The Wagner leader. (Wagner, Charles Mix County, S.D.) 1912-1912, 1912-02-23

| u0WU the Hall. OB the SlaiTS the idt-
ter took his turn. still confused by
what he had just heard.
who is Miss Maclaire?' he asked.
Phyllis Gale"
.sOf course, but who lis Phyllis Gale?
| What has she to do with General
Waite? His daughter has told me she
never heard of any one by that name
We'll, Keith, the old man has never
told me very much: he's pretty close
mouthed, except for swearing, but I've
read his papers, and picked up a point
or two. | reckon the daughter, Miss
Hope, maybe never heard a word
about 1t, but the boy-the one that
was shot-must have stumbled onto
the story and repeated 1t Il HawIey.
That's what set that fellow going. 1t
seems Mrs. Waite's maiden name was
Pierpont, and when she was seven
teen years old che was married to the
son Of a rich North Carolina planter.
good-for-nothing. They had a daugh-
ter born-this Phyllis-and when the
/! child was three years old her father,
! in a AT OF drunken rage. ran away, and
to spite his wife took the little girl
| with him. All efforts to trace them
failed. and the mother finally secured
q divorce and. two years later. mar
ried Willis Waite. Waite, of course,
knew these facts, but probably they
we're never told the children. When
the father of Mrs. Waite's first hus-
band died, he left all his large proper
ty to his grandchild. providing she
could be found and identified within a
certain time, failing which the proper
ty was to be distributed among GER
tain designated charities. Waite was
named sole admiBistrator. Well. the
old man took as much interest In Ii as
though 1t was his own girl. but made
mighty little progress. He did dis
cover that the father had taken the
child to st. Louis and left here there
with a woman named Raymond, but
after the woman died the girl com-
pletely disappeared"
Then Miss Maclaire Is Hope
Waite's half-sister 2"
49, Ia = An& way MN HOW.
And Hawley merely happened to
stumble on to the right party?"
Sure: It's clear enough how that
came about. The boy told him about
the lost heiress his father was search
ing after. and showed him his sisters
picture. Black Bart instantly recog-
nized her resemblance to Christie
Maclaire. and thought he saw q good
chance for some easy money. He
needed the papers, however, to ascer-
tain exactly the terms of the win.
and what would be necessary for the
Identification. He never intended to
60 into court. but hoped to either set
Waite out OF the way. or else convince
him thar Christie was the girl, relying
on her gratitude for his profits. When
Waite played into his hands By COM
ing to Carson City the chance was too
good to be lost. I'm not SURE he meant
to kill him. but he did mean to have
hose papers at any cost Probably
you know the rest-the girl was easy,
because she was so ignorant of her
parentage. and nothing prevented
Hawley from winning except that
Waite got mad and decided to fight.
That knocked v e the whole thing.
They were outside now, and the
nrat touch Of the cool night air. the
1rst glance up and down the noisy
street, brought Keith to himself, his
mind ready to grapple with the prob
lem Of Hopes disappearance. It
seemed to him he had already looked
everywhere, yet there was nothing to
do except TO continue the search, only
more systematically. The sheriff as
sumed control-clear headed. and &C
customed to that sort of thing-call-
ing In Hickock and his deputies to
assist, and fairly comhing the town
from q end to the other. Not Q rat
could have slipped unobserved
through the net he dragged down that
long street. OF its intersecting alleys
but II was without result; nowhere
was there found q trace OF either the
gambler or his companion.
They dug into saloons, bagnios,
dance-halls, searching back rooms
and questioning inmates: they routed
out every occupant OF the hotel. In.
vaded boarding houses, and explored
shacks and tents, Indifferent to the
protests Of those disturbed-but with
out result. They found several who
knew Hawley. others who had seen the
two together passing by the lighted
windows Of the Trocadero. but beyond
that-nothing. Convinced. at last, that
The parties sought were not alive In
sheridan. and beginning to fear the
worst. the searchers separated, and
began spreading forth over the black
surrounding prairie. and BY the light
q lanterns seeking any semblance Of
trail There was no lack Of volun-
teers TOR this work. but It was oay-
hight before the slightest clue pre-
sented Itself. Keith. with The sherfR
and two or three others. had groped
their WAY outward until. with the nrst
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