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Synopsis of Preceding Chapters.
T J1K handsome tA at d a nr® of SHica Van Bnr*
nam In Grrrriercy Park adjoins that of
M1p» Amelia Hutforworth. a lady of Inde
pendent means and rplrlt who tell* the story
At midnight, peering through her cnrtaina. Miss
Rntterworth f-es s cab drive up with e young
man and women, who enter the Van Burnatn
house. Ten minutes later ahe sees the young
man leave the houxe alone and walk rapidly
• way Knowing the house to be vacant owing
to the absence of 811a* Van Burnam In Europe,
, i *• midnight inc’dwnt astonishes Miss Butter-
worth
Next mornlne she If* proecnt when a police
man. snrtimoned by Mrs Boppert. a scrub
* onian, discovers the dead body of a young
v ojimn .ving under a heavy piece of fallen
D*t«ctlve Grvce, summoned from Police Head
quarters, arrives with a physician Miss Buf-
terworth tells of the midnight Incident- the
»*f' •>> comT»anlon n**erned to resemble
rne of the Van Burnam *cnw—Franklin, or How
ard. the latter understood to be estranged from
>•- faAnllv owing to an unsuitable marriage.
•ling the Summer with his bride In
Connecticut. It was Franklin Van Burnam *
, i!s nights at I^on* Branch who had
1 ent Mrs Roppert to make the house ready for
ills father and sisters, arriving to-day. A clock
• loh had fallen with the cabinet under which
■f dead girl lay had slopped at thiee minim-a
five.
The cabinet being raised, Mias Butterworth
a»ee that the body la ciothed In a new, blue
s rge dress, and that the hat—lying crushed
under It bos been worn but once, revealing but
one prick of a hatpin.
Frankln Van Burnam arrives and soon his
father. There Is mystery In t.helr muttered
mention of "Howard. 1 Miss But'erworth also
sees mysterv In the manner of Mrs. Boppert.
the scrub woman A crowd gathers Miss But
ierworth Invites the Van Burnam daughters
to her house From her window Just ha the
body of the dead girl Is being rarrled our to a i
* nrbulance. she aeea Howard Van Burnani
drive up His far#* is ghastly white
The dead wornan’r features being crushed out.
»f recognition and her clothing being new and
unfamiliar, Howard denies that ahe was his
wife Miss Butter worth finds the head cf the
broken hatpin with which the victim was stab
bed to death Detective Qryce finds another rut
In the house much more expensive than the
one worn by the murdered woman. At the in
guest the landlady of tb* Howard Van Burnnms
at Haddam, Conn, teatliles that the young wife
left alono for New York, In an attempt to win
the favor of her father-1 n - Is w on his arrival
OKI rut Op*. ,
Department store employees identify the new
gown and bat as those delivered to a mysterious
couple "Mr and Mrs. Pope." stopping at a
Broadway hotel. They wer#. a "queer couple.”
determined ro* to he Identified
An Entrancing Detective Story
Continued from Last Sunday.
f,
*~|r*HE porter who has charge of the lady’s
1 entrance was the last witness from
this house. He had been on duty on
the erenlng In question and had noticed this
couple leaving. They both carried packages,
end had attracted his attention first, by the
long, old fashioned duster which the gentleman
nore, and secondly, by the pains they both
took not to he observed by any one. The
woman was veiled, as had already been said,
aid the man held his package In such a way
«s to shield his face entirely from obsorva
tion.
"So that yon would not know him If you
saty him again?” asked the Coroner.
Exactly, sir,” was the uncompromising
s tiBwer.
As he sat down, the Coroner observed: ,r You
will note from this testimony, gentlemen, that
‘his couple, signing themselves Mr. and Mrs.
James Pope, of Philadelphia, left this house
dressed each In a long garment eminently lilted
for purimaes of conoealtnent—he In a linen
fluster, and she In a gossamer. Let us now
Tollow this couple a little farther and see what
became of these disguising articles of apparel.
Is Seth Brown here?”
