The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1907-03-22
- ,ne eelenei.. 900 anl 80

eratpea The coiorei.- hand ara shook
rnana you. o%olonel. thAaa you !
fees better alteal3 Ane~ youll sue
coed
We9s IN lry. Mr. rarweli. IN 40
iuy hest Nc 1oJst al@a59 succeed.
yuu kuow. Good iuoruiHg
"Mlsa Weud' said cheney. when
THAT young lady reported ln espun
to his llus Send u telegram TO Guth-
rie 10 report - me her. tomorrow
morning lies IN 81. LOUIS today. and
tiuc,"
That day Cheney arranged all his
affairs so ne could eavc. He made 1t
II rule nevor to tell anyone about his
personal work, where he Was going, or
what he WAS going TO do. Guthrie. of
course, would know where mail or tel
egrains would reach him, but that was
all. Colonel Cheney also went over
every detail of I'arwell's story. He
never made notes, save mental ones,
or carried any writing. The memory OF
his experience in the 'paymaster case"
was sufficient to cause him to leave
all intelligible writing out of the ques-
ton. His only clew was to go to Elk
moor and try to pick up "a train from.
there.
Guthrie reported the next morning,
and briefly Cheney told him to keep
''to' 6''t'S oiANA " '''S IN III
portant to him at the Russell house,
Detroit. a suit case was all the bag
gage he carried, and at II that night
he was in Detroit. The next day he
took a train to London, Ont, and from
there another train carried him up a
branch o to EXmoor 1t was Il
Struggling little Canadian village in
the midst of a rather rich farming
ountry and did not look very prepos-
sessli1s. Cheney quietly set to work,
and before night located Mrs. F'arwell,
Wife of the man that had raised ''Bas-
feeble. but kindly smiled when Cheney
mentioned Basket Charley.' "Oh, YES,
| remember him. she said, in a quer-
ulous voice. He was a bright little
fellow, and we all liked him. We had
hard pickin' to get along, but pa" her
pronounced the affectionate name by
winch her husband was known, pa
had a big family to support, and did
the best he could.
I've been comfortable since Charley
grew up, though, because he takes care
of me ince he's been able to-
farwell had not mentioned this fact
to Cheney, and it increased his respect
for the young man.
Mrs. Farwell," he replied, did YOU
or your husband ever have any idea
as to who We're the parents of Basket
Charley?'"
No, sir, l can't say that we had.
mere was a note pinned TO his cloth
ing
Yes, / know that" Interrupted
cheney. II have it here"
There was a family living near at
the time, Reyburn by name. There
We're two girls. one of them, Maggie,
disappeared a year before Charley was
lett with us. Sometimes I've thought
maybe they knew something about the
case. once | asked the other sister,
Jane, Where Maggie was, and she froze
up and said she didn't know. That
Was all. Jane Reyburn is married and
lives in Chatham now"
"Wha is her name?" asked Cheney.
interested.
Rogers, 1 believe. Her husband is
a lawyer chap.'
1t was only a slight clew, bat it was
worth following up, so Cheney bade
Mrs. Farwell goodby and left. First
ne investigated as far as possible the
Eeyburn family. There had been the
father and two daughters, and they
had llved on a small farm near Exmoor.
When they first came there everything
was pleasant. but they kept pretty
much to themselves. One boy about
IA years of g did chores about the
place and helped Mr.. Reyburn. This
boEs name was Roy Belcher. of the
."o SiiiS Maggie was the best ,iOOk-
ing. An old settler put it: SHE was
quite comely, and acted as if she was
better than other girls. She received
letters from affair" (everyone i'm the
small community knew ~eryon bus
mess, especially the garrulous post
mastery and every once in a While She
Vent to Detroit to visit friends" This
old settler was prolific of information.
Did you ever hear of Basket char
ley? asked Cheney.
What! Farwell's founding? oh.
yes l remember him Well"
.EveT have any idea how he b9came
Farwells foundling?"
No: but I've suspicioned several
times that he Reyburns knew some
thing about it. You see. a yea,, before
Charley was found Maggie Reyburn
left home for good. Old man Reyburn
Ialled and died: Jane tried 10 run
the place. but didn't succeed. She
wasn't Very sociable and no one eyer
went there. She aud the boy were
all there We're about the place. They
left one night. just the day before
Charley was found; the place was
sold ana now Jane lives in Chatham.
Maggie, / reckon, is dead
lieve his name is-where did he come
from, and what became of l1imo"
God Knows. stranger. I've heard
he was an illegitimate child, came from
nAoAi.iNdi. A-dleiN We neafQ ne was a
Seventh Day Adventist preacher in.
Illinois. Palvo. l think, is the place"
The story of the Reyburns interest
ed Cheney: the Two girls. one comely.
her receiving letters, visiting Detroit
at times, then disappearing a yea. be
fore Basket Charley" was found; then
the breaking up of the Reyburn family,
all pointed Enthusiastically strong to
their knowing something about the
boy. Cheney went to Montreal. found
out that Belcher really was an illegiti-
mate child. as the "old settler had
said. En- route back, he stopped at
Chatham and interviewed Mrs. Rogers;
but as soon as he said Basket Char
ley She closed up like a clam and ter
minated the interview. The trail
was warm. Eelcher. the boy, ought to
know something. He would look him
up. Cheney advised Farwell that prog
ress was being made. n that ne
would report more fully later.
A day or so after this Cheney was at
Palvo, IN. Belcher was there, and
among his sect was a respectable
member Of society. He was married
and had quite a family. 1t was Friday
when Cheney reached Paivo, and that
day and Saturday he spent quietly in
v~estigatirlg Belcher. He saw him on
the street and in the postoffice, a tall,
| Gno1 n lii mod =, !, y-itl W. 1,1,al-