The Chesterfield advertiser. [volume] (Chesterfield C.H., S.C.) 1884-1978, 1922-05-11
CHAPTER xI
Continued from last weekly

front library, after the Indian had
shown Spearman out.
"This was the man, Judah, who came
for Mr.. COrvet that night was hurt p
Eyes, Alan," Wassaquam said.
HE was the man, then, who came
here twice a year, at least, to see Mr.
Corvetf"
"Yes."
81 was sure Of It," Alan said. "Can
you tell me now why he came here,
JudahT'
81 have told you do not know"
Wassaquam replied. "Ben always saw
him; Ben gave him money. I do not
know why"
Alan had been holding his hand over
the papers which he had thrust into
his pocket; he went back into the
smaller library and spread them under
the reading lamp to examine them.
But, as he looked the pages over now,
he felt chill Of disappointment and
chagr1n. They did not contain any
narrative concerning Benjamin Cor
vets life; they did not even relate to
single event. They were no narra-
tive at oil. They were-in his first
what they WERE.
They consisted in all Of some dozen
sheets Of irregular size, some Of which
had been kept much longer than 9TH
ers. few Of which even appeared
fresh and new. The three pages
which Alan thought, from their yell
lowed and worn look, must be the old
est, and which must have been kept
Tor many years, contained only q list
Of names and addresses The remain
Ing pages, which he counted as ten
In number, contained nearly hun
dred brief clippings from newspapers {;
the clippings had been very carefully
cut out, they had been pasted with
painful regularity on the sheets, and
each had been dated across its face
dates made with many different pens
and with many different inks, but all
IN the same irregular handwriting as
the letter which Alan had received
from Benjamin Corvet.
Alan, his fingers numb in his disap-
peintment, turned and examined all
these pages; but they contained moth
ing else. He read one of the clippings,
which was dated "Feb. 1912"
'The passing away OF one OF the
Oldest residents Of Emmett county oc.
Cured at the pOorfarm on Thursday
Of last week. Mr.. Fred Wcsthouse
was one of four brothers brought by
their parents into Emmett county in
. 1916. He established himself here as
farmer and was well known among
our people for many years. He was
~ hn >% 30,
was quite well Off at one time. Mr.
WesthOuse's three brothers and his
father having perished in various dis
asters upon the lake. His wife died
two years ago. He Is survived by a
daughter, Mrs. Arthur Pearl Of Flint"
He read another:
"HallfOrd.Spens. On Tuesday last
Miss Audrey Hallford. daughter Of
Mr.. and Mrs. Bert HalIford, of this
place, was united In the bonds Of holy
matrimony to Mr.. Robert Spens, OF
Escanaba. All wish the young couple
we'll"
He read another:
''B6rn to Mr. ana Mrs. Hal French,
daughter. Saturday afternoon last.
Miss Vera Arabella French. at her ar
ri'aI weighed seven and one-half
pounds"
This clipping wus dated, in Benja-
min Corvet's hand, "Sturgeon Bay,
WIS. Aug. 1914." Alan put Il aside
In bewilderment and amaze and took
up anG'n the sheets ne first had looked
At. The names ana addresses on these
Oldest, yelowed pages had been first
written, 1t was plain, all at the same
time and with the same pen and Ink,
and each sheet in the beginning had
contained seven or eight names. Some
OF these original names and even the
addresses had been left unchanged,
but most Of them. had been scratched
out and altered many tlmes-Other
and quite different names had been
substituted the pages had become
finally almost illegible, crowded
scrawls, rewritten again and again in
Corvet's cramped hand. Alan strained
Forward, holding the first sheet to the
light.
Alan seized the clippings he had
looked at before and compared them
swiftly with the page he had just read +;
two Of the names-Westhouse and
French--were the same as those upon
this list. Suddenly he grasped the
other pages of the list and looked
them through for his own name, but
1t was not there. He dropped the
sheets upon the table and got I'D and
began to stride about the room.
He felt that In this list and In these
clippings there must be, somehow
some one general meaning-they must
relate in some way to one thing; they
must have deeply. intensely concerned
Benjamin COrvet's disappearance and
his present fate. whatever that might
be, and they must concern Alan's fate
as well. But I'm their discOnnection
their incoherence, he could discern nc
common thread. What conceivable
bond could there have been uniting
Benjamin Corvet at once with an old
man dying upon poorfarm in Emme,
county, wherever that might be, and
with n baby girl now ANNA txyn van 20