The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-08-23

| open secretary. he glanced at the dQ-
dress and put 1t carefully in his pocket
l drew him into a corner.
Look here Nevins." / said, let me
see the letter and I'll let you in on
the biggest story you ever pulled off.
| Trust me and you'll go into the office
with the full story of the Hoppington
murder"
This was bait enough and he took
the letter from his pocket. I glanced
at the address. 1t was Captain Fitz-
hugh Graham
We've got it. Quick, Out of here"
l whispered. catching Cla.Sxe's eye and
reckoning him to follow.
A few minutes later we were at CEN
| trail station and with the chief in Ora
| hams cell.
Clarke handed him the letter. His
face blanched as he glanced at the ad-
| dress. but he pulled himself together,
broke the seal and read the contents.
Then. but for Clarke catching him, he
would have fallen lifeless to the cell
| floor. We laid him on the bunk and
| the Jail attendants rushed in and ap-
| piled the usual restoratives- The chief
had picked up the letter, which had
fallen from Graham's fingers. He read
it and passed it TO us. ! give it ver-
batim:
'Beloved-Kismet is too strong for
1
| shall take it, The blood of the beast
| is on my hands and your love could
| never wash them clean. Tell all and,
save yourself. When you read this I
shall be dead by the little weapon you
| gave me. Forgive me for the ruin of
your life. You only have / loved. /
kiss your mouth
EVELYN"
For weeks we despaired of ever hear
| ing Graham's story while he Law i'm
brain fever, the result of the shock to
| tenn. At last. however. Clarke. the chief
and /. who. despite the fact that we
were the instruments of his undoing
ne regarded as his closest friends sat
by his bedside and heard the pitiful
tale. l will abridge ii to give the reader
only the points in the story which re-
manned mystery to us and must be
equally so to anyone following these
| lines.
Captain Graham first met the Coun-
tess Evelyn Scrymgour at house party
in Warwickshire. He had fallen deeply
in love with her at first sight and he
laid siege to her heart as persistently
as ever he followed rare specimen
of orchid. That she returned his love
| he was sure. but there was a restraint
in her relations with him that he could
|
hounds they found themselves far from
the pack. Night was coming on.
beautiful moonlit night that no lover
| could resist. AS they logged their
horses side by side along the bride
path he took her in his arms across
the saddle. She struggled feebly,
yielded and their lips met in one long.
passionate kiss. At last she freed her
| self and told her pitiful story. She
could not marry him. She could not
in honor say that she loved him. She
was already the wife of another. wed
ded before the registrar, although she
did not tell him this man was the
| Hon. Aisernon Sidney Hoppington.
The maria ge must be kept secret be-
cause if Hoppington married against
! the wishes or without the knowledge
and consent of the great-uncle in Amer
| lea he forfeited all right to his vast
estate. Yes, she had thought she loved
him, but now-but she might not say;
| honor sealed her lips.
This honor Graham respected, and he
accepted his fate like a man and sought
to forget her in long journeys attendant
| upon his chosen vocation. But Kismet
was too strong for them. Hopplngton
came into his fortune and left Eng
land to claim it. Then ensued long
silence in which his wife knew nothing
the papers. Had Graham returned to
England then a divorce and a happier
marriage might have followed, but he
was far off in the Philippines. At last
anger and a woman's curiosity to know
what was going on got the better of
her, and she determined to go to Chi
cago openly, and, If necessary, fight II
out there to the conclusion of a recog-
milton of her rights or an absolute di-
vorce.
Kismet brought Captain Graham to
Chicago at the same time to sell to
Hoppington the baby orchid. Kismet
placed them in hotels but a block
apart and Kismet engineered their
meeting on Michigan boulevard.
Would she share his box at the opera
that night? Yes, she had nothing to
conceal, nothing to be ashamed of. and
a neglected wife's right to do as she
pleased. If her husband was aware
of her presence in the city, he had not
intimated ii. Over the supper table
after the theatre she told him all. even
the name of the man who had ruined
her life.
Hang II, let's have it over with to-
nightp' blurted the captain. iii go
out there with you. Beastly hour to
| call, but i have the orchid, and that
will be sufficient excuse for my visit"
So she yielded to his plan and they
took a carriage and drove out to Hop
pington's home. laying their plans on
the way. They drove past the house
once before stopping. as there already
was a carriage at the door. AS they
did so they saw the door open and
Hoppington in the light bidding an
overaffectionate good night to a rather
| hashily dressed young woman, who
then flew down the steps. jumped into
the cab, and was driven quickly away.
And that" Lady Evelyn had said,
laying her hand on Captain Graham's
arm, lis why / en- cast off,
And that" again interrupted Clarke.
lis why he drugged his servants and
locked up his maids
Then they executed their coup. Cap
tain Graham went in first. leaving the
countess in the carriage and gaining
easy admittance through the potency
of the name of the baby orchid.
They bargained for awhile. and then
the captain got Hoppington out of the
room for a moment while he signaled
and admitted the countess. When Hop
pington returned he found himself face
to face with his wife. The orchid seller
was gone.