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Show I t Ibf i V T . Tp' The 'Great Mystery Story I XXVII. Hand, tho Stars, fcoon as I reached my Kot known how much M Beejng her until I was out of town. I Bdr, almost dizzy with Kd it was fully five (hought o calling up fWfif sho was within 'fit seemed sho was rRji'ing with the Sam- f It was a name to When. Tu tho old days IpTrather flouted him, m'dy to take him to my Kraft that he had al-jWanykow, al-jWanykow, and that ho fbnerous. I called him wiics of gasoline!" fcn- I told him ifckeley, tho Fount of Woman! Blakelcy, the IsrWelcomo to our firocecded to urge mo Who Shack, and j.o say nrocablc surprise, be- Eun two hours youths itfask if: Alison "West Shim, and to suggest Ifacant day or two. KstI ' 7 I shouted, po-Ifcs po-Ifcs a buzzing on the F0?" T IfBpicions. was not 1 ,fa-ays tho Great Un- ibunds like tho Great mfr'cvcn more of a re- Jjd mo down promptly, "wind thrust aside my IRsaid. "Bring your-UM'&t your-UM'&t keeps my board-fig board-fig to mo to insist, llfbtby, don 't you, Dor-'Mlib Dor-'Mlib says unloss you UgaXfi von can wear Wght. "All you need Jsuit for daytimo and livening.' ' , tt, I temporized. "If Ivou't put you out Cshico you and your mgh. 1 have a couple fro; my lovo to Dorothy myself . ' ' timself and drovo mo $which proved to bo frse. overlooking tho jfy he confided to mo ied men thought thoy gb'en they were morely fefit was tho only life, pnior, could swim like Eilly, he said that Alice's Ali-ce's cousiu, their re-ffcbers re-ffcbers having, at propped prop-ped the same. man. and Id'Uose her good looks Ireful. ftworricd. and I stick Kg" he threw the lines ffiprepared to get out. r&nnd she's the kind iKjyou can read liko a can't; don't fool your-jo'd your-jo'd look al her at diu-Ijwon't diu-Ijwon't lose your head fellows and then tell ac with her. AVc'rc iTAllic." derouslj' up tho steps, at; on weight sinco T bthe door he turned u happen to know tho aV Harbor?" he asked tlfcMrs. Sam came into lion, both hands out to (Whatever Forbes had he'did not pick up the-flfe.-lng tea in hcrc,"'Doro-Indicating hcrc,"'Doro-Indicating tho door hc-Wby hc-Wby courtesy, because tjiafonly boverago that wSt And then we must His hop night at the IlgTeat a misnomer as Mjjut in, ponderously gof his Jinen driving lirB nifdit, and tho only ffnpor." fjirgling over this , as Kirs, lie showed mo tfiand then began the IKfor evening raiment tie thai night from tho Jiildn't wear Sam's Iwh Hear, after a por-IJfla por-IJfla half hour. jjpSnm," I said, when ifdress suit on mo toga nam T to have cloth-M, cloth-M, this, when many a jifoven a 'cellar door to m"t do it; 1 'm selfish, jSili." aid. wining his face, flthnf figure! 1 can't gore; cot Jo have sus- r his grievance for ion the side of the go as yon are," he do it all the time, ijens to be the annual I'jsi;. niid " he (railed trying to hueklo niv fl'-A good fix inchcR." llwover get into a hau-jM hau-jM that don't expect inf fly up in tho air. f going either. She nger this afternoon, low von met on tho isted chap and sho adnche on those oc-..'ily oc-..'ily and went to tho Wis leaving," he said, 5Jto irot; his dinner coat ?11 do von know her?" duffhnnd on the knob. )olly ?" ST said cautiously. f-I would likn lo. I "ij,8t week in WaBbing-Jl- her before that." grn bell instead of go-2fid go-2fid Die servant who f Mr. Granger's suit-KTf suit-KTf not. to brinr,' it jRthen he came back lo 'n on the bed. nleel re,snonsil)lo for Kpn and all that." Im flb6V' And wo ran't talk rJjf- at the house all Eliyo with her, and all HpJou!!. Then there's )o, or will be " ftmonev!" I mut-s mut-s nothing. Enzor ?' ho wenii on. "bo-Jose "bo-Jose vour head over although Allic is If course. But about invent away to Soal tnet 1'acLurc. Know I urirl0 to Tficlnnond yes-pCfjcnmo yes-pCfjcnmo down hero Al-iLvenlorday Al-iLvenlorday afternoon fr from Janet some-Kpnd some-Kpnd man and saving jtnd not to have "had it she had promised visit! "What do vou fAnd that isn't 'the W'sclf vaBii't in l !u Jltc'o eight other worn- cr., and because Dolly had put belladonna bella-donna in her oyes the night beforo to seo how sho would look, and as a ro-sult ro-sult couldn't see anything nearer than across the tooiu, somo one read the lot-ter lot-ter aloud to her, and tho whole Btory is out. One, of tho cats told Granger and the boy proposed to Allio today, to show her he didn't, caro a tinker's dan where she had bccn.V "Good boy!" I said, with enthusiasm. enthu-siasm. I lil:ed tho G ranger fellow -sinco he was out of the running. But Sam was looking at. mo with suspicion. "Blake." he said, "if I didn't know you for what .you arc, 3 'd saj' you wore interested there yourself." Being so near, her, under tho same roof, with even tho tie of a dubious secret between us, was making me heady. I pushed. Forbes toward the door. "I iutoresled!" I retorted, holding him bv the shoulders. "There isn't a word in vour vocabulnry to fit my condition. 