The San Francisco call., 1906-07-29


and with her looked down on the
shrinking figure of the accused man.
These are my witnesses" said Ha-
gar, slowly. "ROsaH
i saw dat man in de house when
my missy died" said the negress. Il
hear noise in de night; I come down
and I see Massa Jeyons run away from
de room of my missy. and Missus Lyle
let him out by de side door He
kill my poo missy-yes, I tinK dat"
You hear said Hagar to the ter
rifed man. Now. Mr.. HorvaL"
Il traced the ive-pound not you
gave me by it's number" said the de-
tective. Yes. he paid it away at his
club; I can bring q waiter to prove
it."
You hear" said Hagar again; and
I know by the evidence of your lost
finger that you are the man. disguised
as a nesress, who pawned the neck
lace which was stolen from the person
of Mrs ArryfOrd. after you murdered
her The dead woman, as Rosa tells
us, wore that necklace night and day
Only with her death could il have been
removed. You murdered her; you stole
the necklace Of amber hes-i-"
The news of the arrest, the story OF
the amber beads, was IN all the papers
next day; and next day. also, Miss Lyle
came to see Hagar. Pale and stern, she
swept into the shop and looked at Ha-
gar with a bitter smile.
."GirlF' she said harshly, you have
been our evil genius
7 have been the means of denounc-
ing your accomplice. you mean" re-
turned Hagar conposedly.
my accomplice-no, my som
Your SON. Hagar recOiled with a
startled expression. Your son, Miss
Ly1e?''
mot Miss. but Mrs. Lyle" returned
the gaunt, pale woman; "and Frederick
Jevons is my son by my first husband.
You think he is guilty; you are wrong.
foe he is innocent. You believe that you
will hang him; but I tell you, girl, he
will go free. Read this paper" she
said, thfusting an envelope into the
hand of Hagar, "and you will see how
you have been mistaken. l shall never
see you again in this life; but I leave
my curse on youi"
Before Hagar could collect her wits
Miss-or rather Mrs--Lyle, as she
called herself. went hurriedly out of the
shop. Her manner was so wild, her
words so ominous of evil, that Hagar
had it on her mind to follow her, and,
If possible, prevent the consequences Of
her despair. She hurried to the door.
but Mrs. Lyle had disappeared. and as
there was no one to mind the shop.
Hagar could not so after her. Luckily
az this moment Horval turned the cor
ner and at once the girl beckOned to
him.
Miss Lyle-did you see her?'
Yes said Horval. with nod; she's
on her way across Westminster bridge"
"Oh, follow her-fOllow her, quicklyi"
cried Hagar wildly; "she is not herself;
she is bent on some rash deedH'
Horval paused a moment in bewilder-
ment then, gTaSping the situation, he
turned. without word and raced down.
the street in the trail of Miss Lyle.
Hagar watched his hurrying figure un-
| til it turned the corner then she re-
treated to the back parlor and hur-
r1edly opened the envelope, On the
sheet of paper she found within the
following confession was written:
I am not spinster but widow"
began the document abruptly twice
married woman By my first husband
1 had Frederick Jevons. who passes as
my nephew and whom 1 love better
than my own soul When my second
husband Mr. Lyle, died 1 cast about
for some means of employment. as I
was poor. Mrs. Arryford advertised
for an Unmarried woman TO be a COM
panion; she absolutely refused to have
any companion but a spfnster. To get
the situation, which was d good one.
as Mrs. Arryford was rich. I called
myself Miss Lyle. and obtained the
place. Mrs Arryford had no relatives
and much money, SO / schemed to OBJ
tain her wealth for my son, whom I
introduced as my nephew. Rosa. the
black maid, had a great deal of influ-
ence over the weak minded mistress,
and in some way-I don't know how
she fathomed my purpose 1t was a
/ battle between us, as Rosa was deter
mined that I should not get the money
/ OF Mrs Anymore for my son. Finally
| I triumphed, ard Frederick was left
sole heir of all the old 1ady's wealth
Then Rosa learned by eavesdropping
/ the true relationship between myself
and Frederick. She told her mistress,
and with Mrs. Arryford I had stormy
/ scene. in which she declared her inten-
l tion of revoking her will and turnings
me and my son out on the world as
/ paUpers. / begged. / implOred, 1 threat
ened. but Mrs ArryfOrd. backed up by
| that wicked Rosa, was firm. I sent for
my son to try to soften the old lady.
/ but he was not in town and did not
come to see me till late at night. When
he arrived I told him that 1 had killed
Mrs. Arryford. 1 did so to prevent her
altering her will. and out of love for
my dear son, lest he should lose the
money. Frederick was hOrrified and
rushed from the house. 1 believe Rosa
saw me let him out by the side door,
I was determined to throw the blame
! on Rosa, as / hated her so. knowing
that she coveted the necklace of amber
beads, 1 stole it from the neck of the
dead woman and gave it TO my son
next day l suggested that he should
dress up as Rosa and pawn the neck
lace, so that she might be suspected.
To save me he did So I obtained a
dress that Rosa was fond of wearing
yellow silk trimmed with black beads:
also the jewelry of the creature. Fred
! erick blackened his face and pawned
the beads in a pawnshOp at Lambeth.
II sent Rosa on a pretended errand to
Waterloo station at the time Frederick
was pawning the beads. so as to get
levidence against her that she was in
the neighbOrhOOd. Then I suggested
to Horval. the detective. that the beads
might have been pawned. He found
| the shop, and 1 thought my plot had
/ succeeded that Rosa would be con-
demned and hanged. Unfortunately, the
woman who kept the pawnshOp was
clever and traced Frederick by means
of his mutilated right hand hate her!
Frederick is now in prison on a charge
\ Of murder which he did not commit
1 am guilty. / killed Mrs. Arryford.
/ Frederick knows nothing. He helped
me to save myself by trying to throw
the blame on Rosa All useless. I am