Show AATHA WEBB A Powerfu New Story By > I ANNA KATHARINE GREEN Author of The Laewor Case r SYOPSIS OF PRECEDING CHAPTERS CHAP-TERS Just ntcr a bal at the Sutherlan mansion Agatha Webb and her servant are found dead and Phiemon Hcrant tIms husbandS who for years has been growing demented Is discovered asleep at the dinner table A trace of blood on Ills sleeve pOInts to hIm a the murderer 1r Sutherland and the local marshalL Fenton investigate Agatha marha known to but few as a rich woman The key to her mone3drawer Is found clutched clutch-ed In her hand Young Sutherland Is not to be found and Miss Page the niece of Sutherlands housekeeper persists in re maInln about the bb Dremlses and dIscovers blood on the grass The money drawer is found to be empty and rhbcI s Mdo tl the mystery Frederick Sutherland Suth-erland t wayward rout calls Ws father to Witness his determinatIon to be a better bet-ter man and promises not to marry Miss Page by whom he has been fascinated Miss Pase tel Frederick that she fol lOWed him the night of the murder and knew whore ho had secreted a thousand dollars She gives him I week to decIde whether to marry her or be Oroclainied rclamed as the murderer of Agatha Webb Copyrighted 1tTlS S McClure Co CHTE I There was but one topic discutsed In the count1ysidC that day and that was the life and character of gatha Webb Her history had not been a hay one She and Phiemon had come tram portehestc some twenty or more year before to escape the sorrows associated with their native town They had left behind them six small grave in Port chester churchyard but though evl dEnees of their atlcton were always to be seen In the countenances of eIther they had entered with So much purpo i into the life of their adopted town that i they had become persons of note there j till Phlemonb health began to fal hen Asatha quit all outside work and devoted herself exclusively to him Of her character and winsome uersonalty we can gather some Idea from the va bus conversations carrIed on that day from Portclester Green to the ship J ards In Sutherlamitewn In Deacon Brainerds cottage the discussion dis-cussion was concerning Agathas lack of vanity a virtue not very common at that time among the women of this busy seaDort For a woman so handsome the glod deacon was salngand I think I Rafel call her the featured can safely cal finest fetre woman who ever trod these streets she showed as little Interest in dress as anyone I ever knew Calico at home md calico at church yet she looked as much 11 of a lady In her darkanrigged gowns as Mrs Yehster In her silks or NrsParsons in her thousddolar seaLsz1r1 A this was the topic within the scope of lilt eldest daughters intellIgence she at once spoke up I never thought she needed to dress so plainly I dont believe In such a how of poverty myself my-self I one Is too poor to SO decent aU right but they say she had more mon Ir than most any one in town I wonder won-der it who Is going to get the benefit of Why Phiemon of course that is as long as he lives He doubtless had the makIng < It Is it true that hes gone clean out of his head since her death InterDosed a neighbor who had happened In So they say I believe widow Jones has taken him into her house Do you think asked a second daughter wlh becmln hesitation that he had anything to do with her death Some of the neighbors say he struck her while In one of his crazy 1 while others declare she was killed 1 some stranger equally old and al I treat as infirm Ve wont discuss the subject oh jetted the deacon Time wi show lo robbed us of the geatesthearted and most camble woman In these vartsnd And wIll time show who killed Bats Bat-s i It was a morsel of a girl who pike the least one of the amiy but the brightest Im sorry for Betsy she always gave me cookies when I a fut to see Mrs Vebb Bats was a good girl for a See allowed the deacons wife who had not sDoken till now When she frt I came Into ton on the spar of that wrcke shlD we all remember thee was some struggle between Agtha and me as to which of us should have her But I didnt like the task of teaching her the name f every not and pan she had touse In the kitchen 10 I gave her up to Agatha and it was fortunate I did for Ive never been able to understand her talk to this day I could talk with her right wen Ired the little one She never called things by their Swedish names unlps she was worried and I never worried l1er l1erI I wonder if she would have worshiped wor-shiped the ground under your feet a5 she did that under Atha asked th deacon eeig his wife with just the SUDlcion of a malicious twinkle in lis eye I am not the greatestherted and most capable woman In town retorted hi wife clicking her needles as she ont on knitting In 