Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1911-08-04
Copyright by American Press Asso-
citation. 1911.

1
"What a curious keyr' she remarked
after awhile. 81 wonder what door It
fits" Whereupon Pauline Fones, who
was ordinarily the least curious OF
young women, deliberately tried to ht
that key into every keyhole In the
apartment. not even emitting the chif-
foniers and the refrigerator.
Mrs. Zones was bafIled in her ef-
fort to find a keyhole TO fit the brass
KEY, and now she sat down, warm ana
rather out of sorts. to examine the
thing. 1t was of quaint design, with
n long slender shank terminating In
twisted handle. Complicated, indeed,
must be the lock which this key fitted.
Perhaps It was the key TO some piece
Of furniture in the railroad office,
where her husband was assistant to
the claim agent, and so she laid 1t
aside and tried TO forget all about 1t.
But all sorts Of unwelcome thoughts
crowded her brain as she went to and
fro. and she could not repress n shud-
der each time she passed the shining
key.
Before she sat down to solitary
luncheon Pauline determined TO ban
ish the specter of suspicion that
haunted her now. to her own diSmay.
She carried the brass key to the
clothes press and dropped II in the
pocket of the blue serge coat with Il
little hugh AT her own foolishness In
distrusting such simple, open mind
ed man as Henry was. As she with
drew her hand her fingers toached Il
bit of paper. and Pauline bluShed ms
she found herself drawing out several
yellow kilograms fastened together
with brass clip
She read the first message. that on
top of the pile, and sank down upon
the nearest chair with frightened
cry. Her suspicious had not been
groundcSs What was this dreadful
thing her husband had done-was
about to do?
The MESSAGE stood out clcarly-nay,
It bla2ed in her dismayed eyes:
J. Henry Zones Sending body today
Wire II you can use IT, Fair condition
RINLkY
The other kilograms referred TO the
same grewsome subject: other bodies
had been sent. some in fine condi
ton" others badly broken" still 9th.
ers bad, beyond repair"
The first one, however, bore the date
of the day before and her husbands
sudden departure for a vague "out OF
| town" destination furnished a clew tC
the messages. Her husband had APP
| peared embarrassed when she pressed
| him for reason for his sudden de
| parture: now she recollected that these
| mysterious absences had been occur
ring with greater frequency as the
spring advanced
He had been looking haggard ant
| careworn of late, and he had complain
ed of being dead tired day after day
| Was all the mystery TO be disclosed b!
the finding of the brass key and thu
| discriminating kilograms? She mus
| find Henry ut once and beg him. per
suade him, to cease this horrible tratti,
in Pauline ahuddered and closed he
eyes.
| But not for long. She was pluck.
little woman. and now that her eye
were opened she lost no time In seek
ing her husband.
Her first act was to telephone hi
| .~aH
telegram would reach the assistan
claim agent. The reply made he
j heart beat faster as she hastily dress
ed herself to go out:
"Mr. Fones is at Cliffedge-you cal
reach him today or tomorrow by wir
If it Is personal matter"
at is personal" said Pauline.
Cliffedge-of all places! That littl
summer resort on the shore where sh
and Henry had hoped to build cot
tage some day. What was he dom
there, unless-unless this awful bus
ness was transacted in that peacefu
spot?
Quite convinced that her husban
| was ilSuIt, 4 Dui
chased ticket for Cliffedge an
fastened to the side Of that unfortu
nate man In her hand bag were tn
brass key and the bunch OF telegra ms
1t was a brief half hours ride
Cliffedge. and she was glad to leav
the stuffy coach and emerge into tn
crisp, salt laden air Of the seashore .
short ride In the long stage. n heslta
ing inquiry of the red faced driver, an
she was SGT down Mt the end Of n Ion
plank walk that skirted the beach
"Foller thnt walk and you'll find NJ
Fones down TO his cottage-lt's the las
one In the row and sets off by itself,
advised the driver rs he whipped u
his horses ind left her standing Their
forlorn little figure weighted by ,
errible secret
The cottages were empty. for 1t wa!
The month of May and the season hat
been backward, but the last cottage II
the row bore unmistakable signs o
occupancy.
1t was the sweetest cottage-the yer,
{ 2ottage she and Henry had dreamed o
building She had seen the plan II
her favorite magazine and cut 1t on
md pasted it in little scrap book sh
had compiled from various advertise
s .uents of house furnishings and illus
, trated articles on seaside homes.
= Now it was before her. What maley
olent distemper had prompted her hus
band to select her house of dream