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MASQUERADE
BY INEZ HAYNES IRWIN '■ •
! Bruce Hexson’s confession lies
before me as I write. But not his
confession as I shall set it forth
here. It is on first sight a curious,
insane document. He had poured
it out in one night, writing against
.time. I had read it—and cried over
it— again and again before I saw
in it two entities. One is the insane
Bruce Hexson, trying illogically to
justify from the Old Testament
what the sane Bruce Hexson would
never have justified—sending an un
repentant man into the presence of
his Maker, sending himself to his
Maker with blood on his hands.
Here, I am quoting phrases in the
confession itself. All these pas-
have what my husband Used
to call the rhythm 61 insanity,
are nearly unintelligible,
some grotesquely incoherent. Once,
he has covered a page with strange
diagrams or drawings, with the
Ark of Covenant and Solomon’s
temple in the center.
But when he is dealing with
events, and especially when he is
trying to produce that effect which
is the purpose of this document,
he becomes Bruce Hexson the log
ical, observing lawyer. In my pity
for the poor, tortured soul, I can
not bring myself to make public
even a single example of the in
sane mood. But here are those per
fectly sane or relatively sane pas
sages which I consider significant.
Some I give word for word as he
wrote them. Some I have edited a
trifle, or even rewritten.
“I killed Ace Blaikie. He was
my friend—and I killed him. I
loved him as I have never loved
another man—and I killed him. We
were tied together by a thousand
associations of war, peace, fighting
together, drinking together, travel
ing together, playing together—bat
tle, sports, restaurants, dances. Yet
I killed him.
“I met Ace Blaikie for the first
time in 1914. Like him, the mo
ment war was declared I sailed for
France. I volunteered to run an
ambulance for the French army.
I met him when I was clearing
the wounded for the Foreign Le
gion. We became close friends al
most at once; we have been close
friends ever since. There was al
so a professional tie. I became his
lawyer. We have been much to
gether ever since our first meet
ing, although for a time after the
war, I saw him only during the
summer months.”
‘‘ln 1914 we both met at a hos
pital at Coucy-sur-Seine, a young
girl—Eleanor Dacce. I did not know
her as Eleanor Dacre or even as
Eleanor. Everybody in the hospital
called her ‘Sister Dora’ and both
Ace and I followed the habit. In
deed when last Friday afternoon I
heard her stepfather refer to her
as Eleanor, I realized that I had
entirely forgotten what her real
name was.
“Sister Dora was the most beau
tiful woman I have ever seen in
my life. She was the best woman
I have ever known in my life. I
fell in love with her the instant I
looked at her. From that moment,
no other woman has ever en-
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Thursday, Dec. 31—One Day Only
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tered my heart. She did not love
me. I realized very soon that she
would never love me. In all the
time I knew her, I never even
hinted at my love. She may have
suspected it, but no word of hers
ever suggested to me that she did.
It may be that she did not know,
for from the time she met him—l
learned last Friday—she was in
love with Ace Blaikie. I did not
guess that Ace Blaikie was in love
with her. Naturally, our Paris per
missions did not always coincide,
so we did not often see her to
gether. I never suspected that,
when he was on permission, A.ce
spent virtually all his time with
Sister Dorm”
“I remember very well the last
time I saw her. But that is a
precious memory and has no place
in this confession. The next thing
I knew of her was that she had
gone to southern France. She came
back to Paris, but left immediate
ly for Spain. I did not see her then.
I never saw her again,
“Suddenly I got through friends
the news of her death in Spain.
“It is impossible for me to tell
in the haste in which I am writing,
and with the inadequate powers of
expression at my command what
her death did to me. For several
weeks, I was not myself. Indeed,
I may say that I have never been
the same man since. This I man
aged to conceal from my friends.
