Little Falls herald., 1914-03-06

eyes Ol tue Slidu&ei luUlCul1uS LQIC
she was looking for some method of
| cxtricating herself. Finally rising from
her covering attitude she said de-
| family:
IL will not attempt to deceive you.
l am no thief. ! did not come here to
steal. l came to meet the man love,
who is mine by right, yours by law"
"My husband! You come here to-
Oh, heaveDs!
II know not who YOU are, but do
know that l am the only woman he
loves. ''"~-~
Striding past Mrs. MacKnight defiant
| ~, she left the room and hurried down
the staircase. Mary, on the verge of
collapse. fell on the bed. She heard
her huspand:
II beg your pardon, madam; but l
should *like to know what you have
been doing in my house."
LET me go," came the voice of the
woman who had just gone down.
stairs.
"Not until l have received a salts
factory explanation as to the cause
of your presence here"
Mary sprang from the bed. The
| woman must be thief after all and
had made her believe that she had
come to meet John in order to get away
with the yaluables she had taken and
escape arrest. The thought was min
g!ed by delightful feeling Of relief
| that her husband was innocent. Rush
ing :to5the landing, she cried:
"Don't let her go, John; she's a
thief"
John closed the FRONT door, shutting
the intruder in. Mary ran down and
confronted the woman with her hus-
band. Both were too intent on the
matter of preventing the thief from
| getting away with whatever she had
stolen to think of saluting each other
| after their long separation.
Turn over the plunder," said John.
"You may us we'll give it up to me
| as to the police
81 have no plunder." said the woman
drawing quick breaths in her excite
ment.
Every well, you have been caught
in my house, and that is trespass.
Mary, go to the phone and call for
the police"
"Hold:" said the woman.
"Well?'
She darted her eyes about her. One
| thing alone might have saved her-a
| fire, but there was no fire in the house
except in the furnace in the base
| ment. In her desperation the woman
took from under her outer coat pa
per and tried to tear it, but it was
| folded, and she was not successful.
John snatchel it from her and, look
ing at an Endorsement on the outside
read, Last Will and Testament of
Cynthia Withers.''
*'Who are you and what do you want
with this - asked John.
The woman made no reply for few
minutes; then she said:
"Since have not succeeded there is
no harm done and you can we'll afford
to let me go away quietly. l am Ellen
Stone"
"Ellen Stone!'' gasped Mary.
"Go on" said John.
"Mrs. Withers died this morning in
the sanitarium. If could have got
out with that paper l would have in
herited all her property, for l have a
will dated long before that one, drawn
in ny favor"
<"But how did you know where this
will was kept?" asked Mary.
"When Mrs. Withers lived with me
she kept all her papers in her antique
desk. l knew she must have made
second will, and there was a chance
that 1t was in the desk. Learning that
there was no one in the house during
the day, l came here and, bringing
tool to raise a sash, got in. found the
desk and the will, as hoped, and had
you, Mrs. MacKnight, been a minute
later l would have made good my es-
cape. I made pretense of having come
here to meet your husband, hoping that
it would prevent your OBTAINING me for
a thief. Had you, Mr.. MacKnight,
been minute later would have sue
ceeded in passing the second danger"
She paused few moments, then con-
tinued:
You have nothing to gain by prose-
cutting me for this attempt to get pos
session of Mrs. Withers' will, and I see
no reason why you should not suffer
me to depart
II can forgive you." said Mary, "for
endeavoring to deprive me Of fortune
even by a criminal ruse, but it is not so
easy to forgive you for pretending that
you had won him from me. Suppose,
as you have said. he had not arrived
till you had gone. You would not only
have stolen the fortune my aunt in
tended for me. but it is quite possible
that you might have made an irrepar-
able breach between him and me. No;
I cannot permit you to 60 free"
The woman covered at this. She 4
had committed an onense that If press
ed would send her to prison for many
years. John MacKnight interposed:
MARY" he said. you must remem-
ber that where one is cornered and
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