| Show I I think I will go now he said coldly I rising to his feet I Walt a moment I said When you left Florence you forgot this Perhaps yOu would like to have it again and I withdrew from my pocket the little photograph ograph found In his rom Yes said Challoner quickly I would Its the only picture I ever had taken Done by a friend now deadI value It highly hlghi So do I I replied So highly In fact that I would only be willing to part with I in exchange for my watch Your what he said letting fall his outstretched hand My watch I repeated Dont think I believed for a moment that you had caught the thief You took desperate chances that night but then the storm helped you and you were quickwitted enough to take advantage of it No wonder I didnt hear you in that uproar I Well you robbed me got into your own rOom shut that noiseless door and the lock you had so cleverly altered worked faithfully giving you ample time to hide your booty and slip into bed while I was groping blindly for the door I supposed open At first that trick baflled me completely com-pletely but the lock was tOt finely adjusted justed It became antomatlc and I discovered covered the trick Still I did not suspect you till recently Then link by link I came at the truth Since then you have been traced You barely escaped the police po-lice in Venice and when I stepped inhere In-here I thought you were on your way to wltzerlaid Chance brought us together and I have recovered my money Sow I want my watch As I finished Challoner who had been jazing absently over my head suddenly saId as though recollecting Ah yes your watch 1 had quite forgotten for-gotten The beggar had pawned It of course but I recovered i Sere it is and to my amazement he produced my watch from one of the pockets I had just seen turned inside out and laid i on the table Apparently this man could do everythIng but be honest I examined It inside and out and I was undoubtedly my watch uninjured and ticking merrily I handed him the picture arid as he silently put it iu his i pocket I said You neednt bother to destroy that I picture Challoner I I dont Intend to he said coldly Well It wouldnt be any use because I Ive had it copied for the police Challoner lifted a chair on which his I hand rested and I thought he would I strike me but after r moment he dropped I drop-ped it with a little gasp and stood lean lug on it moistening his lips like 0 sick I man When he could trust himself to II speak he said with a little smile Its a pity you have the outward appearance I ap-pearance of a gentleman I regret I cannot can-not be always with you to undeceive people S I think I would have laughed at him but for the tragic touch In it aU The desperate struggle to play his part of innocence in-nocence to appear respectable to hide his shame i i killed him nhnUonor T snlrl von shall run free as T have promised but Florence not a good place for you now Leave here tonight In half an hour from now po ice pursuit will stop But that Is not all TIle copies of your picture are mine Show me reasonable proof of your get ting on honestly of trying really to be the gentleman you once were and I will uppress the photographs and do all Ian I-an to help you What do you say He turned half away from me scraping the gravel with his stick Twice he fingered fin-gered his waistcoat pocket nervously and once he half extended his hand Then he turned bowed slightly and walked away pulling on his gloves At the door he dropped a small coin Into the hand of the obsequious waiter who bowed him out and stood a moment buttoning his glove the picture of easy fl f1eiah Jl f contentment I waited a minute after he had gone and then went direct to the police station I know that Cnalloner left Florence that night because he was shadowed and he shadow further reported that he had tendered a 500 franc bank note in payment for his ticket to Genoa I understood un-derstood now his nervous fingering at his pocket Two years later in Seville where Americain dentists and oil stoves were all the rage I passed one night a flaming placard at a theatre door headed Mr i Cranflrd Hughes Marvelous American I Magician 1 bought n ticket entered and turned my gaze toward my compatriot compat-riot on the stage I was Challoner I sat the show out and it was a very good one but at the end I missed Chal loner Next day when I tried he had gone no one knew where Now when there is t storm at night I light the lights for company and ponder pon-der about that dreadful night and those ghostly white hands 1 know Challoner did thembut how |
