Show THE MISSING MAN by MARY R P HATCH author of the bank tragedy IBS by bee and shepard CHAPTER XI continued several matters connected with the affair were touched i pon all of which interested mr hamilton deeply in no way did he endeavor to evade or conceal or so it seemed any event or circumstance indeed it was a wonder they all thought that his equanimity was so little disturbed by what must have teen a trying ordeal he looked in better health than when he went away they thought younger and brighter and more alert and they told him so I 1 think so myself he said jt must have been my relief from wear ing thought and work when I 1 went away my nerves were tn a con dialon at times I 1 could not hold my hand still ow see and he stretch cd out a firm muscular hand that corn belled their admiration A handsome old fashioned ring adorned it that they bad occasionally seen before he went away may I 1 see ita asked mr taylor A slight hesitation manifested itself for a moment then he took it off and basded it to him in trust was marked legibly on the inside A fine old fashioned ring said mr taylor handing it back I 1 think you told me once it was your mothers ring did ia said he I 1 don t recollect at that point justice bailey and de bruce arrived and in the pres ence of the assembled hani officers the warrant was bened for the arrest of vane hamilton on the charge of forgery and embezzlement now said hamilton seating him self I 1 want this examination over as soon as possible I 1 suppose 1 could call for one before nightfall it I 1 chose you could said justice bailey but I 1 should advise you to waive ex for the present until news arrives from seattle doubtless you will find no difficulty in securing ball tor your appearance I 1 hope not said hamilton and perhaps you are right but in any its the most mysterious case lever was concerned in case I 1 wish to be placed aider survell lance until the examination takes place I 1 will not otherwise accept ball As may be supposed mr bruce was greatly interested in the proceedings having been engaged to ferret out the mystery which thus far had eluded his grasp now to find his man ready and waiting so to speak tor arrest and examination all in aisi own house and through his own will put a different phase upon the matter than he had hitherto conceived possible he lis bened therefore witta great interest to the accounts of hamilton s alleged loss of personal identity as he walked to the hotel with mr hartwell and to the latter s surprise was rather in dined to give it credence why said mr hartwell I 1 ex pecked to hear a very different state ment from the tone of one or two of your letters indeed I 1 purposely BUS my own judgment until I 1 could see and talk with you well the aspect of affairs has changed the man is dead yes without a doubt come in it you have time and I 1 will tell you about it said bruce for answer the president followed him into the hotel and to bruce s vate room you see said bruce as soon as they were seated I 1 lost all track of him for a long time indeed he seem ed to have disappeared about the time hamilton did and that was one thing that made me think that they might be one and the same person that and because of the green haired woman I 1 thought they must be in canada to gether and were no they were in nebraska are you asked the dent les they had been at their old business ashley and his friends and had started a deposit bank it was in goodwill a smart little illdage of mushroom growth they forged the charter for aught I 1 know but any way the bank burst up in a few w beeks for the three ashley ec oville an I 1 brown presumably gave the I 1 atle town the slip and took the deposits with them the others got into hid ing as they always manage to do but ashley got nabbed hen was As near as I 1 can learn the arry day hamilton disappeared As long ago as thata es ou see the excitement though intense in goodwill was hush e 1 up purposely to aid the arrest then after he was arrested ashley was found to be insane and sent to an asylum in nebraska from which he escaped and was drowned I 1 thought at one time that this ashley was hamilton D d tl e arrest him in ate place where H mllton disappeared 7 with i a few miles of portland an 1 that 1 near enough I 1 learned about tie affair six weeks ago I 1 was sick and I 1 sent word to swan he came to grovedale Grov edale I 1 be aeve yes that was his own notion I 1 dian didn t send him got some notion about a worl man up here yes primus edes mrs fry he boards at her house told me she sent him a letter she found in edes pock et did you see if yes it was from his wife apparent ly nothing of importance was her name or addre s givens no address I 1 bel eve but a name like rose or violet some flower name I 1 don t recollect it swan seemed to be puzzled because he said edes denied having ever been mar ried Is that soa yes but as I 1 told swan it was of no earthly consequence to us for my man was dead