South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1920-07-27
Revelations of a Wife
Ny Heart and Ny Husband
BY ADELE GARRISON

told You that l hold nothing but
school records of Mr. Stockbridge,
and those 1 Will deliver only to an
accredited representative of my
principal who holds a written order
in Mr. Stock bridge's own handwrit-
ing"
He thrust his jaw forward with an
ugly gesture.
Dye mean that" he snarled.
81 most certainly do" / returned
Well. you've got a nerve" he be-
gan roughly, but / stepped 10 the
door. swung it wide open, and bowed
stiffly.
you will pardon me. / am sure,
Bridgeman, for / am too busy to be
detained longer"
His face flushed and / saw a visible
struggle with himself taking place
His thwarted vanity urged him TO
unpleasantness his prudence coun-
selled acquiescence in my dismissal.
As compromise he stalked out of
the door, pausing only to say saw
agely;
You'll deeply regret this, young
woman, before many days"
| sank into a chair as soon as the
door closed behind him. completely
unnerved. For not until then had
| realized what his demand meant
If he were not in truth one Of Ken
meth StOckbridge's attorneys.
Looked at from any angle, there
were but two explanations of his
call on me. Either he really was an
! accredited representative of Mr..
Stockbridge-in which case / had
failed my principal grievously-or
| else, most terrifying prospect for
me, he belonged TO the enemy camp
and had discovered the fact that
the accused man had telephOned me
at the schoOlhOuse but a few mo-
ments before his wifes death.
The first alternative, much as l
| preferred TO believe il, was put out
of my mental court by my common
sense. No man who had displayed
as much anxiety over the secret
safe-keeping of his personal papers
as had Kenneth StOckbridge. would
dream of sending a messenger with
no credentials for them. No. Mr..
Bridgeman" must be either i'm the
employ OF the state or of Milly
Stockbridge's family
There were but two ways that he
could have discovered my possession
Of the private papers from the prin-
cipa's desk. by the admission of the
principal himself, or by the tracing
of the telephone calls, the proba BILL
ity that the operators had listened
in on the day Of Milly StOCkbridge's
mysterious death. I knew that un-
less Kenneth Stock bridge himself
had lost his reason he never would
have betrayed the existence OF the
secret he had kept so long. the evil
dence Of which he had entrusted 10
my care. Central must have Ills
tened in, ana then told all she
knew. And II she had overheard
the principals call. in all probability
she had heard the wild raucous IL
rade Of his wife a few minutes ear
lier.
Two or three DAYS before / had
seen rat which had been troubling
the chicken house, and which Jim
had caught In a trap. The sight of
The terrified creatures futile circling
OF the walls II lac trap. and his
savage biting of the wires had af-
fected me most unpleasantly at the
time The memory of IL fairly sick
ened me now. for 1 felt that I, too,
was I'm trap from which there was
no escape.
Katie>s voice recalled me TO my
self.
"Vot matter. Meesis Graham >"
she said with alarm in her voice as
she came down the stairs You wife
as vun sheet Vot dot man say? He
want 20 rob you He hurt you?
l pulled myself together with an
effort This was no way 10 face an
emergency. I thought with grim