davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-02-15

with my gloves on, which was why
the writing looked SO queer that it
was taken for a disguised hand.
This done he rejoined me and we
went upstairs, and / was too happy
to be in his company again to won
der at his peculiarities or weigh the
consequences of the implicit conf
dence l accorded him. | was des-
perately in love once more, and en-
tered into ey cry plan he proposed
without a thought beyond the joyous
present, He was so handsome with
out his hat, and when, after some
short delay, he threw aside his dust
er, | felt myself. for the first time
in my life, in the presence OF a An
ished gentleman. Then his manner
was so changed. He was so like his
Oldest and best self so dangerously
like what he was in those long van
ished hours under the pines in my
sand-swept home on the shores of
Lake Michigan. That he faltered at
times and fell into strange spells of
silence which had something in them
that made my breath come fitfully did
not awaken my apprehension or
rouse in me more than a passing
curiosity, l thought he regretted the
past, and when, after one such pause
in our conversation, he drew out Of
his pocket a couple OF keys tied to-
gether with string and surveyed
the card attached to them with a
strange look, easily enough to be un-
derstood by me now, | only laughed
At his abstraction and INDUCED in a
fresh caress tc make him more mind
ful OF my presence.
These keys were the ones that
Mrs. Van Burnam's husband had
dropped and which he had picked up
before meeting me. and after he had
put them back into his pocket he be-
came more talllative than before and
more Systematically loverlike | think
he had not seen his way clearly till
this moment, the dark and dreadful
way which was to end. as he sup
posed. in my death.
But l feared nothing, suspected
nothing Such deep and desperate
wickedness as he was planning was
beyond the widest flight of my i'm
2gination. When he insisted upon
sending for complete set Of cloth
Ing for me, and when at his dictation
] wrote a list OF the articles | want
ed. ! thought he was influenced by
his wish as my husband to see me
dressed in articles OF his own buying.
That il was all a plot to rob me Of
my identity could not strike such a
mind as mine. and when the packages
came and were received by him in
the sly way already known to the
public, saw nothing in his caution
but a playful display of mystery that
was to end in my romantic estab-
lishment in home of love and lux
ury.
Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-02-15

II oscar VEGLIO. a graceless
but wholly amable soul. &C
quired a fatal taste for smok
Ing cigarettes in unstamped boxes.
He worked in a mandatory OF Gig
arettes. which made it quite possible
for him to indulge a habit become
dangerous. Dangerous; for writ up
large in a book of dusty statutes was
the prohibition of the Government
against the consumption Of such Of
these articles in boxes as had not been
stamped True. Pescar had never
seen this book; but certainly he was
presumed to know the law, or that
Ignorance Of the law is no excuse.
Being ignorant of the law, Pescar'
had therefore no excuse; and he
heard his case decided with great
cheerfulness Indeed with so simple
a smile did he repose upon the white
counterpart of his innocence, that he
thought fit not to disillusion his wife
upon the point OF his seven day abb
sence. She was amply provided, be 1t
known, for quite two weeks; he, Pes
car had seen to this, in telling her
that he should be gone seeking a new
Job during his vacation.
On the seventh day his vacation
suffered an involuntary lengthening
at the hands OF the Federal Court,
and became vacation of nine
months. during which he had nothing
to do but hold himself at the disposal
of the Government. He proceeded
forthwith to do this. choosing for the
purpose, and with the aid of certain
gentlemen who had kindly enlisted
themselves in his behalf, an island not
unpleasantly situated, and known as
Blackwelrs Island Somewhat puZ-
zled, he suffered himself to be estab-
lished here, mentioning at the last
moment that his wife. at such and
such place, would be deeply at
fected by this modification of his
scheme of life. HIS wife, said these
gentlemen, would get along all right.
The Government, benevolent as it
was puzzling, knew what to do with
wives
And here | take leave of Pescar,
who had no longer any cigarettes, but
who was not, after all, profoundly
discouraged. In this big country, one
may fash ones teeth at anything. II
is in the air.
At the time of Pescar's trial I was
private secretary to the judge who
passed sentence Unlike Pescar, ]
Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-02-15
By Anna Katherine Green

