The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1912-07-11

JoId me all he knew. | could see in
the young brokers' departure guilty
knowledge Of the shadow descending
on the Parrish home. Surely his flight
was confession.
There was nothing to be gained by
further questioning of the janitor
From the manner of CrandalPs depar-
ture it would be useless to look for
him at either of the clubs to which he
belonged. l might try to trace him
through the taxicab, which he had
probably called from the University
Club near by, but that could wait until
later. Just now I felt it my duty to
hasten back to Louise and tell her of
| this new development.
AS l turned from the door a news
boy with an armful of evening extras"
thrust one at me. Impatiently l
waved him away.
All about the suicide" he bawled
as he darted off after another passer-
by.
Quickly l pursued him and fairly
snatched one of his papers from him.
Had the reporters, after all, learned Of
the tragedy in the Parrish home? Doc
tor Wilcox and l had discussed the
| matter of notifying the police and the
coroner. We both felt that it would
be wiser not to communicate with
them, for such a course would newt
ably bring publicity.
There was enough agony in the Far
| IRISH home without having this sorrow
full secret blaZOned to a curious world
in three-inch type, without having a
horde of reporters and camera men
constantly surrounding the house. Be
sides, if Katharine recovered, sooner
or later she would be sure to learn
what the papers had said. The knowl-
edge that her foolish crime against
herself had been thus sensatiOnally
proclaimed would be a blow from
which the sensitive girl-hitheno
| jealousy shielded-would never re
cover. If she should not recOver-DOc-
tor Wilcox and l were trusting to
chance TO find way Of explaining her
death. The seryants-all of them
! trustworthy and long in service-had
| been cautioned not TO talk to anyone
about the afternoons events. The
doctors aides and nurses, of course,
had been silent. This is part of their
business. How, then, had the papers
| obtained the news so quickly?
could think of but one possible way.
More than likely some telephone girl
who had heard Louise calling Doctor
Wilcox had given it to the press. Even
in the half-darkness Of the middle Of
the block where l stood l could read
the word "S-UI-CIDE" stretched
across the page in letters of red.
hasteued to the corner where the dou-
BILE globes shed down a brilliant light,
anxious yet dreadng TO read what the
paper said. At the first glance
| breathed a sigh of relief The article
was not about Katharine Parrish.
had not thought of the possibility Of
| there having been another suicide that
day, but there it was:
Mystery in seIf-Murder of Aged Law
yer.
Ordinarily I pay little attention to
stories Of crime But the afternoon
had given ne new and bitter appre-
citation Of the meaning Of suicide.
Standing there under the light of a
Fifth avenue corner read the hastily
written article word by word
Andrew Elser the article explained,
had lived for many years in a West
Twenty-third street boarding house
Little was known about him there ex
Copt that he was O lawyer. Several
years ago he had given up his down
town office. Most Of his income was
| an orphan boys estate About four
o'clock IN the afternoon the laudlady
had heard a nOise in his room like that
OF body falling. On entering she
had found him lifeless on the floor
She had called policeman, who sent
for an ambulance. The ambulance
doctor found that Mr.. Elser had taken
poison.
II struck me as peculiar coinci-
dence that two persons so far apart in
the social scale as Katharine Parrish
| and Andrew Elser should have chosen
the same hour Of the same day TO seek
death. Was there something in as
trology after all? Had the stars de-
creed that both should die? Had
some conjunction of the planets, some
evil aspect in the Zodiac driven both
Of them-the young heiress, in the
bloom Of joyous youth. and the aged
lawyer, in his decrepit poverty-re-
lentlessly, helplessly, to self-destruc-
| ton?
So deep was the impression made on
me by the coincidence that | took the
| paper with me and read the account Of
Elser's suicide to Louise. Even as
read it aloud, this ineXplicable thought
came TO me with startling force:
Suppose that these two suicides at
the same hour were more than a mere
coincidence. Was it possible that the
same shadow had fallen on both these
lives? Had the same mystery driven
them TO death-pact?
1t seemed absurd 1t was unlikely
that Katharine Parrish had ever heard
of Andrew Elser. If the family had
known him Louise would have men
toned it. And yet-why had these
I