Waterbury evening Democrat., 1907-10-09
CHAPTER XVI.


 his lamp burning on the bureau
 at his elbow. Dr. Kinross, in 0 the small hours of the morn- ing, read the paper he had found in the haunted room.
 Both the wording of it and the pen manship gave evidence that the writer was a person of some education, though at times her phraseology was stilted, bookish and even little melo- dramatic.
 The child, Eunice is not ours For the sake of the moneyed reward which we knew would undoubtedly be offered for her recovery by her wealthy father we stole her away from her home. Her moth- CT died at her birth. and I, being trained nurse. was employed by the father to come into the house and take entire charge of the baby. When she was year old secretly married her fathers secre- tary. whose learning and brilliant talents attracted me almost to the point of hyp- notizing me. and together we matched the scheme of stealing the child as means of extracting money from the father. But an unforeseen event thwarted our we'll laid plan. On the very night of our flight with the child her father was killed in a railroad accident Somehow the story got out that he had his child with him. and the mutilated body of a year-old girl was actually found in the wreck and identi- fled as Eunice by some of the servants of the household. In this turn of affairs his entire large fortune went to the half sis ter of Eunice'S father, a single woman of about thirty who lived alone in Wash ington.
 We wrote to her and told her what we had done and offered to give up the child for certain sum, but whether she didn't believe us or whether it served her pur- pose better not to have the child recov- cred do not know. We have never had any answer to our repeated communica- tions to her. It is now four months since we came away with the child, and we have accomplished nothing.
 We are living here incognito on this out of the way Pennsylvania farm.
 It is my wish to take Eunice to her aunt The lady has seen the child several times in her visits of a few days each to her brothers home in New York, and of course she would remember me as her caretaker. She always seemed very fond of Eunice. who is her namesake. I do not believe she would deliberately do her the wrong of keeping her out of her in heritance. If I do not soon take Eunice to her the child will have changed past recognition. I cannot longer endure the burden of the crime I have committed. I must make amends. But my husband will not let me expose us both to the risk of punishment, and he still hopes to make profit out of the child He says he will murder me before he will let me confess our crime. I never would have done this wrong of myself. l have been led into 1t through my insane passion for this dia- bolically clever and constituencies man. Tonight must decide my fate. I shall either depart for Washington with the child or else shall die either by my own hand or that of my husband. I leave this confession. which I trust will escape my husbands eye and fall into the hands Of honest people.
 l shall now write here every fact which may serve to restore Eunice to her rights. The sum of $4,O0O which I took frops my employers desk the night I fled will be found pinned to the child's clothing, to be used in paying the expenses which may be involved in restoring her to her aunt or, in case of failure to prove her ideh- tity, to support her until she is able to take care of herself.
 -Four thousand dollarsw unused Kinross, his face pale with the ex- citement of the story. "The yearly interest of that sum would have more than paid the girls board in this mea- ger household. And they have male slave of her, not even allowing her to go to the public school"'
 He felt ghoulish glee in the thought of confronting old Morningstar with his discovery.
 He read on:
 The father of the child was the late S. s. Wolcott. Esq. of the New York city bar. His half sister is Miss Eunice Vol colt of - avenue. Washington.
 Miss Wolcott can identify the child by. the two tiny molcs on her neck just Under her left ear, for I once heard her say when she had the baby on her lap that Mir Wolcott had two molcs in exactly the same spot.
 The little necklace and locxet which will be found on the child were given her by Miss wolcott and contain her photograph and the child's.
 solemnIy affirm that what have here written is true.
 BEATRICE DANIELS. A date twenty years back was afix- cd to the paper.
 Kinross' heart thumped in his breast, and he sat transfixed as the hand which held the naper fell to his knees.