111 Sprgues house on the opposite op-posite side of the road Squire FIsher was relating some old tales of bygone Portchester oars I knew t Agatha hen she was a irl lIe avowed She I d the grandestiuanners and the most cpchatng smile of any rich or poor pans daughter between the coast and rinseld She did not dress In call to then She wnre the gayest clothes her father could buy and old Jacob was not without means to make his daughter the leading figure In twn How we young fellows did adore her and what lengths we went to win one or her glorIous smiles Two of us John ld Jacob Zabel have lived bachelors for her sle to this very day but I hadnt C01rae enough for that I married mar-ried and Something betven a sigh and a chuckle fled out the sentence What made Phiemon carry off the prize His good looks Yes or his good luck I want his snap of that you may be sure James Zabel hd the snap and he was her drat choice too but he got Into some dlmrultrI never knew just what it ts but I was regarded a serous at the tmeand that match was broken r Afterward she married Phiemon You see I was out of it altogether had never been In It perhaps but there were three good ear of my life In hlch I thought of little else than gta I admired her spirit you see There was somethlnj more taking In her ways than In her beauty wonderful wonder-ful a that was She ruled us with a rod of Iron and yet we worhlDed her I have wontlerd to see her so meek of late I never thought she would be sat jaded with a brlCkloored cottage and a husband of falling wits But no one to my knowledge has ever heard a complaint from her lips and the dignity dig-nity of her afflicted wifehood ha fa transcended the haughtiness of those dnys when she had but to smile to have all the youth of Port cheter at her feet I suppose I was the loss or so many children that reconciled her to a Quiet life A woman cannot close the eyes of six children one after he other without some mnlfcaton taking place jn her character Yes she and Phiemon have been unfortunate but she was a splendid looking girl boys 1 never see such granlookng women now In a little onestoried cottage on the hIllside a woman was nursln a baby and taking It the same tme of Agatha 1 sal never forget the nIght lily first baby fell sick she fa1red I wa just out of bed myself and hav Jng DO 1irer neIghbor then than now 1 Wa 1 1101P on the hillside Alec beIng away at sea 1 was too I young to know much about sickness but somethIng told me thpt 1 must have help before morning or my baby would die Tough I could just walk across J the floor 1 threw a shawl around me J took my baby In my arms and opened I the door A blinding gust of rain blew I in A terrible storm was raging and I had not notoed I 1 was so taken up with the child I 1 could not face that gale Indeed 1 was so weak I fell on my knees as It struck me and became drippIng wet before I could drag myself Inside The I baby began to moan and everything was turning dark before me when I I I heard a strong weet voice cry out In 1 the roadway I Is there room in this house for me I till the storm has blown by I cannot see my way down the hillside With a burstng heart I looked up A woman was standing In the doorway with the look of an angel In her eyes I did not know her but her face was one to brIng comfort to the aiddest heart Holding up my baby I crIed My baby Is dying I tried to go for the doctor but my knee bent under me Help me as you are a mother 1 I must have fallen again for the net thing I remember I was lying by the hearth looking up into her face whIch was bfndln over TP Phr wss white as therag I had tied about my babys throat and by the way her breast heaved she was either v r much frightened or frghtened very sorrr 1 wish you had the help of anyone else sid she Babes perish In my I arms and wither at my breast I cannot can-not touch It much as I yearn to But let me see its face perhaps I can tel Ol what is the matter with It I showed her the babys face and she bent over it trembling very much almost a much Indeed as myself I Is very sick she said but If you will use the remedies I advise I think you can save I And she toll me what to do and helped me all she could but she did not lay a linger on the little darling though from the way she watched It I saw that her heart was set on his getting better And he did in an hour he was sleeping peace fully and the terrible weight was gone from my heart and from hers When the alarm stopped ana she could leave the house she gave me a kiss but the look she gave gve meant more than kises God must have forgotten her goodness to me that night when he let her die so 1 > ltable a death At the ministers house they were comentng upon the look of serenity observable In her dead