Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1913-11-27

no immediate family. He lived alone
with one old servant Tho. Hou1e tNas
isolated, surrounded by 4 hedge fenca
Three persons had seen q mar m that
vicinity about midnight. the time Of
the murder. q man with q beard. And,
there were grains Of morphine on the
floor beside the old mans bed. The
murderer was q dope" fiend. He had
stopped to take his dose sven "a he
killed.
The m Of g. simple, honest.
matter owe to the other matter
Unknown man" Just what happened
In Mary's soul she nor no one else will
ever know. Her own statement. on
record. is merely. 1T came to me. and
I did II. I had to a v my son."
She put on her hat, then took the
ring and the partly filled bottle Of
morphine and went to the relief sta
ton where the unknown man was.
He lay, dressed in his street clothes.
upon a cot. his head upon an ice pack.
!Overworked doctors and nurses were
busy administering relief to the fast
|accruing patients. There was the at
tendant confusion and crowding. Mary,
~unnodced, sought out the unknown
man. He looked very much like her
SON.. "P~rovidentially like" In Mary's
words.
She bent over him and left the ring
and the morphine bottle-in his
pocket? No. And here Is Mary's one
great stroke hat makes her, asnovice
in crime, remembered in police circles.
She pushed the ring and the bottle
under him a little. as though they had
slipped from out his clothes m
where as he was laid, down. Mary re-
membered that his pockets had been
found empty.
Tho Police Arc Fooled.
AS Mary went out she saw a police
~ tod ~ N~1 - E-
She fingered and saw them go to the
cot OF the unknown man. Then she
heard The words:
This looks like our man. captain"
Then 1T is. Here's the ring-Yea
and h morphine"
sons beard as he slept That night the
mother and son n the $6.se0 went
to Bennington, VT. From there. a few
days later, they crossed into Canada.
Mary. from home papers. bought on
the newsstands. g about the I'M
And about the search for the $4,000
the old mans v said was taken.
how the three persons who saw
the murderer swore that the unknown
man was he. The unknown man had
softening OF the brain and was sent
to an asylum. He was still unideuu-
fed. o -
Mary purchased a little farm, SPEND
Ing $4,000 Of the $1,000. And there she
and her son lived for nine years. The
farm. under Mary's guidance. pros
pered wonderfully. Then the son died.
At once Mary sold the farm and re-
turned home. She went straight to DO
lice Headquarters, and laid a packet
on the desk containing the. Sc, 300 plus
the ntne years interest. And she told
the story.
my boys dead. Y can't harm him.
she concluded. And now Tm ready for
prison. sir"
For what crime?"
AN accessory after the fact" she
said calmly.
The unknown man. still unknown.
been dead for six years. He had
never known Of tho disgrace laid upon
aim. No n had suffered because Of
1t. The stolen money, duly increased.
was returned. And Mary was an old
woman. a snowy-haired woman Of rs,
slight, worn, her face filed with a mar
tyrdom Of suffering. And a mother.
The mother Mary went free.
And" concluded my informant "thia
all happened because one mans de-
scription tailed with another mans.
You story tellers will have. to work
your brain hard to beat the mysteries
and h heart breaking tales we Of
dcers Of h law know. And-doubles!
The woods are full Of 'em. Tell any
one who don't believe It, Just to look
about him, that's all"