Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1911-01-21

lax y ago. But for its ending,
ElZAS this drama would be
classed as a tragedy of the darkest
hue. And perhaps the end is not yet.
In England 20 years ago, there lived
Alice Louise Brown. The Browns
have been shoemakers for many gen
erations, and jeremiah Brown, Alice's
father, still makes the shoes for the
parish of Medomsley, county of Dur
ham, and practically the entire coun-
tryside. 1t was in Medomsley that
Alice lived until she became a woman
and it is in Medomsley that this tale
had it's beginning. Like any thrifty,
weIl-raised English maid, Alice was
trained in all the domestic arts from
girlhood. She could cook and was
perfect housekeeper. Besides all this
she was pretty. 1t is little wonder
then that she was the belle of the
county and that her hand was sought
by half the young men of the parish.
Her beauty and goodness of heart
made her almost a queen among the
simple folk of Medomsley and it is still
| told there how Alice was halted on the
! highway one day by the lord and lady
| of the manor and how she once stayed
| at their great house for weeks But
that is another story.
There was In Medomsley in the fall
of the year 1889 Frank Milburn,
sailor lad from Liverpool. He was not
| handsome nor was he possessed of
| worldly goods in excess. Yet there
existed a singular fascination of per-
sonality about the man that enthralled
the heart of the country maid. Never
having known love, Alice Brown felt
the power of the man and when he
1T
tentions and they became engaged.
Perhaps 1t was done rather in spirit
of pride at having conquered the heart
of the stranger that led her on. At
any rate the engagement continued
and in February. 1890. they were mar
ried.
| Short Term of Happiness.
Until then Milburn's actions had
been exemplary. His manner had won
not only the heart of the girl but of
her father and mother and brothers
and sisters besides. The couple went
to live in a nearby town of the same
parish and for a time all was content
ment and happiness. Although Mil
burn did not work, he seemed always
to have money enough for their simple
needs, and Alice, Sirllike-she was not
yet twenty-nevef stopped to worry
about the source.
Then the trouble began. One day q
few months after the wedding an off
Ger from another county appeared al
the door of the little home with a war
rant for the arrest of Milburn for E
penal offense committed a year before
in distant part of Britain.
Shame and CONSERVATION took pos
session of the girl wife when she
learned the officers mission That hel
husband, whom she had trusted so i'm
plicitly and thoroughly, could be guilt,
of crimei She knew not where t.
turn for help. Finally she allowed tn,
officer to enter and tottered faintinl
into chair. This was Milburn's op
, portunity- In the rear of the littl,
: house he had been listening to tn,
, conversation and when the officer
filled with pity by the sight of tn
, girls trouble, stopped to assist her
Milburn silently and swiftly departed.
{ Evaded Clutches of Law.
l When Alice regained consciousness
: and the man with the papers turne
his attention to the completion of tn
business that had led him all owe
, England, his prey had disappeared AZ
: cording to English law, however, tn
J. home of the accused, he was sentence
I to Imprisonment for five years /
4 South Shields jail Since that tim
r Milburn. although much of his tim
n has been spent in England. has evade
S the English police.
I Alice returned to her fathers HON
q in Medomsley. Her heart was broker
Although treated kindly by her famil
and her old associates, she knew ths
all was changed. Love for Milbur
she had none. and now that he We
; gone. calm reflection told her that sh
l. never had loved him. Yet the though
:, of him filled her with a strange sens
5 ton Terrible were these thoughts an
yet she longed to see and talk to hin
To this day she cannot explain the n
L ture of the mans weird power owe
l. her, yet it was always present
II After while time soothed her hea
II and she began to see some degree
Y happiness in the future with her bal
e girl, Emaline. who had been boz
. after MiIburn's departure She begs
: to forget. in measure. the man who's