The Madison journal. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1888-current, 1920-05-22
By WILLIAM JOHNSTON

my unvarying answer to all their ques-
tons.
Finally they gave It up ard locked
me in Il cell for the night, leaving me-
thankful that the honor of being sus-
pected murderer relieved me from
sharing cell with some of the frowsy
prisoners saw brought past my
barred door.
Haven't you any friends you would
like 10 have nOtified?" was the last
question they asked as they left me.
Il have nothing to say" I repeated
Vr.cS mere.
Nor was this answer this time mere
stubbornness. Who was there that
could notify Of my plight? Birge and
Roller, my two intimates, were some
where on the high seas. The men
whom l had known in the office where
| had worked, for obvious reasons,
were not TO be called on. l had no
idea Of the whereabouts Of my aged
relatives beyond the fact that they
We're somewhere in Maine.
had no intention whatever Of com
municating the fact Of my arrest to
my mother. Indeed, I was hoping that
she would not hear Of it until after my
innocence was established.
1 thought of German. | would have
been glad of his counsel. but l remem-
bered that l did not know where he
lived. He had told me he was giving
up his position at the hotel 1t would
be useless 10 try to find him until
morning.
Yet in spite of my apparent friend
lesSneSs, although to all appearances
there was no one in New York to
whom could turn in this time of
trouble, it was a wonderful comfort
to feel that l was sure Of one stanch
friend-Barbara Bradford.
Although We had been acquainted
but few days, and although hardly a
word of love had passed between us,
l knew that her feeling for me already
was something greater than friendship.
l knew that she trusted me and that
she would remain faithful in her af-
fectiOn for me. no matter what ac-
cuSatiOns were brought against me.
had been madly in love with her from
almost the first time l saw her. What
ever happened, l must keep her out
of Ii. | must find some means of
warning her to say nothing to any one
l knew that her first impulse as soon
as she heard of my arrest would be
to come TO my rescue, regardless of
the fact that in establishing an alibi
for me she would be blasting her own
reputation. Under no circumstances
even if l was convicted, must she be
/ permitted TO speak. No explanation
can account for the presence OF
! young girl alone in a mans rooms
| at eleven o'clock at night, even
| though she and / both knew how ut.
terly undeserving of censure hel
presence there was and how important
had been her motive in coming there
Mention of Barbara's name in any
way in connection with murder cas-,
matrimonial plans. 1t would mear
the ruin of her mothers ambitions anC
the unmasking of the parlOus condi
| ton of their finances. 1t would meaI
that the reprOaches of her mother ant
sister would be heaped on my Bar
bara's poor head. Z.
I was still unsatisfied in my owl
mind as to just what part Claire Brad
ford was playing in the web of mys
terry about u.s. She was emotional anC
fiighty, given to doing rash things
felt that there was strong possibil
| ity that relations with her ex-husbanC
had been in some way re-established
I felt at times that she was being USED
as a tool by the conspirators in the
Granddeck mysteries. If Claire wa:
involved in any way, ii behooved me
to move carefully lest she should bt
betrayed in my efforts to clear my
self.
There was nothing for me to do but
TO sit tight and take my plight as
philosophically as could until l could
1
get In touch with German. As sOor
as it was morning. bribed a Jail at
tendant TO bring me a morning news
paper. On the first page l found ar
account of the murder under glar
| ing headlines and read ii with in
tense interest, my conviction growing
with each line that l read that the
police case against me was far better
backed up than 1 ever imagined il
could be.
Then and there I made up my mine
never again to believe anything OF
purely circumstantial evidence. NJ
one knew better than / how utterl!
innocent / was of that crime, how up
right my conduct in New York haC
been, and how honest my motives fol
all my recent actions had been. ye
this is what 1 read in the newspaper
BURGLAR MURDERS WELL
KNOWN ACTRESS