, MY God. It's
Nancy!'' Mrs. Barclay turned as white
as death, and would have fallen down
had the dreadful-looking creature not
caught hold Of her. I was going to call
for the police, but she, TO my surprise,
spoke quite civilly to the fellow.
81 thought you had been dead this
thirty years, Henry said she, In a
shaking voice.
$50 I have" said he, and It was
awful 20 hear the tones that he said IL
IN. He had a very dark, fearsome face,
and CLEAN in his eyes that comes back
TO me in my dreams His hair and
whiskers were shot with gray. and his
face was all erinkled and ruckered like
a withered apple.
Just walk on a little way, DEAR"
said Mrs. Barclay; II want to have .
word with this man. There is nothing
to be afraid Of She tried to speak
boldly, but she was still deadly pale and
could hardly get her words out for the
trembling of her lips.
x x
"I did as she asked me, and they
talked together for few minutes Then
she came down the street with her eyes
blazing, and 1 saw the crippled Wretch
standing by the lamppost and shaking
his clenched fists in the air as If no
were mad with rage. She never said Q
word until we were at the door hero.
when she took me by the hand and
begged me to tell no one what had hap
pened.
Its an old acquaintance of mine
who has come down in the world" said
she. When / promised her l would say
notfSpg she kissed me, and have never
seen her since l have told you now
the whole truth. and il I withheld 1t
from the police it is because l did not
realize then the danger in which my
dear friend stood 1 know that it can
only be to her advantage that every
thing should be known
.'Thero was her statement, Watson.
and to me. as you can imagine. 1t was
like a ilSht on q dark night Livery liili8
which had been disconnected before be-
gan at once to assume its true place,
and I had a shadowy presentiment OF
the whole sequence of events. My next
step obviously was TO find the man who
had produced such 4 remarkable inn
preston upon Mrs. Barclay. If he were
still in Aldershot it should not be a very
difficult matter. There are not such q
very great number of civilians and q
deformed man was sure TO have attract
ed attention. I spent a day IN the
search and by even;ng-this very eyn-
ing. Watson-I had run him down The
mans name is Henry Wood. and he
Continued on Page Four, This Section.)