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Show JVy ANNA KATHARINE CBEEN !T oLIM (&MffimA TtfiM AUTHOH OP "THE LEAVENWORTH CASE e-fL J fWji Mpf ft XLLU5TOATI0NS 1W V) 2K$F want 70a again. Will you com If I call you?" "Won't ir was the gay retort, a , the detective, tbua released, stooped (or the book atlll lying on the floor. "Paolo and Francesca." he read, from the back, aa he laid It on the table. "Poet ry ?" he queried. "Hot." acornfully returned the other, oth-er, aa he moved to take down a bottle bot-tle and aome glasses from a cupboard let Into another portion of the wall. Sweetwater, taking advantage of the moment, aldled towards the ahelf where that empty apace still gaped with the tell tale hole at the back. He could easily have replsced the mlaalng book before Mr. Ilrotherson turned. Hut the lasue waa too doubt-ful. doubt-ful. He waa dealing with no absent-minded absent-minded fool, and It behooved him to avoid above all thlnga calling attention atten-tion to the book or to the place on the ahelf where It belonged. Hut there waa one thing he could do and did. Reaching out a finger aa deft aa Protherson's own, he pushed a aecond volume Into the place of the one that was gone. This veiled the auger-hole completely; a fact which so entirely relieved his mind that his old smile came back like sunshine to bis lips, and It was only by a distinct effort that he kept the dancing humor from his eyes aa he prepared to refuse re-fuse the glss which Ilrotherson now brought forward: "None of that!" Mid he. "Yoa mustn't tempt me. The doctor has abut down on all kinds of spirits for two months more, at least. Hut don't let me binder you. I can bear to smell the stuff. 11 y turn will come again aome day." l)ut Ilrotherson did not drink. Betting Bet-ting down the glass he carried, he took up the book lying near, weighed It In hla hand and laid It down again, with an air of thoughtful Inquiry. Then he suddenly pushed it towards 8weetwater. "Do you want It? be asked. Sweetwater was too taken aback to answer Immediately. This waa a move he did not understand. Want It, be? What he wanted was to see It put back In Its place on the ahelf. Did Ilrotherson suspect this? The supposition sup-position was Incredible; yet who could read a mind so mysterious? Sweetwater, debating the subject, decided that the rlak of adding to any auch possible suspicion was less to be dreaded than the continued threat offered by that unoccupied space so near the hole which testified so unmistakably un-mistakably of the means he had taken to spy upon this suspected man's privacy. So, after a moment of awkward awk-ward alienee, not out of keeping with the character he bad assumed, he calmly refused the present aa he had the glass. Unhappily he was not rewarded by aeelng the despised volume restored to Its shelf. It still lay where Its owner own-er bad pushed It. when, with some -None of Thatl He Said. awkwardly muttered thanks, the discomfited dis-comfited detective withdrew to his own room. (TO BC CONT1SCED.) SYNOPSIS. Oeorge Anderson and wife see a remarkable re-markable hMiklng man com out of th Clermont hotel, look around furtlvlr. m hie hands In the snow and paaa on. Commotion attracts thorn to tha CUrmonl. where l la found that tha beautiful Mies Kdith Challoner has fallen dead Anderson Ander-son dea-rtbes tha man ha aaw wash his handa In tha anew. The hotel manar declares him to be Orlando Hrothereon. Physlclane find that Mlaa rhailoner waa Msbhed and not ahot. which aeema to clear Itrnt hereon of auaplelon. Oryce, an aged detective, and Hweetwatar. hla aa-elatant. aa-elatant. take up the raea. They believe Ilea Chad Inner etabbed herself A paper cutler fTiwnd near the scene of tragedy la believed to be the weapon ueed. Mr. Chal-loner Chal-loner tella of a batch of letters found In Me daughter's deek. alsned "O H." All are love letters eacrpt one whlrh shows that tha writer was displeased. Title let-ter let-ter was algned bv Orlando Hrothereon. Anderenn Roea with Aweetwater to Identify Iden-tify Hrothereon, who la to addreaa a meeting: meet-ing: of anarchist The place l raided by the police and Ilrotherson eacapea without with-out bring Identified. Hrothereon la found II v lug in a tenement under the nam of I Minn He la an Inventor. Hrolhrrson telle the coroner of hla acquaintance with Viae (ha Doner and how she repulsed him with acorn when he offered her hla love. Hweetwater recalls the mystery of tha murder of a washerwoman In which aome details were alinller to tha Challoner affair. af-fair. Challoner admits his daughter waa deeply tntereeted. If not In love with Brothereon. Ilrotherson elves tha police s plausible eiplanatlon of his conduct, flweetwater plans to disguise himself aa a carpenter and seek lodgings In tha same biildlng with Ilrotherson. CHAPTER XVI Contlnutd. ( And so It came to pass that at an hour when all the other hard working people In the building were asleep, cr at least striving to sleep, these two men still sat at their work, one In the light, the other In the darkness, facing fac-ing each other, consciously to the