Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1911-04-29

Edith rang the bell and seemed to
be thinking Perhaps we'd better
make it four small rugs instead of one
large one" she said.
"Not rug until you have told me
what Margery said" firmly.
= "Oh, that! Why, she said it really
didn't matter about the ring. She had
never cared much about it. anyway."
''But that's only a mat .er Of taste,''
l protested, somewhat disappointed.
But Edith got up and patted me on the
top of the head.
SILLY" she said. eff the right man
came along and gave her rubber
teething ring, she'd be crazy about it
for his sake"
Edith" Fred said, shocked. But
Edith had gone.
She took me upstairs before I left
for the Office to measure for the
Shirvan Edith being person who be-
lieves in obtaining thing while the
desire for it is in it's first bloom.
Across the hall Fred was talking to
Margery through the transom.
Mustard leaves are mighty helpful, .
he was saying. II always take 'em on
shipboard. And cheer up: lands in
sight
would have given much for Fred s
ease of manner when, few minutes
later. Edith having decided on four
Shirvans and a hall runner she took
me to the door. of Margery's room.
She was lying very still and white
in the center of the white bed, and
she tried bravely to smile at us.
!, 81 hope you are better" l said.
Don't let Edith convince you that my
coffee has poisoned you"
She said she was little better, and
that she didn't know she had had any
coffee. That was the extent of the
conversation. I, who have a local
of sort before a jury, l
could not think Of another word to say.
l stood there for minute uneasily,
with Edith poking me with her finger
to 60 inside the door and speak and act
like an intelligent human being. But
l only muttered something about busy
day before me and fled. 1t VISA sin
gular thing, but as stood in the door
way, l had a vivid mental picture OF
Edith's description of me, sitting up
puppylike to beg for kind word, and
wiggling with delight when | got it.
If skunk into my Office that morning
like dog scourged to his kennel,
Edith was responsible.
At the office found a note from
Miss Letitia, and after glance at 1t
I looked for the first train, in my rail
road schedule. The note was brief;
unlike the similar epistle had receiv-
ed from Miss Jane the day she disap-
peared, this one was very formal.
"Mr. John Knox:
Dear sir-Kindly oblige me by
coming to see me as soon as you get
this. Some things have happened,
not that think they are worth row
of pins, but Hepsibah is an old fool,
and she says she did not put the note
in the milk bottle.
"Yours very respectfully,
'Letitia Ann Maitland"
I had an appointment with Burton
for the afternoon, to take Wardrop, II
we could get him on some pretext, to
Doctor Anderson. That day, also, |
had two cases on the trial list. / got
Humphreys, across the hall, to take
them over, and evading HAYES re-
sentful blink, went on my way to
Bellwood. 1t was nine days since Miss
Jane had disappeared. On my way out
in the train jotted down the things
that had happened in that time; Allen
Fleming had died and been buried;
the Borough Bank had failed; some
one had got into the Fleming house
and gone through the papers there;
Clarkson had killed himself; we had
found that Wardrop had sold the
pearls: the leather bag had Deen re-
turned; Fleming's second wife mad ap-
peared, and some one had broken into
nv own house and Intentionally or
not, had almost sent Margery Flem-
ing over the borderland.
It seemed to me everything pointed
in one direction, to a malignitv against
Fleming that extended itself to the
daughter. I thought Of what the won-
an who claimed to be the dead mans
second wife had said the day before.
IF the staircase she had spoken Of
onened into the room where Fleming
was shot. and If Schwartz was in town
at the Time, IucIl, III VIZ" VI ASA ~.
that he had already tried once to Kill
him. the likelihood was that Schwartz
was at least implicated.
IF wardrop knew that, why had he
not denounced him? Was to believe
that after all the mystery, the number
eleven twenty-five was to resolve itself
into the number Of house? Would
# he typical of the Schwartz knew to
min bits of paper to mans pillow?
an the other hand, If he had reason to
think that Fleming had papers that
would incriminate him, 1t would be like
Schwartz to hire some one to search
for them, and he would be equal to
having Wardrop robbed Of the money
he was taking to Fleming.
Granting that Schwartz had killed
who was the woman
with Wardrop the night he was robbed
WHY did he take the pearls and sell
them? How did the number eleven
come into Aunt James pos
session? How did the leather bag get
to Boston? Who had chloroformed
Margery? Who had been using the
Fleming house while it was closed ?
Most important of all nowhere was
Aunt Jane?