Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1912-07-16
ALEXANDRIA, GAZETTE,

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mentary evidence against him in our
possession reinforced by his full con-
/ fession signed and witnessed, lnspec-
tor Davis and l that same afternoon
FASTENED back to New York, where,
it can be imagined, l lost no time In
reaching the Parrish home.
As we waited for the train l mad
telephoned Louise and she was en-
pecting me. She met me in the lower
hall. One glance at my radiant lace
told her that our mission had been
successful and she flung herself into
my arms while l rained happy kisses
on her lips, her cheeks, her glorious
hair Rut thoughtful ever OF others,
even in such moment OF ecstasy,
she gently unclasped my arms and
whispered: "The papers-did you get
them?"
A little cry Of JOY came from her
lips as 1 handed her the envelope.
Come she cried jubilantly, lets
take it to Katharine at once: The
sight OF it will do more to cure her
than all the doctors in the world.
Together We FASTENED to kath-
arine's room, where we found her sit
ting up in bed, much stronger than
when I had last seen her, though a
nurse was still in attendance IuGh
Crandali was seated in chair beside
tho bed. The JOY / read In the faces
Of Katharine and Crandall as Louise
handed her sister the envelope was
reward enough for all I had gone
through since had set out to solve
the mystery.
Frantically Katharine tore open the
envelope and inspected three docu-
ments it contained.
"They are oil here" she exclaimed
with sigh of relief as she passed
them to Crandall.
YES" echoed Crandall happily,
they are all here"
Burn them, Hugh; burn them at
once" she demanded.
CrandaIl gathering them up with
the envelope in which they had been
encased, crossed to the CRATE where
q cheerful fire was burning and one
by one fed the documents to the
flames, watching carefully to see that
every fragment was destroyed.
That was three months ago. Louise
and | are married now and Katharine
and Hugh are on their honeymoon,
TOO, taking six months European
trip. Though we never mention the
mystery Of the yellow letters in the
presence Of our wives, for 1t recalls
too many sad memories unnecessarily,
my new brother-in-law and l had
good laugh the night before / mar
rieI Louise. AZ | at first suspected
him of being one Of the conspirators.
50 it seems he had suspected me. IL
was he who peered into the post Of
flee that night as / was examining the
books by the light Of my electric
lantern. He knew that Young had
an associate and was trying to find
him. had to admit that my con-
duct IN Ardway fully justified Gran
dalls suspicious ofime, and he real
ICES that l was justified In suspecting
him.
The mystery OF the disappearance
OF the yellow fragments that had, CIV
en- us the first clew Is mystery no
longer. 1t merely had slipped behind
the drawer in which Louise had put
K. Aleck Young is serving we'll
deserved sentence Of fourteen years,
as nonchalantly, presume, as he I'M
derwent his trial. SO long as prison
keepers can be brlbed to keep him
supplied With his beloved drug, !
doubt II he bothers over his lack OF
freedom, Sometimes I think his pun
iGhment falls far short when ] recall
all tho misery and suffering he
caused, yet my new-found happiness
has softoned my view Of life. l find
myself wondering whether after all
Inspector Davis is not right when he
says that criminals, even the worst
of them, should be treated as sick
children, to be cured, rather than as
bad children, to be punished. l can
not help but feel that the parents OF
Young$%ere far more to blame for his
crime than he
As for General Parrish, he died
three weeks after Young's arrest.
Before the end he regained his facul-
ties sufficiently to understand that the
papers that had menaced his peace
and reputation had been destroyed.
In his last hour he put katharine's
hand into Hugh CrandalIs.
What was In the documents that
Katharine and Hugh Crandall burned?
What was the secret with which
Young threatened him for months and
months?
do not know.
Louise does not know.
We never discuss 1t even among
ourselves. It Is better; so. Only
Katharine and Hugh Crandall and q
poor drug sot In q distant cell know
what. those papers wera / might
conjecture If cared, and what would
be the user After General Farrish's