one, unconsciously to the other, across the hollow well of the now silent court. Kleven o'clock! Twelve! No change on llrothnrson'a part or In Brother-son's Brother-son's room; but a decided one In the place v. here Sweetwater aat. Objecta which had been totally Indistinguishable Indistinguish-able even to tils penetrating eye could now be seen In ever brightening brighten-ing outline. The moon had reached the open space above the court, and he was getting the full benefit of It Hut It was a benefit he would have been glad to dispense with. Darkness was like a shield to htm. He did not feel quite sure that be wanted this shield removed. With no curtain to the window and no shade, and all this tvllllance pouring Into the room, he tared the disclosure of his presence here, or, If not that, some effect on Us own mind of those memories be Ws more anxious to see mirrored la athers discomfiture than In hla wo. Was It to escape any lack of con-satisfies con-satisfies which these aame memoriae memo-riae saiga bring, that he rose and tapped te the winds ? Or was It der ease of those Involuntary Impulses Im-pulses which saove as In spite of our selves to d the very thing our Judg- ! nent disapproves t No sooner had he approached the til than Mr. Drotherson'a ahade flew 1 way up and be, too, looked out Their 1 glances met, and for an Instant the hardy detective experienced that Involuntary In-voluntary stagnation of the blood which follows an Inner shock. He felt that he had been recognised. The moonlight lay full upon his face, and the other had seen and known him. Else, why the constrained attitude and sudden rigidity observable In thla confronting figure, with tta partially lifted hand? A man like Ilrotherson makes no pause In any action however trivial, without a reason. Either he had been transfixed by this glimpse or hla enemy on watch, or daring thought! had seen enough of sepulchral sepul-chral suggestion In the wan face looking forth from this fatal window to shake him from hla composure and let loose the grinning devil of remorse from Its Iron prison-house? If so, the movement was memorable one, and the hsiard quite worth while. He had gained no! he bad gained nothing He had been the fool of hla own wlshea. No one, let alone Itrother son, could have mistaken his face for that of a woman. He bad forgotten hla newly-grown beard. Rome other cause must be found for the other's attitude. It savored of shock. If not fear. If It were fear, then had he roused an emotion which might rebound re-bound upon himself la sharp reprisal Death had been known to strike people standing where he stood; mysterious mys-terious death of a species quite unrec ognlsable. What warranty bad he that it would not strike him, and now? None. Tet It was Ilrotherson who moved first With a shrug of the shoulder plainly visible to the man opposite, he turned away from the window and without lowering the ahade, began gathering up bis papers for the night, ad later banking up hla store with ashes. , Sweetwater, with a breath of decided decid-ed relief. stepped back and threw himself him-self on the bed. It had really been a trial for him to stand there under the otber'a eye, though hla mind refused to formulate his fear, or to give hha soy satisfaction when be asked himself him-self what there was la the situation suggestive of death to the woman or tana to himself. Nor slid BeortUog light bring coaa- sel, as Is usual In atmllar cases. He felt the mystery more In the hubbub and restless turmoil of the day than In the night's silence and Inactivity Ha waa glad when the stroke of sis gave him an excuse to leave the room. At half past all he found the Janitor. Jani-tor. He was, to all appearance. In a state of great excitement and he spoke very fast "I won't stay another night In that room," he loudly declared, breaking In where the family were eating breakfast by lamplight. "I don't want to make any trouble and I don't want to give my reasons; but tlist room don't suit me. I'd rather take the dark one you talked about yesterday. There's the money. Have my things moved today, will ye?" "Hut your moving out after one night's stay will give that room a bad name," stammered the janitor, rising awkwardly. "There'll be talk and I won't be able to let that room all winter." win-ter." "Nonsense! Every man hasn't the nerves I have. You'll let It In a week. But let or no let, I'm going front Into the little dark room. I'll get the boss to let me off at half past four. Bo that's settled." He waited for no reply and got none; but when he appeared promptly prompt-ly at a quarter to Ave, he found his few belongings moved Into a middle room on the fourth floor of the front building, which, oddly perbapa, chanced to be neit door to the one he had beld under watch the night before. be-fore. The first page of his adventure In the Hlcka street tenement bad been turned, and he waa ready to start upon another. CHAPTER XVII. In Which a Book Plays s Leading Part When Mr. ilrotherson came In that night, he noticed that the door of the room adjoining hla own stood open He did not hesitate. Making