The Washington herald., 1912-01-18

fringe that the searchers looked for some
evidence Of the death struggle OF the boy
and girl in thirteen feet of water. There
was no place that indicated such
struggle.
In the seven-hour search for the bodies
the eastern end Of the pond was gone
over time after time. There is not an
graphing irons. To-day the searching
party will break the heavy ice at the
west side Of the pond and probe the
shadows. During the night the dam, con-
Meeting the lake with the lower waters
OF a canal. was opened sufficiently to al
low II to drain. The water to-day VIII
be several feet lower. and II the bodies
are beneath the ice there will be no dif-
1culty in finding them.
His Letter to Her.
II there was the slightest suspicion
from the beginning that the boy and girl
had eloped 1t was destroyed by the IN
vestigation OF the police who found the
letters written by the boy to the girl
and the girl to the boy, in which the
date for the skating party was made. On
Monday young Locke wrote to the glri
asking her to go with him.
Dear Margaret the letter read, Il
understand that the ice at Chevy Chase
is fine, and II your mother doesn't OBJ
ject / would like to take you there on
Tuesday night. / know she feels uneasy
about skating parties. but there Is not
any danger on the lake. / hope you can
so, with me-"
To this the girl replied. using young
Locke's nickname, Stats"
Dear Slats,' she wrote. Mother does
not object TO my going, and will expect
you before this evening. Your friend
Margaret ~
Thus, when the young man called at
the Kaufman home the mother met him
and knew where both he and her daush-
ter were bound. The lad had carried
small grip to the house. in which were
his skating cap, a sweater, pair OF old
shoes, and two pairs of skates. Before
leaving the home he fitted these skates
10 the girls shoes. He then changed his
garb and left the satchel at the Kauf-
man home.
Fear Besets Parents.
When midnight came without sign Of
the two, Mrs Kaufman, frantic with
fear, besought her husband to go and
search for them at once. He caImed her
fears by suggesting that the boy and
girl probably had missed the last car and
had sought refuge for the night at some
neighboring farm house.
Temporarily this aIlayed the mothers
fears, but during the night and until the
gray dawn Of morning broke she sat at
the window waiting for some message
word-from her daughter. Time after
time she reminded the father:
Margaret has never stayed away like
this before. II she was detained down
town for a short time she would teIe-
phone me. She would never voluntarily
cause me this"
And the father, after a long night OF
watching, believed for the first time that
fate had woven tragedy in the merry
skating party. He telephoned the police
at O'Clock, and two hours later, he re-
ceived word from them that no evidence
of elopement TO a nearby town could
be found.
stunned by Tragedy.
At IL O'Clock the eldest son, hurrying
through Washington en- route y South
ern Virginia, was -knet at the Union, sta
ton by Mrs. Kaufman. The suddenness
of the tragedy stunned the young man
for a moment Silently he started home
ward with his mother, and having left
her at the house, Joined his father and
the party OF searchers who were graphing
for the bodies.
At the lakeside the footprints, evidently
those OF young Locke and Margaret,
were found. But on the shining surface
Of the solid ice there was no mark OF
the steel, no long line leading from the
safety of the western end to the thin
ice and water of the eastern end-and to
death. The search for the marks OF the
skaters was careful. The ice was gone
over inch by inch, yet nothing was re-
vealed. In a back water Of the lake at
the far western extremity were the
marks Of skates. Apparently half a
dozen or more had glided on this circular
disk Of thick ice. There were no skate
tracks leading to or from this pool, and
as the lad and girl must have crossed
the lake to reach II, it was evident that
the marks were not made by them.
Hardly had the searchers reached the
lake when the gray-haired father, with
an incoherent cry, half ran toward a