1 am an island in a sunlit sea of emotion, Sam, a an oinnty place surrounded by longing a " "An "cpipty plaoo surrouudod Tjy longing!" he rotortod. "You want your dinner, that's what's the matter with you " I shut the door on him then. He seemed suddenly sordid. Dinner, I thought! Although. as a matter of fact, I mado a very fair meal when, Granjier suitcase not having gone, in his coat and some other man's trousers, T was finallj' fit for the amenities. ameni-ties. Alison did not como down to dinner, so it w.as clear sho would not go over to the club-house dance. I pled my injured arm, and a fictitious, vaguol- located sprain from tho wreck, as an excuse for remaining nt home. Sam regaled the table with accounts of my distrust of womon, my ono lovo affair af-fair with Dorothy; to which I responded, re-sponded, as was expected, that only my failure there had kept me single all those years, and that if Sam should be mysteriously missing during tho bathing hour tomorrow, and so on. And when the endleps meal was oror, and yards of white yoils had. boon tied over pounds of hair or is it, too. bought 1)3 the yard? and somo eight ensembles with" their abject complements comple-ments had been packed into three an-tomobilcs an-tomobilcs and a trap, T drew a long breath and faced about. T had .piar. then onty one object in life to nnd Alison, to assure her of my absolute faith and confidence in her, and to offer my help and my poor self, it sho would lot me, in her service. She was not easv to find. T searched tho lower floor, the verandas and tho grounds, circumspectly. Then ran 'into a littlo English girl who turned out lo bo her maid, aud who also was searching. She was concerned bo-cause bo-cause her mistress had had no dinner, and because the tray of food she carried car-ried would soon be cold. I look tho tray from her, on the glimpse of something some-thing white on the shorn, and that was how I met tho Girl again. She was sitting on an ovortnrnod boat, her chin in her hands, staring out to sea. The soft tide of tho bay hipped almost at her feet, and the draperies of her white gown melted hazily into tho sands. Sho looked like a wraith, a despondent phantom of the sea, although al-though the adjective is redundant. No-body No-body ever thinks of a cheerful phantom. phan-tom. Strangely enough, considering her evident sadness, sho was whistling softly to' herself, over and over, somo dreary little minor air that sounded like a Bohemian dirge. Sho glanced up quickly when 1 made a misstep and my dishes jingled. All considered, the tray was out of tho picture: the sea, the misty starlight, the girl, with her beauty even the sad littlo whistle that stopp'ed now and then to go bravely brave-ly on again, as though it fought against the odds of a trembling lip. And then I came, aocompauied by a tray of little silver dishes that jingled and an unmistakable odor of boiled chicken! "Oh!" she said quickly; and then, "Oh! I thought 3'ou were Jenkins." "Timeo Danaos what's the rest of it?" I asked, tendering my offering. "You didn't have any dinuer, vou know." I sat down beside her. "See, I'll be tho table. What was tho old fairy tale? 'Little goat bleat; little tabic appear!' I'm perfectly willing lo be llio goat, too." She was laughing rather tremulously. "Wo never do meet like other people, peo-ple, do we?" she asked. "Wo really ought to -shake hands nnd say how aro you." "T don't want to meet .you liko other people, and 1 suppose 3'ou nlwaj-s think of me as wearing tho other fellow's clothes," T roturncd meeklj'. "I'm doing it again: I don't, seem to bo able to holp it. Theso are Granger's that I have on now." She threw back her head and laughed again. .io3-onslv, this time.' "Oh, it's so ridiculous," she said, "and you have never seen mo when I was not eating! It's too prosaic!" "Which reminds me that tho chicken is getting cold, and the ice warm," T suggested. "At tho time I thought there, could he no place better than tho farm house kitchen but this is. T ordered or-dered all this for something I want lo f-ay to you tho sea, tho sand, tho stars." "How allitoralive you are! " sho said, trying to be flippant. "You aro not to say. anything until T have had my supper. sup-per. Look how tho things are spilled around! " But; bIic ate nothing after all, and pretty soon I put I ho tray down in tho sand. I said liltlo; there was no hurry. We were together, and time meant nothing against that ago-lon" wash of the sea. The air blew hnr hair in small damp curls against hor face, and littlo b.y little the lido rot rented, leaving our boat an oasis in a waste of gra3 sand. "If seven maids with seven mops swnpf. it for half a 'car Do you suppose, the walnis. said, that thc3' could get it clear?" she throw at me onco when sho must have known was going to sneak, f held her hand, and as long ns I morelv held it sho lot it lio warm in mine. But when I raised it to my lips, and kissod tho soft, onen palm, she drew it away without displeasure. "Not that, please," she protested, and fidl to whistling softlj' again, her chin in hor hands. "I can't sing," she said, to break an awkward pauso, "and so, when I'm fidgety, or have somothing on my mind, 1 whistle. I hope 3'ou don't dislike it?" "1 lovo it," 3 assorted warmly. I did; whan sho nursed her lips like thul I was mad to kiss them. "I saw you at tho station," sho said suddenly. "You vou woro in a hurry to go." I did not sa3' anything, and