The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1911-06-30

Ny Invisible
Client
Began to Serve Her by an
Illegal Proceeding
BY R. Forsythe Emery
Copyright by American Press Asso.
-Inkl~- S0NS
BY R. Forsythe Emery
Copyright by American Press Al
citation, 1911.

evening" was t~WeuIy.SeVeu ySdIS Oa0
| at the time-while 1t was still daylight
I was sauntering on q thoroughfare
lined with dwellings. Passing under q
window situated but a few feet above
my head 1 heard q woman's voice pro-
nounce my name in a tone almost In
audible. stopped and looked up.
From between the Stats came the
words:
Il want a lawyer"
All being dark within, I could e
nothing. s,t
"How do you know that I am q law
yer?" I asked. How can I serve your
There was no reply. l listened. but
could hear nothing more. There was
but one Interpretation. Some n must
have entered the room whose presence
put an end to the conversation. l
waited a few moments; then. thinking
that my lurking there under the win
dow might compromise my Invisible
client, I walked on.
The next evening and the next for
several days l strolled by the house at
the same hour and even loitered a few
moments under the window, but not a
whisper came from behind the blinds.
formed many theories as to what
had occurred. 1t was evident that
some one-the voice seemed to belong
to a young woman-was detained un-
willingly. But why? To this there
were many possible answers. There.
was one that caused me to doubt the
expediency Of pursuing the matter any
further. The person might be feeble
minded-perhaps insane. If this were
true 1 would make a mistake, doing
great injury to my client as well as
myself, by an interference.
I am a methodical man and determin.
ed to begin methodically at the be-
ginning. must learn from the out
side who occupied the house. then
something about the occupants. I
hired a boy to watch the premises at
that hour III the morning when trades.
men deliver provisions, note the names
on the wagons calling and make a list
Of them. In this way ! easily secured
several firm names, n Of a grocer OF
whom I bought my own supplies. and
he gave me the name of the person to
whom be sent goods at the premises
in question. 1t was Miss Elizabeth
! Markley. a rich lady about fifty years
old.
My next move was to obtain permits
sion of the grocer to go on his. wagon
and deliver goods myself. Putting on
old clothes, I did so. took a basket OF
provisions into the kitchen and by
chatting. with the cook learned that
the occupants were Miss Marley and
her niece. Miss Irene Benham, a girl
! between seventeen and eighteen. This
was all the information I could secure.
but 1t was enough for q beginning. II
Miss Markley was rich I might be able
to find something through records of
her property-that is. II 1t we're real
estate. l went to the Offices OF the
receiver of taxes, but the name Eliz-
abeth Markley was not on his list. It
occurred to me to look for the name
of .Benham. and I found 1.-The estate
of Adoniram Benham. deceased" Here
was q pointer. II Irene Benham was
heir to this property it was possible
that her aunt was holding her a pris-
oner while she was attempting to get
her estate into her own hands. At the
court Of chancery l was shown the
will Of Adoniram Benham. and the
case was plain. Irene Benham was
helr to property worth about half a
million. x5
II Miss Marley were wicked enough
to fulfill the theory I bad formed OF
her It would be necessary to eight her
with fire. I dare not make any open
move whatever lest she should; remove
her niece to some hiding place where
she could not be found. ] must get
into c%landestine communication with
Miss Benham.
bought a book suitable for q, pres.
ent to a young lady, prettily illustrat-
ed. and sent 1t to her through the mail.
sent no note Of explanation with 1t
nor. wrote anything on the dyleaf. but
the book itself contained q communicar
ton. By q delicate l~nderscorfng OF
words I informed her who was: my
address. how she could reach. me. what
had, learned about her and my suss
1 picion.s II was doubtful Of the success
Of this maneuver. for If her aunt were
watching her she would examine the
book closely before allowing her niece
to have It. For this reason I didenot
begin my message before the fifteenth
page and made my tnterlineations 10
faint that no one except n reading
the book would notice them.
I waited a week for q result to my
expedient. When II came ] was sure
no ordinary message could leave the
Marley home without being carefully
inspected. The reply was an adver-
Using card Of a secondhand bookstore.
I should not have thought OF its being
reply to my message had not the
name Of the frm been sunderscored In
pencil. I went to the bookstores and
asked IL they had any communication
for me. They said they had not.
- M-Al0 &s-1AS