The Invention of Solitude

declared that he did not see his mother take a revolver from under the mattress as he was tucked into bed for the night. ”
    It seems that my grandfather had then gone into the kitchen to repair an electric switch and that one of my uncles (the second youngest son) had held a candle for him to see by. “ The boy declared that he became panic stricken when he heard the shot and saw a flash of a revolver and fled the room. ” According to my grandmother, her husband had shot himself. She admitted they had been arguing about money, and “ then he said’, she continued, ‘ there is going to be an end for you or me, ’ and he threatened me. I did not know he had the revolver. I had kept it under the mattress of my bed and he knew it. ”
    Since my grandmother spoke almost no English, I assume that this statement, and all others attributed to her, was invented by the reporter. Whatever it was she said, the police did not believe her. “ Mrs. Auster repeated her story to the various police officers without making any decided change in it and she professed great surprise when she was told that she was to be held by the police. With a great deal of tenderness she kissed little Sam good night and then went off to the county jail.
    “ The two Auster boys were guests of the police department last night sleeping in the squad room and this morning the boys were apparently entirely recovered from any fright they had suffered as a result of the tragedy at their home. ”
    Towards the end of the article, this information is given about my grandfather. “ Harry Auster was a native of Austria. He came to this country a number of years ago and had resided in Chicago, in Canada, and in Kenosha. He and his wife, according to the story told the police, later returned to Austria but she rejoined her husband in this country about the time they came to Kenosha. Auster bought a number of homes in the second ward and for some time his operations were on a large scale. He built the big triple flat building on South Park avenue and another one known as the Auster flats on South Exchange street. Six or eight months ago he met with financial reverses….
    “ Some time ago Mrs. Auster appealed to the police to aid her in watching Mr. Auster as she alleged that he had relat ions with a young woman which she believed should be investigated. It was in this way that the police first learned of the woman ‘ Fanny ’ ….
    “ Many people had seen and talked with Auster on Thursday afternoon and these people all declared that he appeared to be nor mal and that he showed no signs of desiring to take his own life…. ”
     
    The next day was the coroner ’ s inquest. My uncle, as the only witness to the incident, was called on to testify. “ A sad-eyed little boy, nervously twirling his stocking cap, wrote the second chapter in the Auster murder mystery Friday afternoon …. His attempts to save the family name were tragically pathetic. Again and again when asked if his parents were quarrelling he would answer ‘ They were just talking ’ until at last, apparently remembering his oath, he added ‘ and maybe quarrelling—well just a little bit. ’ “ The article describes the jurors as “ weirdly stirred by the boy ’ s efforts to shield both his father and his mother. ”
    The idea of suicide was clearly not going to wash. In the last paragraph the reporter writes that “ developments of a startling nature have been hinted by officials. ”
    Then came the funeral. It gave the anonymous reporter an opportunity to emulate some of the choicest diction of Victorian melodrama. By now the murder was no longer merely a scandal. It had been turned into a stirring entertainment.
    WIDOW TEARLESS AT AUSTER GRAVE
    Mrs. Anna Auster Under Guard Attends Funeral of
    Husband, Harry Auster, Sunday.
    “ Dry-eyed and without the least sign of emotion or grief, Mrs. Harry Auster, who is held here in connection with the mysterious death of her husband, Harry Auster, attended Sunday morning, under guard, the funeral services of the man, in connection with whose death she is being held.
    “ Neither at the Crossin Chapel, where she looked for the first time since Thursday night upon the dead face of her husband nor at the burial ground did she show the least sign of weakening. The on ly intimation which she gave of breaking under the terrific strain of the ordeal was when over the grave, after the obsequies were finish ed, she asked for a conference this