e track of the missing girl, Hannah." And in the _Herald_ I read the
following notice:

"_A Liberal Reward_ will be given by the relatives of Horatio
Leavenworth, Esq., deceased, for any news of the whereabouts of one
Hannah Chester, disappeared from the house -------- Fifth Avenue since
the evening of March 4. Said girl was of Irish extraction; in age about
twenty-five, and may be known by the following characteristics. Form
tall and slender; hair dark brown with a tinge of red; complexion fresh;
features delicate and well made; hands small, but with the fingers much
pricked by the use of the needle; feet large, and of a coarser type than
the hands. She had on when last seen a checked gingham dress, brown
and white, and was supposed to have wrapped herself in a red and green
blanket shawl, very old. Beside the above distinctive marks, she had
upon her right hand wrist the scar of a large burn; also a pit or two of
smallpox upon the left temple."

This paragraph turned my thoughts in a new direction. Oddly enough, I
had expended very little thought upon this girl; and yet how apparent
it was that she was the one person upon whose testimony, if given,
the whole case in reality hinged, I could not agree with those who
considered her as personally implicated in the murder. An accomplice,
conscious of what was before her, would have hid in her pockets whatever
money she possessed. But the roll of bills found in Hannah's trunk
proved her _to_ have left too hurriedly for this precaution. On the
other hand, if this girl had come unexpectedly upon the assassin at his
work, how could she have been hustled from the house without creating
a disturbance loud enough to have been heard by the ladies, one of
whom had her door open? An innocent girl's first impulse upon such an
occasion would have been to scream; and yet no scream was heard; she
simply disappeared. What were we to think then? That the person seen
by her was one both known and trusted? I would not consider such a
possibility; so laying down the paper, I endeavored to put away all
further consideration of the affair till I had acquired more facts
upon which to base the theory. But who can control his thoughts when
over-excited upon any one theme? All the morning I found myself turning
the case over in my mind, arriving ever at one of two conclusions.
Hannah Chester must be found, or Eleanore Leavenworth must explain when
and by what means the key of the library door cam