River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1914-07-09

or the envelope was the seal of the
city of New York and the printed
words. department of Police. New
York City"
"You might read this for our own
euidance, Nelson" said Mr., Bryan.
..an i then pass it along TO the f~oreIpen
If the yarions departments"
Nelson erew forth the letter. a mime
ographed %sh>@et, asking that a lookout
he Kent for JAMES Montgomery, escap-
ed convict and murderer. sentenced
for life to Sing Sing. lie man the po-
lice wanted was an expert m%achinist,
was likely to apply for work anywhere
in the industrial sections of the oun
try. and then followed a minute de
scription Of feature and build of body,
The hound was still after the quarry.
"I1i look after it, Mr.. Bryan" he
managed TO say.
Whats the matter today?" asked
the president. You look pale and
worried"
Nothing nothing serious. at any
rate" replied Nelson
You are working too hard. better
take il easy for awhile" advised Mr..
Bryan. He paced the floor of his right
hand mans Office for a moment, strok-
ing his gray mustache,
Look here. Nelson" he said. in a
kindly. half troubled tone, something
has been worrying YOU all winter.
What is it: Tell it to me. ! am your
friend"
Nelson's face was as white as the
now on the ground outside. 1t was not
the caliber of the man to lie. Ii he had
tried TO lie he would have made a bun
gle of it,"
Il can't tell YOU" be replied.
rs it Molly" asked Mr. Bryan.
Nelson did not reply. He could not.
she thinks a great deal of you, my
boy" said her father.
Nelson left his desk and stood before
Molly Bryan'S kindly father A CON
fession of his love for the daughter
trembled on his lips. He felt that at
any moment d torrent Of words would
pour forth from him and lay bare the
whole tragic, terrible story hidden in
his breast. Under the secret he carried
his heart lay like d stone. He would
have given his left arm to have closed
his office door and made his confession
but he had been hunted long enough to
feel the of caution exert itself.
Mr.. Bryan returned to his office, and
Nelson tore into tiny bits the police
circular. He would have to go away
There We're two reasons. The hound
was near the quarry; his plight was
bringing sadness to the woman he
loved Not more than a score Of miles
beyond his office window the boundary
ines of South Carolina tapered be
tween North Carolina and Tennessee,
making a mountainous corner There
few of the people could read. The
questions they asked were about the
weather and the scant crops of corn
from which they illicitly distilled
enough whisky to provide them with
money for clothes and medicine. Their
habitat was called the Dark Corner.
He would withdraw into It's shad-
w Perhaps. after a few years. he
could come out of the wilderness with
safety and find Molly Bryan waiting
for him. 1t was sweet for him to think
that any one would wait his coming
At first the scheme seemed vision
airy, but careful study of 1t convinced
him that it was not only a plausible
plan. bu the safest be could devise.
He would buy a numbe of acres n
build himself a home and a workshop
His determination to devote all his
energies 70 invention for a number OF
years was logical and would furnish
the necessary explanation.
In the spring, while the snow still
lay Upon the ground in shady places.
Nelson attacked the wilderness with
a gang Of workmen He had bought
800 acres in the Dark Corner. Here
he lived in a shanty with his workers.
as they made a clearing and he direct
ed the blasting and cutting Of rock
from the unscarred sides of the noun
tains for his foundations.
When his castle In the Dark Corner
neared completion be ~journeyed back
to Greenville. arriving there in the
night. He timed himself so that he
caught an express train north. In a
distant city the next day he wrote
and incIosed with dollar certificate
this personal. addressed to the business
Office of the Herald in New York:
"Bill-GreenviIle -19-3-Kid."
The number 10 meant the nineteenth
letter Of the alphabet. "S," and the
number 3 meant the third letter. &C."
OF all the men in the world there
was but one that he felt he could
surely trust. one that fully believed
him, one that would come and help
him. and this man with the succor be
called for now was a convict.
Nelson's castle in the Dark Corner
took shape rapidly. 1t rose two and
a half stories above a basement Of
rock. From the upper windows he