Lawrence democrat. (Lawrenceburg, Tenn.) 1884-1925, 1913-03-26

Davis remark Of two days before kept
iigging through my brain. Other sui
cideHl Katharine. Elser. the woman
at Ardway-hls prophecy had been
Highland was this another in the
terrible chain7
l ran like a mailman toward the
park entrance. where l remembered
! had passed a policeman. Il was
with relief that l found him still
there.
There's = woman-drowned-in the
iake!" ] gasped. pointing over my
shoulder.
He ran back TO the lake with me
and together we waded out in the shall
low water where the body lay. In my
horror at the unexpected sight l had
not stopped to note her appearance,
nor could have told whether she
was young or old. dark or fair
! looked at her now with more than
interest-with feeling Of sorrow, OF
understanding. The deed Of KRthR-
rine Parrish had brought me to a
closer sympathy with unfortunate per.
sons influenced to seek death. As
saw that this poor girl was young and
fair sadly wondered what tragedy
had driven her to drowning.
Never shall forget the impression
the picture OF this suicide made on
me! She lay on her back. with long
blonde tresses OF well-kept hair float
ing out on either side of her shRpely
head Her eyes were closed, but her
shapely brows and long dark lashes
made her face comely even in death
Her clothing, observed, wss well
made, and though wet and soiied as II
was by the water It still gavo the i'm
preston Of neatness.
We grasped the body gently by the
arms and drew It in to the bank, where
we lifted II to the park bench OF
which had been sitting.
Il wonder II there is anything sbou
her to identify her by7 said the 20
liceman. and together we looked.
Apparently there was nothing. Their,
were no rings on her hands, though
the fingers were those of a woman o
refinement. The officer turned bacl
the collar Of her coat, but the nam,
Of the maker had been cut away.
"she didn't want nobody to know
who she was, guess" he said after
nasty examination. They general,
try to hide their names"
yes. suppose they do" salt
alphabetically.
1--WE got to go over to the arsena
and report this and send for the wae
on. VIII you wait till / come back
l won't be long"
I'll wait" l said.
He disappeared up the path and
was left alone with the body. As
sat there, meditating on the myster
that had caused so many other trae
edies, l became conscious OF the fac
that one Of this girls hands wa
closed, as If. even in death. she wa
striving to conceal something.
STOPPING over, gently pressed BAG
the stifIening fingers.
An exclamation Of horror came I
my lips as saw what had been cor
cealed there.
1t was little scrap Of yellow papel
/ could hardly believe my eyes.
must be that this poor girl here wa
another of the victims in the baflin
chain of crime l was seeking to III
ravel. l held the water-soaked fraI
ment up to the light, but there wa
nothing on it--not a word. Yet ther
was no mistaking the color and te.
: ture Of the paper. 1t was undoubtedl
the same that Louise and had foun
in Katharine's room after she ha
tried to kill herself. 1t was the sam
, that the police had discovered in Al
, drew Elsler's room. There was n
question in my mind but that It wa
the same that the woman In Ardwa
had torn up before she hanged herse
: in the little hotel. But what was III
tie between them? What could be Ii
mysterious import of this yellow lie
, ter that drove its recipients to death
Here was one fragment. Perhaps
: could find other scraps-perhaps til
whole letter. ran down to the ban
of the lake and began a systemat
search OF the water along shore. Fot
/. by foot / studied it carefully. For te
? minutes searched unavailingly an
, then caught glimpse Of somethir
= yellow half hidden by an overhangir
/ tree. Carefully parted the branche
\ Sure enough, submerged in six incht
: Of water. were more OF the yello
4 scraps. wAded in and, Bcoopir
I them up carefully IN my hands, la
q them on the grass to dry, for the
J. were all but falling apart and hard
, dared handle them. Meanwhile CO
4 tinued my search for other yello
J scrSps-this time without avail. II 81
had carried a torn-up letter with b.
4 as she sprang TO death. the 9th
I pieces had foated away.
a At last, convinced that there vi
|. no possibility OF recovering more
8 them. l gave up my search and !
q turned to where had spread the /
!. covered scraps on the grass, One
Y one l studied them. They were e.
d IDENTIFY a part Of a typewriter lett'
but the ink had run so that 1t "
:. impossible to read single word
e them. From their shape, too. It q
r peared that they were not consecutiV
L so there was little hope Of learnil
e anything from them.
n Just two Of the inky smears seem
L to have a possible meaning.
y On one Of them was almost pc
h tive that I could tracA the yo