Show i V T CI ka CD idiocies 1914 6 2 it SYNOPSIS A curious crowd of 0 neighbors invade the mysterious lous home of judge ostrander Oat rander dunty cudgo and eccentric centric recluse recline folt 01 ol a veiled woman who pro as to be I 1 the he w widow 1 dow of if it 11 man tried before tile the before jiel judge and nd e electrocuted for murder years yeara before iter her daughter Is engaged to tho the judges judge a son from whom lio lie la is estranged but tho the murder la in between tho the lovers she plans to clear tier her husbands memory anti asks the judges Juil goB aid Debor deborah alt scoville reads reada the newspaper clippings telling tile the story glory thoi of the ile murder or of algernon ge by john covilie lit in lurk 1101 hollow 1 w twelve aars aar before the judge all and mrs villa meet nt at cers folly a and bhe allows him film how on tile the day of the tha mur iler she aha saw tile shadow of a man whittling alln a e tick and a long peaked cap the judge engages her and her daughter er to live with him in a myrte bolls lolls chonle deborah und told her in lawyer w go BO to tile polite police arid ee the 6 stick used to murie murder she discovers a bro broken ken knife kalte blado point embedded lit in it deborah and it euther go tn in live with trio judge deborah flees bee it ft portrait of oliver tile the jud fea geis son aon with a Eor blaak lack band painted across the eyes that n ight she ahe cinda in vers room loom a cap call with a like ilka tile tho nha dowed one anti and a knife a broken blade point anon lotten letters und and a talk with weeks beka veka In increase creaso tier her suspicions and f tears ea r 4 rhe finds that oliver was in the ravine on the lh murder night CHAPTER X continued she had rather have died nay have hall had reuther dlo die than to find herself forced to weigh and decide so momentous inen tous a question for however she might 1 feel eel about it it not a single illusion remained as 08 to whose hoso hand had mado made use of john villes stick to istrico down alier algernon etheridge how flow could she have when sue she came to piece tho whole story sory together tog ethor and weigh tho the facts sho had accumulated against oliver with those which had proved so fatal to tier her husband deborah shuddered aye the mystery had cleared but only to enshroud her spirits anew anti and make her long with all her ter bursting heart and shuddering soul that death had been her bor portion before ever she had essayed to lift the veil held down so tightly by these two remorseful men but was her fault irremediable the only unanswerable connection between this old crime and oliver lay in the evidence she had herself collected As aa sho she hall had every intention of suppressing I 1 this evidence and as site she had small dread of any one else digging out the facts to which site she only possessed a clue might she not hope that any suspicions raised by her inquiries would fall like a house of cards when she aho withdrew her hand from the toppling structure she would make her first effort and sen see mr air black had heard tier her complaint he should be the first to learn hat chat the encouragement she lind re belve was so small that she had decided to accept her present good luck without further query and not hark back to a past which most people had burled buried you began it as women begin roost most things lings ti without thought and a due weighing of consequences and now you propose to drop it in the same freakish manner that it deborah scoville lifted tier her eyes tit in manifest distress and fixed them do tingly upon her interrogator mr air black smiled tho the woman delighted him the admiration which lie ho hail had hitherto felt for her person and for the character which could so develop through misery and reproach as to make inako her in twelve short years the exponent of all that was most attractive and bewitching in woman seemed likely to extend to her bior mind 1 I am reconciled simply from neca sity was tier her gentle response nothing la Is more precious to me than reuthers happiness I 1 should but endanger it further by raising false hopes that Is why I 1 have come to cry halt bait bl madam adam I 1 commend command your decision but why should you characterize your hopes as aa false just when there seems to bo some justification for them her eyes widened and she regarded him with a simulation of surprise which Into interested rested without imposing upon him 1 I do not understand you yon said she have you como come upon some clue you hoard board something which I 1 havo have not I 1 air dlack black took two or three crushed anti and foidel papers front from a drawer beside him mid aid holding them none nona too plau ly in sight bight remarked very quietly but with legal i do not let us ua play about tho the bush arty any longer you have announced your intention of at making no further attempt to discover tto tle man who in your eyes merited the doom accorded to john scoville your only reason for this i if you are tho the woman I 1 think lies ile in your you r fear of at giving further opportunity port unity to the misguided d rancor of at an ail irresponsible writer of at anonym anonymous epistles am I 1 riot not right mad madam arrit beaten beaten by it direct assault because