Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-07-22
The Problems of Violet Stramge---5y

In this grotto which. through the agen-
cy of one old servant devoted to Roger
to the point of folly. had been fitted w
and lighted in n manner not only com.
Portable. but luxurious. A small but
sheltered haven hidden in the curve OF
the rocks made an approach by boat
feasible at high tide: and at low the
connection could be made by means OF
a path over the promontory In which
this Grotto lay concealed. The fortune
which Roger had inherited from his
mother made these excuses possible
but many thousands, let alone the few
he could call his own, soon disappeared
under the witchery Of an irresponsible
woman. and the half dozen friends who
knew his secret had to stand by and
see his ruin without daring to utter a
word to the one who alone could stay
it. For Homer Upjohn was not a man
to be approached lightly. nor was he
one to listen to charges without ocular
proof to support them. He was a hard
man. was Homer Gpjohn, but with a
heart of gold for those he loved. This
even his wary daughter-in-law was
wise enough to detect, and for long
while after the birth of her child she
besieEed him with her coaxing way
and bewitching graces. But he never
changed his first opinion of her. and
once she became fully convinced of the
folly of her efforts she gave up all at
tempt to please him and showed an
open Indifference. This in time gradu-
ally extended till it embraced not only
her child. but her husband as well.
Her vanity had grown by what IT dai
fed on. and now called for the admira-
ton of the fast men who sometimes
came up from Boston to play with them
in their unholy retreat. To win this,
she dressed like some demon queen or
witch. though it drove her husband into
deeper play and threatened an exposure
which would mean disaster not only to
herself. but to the whole family
In all this. as any one could see
Roger had been her slave and the will
ing victim of all her caprices What
was IT, then. which completely
changed him that a sepa ration began
to be talked of and even its terms dis
cuSsedc One rumor had il that the
father had discovered the secret of the
srotto and eXacted this as penalty
from the son who had dishonored him
Another. that Roger himself was the
one to take the initiative in this mat
ter: That on returning unexpectedly
from New York one evening and find
ing her missing from the house he had
traced her to the erotto. where he
came upon her playing a desperate
game with the one man he had the
greatest reason to distrust
Fut Whatever the expla of this
sudden change in their relations. there
is but little doubt that a legal separa-
ton between this i1l-assorted couple
was pending when one bleak autumn
morning she was discovered dead in
her bed under circumstances peculiarly
open to comment
The physicians who made out the GER
tificate ascribed her death to heart dis
ease. symptoms of which had lately
much alarmed the family doctor but
that personal struggle of some kind
had preceded the fatal attack was evil
dent from the bruises which blackened
her wrists. But the discolorattoa of her
wrists was all. and as bruised wrists
do not kill. and there was beside no
evidence forthcoming of the two hav-
ing spent one moment together for at
least ten hours preceding the rapedy.
but rather full and satisfactory testi-
monY TO the contrary, the matter
lapsed and all criminal proceedings
were avoided
But not the scandal which ALWAYS