face I have known her for thirty years her pastor declared and ntver before lts T sppn her MI ss lnn nf peace IT iswonderful i considering the circumstances Do you think she was so weary of her lfes long struggle that she hailed any release from i even that of violence A young man a lawyer Isltng them from New York was the only one to anser I never saw the woman you are taking about said he and know nothing of the circumstances of her death beyond what you have told me But from the very incongruity between her expression and the violent nature of her death I argue that there are depths tc this crime which have not Yet been SOL tided What depths I Is a simple case of rmrder followed by theft To be sure we do not yet know the criminal but mney was his motive that Is clear etoth Arc you ready to wager that that Is all there is to it This was a startling proposition to tht minister You forget my cloth said leThe le-The young man smiled That Is true Pardon me I was only anxious to show how strong my conviction was against any such easy eXTlanaton Df a ailme marked 1 such contradictory features fea-tures Two children on the Portchester road were exchanging bosh contldenccs Do you know what I think about it asked one Nan How should I Wall I think old Mrs Webb sot the likes of what she sent Dont you know she had six children once and that she killed every one of them SKilled em she Yes I heard her tell granny once all about it She sd thure was a blight on her house I dont kuow what that is but I guess its something big and heavy and that it fell on every one of her children as fat as they came and killed em Then Im glad I bent her child Very different wee the recollections interchanged between two middlealcd Portchester women She was drinking tea at my house when her sister Sairey came 1 unnlng in with the news that the baby she had left at home wmmt quite right That was her first child you know Yes yes for I was with her when that baby came broke 11 the other and such joy as she showed when they told her it was alive and well I never saw I do not know why she didnt expert it to be alive but she didnt and her happiness was just wonderful to see Wel she didnt enjoy It long The poor ltl fellow died young But 1 was telling you of the night when she fist heard he was ailing Phiemon had been telling a good story and were we-re all laughing when Salrey came I in I can see Agatha now She always had the most brilliant eyes In the county coun-ty but that day they were superbly dazzling They changed though at he sight of SaeyS face and she jumped to meet her just as I she knew what Salrey was going to say before ever a word left her lips My baby I can hear her yet Something Is the matter with the baby And though Sale made hate to tel her that he was only ailing and not at all Ill she turned upon Phiemon with a look none of us ever quite understood he changed so completely under I just as she had under Salre3s and to neither did the old happiness ever return for the child died within a week and when the next came I died also and the next till six small Innocents lay burled In yonder old graveyard 1 know and sad enough It was too especially as she and Phiemon were both fond of children Well well the ways of Providence are past finding mon out And now she Is gone and Phle moeAnd And hell follow her soon he cantle cant-le wltnout Agatha Nearer home the old sexton was datterlng about the six travestones raise in Portcheter churchyard to there sl Uead Infants He had been sent there to choose a spot In which to lay the mother and was full of the shock it gave him to see that line of little bone telling of a past with it hlch the god people of Sutherland town found it hard to associate Phle non and Agtha Webb Im a digger of graves he mused half to hImself and half to his old wife watching 11im from the other side of the hearthstone I spend a good quarter quar-ter of my time In the churchyard but when I saw those sIx little mounds and read the inscriptions over them I couldnt help feeling queer Think or these this On words the first tiny headstone I read STEPHEN i San of Phiemon and Agatha Webb Died Aged Six Weks i L God bemerciful I to jiw a slnner I Now what docs t1at mean Did you ever heR any one say I No wa ills oid 1 wifcs answer I Perhaps she was one of those Calvinist folk who believe babies go to hen if they are not baptized But her children were all baptized Ive ben told so some of them before i I she was wel out of her bed God be merciful to me a sinnert And the snner chick not six weeks old Something queer about that dame if it dId happen more than thirty yea ago What did you see over the grave ot the child who was lied by lightning In her arms This Thisnd And he was not