Bridgeton pioneer., 1917-02-22
Help! !!
There Was Mystery In the Call,
but 1t Was Revealed at Last
By ALAN HINSDALE

&lone, though III CITY. Iuere WAS
but one other house on the block. By
block mean the area inclosed by four
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 l have
mentioned faced on the street running
parallel to the one ON which / lived,
and the rear part of the two houses
were exposed to each other.
had recently been admitted to the
bar and had swung out my shingle.
All day / sat in my Office waiting for
clients, but clients did not come A
young lawyer is more apt to hit upon
clients outside his Office than in it. l
was destined to do so myself, but the
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 the
house have described. l was board
ing at the time and sat down by the
window. 1t was springtime, and,
though it was 6 o'clock, the sun was
still high. The day was warm, and the
window sash was thrown up.
The view was not attractive. In
deed, there was nothing for me to look
at except the house ON the other street,
and l could only see the rear of that
] noticed that the window shutters on
the third story were all closed, while
those on the lower floors were open.
While l 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 it, but it was too far distant
Tor me to see what it was. But l had
a pair of opera glasses in my bureau
drawer, and. getting them, l brought
them to bear on the writing. There
was the single word:
''Helpp'
had no sooner lowered my glasses
than the cardboard was withdrawn.
From this | inferred that some one
had seen me at my window and had
put out the message for me to see. But
who this person was I had no knowl-
edge.
Nevertheless l felt it incumbent on
me to respond. But how? | could not
communicate with the unknown He
or she could put out a message or a
signal for me without its being seen
by any one except me. If l put one
out it could be seen by any one in the
rear of the other house. The card
would not have been thus displayed
unless some one was in trouble. If
held a prisoner or ill treated there
must be others who were responsible
for this. Surely it would not do for
me to act openly in the matter.
, BY way of reconnoiter l concluded
TO go to the house with something to
sell. / could at least see who would
come to the door. With few pack
ages of court plaster 1 rang the door
bell. A woman, not a servant, answer
ed the call. She had a disagreeable
look on her face. Certainly it was not
inviting, but repellant, with a bit of
suspicion i'll it. I asked her if l could
sell her some court plaster, and she
declined very sharply, at the same
time taking me in with her eyes from
head to foot. Then 1t occurred to me
that / was rather too we'll dressed for
one reduced to such a beggarly occu-
patton. However, the interview was
cut short by her shutting the door in
my face.
This tended to confirm my belief that
some one was held under duress in the
house. While | would not refuse to
attempt TO right wrong, have al
ways had fancy for minding my own
business But a lawyers business is
other persons affairs, and it struck
fBe that this matter might lead to pro-
fessional work. So concluded to fol-
low it up.
Being young and inexperienced, it
trSt' occurred to me to break into the
house legally-that is, armed with a
search warrant or some other docu-
Sment issued by a court, but / was de-
terred from this by fear of making a
fool of myself. Suppose my suspicious
were incorrect, suppose some half wit
ted person was held in the house in
stead Of being sent to an asylum, how
would l appear if interfered? No;
must first learn something of the con-
vditions.
4 resolved to go about it as if it
xhad it been case of law Some de-
-tsctiye work must first be done, and
i would have employed detective ex-
cept for two reasOns-I had no money
with which to pay him for his services
and had plenty of time to make the
investigations myself. began by TAX
Ing position near the house in question
and waiting for a delivery wagon to
leave supplies there. Half day was
consumed at this before meat market
wagon stopped at the house. refrain
ed from asking the young man who
took in the goods who lived there, for
II could not do so without being seen
sby those in the house, and that would
excite suspicion. But noted the name
Honst the wagon and the telephone num-
Der.
n n nfS