The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1909-10-31
CHAPTER XXXII.
Anne Watson s Story,

Anne Watson's Story,
Liddy discovered the fresh break in
the trunk room wall while we were nj
! luncheon, and ran shrielling down the
stairs, She maintained that, as she
entered, unseen hands had been dig
ging at the plaster; that they bad
stopped when she went in. and she had
felt Il gust Of cold. damp air. I'm sup
port of her story she carried in my
wet and muddy boots, that / had un-
| luckily forgotten to hide. and held them
| ont TO the detective and myself.
"What did tell you.' she said
Dramatically "Look AT en-. They re
yours. Miss Rachcl-and covered with
mud and soaked to the tops. | tell
YOU, You can scott all YOU like; some
| thing has been wearing your shoes. As
sure as YOU sit there, there s the smell
of the graveyard on them. How do
we know they wercn Z tramping through
the Casanov churchyard last night, and
sitting on the graves!'
Mr., Jameson almost chollcd to death.
81 wouldn I be at ali surprised if they
were dong that very thing. Liddy.'i he
said. when he got his breath. ''Thcy
certainly look like it,.
I think the detective had plan, on
which be was working, and which was
meant to be a coup. But things went
so fast there was no time to carry ii
into effect. The first thing that oc.
CURED was a message from the Charity
| hospital that Mrs, Watson was dying,
and had asked for me. ] did not care
much about going. There is sort OF
/ melancholy pleasure TO be had out Of
a funeral. with its pomp and ceremony.
/ but | shrank from death-bed. How
ever L.iddv cot out the black things
and the Grape veil ] keep for such oc-
casions. and ] went. ] left Mr.. jamie
son and the day detective going over
every inch of lhc circular staircase,
pounding. probing and measuring !
was, inwardlv clated 10 think of the
surprise J was going 10 give them that
night, as it turned ont, / did surprise
them-almost into spasns.
] drove from the tram 10 the Charity
hospital. and WAS at once taken TO Il
ward. There, IN q gray-wallcd room in
high iron bed, lay Mrs. Watson. She
was very weak, and she only opened
her ewes and looked AT me when | sat
down beside her. / was conscience.
stricken. We had been so cngrossed
that | had left this poor creature TO
die without even n word of sympathy.
The nurse gave her stirnulant, and
i'm a little while she was able TO talk.
SO broken and half-coherent. however,
WAS her story that / shall tell il in my
own way. In IN hour from the time
entered the Charity hospital | had
heard sad and pitiful narrative, and
had seen Il woman slip INTO tho nncon-
Sciousncss that is only = step from
death.
Briefly. then, The houseIeepcr's story
was this:
She was almost forty years old. and
lad been the sistcrmoihcr of large
family Of children. Ono by ono they
bad died, and hccu buried beside their
parents iu liitlc town iii tho middle
west There WAS only ono sister left,
The baby. Lucy. on her tho older girl
had lavishcd all the love of an impuI-
eiyc and emotional nature. When Arnc,
thc elder. was thlrty-twO and Lucy was
nineteen. = Young man mad como to Inc
town. lie was going east, after spend
ing the summer nj q celebrated ranch
i'm Wyoming-0nc of those places where
wealthy ren send worthless aud dIssi-
natcd sons, for Il season of temperance.
fresh air aud hunting. The sisters, Of
course. knew hing OF thus and the
vpun" man : ardor rather carried them
AWAY. In Il word, seven years before.
Lucy Ilaswcll had married Young man
whose name was gwen as Aubrey Wal
lace,
Auuc Haswcl had married car
pentcr in her native town. aud was
widow. For three months everything
went fairly well. Aubrey took his
bride 10 Chicago. where they lived at
a hotel Perhaps tho very unsuphlSti-
cation that had charmed him in Valley
Mill larred on hm ~ the CITY. lie
had been far from a model husband,
even for the three montbs, ind VIXEN
hc disappeared Anne was almost thank
frL Ii wns different with the young
wife. however. She dropped aud fret,
ted, and on the birth Of her bahy boy
she he'd dicd Ammo tool, the child. and
mined him Luci"n.
Auuc had nr children of her own.
nrd OH I.Gcicn she had iayishcd all her
phorlcd maternal instinct. On one
thing she was determine |. however
that was thai Aubrey Waliacc should
educate his boz, II was part of her
devotion 10 tn" child tbat she should
Inc ambitious for him: hc must have
rvcr,, np"or,untv. And SO she canc
east she jiiltcd around. doing rlain
, sowing rud kccniug 4 home somewhere
plwavs FOR tEc boy. FINALLY. hnwcvcr,
she realized AG&f e~ only t"'ning had
been domestic aud she put the boz in
IN FriScuraiian hTmc. and secured he
vo,it ION OF huusckcepcr tn Ire = an
s,qor.s. There she found i.uc,. s
I Gather. this time under his own name.
! II was Arnold Armstrong.
I | gathered thnt there was no particu
| lar cnwitv at that time IN Anne : mind.
4. She fOld him of ihc boy. End threatened
| oxnosurc If he did not nrovidc for him.
| Indcci, for : time, lie did so. Then he