New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1915-05-26

the letter, the bit Of paper with eley.
en- twenty-five on It that Margery gave
me the 6rst time saw her, l note
book filled with jerky characters that
looked like Arabic and were newspa-
per shorthand, railroad schedule, q
bullet. the latter slightly dattened: q,
cube shaped piece of chalk. which <
put back in it's box with q shudderi
and labeled Poison" and small gold
buckle from slipper, which lat
which did not shudder. /
did not need to make the climaxes
Of my story. They lay before me.
At II o'clock Hunter called up. He
said he was going after the affair him.
self, but that 1t was hard to stick a
dip net into the political puddle with,
out pulling out lot more than you
went after or than it was healthy to
get. He wanted to know if I had
come across any more X. VS.. Where
upon I put away the notes I had made
about Della and Mamie Brennan.
CHAPTER ~.
Ninety-sight Pearls.
- WENT to Bellwood that evening.
It was suburban town dozen
miles from the city. Street cars
had so far failed to spoil its
tree bordered streets, and it was ex-
elusive to the point of stagnation. The
Maitland place was at the head of the
main street. Miss Letitia, who was
seventy, had had sufficient commercial
Instinct some years before to cut her
ancestral acres-their ancestral acres,
though Miss Jane hardly counted-into
building lots. except perhaps an acre
which surrounded the house. Thus the
Maitland ladies were reputed to be ex-
tremely wealthy. And as they never
spent any money. no doubt they were
l had taken dinner at Bellwood be-
fore. and the memory was not hilari-
GUS. Miss Letitia was deaf. but chose
to ignore the fact. With superb indif-
ference she would break into the con-
versation with some wholly alien re-
mark that necessitated reassembling
ries of mental gymnastics. Miss Jane,
through long practice and because she
only skinned the surface of converse
ton, took her cerebral fights easily,
but am more unwieldy Of mind.
Nor was Miss Letitia's dominance
wholly conversational. Her sister Jane
was her creature. alternately snubbed
and bullied. To Miss Letitia. Jane, in
spite Of her sixty-6ve years, was still a
child, and sometimes a bad one. Miss
Letitia gave her expurgated books to
read and forbade her to read divorce
court proceedings in the newspapers.
Poor Miss Jane! She met me with
1uttering cordially in the hall that
night. safe in being herself for once,
with the knowledge that Miss Letitia
always received me from thronelike
horsehair sofa in the back parlor. She
wore new lace cap and was twitter-
ingly excited.
Our niece is here" she explained,
as took off my coat-everything was
ours" with Jane: mine with Letitia
land we are having an ice at dinner.
Please say that ices are not injurious,
MI. Knox. My sister is so opposed to
them. and had to beg for this
"On the contrary. the doctors have
ordered ices for my young nephews,''
! said gravely. land l dote on them
myself"
Miss Jane beamed. Indeed. there
was something almost unnaturally
gay about the little old lady all that
evening.
Miss Letitia received me, as usual, in
the back parlor. Miss Fleming was
there also, sewing by a window, and
In her straight white dress. with her
hair drawn back and braided around
her head. she looked even younger
than before. There was no time for
conversation. Miss Letitia launched
at once into the extravaganza of both
molasses and butter on the colored
orphans bread. .
You have had no news at alp Miss
Fleming said cautiously, her head bent
over her work.
None" returned. under cover of
the table linen to which Miss Letitia's
mind had veered. II have good man
working on it." As she glanced at
me questioningly. 1T needed detec-
tive, Miss Fleming" With every
movement of the girl could see the
cleaning of a diamond on her engage
ment finger.
III didn't watch her, Jane would
ruin them," said Miss Letitia. .she
gives 'em apples when they keep their
faces clean, and the bills for soap have
gone up double. Soap once days
enough for colored child. Do you
smell anything burning. Knox?"
shifted and lied, whereupon Miss
Letitia swept her black silk. her color
ed orphans and her majestic presence
out of the room. AS the door closed.
Miss Fleming put down her sewing.
Il do not dare to tell them. Mr..
Knox" she said. 'They are old, and
fhov, hofo him o~-h@. -