for God tOQlt him Farmer WaIte had but one word to sayShe She came to me when my Sissy had the smallpox the only person In town who would enter my doors More than that when Sissy was up and I went to pay the doctors bill I found Il had been settled I dId not know then who had enough money and compa sloe to do this for me now I do Many an act of 1lndness which had ben secretly performed in that town luring the lat twenty year came to light on that day the most notable of J which was the sending of a certain young lad to school and his subsequent education as a minister But other memories of a sweeter and more secret nature still came up lIkewise lIke-wise among them the following A young girl who was of a very timid but deeply sensitive nature had been urged into an engagement with a man she did not lIke Though the con diet thlsoccaloned her and the misery which accompanied i were apparent to everybody nobody stirred In her behalf be-half till Agtha Webb took it up She went to see her and though i va within a fortnight of the wedding she did not hesitate to advise the girl to I give him uP and when the poor child said she lacked the courage Agatha herself went to the man and urged him into a display of generosity which saved the poor timid thing fl01 a life of mlseI They say this was no easy task for gatha and that the man was sullen for a year But the girls grail tude was boundless Of bet daring wIdel was always on the side of right and justice the stories were numerous so were the account mostly among the women of her rare tenderness and sympathy for the weak li the erring Never was a man talked to as she talked to Jake Cob leigh the evening after he struck his mother and if she had been In town oil the day when ClarissaMayhew ran away wIth that Philadelphia rascal many said It would never have hap lJned for no girl could stand the admonition ad-monition or resist the pleading of this childless mother It was reserved for lr Haliay and Mr Sutherland to talk of her mental qualities Her character was so mark e and her manners s simple that few gave attention to the intellect that was the real basis of her power The two mentioned gentlemen however appreciate appre-ciate her to tjie ful and I was while listening to theIr remarks that Fred crick was suddenly started by someone some-one saying to him You are thc only person In town who has nothing to say about Agatha Webb Didnt you ever exchange any words wIth her for I can hardly be leve you could have met her eye to ee without having some remark to mae about her beauty or her in fuenee The speaker was Agnes Halda who had come in with her father for a social chat She was one of Fred cricks earliest playmates but one with i i whom he had never assimilated and I who did not like him He knew this a did every one else In town and It was with some hesitation he turned to answer her I have but one recollection he be grn and for the moment got no further fur-ther for In turing his head to address ad-dress his young guest he had allowed his gaze to wader through the open window by which she sat Into the gut den beyond where Amabel could be ascii picking flowers As he spoke Amabl lifted her face with one of her I suggestive looks She had doubtless herd Miss Haldays remark Recovering himself With a effort he repeated his words 1 have but one recollection of Mrs Webb that I can I give you Yeas ago when I was a lad I vas playing on the green with sev oral other boys Ve had had some I dispute about a lost bal and I was swearing angrily and loud when I suddenly perceived before me the enta form and compassionate face of Mrs I Webb She was dressed In her usual simple way and had a basket al her arm but she looked s superior to any other woman 1 had ever met that I did not know whether to hide my face in her skirts or to follow my frt Impulse Im-pulse and run away She saw the emoton she had aroused and lifting up my face by the chin she said Little boy I have burled six children all of them younger than you and now my husband and myself live alone Oren and often have I wished that one at least of tee darling infants might have ben spared us But had God given me the choice of having them die young and innocent or of growing up to swear as I have heard ou today 1 should have prayed God tl tae them a he did You have a mother to not break her heart by taking the name of the God she reveres re-veres In vain And with that she van kissed me and strang as It may seem to you In whatever folly or wickedness wicked-ness I have indulged I have never made use of an oath from that day to thisand I thank God for i There was such unusual feeling In his voice a feeling that none had ever sue pEed voce him capable of before tat Miss Halda larded