A man, who w as so evidently a haokman that
I: seemed superflous to rrU him what his occu
pat Ion was, shuffled forward at this.
it was In his hack that this couple had left
the D , He remembered them very well as
he had good reason to. First, because the mau
>ald him before entering the carriage, saying
hat he was to let them out at’ the northwest
corner of Madison Square, and eecondly
But here the Coroner Interrupted him to ask If
lie had seen the gentleman's face when he paid
him. The answer was, as might have been ex
pected. No. It was dark, and he had not turned
hia head.
"Didn’t you think It queer to be paid before
you reached your destination'''’
"Yes, but the rest was queerer. After T had
taken the money -I never refuses money, alr-
and was expecting him to get Into the hack, he
steps up to me again and says In a lower tons
than before: My wife Is very' nervous. Drive
low. If you please, and when you reach the
dace I have named, watch your horses care
ully, for If they should'move while she Is
ettlng out. the shock would throw her Into a
rasm.’ As she had looked very pert and lively,
thought tlilB mighty queer, and I tried to get a
peep at his face, but lie was too ainart for me.
and was In the carriage before 1 could clap my
eye on him."
"But you were more fortunate w-heu thay got
out? You surely saw one or both of them
then?" »
"No. sir. I didn’t. I had to watch the horses’
Imads, you know I shouldn’t like to he the
cause of a young lady having a spasm.”
Do you know in what direction they went?”
"East. I should say. 1 heard them laughing
long after I had whipped up my horses. A
queer couple, sir, that puzzled me aome, though
I should not have thought of them twice If I had
not found next dav"——
■Well?”
’The gentleman's linen duster and the neat
brown gossamer w hich the lady liadyworn, lying
folded under the two hack cushions of my
hack: a present for which I was very much
obliged to them, but which I was not long al
lowed to enjoy, for yesterday the police”
"Well, well, no matter about that. Here Is a
duster and here is a brown gossamer. Are’
these the articles you found under your
cushions?"
"If you will examine the neck of the lady's
gossamer, you can soon tell. sir. There was a
small hole In the one I found, as If something
had been snipped out of It; the owner's name,
most likely.”
"Or the name of the place where It was
bought,” suggested the Coroner, holding the
garment up to view so ae to reveal a square
hole under the collar.
"That’s it I ” cried the hackmac "That’s the
very one. Shame, I sgy, to spoil a new gar
ment that way."
"Why do you call It new?” asked the Coroner
' Because It hasn't a mud spot or even a mark
of oust n on It. We looked it all over, my wife
: id 1. and decided It had not been long off the
shelf. A pretty good haul for a poor man like
me. and if the police"
But here he was cut ehort again by an Im
portant question:
"There is a clock but a short distance from
the place where you stopped. Did you notice
- hat time It was when yon drove away?”
“Yes. sir. It was half rast eleven ”
CHAPTER X.
The Ken a.
\YT E were all by this time greatly Interested
’’’’ In the proceedings; and when another
Packman was called we recognized at once that
an effort was about to be made to connect this
couple with the one who had alighted at Mr.
Van Btirnam’s door.
The witness, who wa« a melancholy chap,
kept his stand on the east side of the Square.
At about twenty minutes to twelve .he was
awakened from a nap he had been taking on
he top of h1s roach, by a sharp rap on his whip
arm, and looking down, he saw a lady and
gentleman standing at the door of his vehicle
"We want to go to Graroercy Park,” staid the
lady "Drive us there at once.”
”1 nodded, for what Is the use of wasting
words when it can be'avoided; and they stepped
• f once Into the coach.”
“Can you describe them—tell ns how they
looked?"
“I never notice people; besides, It was dark;
kfcut ha had a swell air, and she was pert and
I
merry, for she laughed as she closed the door."
"Can’t you remember how they were
dressed?”
"No, sir; she had on something that flapped
about her shoulders, and he had a dark hat on
Ills head, but that was all I saw "
“Didn't yon see his face.'’''
"Not a hit of it; he kept It turned away. Ha
didn’t want nobody looking at him. She did all
the business.”
"Then you saw her face?”