she possessed the as well an aa the pluck iteck of a woman she could control tho the language of her lips but not thair hilr quivering she aho cou 1 l leet hla his eye rith steady assurance but she could not keep the tha pallor from tier her checki or subdue the evidences of her hearts turmoil tier her pitiful glance acknowledged her defeat defeat which she already saw mirrored in hla his eyes taking it tor for an answer lie he said gently enough that we may understand each other at once I 1 will mention tho the person who has been made tho the subject of 0 these attacks lie ile dont speak the name she prayed leaning forward and laying tier her gloved hand upon his sleeve it Is not feces sary tho the whole thing Is an outrage ills ilia admiration was waa quite evident it did not prevent him however from saying quite abruptly men alen who indulge themselves in writing anonymous accusations seldom limit themselves to one effusion I 1 will stake my word that the judge has haa found more than ono one on oil his lawn she could not have responded it rhe eho would her mouth was dry tier her tongue halt half paralyzed what was coming the glint lit in the ho lawyers eye forewarned her that something scarcely in consonance conson anco with tier her hopes and wishes might bo be expected the judge has seen and road read these barefaced insinuations against his son and has not turned this whole town topsy I 1 A lion does not stop to meditate ho he springs and archibald ostrander has the nature of a lion mrs scoville this Is a very serious matter I 1 do not wonder that you are a trine trifle overwhelmed by the results of your ill considered investigations does the town know has the thing become a scandal a byword miss weeks gave no proof of ever having heard one word of this dreadful business that is good news you relieve me 1118 perhaps it Is not a general topic as aa yet then shortly and with lawyerlike directness I 1 look over these do they look at all familiar I 1 she glanced down at the crumpled sheets and halt half sheets he had spread out before her they were similar in appearance arance to the one she had picked up on the judges grounds but the language was moro more forcible as aa witness these when a man Is s trusted to defend another on trial for lila life lire life hes supposed posed to kno hla his business how came john scoville to hans hang without a thought being given to the man who hated A ether lie dge like poison I 1 could name a certain chop chap who more than once in the old days boasted that hed like to kill the fellow avid and it scoville or any one ona of lit hla lowdown low down stamp either A high and mighty name I 1 shield a man who tent sent a poor wr wretch L to tile his death tit in order to slave save hla his own bacon Ilor horrible riblet murmured deborah drawing back in terror of her own emotion its the work of 0 some implacable enemy taking advantage of the situation I 1 have created M mr r black this man must be found and made to see that no onswill ono one will believe not oven even villes widow therol there you go any further with that admonished the law have you any idea who this person SO la Is not the least in the world 1 I ask because of this he be explained picking out another letter and smilingly holding it out toward her she read it with flushed cheeks listen to the lady you cant listen to any one nicer what she wants she can get bet theres a witness you never saw or heard of A witness they had never hoard heard oil oft what witness scarcely could she lift up her eyes from the paper yet there was a possibility of course that this statement was a lie 1 1 stun it muttered the law Y yer 1 never mind well soon have hold of the writer ills face had taken on a much awe more serious aspect and she could notY nger complain of ills hta indifference 6 creven even of his ear casni you will give me another opportunity of talking with you on oil this matter pursued he it if you do not come hero you may expect to see roe me at vidgo dera I 1 do a not quite like the position into which you have been th thrown hi these absurd insinuations it may even lend lead to your losing the homo home which has been so BO fortunately opened for you it if this occurs you may count on my mrs mra scoville I 1 may have failed you orice once but I 1 will not tall fall you twice surprised almost touched she held out ner her land hand with a cordial thank you in which emotion struggled led with her desire to preserve an appearance appe aranco of at complete confidence in judge ostrander tr and incidentally in hla his son then she turned to go the lawyer appeared to acquiesce in the movement of departure but when he saw her about to vanish through the door some same impulse of compunction as real na as it was surprising led him to call her back and seat aier ter once more in tho the chair she bad so lately left 1 11 I cannot let you go said be until tilyou you understand that these losifua insinuations from a self called witness would not be ih borth iiii our a attention I 1 it if there were afew a few facts acts to give color to his wild claims oilier ostrander was in that ravine connecting with dark Il hollow ollow very near the time ot of the onslaught on mr air etheridge Etherl dge and he be certainly hated bated the man and wanted