If I Tiad been free, I would have
gone at once into retirement. I
think I would have joined some
brotherhood or other; retired to
some remote monastery. But we
were in a war and I was fighting in
it. However, I found one comfort—
the Bible. I had promised my moth
er that I would always carry her
Bible with me. Now I began to
read it. I read it through. Since
then I have read it through many
times. At first it gave me only
comfort. My comfort came—not
from the New Testament—from the
Old Testament. Presently, but this
was several years after Dora’s
death, I saw the Light.”
Here followed a rather long, ram
bling and insanely illogical account
of his conversion. I do not quote
it, for it bears only indirectly on
Ace Blaikie’s murder. I have read
Bruce Hexson’s confession of faith
many times, but I always get lost
in the erraticism and dis-associa
tion of his expression. In brief, I
gathered that once while reading
the Old Testament a great Light—
he always begins it with a capital—
suddenly burned in his mind. He
found that that Light was religion—
a religion compact of ideas glean&d
from the Psalms, Job, Jeremiafi,
and Isaiah.
“The Light changed my whole
life. I became an entirely different
man. I eschewed all my former
pleasures—drinking, dancing, thea
ter-going, I might say, social diver
sion of every kind. First I retired
from an active professional life,
then I retired from the world.
“I retired from the world and I
eschewed all my former enjoy
ment. One thing I clung to—that
was my. friendship with Ace
EARLY COUNTY NEWS, BLAKELY. GEORGIA
Blaikie. I loved Ace. I loved him
for himself. But I loved him for
another thing. He was inextri
cably connected in my mind with
Sister Dora. He was extremely
fascinating—what with his vitali
ty, his virility, his zest for life and
his joy in it, his great generosity
and kindness. Os course I knew
that he was a weak man. I did
not know that he had become a
wicked man.”
“This brings me to the morning
of last Friday—the day I killed
Ace Blaikie. He had invited Doc
tor Marden and me to an early
luncheon and to play golf with him.
We played nine holes—and then
suddenly he suggested that we call
on Mrs. Avery. We arrived there
a little after two o’clock. Miss
Eames and Miss Prentiss were
there. We left at about three. I
dropped Doctor Marden at his
home on Second Head; brought Ace
home and then drove home my
self.
“I think I had not been at home
more than fifteen minutes when
Doctor Marden called me up on
the telephone. He said that he had
a matter of great importance to
talk over with me and asked if
he might come to the Camp at
once. Os course I said yes. He
arrived as soon as his car could
bring him. And he told me ”
Here followed in detail the whole
story that Doctor Marden had told
Patrick and me. This was Bruce
Hexson’s comment;
“I have never experienced such
a cataclysm since the day I learned
of Sister Dora’s death. It was as
though a tornado had been loosed
inside my head—a tornado with the
extra fury of flame. It swept and
swirled. It burned everywhere it
touched. And yet outwardly, I re
member, I remained perfectly
calm. 1 told Doctor Marden that
I had known Sister Dora. I did
not tell him that I loved her. I
told him only that I had admired
and reverenced her. Doctor Mar
den told me that Ace Blaikie was
trying to make Miss Eames elope
with him. There was no time to
be lost. I advised him to go to
Ace Blaikie and tell him the whole
story. He asked me if I would ac
company him and I agreed to do
so.
“It happened fortunately that Ace
had not left the house. In my
presence, Doctor Marden told Ace
exactly what he had told me. I
think this was the first time in
my life that I ever saw Ace Blaikie
“rocked”—as men put it. Before
Doctor Marden finished the story
his face was ghastly. He admitted
that it was all true. He said that
Drina Demoyne had not divorced
her first husband when she went
through the ceremony with him;
that in consequence his marriage
with Sister Dora was legal and that
Caro was legitimate. T respect him
in one thing. He made no at
tempt to vindicate himself. At the
end, he said briefly, What do you
expect me to do, Doctor Marden?’ ”
“Doctor Marden said, ‘I expect
you to make an announcement that
my step - granddaughter is your
child.’
“‘I will do that,’ Ace agreed.
“ ‘When?’ Doctor Marden asked
tersely.
“Ace said that he would like to
take a little time to think the mat
ter over. ‘You see it involves
changing my will,’ he said.
