Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1912-07-02

QOpp6Q UOWu again UcOAu0 A0, uAu Son-
ing of the cover with one hand. plung'
ed tht other into It's brown, shallow
depths. Here" she said, is the let.
ter she gave me. Heaven only knows
when the poor dear found chance to
write It, with that fat cat following
around every minute. But she was
clever too, and slid 1t into my lap this
morning under her very nose, with q
whisper to give 1t to you II you should
come, and to write you If you should
not. The woman caught her at the
last part Of 1t, and took the trouble to
tell me later that 1t was all part Of
her delusion; and I was Idiot enough
almost, to believe her. and to have sat
here all this morning, twiddling my
thumbs, when ought to have been
down at the telegraph ONCE. But
kept my mouth shut about the letter,
because l was afraid 1t might get the
little lady into trouble; and delusions
or not, liked her as much as didn't
like the other one the minute set
eyes upon her"
Il unfolded the scrap of paper which
she handed me. Nancy's note was
pencil written and on an irregular bit
of paper, evidently torn from the COW
ering of closet shelf or the lining Of
q bureau drawer. 1t read:
They came while You were away.
I did my best, but they took me. |
think we are on our way to New York.
They are pretending am insane. Fol
low us there II you can, but be careful,
for fear, too, for your safety. He Is
very angry and capable of almost any
thing. He calls himself, now, Doctor
Morrison, but, Is you may have CUES
sed by this time, he is my"
was this all she gave you?" said /,
glancing up.
why, yes" said Mrs. Iathrop.
I held the note to her face down.
"EIave you any paper like this in the
house?" I asked.
Mrs. Lathrop looked at it closely.
feeling its quality between her finger
and thumb. 1T looks like shelf
paper" she said after moment, "and
have 1t pretty much all over the
house."
"Then," I asked, may see the
room where the ladies' slept last
night.'' !.
led the way upstairs, where she
pushed open the door of rather
small, sunny room. This 10 tho room
L always give to two ladies staying
together" she said. 1T Is bright and
cheerful and there are two beds"
Bright and cheerful 1t certainly was.
Bureaus, beds, chairs and tables were
alike white enameled; and the gay
chintz window curtains matched the
large-fgured paper Of the walls.
MAY I look around?" asked.
| Mrs. Lathrop nodded. There was
only one closet. and on Its two shelves
white paper Of the same quality as that
carried In my hand lay undisturbed,
and in each empty drawer Of the two
enameled bureaus found fitted sheets
each, alas, intact. For moment
stood puzzled Z looking rather hopeless
lily about the room. This paper must
have come from somewhere, thought
and yet-Then noticed small table
by each bed, little square stands that
people use, believe. for q night light
or drinking water, each with shall
low drawer for near.at-hand necessi-
ties. And as Mrs Lathrop stood in
terestedly watching me, pulled open
the drawer of ono. and found 1t abso-
lutely bare.
Were not these lined too?" asked.
For answer she pulled open the
drawer OF the other, and held up q
small obiong of the white paper.
But this one IL empty" said.
"Then It is empty since last night,
Mrs. Lathrop answered; for went
over the room carefully yesterday
morning.
i Here, then, was where Nancy had
found paper for her note. That, at
least, was pretty sure; but neverthe.
less my heart sank with a great disap.
pointment The letters Of the note
in my hand were written stragglingly
and once one line actually rose and
Tapped over the line above 1t, as II 1t
had been written by some blind per.
son. Evidently Nancy had been
watched very closely indeed, 80 that
Iher only opportunity for writing this
note to me had been some time during
1.-The terrors Of her long night, and she
Ihad written in the dark. In the dark,
ltoo, imagined, she must have torn
away the written portion Of the sheet
taking her chance as she could, per.
haps trembling with the slight tearing
sound Of the stir paper, and In her
nervous haste leaving portion OF her
note still in the drawer. No, after all
she would not quite have done that;
lif she had been careful enough to
write to me, 1t did not seem probable
that she would have left sheet with
ltorn corner behind. as a certain indi.
cation OF what she had done, should
her guarding dragon look through the
room in the morning.
| I g.. down for moment on the edge
of the bed, trying to imagine what she
would have done. Then glanced over
at the fireplace; it was clean and
empty.
| Mrs. Lathrop was watching me with
Interest. NO" she said, shaking her
head; mo burnt paper"
| Perhaps, thought. the dragon did
fhd the rest of the sheet; but II she
had done that, she would have sus'
pected the note itself, and would either
have got 1t away from Nancy or ques'
toned Mrs. Lathrop about it. It seem.
ed more probable then, as I thought
it over, that Nancy had softly slid the