Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1910-10-29
CHAPTER XXI.
Anne Watson's Story.

Liddy discovered the fresh break
in the trunkroom wall while we were
at luncheon, and ran shrieking down
the stairs. She maintained that, as
she entered, unseen hands had been
digging at the plaster; that they had
stopped when she went in, and she
had felt gust of cold damp air. In
support of her story she carried in
my wet and muddy boots that l had
unluckily forgotten to hide, and held
them out to the detective and myself.
What did 1 tell your she said
dramatically. Look at 'em. They're
yours, Miss Rachel-and covered with
mud and soaked to the tops. / tell
you, you can scoff all you like; some
thing has been wearing your shoes
AS sure as you sit there, there's the
smell of the graveyard on them. How
do we know they weren't tramping
through the Casanova churchyard last
night, and sitting on the gravesi"
Mr. Jameson almost choked to
death. 81 wouldn't be at all surprised
if they were doing that very thing,
Liddy," he said, when he got his
breath. They certainly look like it,
think the detective had a plan
on which he was working, but which
went so fast there was no time to
carry it 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-
did not care much about going
There is a sort of melancholy plea
| sure to be had out of a funeral, with
its pomp and ceremony, but 1 shrank
| from a death-bed However. Liddy
| got out the black things and the crepe
veil 1 keep for such occasions, and 1
went. 1 left Mr. Jameson and the
day detective going over every inch
| of the circular staircase, pounding,
| probing and measuring. 1 was inward
| ly elated to think of the surprise was
| going to give them that night; as it
| turned out, i did surprise them-al-
most into spasms.
1 drove from the train to the Chari-
ty hospital, and was at once taken
to ward. There, in a gray-walled
| room in high iron bed lay Mrs. Wat
son. She was very weak, and she
only opened her eyes and looked at
me when 1 sat down beside her. j
was conscience-stricken We had been
so engrossed that 1 had left this poor
creature to die without even a word
The nurse gave her a stfmulant
and in little while she was able to
talk. So broken and half-coherent
however, was her story that 1 shall
tell it in my own way. In an hour
from the time / entered the Charity
hospital had heard a sad and pitiful
narrative, and had seen a woman sir
into the unconsciousness that is only
step from death
Briefly. then, the housekeeper's
story was this:
She was almost 40 years old. and
had been the sister-mother of a large
family of children One by one they
had died, and been buried beside their
!. parents in a little town in the middle
west There was only one sister left
the baby, Lucy On her the older cir
! had lavished all the love of an impul
sive and emotional nature. Wher
Anne, the elder. was 30 and Lucy 1e
|, a young man had come to the town
| He was going east, after spending the
summer at celebrated ranch in WV
| oming-one of those places where
} wealthy men send worthless and dis
; sipated sons for a season OF temper