“ ‘How long do you require to
think it over?’ Doctor Marden
asked.
“Ace thought for a moment or
two. Then he said, ‘l’ll tell you
what I’ll do, Doctor Marden. We’re
going to Mrs. Stow’s party tonight.
I have an appointment to meet my
bootlegger in Mrs. Avery’s Spinney
at 10:30. I have a little business
with him. That won’t take two
minutes. Suppose you stroll over
there at about a quarter to eleven
—let us say—and we’ll talk the
whole thing over. I’m pretty shak
en by this and I was up most of last
night with patients. I’d like to take
a little nap—l want to sleep on it.’
“Doctor Marden agreed. He left
immediately. But after he had
gone, Ace said suddenly that it was
no use his trying to sleep, that he
was too excited. He offered to
drive me back to the camp. After
he got there, he suddenly made up
his mind to change his will then and
there. I was his lawyer. I drew
up a new will for him. It was
short. I typed it myself. He signed
it and Berry and Adah served as
witnesses. You will find that will
clipped to this confession.
“Then Ace went home.
“After he had gone, I began to
feel uneasy. That tornado still
swirled and flamed in my mind.
But some things were clear. I
realized that here was a heaven
sent opportunity to serve Sister
Dora by protecting her child.
Something seemed to tell me that,
content with the will, Ace would
delay the announcement that Miss
Prentiss was his daughter until aft
er he had married Miss Eames.
That story might make a difference
in Miss Eames’s feeling for him.
I liked and admired Miss Eames.
I did not want her to undergo an
experience that would approximate
Sister Dora’s. But more arid more
—oh steadfastly more and more—l
wanted to do this last service for
the dead lady of my heart.
“All this tore and flared inside
me.
“The end of it was that I sug
gested to the servants that we go
ud the river to the island camp
for the week-end. Adah and Berry
always enjoyed the island camp
and they were delighted with the
idea. They rowed up the river to
the camp. I had some port wine
in the camp and I gave them a bot
tle that night. I knew that after
the long day, that would make
them sleep and it did. They went
to bed early.
“I loaded my revolver and put it
in my pocket. After a while I
stole out; got into my boat and
rowed over to Second Head. I
walked from the beach to Mrs.
Avery’s place. I jumped over the
wall and went into her Spinney. I
was careful to walk on the lawn
so that there would be no foot
prints. In the Spinney is a gravel
path. There was, as I knew, a big
rock in the bushes close to the path.
I stepped onto it and sat there
waiting. Presently, I heard Ace
coming from one direction and al
most instantly his bootlegger, Tor
riano, coming from the other. They
met in that part of the path in the
Spinney where there is a circle of
cleared space surrounded by trees
—the trees all draped with wild
grape vines. By this time, the
late moon was out. It was as
white as day.
“The conversation between the
two men did not last 'any longer
than Ace expected. From it I gath
ered that Ace owed Torriano three
hundred dollars. Ace must have
given it to him in cash, for he
asked Tony to count it. Torriano,
who was obviously staggered at
getting the whole sum, counted it;
said at once, ‘Good night chief!’
cut right through the bushes not
far from where I was hidden and
leaped over the wall onto the road.
Presently, I heard a car and I
concluded that he had left the
Head.
“But I was not thinking of Torri
ano at that moment, for instantly I
became aware that somebody else
had come through the Spinney path
apparently from the summit of the
Head. It was Miss Fairweather —
Margaret Fairweather. She too,
had come to meet Ace. I could
not see her, but I recognized her
voice. I heard everything she said.
It became quite obvious what Ace
wanted of her. Apparently he was
borrowing money from her. Later
I learned that it was ten thousand
dollars and that she had brought
him a certified check. The conver
sation lasted only a minute. Miss
Fairweather handed the check to
him and he gave her his note. Then
she departed the way she had
come.
