The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1910-11-11

- Heard Sad am
digging az the plaster; that they had
stopped when she went in, and she
mad felt q gnst of cold damp air. In
support Of her story she carried In
my wet and muddy boots, that | had
uniucklly forgotten to hide, and held
them out to the detective and myself.
What did tell your she said
dramatically. Look at en-. They're
yours, Miss Rachel--and covered with
mud and soaked to the tops. tell
you, you can seoif all you like. some.
lhinS has been wearing your shoes.
~ sure as you sit there, there's the
smell q the graveyard on them. How
do we know they weren't tramping
through the Casanova churchyard last
night and sitting on the graves!"
Mr. Jameson almost ehoked to
death. 7 wouldn't be at all surprised
Y they We're doing that very thing
Liddy he said. when he rot bia
breath They certainly look like it,"
! think the detective had a pIan
on which he was working, but which
was meant 10 be coup. But things
went so fast there was no time 10
carry Il into effect. The first thing
that occurred was a message from
the Charity hospital that Mrs. wat.
son was dying and had asked for me.
ala not care much about going
Fhere Is 4 sort of melancholy plea.
sure 90 be had out of funeral with
rs pomp and ceremony. but I sbrank
IRON a death'bed, However, Liddy
got out the black things and the creme
ven ! keep for such occasions, and
went left MIR. Jameson and the
day detective going over every inch
OF the circular staircase, pounding
probing and measuring. I was inward.
~ eiated 10 think of the surprise was
going 10 give them that night, ma n
turned out, I did surprise them--aI.
most Into spasms.
drove from the train to the Chart.
" hospital, and was at once taken
to ward. There. In a gray.walIed
room In high iron bed. lay Mrs Wat.
son She was very weak and sba
only opened her eyes and looked nj
me ~hen ! sat down beside her I
was conscfenee.stricken, We had hean
80 engrossed that | had left this moor
creature To die without even a wnrd
OF sympathy
me nurse gave her a stimulant
and IN q little while she was AHA 10
talk So broken and half.oobarant
however, was her story that ! SHAH
tell II ia my oTn way. In an hnry
from the time | entered the Charity
hospital | had heard sad and nftig,,I
narrative and had seen a woman civ
into the Inconsistencies that Is ontv
u step from death
briefly, then. the housekaspar.s
story was this:
She was almost 40 years old and
had been the sister,mother Of n lar,,,
family at children, One by one thev
had died, aud been buried beside their
parents In little town In the mfa1I.
west There was only one sister leFt
tht oaby, Lucy, On her the older girl
had lavtshed all the love of an imnul. |
siYe and emotional nature. When !,
Anne, the elder, was SO and Lucy 10 |
young man had come TO tho tow, |
Ito was going east, after spending the
summer at a celebrated ranch In Wv. |
outng~one of those places where /
wealthy men send worthless and ais.
stpated sons for season of tpmnar.
anee, fresh sir and hunting, The |
sisters, OF course, knew nothing OF
this, and the young mans ardor rath.
er carried them away In a word. /
seven years before. Lucy Haswell had
married yourg man whose name was
given as Aubrey Wallace.
Anne naswen had married a car,
penter in her native town and was a
widow, For three months everything
went fairly we'll. Aubrey took his
pride TO Chicago. where they lived AT
a hotel, Perhaps the very uusophisti. |
cation that had charmed him In Val. /
ley Mill Jared on him In the city He
had been far from a model husband /
even for the three months. and when
ne disappeared Anne was almost
thankful II was different with the
Young wife, however. She drooned
and fretted, and on the birth of her
oany boy she had died. Anne took the
child and named him Lucien.
Anne had had no children of her
own, and on Lucien she had IavIsbel
all her aborted maternal instinct. On
one thing she was determined. how.
ever; That was that Aubrey Wallace
should educate his boy. Ii was MARI
OF her devotion to the child thar she
should be ambitious for him. he /