Immediately Immedi-ately for It, he took a glance Inside, then spoke up with a tinging Intonation: Intona-tion: "Halloo! coming to live In this holer The occupant a young man, evidently evi-dently a workman and aomewbat sickly sick-ly If one could Judge from his complexionturned com-plexionturned around from aome tinkering he waa engaged In and met 1 the Intruder fairly, face to face. "Yea, this Is to be my castle. Are ' you the owner of the buildings? If so" "I am not the owner. I live neit door. Haven't I seen you before, J young man?" "If you go up Henry street It's like- , ly enough that you've seen me not ( once, but many tlmea. I'm the fellow ( who works at the bench next the win- ( dow In Schuper's repairing shop. Everybody Ev-erybody knows me." "I've seen you. I've sees you some- where ! than In Schuper's shop. ( Do you remember me?" "No, sir; I'm sorry to be Imperltte ( but I don't remember you at all. Won't you alt down? It's not very , cheerful, but I'm so glad to get out of the room I waa In laat night that this ( looks all right to me. Hack there, , other bultdleg." he whispered. "I didn't know, and took tha room which ' Hi sW Eleven 0 'Clock I Twelve e'Clockl No Changs on Brothersen'a Part. bad a window In It; but " The atop was significant; so waa his smile, which bad a touch of sickliness la It aa well aa humor. Hut ilrothersoa was not to be caught "1 aaw you," said he. "You were standing In the window overlooking the court You were not sleeping then. I suppose you know that a woman died In that room?" "Yea; they told me so this mo ruing" ru-ing" "Was that the first you'd heard of itr "Sure!" The word almost Jumped at the questioner. "Do you auppoee I'd have taken the room If" But here the Intruder, with a disdainful dis-dainful grunt, turned and went out disgust in every feature plain, un-mrstakable, un-mrstakable, downright disgust, and nothing more! Thla waa what gave Sweetwater bla aecond bad night; thla and a certain cer-tain dlsoo very he made. He bad counted count-ed on hearing what went on In the neighboring room through the partition parti-tion running back of hla own closet Hut he could hear nothing, unless It was the shutting down of a window, a loud aneese, or the rattling of coals aa they were put on the Ore. And theae possessed no signs' flcance. What he wanted waa to catch the secret sigh, the muttered word, the Involuntary Involun-tary movement He waa too far removed re-moved from thla man atlll. How should be manage to get nearer near-er him at the door of hla mind of hla heart? Sweetwater stared all night from hla miserable cot Into the darkness of that aeparatlng closet and with no reault Hla task looked hopeless; no wonder that he could get no rest Next morning be felt 111, but he rose all the aame, and tried to get his own breakfaat He had but partially succeeded suc-ceeded and was sitting on the edge of his bed In wretched discomfort, when the very man he waa thinking of appeared ap-peared at hla door. "I've come to aee how you are," aatd Ilrotherson. "I noticed that you didn't look well last night Won't you come In and ehare my pot of coffee?" "1 I cant eat," mumbled Sweetwater, Sweet-water, for once In his life thrown completely off his balsnce. "You're verf kind, but I'll manage all right I'd rather. I'm not quite dressed, you see, and I must get to the shop." Then he thought "What an opportunity oppor-tunity I'm losing. Have 1 any right to turn tall because he plays bla game from the outset with trumps? No. I've a small trump somewhere about me to lay on this trf k. It Isn't an ace, but It'll show I'm not chicane." And smiling, though not with hla usual cheerfulness, Sweetwater added, "la the coffee all made? 1 might take a drop of that liut you mustn't ask me to eat I Just couldn't" "Yes, the coffee Is made and It Isn't bad either. You'd better put on your coat; the hall's draughty." And waiting wait-ing till Sweetwater did ao, he led the way back to his own room. Ilrotherson Ilrother-son 's manner expressed perfect eaae, Sweetwater's not. He knew himself changed In looks. In bearing. In feeling, feel-ing, even; but waa be changed enough to deceive this man on the very spot where they had confronted each other 1 few days before In a keen moral itruggle? "I'm going out myself today, so well have to hurry a bit," was Broth-raon's Broth-raon's first remark as they seated themselves at table. "Do you like your coffee plain or with milk In Itr "Plain. Ooah! what pictures! Where do you get 'era? You roust have a lot of coin." Sweetwater waa taring at the row of photographs, mostly of a very high order, tacked long the wall aeparatlng tbe two rooms. They were unframed. but they were mostly copies of great pictures, and the effect waa rather Imposing In contrast to the ahabby furniture and the otherwlae homely fittings. "Yes. I've enough for that kind of thing," waa his host's reply. But the tone waa reserved, and Sweetwater did not presume again along this line. Instead, he looked well at the books piled upon the shelves under theee photographs, and wondered aloud at their number and