after a pause sho drew a long breath. "Men aro queer, aren't they?" she siiid, and fell to whistling again. After a while sho sut up as if sho had mado a resolution. "I am going to confess something," sho announced suddenly. "You said, you know. thnt. you had' ordered all this for something you you wanlcd lo anv to mo. But the, fact is, T fixed it all came hero. I mean, because T know vou would come, and 1 had something to icll 30U, It was such a miserable thing T needed the accessories to help mo out." "I don't want to hear an3'thing that distresses 3'ou to tell," I assured hor. "I didn't come here to force your confidence. con-fidence. Alison. I camo hero because I couldn't help it." Sho did not object, ob-ject, to my uso of her name. "Have you found the 3'our pa- pors?" she asked, looking directb' at me for almost tho first time. "Not yet. Wo hopo to." "The police havo not interfered with you?" "They haven't had an3 opportunity," oppor-tunity," I equivocated. "You needn't distress yourself about that, anyhow." ''But I do. I wonder why you still bolievo in me? Nobodj' elso does." "I wondor," I repealed, "why I do!" "If you produce Harry Sullivan," she was saying, partly to herself, "and if you could connect him with Mr. Brouson, and get a full account of why ho was on tho train, and nil that,- it it would help, wouldn't it?" I acknowledged that it would. Now that; the whole truth was almost in mj' possession, I was stricken with the old cowardice. I did not want to know what sho might toll me. Tho yollow lino on the horizon, where the moon was coming up, wns a broken bit of golden chain: m.- heel in the sand was again pressed on a woman's 3'iclding fingers: I pullod no-self, together with a .erk. "In order that what you tell me ma3' holp mo. if it will." I said cou-Btraiuodl3 cou-Btraiuodl3 "it would 1)0 neccssar', perhaps, that 3'ou tell it to tho po-iico. po-iico. Sinco tho3' havo found tho end of tho necklace " "Tho end of the necklace!" she repeated re-peated slowly. "What about tho end of tho necklace?" I stared at her. "Don't 3'ou remember" remem-ber" I leaned forward "tho end of tho camoo necklace, tho part that was broken off, and wns found in tho black sealskin bag, stained with with blood?" "Blood," sho said dully. "You moan that .vou found tho broken end? And then 3'ou had my gold pocket-book, and 3'ou saw tho necklace in it, and vou must have thought " "I didn't think anvthing." 1 hastened to assuro her. "T tell you, Alison, I never thought of anything but that you wero ,unbapp3 and that I had no right to help you. God knows., I thought 3'ou didn't want mo to help you." She held out her hand to mo and T took it between both of mine. No word of lovo had passed between us, but I felt that she know and understood. under-stood. Tt was one of the moments that come seldom in a lifetime, and then onl3' in great crises, a moment of perfect understanding and trust. Then she drew her hand awav and sat, erect nnd determined, her lingers laced in her lap. As- she talked the moon came up slowb and throw its bright palhwa3- across tho water. Back of us, in the trees bo3'ond the sea wall, a sloep3' bird chirruped drowsi-, and a wave, larger and bolder than its brothers, sped up the sand, bringing the moon's silver to our vei'3 feet. I bent toward tho girl. "T am going to ask just ono question." ques-tion." "An3'thing j'ou like." Her voice was almost drcar'. "Was it becnuso of an3'thing 3'ou are goijig; to tell me that 3'ou refusod Kichey?" Sho drew her breath in sharpl.v. "No." sho said, without looking at me. "No. That was not the reason." CHAPTER XXVHI. Alison's Story. She told her story even I y, with her e.yes on the water, only now and then, when I, too, sat looking seaward, I thought she glanced at me furrivcl.y. And ouec, in tho middle of it, sho stopped altogether. "You don't realize it. probably," she protested, "but you look liko a a war god. Your face is horrible." "I will turn' 1113' back, if it will help any." I said stormil.v. "but if you expect mo to look anything1 but murderjons, why, you don't It now what T am going through with. That's all." The story of her meeting with the Curtis woman was brief enough. They had met iu Rome first, where Alison and her mother had taken a villa for a 3'ear. Mrs. Curtis had hovered on tho ragged edges of society there, pleading tho povort.v of tho south sinco tho war ns a reason for not going out more. Tlipre was talk of a brother, but Alison had not seen him, and after a scandal which implicated Mrs. Curtis and a 3'oung attache of the Austrian embassy, Alison had been forbidden to seo the woman. "The women had never liked her, nnynow, sue finio. ' 'ftiin did uncorv-ventional uncorv-ventional things, and thev are very conventional con-ventional there. And tli03' said sho did not always pay her her gambling debts. I didn't like them. I thought they didn't liko her because sho was poor and popular. Then we came home, and T almost forgot her, but last spring, when mother was not well she had taken grandfather to the Riviera, and it nhv3's uses her up wo went to Virginia Hot Springs, and wo met them there, tho brother, too, this time. His name was Sullivan. Harry Pinekno- Sullivan." "I