rposely did not mention her personal appearance, for fear of
attracting the attention of the police.

This done, I wrote the following letter:

"DEAR MISS FERGUSON:

"One clever woman recognizes another. I am clever and am not
ashamed to own it. You are clever and should not be ashamed to
be told so. I was a witness at the inquest in which you so
notably distinguished yourself, and I said then, 'There is a
woman after my own heart!' But a truce to compliments! What I
want and ask of you to procure for me is a photograph of Mrs.
Van Burnam. I am a friend of the family, and consider them to
be in more trouble than they deserve. If I had her picture I
would show it to the Misses Van Burnam, who feel great remorse
at their treatment of her, and who want to see how she looked.
Cannot you find one in their rooms? The one in Mr. Howard's
room here has been confiscated by the police.[C]

"Hoping that you will feel disposed to oblige me in this--and I
assure you that my motives in making this request are most
excellent--I remain,

"Cordially yours,

"AMELIA BUTTERWORTH.

"P. S.--Address me, if you please, at 564 ---- Avenue. Care of
J. H. Denham."

This was my grocer, with whom I left word the next morning to deliver
this package in the next bushel of potatoes he sent me.

My smart little maid, Lena, carried these two communications to the east
side, where she posted the letter herself and entrusted the
advertisement to a lover of hers who carried it to the _Herald_ office.
While she was gone I tried to rest by exercising my mind in other
directions. But I could not. I kept going over Howard's testimony in the
light of my own theory, and remarking how the difficulty he experienced
in maintaining the position he had taken, forced him into
inconsistencies and far-fetched explanations. With his wife for a
companion at the Hotel D----, his conduct both there and on the road to
his father's house was that of a much weaker man than his words and
appearance led one to believe; but if, on the contrary, he had with him
a woman with whom he was about to elope (and what did the packing up of
all his effects mean, if not that?), all the precautions they took
seemed reasonable.

Later, my mind fixed itself on one point. If it was his wife who was
with him, as he said, then the bundle they dropped at the old woman's
feet contained