at the man who could waste such a lot of time in reading read-ing them. But he made too more direct di-rect remarks. Yet there was one cheerful moment It waa when he noticed the careless way In which those books were arranged ar-ranged upon their shelves Aa Idea had come to htm. He hid hla relief In hla cup. aa he drained the laat drops of the coffee, which really tasted better than he expected. When he returned from work that afternoon It was with an auger under hla coat and a conviction which led him to empty out the contents of a email phial which he took down from a ahelf. He bad told Mr. Oryce that he waa eager for the business because of Its difficulties, but that waa when he waa feeling fine and up to any game which might come hla way. Now he felt weal and easily discouraged. This would not do. He must regain hla health at all hasarda, so he poured out the mixture which had given htm auch a alckly air. This done and a rude supper eaten, he took up hla auger. He had heard Mr. Brother son s step go by. But next minute he laid It down again In great haate and flung a newspaper over It Mr. Brothersoa waa coming back, had stopped at his door, had knocked and must be let In. "You're better this evening." be heard In those kindly tones hlch so confused and Irritated him. "Yes," was the surly admission. Then Mr. Prothersoo passed on. and Sweetwater listened till he was sure that his too attentive neighbor had really gone down the three Bights between him and the st.et Then be took up bis auger again and shut himself up In his closet There was nothing peculiar about this closet It was Just an ordinary one with drawers and ahelvea on one side, and an open apace on the other for tbe banging up of clothsa. Very few clothes hung there at present; but It was In thla portion of tbe closet that be stopped and began to try the wall of Drotherson'a room, with the butt end of the tool he carried. Tbe aound aeemed to satisfy blm, for very soon he was boring a hole at a point exactly level with bis ear. "Neat aa well aa useful," waa the gay comment with which Sweetwater suryyed bis work, then laid hla ear to the hole. Whereaa previously he could barely hear the rattling of coala from the coal-scuttle, be was now able to catch tbe aound of an ash falling Into the ash pit His next move waa to test the depth of the partition by Inserting bis finger In the bole he made. He found It stopped by some obstacle before It had reached half Ita length, and anxious anx-ious to satisfy himself of the nature of tha obstacle, he gently moved tbe tip of his finger to and fro over what was certainly the edge of a book. Thla proved that hla calculations had been correct and that the opening open-ing so accessible on bis side, waa completely veiled on the other by the books he bad aeea packed on the 1 fn Thla Proved That His Calculations Had Been Correct shelves. He had even been careful to assure himself that all the volumes vol-umes at thla exact point stood far enough forward to afford room behind them for the chips and plaster he must necessarily push through with bis auger, and also Important consideration consid-eration for the free passage of tbe sounds by which he hond to profit But It waa days before he could trust himself so far. Meanwhile their acquaintance ripened, though with no very satisfactory reaulta. The detective detec-tive found himself led Into telling stories sto-ries of his early home-life to keep pace with the man who alwaya had something of moment and solid Interest In-terest to Impart. Thla waa undeslr able, for Iwstead of calling out a corresponding cor-responding confidence from Brother son, It only seemed to make hla conversation con-versation more coldly lm person 1. In consequence, Sweetwater Adden-ly Adden-ly found htmaelf quite well and one evening, whtn be was sure that his neighbor was at home, he slid softly Into his closet and laid bla ear to tbe opening he had made there. The reault re-ault waa unexpected. Mr. Brothereon was pacing the floor, and talking softly soft-ly to himself. At first, tbe cadence and full mull mu-ll a of the tones conveyed nothing to our far from literary detective. The victim of hla secret machinations waa ei pressing himself In words, words that was the point which counted with him. But aa he listened longer and gradually took In tbe sense of these words, his heart went down lower and lower till It reached hla boots. Ills Inscrutable and ever disappointing dis-appointing neighbor waa not Indulging Indulg-ing la self-communlngs of any kind He was reciting poetry, and what waa worse, poetry which he only half remembered re-membered aad waa trying to recall an Incredible occupation for a man weighted with a criminal secret Sweetwater waa disgusted, and waa withdrawing In high Indignation from hla vantage-point when something occurred oc-curred of a startling enough nature to bold him where he was In almoat breathless expectation. The hole which In the darkness of the closet waa always faintly visible, even when tbe light waa not very strong In the adjoining room, had suddenly become a bright aad