The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-05-12

Have they buried him yet?' "Yes, why?"
 "Thank God 1t is all over then and can tell the story" The beautiful young woman sitting opposite me at the desk gave vent to a ,--ep sigh of relief. She had entered my "den" on the fourth floor of the Herald building unobserved and unannounced and without the cere- mony of an introduction had taken a seat and fired the blunt question with which this narrative opens
 Instinctively I had comprehended the meaning of the question for just that day the coroner had buried in Potters l field the unidentified body of stranger that had been picked up in an alley one month before Hundreds of people had called at the morgue during the month and looked on the familiar features Of l the dead man who was elegantly dressed and had evidently been man Of some l distinction, without identifying the body 1 Almost everyone that came and looked l on the body said that they had seen the face but they could not place It. Photo 1 graphs had been taken and published in 1 the newspapers. The officers had been l especially dilgent in their efforts to se- 1 cure some clue for Identification. There were no marks of violence unless a slight l bruise on the head was the result or blow, but the physicians could not believe l that 1t had been severe enough to pro- 1 duce death
 An atopsy had failed to dlsclose any l trace of poison. The coroner and officers had given up the task and the body had been buried | unknown and unwept.
 1 looked up curiously at the women be- fore me. The face bore an unusual blend l ct mentality but over all as l looked l l detected trace of sorrow and perhaps a little uneasness. She was elegantly 1 dressed and bore the unmistakable air 1 of refinement.
 "Since you have been used as an in- l strument of convenience in this unpleas- 1 ant business 1 suppose I should tell you who the man was and the story or ms peculiar demise' continued the woman, assuming a more easy demeanor and l smiling familiarly across the desk | "At first it was intended that no one | should ever know but just before his death the unidentified stranger gave me permission to tell you the facts in the event his discovery proved success. but I shall not make public the secret of his discovery as l am fully per- suaded in my mind that it would be un- ] wise.
 ''The body whose identity has puzzled the officers and the people of this city for the past month was that of Dr. James Hall, one of the best known profes- sional men in this state.
 "Woman, what do you mean?' I ex- claimed "Dr. Hall was a close personal friend of mine, and have seen the body a number of times. l am certain that | you are mistaken. Besides, Dr. Hall Is in Europe. I accompanied him to his sleeper at the union passenger station and had a letter from him on the day of his departure from New York. l re- member very clearly now that this let ter was written several days after the body was picked up by the police in an alley"
 You will allow me to finish my story please" continued the woman regarding me with a peculiar smile. T am glad you remember these small details so distinctly. I thought you would though knew you to be a very busy man. Though the letter was written by Dr. Hall, my husband, I mailed it myself.
 You are surprised to hear that 1 am the widow of Dr. Hall-that he ever had wife? Well, you were no wiser than the rest of the world. While 1t was fact it was mutually displeasing and un- | comfortable to both of us and neither had habit of admitting it to the pub lie
 | While he has made this city his home for the past five years, I was only here once before his death and that was two nights before he died. 1 have been here constantly, however, for the past three weeks and have been a daily visitor to the morgue. Under a heavy veil I have watched the wonderful success of his discovery
 But I will hasten on with my story. | A little more than a month ago while stopping for a while in Berlin I received an urgent request from Dr. Hall to come at once to this city. In his letter he directed me how to find him without in- quiry so that my presence would never
 be known
 While my husband and I had never
 had an open rupture we had simply agreed to disagree within two weeks after
 our marriage at San Francisco. We had
 discovered that our temperaments did
 not agree and knowing that we could
 never be happy, we covenanted to sepa-
 rate and remain on sepcrite continents.
 He provided me with an ample annuity | which. together with private fortune.
 enables me to live in comfort.
 we still loved each other in the cold
 blooded manner possible with people of | equally high intellectual temperament | and kept up a continuous correspondence | which we both enjoyed, but from the