fore the opening of a sewer as we
stepped up a neighboring curbstone.
And still l did not suspect
Our ride to Gramercy Park was
short, but during it he had time to
put a bill in my hand and tell me |
was to pay the driver. He had also
time to secure the weapon upon which
he probably had his eye fixed from
the first. His manner of doing this
l can never forgive, for it was
lovers manner, and as such intended
to deceive and cajole me. Drawing
my head down on his shoulder, he
the only article left of my own buy
ing, and that we would leave it be-
hind us in the coach as we left the
gossamer in the other only | will
make sure that no other woman ever
wears it, he laughed, Sitting it up
and down with his knife. When this
was done he kissed me, and then,
while my heart was tender and the
out the pin from my hat, meeting my
circumstances with the assurance
that he hated to see my head covered
and that no hat was as pretty as my
own brown hair.
AS this was nonsense, and as the
coach was beginning to stop, l shook
my head at him and put my hat on
again, but he had dropped the pin.
so he said, and l had to alight with
out it,
When | had paid the driver and
the coach had driven off, | had
chance to look up at the house before
which we had stopped. Its height
and imposing appearance daunted me
in spite of the great expectations l
had formed, and l ran up the stoop
after him in a condition of mingled
awe and wild delight that was the
poorest preparation possible for what
lay before me in the dark interior we
were entering.
He was fumbling nervously in the
whispered oath escape him. But pres
emily the door fell back and we
stepped in to what looked to me like
a cavern of darkness.
do not be frightened he ad.
monished me. 1 will strike light in
moment And after carefully clos
ing the street door behind us he
stretched out his hand to take mine,
or SO l Judge, for ! heard him whis-
per impatiently, Where are your
Il was on the threshold of the par
Tor, to which l had CROPPED my way
while he was closing the front door.
SO l whispered back. 'Here! but found
voice for nothing further for at that
instant | heard a sound proceeding
from the depths of darkness in front
OF me and was so struck with terror
that | fell back against the staircase.
just as he passed me and entered the
room from which that stealthy noise
had issued.
Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-02-15
Continued From Last Sundayo
CHAPTER Xxx-(continued.)

CD ANDoLPH STONE was there
tx also but he did not see the
brothers, for finding them
closeted together. he decided not to
interrupt them. As he was a frequent
visitor there. his presence created no
remark nor was his departure noted
Descending the stairs separating the
offices from the street, he was about
to leave the building, when he no
ticed that the clouds looked ominous,
Miss Althorpe he felt averse to get
ting wet. so he stepped back into the
adjoining han and began cropping for
an umbrella in a little closet under
the stairs. where he had once before
found such an article. While doing
this he heard the younger Van Bur
nam descend and go out and realiz-
ing that he could now see Franklin
without difficulty he was about TO
return upstairs. when he heard that
gentleman also come down and fol-
low his brother into the street
"His first impulse was TO follow
him. but finding nothing but an old
buster in the closet. he gave up this
intention, and putting on this shabby
but protecting garment. started for
his apartments. little realizing into
what a course Of duplicity and crime
il was destined To lead him. For to
the wearing of this old buster on this
especial morning, innocent as the
occasion was, | attribute John Ran
dolph's temptation to murder. Had
he gone out without il, he would
have taken his usual course up Broad
way and never met me; or even II he
had taken the same roundabout way
to his apartment as that which led
to our encounter. he would never
have dared. in his ordinary fine dress,
conspicuous as IL made him, to have
entered upon those measures, which,
as he is clever enough to know, lead
to disgrace, If they do not end in a
felon's cell II was John Randolph,
then. or Randolph Stone, as he Is
pleased to call himself in New York,
and not Franklin Van Burnam (who
had doubtless proceeded in another
direction) who came up to where
Howard had stood, saw the keys he
had dropped, and put them in his
own pocket. II was as innocent an
action as the donning Of the buster
and yet it was fraught with the worst
consequences to himself and others.
Being OF the same height and
complexion as Franklin Van Burnam
and both gentlemen wearing at that
time mustache tmy husband
shaved his off after the murder), the
mistakes which arose out OF this
strange equipment were but natural
seen from the rear or in the semi.
darkness of hotel Office they
Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-02-15

