Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1916-08-10
A TRAP
FOILED
By SARAH BAXTER

one morning young woman entered |
my law office in Boston saying that q
mutual friend had recommended me
for an attorney. She said that her ia /,
Their, who was widower and an old
man, had been i'll for more than a
year, under the care of trained nurse.
The nurse, Miss Dartmore, was wo-
man about thirty-fve years old. She
was attempting to marry her charge
with view to getting control Of his
fortune. struggle was going on be-
tween the nurse and the daughter, the
one trying to accomplish this marriage,
the other endeavoring to prevent 1t.
My client, Miss Ambrose, was having
the worst of the struggle at the time,
for Miss Dartmore had taken the old
man aboard his yacht, the Rowena,
and had sailed away with him on the
high seas, taking with her a consider
able portion of his property in negoti-
able bonds and cash.
1T occurred to me that the proper
course for me was to get warrant for
Miss Dartmore's arrest on a charge of
KIDNAPPING, deputy sheriff to serve it
and give chase. l called up friend
who knew all about yachts and where
! one could be procured, and within q
few hours l had chartered the Maui
titus, an auxiliary boat, and before sun
set Miss Ambrose, an aunt of hers, my
self and deputy sheriff We're off in
the wake Of the Rowena
All we knew Of the direction taken
by our adversary was that it was east
ward. 1t occurred to me that Miss
Dartmore would endeavor to lose her
self among the islands lying beyond
Portland, though she might stop at
that city for the purpose of being mar
ried. Miss Ambrose informed me that
so far as she knew her father had not
thus far consented to marriage. but
he was quite feeble. and if the nurse
had sufficient time she would doubtless
dominate him to her purpose.
On reaching Portland we put in
there. made hurried search of the
harbor and, not finding the Rowena,
pushed on eastward, striking the is
lands as soon as we left port. They
are very thick, and we passed many
landings, which enabled us to make
inquiries without stopping if any one
had seen the yacht we We're after We
soon got track of the Rowena. but she
had twelve hours start of us, and this
was great advantage to her. Never
theless we tracked her, sometimes by
inquiring of those on shore, but usually
Of those on the water. She kept in
/ among those islands nearest thu main
land and nearest together.
Miss Ambrose was very much trou-
bled lest her father give way before
we could catch the party, and if he
did there would be no trouble in get
ting clergyman to marry the couple
s at almost any of the villages On the
e shore. l did all could to encoura ge
f her and directed the engineer to keep
up full speed. From those of whom
we inquired who had seen the Rowena
we knew we were gaining on her.
One advantage we had of our enemy
e "a description of his yacht. while it
4 was not likely she had any idea even
that she was pursued. Consequently
we could approach her without our in
tention being discovered. But Miss
Ambrose had learned that the sailing
master of the yacht was in league with
|, the woman and that he had enlisted q
crew on whom he could rely to resist
a capture.
Well. we kept hearing of the Rowena
being nearer and nearer to us until al
last, rounding an island, we saw hel
: at anchor In cove not q mile away
from us. In order not to excite sus
picion 1 put the Nautilus off little
S but slowed down in speed. After sail
ing about for awhile with no apparent
definite purpose constantly getting
q nearer the enemy, l saw that she haG
sufficient number of men on boarC
to resist us if they saw fit. If 1 could
- get near enough for the deputy to reaG
the warrant, should they refuse tt
yield, they would be subject to the
1T penalty of the law, and this would be
a great advantage to us.
told the deputy to tie his white
handkerchief around his neck instead
of cravat and otherwise make himsel
look as much as possible like parson
Then sailing up to within cable.
;. length of the Rowena hailed her ant
asked if she would take a gentleman
aboald-a clergyman-waiting for al
opportunity to go to Portsmouth.
There was a long delay in getting
reply l believed thar Miss Dartmore
p il she had not yet been married, would
welcome one who could marry her.
was not disappointed A reply cam,
10 that the clergyman would be welcome
=, but there was not room for any ON,
- else. | ordered out the dinghy, the
10 supposed clergyman and | got in ant
We're pulled to the Rowena We had
III description of Miss Dartmore ant
NJ found a woman on deck whom we rec
ID ognized as our quarry.