Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1917-02-27
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Help.
On iaggbtaal - Hq
There Wa Mysteryh Tie Can,
but Il Was Revealed atLast
By ALAN HzNsDALE

l was living in house which stood
alone. though In city. There wal
but one other house on the block. By
block l mean the area inclosed by foul
streets. The streets in this case had
been laid out, paved and curbed, but
thus far there was but little building
on them. The other house that have
mentioned faced on the street running
parallel to the one on which I lived
and the rear part Of the two houses
were exposed to ach'other. .fe
had recently been admitted to thu
bar and had swung out my single
All day I sat In my Office waiting FOL
clients, but clients did not come. A
young lawyer Is more apt to hit upor
clients outside his Office than In it
was destined to do 50 myself. but thu
way my first client came to me was BY
| no means usual.
had come to my room after business
hours-it was hall bedroom In tht
house have described. was board
Ing at the time and sat down by thu
window 1t was springtime. and
though 1t was G o'clock, the sun wa!
still high. The day was warm. and TIN
window sash was thrown up.
The view was not attractive. In
deed. there was nothing for me to lool
at except the house on the other street
and could only see the rear Of that
| noticed that the window shutters OF
the third story were all closed, while
those on the lower floors were open
While / looked square, white sub
stance-it was cardboard-was slipped
between the Stats and exposed to view
There appeared to be something writ
ten on 1t, but 1t was too far distan
for me to see what 1t was. But hat
pair Of opera glasses In my bureau
drawer, and. getting them, I brough
them to bear on the writing. Their
was the single word:
"Help"
I had no sooner lowered my glasses
than the cardboard was withdrawn
From this / inferred that some on
had seen me at my window and hat
put out the message for me to see. Blu
who this person was had no knowl
edge.
Nevertheless l felt It incumbent OF
me to respond. But how? could no
communicate with the unknown. 81,
or she could put out message or ,
signal for me without its being seel
by any one except me. II / put ON
out it could be seen by any one in tn
rear of the other house. The cayt
would not have been thus displayed
unless some one was in trouble. 1
held q prisoner or III treated Their
must be others who were responsible
for this. Surely it would not do 70
me to act openly in the matter.
By way of reconnoiter l concludes
to 60 to the house with something Il
SELL could at least see who woul'
come to the door. With q few pack
ages of court plaster I rang the door
bell. A woman, not a servant, answer
ed the call. She had a disagreeabl
look on her face. Certainly it was no
inviting, but repellant, with a bit o
suspicion in it. / asked her If coul,
sell her some court plaster, and sh
declined very sharply. at the snrn
time taking me in with her eyes from
head to foot Then it occurred to m
that I was rather too well dressed TO
one reduced to such beggarly occu
patton. However, the interview wa
cut short by her shutting the door Il
my face.
This tended to confirm my belief tina
some one was held under durcss In tn
house. While would not refuse t
attempt to right wrong. l have a
ways had fancy for Winding my owl
business. But lawyers business
other persons affairs, and 1t strucl
me that this matter might lead to pre-
fessional work. So concluded to fol
low 1t up.
Being young and inexperienced,
first occurred to me to break into tn
house legally-that is, armed with
search warrant or some other docu
ment issued by court, but was de
TERED from this by fear Of making
fool Of myself. Suppose my suspicion
were incorrect, suppose some half Wit
ted person was held In the house ir
stead of being sent to an asylum, hoV
would I appear i'll interfered7 No;
must first learn something Of the con
ditions. =
resolved to 60 about 1t as If
had It been case OF law. Some de
tective work must first be done, ant
would have employed detective ex
cept for two reasons-I had no none.
with which to pay him for his service
and had plenty of time to make tn
investigations myself. I began by tax
ing position near the house In question
and waiting for delivery wagon +
leave supplies there. Half day wa
consumed at this before meat marke
wagon stopped at the house. Irefrain
ed from asking the young man VIII
took in the goods who lived there, 70
could not do so without being seel
by those in the house, and that woul'
excite suspicion. But noted the nam
on the wagon and the telephone mum
Der.
Going to my Office, l called Kroege
6 Co., the meat market firm, and aske,
IL they would give me the name o
their customer who lived at ITO Elm
street. They replied after much della.
that they had not been informed o
the party's name; the transactions hal
all been cash. Then 1t occurred to m
to call information" In the telephon
Office. did so, but the Office report
ed that at 10 Elm street there wa
no telephone.
My next move was to put some oil,
newspapers in pasteboard box wit
Edgar Washburn's name on 1t ami
send It to no Elm street by messenger
He was to ask If It belonged there an,
In any event ask If Mr.. Washburn di,
not live there who did. He came bacl
with the information that the persol
who had answered the bell had sail
that Mr.. Washburn did not live Their
and when he asked thes name Of tn
resident the door was shut In his face
Every afternoon at about 8 o'clock
showed myself at my window. lookin,