Evening star., 1909-06-27

shake their heads doubtf,lily. Her con-
versation was intimately of matters that
the country folk had read about and un-
derstood vaguely.
1 Celebrity in Eyes Of Natives.
/ But they took pride in this. that she
had made herself a celebrity in their
/ eyes at least. They took pride In the
fact that President Mckinley had enter
tanned her in the White House, that ex-
Secretary of the Treasury Gage came
over in a launch from Annapolis fire.
quently to see her and gave her great
| deal of money and that senators and
| representatives and diplomats had HAT
| tered the girl and perhaps turned her
| head.
| Their liking for her was cemented by
| her own graces of manner. You cannot
| doubt that she was magnetic and ami
able little creature after talking ten min
| utes to almost any man or woman you
meet on the street in Easton or this
town. There was nothing lofty or su-
| perior or stuck-up about Edith Thomp-
SON. Moreover, there was the mystery
of her birth to compel the imaginations
of the country people. a mystery that
| brought her much passive sympathy from
the day fifteen years ago, she arrived
here with "the new people from the
NORTH the Thqmpsons
! They We're not an old southern family
by any means. the Thompsons. They
| came to McDaniels from Indianapolis ana
settled on an estate they bought from a
man named Dearborn. who Is. or was, a
| railway official in Chicago.
| The eastern shore people heard at the
| time that Dearborn was close friend OF
| LYMAN j. Gage, and that 1t was through
Mr.. Cages suggestion that Col. Charies
A. Thompson bought the property from
child was Mr. Cages ward. and that he
| had become responsible for her educa-
! ton
Tongues that were inclined to wag on
| this subject were checked by the puoic
| sentiment of the county. 1t was nobody
business but the Thompson's, or, perhaps,
Mr.. Cages.
! Certainly 1t was never known here
| until today. and 1t would not have been
believed if told, that Edith was the lille.
gitimate daughter of Matthew Witz OF
Minneapolis and that her real name
was Anna Pearl WitZ. The truth is, Tai
| bot county doesn't think so now.
| AS the girl grew up, carried here ana
there over the world by Mrs. Ihomp.
| son. whose social position was certainly
not lessened on account of the ch1ld 5
remarkable talents and personal beauty,
| the county took more and more lnterese
| in Edith. Word came that she wa; a
| favorite of Mr. Mckinley, that she had
been guest in places that the county
rather doubted the existence OF untll
| they found one of their own NUMBER
| Mad been there, and that wherever she
! went she was petted by dlstingulshea
| men as q prodigy of brains and beauty
| They got so down here that they pointed
Edith out on the streets to strangers
| from the north pointing very CAUTIOUSLY,
| of course, and speaking in whispers. she
! was greater advertisement for the
county than the old colonial courthouse.
Roberts" Makes Friends.
| Then lately the man who called him
| self Emmett f. Roberts came into the
country. They gave him sympathy be-
cause of the twisted foot he dragged after
| him. They liked the mans honest face,
| for 1t ever a rascal looked with an open
| eye it was Lame Bob"
| He was merry; he was approachable: he
was always inviting somebody to drop IN
at his bungalow on Broad creek and drink
| his health. Always remembering that
| Talbot county has been dry as beetles $
| back for twenty years, that was an in
| vitation that had to be enjoyed to be ap-
preciated.
He bought and paid 500 for thumb
nail strip of ground by Broad creek, car
rying on the negotiations through the
| leading firm of lawyers in the county, old
| Gen. Seth's. fIe had ready cash and
he minded his business, two traits in a
stranger that go a long way down here.
| They did not seek to penetrate his re-
serve about his own affairs. Eastman
1
time. He became friends in particular
with George w. Taylor of Mcdaniel, tell
ing Taylor more than he did anybody else.
! The strangest feature of the whole trag-
| edy to the folk of Talbot county lies. not
SO much In the act of murder, the cum
ming devices of Eastman or the mystery
of the party where the ew York men
were guests. They think it lies in the
whole county whose lives had departed
| from the ordinary and everybody.
| Lame Bob's" acquaintance with Edith
Woodill was a matter of three weeks He
| met her when she returned here with
! her husband Gilbert Woodll of Los An
| geles, the automobile ma uufacturer. He
| became infatuated with her on the spot.
| But Eastman's methods were not those
| of the rustic swains. He was an old
| hand at the game, as crafty hunter of
| women as you can imagine. So he en-
tertained both husband and wife, talk
| ing more to the husband than to Edith
until the husband went away.
| There is every indication that she was
| bitten by the love of filtration at least
| though she had a cautious desire to pro-
| tect her reputation. That she met Lame
| Bob secretly more than once before the
night that brought her death is not to
| be doubted.
Dragged Of His Beauty.
| 1t is said that Lame Bob" Dragged to
| his New York friends about the beauty he
| had found in a swamp and invited them
down to have look at the girl who
| would make the best New York had to
| offer look like grimy Chinese god. 1t is
| apparent on the face OF things that Edith
woodill, little bored by the chirping
| of crickets and the eternal dullness of lie
| IN the country. was ready enough to go
| larking with Lame Bob's" friends.
Apparently she hesitated a little at first
When Eastman wrote asking her to meet
| his friends she replied with 1.-The dear
| Wobby" letter.
Cant come down. she wrote.
| Haven't even had my morning ablu-
| tions, and l know how men hate waiting.
Why, / would be afraid you would lear
| out the parlor rug plus your temper IL
you tried it. 1t is only an intermittent
| dellrium, anyhow and you had better go
and wash your dishes Even without
an imagination you know l must be
| thinking Of you
| And this she signed doll Baby
| later Edith was ready to go. She told
the Robinsons she was going to her dem
| lists in Easton.
| She sailed out in kind OF dress that is
| about as usual In Easton as a two-headed
pickanniny. She wore tailor-made linen
suit of the new ashes OF roses color. Her
| pumps were bronze and tied with wide
| bows of brown ribbon.
| Her hat was .iaring creation with
| plumes that matched the dress. Her
| waist was circled by belt of silk, which
was ornamented by a handsome metal
buckle, a present from an admirer in
| Paris.
! The last her girl friends saw OF her was
| that Saturday afternoon In Easton. She