him with astonishment astonIsh-ment and qUIte forget to indulge In her usual banter Even the gentlemen sat still and there was a momentary 5 hence through which there presently broke the incongruous sound of a thrill and mocking laugh I came from Amabel Wh had jut finished gathering her bouquet in the garden outide I CHAPTER X Meanwhile In a small rom of the cOurt house a still more serious con eratlon was In progress Dr Talbot Mr Fenton and a certain nlle law erIn er-In town by the name of Harvey ware in close discussion The late had broken the silence of years and was telling what helmew of Min Vebbs affairs He was a shrewd man of unolem IEe reputation When called upon to talk he talked well but he much pre fere listening and was as now ap peered the safest repository of secrets to be found In al that region He had been married three times and could stilt count thirteen children around his boa one reason perhaps why he hud learned to cultivate silence to such a degree Happily the time had come for him to talk and he talked This Is what he said Some fifteen ers ago Phiemon Yeb came to me with a small sum of money which he said he wished t have I me invent for his wife I was the frt of a small speculation of his and I he wanted It given uncondFlona1ly to her wIthout her knowledge or that of the neighbors I accordingly made out I a deed of gif which he signed with joyful alacrity and then after due i l thought and careful investigation I put I the money into a new enterprise then i being stated In Boston I was the I bet Bloke of business I ever did in my life At the end of a year It paid double and after five had rolled away the accumulated interest had reached such that both Phihemon a sum Phiemon and myself thQugt I wisest to 1C her know what be was worth and what was being done with the money I was In hopes I would lend her to make some change In her mode of living wllch seemed to me out of keeping with her appearance and mental qu3 Ifcatons while 11e I Imagine leaked I for sOJethlng more Important stia smile on the face which had somehow lost the trick of merriment though I had nover acquired that of Inaure llptjwe did not knw Agtha at east T l not 1Vpn Rhe IfrP t1iat she I was rich sheiooked at first awestruck ad ten heartfyierced Forgetting me e or Ignoring site It makes no matter i which she threw hel f Into Phie monsarms and wept while he poor falhfl fellow looked as distressed a If he had brought news of failure instead In-stead 9f triumphant success I sp pose she though of her buried children and nlist the money would have been to her if they had lived bat she did not speak o them nor am I quite sure they W r In her thoughtS when after the frt excitement was over she drew back and said quietly but In a tone of strong feeling to Phleon You met me a happy and it thail a slrrls i sal be so Phlomon This Is heart money we will use it to make our townsfolk mae happy I saw him glance at her dress whIch was a purple calico I remember It because of that look and beau5 ot the sad smile with which she followed his glance Can we not afford now he venture a lte show of luxury or at least a ribbon or so faT thiS beautiful beau-tiful throat of yours She did net answer an-swer him but herlook had a rae rem passIon in I a compassIon strange to say that seemed to be Ccnde upon him rather than upon he lf PMle man swallowed his disappointment Agatha is right he sid to me We do hot need luxury I do not know how I s far forgot myself as to men ton I That was ten years ago and every day since then her property has increased I did not knew then and I do not know now why thewere both so anxious that all knowledge of their goo fortune should be kept from those about them but that It was to be m kept was made very evident to me and notitbstanding all temptations to the contrary I havE refrained flnm ntt ing a ri likely to give away th its it-s re The mpne which to all ap peartincis was the cause of hr tragic and untimely death was interest money lllch I was delegated to deliver her I took It to her day before yesterday and it was all In crisp new notes some of tem 20s but most of them lOs ads ad-s r am fro to ray there wag nail such another ron of fresh money hi town iWar all shopkeepers to keep a lookout of the money they receive was Dr Talbots comment to the constable con-stable Fresh 10 and 20 bUlk are not I any to common in this town And now I Harvey about her will Did you draw that up No I did not know she had made one I often spoke to her about the advisability of her doing so but she always put me off And now i seems that she had It drawn up In Boston Could not trust her old friend with too many secrets I suppose So you dont know how her morley ha been left No more than