“The sound of her steps had not
died down when I heard other steps
and I realized that Doctor Marden
was keeping his appointment
promptly. The conversation be
tween Ace and Doctor Marden was
also brief. Ace told Doctor Mar
den that he had that afternoon
made a new will; that he would
within three days announce that
Caro Prentiss was his daughter;
that he would give a big party at
his house to celebrate the event.
Doctor Marden expressed a kind
of appreciation and walked on up
the Head in the direction Margaret
Fairweather had taken.
“Fortunately for me, Ace lin
gered an instant, also fortunately
for me, Doctor Marden hurried
away. At any rate, Ace had only
turned to start back in the direc
tion of Mrs. Avery’s house when I
emerged from the bushes!
“ ‘For God’s sake, Bruce!’ he
exclaimed. ‘How come?’
“As he spoke, something hap
pened inside my head. The tornado
died down. The flame stopped.
Nothing tore there. Nothing burned
there. But I knew what I had to
do. I knew that I had to kill Ace
Blaikie. For I knew that Ace was
lying, lying, lying; that he had no
intention of acknowledging Sister
Dora’s child until he was forced to
it. I knew that the story that he
was going to induce Molly Eames
to elope with him as soon as pos
sible was also true. I knew that he
had borrowed that money from
Margaret Fairweather for that pur
pose.
“I drew my revolver and placed
it against his heart. ‘Asa Blaikie,’
I said, ‘you are a wicked man. And
iSSst w
J *LmwK S’®:
“I Drew My Revolver and Placed
It Against His Heart.”
THANKS to ALL!
We extend our thanks to our many
customers and friends for their liberal
patronage this year. Our business is
more than satisfactory, even greater
than we anticipated.
We wish you all a happy and prosper
ous new year with a continuance of
your patronage.
We start out with the most flattering
prospects for a fine business for 1937,
in fact, we expect to make it a record
breaker, with the fine stock of well
selected Groceries and Fresh Meats.
FRYER’S MARKET
I am the instrument God has chos
en to punish you for your guilt. Do
not move! Do not cry out! If you
do, I shall kill you and then my
self. But repent, repent, I bid you
repent! The time has come for
you to die!’
“Ace took it. Ace could always
take anything. He knew at once
that his time had come. He did
not even remonstrate with me—on
the issue of death I mean. First
he said, ‘Well, I guess this is the
end of the trail!’ Then he said,
‘Bruce, I don’t want to be shot like
a dog. I want to die like a man.
Let me kill myself—like a Roman
warrior!’
“I agreed. I added, ‘I shall kill
myself as soon as the business is
settled.’
“It was all over very quickly.
“First Ace took off his helmet.
He handed me the check which
Margaret Fairweather had given
him. ‘See that this is returned
to Margaret Fairweather, Bruce!’
he ordered. He put the helmet
carefully down and then he drew
his sword—the one he had had
made in Rome—the short sword of
a Roman officer.
“Ace put the point of the sword
over his heart. He held the handle
firmly with his two hands and fell
forward his whole length upon it.”
“I had warned myself over and
over to remember about finger
prints. There were grapevines
hanging over the trees. I picked
some of the long leaves and using
them as a guard, I turned Ace over
on his face. I closed his eyelids.
I composed his arms. I drew his
tunic close to his body. I withdrew
the sword from the wound, wiped
off both the handle and the blade,
and placed it by his side. I put
the mask to one side. I smoothed
out the hole the sword-hilt had
made in the gravel-walk. Last of
all, I carefully collected the grape
leaves, walked back over the lawn
and vaulted the stone wall. I went
back the way I came, rowed across
the river and up to the island
camp. On the way I dropped the
grape leaves overboard. Adah and
Berry never knew that I had left
the place.”
There followed one of the insane
passages wherein poor Bruce
seemed to be trying to justify him
self. The document ended poignant
ly, “I loved Ace Blaikie as I have
never loved another man. God help
me, I love him yet!”
Three days later Patrick came
over to call. We talked the whole
story over from beginning to end.