know. Go on." "Mother had a nurse, and T was alone a great deal, and thoy wero very lurid to me. I I saw a lot of them. Tho brother rathor attracted mo, partly part-ly partly bocausc ho did not mako love to me. Ho oven seeiuod to avoid" mp, nnd I was piqued. I had been spoiled. I suppose. Most; of tho other mon I know had had " "I know that, too." T Bnid bitterly, bitter-ly, and moved awa.y from her :i triflo. I was brutal, but tho wholo slor3' was a long torture. I think she knew what 1 was suffering, for she showed no resentment. "It was oavly and there woro few people around nono that I enrod about And mother and the nurse played cabbage cab-bage oternally. until I felt as though the littlo nogs were drivon into mv brain. And when Mrs. Curtis arranged drives and picnics. I T slipped away and weut. I suppose you won't beliov'o me, but T had novor dono that kind of thing before, and I well, T havo paid up. I think." "What sort of looking chnp was Sullivan?" Sul-livan?" T demanded. I had got up and was pacing back aud forward on the sand. 1. remember kicking snv-.'IK0I3' snv-.'IK0I3' at; a bit of water-soaked board that la.y in my way. "Voi"3' handsome ns Inrgo an you aro, but fair, and oven moro orcct.'' I drow my shouldei-H up sharply. 1 am straight enough, but I was fairly sagging with jealous rago. "When mother bogan to got: around, soiucbod.y told hor that I had been going about with Mrs, Curtis and her brothor, aud wo had a dreadful time. I was dragged homo liko a bad child. Did anybody over do that to you?" "Nobody over cared. 3 was born an orphan," 3 Baid, with a cheerless attempt at levity. "Go on." "If Mis Curtis know, sho never ;uid anything. Sho wrote 1110 charm ing letters, ,md in (ho summer, when thoy went to Cresson, sho asked mo to visit her there. I was too proud lo lot hor know that I could not go where I wished, and so I scut P0II3', my maid, to her aunt's in tho country, pretended pre-tended to go 1 0 Soal Harbor, and rnally went to Cresson. You see I warned .you it would be an unpleasant story. " I wont over and stood in front of her. All tho accumulated jealousy of tho last few weeks had been fired by what she told mo. If Sullivan had como across the sands just lhcn, I think I would have' strangled him with my hands, out of pure hate. "Did 3'ou marry him?" 3 dcinnndod. My voico sounded hoarse and strange in m3' oars. "'That's all I want to know. Did you many him?" "No." T drew a long breath. "You cared about him?" Sho hesitated. "No," sho said finally. "I did not caro about him." ' I sat down on tho edge of tho boat and mopped m.y hot face. I was heartily heart-ily ashamed of 1113'sclf, and mingled with m.y abnsomcnt was groat relief. If she had not married him, and had not cared for him, nothing else was of an.y importance. "I "was sorr3', of course, tho moment the train had started, but I had wired I was coming, and I could not go back, and then when 3 got there, the place was charming. Thcro were no neighbors, neigh-bors, but we Gslicd and rode and motored, mo-tored, and it was moonlight, like this." I put 1113' hand over both of hers.' clasped in her lap. "I know," I acknowledged repcntantl.y, "and people peo-ple do queer things when it is moonlight. moon-light. The moon lias got me tonight, Alison. If I am a .boor, remember that, won't 3'ou?" ITor "fim'ors Inv nuief. under mine. "And so," she went on with a little sigh, "I bogan to think perhaps .3 carod. But all the titno I felt that there was something not quite right. Now and then Mrs. Curtis would say or do somothing that gave 1110 a queer start, as if she had dropped a mask for a moment. And there was troublo with the servants; they were almost insolent. in-solent. I couldn't understand. I don't know when it dawned on mo that the old Baron ( avalcanti had been right when he snid they wero not 1113- kind of people. But T wanted to got awa3', wantcfl it desperate'." "Of course, they were not 3'our kind," 1 cried. "The man was married! mar-ried! Tho girl Jennie, a housemaid, was .a sp.v in Mrs. Sullivan's omplo3'. If he had pretended to marry 3'ou I would have killed him! Not only that, .but the man ho murdered, Harrington, was his wife's father. And I'll see him hang bj tho neck 3"ct if it takes over3' cnerg3r and cveiy penny I possess." pos-sess." I could havo told her so much more Scntl.v, have broken I ho shock for ler; I have never boon proud of that 1 yirening on tho sand. T was alternately a boor and. a ruffian like a hurt 3'oung-stor 3'oung-stor who passes the blow that has hurt him on to his playmate, that both may bawl together. And now Alison sat, white and cold, without speech. "Married!" sho said finnl'. in a small voice. "Why, I don't think it is possible, is it ? J I was on 1113' way to Baltimore to marry him ni3'self, "when the wreck came." "But you said you didn't caro for him!" I protested, my heavy mascu-lino mascu-lino mind unable to jump the gaps in her stor.v. And then, without tho slightest warning, 1 realized thai she was crying. She shook off my hand and fumbled for her handkerchief, and failing to find it, she accepted the ono 1 thrust into her wot fingers. Then, littlo by littto, sho told me from the