Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1913-01-04
A Mystery
'Unraveled
By MARY C. COLBY

My father died before my mother,
aud ut her death Il woman who ul1
teen in TIE family kept ~, tlt. house
aul tuuE care IF NE VAS then a
girl Of ten. not Old enough to know
anything about my affairs ur WAY Miss
Meade assumed the p">it}uu She occU
pied She was not an Agreeable per
oon, rs remember her in those days
but she was al | had in the world TO
love. and tried to love her
She gave NE to understand that she
had promised my mother at her death
she would take care Of NE aud bring
me up.
The only person who ever to MY
knowledge came to see her was u
smooth faced professional looking
man. who used to have long cOnverSa
tons with her. After awhile learn
ed that his name was Cheatham and
that he was an attorney. There was
something repelIent about him. and
! whenever he came to the house took
pains TO keep ont Of his way
One thing did not coincide with Miss
| Meade'S statement that she WAS sup
porting me This WAS that while she
was miserly with regard to herself she
was liberal with regard to me: had
! all the expensive clothing | wished
/ and was never denied anything needed
| or coveted. | was educated ut the best
! schools and at sixteen was sent to Il
| finishing school. One thing Miss
| Meade positively forbade-I was not
allowed to visit any Of my schoolmateS
The day before | was eighteen years
old Mr.. Cheatham called to see Miss
Meade. and they had discussion,
which. judging from their earnestnesS.
| must have been a. very important one
l heard Mr.. Cheatham say. IF you'll
leave 1t to me can bring 1t out all
right without any great risk; If you
manage it as you propose you'll wreck
yourself and me too"
The words made no impression on
me ar the time, for | supposed they re
| ferred to some private matter between
| the lawyer and Miss Meade that did
not concern me. Aftcrward I thought
a great deal about them. When came
Of age. and especially after this inter
view. noticed that Miss Meade was
very much absorbed about something
and appeared worried. To be worried
was unusual with her. she being one
of the most composed persons l ever
| met
! was now old enough to wonder
where the money that was spent on
me and | was spending came from.
put a few leading questions to Miss
Meade. which she parted. began to
relations. but was not prepared to in
siSt on knowing anything she did not
tell me Of her own free will. Having
been brought up with the idea that !
owed everything to her. i did not care
to risk killing the goose that laid the
golden egg"
One day when she was not at home
| wished for something from the store
room. She always kept the room lock
ed. and no one knew where the key
was except herself In box contain
ing metal odds and ends was a bunch
Of keys tried them one by one till
| found one that would unlock the
door | wished to pass. Protruding
from a desk was n paper, which l pos
sesSed myself Of. and found 1t to be a
letter written by my father to my
mother before they were married de-
clarinG that he had given her up. since
be was poor and she possessed a
pr!ncely fortune.
This was astonishing news to me.
How could it he that | was dependent
upon one who had been my mothers
household manager and must have aft
er my fathers death taken part in
the management Of his affairs. ! be-
gan to SurmSe an explanation. had
not heard either that my mother had
been rich or had lost her property. 1t
looked to me that the money | was
spending must be derived from that
fortune my father referred to. The
more | thought about the matter the
further went in my differences till |
" SUSPECT llIdI h 100 LLN
taken advantage Of my having fallen
into her hands when n child to get her
clutches on my mothers fortune.
! confess did not know how to
move in the matter. Had | been
man it would have been easier. but
for a girl not far past eighteen ! could
see no way Of uncovering the mys-
terry.
Keeping my suspicious from Miss
Meade. resolved to secure advice.
The father of one of my sChoomatcS
was a lawyer. and through her Sc,
cured an Interview with him. He got
all the Information could give him
about my father and mother and prom
iSed to look the matter VI. 1t was not
long before through his daughter he
asked me to call upon him, and when
| did so he tod me- that my mother
had died leaving a great deal Of IN
productive property. which was now
yielding fine income.
And this was the money on which |
was living and procuring all wished