Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-07-08

raised, her face impassioned with feel
ing. Violet, gazing at her. heaved a
little sigh. 1t ,was perhas in keeping
with the situation. perhaps extraneous
to 1t, but whatever it's source. 1t
marked change in her manner. With
no further check upon her sympathy,
she said very softly:
at Is well with the child"
The mother stinfened. swayed and
then burst into wild weeping.
But not with me-" she cried, mot
with me. I am desolate and bereft. I
have not even a home in which to hide
my grief and no prospect Of one"
But" interposed Violet, surely your
husband left you something? You can
not be quite penniless?
my husband left nothing" was the
answer. uttered without bitterness.
but with all the hardness of fact. HE
had debts. I shall pay those debts.
When these and other necessary ex-
penses are liquidated there will be but
little left. He made no secret of the
fact that he lived close up to his
means. That Is why he was induced
to take out life insurance. Not a
friend of his but knows his IMPROVE
dence. II have not even Jewels. I
have only my determination and an alb
solute conviction as to the real nature
Of my husbands DEATH"
What is the name Of the man you
secreAly believe to have shot your hus-
band from the trellis?"
Mrs. Hammond told her.
SO and then asked:
What else can you tell me about
him?"
Nothing. but that he is a very dark
man and has a club foot"
ooh. what mistake you've made"
Mistake? Yes, acknowledge that"
II mean in not giving this last bit
of information at once to the police. A
man can be identified by such a defect
might have been found that very day
Now. what have we to 20 upon?"
''You are right, but not expecting to
have any difficulty about the insurance
money. I thought 1t would be generous
in me to keep still Besides this is
that my husband was shot by another
hand than his own, but I know of no
way of proving it. Do your"
Then Violet talked seriously with
her, explaining how their only hope lay
in the discovery of second bullet in
the room. which had already been ran
sacked for this very purpose and with
out the shadow Of result.
A tea. musical. and an evening
dance kept Violet Strange in a whirl for
the remainder of the day. No brighter
eye nor more contagious wit lent bril-
lance to these occasions, but with the
passing Of the midnight hour no ono
who had seen her in the blaze of cleo
trio light would have recognised this
favored child of fortune in the earnest
figure sitting in the obscurity of an up
town apartment. studying the walls. the
ceilings and the floors by the dim light
of lowered gas jet. Violet Strange in
society was very different person from
Violet Strange under the tension of her
secret and peculiar work.
She had told them al home that she
was going to spend the night with a
friend: but only her old coachman knew
who that friend was. Therefore very
natural sense of guilt mingled with her
emotions at finding herself alone on a
scene whose gruesome mystery she
could solve only by identifying herself
with the place and the man who had
persisted there.
Discussing from her mind all thought
of SELF she strove to think as he
thought, and act as he acted on the
night when he found himself "a man
of but little courage) left In this room
with an ailinH child.
At odds with himself. his wife, and
possibly with the c"ild screaming away
In its crib, what would he be apt to do
in his present emergency? Nothing at