The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1931-04-24

he COOkE Martin asked.
Wasn't it enough?" she countered
with sober SMILE
He was afraid it was thin ice, and
he didn't want to get her angry with
him again, but he ventured to answer,
'No. That is, l wasn't surprised at
the burglary but was surprised that
he took money. Haven't you missed
anything else? A document of some
sort, or letter-Or perhaps a photo
graph? I'm just guessing, you see."
She remarked, 81 don't think you're
exactly guessing. You're thinking
about Mr.. Lewis and the things you
heard that woman telling him, last
night. But | haven't any document
or any letter. mean l haven't lost
any-and l don't own any photo
graphs, except of Babe and Doris and
Isabel"
81 was thinking about Lewis" he
confessed. 81 know little more
about him than l did last night.
wanted to find out what he was up to,
especially after Babe told me he'd
taken her home last night and asked
her a lot of questions about you"
He saw her face flame at that and
he thought she held her breath while
she waited for him to go on. "He
isn't what anybody would call valu-
able citizen but, at that, he doesn't
seem like the man to break in here
and steal your three hundred dollars.
He wrote some indiScreet letters to a
chorus girl once, and she sued him
for hundred thousand. Probably she
wouldn't have done it if he hadn't had
a rich respectable uncle she hoped
would buy her off, His names Charles
]. Forster. He lives at the Worces-
ter hotel Did you ever hear of him?"
Apparently she attached no impor
lance to the question for she answered
it with a mere absent shake of the
head. Her thoughts were somewhere
else.
81 want to tell you one other thing
l did this morning, Rhoda," he went
on, and this brought her focused in
curing look back to his face. 81 got
them to look up, in the want-ad file,
the real name of the man who's been
advertising for the address of RhOda
Mcfarland. It's the same man. Charles
]. Forster-'C. j. do you see? The
man they were talking about last
night"
The flash of incipient pain he'd seen
in her face changed to look of
mere perpleXity before he finished
speaking. But / don't know who he
is!' she told him vehemently. Then
suddenly intent, she asked, did you
do anything else?"
There was only one thing left to
do, and that was to look him up and
ask him why he was Advertising
for her. And-and didn't want to
do that unless you said you wanted
me to-"
"You might have asked him." she
said. after what / told you last
night you might have argued that it
was no affair of mine what you found
out about-her. But I'm glad you
didn't. Please don't do it. Martin Let
me tell you little. and then don't
try to find out anything more
I'm Rhoda White now but | used
to be RhOda Mcfarland. The only
person who'd try to find me would be
my uncle. William Royce. Mr.. Forster
must be working for him. He fright
ened me so when l was little girl
that I've never got over being afraid
of him. He was cruel to my father
and wanted to take me away from
him then. We ran away so that he
couldn't.
Il was only sixteen when my father
died and l was afraid that if Uncle
William heard about it and knew
where was, he'd get me. then. There
wasn't any one else. you see SO /
changed my name and pretended
came to Chicago from Denver, and
got job on the News.
"And Martin, I've loved it. I've
loved it all. The whole two years.
I've been happy. And 1 don't want
anything changed. You won't do any
thing to change things. will you?"
She was looking rather blurred and
he blinked in order to see her better
want me to-" he said. Then he did
little rudimentary arithmetic. "If
that was two years ago you're only
eighteen now"
do you mind?" she asked him seri-
ously.
"No," he said, 81 don't mind at ALL"
After a while she said, "YOu must
have worked awfully hard today, to
have found out all that about Max
Lewis and the chorus girl. How did
you do it?"
1T was all in the 'mOrgue,' he told
her. 1T took about ten minutes"
She'd been working for the paper
two years and she didn't know what
the ''mOrgue" was. Martin, with a
true reporters pride in the whole
news-gathering side of the organiza-
ton. told her all about it. He was
startled when sudden movement of
hers, a sort of shudder. reused him
to look around into her face. "What's
the matter?" he gasped.
Il think it's horrible" she said
shakily. ut means that there's no
forgiveness at all. Anything that
anyone has ever done-or that people
think he has done-is kept there, wait
ing to be got out and told all over
again. Anyone who wants to go and
open drawer can find it. And they
call it the 'morgue.' Martin, didn't
know anything could be as cruel as
that I"
But you've got it all wrong" he
protested "A newspaper doesn't