Finally, “Patrick,” I asked, “what
made you decide to go to Bruce
Hexson’s camp that afternoon?”
“Because I knew by that time
that Hexson killed Ace.”
“How long had you known it?”
“About a minute.”
“A minute—when—what— How
did you find it out?”
“Sylvia told me.”
“Sylvia!’’
“Sylvia really solved this mur
der. But as we can’t get Sylvia’s
name into this terrible business, I
shall have to take the credit. I
want you to promise me, though,
that when Sylvia’s a woman you’ll
let me tell her.”
“I promise!” I acceded at once
in a frenzy of haste. “Go on, Pat
rick!”
“Well, Sylvia and I were out on
the piazza talking. You were in the
living room rummaging in your
desk for something—later I discov
ered it was a list of books that
Bruce Hexson had given you. We
got onto the subject of Dorinda
Belle. I can’t for the life of me re
member how it cams’ about but
Sylvia told me this story. She said
that after Marden left the Stow
kitchen, the night of the masquer
ade, she suddenly remembered that
she had left Dorinda Belle down by
the Merry Mere. She said that she
couldn’t bear to have Dorinda Belle
stay out all night. It might rain.
(Continued on page 5)
CITATION
GEORGIA, Early County:
To Whom It May Concern:
Mrs. P. W. Hart, of said State,
having, in proper form, applied for
permanent letters of administration
on the estate of B. G. Holly, late of
said County, deceased, this is to cite
all and singular the creditors and
next of kin of B. G. Holly, deceased,
to be and appear at the Court of
Ordinary of said County, at the
January term, 1937, and show cause,
if any they have or can, why per
manent letters of administration
should not be granted to said Mrs.
P. W. Hart on said estate.
Witness my official signature,
this Bth day of December, 1936.
D. C. MORGAN, Ordinary.
ADMINISTRATOR’S SALE
GEORGIA—EarIy County:
By virtue of an order from the
court of Ordinary of Early County,
will be sold, at public outcry, on the
First Tuesday in January, 1937, at
the court-house door in said county,
between the legal hours of sale, the
following described lands: 42 acres
of land out of a 50 acre tract in
the northeast corner of lot of land
number 109 in the 6th district of
Early County, Georgia, lying south
of the Blakely and Damascus road,
and bounded on the north by lands
of C. C. Willis, on the south by
lands of E. C. McDowell, on the
east by lands of Mrs. W. M. Lewis,
on the west by lands of E. C. Mc-
Dowell, the same to be sold for cash.
This Bth day of December, 1936.
C. C. WILLIS,
Admr. of J. D. Willis Estate.
THE SIRMONS ESTATE
HAS FOR SALE THE FOLLOWING
PROPERTY:
House and lot where M. W.
Branch now lives,
House and lot where S. Starr now
lives,
Vacant lot south of D. C. Sanders
dwelling,
Vacant mercantile lot in Damas
cus, Ga.,
775 acres land known as Hall
place, about seven miles south of
Arlington, in Early county, east side
Arlington-Damascus public road; al
so: *
Five (5) shares stock in Arling
ton Warehouse Company.
Terms if desired.
And and all interested parties will
please communicate with Adminis
trators Estate C. W. Sirmons.
B. W. FORTSON,
R. 0. McNAIR,
B. C. RAY,
Executors Will C. W. Sirmons.
NOTICE TO PUBLIC
You are hereby notified not to
haul wood or otherwise trespass on
the land of the C. Hammond estate.
A. C. HAMMOND. 19-2 t
FOR SALE—2SO acres of land, on
Bluffton road, eight miles from
Blakely, a real bargain. H. V. KIL
LEBREW, care Albany Hardware &
Mills Co., Albany, Ga.
BLAKELY CHAPTER 44 R. A. M.
Blakely Chapter 44
Royal Arch Masons
’ meets on the second
and fourth Monday
nights of each month
I at 8 o’clock. Visiting
companions invited.
C. E. Martin,
High Priest.
J. G. Standifer,
Secretary.
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