The Lancaster news. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1905-current, 1918-06-04
THE CONWAY CASE
BY kATHERINEE HoPsoN.

Edith Nugent was surprised when a
knock sounded at the front door that
evening. Callers were rarity, espe-
cially on n rainy night like this. She
went to the door expecting to find one
of the neighborS, but there stood a
tall, strange young man.
Good evening" he began, courre-
! ously, will you kindly tell me if this
is where VIII Durgan lives?"
mo, Albert Nugent lives here. The
Durgans live next door. But they are
, out of town."
as no one at homer"
"No; they are all away. Are-are
you friend of theirs?"
YES. I'm Mr.. Durgan's cousin,
Edmond Marsh. l stopped off between
trains to, see them. It's unfortunate
L happened on this time" he laughed.
rs there II hotel here where l can
wait until the IL 30 train?"
"There is one, but it's very poor. 1t
would be dreury sort of place to
wait J" She hesitated moment, then
glance out into tn" raging storm de-
cided her. eve should be glad to have
you come in and wait 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 II breath of romance from
the outside world from which she had
/ been largely excluded since she had
/ taken the reinS of the household after
her mothers death
| The IurpDnS rntnrpnl hama FOL
/ lowing day and Edith related to taem
the incident of their cousins coming.
! Yes, | remember II distant cousin OF
my fathers by the name of Edmond
! Marsh, but l haven't seen him TOR
years. You say he had dark hair? AS
l remember him, his hair was light
| like his fathers"
Perhaps it 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 eXcitcdly:
"lIcrc's an account of the capture
OF the man who committed that big
diamond robbery at Conways jcwclry
/ store last week. He was nabbcd by
detective just as ne was boarding the
/ il 20 train last night. Mighty good
| thing they got him. That Conway case
/ was II bold piece of work"
When he finished reading the paper
I and laid it down. Edith picked it up
| and eagerly scanned the account of
! the rObber capture. A sudden fear
clutchcd hard ut her heart. The news
paper described him as TALL slender,
1 hrnNIn hnt
was also an accurate description OF
the man who had called there last
! night. Could 1t be possible that he
had been an impostOr? She thought
| of the discrepancy between his ap-
! penrnnce and Mr.. Durgan's remem-
brance of him. Perhaps he wasn't the
real Edmond Marsh at all, He had
seemed so 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 fathcr-for the
possible connection between their
guest and the diamond robbcr had evil
IDENTIFY not occurred to him.
Edith did not sleep much that night.
She thought the matter over and over
III all Its phases.
"Why couldn't things have been DIFF
fercnt? Why couldn't they be-all
right?" she asked herself bitterly
Next mornings mail brought let
ter pOstmarkcd Chicago. She did not
know the writing, so glanced first at
the signature. She caught her breath
sharply uS she read, Edmond Marsh"
surely it will explain things" she
thought, and eagerly scanned the let
ter. After II polite repetition OF his
appreciation of the evenings hospital.
ity, he said:
81 believe you brought me good luck.
IL was owing to my StOpOver in your
town that | made good on my Job. I've
been employed rs II 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
1t 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 l actu.
ally look alike!
Anyway, so 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-
Vatc Uncle Wits folks-and their
neighbors-aftcr this"
Edith's eyes frightened, and I'm her
cheeks was n lovely color as she fin.
ishcd the letter. Sometimes things
do come out right after ALL" she de-