, 1916-02-24
ants jumped to her aid.

emerging from the test-if they came
out of it at all-without either health
or mind vitality impaired. Years of
suspense and of sacrificing for anoth-
er things most dear to a true woman's
heart had hut lily prepared her to face
the merciless prosecutor of a notorious
murder trial. even though the silent
victim whose blood demanded ven
| geance had been the man she had loved
as husband.
What was 1t about that telephone
call on the night of the Staying of Ger
aid Trask which, when on the stand
faint at its mention?
What was there about that talk over
the wire that broke down her reserve.
self contained demeanor and determin
ed poise when questioned about 1t by
the prosecutor, when even poignant re-
minders of her husbands death had
failed to materially move her?
What was the mystery?
Undoubtedly the prosecutor knew
through her statements before the trial
began and by her testimony at the
coroner's inquest and in the grand
juryroom.
The public, aroused to a still higher
pitch of excitement over the case,
awaited impatiently the resumption of
Mrs. Trask's testimony. The trial.
postponed for a day owing to her spec
tacular breakdown on the witness
stand, was continued at 1890 a. M, a
day later, with Joan Trask again ap-
pearing in the role of central figure.
Her eyes were clear; her voice was
steady. She had conquered the weak
ness that had overpowered her. She
had resolved to go through to the end
with the part she had been called on
by the authorities to I'LL.
And then the public began to learn
as much of the inner details of the
tragedy as the district attorneys office
itself knew. The woman barred her
heart to a gaping, thoughtless multi
tude that fed its morbid mind on her
sorrow with the greed of a hydra
headed vampire. A heyday for the
cynics and the scandal mongers was
the case of the people versus Robert
Strickland, and they were not to be
rODDeO OF any CuOlce "oisei VI theh
prey. No, indeed!
Now let US consider just what a
ner Of a story it was that Joan Trask
told in those o trying hours during
which she occupied the witness chair
In Justice Dinsmore's tribunal
She had heard the telephone bell in
her husbands library ring as b en-
tered the house on her return from a
dinner given by a friend in honor of
the wife of one of the members OF a
foreign embassy who had been visiting
N the city. Knowing her husband to
be out for the evening, she entered the
library and answered the call
The instrument was affixed to an
ornate mahogany desk of modern de-
sign standing Mt the left of b room,
a short space in front of an alcove and
a few feet distant from a safe In
which Trask kept valuable papers,
some family heirlooms and from time
to time bundles of stocks and bonds
and sums of money. He frequently
Used large amounts of cash in his
transactions at home, she testified.
A woman's voice answered when
Mrs. Trask asked what was wanted, a
voice that Mrs. Trask was certain that
| she had heard before. At any rate, h
had a faint suspicion as to who was
the owner of the voice-nothing def
mite.
"Is this 1872 River?" came the query.
YES" replied the inancier's widow,
who stated to the court that b had
lrembled visibly at the sound of the
koice.
A further request to be allowed to
talk to Mr.. Trask was met by the re-
Spouse that he was not in.
when will he be homer
81 don't know"
"Who are you?" asked the commu
meant.
I'm his wife," was Mrs. Trask's an
swer.
There was a pause.
"Oh, very well. Goodby," came next,
and the strange woman rang of.
Mrs. Trask turned away from the
telephone. deeply distressed. almost
d~istraught. As she did so her hus-
bands secretary, Stanley Glover. came
into the library rather hurriedly.
81 thought | heard the telephone
ring" he explained.
His manner impressed Mrs. Trask as
being marked by extreme anxiety and
especially so when she informed him
that she had answered the call.
Replying to his urgent questioning,
Mrs. Trask told him that 1t was "a
woman, as usual" who had sought to
communicate with her husband.
The secretary seated himself at his
employers desk and appeared to de
sire to avoid the woman's gaze.
Suspecting hat Glover knew some
thing about the person, Mrs. Trask
pressed him with questions, but to all