Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1906-02-13
CHAPTER VII.

TVHE body Of Hiram Holiday was
placed beside that of his wife
in his granite mausoleum at
Woodlawn on the Sunday fol-
lowing his death. Two days later his
will, which had been drawn up by Mr.
Graham and deposited in the office
safe, was read and duly admitted to
probate. AS was expected, he had left
all his property, without condition or
reserve, to his daughter Frances.
There were few bequests to old serv-
ants, Rogers receiving a handsome leg
acy; about half a million was given to
various charities in which he had been
interested during his life, and the re-
mainder was placed at the absolute
disposal Of his daughter.
We found that his fortune had been
overestimated, as is usually the case
with men whose wealth depends upon
the fluctuations of the Street, but there
still remained something over four mill
lions for the girl-a pretty dowry. She
told us at once that she wished to leave
her affairs in our hands and in fnan-
eial matters would be guided entirely
by our advice. Most of this business
was conducted by our junior, and,
while, Of course, he told me nothing, it
was evident that Miss Holidays kind
" feelings toward him had suffered no
diminution. The whole Office was more
or less conversant with the affair and
wished him success and happiness.
So a week or ten days passed. The
utmost endeavor Of newspapers and
police had shed no new light on the
tragedy, and for the great public IT
had passed into the background of
the forgotten, but for me- at least.
it remained Of cndimintshed interest.
and more than once I carefully re-
viewed its features to convince my
self anew that our theory was the
right one. Only one point occurred to
me which would tend to prove it un-
true If there was an illegitimate
daughter, the blow she had dealt her
father had also deprived her Of what
ever income he had allowed her or Of
FEY hope of income from Ei:o; 80 she
had acted in her own despite Still,
Godfrey's theory of sudden passion
might explain this away. And then
again Miss Holiday could probably
be counted upon, her first grief past,
to provide suitably for her sister.
Granting this, the theory seemed to me
quite impregnable.
One other thing puzzled mellow
had this woman eluded the police? l
knew that the French quarter had been
ransacked for traces of her, wholly
without success, and yet I felt that
the search must have been miscon-
Quoted, else some trace of her would
surely have been discovered. Miss Hol-
laday, of course, rigidly refused her
self to all inquirers, and here again
found myself on the horns of dilem-
ma. Doubtless she was very far from
wishing the discovery of the guilty
woman, and yet I felt that she must
be discovered, if only for Miss Holla-
days sake, in order to clear away the
last vestige of the cloud that shad-
owed her.
Then came new developments with a
startling rapidity. 1t was toward quit
ting time one afternoon that clerk
brought word into the inner Office that
there was woman without who
| wished to see Mr.. Royce at once. She
had given no name, but our Junior.
| who happened to be at leisure for the
| moment, directed that she be shown in.
I recognized her in an instant, and so
did he-it was Miss Holladay's maid.
| I saw, too, that her eyes were red
with weeping, and as she sat down
beside our juniors desk she began to
| cry afresh.
"Why, what's the matter?" he de-
| manded. Nothing wrong with your
mistress?"
''She amt my mistress any more" I"
| sobbed the girl. "She. dischareed me