"Yes, for a minute. But I wouldn't know It
again. She was young and purty, and her hand
which dropped the money Into mine wae small,
but I couldn't say no more, not If you was to
give me the town.”
"And that Is all you have to tell us about
them?”
“No, sir; the next, morning, which was yes
terdav, sir. as I was a-dlisting eut the coach 1
found under the cushions a large blue veil,
folded and lying very flat. Hut it had been slit
with a knife and could not be worn.”
This was strange, too, and while more than
one person about me ventured an opinion, 1 mut
tered to myself, "James Pope, his mark!"
astonished at a coincidence which so com
pletely connected the occupants of the two
coaches.
But the Coroner was able to produce a wit
ness whose evidence carried the matter <. i still
farther. A policeman in full uniform testified
next and, after explaining that his beat led him
from Madison Avenue lo Third on Twenty-
seventh street, went on to say that as he was
coming up this street on Tuesday evening some
few minutes before midnight, he encountered
somewhere between Lexington avenue and
Third, a man and woman walking rapidly to
wards the latter avenue, each carrying a parcel
of some dimensions; that he noted them be
cause they secured so merry, but would have
thought nothing of it if he had not presently
perceived them coming hack without the parcels
They were chatting more gaily than ever. The
lady wore a short cape, and the gentleman a
dark coat, hut he could give no other descrip
tion of their appearance, for they went by
rapidly, and he was more Interested In won
derlng what they had done with swell large
percels In such a short time at that hour of
night than In noting how they looked or
w hither they were going He did observe, how
ever, that they proceeded towards Madison
Square, and remembers now that he heard a
carriage suddenly drive away from that dlrec
tion.
The Coroner asked him but one question:
"Had the lady no parcel when you saw her
last?"
tone. "No. The key used by our agent opens
the baesment door only.”
The Coroner showed his satisfaction. "No
duplicates," he repeated; "then you will have
no difficulty In telling us where the keys to
your father’s front door were kept during the
family’s absence."
I)1d the young man hesitate, or was it hut
Imagination on my part—"They were usually
In my possession.”
"Usually!” There was irony In the tone; evi-
lently the Coroner- was getting the better of his
embarrassment. If he hart felt any. "And where
were they on the seventeenth of tills month?
Were they In your possession then?’’
"No, sir." The young man tried to look calm
rind at his ease, but the difficulty be felt In
doing so was apparent. "On the morning of
that day," he continued, ”1 passed them over
I o mv brother."
Ah! here was something tangible as well as
Important. I began to fear the police under
stood themselves only too well; and so did the
whole crowd of persons there assembled. A
groan in one direction was answered by a sigh
in another, and it. needed all the Coroner's au
thority to prevent an outbreak.
Meanwhile Mr. Van Burnam stood erect and
unwavering, though his eye showed the suffer
ing which these demonstrations nwakened.
"May I ask where the transference of these
keys took place?”
"I gave them to him In our office last. Tires
lay morning. He said he might want to go in
to the house before his father came home.”
"Did he say why he wanted to go Into the
house?”
"No,”
"Was he in the habit of going Into It alone
nnd dnrlng the family’s absence?”
“No"
“Had he any clothes there? or any articles
belonging to himself or his wife which he would
be likely to wish to carry away?”
"No.”
Yet be wanted to go in?”
"He said so.”
"And you gave him the keys without ques
tion?"
' Certainly, sir.”
Was that not opposed to your usual princi
ples—to your way of doing things, I should
utv?”
"Perhaps; but principles, by which I suppose
'■on mean my usual huslnpss methods, do not
you say tnia:
"Yes, I knew her, but the rest of the family
did not.”
"Yet they shared in your disapprobation?”
"They felt the marriage more than I did. The
lady—excuse me, I never like to speak 111 of
the sex—was not lacking In good sense or
virtue, but she was not the person we had a
right to expect Howard to marry.”
"And you let him see that, you thought so?”
"How could we do otherwise?”
"Even after she had been his wife for some
months?’’
"AVe could not like her.”
"Did your brother—I am sorry to press this
matter - -ever show that he felt your change of
conduct toward him?"
