Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1911-11-02
CHAPTER xxIII.
THE STORY

Il was not until l untO'oeu y 80
ord 1t the breakfast table. next rnofn-
sns hat + fally appreciated Gcdfrey's
tr. mendous activity. had AWAY
known. Of course. that he was ener-
setic. interchangeable. and fertile OF eA.
pedient. but his results. remarKaoie %
they often were. were usually acn'ssoa
with such apparent use INA. r W
right hard work which lay back VI
them. Now. as l looked over the paper
before me. I understood ana WohoeISu.
I had left him at 10 o'clock the nign.
before. with the mystery stu unsolvSu
and seemingly unsolvable, TOT she t tn
blank wall. Yet here before me was
the story. An entire page was devoteo
to it-and an astonishing story IT was'
written with verve and ~vividness com.
plete In every detail. and iAustra'e1
with photographs and sketches Oh al.
the Kingdom cottage, the grave IN tue
cellar. the Kingdom sisters. muir
dered man. the pearl handled revolver
even the coroner and the chief OF
police. Many OF the photographs nae.
Of course been collected the Gay CeLo lore
used in the afternoon edition. put mere
they were welded into a homogeneous
whole complete and satisfying.
could fancy the city editors Of the
other morning papers turning green
with envy AS they read 1t.
stood, more clearly than I had ever
done, the wide appeal OF the yellow
press-it paid for the best talent In the
market: 1t handled its matters IN a
way to attract attention.: 1t told IT'S
stories in a style incisive and easily
comprehensive, and added the visual
appeal of pictures. which gave the su-
preme touch OF reality. And It got the
news. Abstractly. I am anything but
an admirer Of the yellow press; con-
cretely. I ave often found that to get
the last detail Of any event-more es-
tional Or mysterious side-l must have
to its columns, just as l had
to them now.
AS l read on, l marvelled more and
more at the system which rendered
possible h securing of all these de-
Godfrey had called it.: superhunlan. l
would have said. and I determined that
he should some day introduce me to 1t.
He had run down Parello, unmasked
him, aid him bare i'll all his treachery
and vileness: h whole sordid. terribl.
Of Harriet Kingdoms sufferings and
abasement. I did not wonder thai she
had shot down the brute who was try
ing to drag her back to them. Some
of the de.ails. l knew. Godfrey must
have filled in for himself. since there
could be no way u verifying them at
this late day; but they fitted SO closely
with the rest Of the structure hat
there could be no doubt OF thoir ss-
sential truthfulness.
Such. for instance. was the detaii of
their meeting. Parello nae been a
ly guessed that he must have net
Harriet Kingdom and become a.
Quainted with her at the house where
hi was employed as governess. The
rest of the story could be easily built
up. He was a handsome and magnetic
fellow. she a passionate and attractive
He has struck a chord In her
which she could not but obey. He had
seemed then to have a future befor-
him: the brave exterior gave no hint
of the %rottenness within. He had that
grandiloquent way Of speaking Of the
future which is characteristic of the
Latin races-that sublime faith in him
self which needed no justification. He
had impressed himself upon her as u
genius who would n day astonish thu
world: and If he had certain assertive
peculiarities which Jared disagreeably
at times, why. was not all genius so?
IL began by admiring him: h ended
by yielding to him. No doubt she
fancied that she was hitching her
wagon to a star.
Whether there has been a marriage
was not certain: Godfrey believed there
had been. At any rate. Parello had In
PRODUCED her to his friends as his wife.
and. for a time, all vent we'll. Then
the devil in h man cropped out. H,
was naturally incident. He quit teach
ing under the pretext that he wished
to compose a masterpiece. and forced
her to support him. No doubt h ever
yet believed in him; but he dragged her
down to depths unspeakable. tranplins
her into h very mire of the Italian
colony.
At last, he brought his real wife
from Italy to live with him. This
swarthy vixen had added new torrents
to the unfortunate girls position, had
devised new insults for her, and the
end had been Bloomingdale. UP TO the
very last, such was the nature OF the
woman. h had continued to love the
man. contented to be his dog. his slave
for h privilege Of being near him
Doubtless all this time her mind was
weakening. n she chung to him out
o. old h"bit But with the s,dden ac
cesston of madness, hate had blazed UT
tempted to stab him. He had called
the police and h had been dragged
away. cursing. shrieking. a spectacle
to shake the strongest nerves. II
was In that struggle that he had los,
the end Of his little finger. She had
seized 1t between her teeth and bitter
1t clean through. From a woman she
had changed into a monster.
Blu insanity OF this type usual,
yields to treatment: and though Har.
riet Kingdoms case proved to be o.
unusual obstinacy. patience and care.
full nursing triumphed In the end. ant
reason vas restored to her. Restored
that is. as life is restored to a mar
striker with heart disease; resting
not on the Arm foundation Of assured
health. hut on a delicate halancI