The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1907-03-14
CHAPTER VII.
NHAFTER VII.
MISS HOLLADAY BECOMES CA,
pRr(IDtTS

MISS HoLLADAY BECOMES CA
PRECIOUS.
The body OF Hiram Holiday was
placed bcsid. that OF hts wife In his
granite mausolcum ut woodlawn on
the Sunday following his death. two
days later. his Will. which had been
drawn up by Mr.. Graham and deposited
la the Office safe. was read and duly az
mittcd To probate. As was expected.
he had left all his property. without
condition or reserve. To his daughter
Frances. There were n few requests
L. old servants. Rogers receiving
handsome legacy: about half million
was given To various charities In which
he had ocen Interested during his life.
nnd the remainder was placed ut the
absolute disposal az hiss daughter.
We found that his fortune had been
overcstlinated. as In usually the case
with men whose wealth depends upon
the fluctuations OF the street. but there
SIN remained something over four mil
lions for the girl--a prett dowry. She
told cF nj once that she wished To leave
her affairs I'm our hands. and In finan-
cial matters would be guided en,irely
by our advice. Most OF this business
was conducted ny our junior. and while.
of course. he told me nothing. IL Was
evident that Miss Holidays kindly
feelings toward him had suffered no
or less conversant with the affair. and
wished him success and happiness.
so week or ten days passed. The
utfnose endeavors OF newspapers and
police had shed no new light on the
tragedy. and for the great public Il
had passed into the background or the
forgotten. Hut for me. at least. IL re-
maincd Of undiminishcd interest. and
more than once f.carefully reviewed Its
features To convince myself anew that
our theory was the right one. Only
one point occurred To me which would
tend To prove II untrue. IL there was
mn iileEitimdte daughter. the blow she
had dealt her father had also deprived
her Of whatever income he had allowed
her. or ~ any hope OF income from him.
20 she had acted In her own despite
still, Godfrcy's theory OF sudden pas
sion. might explain this away. And
then again. Miss Holiday could prob
ably he counted upon. her first grief
past. To provide suitably for her sister.
Granting this. the theory seemed To mo
quite impregnablc.
one other thing puzzled me. How
had this woman cludcd the police7 I
knew that the French quarter had been
ransacked for traces ~ her. wholly
without success. and yet. felt that the
search must have been misconducted.
else some trace OF her would surely
have been discovered. Miss Holiday.
of course. rigidly refused herself TO all
inquirers. aud here. again. found
myself on the horns Of dilemma.
Doubtless. she was very far from
wishing the discovery Of the guilty
woman, aud yet I felt that she
must he discovered. III only for Miss
Holidays sake, In order to clear away
the last vestige OF the cloud that
Swallowed her.
Then came new Developments with
a startling rapidity. II was toward
quitting time one afternoon that a
clerk brought word into the inner once
that there was woman without who
| wanted Ia see Mr.. Royce at once. She
| had given no name. but our junior. who
happened To be at leisure for the
moment directed that she be shown I'm.
I recognized her In an instant, and
so did he--it was Miss Holidays maid.
I saw, too. that her eyes were red
| with weeping. and as she sat down be-
side our Juniors desk. she began to
cry afresh.
why what's the natter he dc.
manded. Nothing wrong with your
| mistress"
she aiat my mistress any more"
sobbed the girl She discharged ma
| this afternoon"
Discharged youl" echoed our Jun
Tor. why. thought she thought so
much or you"
And so did l. sir. but she discharged
me just the same
But what for" persisted the
other.
That's just what ! don't know. sir:
I begged and prayed her To tell me.
/ but she wouldn't even see me. So
I came down here. I thought maybe you
could hclp me"
We'll. let me hear about IL Just as II
happened said Mr.. Royce sothIngly.
Perhaps | can help you"
Continued Next Week.