you do Here an Interruption occurred The door opened and a slim young man wearing spectacles came In At sight of him they all rose Well eagerly Inquire Dr Talbot Nothing new answered the young man with a consequential all The eWer woman die from loss of blood consequent upon a claw given by a small threesided slender blade the youngr from a stroke of apoplexy induced In-duced by fright Good I am glad to hear my instincts In-stincts were not at fault Loss of blood eh Death then was not Instantaneous In-stantaneous No Strange fen from the lips of his alarm two listeners She lived yet gave no None that was heard suggested the young doctor who was from another oung town townOr Or I heard reached no cars but Phiemons observed the constable Something must have taken hIm upstairs up-stairs r am not so sure said the coroner that Phiemon Is not answerable for the whole crime notwithstanding our failure to find the missing money anywhere any-where In the hoUse How else account for the resignation with which she evidently evi-dently met her death Hd 1 stranger struck her Agatha Webb would have struggled There is no sign oi struggle In the room She would have struggled against Phil inou had she had strength to struggle I think she was asleep when she wns struck Ah anti was not stnnding by the i i ott brh table How about the blood there thenShoot Shoot from thcrmurderers fingers in fright 01 disgust here was no blood on Phiemons fingers sleeve No he wIpe them on his If he was the erie tl use the dagger against her where is the dagger Should we not be able to fnd It somewhere about the premises He mry have buried It outside Crazy men are supernaturally cunning cun-ning ningVhen When you can produce I from anyplace any-place Inside tat board fence I will consider your theory At present r limit my suspicions to Phiemon to the half unconscious attentions which a man of disordered intellect might give a wife bleeding and dying under his eyes My Idea on the subject Is Would you belso kind as not to give utterance to your Ideas until I have been able to form some for myself interrupted a voice from the doorway As this voice was unexpected they all turnep A small man with sleek dark hal and expressionless features stood before them Behind him was Abel carrying a handbag and umbrella The detective from Boston a nounced the latter Corner Talbot I rose You are In good time lIe remarked We have work of no ordinary nature for you I The man failed to look Interested But then his countenance Was not one to show emotion My name Is Knapp said he 1 have had iy supper and am ready togo to-go to work I have read the newspapers news-papers all I want now are ay additional addi-tional facts that have come to light since the telegraphic dispatches were sent to Boston Facts mlhd you not theories I never allow myself to be hampered by other persons theories Not lilting his manner which was brusque and too selfImportant for a man of such insignificant appearance Coroner Talbot referred him ls 1Ir Fenton who Immediately proceeued to give him the result of such Investga lions as he and his men had been able tons to maIm which done Mr Knapp put on his hat and turned towards the door I will go to the house and see for myself what thiete is to see there said he lay I ask the privilege of going alone he added as 1r Fenton moved Abel hero wi see that I am given ad mitance Show me your credentials sd the coroner He did so They seem all right and you shoUld be a man who understands his business Go alone l you prefer but bring your conclusions here They may need some correcting Oh I will return Knapp non chanty remarked and went out havIng hav-Ing made anything but a favorable Impression upon the assembled gentlemen gentle-men I wish we had shown more grit and tried to handle this thing ourselves observed Mr Fenton I cannot bear to thInk of that cold bloodless eros tUIC hovering over our beloved Agatha I wonder at Carson Why shou11 lie send us such a man Could he not seethe see-the mater demanded extraordinary ski and judgment Oh this f low may have ski but he Is so unpleasant I hat to deal with folks of such fishlike characteristics character-istics But who IS this hi alec n a gentle tan was heard n the float 1 Why its Laton What can he want here i The man whose presence In the doorway door-way hail called out this exclamation started at thq sound of the doctors heavy iolce and came very hesitating ly forward He was of a weak Irritable type and seemed to be In a state of great excitement 1 beg pardon said pe for showing myself I dont like yh > intrude Into such company but I have something to tell you which may be of iisplr J > though It Isnt any great thing cither Somethlng about the murderwhlch a taken