Scanlan had been given a sealed
note to be left at the address of Miss Ettie Shafter, a mission
which he had accepted with a wink and a knowing smile. In the
early hours of the morning a beautiful woman and a much muffled
man boarded a special train which had been sent by the railroad
company, and made a swift, unbroken journey out of the land of
danger. It was the last time that ever either Ettie or her lover
set foot in the Valley of Fear. Ten days later they were married
in Chicago, with old Jacob Shafter as witness of the wedding.
The trial of the Scowrers was held far from the place where their
adherents might have terrified the guardians of the law. In vain
they struggled. In vain the money of the lodge--money squeezed
by blackmail out of the whole countryside--was spent like water
in the attempt to save them. That cold, clear, unimpassioned
statement from one who knew every detail of their lives, their
organization, and their crimes was unshaken by all the wiles of
their defenders. At last after so many years they were broken
and scattered. The cloud was lifted forever from the valley.
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