Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1915-12-06
cHAprlR xxl,,.
Proof AZ Last.

Proof At Last.
The summer was upon the hills with
Q vengeance. - = ~ =
"Mi.hty unusual" said Ma Daily,
| this here heat. Hottest it's been fer
many a year; ITS a.goin' to be .
| mighty dry season an it's a-comin'
| earlv."
Which prophecy seemed due to be
fulfilled. A blue heat haze lay deep in
| the valleys, hung amid the hills. The
deep floor of pine needles in the big
woods was already dry as powder. and
/ it was only late July. The camp was
humming ahead with the work. They
| had exceeded their expectations in
| getting out logs. sending out more
than they had planned.
! Miss Ordway. still mistress Of the
little south room, worked feverishly
at the new story Of the timberlands.
| A bit Of her brightness, some OF her
painstaking cheeriness, was gone with
the summers heat She had thought
that long before this she would have
won, that the engagement she had so
daringly announced would be fact
She could not understand his holding
out against her.
Sandry had made many trips to
! Salem, consulting with the lawyer he
/, had summoned from the East, who was
! turning heaven and earth in an effort
to prove what Sandry knew to be
! true Of Hampden, but it was unavail-
ing. The young commissioner at Sa-
! lem was ION to his job" and the weeks
few by with not one raveled end to
the ball of fraud and deception and
criminal intrigue which lay snug in the
doctored records of the state land Of
! fee. Miss Ordway had dropped her
filing for the timber claim and the
young commissioner was uneasily
searching his Offices for the two let
ters and q missing account book. He
did not family suspect that the last
time he had seen them was during the
visit to Salem of the charming new
acquisition to the ring" In fact,
some of those days were still shrould.
ed in nebulous haze of mystery-red
wine and red lips and heady infatua-
ton. p
But things were approaching an
other change in Daily's lumber camp.
One day in late July Sandry wrote sew
eral letters and Poppy Ordway, lean
ing Familiarity over his shoulder.
reached out nand for them.
I'm going up to the forked stick"
! she said languidly, land Ill take
them"
The dainty fingers were all but
trembling with eagerness, for she saw
that one of them was addressed to
John H. Musseldorn, at town in New
Jersey. There was none to observe
her on the sunny Siletz road behind
the low growth of spruce, and when
she strolled down the little meadow
again toward the cook-shack, that par
ticular letter lay safe inside the bosom
Of her dress. @
She went straight to the south room.
entered and closed the door. Her,
hands trembled violently, but there
was no compunction for what she was
about to do in her heart. She was
pretty we'll armed with knowledge that
would give her hold on Sandry, in
case she was forced to use it, but
here. she believed, would be proof pos.
tive, the actual written word that she
might hold before his eyes in some
hard event Of the future.
With strong excitement she slit the
envelope, drew out the sheet and be-
gan to read Faster and faster came
her hot breath. redder and redder
grew her cheeks, while triumph spar
kled in her eyes. She moved slightly
on her slippered feet, little motion
OF satisfaction that set her garments
whispering-as when the tiger, scent.
ing it's prey, sQuiTns before ths leap.
With eager haste she sat down at
When she had finished an hour later,
after long intervals of study, there lay
under her hand very creditable brief
of the famous Whitby Casa verba-
tim copy of President Whitbys last
letter, concise history of Walter San
dry.s life since college, the notes IN
the red morocco book plainly speci-
fed as his delirious words, and copy
of this letter to Musseldorn. Taken
together, they made chain OF deduc-
lions so plain and simple as to be
condemning evidence.
At that moment Sandry himself,
stepping near the south window, called
her to come out and see the Siletz
squaws with their pyramids OF bas-
kets going down to Toledo. At his
voice she laid Jealous hand over the
papers, hurriedly pushed them back
for safety, and rose. But Fate, that
had been waiting, gave overimpetus to
the cautious motion and showed them
little too far back, so that they hung
in the small space between the type
writer stand and the wall-hung ten]
tatively until the wind from the clos.
ing door, which, as II It, too, were In
conspiracy, did not latch, caught them
and pulled them down to the clean,
rag-carpeted floor.
Come. S'letz.'' called Sandry as they
started for the road to intercept the
basket-bearers. but Siletz, sitting in
the west door with her chin in her
cupped palms, shook her head.
The heat was intense for the coast
country, dry and brilliant, and the
hills were blue ~ turquoise. She
watched sandry and Miss Ordway for
long time as they picked among the
treasures from the tide.lands. and pres
emily they fell in with the small. brown
unvon and all disannearo around the