”1 find It equally hard to answer,” was the
quick reply. "My brother is of an affectionate
nature, and he has some, it not all, of the
family’s pride, 1 think he did feel It, though
he never said so. He is not without loyalty to
his wife.”
"Mr. Van Burnam, of whom does the firm
doing business under the name of Van Burnam
•fc Sons consist?”
"Of the three persons mentioned."
Has there ever been in your hearing any
threat made by the senior partner of dissolving
this firm as it stands?”
"I have heard”—I felt Borrv for this strong
but far from heartless man, but I would not
have stopped the inquiry at this point If I
could; 1 was far too curious—"I have heard
my father say that, he would withdraw If How
ard did not. Whether he would have done so.
I consider open to doubt. My father Is a just!
man and never fails to do the right thing,
Ihough he sometimes speaks with unnecessary
harshness.”
“He made the threat, however?"
’Wes.”
And Howard heard it?”
' Or of It; I cannot say whfeh.”
’’Mr. Van Burnam, have you
noticed any change In your
brother since this threat was
uttered?”
“How, sir; what changer’
“In hts treatment of his wife,
or in Ills attitude toward your
self?”
“I have not seen him in the
company of his wife since they
went to Haddam. As for his
Burnam's handwriting and that of Mrs. Jamea
Pope as seen In the register of the Hotel
D—— and on the order sent to Altman's. But
the only conclusion reached was that the lat
ter might be the former disguised, and even
on this point the experts differed.
CHAPTER XI.
floikard'a Ordeal.
rpHE gentleman who stepped from the car
riage and entered Mr. Van Burnam’s house
at twelve o’clock that night produced so little
impression upon me that 1 went to bed satis
fied that no result would follow these efforts
at identification.
At ten o’clock I was in my old seat In the
courtroom. The same crowd with different
faces confronted me, amid which the twelve
stolid countenances of the Jury looked like old
friends. Howard Van Burnam was the wit
ness called, and as he came forward and stood
in full view of us all, the interest of the occa
sion reached its climax.
His countenance wore a reckless look that
did not serve to prepossess him with the peo
ple at whose mercy he stood. But he did not
seem to care, and waited for the Coroner's
questions with- an air of ease which was in
direct contrast to the drawn and troubled
faces of his father and brother just visible In
the background. Coroner Dahl surveyed him
a few minutes before speaking, then he
quietly asked if he had seen the dead body of
the woman who had been found lying under a
:alien piece of furniture in his father’s house.
He replied that h«
had.
"Before she was re
moved from the house
or after it?"
"Did you recognise it?
Was it the body of any
one you know?”
" r not think so.’
-as'
VS,
/ li
"I saw none.” •
"Could she not have carried One under her
cape?”
"Perhaps, if it was small enough,"
’ As small as a lady’s hat, say?"
"Well, it would have to be smaller than some
of them are now, sir.”
And so terminated this portion of the Inquiry
A short delay followed the withdrawal of this
witness. The Coroner, who was a somewhat
portly man. and who had felt the heat of the
day very much, leaned back and looked
anxious, while the jury, always restless,
moved In their seats like a aet of school boys,
nnd seemed to long for the hour of adjournment,
notwithstanding the Interest which everybody
but themselves seemed to take in this exciting
Investigation.
Finally au officer, who had been sent Into
the adjoining room, came back with a gentle
man, who was no sooner recognized as Mr.
Franklin Van Burnam than a great change
took place in the countenances of all present.
The Coroner aat forward and dropped the
large palm-leaf fan he had been industriously
using for the last few minutes, the jury set
tled down, and the whispering of the many
curious onea about me grew less audible and
finally ceased altogether. A gentleman of the
family was about to be interrogated, and such
a gentleman.
I have purposely refrained from describing
this best known and best reputed member of
the Van Burnam family, foreseeing this hour
when he would attract the attention of a hun
dred eyes and when his appearance would
require our special notice.
He is a medium-sized man, with a shape not
unlike his brother’s. His hair is dark and so
are his eyes, but his mustache is brown and
his complexion quite fair. He carries himself
with distinction, and though his countenance
1n repose has a precise air that is not perfect
ly agreeable. It has, when he speaks or smiles,
an expression at once keen anil amiable.
