The Washington herald., 1914-02-01
what came to be known as the Fulham

II George Ryder had been murdered in q
. house in Helena Grove. Fulham. not very
far from the road in which 1 had met
) that red-headed youth. George Ryder was
young man of thirty-seven.
He had nearly recovered from the ef-
, fects of an accident when he was muir
dered at O'Clock on an April afternoon.
He was alone in the house-by what real
ly seemed to be a most curious chance.
1t was the servants afternoon out; the
nurse who had charge of his case had
wife and four-year-old child were left at
home. Just before a telegram was
brought to the wife. informing her that
her mother, who lived at Hampstead,
was dying; IL she wished to see her alive
she mast go at once. Mrs. Ryder showed
the telegram to her husband. Both the
maid and the nurse were TO be back at 6.
He declared that he wished to rest, that
he would be all right till they returned,
and that she was to &C without delay to
see her mother. She left the house be-
| tween a quarter and twenty past 8, TAX
ing her little girl with her. The nurse,
whose name was Ver-ion. returned be-
fore her appointed time. She entered the
house with a latchkey at about a quarter
to .. She was going into her bedroom
] when, struck by the silence Of the house,
she opened the door OF Mr. Ryder's room
to see how her patient was. He was ly-
ing on the floor, dead; some one had
struck him a heavy blow on the temple
with an electro-plated candlestick which
lay beside him.
The whole tragedy had taken place in
side of twenty minutes-the twenty min
utes which interviewed between Mrs. Ry-
der's going out and Nurse Verrion's COM
ing in. Nurse Verrion fetched in a doctor
who lived on the other side OF the street.
who gave his opinion that Mr.. Ryder had
been dead about a quarter of an hour.
Just before taxicab drew up in front
of the house. and Mrs. Ryder came rush
ing out of it; that telegram which had
reached her just before 8 had been a
hoax. She had found her mother, IL any
thing. in better health than usual Won
dering what the thing meant she had
rushed back home-to find her husband
dead.
For reasons which l can hardly define,
1 took more interest in the Fulham mys-
terry than l generally do in matters of
the kind. OF course il was the merest
coincidence. but it did strike me as odd
that l should have met the red-haired
youth that same afternoon, and have
been puzzled by the agitation he showed
as he stared at the signaling blind. /
suppose I met him, so far as 1 could
judge, at about $50. some two hours be-
fore the murder took place within a
quarter OF a mile of where l saw him. /
recalled what the girl had said at the
teashop-that her object was to let him
know. as 1 took if. by means of a signal
conveyed by the blind in her room. when :
''the>coast was clear" Two hours after
ward the coast had been cleared in
Helena Grove in a truly singular manner. |
Whether. again, the second chapter of |
this strange story owed its inception to |
mere chance, he would be bold person |
who ventured positively to affirm. I was
spending the weekend on the cliff at /
BoscOmbe. George I-yder had been dead |
two years; the Fulham mystery. still I'M
solved, had practically slipped from the /
public mind. | arrived on the Friday, |
and had to leave on the Monday after
noon. On Monday morning l enjoyed the
open air in the pretty. sheltered public
gardens. I occupied chair under a
tree. On the other side OF the path lady
was the sole occupant of a seat We were
both OF US reading. An exclamation
caused me to glance up from the page
of my book. A lady, holding a child by
each hand. had c ME along the path: at
Sipht of har he oF ha a !
sprung up; the two women were staring
at each other, as if each saw in the other
a ghost.
The woman with the two children
seemed TO he the more amazed: il was
she who had uttered che exclamation.
judged her to be perhaps thirty-seven
years of age. but she looked so Worn and
worried that she might have been
younger than she seemed. Her clothing
was old and shabby.
The person who had risen from the seat
was the first to speak; though 1 could
not hear her. l could see distinctly what
she said. Her expression was one of sheer
bewilderment. as if she were in doubt of
the others identity
Annie. 1t is you. Have YOU tumbled .
from the sky? Where have you been hid
ing? What are YOU doing here? And who
are these-these two young people? ,
Where is your owl small daughter?
Surely this is not she?"
The woman addressed as Annie seemed ,
to, be so overcome by the others unex-
pected appearance as TO be almost inca
pable of speech. When she spoke, al a.,
though 1 heard nothing. could see from ,
the twitching of her lips that her voice
was tremulous.
Laura, II never expected to see you. ,
IL can't stop now. but IL want to ,
speak TO you very much. I've got to u.
take these two children to friends, Just ,
Just over there; but I'll be back in-in /
zen minutes, if you'll wait for me-here. ~
Laura, say you'll wait for me-" 4,
Her friends bewilderment seemed to be :
growing. The expression in her eyes !
showed clearly that she could not make :
he speaker out It
Stay for your she smiled, as IL to !
'eassure her. ''Of course I'll stay for =
minutes, or as long as you like" !
The woman. with her two charges, hur-
led off.
/ imagined that II was nearer twenty ,
han ten minutes before the ether re- 4
urned: when she came she was nearly
,unning. Il
"They-they kept me ionger-than L =
bought they would. I'm not my own z
mistress, and-and when people want me a