handkerchief, a sordid story of a motor trip in tho mountains without with-out Mrs. Curtis, of a lost road and a broken car, and a rnin.y night when they sho and Sullivan, tramped eter-nall3' eter-nall3' and did not get homo. And of Mrs. Curtis, when they got homo at dawn, suddenly grown conventional and deeply shocked. Of hor own proud, half-disdainful consont to make possible pos-sible tho hackneyed' compromising' situation sit-uation by marrying tho rascal, and then of his disappearance from tho train. It was so terrible to her, such a Hcavon-sent relief to me, in spito of m.y rago against Sullivan, that 1 laughed aloud. At which sho looked at mo over the handkerchief. "T know it's funny," sho said, with a catch in her breath. "When I think that I nearl3 married a murderer and didn't 3 -cry for sheer jo" Thon she buried hor faco and cried again. " Ploaso don't," 1 protested un stoadilv. "I won't bo responsible if .you keep on crying liko that. I may forget that 3 nave a capital charge hanging over my head, and Mint I may bo arrested at any moment." That brought hor out of tho handkerchief handker-chief at, once. "T meant to bo so helpful, help-ful, " sho snid. "and I 'vo thought of nothing but myself! There woro some things I meant to toll you. If .Ion-nio .Ion-nio was what 3011 sa3", then T understand under-stand why she camo to mo just before T loft. &ho hnd been packing m.v things and sho must have seen what condition was in, for sho camo over to mo when 1 was getting 1113' wraps on. to leave, and s.id, 'Don't do it, Miss West, I beg .vou won't do it; .you'll bo sori'3' every after.' And just then Mrs. Curtis camo in and .Icnuio slipped out." "That was all?" "No. As wo wont through tho station sta-tion tho (olograph operator gavo Har Mr. Sullivan a message. Ho road it on tho platform, and it excited him terribly, llo took his sister aside and thoy Talked logethor. lie was whito with either foar or anger 1 don't know which. Thon, when wo boarded the train, a woman in black, with bountiful bounti-ful hair, who was standing on tho car platform, touched him on the arm and thon drow back. He looked at hor and glanced awa again, but sho reeled as if he had struck her." "Thon what?" Tho situation was growing clearer. "Mrs. Curtis and T had tho drawing-room. drawing-room. I had a dreadful night, just, sleeping a little now and then. .3 dreaded dread-ed lo seo dawn come. It was (0 bo in ,y wedding dn.y. AVhon wo found Harry had disappeared in tho night. Mrs, Curtis was in a fronz.y. Thon f saw his cigarette caso in your hand. I had given it to him. You woro his clothes. . Tho murder was discovered and 3'ou wore accused of it! What could I do? And then, afterward, when I. saw him asleep at tho farm-house, I I was panic-stricken. 3 locked him in and ran. 3 didn't know why ho did it, but he had killed a man." Somo ono was calling Alison through a megaphone, from the voraudn. It soiindod liko Sam. "All-oo." ho called. "All-co! I'm going lo have- somo anchovies an-chovies on toastl All-co!" Neither of us hoard. "I wondor," I roMcclod. "if you would bo willing to repeat a part of that, stoi'3 just from (lie tologram on to a couple of detectives, any on Monday. Mon-day. If-you would loll that, and how (ho end of your nocltlaco got into the sealskin bag--" "My necklace!" she repealed. "But it isn't mine. I picked it nip in the car." "All-ee!" Sam again. "I soo you down thorc. I'm mak'ng a julep! " Alison turned und called through her hands. "Coming in a moment, Sam," she said, and rose. "It must bo vory late: Snm is home. Wo. would Ijct-tor Ijct-tor go back to tho house." "Don't," I bugged her. "Anchovies "An-chovies and juleps and Sam will go on forever, and I have you such a little time. I suppose I am, only one ofa dozen or so, but you aro the onl3 girl in, tho world. You know I lovo you, doh't 3'ou, dear?" Sam was whistling, an irritating bird call, over and over. She pursed her red lips and answered him in kind. It wns more than I could endure. "Sam or no Sam," I said firmb', "I am going to kiss you!" But Sam's voico camo strident through the megaphone. "Be good, you too," ho bellowed, "T'vo got the binoculars!" And so, under lire, we walked sedately back to tho house. M..y pulses were throbbing the littlo swish of her dress beside me on tho grass was pain and ccstas.y. I had but to put out 1113' hand to touch her, and dared not. Sam, armed with a megaphono nnd field glasses, bent over the rail and watched us with gleeful malignit.v. "Homo early, aren't .vou?" Alison called, when wo reached tho stops. "3jed a club when my partner had doubled no trumps, aud she fainted. Damn the heart convention!" ho snid cheerfully. "The others arc not here yet." Thrco hours later I went up to bed. I had not seen Alison alone again. The noiso was at its height below, and I glanced down into the garden, still bright in tho moonlight. Leaning iigaiust a treo, and staring interestedly into the billiard room, was .lohnson. CHAPTER XXIX. In tho Dininjj-Room. That was Saturday night, two wcoks after tho wreck. The previous five d.'O's had been full of swift-following events tho woman fn the house next door, the picture in the theater of a man about to leap