The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1922-09-30
TO THE MEMORY
OF THE
FEMALE STRANGER

TO THE MEMORY
OF THE
FEMALE STRANGER
Whose mortal suffertngs terminated
on the fourth day OF October, 1916,
aged twenty-eight years and eight
months, this stone is erected by her
disconsolate husband in whose arms
she breathed out her last sigh. and
who, under God. did his utmost TO
soothe the dull, cold ear OF death.
That is all-and the most deter.
mined efforts Of the residents Of
Alexandria during the first half Of the
last century, failed to throw the
slightest light upon the mystery.
The facts In the case are few, but,
such as they are, they are supported
by the unassailable evidence Of num-
Der of persons who were eyewttnesses
to the brief public appearance of the
female stranger" The brig -Four
Sons locked at Alexandria on July
Is, 1915, en- route from Halifax to the
West Indies. The Virginia city was
not port Of call on the regular route,
but the captain stated that one Of his
passengers had been taken dangerously
LII and that her husband had demand
ed that she be put ashore at Alexan-
dria, where boat was lowered, and a
man and woman, the latter apparently
very Ill, were taken ashore.
Despite the heat Of midsummer, the
woman wore a heavy black veil, and
her husband secured the best suite in
the Inn Of the Bunch Of Grapes, as
we'll as the services Of well-known
physician whom he engaged only after
pledging him to strictest secrecy. Even
In the presence of the doctor, however,
the woman's face was kept yelled, and
the husband steadfastly refused to
hire nurse, saying that he was en-
tirely capable of handling the case
and that he was able to do anything
that a nurse could do.
AS the weeks Of scorching hot
weather progressed, however, the man
began to wilt under the constant strain
| Of watching beside the bed, and finally
agreed to permit two of the guests
in the Inn to help him-but only after
they had taken an oath that nothing
they might learn would ever bs
divulged, an oath which was kept q,
a sacred trust.
| During the ten weeks which fol
lowed the woman's arrival In Alexan
dria, she grew steadily worse, and al
last, at dawn On October 4, her hus
band announced that she had died
Then, for fear that someone might sex
the face which he had kept bidder
from the world, he himself prepared
the body for burial, sealed the lid Oh
the coffin, and, after attending thu
funeral and ordering the headstons
with the strange inscription, dlsap
| peared.
On October 4 Of the following year
Alexandria was surprised at the sud
den and unheralded return Of the hus
band, who remained In the city oni,
long enough to place flowers on tbs
grave Of the female stranger" and II
see that the plot in the cemetery wa
well taken care of. Once a year, fo1
twelve years, he returned. Than hfi
visits ceased and the grave was HsS
lected until, a number Of years later
distinguished elderly man ar1 WON
an came and ordered the monument
to be replaced by another and NOR
costly headstone bearing the same IN
scription, with the addition Of tha
verse:
How loved, how honored once, availi
thee not,
To whom related or by whom begot,
A heap of dust alone remains OF thee.
IT'S all thou art, and all the proud shall
be.
They, too, Misunderstanding viii
them the secret of the identity Of th'
woman whose history and personaltt!
Is forever hidden from the world be
hind three words "The Femal'
Stranger"