The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1917-02-15
THAT
FAILED
BY SARAH BAXTER

IN your care. Keep them in the closet
In the room where the telephone i'll
strulnent is and sleep there. In case
burglar comes into the house you can
call the police. But you needn't fear
!. his breaking down the door Of yyun
room. Burglars never do that"
Mrs. E"abody," said. 'you're very
good to trust me With such valuable
property. I'll have your jewels for you
when you come back
"But remember Mary" she said, -!
am trusting YOU only, not the other
servants. There's no need Of that"
"Iesm,' says |.
didn't tell the others, but the day
after Mrs. Peabody left James, the but.
Ter, came ilto the room for s0methius
and saw me lock the door Of the closet.
"Nhat arc you locking up SO care.
fully" he asked nae.
ITS none Of your business" says |.
Yes, it is Mr.. Peabody put the
house in my care while the family il
away, and if there's vuIuablcs any.
where Ia olgNt to know it.
Fearing he'd talk about it before the
other servants, | thought ID best tell
him that Mistress jewels were in tic
closet
Thursday before the family came
, home was my day out. / thought at
, first that wouldn't go on account of
! the jewels, but they were locked in the
: closet ANA | would take the key with
ne 50 | went. When came back
| I went in 0t the servants door and up
! 10 ny rUoHl, where / took off my coac
and hat and put on my black and
white uniform. Then l went out into
! the hall
! There IS a long mirror in the hail,
and usually when ! passed it l gave a
I glance at myself in it. But this time
was In Il hurry, so | didn't
! But at the end Of the ball, where
there was 10 mirror, saw myself
coming toward myself. stopped.
! wondering what was the matter, for
the mirror hadn't been moved, and
couldn't understand seeing myself.
Then the figure came toward me, and
; | saw that it was q real woman, and
what broke NE up was that she was
nor me. / caught at the banister 10
keep from falling; then ! gasped:
{ "SNho ere EOu?'
I'm Mary Murphy" says She, look.
ing aSt0uisicd.
! No; you're not. I'm Mary Murphy,
myself"
you sTaTy 1TTT1y, TTcr-. --- VIC
am II
Something has gone wrong with
me-" ! moaned, rubbing my eyes. TN
I Mary Murphy, and you're Mary Muir
ply too
You look Just like me for ali-tile
world says she, looking frightened
I'm afraid something's going to hap
pen. seeing mySclf this way. I'm so
ing away from you"
James came up the stairs, and see
ing the two Of rs looking just alike he
looked queer.
James, | cried. what does this
mean? An | Mary Murphy, and is
that my other self, or is she Mary
Murphy. aud IL don't know what"
James stared at US both for some
time, as If he didn't know which was
which; then he pointed to my other
self ana said:
That's Mary
Anyway" says the other maid, "Im
going away from here. ! cant staud it
to see you there looking just like me-"
Cook, bearing the talking, came up,
and when she saw the two If us look
ing just alike, she raised her hands
astonished.
Cook said, who is this woman
who is just like me?'
II don't know" says cook. "She
came in little while ago, and sup
posed she was you. She went upstairs
and that's all know"
as she ME or am I me?''
Cook looked at US both. then said tua
the other one Say something" But
the other one wouldn't speak. Then
thought that she wouldn't because.
cook would tell the difference in our
voices.
Somehow at that moment I thought
Of the jewels. Wasn't this some way
of getting them? wondered if this
maids uniform to make believe she
was me- came in when l was out and
taken them. But how was it that she
looked just like Inc? The thought made
ME furious. 1 ran to her and grabbed
her. She struggled to get away, and in
the fracas l heard something strike the
floor. aud there were the jewels scat
tered all over it.
James," cried, go to the telephone
and call the police"
James didn't stir. He looked fright
ened. Then told cook to go, and she
did. The woman held struggled, and
asked James to help me, but he
didn't. He looked kind Of daft.
The police were not long coming 1t
turned out that James, who was bad.
knew woman who looked just like
La s>l, h.. IL.