The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1909-09-08

know Wnere 10 IND me when you want
me-" And without more ado the de-
tective went out.
Mr.. Ransom remained alone and in
no enviable frame of mind. He was
distrustful Of himself. distrustful of
the man who had made al this trou-
BILE, and diStrustful of her, though he
would not acknowledge it. Every
baser instinct in him drove him to
the meeting he declined. To see the
man-to force from him the truth,
seemed the only rational thing to do.
But the final words of his wifes let
ter stood in his way. She had ad-
vlsed patience. Yes, he would give
her day. That was time enough for
a man suffering on the rack of such
an intolerable suspense-one day.
But even that day did not pass
without breaks in his mood and more
than one walk in the direction of the
st. Denis Hotel. In the evening it was
the same, but the next morning he re-
NAMED steadfastly at his hotel. He
had laid out his future course in
these words: 'I will extend the time
to three days; then If I do not hear
from her I will get that wry-necked
fellow by the throat and twist an ex-
planation from HIM" But the three
days passed and he found the situa-
ton unchanged. Then he set as his
limit the end Of the week. but before
the full time had elapsed he was ad.
vised by Gerridge that he himself was
being followed in his turn by a couple
OF private detectives; and while still
under the agitation of this discovery
was further disconnected by having
the following communication thrust
into his hand in the open street by a
young woman who succeeded in los.
ing herself in the crowd before he had
got so much as good look at her.
You can judge of his amazement as
he read the few lines it contained.
Read the papers tonight and
forget the stranger at the st.
Denis.
That was all. But the writing was
hers. The hours passed slowly till
the papers were cried in the street.
What Mr.. Ransom read in them in.
creased his astonishment, l might say
his anxiety. 1t was paragraph about
his wife. an almost incredible one.
running thus:
A strange explanation is given
OF the disappearance of Mrs.
Ransom on her wedding-day. AS
our readers will remember. she
accompanied her husband to the
hotel, but managed to slip away
and leave the house while he still
stood at the desk. This act, for
which nothing in her previous
conduct has in any way prepared
her friends, is now said to have
been due to the shock of hearing.
some time during her wedding.
day, that sister whom she had
supposed dead was really alive
and In circumstances of almost de.
grading poverty. AS this sister
had been her own twin the effect
upon her mind was very serious.
To find and rescue this sister she
left her newly made husband in
the surreptitious manner already
, recorded in the papers. That she
is not fully herself is shown by
her continued secrecy as to her
whereabouts. All that she has
been willing to admit to the two
persons she has SO far taken into
her confidence-her husband and
the agent who conducts her affairs
is that she has found her sister
and cannot leave her. Why, she
does not state. The case is GER
talnly curious one and Mr.. Ran
som has the sympathy of all his
friends.
Confused, and in state of mind
bordering on frenzy, Mr. Ransom re. :
turned to the hotel and sought refuge
In his own room. He put no conf.
dence In what he had just read; he
regarded it as q newspaper story and
great fake; but she had bid him
read 1t, and this fact in itself va
very disturbing. For how could she
have known about it il she had not
been its author, and if she was its
author, what purpose had she expect.
ed it to serve!
He was still debating this question
when he reached his own room. ca
the floor, little way from the sill, lsy
a letter. 1t had been thrust under the
door during his absence. Lifting Il In
some trepidation, he cast a glance at
Its inscription and sank staggering
into the nearest chair, asking himself
II he had the courage to open and read
1t. For the handwriting, like that of
the note handed him in the street.
was Georgian's, and he felt himself
IN maze concerning her which made
everything in her connection seem
dreamlike and unreal. 1t was not