Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1907-02-09

Yes" I agreed: its very plain,
now you've started on the right track.
It's Il good deal like Columbus egg" 4
Godfrey smiled and turned 10 the
sixth clipping. the longest of them all. |;
ITS that way with most mysteries,
he said, and here's the internal evil
dence that all this theorizing is pretty,
straight. It's the clew. TOO, which
we've been seeking so long"
1T explains Miss Croydon's presence
here" | asked. intensely Interested
and deeply stirred.
Just that he said. and shot me a
triumphant glance. Let lis see if you
can catch it. The clipping is i'll French,
| aud. though my French isn't of the
highest order, can get the sense of it.
| pretty well. 1t is dated Suresnes andl
| is evidently Il letter from II provincial
correspondent TO Paris newspaper,
WHO. like most other provincial CORE
| spOndents. il; delightfully."- vague. How
ever, | gather from it that on the night.
! of Sept. IL, 1891. beautiful young,
| English girl-name not giVen-ran
| away from the convent school of the
Sacred Heart at Suresnes and that the,
next morning she was safely married.
to a gallant misunderstanding of
course-by the cure of the little village
| of Petits Colonies. The marriage was
quite regular-though no doubt the
cures fee was larger than usual-for
the bannS had been published as re-
CURED
But still" l objected. Il don't see
that that explains anything"
! Let me help YOU. 1t was this clip
ping | happened to look at first the
night we found the body. | read two
or three lines aloud, then SimmOuds
put it back i'll the pocket. 1t must
have been those few lines which told
Miss Croydon the nature of the clip
pings and their Importance to her. The
date line would have been enough to
do that. Besides, if she'd already
known Of them she'd have taken them
before we got here
You mean Miss Croydon is the girl
who ran away with TrenIaneE But,
then, she couldn't have been more
than ten or twelve years old in 1891"
Eleven" corrected Godfrey. and l
was struck by the radiant expression
of his face us he took Il yellow paper
from his pocket. Let me read you
two sentences from this old report con
corning the Croydon family. You
ought TO have recalled them, my dear
Lester"
Go ahead l said helpleSsly.
Eldest daughter, Edith. born in
France, Aug. %. 1874. Educated AT
school there. but broke down from
overstudy and returned to Beckenham
Religion. Catholic Now" he demand
ed, do you understand who it was
married Tremalne at PetrS Colonies
in 1872"
At last ] saw it, and could ONLY sill
and Stare at him, marketing at my
own stupidity. This was the key-tht
key TO the whole enigma. Miss CrOy
don had taken her sisters place, haC
tried to buy him off 10 get him out OF
her sisters way. 1t was Tremaint
who had opened the door; it was Ire
maine whom she had come to the
Marathon to meet. But-and / started
upright-since they We're Catholics
! only his death could release Mrs. Del
roy. Perhaps it was Thompson. aftel
. all, and his death had released her
} But, no, and in an instant the whole
terrible position of the elder woman
t burst upon me. She was not Delroy':
[ wife; she was
} So l said hoarSely. "Tremaine is
} then, the true husband of Mrs. Del
roy"'
Let us finish the story of the clip
pings before going into that" suggest
ed Godfrey. Il confess | don't quit,
see the bearing of this next one. It's ;
l New York dispatch, perhaps to Il Lon
don paper, under date Of Feb. Is, 1S9-
and chronicles the loss OF the bari
Centaur, with all on board, off TIL
coast of Martinique. The Centaur wa
bound from Marseilles to Fort-de
France, with a cargo of wines ant
: muslins. Let us leave it for Il momen
, and pass on to the next one. which i
I the last.
This is dated Sydney, Australis
= Oct. %, 1896, and relates how Il darin
scheme to rob the Bank of New Souti
. Wales was frustrated by Il sailor VIII
had been member of the gang, bu
who got frightened and informed tn
police. The ringleader, a FrenchmaI
: was captured and would receive
term of years in prison. There ar
four copies of this clipping which n
> doubt means that it is the one whic
! Thompson WAS sometimes IN the habi
u of sending to Tremaine to remind hiI
: of that Australian experience.
"Now, don't You see. we reconstruC
Il the whole story Tremaine, startin
out as a defaulter and robber. escape
:, from prison. leaving his partner in th
lurch, treacherously, no doubt. since
awakened his violent anger There ism
any hatred more vindictive than tina
of one criminal toward another VIII
has betrayed him. Tremaine finall
goes back to France and succeeds
entangling Edith Croydon, then onl
about sixteen. in marriage. We kno1
70 ina no h. 10, III t.