The daily Alaskan., 1907-05-02
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A Deep Laid Scheme
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N
 may as Well begin by saying that the
 name It hinges on is Francis Randolph ] Forbes. Now, the letter r written Is simply au incomplete II, and have of
 ten had my letters go to some IL. R. ] Forbes or II. R. Horbcs or some such fuaug. and ! have received such per sons letters myself.
 One evening upon calling for my .mal.. at my club 1 was handed a note addressed in a wumau's familiar hand l Five years before Maud I'winiEg had ire.uscJ me, uudI was sure this was to reouel In, case. I tore open the cnyel- .ae and pulled out the contents with d . trembling hand.
 1 Notulu- but a blank sheet of note paper.
 1 This was cruel Maud was not the ] girl to treat he thus. But, wait a bit ! Might she not with uajdeu.y modcSty l Intend to simply commence a rcopeuiug l of matter which she herself had clos ed: Might uot this blank paper con l tain a message from her if l could dud 1 1t outg I scruuu.rtL it, held 1t before a ! strong light. put maguifying glass to lit. but could see no evidence of com munfcat.ou. While holding tt very close ! 10 a gas lot noticed pale brown marks coming out ua jg. Holding it still clos er. they deeueueL and l read iu letters apparently written with a match or a loothplck probably in lemon juice:
 April 5 B Square Fountain l5:o5 ?. ul- HESTER. l was bitterly disappointed. Hester was not the name ot the lady I had in mind. l examined the supegscriptiou ou the envelope and decided that 1t mtgut ue either F. R. For es or r. E. .Do-si,y F. B. Uarkcr l took the aore the ucx. day to the pos,oIice and was .aformeI that r. B. Uarkcr had asked for letter aud ol being in torElpL there was nothing for him made a great ado about the dcLinQuen. .Ees ot che office. The clerk looked m ,ha directory for r. B. UarAcr, but no such name was given there. COuse- aucusl. there Was uo way Of finding him.
 After thinking the matter over l Coa- cluLed that l would go to the rendc: vous and inform thc lady that her lct- ter of appointment had mi~carricd On April at To o'clock ia Jhe evening [ was in the park aul soon after saw a yelled lady approach the fountain. l. too. went 60 the fountain aul after few moments of daily asked her if sh' wus Hester. She started. but did not reply. Then I told her the story of the miscarriage of her note.
 Women are naturally coudding, and there was something perhaps ln my manner that induced this one to give me her confidence. She told me 'that she was a widow. Her husbands brother was trying tO detraud her of the estate her husband had left her One who was la league with the broth er-.u-luw had agreed to play false to bim and for a consideration turn over to her certain papers that would make valid her cDatu ou the inheritance. The transfer must be made without the knowledge of the brother-iu-aw, and she had designated the place for the purpose.
 May l not act for you. madamT ] said
 "I only wish you would" she replied '.I will give you an order for the papers If you will consent to bring them to ue."
 That ] did mt mean. l would not permit you tg thus place your interests lu the hands of a stranger. Give me tbe name and gdI-ess of the person you were to meet here and | will make a uew appointment for you
 This only strengthened her conf. deace in me. She invited me to accom- nanv her home. and did so As-s0ou as We entered she unveiled and reveal ed the features rf womm of forty. two OF forty-JAu,. While explaining how l came .u consider her note as in. tended for me I referred to the similar. fly of her handwriting to that of a for mer acquaintance of mine. Sbe told me that the address was not hers; that the whole plan 1t receiving the papers claude timely had been couclcted by her niece. who had addressed the mis- Sive.
 And your niece is asked.
 Maud Twiuing."
 iumpeI as if l had been shot.
 "l-aui Tw.u.ug. I was sure I saw again her familiar handwriting, though sue evidently tried to disguise It. Where is she:"
 Do you know her."
 Yes"
 "She Is living here with me. I'll call her. I'll uot tell her whom she is to mect"
 She went out of the room and re- turned with ta- only girl l had ever loved. Something told me when I saw her start ou seeing me that her sur prise was fcigneL Had her aunt told her whom she was to meetf She came forward with confusion in every line of her c5uutcuIuJe. There was none Of that honest, kindly bearing she had