Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-09-26
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
The Story Told.

1T is nearly a year now since Phil
ander Summerfield met death at my
hands, and. as my nephew, Harrison Mil
brath, is still held for the crime, 1 am
constrained to put upon paper a full
and truthful account of the circumstances
Of the case, and of those that led up to
1t. For II Harry is again condemned to
die, and no loophole of escape Is made
for him otherwise. must let the truth
be known to the world. But it shall be
only upon my own death.
The beginning of conditions that cul-
minated last year In a tragedy was as
far back as 10. when l lost little Roland.
my seven-year-old son. No one who has
not been similarly placed can understand
my grief at that time, for his mother
and he were the only persons on earth
whom I had ever loved.
las boy / was known as imaginative,
clever, adaptable. but never as lovable
or aHectionate. AS man lived through
many years of bachelorhood without once
feeling my heart warm or grow tender
for any Of the comely maidens about me,
many of whom. no doubt. would have
been glad, or willing, at least to become
Mrs. Somhers for the sake of the social
position which my family held. and for
the wealth to which / was heir. II not
for love of the young man who was l.
Finally. In my fortieth year met Ade-
laide. and for the first time knew the
married twelve months after our first
meeting, and. in the following year, little
Roland came. To him l was cold at first.
for had not his life almost cost that of
lisping 'Dadda my heart was won, and
from that hour all that i cared for in
life vas held In two fraii forms.
with Roland's death. then. there came
an apathy. an indifference to everything
for a time. and then-reaction.
I'VE were stopping for the summer at
the Ocean Hotel in Newport. and among
the guests was one who laid claim to be-
Ing q spirituaiistic medium. l believed
in her at the time. but now know that
she was a humbug who played upon the
credulity Of poor. earth-tied worms such
~ !.
adelaide encouraged my interest in the
woman's claims. for she thought she saw
In It an awakening for me. though In
looking back upon that time l think that
she was less credulous than /.
"Well, that was the beginning. In the
next few years ] spent thousands OF dol
lars upon mediums who gave me com
munications from my boy. Then. sud.
denly that structure gave way. for l de-
tected q medium in fraud.
II had given In to a partial reconcilia-
ton to our loss and / saw how l had
been deluded from the first. But in
those years I had become a restless man.
with . craving for the new and exciting
ana nothing satisfied me for long
Then Adelaide died-quite unexpected
ly after Q days illness. and from the
hour Of her death 1or six weeks l was q
maniac In the grip Of delirium.
'As soon as l was strong enough to bt
about again l was seized with desire
to travel, and II was upon my first triI
after that that met Mr.. and Mrs. Bliss
and their young son. There was some
thing about that lad that appealed to me
He was not like my Roland. yet there
was In him a suggestion Of the same
temperament
nay only sisters child. whom took Il
live with me when he became an orphan
some years later. Harry's incessant boy
ieh garrulity. his hilarity. his irrespons
hility irritated me continually. com
pared him perpetually with Roland. ant
asked myself over and over what 1usfic.
there was in a Higher Power that would
take away from parents who waited upor
his very breathing such boy as no
rand and leave lad like Harry, whom
there were none left to love. l neve
felt affection for the boy, as / hav'
shown, but by constantly comparing hin
with my Roland. ! learned to hate him
Yes; hate is the word.
II had grown irritable with age. ant
I found satisfaction at times in making
Harry suffer. To such degree can W.
influence the mind that after a time tn
very sight of the boy reused demon
within me-a force which could be ex
cited by no other person with whom
came in contact, or ever had
about the time that Harry was lef
to me / wearied of constant travel ant
having bought Overlook several year