Mansfield mirror. (Mansfield, Wright County, Mo.) 1908-1957, 1920-07-08
Illustrations
BY
lrwinfyers
W1lidfn
Johnston &

l thought nj German. ! would have
hercd that | did o know where he
lived. He had told me he was giving
up his position at the hotel. II would
be useless TO try TO find him until
morning.
Yet in spite of my apparent friend
lcSsuess. although 10 all appearances
there was no one in New York to
whom l could turn in this time OF
trouble. it was a wonderful comfort
10 feel that l was sure of one stanch
fricnd-Barbara Bradford.
Although We had been acquainted
but a few days, and although hardly a
word of love had passed between us.
! knew that her feeling for me already
was something greater than friendship.
| knew that she trusted me and that
she would remain faithful In her af-
lection for me. no matter what ac-
cusatiouS were brought against me. l
had been madly in love with her from
almost the first time | saw her. What
ever happened, ! II keep her ont
of IL. | must find some g of
warning her TO say nothing TO any one.
| knew that her first impulse as soon
rs she heard Of my arrest would he
TO come TO my rescue. regardless Of
the fact that In establishing m alihi
for me she would he blasting her W
reputation. Under no circumstances,
even if ! was convicted. must she he
permitted TO speak. No explanation
can account for the presence Of
a young girl alone in a mans rooms
al eleven o'clock at night, even
though she and l both knew how ut
terly undeserving of censure her
presence there was and how important
had been her motive in coming there.
Mention of Barhara's name in any
way in connection with a murder case
would be certain to wreck her sisters
matrimonial plans. 1t would mean
the ruin of her mothers ambitions and
the unma5king of the parlous condi-
ton of their finances. 1t would mean
that the reproaches OF her mother and
sister would he heaped on my Bar
bara's poor head.
was still unsatisfied in my w
mind as 10 just what part Claire Brad
ford was playing in the web of mys-
terry about us. She was emotional and
Eighty. given to doing rash things. l
felt that there was n strong POSSIBLE
i-,- .Ia+ raIa tf,ps u.irl har ax.huSh1ph
had been in some way re~-establiShed.
! felt at times that she was being used
rs a tool by the cOnspirators in the
Granddeck mysteries. If Claire was
involved in any way, it behOoved me
10 move carefully lest she should be
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 l could until l could
get in touch with German. As soon
as il was morning. I bribed a jail at
tendant to bring me a morning news
paper. On the first page | found an
account of the murder under glar-
ing headlines and read it with in
tense interest, my conviction growing
with each line that I read that the
: police case against me was far better
backed up than / ever imagined II
could he.
Then and there l made up my mind
never again to believe anything on
purely circumstantial evidence. No
one knew better than / how utterly
innocent ] was of that crime. how up
right my conduct in New York had
been, and how honest my motives for
all my recent actions had been, yet
this is what I read in the newspaper:
BURGLAR MURDERS WELL
KNOWN ACTRESS