The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1907-12-27
STORY OF

AooOs vi Sue InluSC Oh ii ire.
Menoous snowstorm. they managed to
mae lemselves in one of the work.
sho1 n afterwards to scale the out
er Wei. In the morning Thompson was
FOUND at the foot OF the wall with his
mead cut open and nearly frozen. Ire
brought around with the greatest diff
Guilty and would say nothing except to
indulge in terrible i~mprecations against
his companion. You see." concluded
Godfrey. looking up. Eve begin to get
a. the motive"
Yes" l agreed. ITS very plain,
now you've started on the right track.
It's a good deal like Columbus's egg"
Sioo1rey smiled and turned to the
sixth clipping. the longest Of them all.
It's 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?' 1 a asked, intensely interested and
deeply stirred.
"Jus that" he said. and shot me a
triumphant glance. Let us see If you
can catch 1t. The clipping is in French,
and though my French isn't Of the
highest order, l can get the sense of it
pretty well. 1t is dated S%uresnes. and
IS evldently q letter from a provincial
correspondent to a Paris newspaper.
who like most other provincial cores
p%ondents, is delightfully."- vague. How
ever, gather from 1t that on
the night OF September 16. 1891.
a beautiful young English girl
the v school OF the Sacred
Heart at S%uresnes and that the next
morning she was safely married to a
gallant Frenchman'-Tremaine, of
course-by the cure of the little village
or Pet1ts Colonies. The marriage was
l G11fa 1sar1f00r - $500 1-.IA -
cures fee was larger than usual-for
inc banns had been published as re-
qGired. Thus concludes the eloquent
correspondent. does the grand passion
once more prevail over the hypocrises
OF the cloister.' Evidently the cores
pendent is Il rabid anti-clerical."
But. STILL 1 objected, II don't see
that that explains anything"
Let me help you. 1t was this clip
ring I happened to look at first the
night We found the body. 1 read two
or three lines aloud. then Simmonds
Iut 1t back in the pocket. 1t must have
been those few lines which told Miss
Croydon the nature Of the clippings
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 Tremaine? But
then, h couldn't have been more than
10 or IL years old In 1891"
Eleven" corrected Godfrey. and I
was struck by the radiant expression
from his pocket. Let me read you
two sentences from this old report
concerning the Croydon family-you
ought to have recalled them, my dear
Lester"
Go ahead" 1 said helplessly.
| n.IN1Joct r3o,,rL%ou r1a:4l ..- H.
France, August 26, 1874. Educated at
school there, but broke down from
overstudy and returned to Bohemian.
Religion. Catholic Now" he demand-
ed, do YOU understand who it was
married Tremaine at Petits Colonies
in 1912"
At last 1 saw it, and 1 could only sit
and stare at him, marveling at my own
stupidity. This was the key-the key
TO the whole enigma. Miss Croydon
mad taken her sisters place, had tried
TO buy him off, to get him out of her
sisters way. It was Tremaine who had
opened the door-it was Tremaine
whom she had come to the Marathon
to meet. But-and l started upright
since they We're Catholics, only his
death could release Mrs. Delroy. Per-
haps 1t was Thompson. after all, and
his death had released her. But no:
II in an instant the whole terrible
position OF the elder woman burst up
on me. She was not Delroy's wife.
then the true husband Of Mrs. Delroy."
Let US finish the story Of the clip
pings before going into that" sug-
gested Godfrey. Il confess, I don't
quite see the bearing of this next one.
It's a New York dispatch. perhaps to
ruary Is. 1892, and chronicles the loss
OF the bark Centaur. with all on board,
on the coast of Martinique. The Cen
taur was bound from Marseilles to
Fort-de-France with a cargo Of wines
and muslins. Let US leave it. for a
moment, and pass on to the next e
which is the last.
This is dated Sydney. Australia, Oc-
tober %. 1896. and relates how a daring
scheme to rob the Bank Of New South
wales was frustrated by a sailor who
had been a member of the gang, but
who got frightened and informed the
police. The ringleader. Il Frenchman.
was captured n would receive a term
OF years in prison. There are four
copies Of this Clipping, which no doubt
son was some times in the habit of
sending to Tremaine, to remind him of
that Australian experience.
NOW, don't you see. we reconstruct
the whole story. Tremaine. starting
from prison. leaving his partner in the
lurch. treacherously, no doubt, since it
awakened his violent anger-there
isn't any hatred more vindictive than
that OF one criminal for another who
has betrayed him. Tremaine finally
goes back to France and succeeds in
entangling Edith Croydon. then only
about 16. in IL marriage. We know how
fascinating he is. and it's not won
derful that he should be able to mis-
lead an inexperienced girl. OF course
what he wants is money. and so she
writes to her father. FIe comes for her
and takes her home-no doubt paying
Tremaine a handsome sum to take
himself of-in fact. mortgaging his
home to do it.
Miss Croydon gradually W
but she is Tremaine's wife. Yet in
1900 she 1narries Delroy. She must
therefore have had good reason to be-
lieve Tremaine dead"
Don't you see?" l cried. That the
meaning of that item about the found
ering OF the Centaur, with all on. board.
Iremalne was a passenger and she
knew it,"
Good" nodded Godfrey. That's
undoubtedly 1t. Let me see" and he
turned back to the clipping: that was
IN 1882. His name. perhaps. appeared
alnOng the missing. she waited eight