Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1918-07-04
THE CONWAY CASE


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Edith Nugent was surprised when q
b knock sounded at the front door that
evening. Callers were a rarity, espe
cially on rainy night like this. She
went to the door expecting to find one
Of the neighbors. but there stood o
tall. strange young man.
"G0od evening" he began, courte-
0usly. twill you kindly tell me If this
10 where WIN Durgan livesf"
EMO. Albert Nagent lives here. The
Durgans live next door. But they are
out Of town"
us no one at homer
mo; they are all away. Are-are
you a friend Of theirsT
YES. I'm Mr.. Durgan's cousin
Edmond Marsh. ! stopped Off between
trains to see them. It's unfortunate
happened on this time" he laughed
as there hotel here where can
wait until the IL 20 trainT"
There IL one, but it's very poor. 1t
would be dreary sort Of place &c
waltz" She hesitated a moment. then
glance out into the raging storm de-
cided her. "We should be glad to have
you come in and walt here. A relative
Of the Dorgans Is always welcome"
The mans virile, polished personal
ity was Of the type not often seen in
small towns. And to Edith his COM
ing was like breath Of romance from
the outside world from which she had
been largely excluded since she had
taken the relns OF the household after
her mothers death.
The Durgans returned home the fol-
lowing day and Edith related to them
the incident Of their Cousins coming
Yes, remember q distant cousin cs
my fathers by the name OF EdmOnd
Marsh, but / haven't seen him for
years. You say he had dark hair1 As
remember him, his hair was light
/ like his fathers"
Perhaps 1t grew dark as he got
older. Many times it does"
When she went home she found her
father reading the paper. As she en-
tered he said excitedly:
"Here's an account Of the capture
Of the man who committed that big
diamond robbery at Conway's jewelry
store last week. He was nabbed by
detective Just as he was boarding the
IL 20 train last night. Mighty good
|. thing they got him. That Conway case
was bold piece Of work"
When he finished reading the paper
and laid It down, Edith picked it mp
and eagerly scanned the account OF
the robber capture. A sudden fear
clutched hard at her heart. The news
paper described him as tall. slender.
with brown hair and blue eyes--that
was also an accurate description OF
the man who had called there last
night Could It be possible that he
had been an impostorf She thought
Of the discrepancy between his ap-
pearance and Mr.. Durgan's remem-
brance Of him. Perhaps he wasn't the
real Edmond Marsh at all he had
seemed 30 straightforward and hon
orable, and yet she knew the greatest
crooks sometimes had the most pleas
ing manners. She did not want TO
voice her fears TO her father-for the
possible connection between their
IF sy.s A.. I'D robber had EVIL
Edith did not sleep m nn :. at night.
She thought the matter over and over
In all its phases.
why couldn't things have been dif-
ferentf Why couldn't they be-all
rightr' she asked herself bitterly.
Next mornings mail brought let
ter postmarked Chicago. She did not
know the writing. 80 glanced first at
the signature. She caught her breath
sharply az she read. Edmond Marsh"
ssurely II win explain things" she
thought, and eagerly scanned the let
ter. After polite repetition OF his
appreciation Of the evenings hospital
ity, he said:
Il believe you brought me good luck.
1t was owing TO my stopOver in your
town that made good on my job. I've
been employed as a detective on the
Conway robbery case. and until that
night had not been able to find any
clews. He'd evidently been hiding
around there, and as luck would have
It he started to board the same train
] did that night. / knew him at once
from the description we had Of him.
Oddly enough. the fellow and actu-
ally look alikei
Anyway, 80 much for luck--and
you. I'm going to be down that way
again next week, and shall hope to
see you again then. I mean TO culti-
yate Uncle WINS folks--and their
neighbors-after thisl"
Edith's eyes frightened, and in her
cheeks was lovely color as she fin
ished the letter. Sometimes things
do come out right after ALL" she de-
clared. ''But. oh he must never know
that / doubted himl'