Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1912-03-22

Of provision had managed to reach the
! telephone and send cut this message.
! 1t was in Il condition of mingled
! dread and expectation that l opened
the paper which was brought me the
next morning. Arthur, the good-fOr-
nothing brother, had returned from
his wild carouse and had taken affairs
in charge with something like spirit
and decent show Of repentance for
his own shortcomings and ,he mad
taste for liquor which had led him
away from home that night. Carmel
was still i'll and likely to be SO for
many days to come. Her case was
diagnosed as one of brain fever and OF
n most dangerous type Doctors and
nurses were busy at her bedside. and
little hope was held out of her being
able to tell soon. II ever. what she
knew Of her sisters departure from
the house on that fatal evening. That
her testimony on this point would be
invaluable was self evident, for proofs
were plenty Of her having haunted her
sisters rooms all the evening in a con-
dition of more or less delirium. She
was alone in the house, and this may
have added to her anxieties. all OF the
servants having gone to the police
mems ball. It was on their return In
the early morning hours that she had
been discovered lying i'll and injured
before her sisters fireplace.
One fact was mentioned which set
me thinking. The keys Of the club
house had been found lying on a table
in the side hall Of the Cumberland
mansion-the keys which I have al
ready mentioned as missing from my
pocket-an alarming discovery which
might have acted as a clew to the sus-
picious 1 feared If their presence there
had not been explained by the wait
ress who had cleared the table after
dinner. Coming upon these keys lying
on the floor beside one OF the chairs.
she had carried them out into the hall
and laid them where they would be
more readily seen. She had not rec
ognized the keys, but had taken It for
granted that they belonged to MI.
Ranelagh, who had dined Mt the house
that night.
They were my keys, and have al
ready related how I came to drop them
on the floor. Had they but stayed
there! Adelaide, or was 1t Carmel.
might not have seen them and been
led by some strange If not tragic pur-
pose. incomprehensible TO us now ana
possibly never to find full explanation.
to enter the secret and forsaken spot
where I later found them. the one
dead, the other fleeing in frenzy. but
not in such a thoughtless frenzy a. to
forget these keys or to fail to lock the
clubhouse door behind her. That she
on her return home should have had
sumcient presence Of mind to toss these
keys down In the same place from
which she or her sister had taken
them argued well for her clear head
edness up to that moment. The fever
must have come on later.
The next paragraph detailed a fact
startling enough to rouse my deepest
interest. Zadok Brown. the sCumber-
lands goodman. declared that Ar
thurs cutter and what he called tie
gray mare had been out that night.
They were both in place when he r.
turned to the stable toward early
morning. but the signs were urmistax-
able that both had been out in tbs
snow since he left the stable 1T about
9. He had locked the stable door
at that time. but the key always hung
In the kitchen where any one could
get 1t. This was on account Of Ar
thur, who, II he wanted to 60 out
late, sometimes harnessed a horse
himself. Zadok Judged that he had
done 80 this night. though how the
horse happened to be back and in her
stall and no Mr.. Arthur in the house
It would take wiser heads than his to
explain.
There was some comment made on
this because Arthur had denied using
his cutter that night He declared in
stead that he had gone out on foot
and designated the coachman's tale
~ all bosh.
Az for myself. I felt inclined to be-
neve that tho mare had been out. that
one or both Of the women had har.
messed her and that 1t was by these
means they had reached the Whisper.
ing Pines. Adelaide was far from
strong and never addicted to walking
under the most favorable conditions.
I could understand now how Carmel
had succeeded in returning in safety
to her home. She had ridden both
ways-a theory which likewise explain
ed how she came to wear a mans
derby and possibly a mans overcoat.
With her skirts covered by a bearskin
she would present a very fair figure Of
Z man to any one who CHANGED to pass
her.
These were my deductions drawn
from my own knowledge. Would 9th.
err who had not my knowledge be in
anywisc Influenced to draw the same
Yet. II they let this point slip. whore
should I BEL Human nature Is human
all the way through, and I could not
help having moments when I asked
myself II this young girl were worth
the sacrifice contemplated making
for her. She was lovely to look at
amiable and Of womanly promise save
at fhoao rara and n0ipnant moments