had not the habit of cigarettes, for
which | had no taste; and 1 lived
very spaciously behind a large desk,
and could always be found deep in
quite meaningless papers by people
who had TO wait to speak TO me.
They came in upon a soft red carpet.
and so made no noise; then they took
quite a dozen PAGES. while | fancied
myself contemptuous Of their pres
ence. Then, If they were courageous.
they spoke; and If they were not.
they kept silent, while l cracked
papers, exulting in a dignity which
could so intimidate. After a minute
Of this looked up and frowned.
These persons never saw the judge.
I reserved them for myself
One week after Pescar's establish
ment on Blackwelrs, became subtly
aware Of one OF these timid presences,
and refused 1t recognition. But ac-
companying the timid presence was
one more self-centered. which, struck
by the preternatural decorum of the
place, howled. This Is a bold word,
hut justified. The sound which broke
in this august vicinity was unmistak-
ably howl-acute. prolonged, undu-
lating.
Babies should not be brought in
here" | said, sharply. Really, mad
am" this to his mother, who was
steadied rather than frightened by
the noise-it was the silence which
had frightened her-"we cant have
this. What is your business?"
The baby was dressed in a long
cloak with a hood or cowl, all COM
posed of dirty imitation fur which
had come off in patches, showing ir-
regular areas of cracked yellow glue.
Deep into this he now wormed him.
self precipitously not that he was OF
retiring disposition, but that he was
in the habit of giving his mother
something to do on all possible occa-
sions Bending over the task, she
said. 81 gotta other wonn home"
| took this to be a threat; but It
was only plea. She had two with
her. The older one, a child of four
had climbed sedately into a rosewood
chair. and sat very stiff. in peril of a
fall, with wrinkled stockings. This
mother was very young dark, slim,
pallid, addressed. Her brown hair
fell in unregarded little curls about
her temples. She said to me, pas
sionately when she found her speech
81 wan my husban'."
Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-02-15

morning and hung again on its ac-
customed nail the keys of the Ora
mercy Park house.
when the front door had closed,
and | knew that he had gone away in
the full belief that it was my form
he had left lying behind him on that
midnight floor, all the accumulated
terrors of the situation came to me in
full force, and | began to think of her
as we'll as of myself, and longed for
courage to approach her or even the
daring to call out for help. But the
thought that It was my husband who
had committed this crime held me
tongue tied, and though I soon began
to move inch by inch in her direction,
it was some time before I could so
far overcome my terror as to enter
the room where she lay.
Il had supposed, and still suppose
Gas was natural after seeing him
from his pocket, that the house was
his, and the victim a member of his
own household. But when, after in
Vulnerable hesitations and a bodily
shrinking that was little short of tor
ment l managed to drag myself into
the room and light a match which l
found on a farther mantel shelf, /
saw enough In the general appearance
Of the rooms and of the figure at my
feet to make me doubt the truth of
both those suggestions. Yet no 9TH
er explanation came to tighten the
mystery of the occasion, and. dazed
as | was by the horror of my position
and the mortal dread | felt Of the man
who in one instant had turned the
heaven OF my love into hell of faith
omless horrors, l soon had eyes for the
one fact only, that the woman living
before me was sufficiently like myself
TO inspire me with the hope of pre-
serving my secret and keeping from
my would-be slayer the knowledge of
my having escaped the doom he had
prepared for me.
For, ascribe to it what motive YOU
Will, that was the one idea now DOM
mating my mind. i wanted him to
believe me dead. I wanted to feel
that all connection between us was
severed forever. He had killed me
BY killing my love and faith in him he
had murdered the better part of nv
self, and l shrank with inconceivable
horror from anything that would
bring me again under his eye. or
force me to assert claims that il
would be the future business OF my
life to forget
When the first match went out
had not courage to light another, so l
crept away in the darkness to listen
at the foot of the stairs There was
no sound from above, and a terrifying
sense began to pervade me that | was
in that house alone Yet there was
safety in the thought. and opportunity
for what / was planning, and finally.
Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-02-15
n Extraordinary Short Story in Hearst's Magazine