from tho doomed train, the dinner at the Dallases, and Ric.hey's discover that Alison was the girl in the case. In quick succession had come our. visit to the Carter place, the finding of tho rest of the telegram, m.y seeing Alison there, and the strange interview with Mrs". Couwaj". The Cresson trip stood out in my memor3" for its serio-comic horrors and its ono real thrill. Then the discovery by the polico of the. sealskin bag and th'o bit. of chain; Hotchkiss producing triumphantly tri-umphantly Stuart for Sullivan and his subsequent discomfiture; Mclvnight at the station with Alison, and later the confession that he was out of the running. run-ning. And yet, when I thought it all over, the entire week and its events were two sides of a triangle that was narrowing narrow-ing rapidb". to an apex, a point. And the said apex was at that, moment in the drive below ni3' window, resting his long legs by sitting on a carriage block, and smoking a pipe that made the night hideous. Tho sense of the ridiculous is very close to the sense of traged3r. I opened my screen and whistled, and .lolinson looked up and grinned. Wo said nothing. I hold up a handful of cigars, he oxlended his hat, aud when 3 finally went to sleep, it was to a soothing breeze that wafted in salt air and a faint aroma of good tobacco. T was thoroughly tired, but I slept restlessly, dreaming of two detectives de-tectives with Pittsburg warrants being hold up by Hotchkiss at the point of a splint, while Alison fastened their hands with a chain that was broken nnd much too short. I was roused about dawn b.y a light rap at the door, and, opening it, I found Forbes, in a pair of trousers and a pajama coat. He was as pleasant as most'fieslry people peo-ple aro when thc3r havo lo got up at night, and he said tho folcphone had boon ringing for an hour, and ho didn't know why somobod3" else in the blank-oty-blank house couldn't have hoard il. Ho wouldn't got to sleep until noon. As he was palpabl.y asleep on his foot, I left him grumbling and went to the telephone. It proved to bo Richo3 who had found mo by tho simple expedient ex-pedient of tracing Alison, and he was jubilaut. "You'll have to come back," he said. "Got a railroad schedulo there7" "I don't sloop with 0110 in my pocket," pock-et," T rotortod. "but if you'll hold the lino I '11 call out the window to Johnson. John-son. He's prnbabl.y got one." "Johnson!" I could hear the laugh with which McKnight comprehended tho situation. He was still chuckling when T iviiYin hnok-. " Train to Richmond at six-thirtv a. nu" I said. "What timo is it now?" "Four. Listen. Lollie. We'vo got him. Do von henr? Through tho woman wom-an at Baltimore. Thon tho other woman, the lady of the restaurant" ho wns obviously avoiding names "sho is pla.viug our cards for us. No T don't know why, and I don't care. But 3'ou be at the incubator tonight nt eight o'clock. Tf 'ou can't shake .lolinson, bring him." bless him." To this da3' I bolievo the Sam Forbosos havo not recovered from the surprise of 1113' unexpected arrival. 1113' 0110 nppearanco at dinner in Granger's clothes, and the note on 1113 dresser which informed thoin tho next morning that I had folded m.y tents liko the Arabs and silenHv stolon away. For at half after five .lolinson and 1, the former for-mer as uninquisitivo as ever, woro on our way through tho dust to the station, sta-tion, three miles away, and b.y four that afternoon wo woro in Washington. Washing-ton. Tho journe.v had boon uneventful, unevent-ful, .lohnson relaxed under tho influence in-fluence of m.y tobacco, and spoko at some length on the latest improvements in gallows, dilating on tho absurditj of cutting out the former free passes to see tho affair in operation. I remember, re-member, loo. that ho mentioned the curious anomal3' that permits a man about to bo hanged to cat a heart 3" meal. I did not enjoy m.y dinner that night. Boforo wo got into Washington 1 had mado an arrangement with Johnson 10 surrender myself at two tho following afternoon. Also. I had wired to Alison, Ali-son, asking her if sho would oarr3' out tho contract she had made.. Tho do-tectivo do-tectivo saw ino home, and left mo there. Mrs. 3lopton received 1110 with dignified dig-nified reserve. Tho vory tono in which sho asked me when I would dino told mo that somothing was wrong. "Now what is it,- Mrs. Ivlopfon?" T demanded fiualb', when sho had informed in-formed inc. in a patient and long-suf faring tone, that she felt Avorn orjt and thought, sho nooded a rest. "When 3 lived with Mr. .Tiisteo Springer," sho began acidly, her mmi. ing basket in hor hands, "it was, an I orderly, well-conducted household. You can ask any of tho neighbors. Xoas wero cooked and,, what's moro, 'Jthov were eaten; there was nono ofy t .1 m i" 'hero ono day and gono the ncxt usi. ness." "NousoubO," 1 observed, You'io tired, that's all. Mrs. Klopton. And I wish .you would go out; I want to bathe.". "That's not tall," 8ho said with dig-nit3', dig-nit3', from the doorway. "Women coming com-ing and going hero, women whose shoes I am not fit I mean, women who aro not fit to touch my shoes coming here as insolent as 3ou please, and asking for you." "Good heavens!" I exclaimed. "What did you tell them her, whichever which-ever it was?" 