hemf out of the way the whole town knows that with one exception you know that exception 1 I think so she acceded taking a fresh grip upon her emotions that this was anything more than a coincidence has never been questioned lie ile was not even summoned as a witness with the judges high reputation in mind I 1 do not think a single person could have been found in those days to suggest any possible connection between this boy and a crime so obviously premeditated but peoples minds change with time and events and oliver Ost randers name uttered in this connection today would not occasion the same shock to the community as it would have done then you understand me mrs scoville you allude to the unexpected separation between himself and father and not to any failure on his part to sustain the reputation of his 1 family un 11 Y oh he fie has made a good position for himself and earned universal consideration dut but that weigh against the prejudices of people roused by such eccentricities as aa have distinguished the conduct of these two men inen alas she murmured frightened to the soul for the first time both by ills his manner and his words you know and I 1 know he went on with it a grimness possibly suggested by his subject that no mere whim lies back of such a preposterous seclusion as that of judge ostrander behind ills his double fence sons do not cut loose from fathers or fathers from sons without good cause you can see then that the peculiarities of their mutual history form but a poor foundation for any light refutation of this scandal should it reach the public mind judge pr knows this and you know that he knows know athis this hence your distress have I 1 not read your mind madam no one can read my mind any more than they can read judge Os tr anders she avowed in a last desperate attempt to preserve her secret you may think you have done so but what assurance can you have of the tact fact you are strong in their defense said eald he and you will need to be it the matter ever comes up the shadows from dark hollow reach tar far and engulf all they tall fall upon CHAPTER XI changes reuther sit up here close by m other mother and let me talk to you for a little while yes mother oh all yes mother deborah felt the beloved head pressed close to her shoulder and two soft arms fall about her neck are you very unhappy Is my little one pining too much for the old days A closer pressure of the head a more vehement clasp of the encircling arms but no words they were sitting in the dark with just the light of the stars shining through the upper panes of the one window deborah therefore had little to fear from her daughters eye only from the sensitiveness of her touch and the quickness of her ear alas in this delicately organized girl these were both attuned to the nicest and before the mother could speak reuther had 6 started up crying oh ob how your heart beats something has happened darling mother 80 something which Ilu hush sli reuther heuther it to ie only this when I 1 came to shelby it was with a hope that I 1 might some day smooth the way to your happiness dut but it was only it a wild dream reuther and the hour has come tor for me to tell you so BO what joys are left us must come came in other ways love unblessed must be put aside resolutely and forever she felt the shudder pass through the slender form which had thrown itself again at her side but when the young girl spoke it was with unexpected bravery and calm 1 I have long ago done that mamma ive had no hope from the first the look avith with which oliver accepted my refusal to go on with the ceremony was one of gratitude mother I 1 can never forget that relief struggled with grief would you have me cherish any further illusion after that then yoi will not think mo me unkind or even it I 1 say that every loving thought you give now to oliver la hurtful both to yourself and to me dont indulge in them my darling put your heart into work or into music and your will bless you wont it help you to know this reuther hertbert your mother who has had will bless bles 3 you mother lother 1 mo therl the next morning found deborah pale almost as pale as reuther euther tl knowing its cause herself she did not invite inilla the judges inquiries and another day passed with the following morning sho she felt strong enough to open the conversation which had now become necessary tor for her pence peace of mind she walled waited tilt till the moment when her work all done she was about to leave his presence pausing till she caught his eye which seemed a little loath she thought to look her way she observed with perhaps unnecessary 1 I hope hopa everything Is to your mind judge ostrander I 1 should be very sorry not to make you as comfortable as la Is under the circumstances st alices roused a little suddenly from thoughts quite disconnected with those of material comfort h he nodded with tho the abstraction of one who recognizes that some sort son of acknowledgment Is 13 expected from him then seeing her still waiting added politely III 1 I am very well looted looked after it that Is what you ou mean mrs bira scoville bela could not do any better it he ever did as ae well 1 I am glad she replied thinking with what humor this would have struck her once 1 I 1 I ask because having nothing on my mind but |