shining loophole, with a suggestion of movement move-ment in the spar beyond. The book which had hid thla hole on Brother-son's Brother-son's side had been taken down the one book la all those hundreds whose removal threatened Sweetwitrr's schemes, tf not himself. ' for an Instant tbe thwirtad detrc live listened for the angry shout or the smothered oath which would naturally nat-urally follow the diacovery by Broth-ersoo Broth-ersoo of this attempted Interference with bla privacy. But all was still on his side of the wall. A rustling of leaves could be heard, aa the Inventor searched for the poem he wanted, but nothing more. In withdrawing the book, he had failed to notice the hole In the plaster back of It. But he could hardly hard-ly fall to see It when he came to put the book bock. Meantime, suspense for Sweetwater. It waa several minutes before he heard Mr. Brotherson's voice again, then It waa In triumphant repetition of the llnis which had escaped hla memory. They were great words surely and Sweetwater never forgot them, but the Impression which they made upon his mind, aa Impression so forcible that be waa able to repeat then, months afterward to Mr. Oryce. did not prevent blm from noting the tone In which they were uttered, nor tbe thud which followed as the book was thrown down upon the floor. 'Tool!" The word rang out In bitter bit-ter Irony from hla Irate neighbor's lips. "What doea be know of woman! Woman? Last blm court a rich one and aee but that's all over and done with. No more harping on that string, and no more reading of poetry. I'll never" The reat was lost in his throat and waa quite unintelligible to tbe anxious listener. Self-revealing words, which an Instant In-stant before would have aroused Sweetwater'a deepest Interest! But they had suddenly lost all force for the unhappy listener. The sight of that bole still shining brightly before bis eyes had distracted bis thoughts and roused his liveliest apprehensions. If that book should be allowed to lie where It had fallen, then he was In for a period of uncertainty he ahrank from contemplating. Any moment his neighbor might look up and catch sight of this bole bored In the backing of the shelves before him. Could the man who had been guilty of submitting submit-ting him to this outrage atand the strain of waiting Indefinitely for the moment of discovery? He doubted It, If the suspense lasted too long. Shirting bis position, he plsced his eye where his ear had been. He could see very Uttlfc. The space before him. limited as it was to tbe width of the one volume withdrawn, precluded bla seeing aught by what lay directly before blm.' Happily, It waa la this narrow line of vision that Mr. Ilrotherson Ilroth-erson stood. He had resumed work upon his model and waa so placed that while his face was not visible, his hands were, and as Sweetwater watched these hands and noticed tbe delicacy of their manipulation, he waa enough of a workman to realize that work ao fine called for an undivided attention. He need not fear the gaxe shifting, while those bands moved as warily aa they did now. Relieved for the moment, he left his post and, altttng down on the edge of his cot, gave himself up to thought. Suddenly he started upright He would go meet his fate be present In tbe room Itself when the discovery waa made which threatened to upset all bla plans. He waa not ashamed of his calling, and Ilrotherson would think twice before attacking blm when once convinced that he had the department de-partment back of him. "Excuae me. comrade," were the worda with which he endeavored to account for hla presence at Brotherson's Broth-erson's door. "My tamp smells so, and I've made such a mess of my work today that I've juat stepped n for a chat If I'm not wanted, aay ao. I'd like a big room like this, and a lot of books, and and pictures." "Look at them. then. I like to see a man Interested In books. Oely, I thought If you knew how to handle wire. I would get you to hold this end while I work with the other." "I guess I know enough for that," was Sweetwster's gay rejoinder. But when he felt that communicating wire la hla hand and experienced for the first time tbe full Influence of the other's eye. It took all hla hardihood to bide the hypnotic thrill It gave him. lie found himself gating long and earnestly at this man's hand, and wondering If death lay under It It waa a strong hand, a deft, clean-cut member, formed to respond to the sllghest hint from the powerful brain controlling It But waa tbla ita whole story. Had be said all when be had aald thla? Fascinated by the question, Sweetwater Sweet-water died a hundred deaths In his awakened fancy, aa he followed the sharp, ahort Instructions which fell with cuol precision from the other's lips. A hundred deaths. I say, but with do betrays! of his folly. The anxiety he showed was that of one eager to i-lrase. whlrh may explain why 00 the conrlusloa of bis task. Mr I'rothrrson gave him cne of his Infrequent smiles and remarked, as he burlrd tht mrrM under Its rov. er. "YrVpe hsndy sr-d ycu r quiet at cur Jib Vbo kaoss bn faat I ahss |