On this occasion he failed to smile, and
though his elegance was sufficiently apparent,
his worth was not so much so. Yet the im
pression generally mado was favorable, ns one
could perceive from the air of respect with
which his testimony was received. *
Ha was asked many questions. Some were
germane to the matter in hand and some
seemed to strike wide of all mark. Hfe an
swered them all courteously, showing a manly
omposure in doing so, that served to calm the
fever-heat Into which many had been thrown
by the stories of the two hackmen. Rut as his
erldence up to this point- related merely to
minor concerns, this was neither strange nor
conclusive. The real test began when the Cor
oner, with a certain bluster, which may have
been meant to attract the attention of the
Jury, now visibly waning, or, as was more
likely, may have been the unconscious expres
sion of a secret If hitherto well concealed em
htrrassment. asked the witness whether the
keys to his father’s front door had any dupli
cates
The answer came In . decidedly changed
Wits that hat found in my lather's house? Where was that
hat found?’ stammered the witness.”
govern me In my relations with my brother. He
asked me a favor, and 1 granted it. It would v
have to have been a much larger one for me to
have asked an explanation from him before
doing so.”
"You are not on good terms with your brother;
si least you have not had the name of beiug,
for some time?”
"We have had no quarrel.”
"Did he return the keys yon lent him?”
"No.”
“Have you seen them since?”
•No.”
"Would yon know them if they were shown
to you?”
"I would know them if they unlocked oar
front door.”
"Mr. Van Burnam. it is disagreeable for me
to go Into family matters, but If you have had
no quarrel with your brother, how comes it that
you and he have had so little Intercourse of
Is fe’"
"He has been In Connecticut and 1 at Ijong
Branch. Is not that a good answ-er, sir?”
"Good, but not good enough. You have a com
mon office in New York, have you not?"
"Certainly, the firm's office.’’
“And you sometimes meet there, even while
residing In different localities?”
“Aes, our business calls us in at times and
then we meet, of course.”
"Do you talk when you meet?"
"Talk?"
Of other matters besides business, I mean.
Are your relations friendly? Do you show the
I me spirit toward each other as you did three
years ago. say?"
”AVe are older; perhaps we are not quite
so voluble.”
’’But do you feel the same?”
“No. I see you will have It, ind so I will
no longer hold back the truth. We are not as
brotherly In our Intercourse as we used to be;
but there Is no animosity between us. 1 have
decided rer for my brother."
This was said quite nobly, and I liked him
for It, but I began to feel that perhaps It had
been for the best after all that I had never
been Intimate with the family. But I must
not forestall either events or my opinions.
"Is there any reason”—It is the Coroner, of
course, who Is speaking—"why there should
be any falling off In your mutual confidence?
Has your brother done anything to displease
you?"
"We did not like hts marriage.”
"Was it on unhappy one?"
"It was not a suitable one.”
"Did you know Mrs. Van Buraam weii, that
conduct toward myself, I can say no more than
I have already. AVe have never forgotten that
we are children of one mother.”
“Mr. Van Burnam, how many times have you
‘seen Mrs. Howard Vau Burnam?"
"Several. More frequently before they were
married than since.”
"You were In your brother's confidence, then,
at that time; knew he was contemplating mar
riage?”
"It was in my endeavors to prevent the
match that I saw so much of Miss Louise
Stapleton.’’
“Ah! I am glad of the explanation! I was
Just going to Inquire why you, of all members
of the family, were the only one to know your
brother’s wife by sight."
The witness, considering this question
answered, made no reply: But the next sug
gestion could not be passed over.
"If you saw Mrs. Van Burnam so often, you
»re acquainted with her personal appearance?"
"Sufficiently so; as wells as I know that of
■my ordinary calling acquaintance."
"Was she light or dark?”
“She had brown hair.”
' Similar to this?"
The lock held up w-n3 the one which had been
cut from the head of the dead girl.
"Y'es, somewhat similar to that." The tone
was cold; hut he could not hide his distress.
