After their departure, Mrs. Sanford dropped into a chair and cried for a time, saying that she never had acted so before in her life, as no one had ever treated her so shamefully. Then she became loquacious and confidential, telling Morton the old story of her father being Lord Chief Justice of Scotland, and her husband a wealthy man in Buffalo. She recited the reasons she had for leaving her husband, and said that her father first sent her one hundred and fifty dollars after the separation, but that she thought so small a sum was an insult, and so she sent it back. She added that he had promised her three thousand dollars very soon, and that she expected to receive it in a week or two. From this subject, she drifted to the story of young Trafton's death, which she told with great minuteness. She said that when she found he was dead, she fainted away, and did not recover for nearly two hours.
While she was running on in her story, a loud noise was heard, and she explained to Morton that Mr. Bruce had been drinking all day, until he was afraid to go home, and that now he was quite drunk in her room. She said that he had been very kind to her in letting her have furniture on credit, and so she wanted to make him comfortable until he was sobered off. During the evening she recited a number of selections from Byron, Scott, and Longfellow, and even gave several parts from Shakespeare's plays with great force and beauty of elocution. She also talked a great deal about Jack Ingham, a former lodger in her rooms, and she seemed to have a very high opinion of him. She said that he was obliged to leave town because the police were after him about something he had done, adding, that she didn't care for that, however, and she would never go back on a friend, but would shield him for anything except murder. It was after two o'clock in the morning before they retired, and as she had not fitted up Morton's room properly, she made a bed for him on the lounge in the sitting-room. As Mr. Bruce was lying dead-drunk on her bed, she was obliged to sleep on the floor of her room.
About four o'clock Morton was awakened by Mrs. Sanford, who said that she could not sleep in her room, as Bruce snored so loudly, just as Stanley Trafton did the night he died.
"Oh! it is horrible to think of," she said, shuddering. "I shall go crazy if I stay in there any longer."
She then lay down on the table and covered herself with a bedspread she had brought from her own room. About six o'clock they were awakened by a loud noise at the outer door, and Mrs. Sanford said that those drunken loafers had come back again. She immediately got up, took a revolver from her room, and went down to the door, where she told the men to go away, as she would not admit them at that time of night. While she was talking Bruce began moving around, and he found his way into the hall. Then Morton heard a great crash, as if some one had fallen downstairs, followed by a call from Mrs. Sanford, in tragic tones, for him to come and help her. Morton went out and found that Bruce had fallen from the top to the foot of the stairs, and on going down he discovered the unfortunate representative of the Emerald Isle lying in a heap against the front door. The two men outside had evidently been scared away by the noise, and they did not return until eight o'clock. Bruce was not hurt, except a cut on his hand, which Morton bound up, and then quiet reigned again until after daylight. About nine o'clock Morton went in to see Bruce, whom he found sitting up in bed. Bruce said that his money was gone, and that Mrs. Sanford had drugged him the night before to enable her to steal it. Morton called Mrs. Sanford, and asked where Bruce's money was. She said she had put it away for safe keeping, and, lifting the mattress, she took out two pocket-books and a box containing her watch, trinkets, etc. Having given Bruce his pocket-book, she went out, and he then counted his money. He said he ought to have eighty-one dollars, but that she had helped herself to ten dollars; it was not worth while making a fuss about it, but he said that he knew she had drugged him.
After awhile, Mr. Graves came in, and had a private interview with Mrs. Sanford. She seemed afraid of him, while he acted as if he had some hold upon her. When they came into the sitting-room, where Bruce and Morton were talking together, Mrs. Sanford asked Graves to lend her a dollar, but he refused.
"Pshaw! I don't want it," she replied. "I only asked to see whether you'd lend it, as I have quite enough of my own;" and, so saying, she took out her pocket-book.
Morton saw her count out nine ten-dollar bills and nine one-dollar bills. From the fact that she showed just ninety-nine dollars, it was probable that she had only recently changed one of the one-hundred-dollar bills taken from young Trafton. She then opened another compartment, and took out two pieces of folded paper, of a creamy tint, apparently about the size of two sheets of foolscap. They were folded several times, and were crammed in pretty tight.
"Do you know what those are?" she asked.
"No, I do not," he replied; "what are they?"