Have you no friends-relatives 2"
l suggested. She shook her head.
should have to be more sensible than
that, she inferred. Then she began
softly tyrannizing over me with that
black melting eye.
You come back tomorrow" said,
and I'll talk with the judge in the
meantime"
It'll only be four months" I said
to her. Cant you manage for that?"
Her shoulders heaved.
-Four mont
Then l saw the cruel inutility of
that reduction.
Isn't there some place you could
put the children?" l said. Il think
perhaps I could find a place. Some
some organization" A smooth mo-
mentous nothing.
Even as it fell from my lips, she
sprang up, clasping the baby tightly.
He thwarted me at every point, this
infant. Her soft eyes blinded me
with two little burning points of
light. l thought her then supremely
beautiful; that swift movement lift
ed her tragedy to the height of her
passionate emotion. There could be
no soul more driven, no torment
blacker She suffered from her I'M
guided intelligence.
You take my cheeldren, too?' she
cried. you take them all-all? Pes
car an then-Giovan'.
She moaned over him, her lips
pressed into his red cheek. | saw my
suggestion was as hideous as she had
thought it. First Pescar', then Clio
van. was stifled | felt as if the
solution of this problem were my
duty. the courts duty-since the
court had struck off her support.
There was no answer to her when
she said, Il did not smoke your ceeg-
arctic"
AT least" l said, "come down and
see the District Attorney. He may
know of something, some
| was about to say some organi-
cation" again. But my suggestion as
to the children had warned her
against further importuning. She
shrank away from the panels of the
door leading into the inner chamber,
ard now she seemed to feel that be-
hind that door there lurked a dread
full creature who had worked her woe,
and might work her woe again. She
snatched the other child from the
chair and pushed it toward the cor
ridor.
II man-eege," she said cunning
ly, Selling hold of the judicial word.
Il get monnay. You-never meend.
'urday-"
She gasped; she had been speak
Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-02-15

ing in frightened whispers.
-Four mont not long" she said
Il get monnay. Goodbye"
She fed from me in terror.
Three months later I looked -,
from my papers to find her STANDING
before me again. Then l saw how
she had bridged that gap.
GOO day. she said. She was
dressed in black, and wonderfully,
her very hat had sharp and saucv
air, as if her milliner had been a
wit. She disposed slashing set NJ
furs about her, looked at me with
intelligent eyes, and then, leaning flr-
lively toward me over the desk
whispered. She was alone this time
You member me-Anna veglio?"
she inquired. Her voice was LIQUID
a caress, speaking of compromise II
was torture. I felt responsible for
this, too
] said yes, and sat staring at her
like a fool-at the competent black
eye, the deft insinuation of the glow
ing cheek, the flutter of the black
lash, the pause Were these the lit
tie steps, then? She had learned to
lean down, to draw back. to cheat
to BATTLE, to invite Were these the
little steps?
ut was-he say four mont for me-"
she inquired, whispering, and noddine
toward the invisible judge. I said
yes again. She put her cheek nearer
mine. and with visible effort
brought all her new forces to bear
upon me. Beneath her amiabilitv
detected a deadly fear, and I saw
hints of a complexity beyond human
untangling.
-Four mont nearly gone" she said.
But l get on now. man eege."
Her smile was a dreadful comnen-
tary upon the Governments concern
for wives. One could not exagger-
ate the force Of the unconscious sat
ire in her retention of the word
manage" I have dropped It out of
my polite vocabulary.
You un'erstan'," she continued
''Prescar' bad wonn. He mus have
nine mont in pree-sonn. Nine mont"
She paused, looking at me with ter
rible soft eyes, insinua ting, talking
to me without words. Then she put
gers spread, and, leaning on them, let
fall again those two words:
Imam eege,"
Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-02-15

I was going to be complacently
satirical, and reply that he wasn't
in my pocket, but she cut me off,
and went on, more and more as
founded by the events she related.
"Wonn night he come home, an
we happy. We dance; da cheeldren
laugh. He good man, Pescar He
did not steal Anuzzer night / Lessen
oh. long-but ne did not come. He
did not come now ten. tweP nights.
l want heem"
Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-02-15

