Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1914-01-16

49,.
steal. / came to meet the ma,
who is mine By right, yours - ~
MY husband! You come bs-s
oh. heavens,' %
II know not who you are I'M.
know that l am the only woas. :
loves" .
Striding past Mrs. MacKu,1bt A.
ly, she left the room and hurriss 49,
the staircase. Mary, on the vsr. ~.
collapse, fell on the bed. an. - 8 3
the front door open. then the vo,s. J.
her husband.
81 beg your pardon, madam.
should like to know what va,, -
been doing in my house" ass
'Let me CO." came the voice A. !.
woman who had just gone d,s.
stairs.
Not Until ! 1ave received = 49,
factory explanation as to the 49,.
of your presence here"
Mary sprsng from the bod =.
woman must 10 thief after Al. a.
had made her believe that she =.
come to meet John in order to got Az -
with the valuables she had taksn -
escape arrest. The thought WAS ~.
gied by delightful feeling Of rs,I..
that her husband was innocent pr.s
ing to the landing, she cried:
Don't let her go, John; shes
thief
John closed the front door. sbu,s,.
the intruder in. Mary ran down ~
confronted the woman with her In.
band Both were too intent On 4.
matter Of preventing the thief s-an,
getting away with whatever che b,S
stolen to think of saluting each 9TH,
after their long separation.
Turn over the plumber" said Ioh,
You may as well give It up to M
as to the police"
81 have no plumber" said the vou.,
drawing quick breaths in her ezcits-
ment
Very well, you have been caurb.
in my house, and that is tresuss
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 "a.
per and tried to tear Ii, but 1t was
folded, and she was not successful
John snatched 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 h
10 harm done and you can well afford
o let me go away quietly. ! am Ellen
,tone"
ELLEN Stoner gasped Mary.
go on" said John.
Mrs. Withers died this morning In
he sanitarium. If / could have got l.
ut with that paper / would have In
erited all her property, for hare
7ill dated long before that one drawn
4 my favor"
But how did you know where this
7ill was kept:" asked Mary.
when Mrs. Withers lived with ne
he kept all her papers in her antique
esk. 1 knew she must have made
econd will, and there was chanr
nat it was in the desk. Learning thE
here was no one in the house duriH !
ne day, / came here and, bringing
,ol to raise a sash, got in. / foundths
esk and the will, as / hoped, and htf
on, Mrs. MacKnight, been q minrr
ter 1 would have made good my e
,pe. 1 made pretense of having cone
ere to meet your husband, hopingth that
would prevent your OBTAINING me fG 4
thief. Had you, Mr.. Macknigm
cen a minute later would have sue
.eded in passing the second danger
She paused few moments, then cor
nued:
You have nothing to gain oy pro~
lting me for this attempt TO get pos'
ssion of Mrs. Withers' will, and se
, reason why you should not suHs
e to depart"
Il can forgive you," said Mary, y
TO deprive me Of rorlpN
en- by a criminal ruse, but II is nelp
sy to forgive you for pretending thai
u had won him from me- Supposs
you have said, he had not arrisu
! you had gone. You would not oap
We stolen the fortune my aunt
nded for me, but it is quite posspe
at you might have made an irrels'
lie breach between him and me. ~
.annot permit you to so free.
rhe woman covered at this
d committed an offense that II prs
would send her to prison FOR ns''
airs. John MacKnight interpcsee
Mary" he said, you must renee
r that where one is cornereo
lst decide quickly the conseQue1S
an act are not carefully consloe~
mercy"
rhe wife. who had so nearly
,arated from her husband as wet
ing a fortune, considered a MONS"
n said:
Do s you like. John" Ia
opened the door anu
the woman one word