Putnam patriot., 1915-03-19
Copyright. 1912. by A. C. Mcclurg 0 Go


 Then described the change in my aans She listened quietly. asking a uestion now and then.
 What pnpers did you find In the e>k:'
 1le'tte.. mostly. esta ablishing the .ientity If the captain"
 Who Is lie reaily.'
 Charles Heniey = Philip Henley's .alf hrvth-f by negro mother. Did ol ever bear of himY'
 No: l WAS never told there was such
 man.
 immediately Interested ever knew the ircusi~tanses. Of course the family ,sta u . close secret This ts where he innA bad all the advantase. Al spon as the judge dlsd he determined reprvs~nt himself as Philip and iaiHi the property.
 As Philip had been absent Q long. 10 oue ,'ouid dispute successfully his iaim to De that individual He pos .~sed ample svideBcs that he was ths -on of Judge Henley"
 Hut surely ne would anticipate that fly hus-rhilip would hear of his ia iher's death:'
 He took the chance of getting the property into his hands first AS understand the matter. ne possessed no Knowledge that the judge was in communication with Philip He be- ,ieved the mtrer had disappeared ut lerly and would only learn of his in- neritance through accident. To pre- vent this he dispatched s man north to discover him. If possible. and keei' him under surveillance. He thought he had every avenue guarded.
 How did you learn all thisT'
 Prom Brousssrd nrst. He talked more freely than he intended to do, and later 1 verified all he said by the letters found.
 Then. strange as it sounds. 1t k trtieT'
 Without doubt Moreover'-and lowered my voice in sudden embarrass- within the last two weeks the captain had received news from his HStut III tDf uOith "bis e"'S ann fresh confidence. The man reported that he had found trace of Philip Hen ev: he told of the life the man was ,eading and where he lived. l think all this must have been immediately after your separation. as he mentioned no wife. However he described some thing even more important
 s-t,.. ika rrS.f fnr as | hesitated. Don't be afraid to trust ne with all you know"
 ,l am not afraid" l returned stout. ly enough. mot in the sense you mean at least. yet it is never easy to be the bearer of evil news
 "ls it eyil:'
 "AIisfortune. certainly. The man re- ported the death Of your husband
 His death You are sure: fell me now what he said; how it happened
 The report was specific and would seem to he trne. He says that Philip Henley while intoxicated was struck and killed by an automobile. The date given was after you left him. His body was found by the police. but his pockets had been rihed. and thers were no marks of identification on his clothes. He was buried unknown, but the informant claimed to have visited the morgus. viewed the body and states positively the dead man was Philip"
 "And-and you think-teIl me what you believe. Gordon Craig.'
 There Is but one conclusion to my mind 1 have no doubt as to the en- tire truth of the story The silence and disappearance of your husband is evidence that ne Is either dead or in some other way helpless"
 .l-I-really have thought this all the time Bnt about those others:"
 Vail and Neale. you mean? IL seems to me they Ht in exactly with the story. Everything had been re moved from Philips pockets and all ordinary means of Identification de stroyed. There must have been pur pose in this. and 1t must have been done by a second party, as there Is no suggestion of suicide. My theory Ia this-the body was either fOund by others before the police arrived or else the automobile party which killed him paused long enough to ascertain the extent of hts injuries. Tn either ease his pockets were searched and all con tents removed Do you comprehend what that would msAnY'
 Fl think so. but tell me yourself" ~He certainly had papes with him dealing with hIs inberftancs. To shrewd. criminal mind they would bs suggestive He also undoubtedly had keys to his apartments. Then there would b< nothing more needed except . man capable of passing himself off as Philip Henley"
 And Vail wnE not a lawyer" she asked breathlsssly. "nor Neale one of the executorsy'
 .'ln my judgment the fellows merely took those names to impose upon me. to help bolster up their story and make 1t appear proba ble They were simply two crooks. willing to take chance for pot of money. l happened to be the one selected to pull their chest nuts out of the ire
 1 saw her head sink into the support of her hands and knew she was sob biIig silently.
 You think my conclusions must be correctY" 1 could not refrain from asking.
 "Yes. even without seeing the letter: but" and she glanced up quickly, the ring-Philips ring-we found!
 ..I forgot to mention that. It's pres ence here alone is convincing. It was