Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1922-01-26

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laid eyes on Miriam it was all up
with him.
He paused again and his bony
hands clenched. Barry ventured:
"Do you mean that she broke up
their home and yeurs?"
Il mean that they ran away to-
gether and his sickly wife went mad.
She died in a sanitarium within a
year"
"Why didn't you divorce her Mr..
Griswold?" asked Barry.
The other groaned.
Because ] thought she was out of
my life forever, | thought she would
drift the way of all such women if
the opportunity to rehabilitate her.
self ty marriage with another in
fatuated fool was denied her.
He and she were in some out-of-
the-way hole in the South, leading a
cat-and-dog's life when somehow he
learned of his wife's madness and
death and in remorse he blew his
brains outw
SO that was the explanation of the
empty cartridge shell treasured all
these years like the symbol of d
ghost that could not be laid Barry
whistled softly and then a sudden
question came to his mind.
Mr. Griswold, you told me while
ago that Mrs.-Vane was too clever
to give you an opportunity to free
yourself legally without notoriety
which you could not afford, Surely
her elopement with young Venner
provided you with evidcne enough"
Griswold rose and commenced to
pace the floor. when Venner slipped
through her fingers she remembered
that she still had legal hold on me
and all her calculating shrewdness
came to her aid When she found
mel was lying i'll with typhoid in
a Chicago hotel. Men do strange
things in delirium and | must have
babbled her name.
Some fool specialist thought her
presence would pull me through the
crisis.
"When | awoke to consciousness
she was in, full command and / was
too weak to do anything. In the eyes
of the law L had condoned her
offense.
The sergeant nodded and Griswold
resumed.
1T was sheer blackmail. | met her
terms; quarterly allowance<on con-
dition that she change her name and
cave the country.
He halted in his restless pacing
and when he spoke again it was
with his face averted from the de-
tective.
Last October the janitor brought
a note up to me, and | found that she
had had the impudence not only to
break our agreement by returning to
America, but had actually domiciled
herself beneath the same roof and
insisted that was | who had firse
broken our agreement by stopping
her allowance, and | must come
down to her at once for a personal
interview.
Il went and then began series of
prosecutions which did not cease
until last night. She not -only de-
manded an outrageous inome, but
forced me to call upon her at regular
tervals, on pain Of announcing her
self as my wife and raking up that
whole wretched scandal ! had so
carefully lived down.
Il thought when that young fool
Gordon Laid appeared on the scene
1t might make a difference but she
was too Internally clever. Yesterday
she demanded further increase in
her allowance and it was the last
straw.
EARLY in the evening l went
down to tell her that | had reached
the end and would do no more but
she defied me laughingly. left her
in a rage and as assembled the stair
! TO my own apartments here | dis
tinctly saw young Ladd mounting
from his. Understand, Sergeant,
am not trying to east suspicion on
him, ain merely giving you facts
and If she has played fast and loose
with him, many other and more reck.
less men than he appears to have
lost their heads over her in Europe,
rs my foreign agents have kept me
Uniformed, since that old Vcnncr affair
in Cleveland"
"H'm!" Barry exclaimed thought