'Told hor you were sick in a hospital hos-pital and wouldn't bo out for a year!" sho said triumphantly. "And when she said sho thought sno'd come in and wait for you, I slammed the door on her.-" "What time wns bIig here?" "Late last night. And she had a light-haired man across the. street. If she thought I didn't see him, she don't know me." Then sho closed the door and left mo to my bath and my reflections. reflec-tions. At five minutes before eight I was at tho Incubator, where I found Hotchkiss Hotch-kiss and McKnight. Tho3' were ljend-ing ljend-ing over a table, on which la3 McKnight Mc-Knight 's total armament a pair of! pistols, an elephant gun and an old cavalry saber. "Draw up, a chair and help yourself to pic," he said, pointing to tno arsenal. arse-nal. "This is for tho benefit of our friend Hotchkiss here, who sa3's he is a small man and fond of Iifo." Hotchkiss, who had been trying to get tho wrong end of a' cartridge into tho barrel of ono of tho revolvers, straightened himself and mopped his faco. '''Wo havo desperate people to handle," ho said pompously, "and we may need desperato means." ''Hotchkiss is like the Btnall bo3 whose one ambition wns to have people peo-ple grow ashen and tremble at tha mon- If , ' ,, -r.r : t-i. -'. i j r.ion or nis name.' ivicrvnigui. jiuuu. But the3 were serious enough, both of thorn, under it all, and when they bad told me what they planned, I was serious, too. "You'ro compounding a felon.y," I romonstratcd, whon they had explained. "I'm not eager to be locked away, but, b3 Jove, to otror hor the stolen notes in exchange for Sullivanl" "Wo haven't got either of them, j'ou know," McKnight remonstrated, "and we won't have, if we don't start. Come along, Fido," to Hotchkiss.. The plan was simplicit itself. According Ac-cording to Hotchkiss, Sullivan" was to moot Bronson at Mrs. Conway's apartment, apart-ment, nt 8:30 that night, wjth the notes. Ho was to be paid there and the papers pa-pers destT03od. "But just boforc that interesting finale," McKnight ended, "we will walk in, take the notes, grab Sullivan, and give the police a jolt that will put thorn out of the count," I suppose not ono of us, slewing around corners that night, had the faintest doubt that we were on the right track, or that Fate, scurvy enough before, was playing into our hands at last. Little Hotchkiss was in a stnte of fever; he alternately twitched and examined Ihe revolver, and a fear that the two movements might be s3'nchron-ous s3'nchron-ous kept me unensy. He produced and dilated on tho scrap of pillow slip from the wreck, and showed me the stiletto, with its point in cotton batting for safe keeping. And in the intervals ho implored im-plored Riche.v not to make such fine calculations at the corners. We were all gave enough and very quiet, however, when wo reached tho largo building where Mrs. Conwa.y li3d her apartment. McKnight left the power pow-er on, in caso wo might want to make a quick eot-nway, and Hotchkiss gave a final look at the revolver. I had no wenp-on. wenp-on. Somehow it all seemed melodramatic lo the vcrgo of farce. Tn the doorwa3' Hotchkiss was a half-dozon feet ahoad; Richer fell back beside me. He dropped his affectation of gayefy. and T thought ho looked tired. "Same old Sam, I suppose?" he asked. "Same, only more of him." "I suppose Alison was there? How is she?" he inquired irrelevantly. "Arer3- well. I did not see hor this morning." Hotchkiss was waiting near the elovator. McKnight nut his hand on my arm. "Now, look here, old man'." lie said, "I've got two arms and a revolver, and you've got one arm and a splint. If Hotchkiss is right, nnd there is a row, 3ou crawl undor a table." "The deuce I will!" I declared scornfulls. We crowded out of the elevator at tho fourth floor and found ourselves in a rather theatrical hallway of draperies dra-peries and armor. It was very quiet: wo stood uncertainly after the car had gone, and looked at tho two or throe doors in sight. The.y wero heav3', covered cov-ered with motal, and sound-proof. From somewhere above came the metallic accuracy ac-curacy of a Dlaver-piano. and through tho window wc could hear or feel tho throb of the Cnnnonball's engine. "Well, Sherlock," McKnight said, "what's the next move in the gnmc? Is it our jump, or theirs? You brought us here." Nono of us knew just, what to do next. No sound of conversation pene-tratod pene-tratod tho heav3r doors. We waited uneasily un-easily for somc minutes, and Hotchkiss looked at his watch. Then ho put it to his ear. "Good gracious!" he exclaimod, his head cocked on one side, "T believe it lias stopped. I'm afraid we are late." Wc wero lato. M.y watch and Hotchkiss' Hotch-kiss' ngroed at. nine o'clock, and, with tho discovery that our man might havo como and gone, our zest in the ndvon-turo ndvon-turo began to flag. McKnight motioned mo-tioned us awa.y from tho door and rang tho bell. There was no response, no sound within. He rang it twice, and the last time long- nnd vigorously, without result. Than ho turnod and looked al us. "I don't half liko this," ho said. "That woman is in; 3'ou heard me ask the elevator