Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1914-06-02
TheEveningStory
A Vindication
By LOUISE 3. CUMMINGS

Iumuy mucn put out ABOUT something
which had occurred. Ralph Townsend,
who had been paying attention to my
Cousin Bess. had gone away under q
cloud, and my aunt said that It we
fortunate he had been found out before
1t was tco late. Bess was In q perpet-
ual state Of tears. and the prospects
for my having q pleasant VISIT were
very poor.
In time I learned what the trouble
was. A gold watch belonging to my
Cousin John and other articles belong
ing to various members Of the family
were missing. Quo Of them-a brooch
had been found in the pockvt Of
Ralph's dress coat hanging IN the clos
ct Of his bedroom. When informed of
the fact, without making any defense
he put his belongings into his suit case
and left the house.
possess one faculty which II mere
common to my sex than to men,
think. I Judge persons instinctively.
Besides. we women can SEQ through
one another far better than men can
see through US. There was q girl In
the house, general friend Of the fam.
lily. Edna Petit, whom did not like.
l could give NO reason for my dislike.
but 1t was just as strong ~ II could
give thousand. On the other hand,
I had met Ralph Townsend once, and,
although had not exchanged q word
with him. had been very favorably
impressed with him.
Perhaps this antipathy and this lik.
ing would not be considered evidence
in court of law. but 1t was good
| enough for me. / argued that some
thing had been going on between Edna
and Ralph; that Ralph had incurred
her hatred, and she had taken revenge
upon him by purloining certain articles
and putting one Of them In his pocket.
He was too much Of a man to attack
woman. He couldn't prove anything
against her anyway. and there was
nothing to do but to 90 away without
knew whence came the stigma that
had been fastened upon him.
Hatter myself that for reasoning
based entirely on feeling the above In
pretty good. don't know any man
who could do better. Having fixed
upon the guilty one-in my own mind
I laid my plans to expose her. But.
though feeling might have led me in
the right direction. II is not reliable In
a demonstration. Nevertheless / put
myself in Edna's place and thought
what would do II ! had played the
game believed she had played. / felt
sure that would not hide any Of the
stolen articles in my own room.
thought 1t improbable that they would
be found In the room Of any one else,
since II they were stolen to ruin Ralph
there would probably be NO reason to
ruin any other person.
My aunt's house was large one with
| a good many bedrooms. During my Wis
| 1t three rooms remained unoccupied
Two were ON the door where women
guests were lodged and one where men
slept. 1t occurred to me that the miss,
ing articles, If In the house. would be
| hidden In one of these vacant rooms
On the night OF my arrival I began to
make investigations. After midnight ]
stole into one Of the unoccupied won
| ans rooms with an electric lamp an6
made a thorough search. looking espe
cially between the mattresses Of the
ted. found nothing.
The next night visited the other
vacant room In the women's quarters
with the same result. There was II
| sofa near a window. and, the night be
| ing hot | lay down on the lounge TO
| think. had scarcely done 80 when !
heard ticking.
Rising, l. examined the loungs, but
got inside Of It l lay down asnin, and
presently it occurred to me that the
lounge was constructed to open and
shut. Getting up again, felt Of It till
found that could lift the part on
which had been lying. inside by the
light of my lamp found the watch
I had heard I recognized II az my
aunt's. In a small box / found other
missing articles.
Now that had found the stolen
property 1t remained for me to nnd tho
| thief. l concentrated my attention
upon Edna Petit ! had no idea what
she would do in the matter. whether
she would suffer the articles TO remain
where they were u take them. away.
Every night I went from my room to
the one where had found the stolen
| goods and slept-whsn did sleep
very comfortably on some blankets I'M.
der the bed. nrst satisfying myself that
; the articles were still under the lounge.
The night before Edna was to take
her departure while sleeping under the
bed / was awakened by some one
coming into the room. didn't know
who It was, but, stealing from my hid
ing place, locked the door. Then.
flashing my electric lamp about, !
struck the object Of my suspicious. BY
promising no public exposure, provided
she would sign confession. ! relieved
Ralph Townsend from all blame. We