The Washington times., 1913-11-14
THE HERITAGE OF CAIN
A GREAT BIG THRILLING STORY
s m Frank !. a Company BY ISABEL OSTRANDER
A GREAT BIG THRILLING STORY
BY ISABEL OSTRANDER

4 the climax came last week. he
| needed large sum Of money to save
hum from ruin and worse. He went to
| his sister and placed himself in her
power, but she turned from him with
lcathing and threatened to betray him
| and he killed her.
silence seemed almost to seep down WIS.,
| IDLY. like a fog, upon them.
| Not one of the three men stirred, but
| sat immovable, with every muscle tense,
watching him as IL spellbound.
When Mr.. Merriman first called me
! into the case" Yorke continued, 'ft
presented SO many complications so
| many possibilities, that / was thrown
completely off the scent. I was certain
| that the missing housemaid had merely
discovered the body, not been accessory
to the murder. Had she been an ignor-
ant girl she might have run away, from
| rear or being accused Of the crime, but
! the testimony given me showed her to
De suspiciously far above the average
| in education. and even refinement.
Therefore, the only conclusion could
be that she had run from fear of no
! toriety. If 1t was necessary for her to
take the risk of suspicion of the crime
being fastened upon her by her disap-
rearance, then the risk of being discov-
cred In the position she then occupied
| must have been even greater still.
| When i heard of her other mas
querades, and proved them, I suspected
1 ooihC SuCH SOCldllSIlC SCleIue
as 1t turned out to be. When / took
into consideration her glowing recon-
mendation from Miss Kennedy, that
young lady's well-known enthusiastic
tendency toward sociology, her sudden
disappearance and the perturbation OF
her fiance, the matter was plain.
! MIR. Hildreth 1 did not actually sus-
pect, but his refusal to establish an
allbi was, of course, compromising in
the extreme.
| TT was not. however. until was told
| OF Mrs. GoodalPs check that began to
see light. Have you told. your brother
! of that inatter?" Yorke interrupted him.
| self to ask Robin.
The latter nodded, and moistened his
dry lips with his tongue.
! He had to be told" he said at last.
| Dysart found out about the jewels
himself. He sent Victoria's own family
heirlooms to the jewelers., without tell
! ing me, to be cleaned and polished be-
f, fore turning them over to Paul, as part
of his inheritance, and then he learned
the truth. / was obliged to tell him
| everything"
when i was satisfied" Yorke went
on, with glance at the clock, that
Mrs. Van Rensselaer, had ben the VIC
tim Of. blackmail. determined to look
| in the past, before her meeting with her
husband. for the cause. I went to
Brookmede, and interviewed Susan Fin
| ley, an old family servant. She told me
Victoria Bigelow was born in New
York. That puzzled me, for Mr.. Hill
| Hampshire somewhere. Then, too, the
woman remarked, innocently enough.
| that the baby had seemed remarkably
large and intelligent for its age.
That gave me my first suspicion, re-
| membering the legacy, and Mrs Bige-
| lows childlessness for twelve years.
| When the woman went on to tell me of
| -he mysterious young man whose rare
visits plunged the doctor in anger and
| detection: of his presence on the church
steps when you came out with your
bride, Mr.. Van Rensselaer,. and the
hatred in his face as he looked at her
| in her radiant happiness; of his pres
| ence, even in the church on the Easter
| day when DR.. Bigelow fell dead I was
| certain I was well on the murderer's q
track, even before Susan Finley identi-
J fled newspaper print of a photograph
| In my possession as that of the mystic
| rious man.
This is the photograph"
Yorke held out the picture torn from
| the EXTRA" and the three men bent
eagerly over it.
Dysart broke the silence first.
SO THAT'S the man., he said, and
although he spoke. quietly there was
that in his tone which sounded the key
note of implacable vengeance.
Robin shuddered.
do you know" he said, st seem to
know that face, distorted as it Is, I
wonder-but go on, Mr.. Yorke."
Il obtained from Susan Finley the
address of the nurse who had taken
care of the infant Victoria, and went
| to see her in Boston. This nurse, Mrs.
Brownell, told me DR.. Bigelow had en-
gagged her in New York and sent her
to a little lonely station high up in
the mountains of New Hampshire to
meet Mrs Bigelow and the baby. She
was told to say nothing about having
gone to New Hampshire. but TO let it
appear that she was engaged in New
York by Mrs. Bigelow, and she had
done SO.
A Continuation of This Story VIII
Be Found In TOmOrrow's