“Mr. Van Burnam, have you looked well at
the woman who was found murdered In your
father's house?"
"I have, sir.”
"Is there anything in her general outline or
in such features as have escaped disfigurement
to remind you of Mrs. Howard Van Burnam?’’
“I may have thought so—at first glance.” hs
replied, with decided effort.
"And did you change your mind at the sec
ond?"
He looked troubled, but answered nrmly:
"No, I cannot say that I did. But you must not
regard my opinion as conclusive,” he hastily
added. "My knowledge of the lady was com
paratively slight.
"The Jury will take that Into account. AH
we want to know- now Is whether you can as
sart from any knowledge you have or from
anything to he noted in the body itself, that
It is not Mrs. Howard Van Burnam?"
“I cannot."
And with this solemn assertion hts examlna
tion closed.
The remainder of rne day was taken up in
trying to prove a similarity between Mrs. Van
"Has your wife, who was missing yesterday,
been heard from yet, Mr. Van Burnam?”
“Not to my knowledge, sir.”
“Had she not—that is. your wife—a com
plexion similar to that of the dead woman
just alluded to?”
“She had a fain skin and brown hair, If that
Is what you mean. But these attributes are
common to too many woman for me to give
them any weight in an attempted identifica
tion of this Importance.”
“Had they no other similar points of a leas
general character? Was not your wife of a
slight and graceful build, such as is attributed
to the subject of this inquiry?"
"My wife was slight and she was graceful, .
common attributes also.”
"And your wife had a scar?"
“Y'es.”
"On the left ankle?”
" Yes."
‘AA'hich Uie deceased also lias?"
"That 1 do not kiTow. They say so, but I
bad no Interest in looking.”
•'Why, may I ask? Did you not think It a
remarkable coincidence?"
The young man frowned. It was the first
token of feeling he had given.
i was not on the look-out for coincidences
was his cold reply. “1 had no reason lo think
this unhappy victim of an unknown man's
brutality my wife, and so did not allow myself
to be moved by even such a fact as this.”
’“You had no reason," repeated the Coroner,
“to think this woman your wife. Had you
any reason to think she was not?"
’Yes.”
"Will you give ys that reason?"
“I had more than one. First, my wife would
never wear the clothes I saw on the girl whose
dead body wa« shown to me. Secondly, she
would neVer go to any house alone with a' man
at the hour testified to by one of your wit
nesses.”
“Not with any man?”
“I did not mean to include her husband in mv
remark of course. But as I did not take her to
Gramerey Park, the fact that the deceased
woman entered an empty house accompanied
by a man is proof enough to me that she was
not Itouise \ 7 an Burnam.”
“When did you part w-ith your wife?"
"On Monday morning at the depot in Hag.
i
"Did you know where she was going?"
"I knew where she said she was going."
"And where was that, may I ask?”
/‘To New York to interview my father,”
"But you father was not in New York."
"He was daily expected here. The steamer
on which he had sailed from Southampton was
due on Tuesday.”
“Had she an Interest in seeing your father?
Was there any special reason why she should
leave you for doing so?”
"She thought so; she thought he would be
come reconciled to her entrance Into our family
If he should see her suddenly and without pre
judiced persons standing by.”
"And did yon fear to mar the effect of this
meeting if you accompanied her?”
“No, for I doubted If the meeting would ever
take place. I had no sympathy with her
schemes, and did not wish to give her the sanc
tion of my presence.”
“Was that the reason you let her go to New
York alone?”
“Yes "
“Had you no other?"
’’No.”
"Why did yon follow her. then, in less than
five hours?”
"Because I was uneasy:
because I also
x HVyf* ucc ‘ n no UiicDqJ • A fi lift I
wanted to see my father; because I am a man
accustomed to carry out every impulse; and
Impulse led me that day in the direction of my
somewhat headstrong wife.”
"Did you know where your wife intended to
spend the night?"
"I did not. She has many friends, or, at leash
I have, in the city, and I concluded she would
go to one of them—as she did.”
"AVhen did you arrive in the city? before 10
o'clock?
"Yes, a few mlrratee before."
