The information obtained by Coroner Heit and his assistant was of a singular and disturbing character. In the firstinstance, because of the disappearance of a boat and an apparently happy and attractive couple bent on sightseeing,an early morning search, instigated by the inn-keeper of this region, had revealed, in Moon Cove, thepresence of the overturned canoe, also the hat and veil. And immediately such available employees, as well asguides and guests of the Inn, as could be impressed, had begun diving into the waters or by means of long polesequipped with hooks attempting to bring one or both bodies to the surface. The fact, as reported by Sim Shoop,the guide, as well as the innkeeper and the boathouse lessee, that the lost girl was both young and attractive andher companion seemingly a youth of some means, was sufficient to whet the interest of this lake group ofwoodsmen and inn employees to a point which verged on sorrow. And in addition, there was intense curiosity asto how, on so fair and windless a day, so strange an accident could have occurred.
But what created far more excitement after a very little time was the fact that at high noon one of the men whotrolled--John Pole--a woodsman, was at last successful in bringing to the surface Roberta herself, drawn upwardby the skirt of her dress, obviously bruised about the face--the lips and nose and above and below the right eye--afact which to those who were assisting at once seemed to be suspicious. Indeed, John Pole, who with Joe Rainerat the oars was the one who had succeeded in bringing her to the surface, had exclaimed at once on seeing her
Why, the pore little thing! She don't seem to weigh more'n nothin' at all. It's a wonder tuh me she coulda sunk."And then reaching over and gathering her in his strong arms, he drew her in, dripping and lifeless, while hiscompanions signaled to the other searchers, who came swiftly. And putting back from her face the long, brown,thick hair which the action of the water had swirled concealingly across it, he had added: "I do declare, Joe
Looka here. It does look like the child mighta been hit by somethin'! Looka here, Joe!" And soon the group ofwoodsmen and inn guests in their boats alongside were looking at the brownish-blue marks on Roberta's face.
And forthwith, even while the body of Roberta was being taken north to the boat-house, and the dragging for the body of the lost man was resumed, suspicions were being voiced in such phrases as: "Well, it looks kinda queer-themmarks--an' all,--don't it? It's curious a boat like that coulda upset on a day like yesterday." "We'll soonknow if he's down there or not!"; the feeling, following failure after hours of fruitless search for him, definitelycoalescing at last into the conclusion that more than likely he was not down there at all--a hard and stirringthought to all.
Subsequent to this, the guide who had brought Clyde and Roberta from Gun Lodge conferring with the innkeepersat Big Bittern and Grass Lake, it was factually determined: (1) that the drowned girl had left her bag atGun Lodge whereas Clifford Golden had taken his with him; (2) that there was a disturbing discrepancy betweenthe registration at Grass Lake and that at Big Bittern, the names Carl Graham and Clifford Golden beingcarefully discussed by the two inn-keepers and the identity of the bearer as to looks established; and (3) that thesaid Clifford Golden or Carl Graham had asked of the guide who had driven him over to Big Bittern whetherthere were many people on the lake that day. And thereafter the suspicions thus far engendered further coalescinginto the certainty that there had been foul play. There was scarcely any doubt of it.
Immediately upon his arrival Coroner Heit was made to understand that these men of the north woods weredeeply moved and in addition determined in their suspicions. They did not believe that the body of CliffordGolden or Carl Graham had ever sunk to the bottom of the lake. With the result that Heit on viewing the body ofthe unknown girl laid carefully on a cot in the boat-house, and finding her young and attractive, was strangelyaffected, not only by her looks but this circumambient atmosphere of suspicion. Worse yet, on retiring to theoffice of the manager of the inn, and being handed the letter found in the pocket of Roberta's coat, he wasdefinitely swayed in the direction of a somber and unshakable suspicion. For he read
Grass Lake, N. Y., July 8th.
DEAREST MAMMA
We're up here and we're going to be married, but this is for your eyes alone. Please don't show it to papa or anyone, for it mustn't become known yet. I told you why at Christmas. And you're not to worry or ask any questionsor tell any one except just that you've heard from me and know where I am--not anybody. And you mustn't thinkI won't be getting along all right because I will be. Here's a big hug and kiss for each cheek, mamma. Be sure andmake father understand that it's all right without telling him anything, or Emily or Tom or Gifford, either, do youhear? I'm sending you nice, big kisses.
Lovingly,BERT.
P.S. This must be your secret and mine until I write you different a little later on.
And in the upper right-hand corner of the paper, as well as on the envelope, were printed the words: "Grass LakeInn, Grass Lake, N. Y., Jack Evans, Prop." And the letter had evidently been written the morning after the nightthey had spent at Grass Lake as Mr. and Mrs. Carl Graham.