under the stress of the purpose that
was every moment developing within
me, l went softly upstairs and lis
tened at the doors till l was certain
that the house was unoccupied. Then
I came down and walked resolutely
back into the parlor, for l knew if l
allowed any time to pass ! could never
again summon up strength to cross
It's grisly threshold. Yet did nothing
for hours but crouch in one of It's dis
NAL corners, waiting for morning.
That / did not go mad in the awful
interval is a wonder. I must have
been near it more than once.
Il have been asked, and Miss But
terworth has been asked how in the
light of what we now know concern
ing this poor victims presence there
we account for her being in the dark
ness and showing so little terror at
our entrance and Mr.. Stones ap-
proach. | account for 1t in this way
Two half burned matches were found
in the parlor CRATE. One l flung there
the other had probably been used by
her to light the dining room gas, II
this was still lighted when we drove
up, as it may have been. then alarmed
by the sound of the stopping coacA
she had put it out, with vague idea
of hiding herself till she kne"
whether it was the old gentleman VINO
was coming or only her suspicious
and unreasonable husband. If It was
not Lighted then, she was prooaoly
aroused from sleep on the parlor SOFA
and was for the moment too dazed l"
cry out or resent an embrace she hau
not time to understand before sur
suCCumbed to the cruel STAB thdO
killed her. Miss ButterwOrth, however
thinks that the poor creature loon
the intruder for Franklin TN sne
heard my voice, when she prooaoly
became so amazed that she was IN
measure paralyzed and found II I'M
possible to move or cry out. AS MIS-"
Butterworth is a woman of great dis
erection. l should think her eXplana-
ton the truest If | did not conslde'
her little prejudiced against Mr''
Van Burnam.
But to return to myself.
With the first glimmer or il8h'
that came through the closed snu.I
tiers l arose and began my dreauI"
task. Upheld by a purpose as re-
lentless as that which drove the ao1
thor of this horror into murder
stripped the body and put upon II my
own clothing with the one exception
of the shoes. Then, when ] had re-
dressed myself in hers, ! steadleu "
my heart and, with one wild Pun.
dragged down the cabinet upon gt.
so that her face might lose Its lIa'-'
and her identification become lnlpVS
sible.
How I had strength to do this. ana am.
how l could contemplate the r'Sr'
without shrieldng, | can not no" I.
agine. Perhaps | was hardly hNH''.t
at this crisis; perhaps someth,..H..-. IN
the demon which had Informed mn. a.,
his awful work had entered lt.o lH'
breast, making this thing poss!o'"
Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-02-15

HE did not steal. Why you put
heem in preesonn?"
| reflected that the reason would
be hard to convey We are pre-
sumed to know the law, not the rea-
sons for the law
He smoked cigarettes out of a box
that wasn't stamped l said. You
you can't do that, you know"
How long YOU keep heem in pree-
sonn?" she said, passing over the
futility Of that without answer
Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-02-15

What is your name?" I inquired.
anna Veglio."
Then l said very gently. feeling like
a young fool in the presence of some
thing too big for him to handle, Don't
you know that your husband If serv-
ing sentence on Blackwells Island?"
TN preesonn?"
"In prison"
Her dark eyes flashed over me con-
temptuously
He good man, Pescar'," she said.
Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-02-15

Mine months" 1 replied
Mine mont? All, what l am to
do? l have not got-monnay. / can
not work. l got cheeld. Tree cheeld.
She sank back upon the lounge of
black leather Her thin hand fell on
the child's face, and she brushed back
a curl.
Il have no monnay now" she pur-
sued timidly. Yesterday l spend all.
Pescar' he bring me no monnay twel'
days. What you theenk l do?"
Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-02-15

following
Extraod
absorbing
thai appear regularly Hearsts Magazine.
Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-02-15

The full story, what the Law Pre-
sumes," from which the foregoing ex-
cerpts were taken, will be found in
full in the current February number
of HEARST'S MAGAZINE.
Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-02-15
Continued Next Sunday }

Copyright 1897 by Anna r kon"N
Publishers, G. +. Putnam So"'
New York and Londoh
The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1914-09-17

Shoe stores will be revelations in beau
~ and distraction with tho newest and
most exclusive models IN footwear.
Furniture dealers will have on display
everything needed for the adornmcnt
and comfort Of the home. Clothiers,
matters and habcrdashcrs will have the
newest and smartcst of everything In
mems wear. Florist and jcwclry shops
will be rosplcndent with brilliant dis
PLAYS.
Richmond retailers all appear to be
intent, on making the fashion display
TIA" best Richmond ever saw.
hundreds Of shoppers will come to
Richmond from within Il radius Of
many miles OF the city to do their fall
buying. besides the numerous residents
OF the city WHO have postponed making
their purchases until next week. Tho
retail stores as y rule arc wcll-preparcd
to handle tho great number OF custom
crs who arc expected and the stock of
goods arc large enough to offer every
one It wide choice In selection