Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1910-06-23

letter to hairpin. How careless we
women are! Men seldom leave things
between the pages of books, but men
don't read as many books as women.
May 81.
The will has been found. l am heir
ess to a great fortune. have been
congratulated. l hinted to one of my
congratulators that ! shall be suspect
ed Of having poisoned uncle. He re-
piled that would at least have mil.
lions for Defense But that would not
remove the charge, the trial and the
stain to follow. The same person bade
me not worry. He says that detcc-
tives have been watching my every
act since the crime was committed
and they have admitted to not getting
a single item of evidence against me
I knew it. That woman who insisted
on coming in to make a dress for me
for song was one of them. That
man saw at so many places, In the
shops, on the street, everywhere, was
another. l am not reassured by the
person who has comforted me, but |
have finished my book and will go for
another. long to talk to my friend
the librarian about what is on my
mind. He has become my only conf
dant.
1 am electrified by a spark of hope.
This morning | received a letter ad-
dressed in a strange hand. l studied
the superscription a long while, but 1
could not make out from whom 1t
could be. 1t was postmarked as sent
from this town. Finally it occurred to
me to open it. l suppose l would have
done so before had my mind not been
so tortured by the frightful specter
that has been hanging over me. What
was my surprise to see at the bottom
Of the letter, "Your friend The Libra
rian."
This is what he says:
After talking with you yesterday went
home and, taking up a newspaper, read
detailed report of the doctors who were
deputed to. analyze the poison found in
the case OF your late uncle. Suddenly
my fingers released their grip on the pa
per, and 1t fell to the floor An idea had
flashed upon me, What a singular fac
ulty is memory, and how marvelously 1t is
awakened 1 remembered a wet. dismal
night a month ago when l was sitting at
my desk In the library, A young man, a
stranger to me. came in and asked for a
rare work OF a foreign author. Since IL
had never been called for before / should
not have remembered 1t except for its
rarity. l went to the shelf. where l
found 1t covered with dust, took 1t down
and gave 1t to the stranger.
1t was a treatise on poisons.
A group of events recorded in my brain
had Id ~.
chats with you as TO your uncle's death,
all l have heard about 1t and lastly this
report of the doctors-might not that book
contain mention of the poison reported by
them as having been used to kill your un-
Gle, and might not this In some way con-
meet this stranger With the murder? p.
l hurried to the library, found the book.
which had been returned. and opened it.,
You remember that the first day you
came here ! told you how many articles
are left carelessly between the leaves OF
returned books. Well, the book l opened
contained an instance OF this kind. Or
running over the leaves looking for men
ton of the poison named by the doctors
| found lying between two pages devoted
to a description of II and its effects a
soiled piece OF paper. On It was a note
written in peculiar hand referring te
the chapter and page on which this poi
son that killed your uncle was described
do to establish my find as a bit OF evi.
dence. i referred to the record OF thf
books withdrawal and found the name oil
the person who had withdrawn It. or al
least the name he had given. l also found
that the book had not been taken out
since he had taken II.
The volume. the bit of pa per-eY!dentll
slipped IN between the pages for a placf
mark and forgotten-and the record co g.
corning its withdrawal are now all in ehe
hands OF the police. | write this to you
before going to bed that with the mornias
light you may have a hope OF being re
lieyed of that unspoken suspicion that yGu
cannot but feel overshadows you.
Isn't it delightful? If it really turas
out that this man who seems to hay.
been so interested in this especial POI.
son killed uncle | shall be viudicateI
and rich
But it may turn out that he wished
the poison for another purpose. They
may never find him. If not at any
rate this Bit of evidence proves his
existence and diverts suspicion froW
me:
June %.
The young man who took the book
on poisons from the library has beer
arrested. The police have been long
while about it and would not have
succeeded in finding him had it not
been for the handwriting on his slip
used for a bookmark. The way 1t
came about was this Uncle has a
nephew, real nephew, his own sis
ter's son. have never before heard
Of him. He is a physician. He put
in a claim as next of kin for unclc's
estate. AS soon as the police heard
of this they secured a specimen of his
handwriting. 1t turned out to be the
same queer hand as that found in the
book
Sept 1S
The second part of the horror at
tending uncle's death is ended. thank
heaven. Yesterday the murderer re-
ceived his punishment. | did not
know ii till it was all over. 1t is all
so dreadful! l don't wish another for
tune to come to me in such an awful
way.
1t is my wedding day. And whom
am l to marry? Why, the man who
removed the cloud that hung over me
at the time OF uncle's death Isn't it
natural that l should appreciate such