The waywardness of young girls
For plainly, as this letter indicated, these two had stayed together as man and wife at that inn when they were notas yet married. He winced as he read, for he had daughters of his own of whom he was exceedingly fond. But atthis point he had a thought. A quadrennial county election was impending, the voting to take place the followingNovember, at which were to be chosen for three years more the entire roster of county offices, his own included,and in addition this year a county judge whose term was for six years. In August, some six weeks further on,were to be held the county Republican and Democratic conventions at which were to be chosen the regular partynominees for these respective offices. Yet for no one of these places, thus far, other than that of the countyjudgeship, could the present incumbent of the office of district attorney possibly look forward with any hope,since already he had held the position of district attorney for two consecutive terms, a length of office due to thefact that not only was he a good orator of the inland political stripe but also, as the chief legal official of thecounty, he was in a position to do one and another of his friends a favor. But now, unless he were so fortunate asto be nominated and subsequently elected to this county judgeship, defeat and political doldrums loomed ahead.
For during all his term of office thus far, there had been no really important case in connection with which hehad been able to distinguish himself and so rightfully and hopefully demand further recognition from the people.
Butthis . ..
But now, as the Coroner shrewdly foresaw, might not this case prove the very thing to fix the attention and favorof the people upon one man--the incumbent district attorney--a close and helpful friend of his, thus far--and sosufficiently redound to his credit and strength, and through him to the party ticket itself, so that at the comingelection all might be elected--the reigning district attorney thus winning for himself not only the nomination forbut his election to the six-year term judgeship. Stranger things than this had happened in the political world.
Immediately he decided not to answer any questions in regard to this letter, since it promised a quick solution ofthe mystery of the perpetrator of the crime, if there had been one, plus exceptional credit in the present politicalsituation to whosoever should appear to be instrumental in the same. At the same time he at once ordered EarlNewcomb, as well as the guide who had brought Roberta and Clyde to Big Bittern, to return to Gun Lodgestation from where the couple had come and say that under no circumstances was the bag held there to besurrendered to any one save himself or a representative of the district attorney. Then, when he was about totelephone to Biltz to ascertain whether there was such a family as Alden possessing a daughter by the name ofBert, or possibly Alberta, he was most providentially, as it seemed to him, interrupted by two men and a boy,trappers and hunters of this region, who, accompanied by a crowd of those now familiar with the tragedy, werealmost tumultuously ushered into his presence. For they had news--news of the utmost importance! As they nowrelated, with many interruptions and corrections, at about five o'clock of the afternoon of the day on whichRoberta was drowned, they were setting out from Three Mile Bay, some twelve miles south of Big Bittern, tohunt and fish in and near this lake. And, as they now unanimously testified, on the night in question, at aboutnine o'clock, as they were nearing the south shore of Big Bittern-- perhaps three miles to the south of it--they hadencountered a young man, whom they took to be some stranger making his way from the inn at Big Bittern southto the village at Three Mile Bay. He was a smartishly and decidedly well dressed youth for these parts, as theynow said--wearing a straw hat and carrying a bag, and at the time they wondered why such a trip on foot and atsuch an hour since there was a train south early next morning which reached Three Mile Bay in an hour's time.
And why, too, should he have been so startled at meeting them? For as they described it, on his encounteringthem in the woods thus, he had jumped back as though startled and worse--terrified--as though about to run. To be sure, the lantern one of them was carrying was turned exceedingly low, the moon being still bright, and theyhad walked quietly, as became men who were listening for wild life of any kind. At the same time, surely thiswas a perfectly safe part of the country, traversed for the most part by honest citizens such as themselves, andthere was no need for a young man to jump as though he were seeking to hide in the brush. However, when theyouth, Bud Brunig, who carried the light, turned it up the stranger seemed to recover his poise and after amoment in response to their "Howdy" had replied: "How do you do? How far is it to Three Mile Bay?" and theyhad replied, "About seven mile." And then he had gone on and they also, discussing the encounter.
And now, since the description of this youth tallied almost exactly with that given by the guide who had drivenClyde over from Gun Lodge, as well as that furnished by the innkeepers at Big Bittern and Grass Lake, it seemedall too plain that he must be the same youth who had been in that boat with the mysterious dead girl.
At once Earl Newcomb suggested to his chief that he be permitted to telephone to the one inn-keeper at ThreeMile Bay to see if by any chance this mysterious stranger had been seen or had registered there. He had not. Norapparently at that time had he been seen by any other than the three men. In fact, he had vanished as though intoair, although by nightfall of this same day it was established that on the morning following the chance meeting ofthe men with the stranger, a youth of somewhat the same description and carrying a bag, but wearing a cap--not astraw hat--had taken passage for Sharon on the small lake steamer "Cygnus" plying between that place and ThreeMile Bay. But again, beyond that point, the trail appeared to be lost. No one at Sharon, at least up to this time,seemed to recall either the arrival or departure of any such person. Even the captain himself, as he later testified,had not particularly noted his debarkation--there were some fourteen others going down the lake that day and hecould not be sure of any one person.
But in so far as the group at Big Bittern was concerned, the conclusion slowly but definitely impressed itselfupon all those present that whoever this individual was, he was an unmitigated villain--a reptilian villain! Andforthwith there was doubled and trebled in the minds of all a most urgent desire that he be overtaken andcaptured. The scoundrel! The murderer! And at once there was broadcast throughout this region by word ofmouth, telephone, telegraph, to such papers as The Argus and Times-union of Albany, and The Star ofLycurgus, the news of this pathetic tragedy with the added hint that it might conceal a crime of the gravestcharacter.