Catoctin clarion., 1910-01-20
ABLACK HAND LETTER
ey M. QUAD.


wrong of 1t. He had permitted and
tacitly encouraged young MIR. Herbert
to visit the house and listen to his war
stories and fall in love with his daugh-
ter Janet. and then when he asked FOR
her hnnd he had drawn himself stittiy
up and replied
ut cannot be. sir! am Of the army,
sir, and. though retired OH half pay ny
a grateful country. once Of the army
always of the army. My dearest hope
IL for Janet to marry a colonel IN ac-
tive service. | shall speak to her at
once Sir--at once
Janet" the major said the next day
to his daughter. there must be no
more Of this nonsense between you
and young Herbert
That was all The major congratu-
lated himself that his order would be
oleyed. and Miss Janet put on look
and assumed the attitude Of broken
hearted girl not long for this world
The mother became worried and pro-
tested. and the major became u little
bit anxious and talked about spring
tonics though he had no iGyh OF coun-
termnnding his order All might huve
gone well If the grocer who supplied
the house hadn't called his delivery
boy Il slouch and lazybones ana II
the said boy hadn't fired up and quit
his lob Another took his place just as
Miss Janet wanted to send note to
her lover real bad The change OF
boys perpexpd her for moment. ana
she hadn't time to go into explanations
further than TO hand him the missive
nnd 10 cents and mention Mr. Herbert
The boy grinned and nodded. and the
wagon ratified away. aud ten minutes
later he was perusing the letter Ills
name happened to be Herbert. and ne
happened tU be u vain boy. and he rur-
thpr happpned to believe that Miss
Janet had got struck on him. 1t was
n proud moment for him. for he al
rendy had another girl on the string.
She worked in shirt factory. anu
she wasn't tony girl. but he loved
her He was also Jealous OF her, ana
now was his chance to get even.
Mr.. Herbert did not get the note IN
tended for him: Miss Janet did not get
a reply as expected: the mother sa"
new cause to believe that her daughter
was not long for this world. ana 'he
major sighed and wished that some
one would come In aud listen 10 MS
war stories. That grocers boy nad
brought butter. eggs and potatoes. Dut
he had left load of carking care De-
hind him. Next morning brought
sonnet, hing like II sudden thuhderclhp'
Miss Janet received Il letter naiied ut
the village poslothce the night preNi-
ous II WAS Ill spelled and was not
cupituIiZed or punctuated al All. IL
was signed BLACK Ham,. ana II CON
tnined some dire and awful threats.
If she did not change her course she
would be shot. stabbed. dubbed. Doiieo
In oil and die many other ways. II
WAS TO be a first and hast warning, ana
there were many 'bewares III u.
Janet was frightened, her lnothef WAS
more so. and the major swore by the
bloody sword he had used at Gettys'
Of the mystery II he had to call OUT
the entire army of the United States.
The village marshal wns consulted.
and he struck II clew. That Gle" leu
10 tin peddler, who tainted away
when arrested. Other clews were
struck and followed. and before night
of the first day five persons had been
bauIpd to the lookup he BiacR Haiu
had reached Clifton at last. but II Wals
to be rooted out forthwith. On the
second morning after receiving the lei
ter Janet saw the grocers boy al the
back door again. and rs she took
bnnch of asparagus from his hands she
fosnd Il missive with 1t and also re.
ceived a wink from him She passed
the wink by and ran up t. her room
with the letter IN Il moment she mad
the Black Hand by the throat. u
showed her your luv letter to me-,
read the letter. land she took on aw'
ful She was jeIus. and | guess she
wrote you last mite. Don't mluu her'
| will shake her for you.
Herbert. the groctrs boy. had taken
over the ownership of the nlisSive Tor
Herbert. the lover. He had shown II 10
the shirtnaker, and her jealousy had
been aroused. She IL was who hau
written the BLACK Han" letter Major
Cleveland was plunging around ana
telling the whole town what he was
going to do when his daughter put him
on the right track. He rushed of to
see the shirtmaker aud frightened her
into owning up. and he had returned
home to tell what punishment was to
be inflicted when Miss James inquired:
papa, do you want everybody to
think am in love with that grocer's
boyy"
by heavens. nor' he shouted.
"Or that shirtmaker Is Jealous OF
your daughterT'
Don't talk that way"
."The note wrote was to Mr.. Her
bert, the lawyer. The grocer's boy has
the same name. and he thought II was
for him. Can't you see that you had
best drop the matter at once?'
but the village marshal has arrest
ed five persons and Is after others
"Rut he can let them GO"
but told you to have nothing more
to do with that Herbert"
"And is it right that all you have
gone through MS brave soldier should
be kept locked in your own bosom =:
Can't you see how much better II
would be to drop this Black Hand busi'
ness and it's gossip and invite Mr.. Her
bert up to hear you tell how you took
the enemy in flank al South Noun
tain?"
'rhe major thought 1t over. and Mr.
Herbert was invited to return. and a.