Montpelier examiner. [volume] (Montpelier, Idaho) 1895-1937, 1912-08-16

which had seen many patients, a
lady giving the name of Mrs. Tanker
Vile asked for an interview. She was
admitted and one glance told me that
she was not an ordinary patient. Her
eyes were dark, restless and filed
with nervous force and determination
Her whole face was very much lined.
her cheeks sunken
I have come, Doctor Halifax" she
said, ito beg of you to save the rea-
son of a miserable woman"
You allude to mental trouble?" l
queried
YES; to heartbreak. shame and dis
tress. ! came up to the city last
night, wondering to whom l could
turn for aid. A friend had once told
me of you, and l resolved to seek
your sympathy"
Il will give you my best attention,
Mrs. Tankerville," l said, las soon as
/ have dispensed with several pa
tients who are waiting for me In the
reception room"
Having finished with my callers /
returned to Mrs. Tankerville. She
NoS ny one VI tL6 WINDOWS,
and l noticed with surprise that she
was reading manuscript of mine
which / had been preparing for a
medical journal and had left open on
the table. The paper dealt solely with
technical subjects, and | wondered
what she found of interest in it. She
laid It down when l appeared and
without seating herself began to
speak.
Doctor Halifax, / will tell you the
cause of my trouble in a moment or
two But, In order that you may clear
ly understand my position, | should
first like to give you some particu-
lars of my past life. | married young;
l had husband who deeply loved
me. We had plenty of private means
and one child, girl. Six years ago
my first sorrow came; my husband
died. After his death all my love
was lavished on my GIRL Susanna, and
she was worthy of all the affection
bestowed upon her. Between three
and four months ago came the begin
ming of that awful tragedy which
causes me to seek your aid today.
Susanna was invited to visit an old
relation of her fathers, an extremely
wealthy aud eccentric woman. Her
name was Stuart; and was unmarried,
and lived in lonely cottage on the
outskirts of Westchester, N. I. Miss
Stuart was a confirmed miser. and it
was reported that she had much treas
ure hidden away. My husband was
Miss Stuarts first cousin, and she
wrote expressing a strong wish to
make the acquaintance of his daugh-
ter. Susanna wrote back that she
would come If her mother was also
invited, but Miss Stuart refused, stat
ing that Susanna was her own blood
relation, but that was not. Susanna
thereupon declared that she would
not pay any further attention to her,
but thinking that my girl might bene-
fit by 1t in the future, l insisted upon
her going to Westchester by herself.
She had been with Miss Stuart for
six weeks, when one day the door
opened, and Susanna walked in.
started with amazement at the sight
of her face. All the color had left
her cheeks, her eyes were filled with
a wild look of terror. She came
straight up to me and caught hold of
my hands.
"'Hide me, mother she walled;
hide me. I have run away.
but why. my dear?' asked
What have you run away from?'
Something terrible has happened
she answered Cousin Jane and l
were alone in the house last night.
We went to bed early. for was tired;
/ had walked far in the country dur.
ing the day. l fell asleep and began
to dream. The night was a moon
light one, and the light of the moon
streamed into my room. In my dream
a man came into my room, took up
knife of mine. laid 1t down again,
stared hard at me and went out. A
great horror seized me, for 1t seemed
that | knew the man and that his
face WAS quite familiar. / awoke, and
there was no one there--I called out,
but there was no answer. The room
was empty save for myself After a
time ! dropped asleep again. In the
morning rose early, and went into
my cousins room. Mother, she was
dead. She had been murdered In the
night, Some one had stabbed her to
the heart. rushed into the yard
and spoke to the man who came
night and morning to help with the
domestic work. / brought him into
the house, and he looked at the body,
and went off at once to fetch the po-
lice and a doctor. The police came,
and went into my bedroom. They
found knife there, my knife, that l
had bought not week before, and
the blade was stained with blood.
When I saw the blood and noticed
the look on the policeman's face,
seemed to lose my reason. He turned
10 talk to the other policeman, and
to old Hitchin. the gardener, and /
was alone for a moment. l snatched
up my hat and purse and ran away.
| reached the railway station, caught
n train and came home to you. Hide
me mother; / am frightened. Do not
4et them find me-
"She kept on repeating these words,
and / could not quiet her. Terror
had completely unnerved her. and she
scarcely knew shat she was doing.
Two hours later the police came; they
had little difficulty in tracing her. and
arrested my child on the charge of
having murdered Miss Jane Stuart of
Heath Cottage. Westchester During