and buried and so end ed the ashley matter I 1 went to the jail where he was first taken and saw the enar and a description of the prisoner I 1 also saw the entry at the asylum how did they tally with the appear ance of well the strangest part about it and bruce hesitated a mo ment how so at the jail he as entered as light haired and at the asylum as dark but disguises of that sort would be nothing I 1 suppose for a man like ash ley would ita why yes just consider a moment if it had been the other way entered the first time darl and next light it would imply simply colored hair of course and it would come out the nat ural color but to turn from light to dark without the bild lild of dye that Is impossible for of course there could have been none in his cell then what do you thinks I 1 think there must have been a mis tal e I 1 think he must have had dark brown hair when he was arrested but by mistake he was entered as light haired any visitors to see the prisoners 7 asked the president he had no visitors the mans wife came to see him the jailer said the woman acted strangely when she saw him she gae a shriek of aston ashment it seemed to the jailer Is there anything strange about him the jailer asked her no she said in a moment but it crazes me to see him here and then she began to talk excitedly to the prisoner I 1 suppose he was greatly agitated no he gasn wasn t he wa apathetic not to say stupid through the whole interview and strangest of all de dared she was not his wife she seemed deep affected by this and when she was going away the jailer asked her what it meant and she said oh I 1 don t know I 1 don t know he Is my husband had the woman green hair I 1 be aleve you said she bad ye she had green hair or as near that color as any when he came to trial he was found to be insane you saida yes and that explains perhaps the prisoner s dental he was doubt less insane then well he was sent to the asylum to be treated and he escaped in a few weeks and was drowned Is there no possibility of mistake about that part of the mattera none whatever the body was re covered in a few days after his digap bearance pe arance and was easily identified by the officials for the clothes were the same he ore from the asylum he was drowned not three miles distant did you talk with those wl didenti fled the bodye I 1 did I 1 questioned closely into the matter there Is no doubt whatever that the man was drowned no doubt it is as you say said the bani president well that removes ashley what do you think about hamilton s story I 1 am inclined to believe it th s ashley affair was a false light and I 1 anted me for a time it isn t to be wondered at perhaps wl en the green haired woman s connection with the matter is taken into account no doubt she was on her way to canada to join ashler when she saw hami ton and thought she zed her husband his many disguises misled her for a time so she fol owed him for a short distance and then learning her e did not go through to portland but took a tra n north of mechanic falls yes said mr hartwein II thought fully that would explain the matter and also how ou were misled but it is the most astounding thing abo t hamilton s loss of memory I 1 could not believe it at first but the idea seems more teas ble as I 1 think abo it it longer we supposed him to be so thoroughly reliable in every way it seemed impossible that he could be rogue after all it he chuu remember ahat he did wl lie he as awa said bruce thoughtfully the mystery clar afy but I 1 see he f ars he have done strange things mr ce sa d the prea de t sud denly tony osborn had a cur ous notion in regail to this matter and he ment lone 1 the aided as set forth by tony and related the strange performances of dr major which he himself remen bared witnessing the detective was much interested m all new or unusual workings of sc enc V ell said I 1 e after the subject had been discussed at some length osborn may be right and it might have who received the money anu altered the notes but he Is dead and in any event it would be difficult to have proved the matter if I 1 were allowed to state my opinion of what is right I 1 should say let ham ilton repay the loss sustained by the bani for this h theory though ery ingenious and not too unreason able for the belief of men like myself would only cover the affair with cule and imbue the minds of the poor people with a feel ng of insecurity I 1 think you are right mr bruce said the president at least that Is the way the matter looks of course the examination may bring out new facts so it is as well not to make up our minds to any great extent it is an irksome condition of things for hamilton said bruce but un avoidable yes but unavoidable as you say I 1 must confess he bears it with re equanimity looks like innocence heya yes it it s a spurious article it is well imitated by jove said the detective emphatically it is the most mysterious case I 1 ever was concerned in to be continued |