place asked the earthier In a milder tone He knew Lot n well and realized the advisability of encouragement encour-agement in his case The murder Oh I youldnt pro sumo to say anything about th murder mur-der Im not the man to stir up any such subject as that ns about the moneyor some moneymore money than usually falls Into my till IIt was rather queer sIrs and I have felt the flutter of It all day Sal I tel you about it I happened lat night late last night sir 50 late that I was in bed with my wIfe and had been snoring she said four hour What money New money Crisp fresh bills Lotan eagerly questioned Mr Fenton Loton who was the keeper of a small confectionery and bakery store on one of the side streets leading up the lull shifted uneasily between his two interrogators Inter-rogators and finally addressed himsel to the coroner I was new money I thought It felt so at night but 1 was sure of I in the morning A brand new bill sir aBut a-But that Isnt the queerest pat I was asleep sir sound asleep and dremlqg of my courting days for I asked Sally at the cIrcus sirs and the band playing on the hill made me think of I when I was suddenly shook aake by Sally herself who says she hadnt slept a wink for listening to thc musIc and wishin she was a girl again Theresa Theres-a man at the shop door cries she cres Hes aca1n of you go and see what he wants I was mad at being walt seed Dreamln Is pleasant specially when clowns and 1ISin get mIxed up In I but duty Is duty and so Into the shop I stumbled swearing a bit perhaps per-haps for I hadnt stopped for a light and It was as dark a double shutters could make I The hammering had become deafening No let up till I reached the door when it suddenly ceasedWhat What is I 1 cried Whos there and what do you want A trembling voice answered me Let me In It said r want to buy something tG eat ForGods sake open the door I dont know Why I obeyed for it was late and I did not know the voice I but something in the Impatient rattling of the dam which accompanied the words affected me In spite of myself and I slowly opened my shop to this midnight customer You must be hungry I began But the person who had crowded In as son a the opening was large enough wouldnt let me finish Bread I want bread or crackers or anything that you can find easiest he gasped like a man who had been running Heres money and he poked Into my hand a bill so stiff It ratted its more than enough he hastened to i say as I hesitated over I but never mind that Il come for the change in the morning Who are you I cried Youre nol Blind Vly Im sure But his only answer was Bred whie he leaned so hard against the counter I felt It shake I I could not stand that cry of Bread so I groped about In the dark and found him a stale loaf which I put Into his arms with a short There Now tel me what your name Is But at this he seemed to shrink into himself and muttering something that might pass for thanks he stumbled towardl the deer and rushed hastily out Running after him I listened I eagerly to his steps They went up the I bill billAnd And the money What about the money asked the coroner Didnt I he come back for the change No I put It In the till thinking I It a dollar bill But when I came to I look at It In the morning It was a twenty yes sirs a twenty This was startling The coroner and the constable looked at each other before be-fore looking again at him And where Is that bill now asked I the former Have you brought It wIth you youI i I have sir Its been In and out of I the till twenty times today I havent known what to do with I I dont like Ito I-to think wrong of anybodY but when 1 heard that Mrs Webb God bless her I was murdered last night for money 1 couldnt rest for the weight of this thing 01 my conscience Heres the bill sir 1 wish I had let the old man I rap on my door till morning before I had taken It from him II They did not share this feeling A f distinct and valuable clue seemed to be afforded them by the fresh crisp bill I they saw In his had Silently Dr Tal bet took It while Mr Fenton wit a shrewd look asked What reasons have you for calling J fdO 11 this mysterIous customer old I thought It vas 50 dark you could otsee him The man who leaked relieved sInce he had rid himself of the bill eyed the constable in some perplexity I didnt see a feature of his face sd he and yet Im sure he was old I never thought of him as being any thing else VeI wc will see And Is that all you have to tel us His nod was expressIve and they let him go An hour or 50 later Detective Knapp made his reappearance Well asked the coroner as he came quietly In and closed the door behind him Vhats your opinion Simple case sir Murdered for beard money Find the man with a flowing To be Continued r |