The Ordway new era., 1922-10-27

state of Colorado. to do your iu'' ""''
in arriving at your verdict
The Jury. half risen from the chaifs,
some with their left hands hth n's"
above them. some With their right'
swore in mumbling tones TO d" their
du,v whatever that might be. Ihe
coroner surveyed the assembl"-e.
"First witness" he calen 'u'
Harry Harkins y
Harry went forward. clumsiiv seek
ing the witness chair. He was ques-
toned regarding nothing more thah
the mere finding of the body the iue'i,
tificatlon by means of the watch' anu
the notification of the coroner. falr-
child was called, to suffer no more
from the queries of the investigator
thnn Harry. There was pause. III
seemed that the inquest was over.
few people began to move toward tne
door-only to halt. The coroner
voice had sounded again:
Mrs. Laura Rodaine"
Prodded to her feet by the squiht-
eyed man beside her, she rose and,
laughing in silly fashion, stumbled TO
the aisle, her straying hair, her ragged
clothing, her big shoes and shuifling
gait all blending with the wil6 eerie
look of her eyes. the constant muhch-
ing of the almost toothless mouth
Again she laughed, in vacant. EN-
barrassed manner. as she reached the
stand and held up her hand for the
administration of the oath. Fairchild
leaned close to his partner.
AT least she knows enough FOR
that"
Harry nodded.
"She knows lot, that ole girl. They
say she writes down in a book every
thing she does every day. But what
can she be ere to testify to?'
The answer seemed to come in the
questioning voice of the coroner.
"Your name, please"
Laura Rodalne. Least. that's the
name go by. My real maiden name
is Laura Masterson, and"
"Rodaine win be sufficient. Your
age?"
81 think it's sixty-four. If had my
book l could tell. L"
"Your book?"
Eyes, l keep everything IN a book
But It isn't here. ! couldn't bring it,"
"The guess will be sufficient in this
case. You've lived here good many
years, Mrs. RodaineT
"Yes. Around thirty-fve. Let's see
yes. I'm sure its thirty-fve. My boy
was born here-he's about thirty and
We came here five years before that"
81 believe you told me tonight that
you have a habit of wandering around
the hills"
"Yes, I've done that-I do 1t right
along-I've done it ever since my hus-
band and l split up-that was just
little while after the boy was born"
sufficient. / merely wanted to es-
tabiish that fact. In wandering about,
did you ever see anything, twenty
three or four years ago or so, that
would lead you to know something of
the death of the man into whose de-
mise we are inqulringT'
81 know something. I know a lot.
But I've never figured II was anybody's
business but my own. SO haven't told
it. But l remember"
What, Mrs Rodaine?"
"The day SissIe Larsen was sup
posed to leave town-that was the day
he got killed"
DO you remember the datef"
"No-I don't remember that"
would it be in your book?'
"No-no-it wouldn't be in my book.
looked"
But you rememberF
"Just like as If it was yesterday"
And what you saw-did it give you
any idea"
81 know what / saw
"And did it lead to any conclusion?'
"Yes"
What, may l ask?"
THAT somebody had been mur-
dered!"
"Who-and by whom?"
Crazy Laura munched at her tooth
less gums for a moment and looked
again toward her husband. Then, her
watery, almost colorless eyes search
ing, she began survey of the big
room, looking intently from one figure
to another. On and on-finally to
reach the spot where stood Robert
Fairchild and Harry, and there they
stopped. A lean finger. knotted by
rheumatism, darkened by sun and
wind, stretched out.
"Yes, know who did 1t, and know
who got killed. 1t was .Sissie' Larsen
he was murdered. The man who
did it was a fellow named Thornton
Fairchild who owned the mine-if I
amt mistaken, he was the father of
this young man"
Il object!' Farrell, the attorney.
was on his feet and struggling forward,
jamming his hornrimmed glasses into