“Did you try to find your wife?"
"No. I went directly to the club.”
"Did you try to find her the next morningr
"No; I had heard that the steamer had not
yet been sighted off Fire Island, so considered
the efTort unnecessary.”
"Why? What connection is there between
this fact and an endeavor on your part to find
your wife?”
"A very close one. She had come to New
York to throw herself at my father’s feet Now
the could only do this at the steamer or in"—
"Why do you not proceed, Mr. Van Burnam?"
"1 will. I do not know why I stopped—or ta
his own house.”
"In his own bouse? In the bouse in Gram
erey Park, do you mean?"
"Yes, he has no other.”
"The house in which this dead girl was
fonnd?"
"Yes,” impatiently.
"Did you think she might throw teraelf at Ms
f*et there?"
"She said ahe might; and as she is romantic,
foolishly romantic. I thought her fully capable
of doing so.”
"And so you did not seek her in the morn
ing?”
"No, sir.”
“How about the afternoon?"
This was a close question; we saw that he
was affected by it though he tried to carry it
off bravely.
"I did not see her in the afternoon. I was tn
a restless frame of mind, and did not roma’o
In the city.’
"Ah- indeed' And where did you go?"
"Unless necessary, I prefer not to say.”
"It Is necessary.”
"I went to Coney Island."
"Alone ?”
"Yes.”
"Did you see anybodv there you know?"
"No.”
"And when did you return?”
“At midnight.”
"When did you reach your rooms?"
“Later.”
"How much later?"
“Two or three hours.”
"And where were you during those hours?"
"I was walking the streets.”
The ease, the quietness with which he made
these acknowledgments w-ere remarkable. The
Jury to a man honored him with a prolonged
stare, and the awe-struck crowd scarcely
breathed during their utterance. At the last
sentence a murmur broke out at which he
raised his head and with an air of surprise
surveyed the people before him. Though lie
must have known what their astonishment
meant he neither quailed nor blanched, and
while not in reality a handsome man he cer
tainly looked handsome at this moment
I did not know what to think; so forbore to
f Mnk anything. Meanwhile the examination
^nt on.
"Mr. Van Burnam, I hare been told that the
tocket X see there dangling from your watch
chain contains a lock of your wife’s hair Is
it so?”
"I have a lock of her hair in this—yes.”
"Here is a lock clipped from the head of the
unknown woman whose identity we seek. Have
you any objection to comparing the two?"
“It Js not an agreeable task you have set
me, was the Imperturbable response; "but I
nave no objection to doing what you ask," And
oalmly lifting the ohaln he took off the locket,
opened It, and held It out courteously toward
the C-oroner May I ask you to make the first
comparison." he said.
, T. b * rot-oner, taking the locket, laid the two
1 °° k ® of brown hfl!r together, and after a mo
ment s contemplation of them both, surveyed
.he young man seriously and remarked:
They are of the same shade. Shall I pass
them down to the jury?"
Howard bowed. You would have thought he
B-as in a drawing room and in'the act of be
stowing a favor. But his brother Franklin
show-ed a very different countenance, and as
for their father, one could not even see
his
held up his hand
face, he so persistently
before It.
„ J, he wlde awa ke now. passed the locket
wl J$L ma “ y r1 - t no,,s sr >d a few wM sp ered
t^l d ir U q e 1 n ? ame hack t0 the Coroner he
took it and handed it to Mr. Van Burnam,
saying:
"1 wish you would observe the similarity for
yourself. I can hardly detect any difference
between them."
f JT, ha,,k -Yp'V 1 am willing to take your word
ror it, replied the young man, with most aston-
mnm* , An , d Conner and jury for s
moment looked baffled, and even Mr Gn-"% of
whose face I caught a passing glimpse at This
Instant stared at the head of his cane as If It
were of thicker wood than he expected and had
more knotty points on It than even his aoont-
tomed hand liked to snMnitar.
♦
♦
j
4
t i. < i
I •
(To be Continued Next Sunday)
Copyright, 1897, by Anna B. Rohlfs. Publishers,
G- **• Putnam’s Sons, New York and i/miim.
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