The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1913-04-22
Faded Ink
By RUTH GRAHAM


from the city for the purpose OF Ell
! joying Whist was 10 the men or the
town work. but 10 him sport. Jane
Baxter was pretty girl With rosy
cheek aud laughing eye Corwith
found less pleasure in fishing than In
her company
Before he left w. Corwith had mar
ried Jane Baxter He took her away
with him. but In few months she re
turned changed girl The bloom had
gone out of her cheek, the sparkle from
her eye. tie smile from her lips She
said that her husband had quarreled
with her aud told her thnt their mar
riage was no marriage AT all and II she
didn't believe him To look at her mar
riage certificate. She did So and found
all those parts that should have been
filled in with ink were wanting.
She was not only astonished but ap
palled. She had been handed the Ger
tiicate after the ceremony by the
clergyman who had married her. had
glanced at IL and seen that II had been
nled in Could il be that her husband
had stolen the original and left Il sub
stitute? 1t made no difference 10 her
what he mad done since he now repu
dated her. Without word she went
back To the home she had left. re-
sumed her maiden name ana lived as
u woman whose IRE had been blighted
BY doing this she gave up any chances
that might have existed OF proving that
she had been legally married. This
was doubly unfortunate. for after her
return she gave birth TO a sou, whose
interests In the matter were Identical
with hers. He grew up under the |
name OF Baxter and with stain rest |
Ing upon him that the boy realized at
an early age.
From his birth his grandfather. the |
fisherman, John Baxter. for whom he |
was banned. took the little chap into !
bis heart and resolved to do all in his |
power to give him an educaton So |
the old man worked hard and saved |
much OF what he earned and the lad |
was sent 10 school He developed |
taste for the sciences. and Ii was de- |
termned to send him TO the scientific !
department OF "a university
When he came home after being |
graduated. while talking with his |
mother about his and her future. she !
thought 1t best to tell him the story
or her marriage. which was on her
part real, though she believed il to be |
Illegal Shortly after this dialogue he
asked his mother IL she still retained |
the blank certificate she had received |
Going 10 - closet she brought out a |
tin box In which she kept receipts, took |
from IL the certificate and handed 1t To |
John He looked at it carefully and |
was about 10 hand 1t back To her when |
he changed his mind ana put 1t Ia his |
pocket. saying that he woulh return IL |
later.
The young man went back TO the |
university TO fri himself for an assist
ant professorship in analytical chemis-
try. He had with him the blank GER
titicate his mother had given him and |
examined il with II microscope The |
paper showed evidence Of slight |
warping in those parts where there |
should have been writing. though with
out the aid Of the lens IL seemed per
fectly smooth The idea at once oc-
Cured to the young scientist TINT the
blanks had been filed In with an ink
that was manufactured pnrposely to
fade He began an investigation as to
what substances could he made to
look like Ink and later leave no trace
His studies had taught him that TO-
dine gave promise or furnishing Il base
for such u writing fluid Possibly this
was suggested to him from its violet |
hue the color of some inks AT any |,
rate. he entered upon series OF expert !
ments which led to an important dis. |
covery. He found that iodine combined |
with starch iodine OF starch, would |
produce an ink that would In "A few
weeks fade away. leaving no trace
whatever
The question now arose. Could such |
an ink be restored? Upon inquiry the
young man learned that no agent hui
ever been found to bring back It's color
He made many experiments with this J
end In view, but they all failed
Then he had recourse to the micro.
scope. He tried various powers. and at
last hit upon one. neither too high nor
too low, which brought out the linden.
tation on the paper made by writing Of |
letters making up II certificate between
Nathaniel Corwith and Jane Baxter by
Edward Wynkoop. Giving his results
to an attorney. he was advised to find |
Edward Wynkoop The clergyman had |
died, but John Corwith found his name
on the records OF the theological sem.
mary where he had been educated and |
various churches Of which he had been
pastor. The fact of his having used an
Ink that would fade could only be ex-
planned by the theory that 1t had been
foisted on him surreptitiously by the
man he had married
John Corwith found that his father.
who had recently died had not taken
another wife and had left snug FOR.
tune. which was about to pass to the
children Of the dead mans brother as
heirs at law. there being no will Nv
means OF the certificate OF marriage ne |
established his mothers claim to the
property, but she would never accent