New Britain herald., 1927-05-28

mere curiosity CAuo MyEtI0p ~
chambermaid.
The girl had been deeply in
pressed by Stones surprise an
excitement At the sight Of the do
Pelton had given her, and she va
deeply desircus of knowing VIII
1t was that the dool looked Xix
and who was. therefore. Garret
Folsom's best girl.
So. without much concern. sh
presented herself to Miss FOLSOM
with the inevitable clean towels
and with the doll slung over he
arm.
This is the doll Mr.. Peltol
gave me-" she vouchsafed. for Mis-
Folsom was OF chatty sort wher
In the mood.
us IT." and Anastasia took thu
lovely doll IN her hands.
And then. to Myrtle's secret de-
light. Miss Folsom showed much
the same amazement and agitation
that stone had done.
But only for an instant. Their
she was her quiet, dignified sell
again.
"A beautiful doll, Myrtle. DE-
be careful with 1t, 1t ID a very ex'
! pensive one
DO you think 1t looks like any
! one you know. ma'a
NO, of course not. Go away
now, you bother me-"
Myrtle went. and as she de-
parted. Miss Folsom went to the
, telephone and called for Fleming
Stone.
And when that gentleman pre-
! sented himself, she told the story
Of Myrtle and the doll.
80 you noticed the resem-
blance. too?" Stone said. his deep
eyes sad and his whole face SOM
Der.
"Of course. And So she was
Garry's best love, and so she had
some secret affair with him. and
so she is the one who killed him"
"Oh, Miss Folsom, don't 80 so
fast" he implored.
But she was adamans.
Fast" I'm going straight up
to her room and confront her with
It. Then II she Is innocent there's
no harm done. You may 60 with
me or not. as you Nike, but I'm
going and I'm going now"
And rather than have her 60
without him, Stone accompanied
her
They found the Bayrons getting
ready to go down to luncheon.
Barron, seeing that the matter
was Of grave import. decided TO
have the whole thing out then and
there.
Come tn" he said. as the visi-
tors appeared. II think you have
some matters Of importance to dis
cuss."
And in that instant Fleming
Stone realized that whatever the
truth was about Madeline Barron,
her husband knew it.
Yes, we have" said Anastasia
Folsom, who was spokesman by
her own election. And there's no
use mincing matters. Mrs. Barron
you were acquainted with my broth
er in the past. although you have
denied 1t since his death"
II will answer for my wife" Bar
ron said, quietly. "Yes, she was,
Miss Folsom"
This took the wind slightly out
OF Anastasia's sails, but she went
steadily on.
You were in love with him,
Mrs. Barron?"
He was in love with her" Ned
Barron answered, inexorably deter
mined to do the talking himself.
! "And, Miss Folsom, 1t was not an
honorable love"
. My brother could do nothing
dishonorable."
He did, in this instance. He
iured the girl. not twenty years old
then. away. under false pretense
/ of marriage. BY which I mean he
, had marriage ceremony per-
formed which the girl thought
genuine but which was only a
mock marriage. After the cere-
mony he laughed at her, and-but
I need not go into details: by good
luck the girl was rescued from
his clutches In time by her
father"
Now, devoted though Anastasia
was to her brother, there was one
! thing toward which she had abso-
lutely no mercy. And that was
the wrong doing of a man toward
a woman. Perhaps her own spin
sterhood made her even more bit
ter, but il she were convinced that
her brother had really wronged a
woman. that would be to her a
blot that could not be wiped out.
II suppose you can prove this
she said, slowly.
"Ycs." and Madeline spoke
quickly. "Mr. Folsom had with
him down there some letters l
wrote him"
Like d lluSIl. IL StlllS " -toHNs
Carmelita had taken those letters
with her own. Dan Pelton had
missed them and was glad they
were gone. After ALL Pelton vas
a good sort. and Carmelita, too.
But though Anastasia Folsom
was gently inclined toward the
victim OF her brothers passions,
that could not condone murder.
II don't wonder YOU wanted to
kill him." she began, but Barron
interrupted.
MY wife did not kill Garrett
Folsom" he declared. who did
kill him ! do not know. But I am
on the job now. and I will hunt
down the murderer. even if IT
means the exposure OF my wifes
past history"
There was knock at the door,
and when It was opened, Ross,