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

My Invisible
Client
Began to Serve Her BY an
Illegal Proceeding
BY R. Forsythe Emery
Copyright by American Press Asso.
citation, 1911.
BY R. Forsythe Emery
Copyright by American Press Asso.
citation, 1911.


am an attorney. One summer
EVENING" was twenty-seven years old
at the time-while it was still daylight
I was sauntering on a thoroughfare
lined with dwellings. Passing under q
| window situated but a few feet above
my head I heard a woman's voice pro-
nounce my name in a tone almost In
audible. l stopped and looked up.
From between the Stats came the
words:
81 want a lawyer"
All being dark within, ! could see
nothing.
"How do you know that I am a 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
cue0C, / WalkeQ on.
The next evening and the next for
several days l strolled by the house at
the same hour and even loitered q few
moments under the window, but not a
whisper came from behind the blinds.
l formed many theories as to what
had occurred. 1t was evident that
some one-the voice seemed to belong
to q young woman-was detained I'M
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
neutrality-suspicious. insane. If this were
true I would make q 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. I must learn from the out
side who occupied the house, then
something about the occupants. l
hired a boy to watch the premises at
that hour IN the morning when trades
men deliver provisions, note the names
on the wagons calling and make q list
Of them. In this way l easily secured
several firm names. one Of a grocer of
whom l bought my own supplies. and
he gave me the name Of the person to
whom he sent goods at the premises
in question. It was Miss Elizabeth
Markley. a rich lady about fifty years
old. ;
My next move was to obtain permis-
sion Of the grocer to 60 on his wagon
and deliver goods myself. Putting on
old clothes, l 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 it was enough for a beginning. II
Miss Markley was rich I might be able
to find something through records of
her property-that is, If it were real
estate. l went to the Offices Of the
receiver of taxes, but the name Eltz-
abeth Markley was not on bis list. 1t
occurred to me to look for the name
Of Benham. and I found 1.-The estate
of Adoniram Benham. licensed" Here
was q pointer. If Irene Benham was
heir to this property it was possible
that her aunt was holding her a prts-
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
heir to property worth about half a
million.
If Miss Marley were wicked enough
to fulfil the theory I had formed Of
her It would be necessary to fight her
with fire. l dare not make any open
move whatever lest she should remove
her niece t. some hiding place where
she could not be found. must get
into clandestine communication with
Miss Benham.
I bought a book suitable for a pres
ent to a young lady, prettily 'illustrat-
ed. and sent 1t to her through the mail.
! sent no note Of explanation with It
nor wrote anything on the dyleaf. but
the book itself contained a communica-
ton. BY q delicate underscoring OF
words I informed her who I was. my
address. how she could reach me. whit
I had learned about her and my sus-
picion. was doubtful Of the success
Of this mnneuver. for II her aunt were
watching her she would examine the
book closely before allowing her niece
to have 1t. For this reason I did not
begin my message before the fifteenth
page and made my tn~terllneations so
faint. that no one except n reading
the book would notice them.
/ waited a week for a result to my
expedient. When 1t 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
a reply to my message had not the