bo3. For two cents IM " I had seen it when ho did. The door was ajar about an inch, nnd a narrow wedge of rose colored light showed beyond. T pushod tho door a little and listened. Thon, with both IH mon at my heels, I stepped into tho private corridor of the apartment and looked around. It was a square recep-tion recep-tion hall, with rugs on tha floor, a tail mahogany rack for hats, and a coupld of chairs. A lantorn of rose-colored glass and a desk light over a writing table across mado tho room bright and cheerful. It was empty. Nono of us was comfortable. Tha place was full of- feminine trifles that made us feel tho weakness of our po-sit po-sit ion. Some such instinct made Mc-Knight Mc-Knight suggest division. "Wo look like an invading army," ho said, "If she's here alone, wo will startlo hero into a spasm. One of us could take a look around and " "What was that? Didn't you hear something?" The sound, whatever it had been, was not repoatod. We wont awkwardly oufc into tho hall, very uncomfortable, all of us, and flipped a coin. The choice foil on me, which was right enough, for tho nffair was mine, primarily. "Wait just inside tho door," I di-roctcd, di-roctcd, "and if Sullivan comes, or any- H body that answers his description, grab ' jH him without cercmony ana ask aim questions afterwards." IH The apartment, save in the hallway, IH was unlightcd. B3- one of those freaks of arrangement possible only in the IH modern flat, I found tho kitchen first, and was strucka smart and unexpected blow by' a swinging door. I carried a handful of matches, and b3 tho time I had passed through a butler's pan-try pan-try and a refrigerator room I was com-pletely com-pletely lost in tho darkness. Until then the situation had been merely un-comfortable; un-comfortable; suddenly it became grisly. From somewhere near a long-sustained groan, followed almost instantly by tho crash of something glass or china-on china-on tho floor. I struck a fresh match, and found myself in a narrow Tear hallway. Be-hind Be-hind me was tho door hy which "! must have como; with a keen desire to get back to the place I had started from, I opened the door and attempted to cross the room. I thought I had kept my sense of direction, but I crashed without warning, into what, from the resulting jangle, was the dining-room table, probably laid for dinner. I cursed nrv stupidity in getting into such a situation, and I cursed by nerves for making my hand Bhake when T' tried to strike a match. Tho groan had not been repented. I braced m3'self against the table and struck the match sharply against the solo of in3 shoe. It flickered faint-ly faint-ly and went out. And then, without the slightest warning, another dish went off the table. It fell with a thousand splinterings; the very air seemed tirok-en tirok-en into crashing waves of eound. I -stood still, braced against tho table, holding the red end of the dj'ing match, and listened. I had not long to wait; the groan camo again, and I jecog- nizedit. the cry of a dog in straits. I breathed again. H "Come, old fellow,'; I said. "Come on, old man Let's have a look at H 3'ou." I could' hear the thud of his tail on the floor, but he did not move. Ha only whimpered. There is something H companionable in the presence of a dog, and I fancied this dog in trouble. Slowly I began to work my way around the table toward him. H "Good bo.y." I said, as he whim- pored. "We'll find the light, which ought to be somewhere or other around IH here, and then " I stumbled over something, and I 1 drew back my foot almost instantly. H "Did T step on you, old man?" I ex- H claimed, and bent to pat him. I re- H member straightening suddenly and hearing the dog pad softly toward me around the table. I recall oven that H I had put the matches down and could not. find them. Then, with a bursting horror of the room and its contents, of the gibbering dark around me. T turned and made for the door by which I had H entered. T could not find it. I felt; along the H endless wainscoting, past miles of wall. The dog was beside me, I think, but he was part and parcel now, to my excited mind, with the Thing under the table. And when, after aeons of search, I found a knob and stumbled into (he reception hall, I was as nearly H in a panic as an.y man could be. H T was m3self again in a second, and by the light, from the hall I led tho way H back to the tragedy I had stumbled on. H Bronson still Bnt at the table, his elbows H propped on it, his cigarette still lighted, H burning a hole in the cloth. Partb' H under the table lay Mrs. Conway, face H down. Tho dog stood over her and IH wagged his tail. H McKnight poinied silently to a large copper ash-tray, filled with ashes and charred bits of paper. , "Tho notes, probnbb'," he said rue- H Cully. "He got them after all, and H burned them before her. Tt was moro H than she 'could stand. Stabbed .him IH first nnd then herself." . H Hotchkiss got up and took oft his hat. H "Thev are dead." he announced sol- H omnl3:. nnd took his notebook out of his A hatband. ., . H McKnight and I did the only thing ! wo could think of drove Hotchkiss and the dog out of the room, and closed H and locked the door. "It's a matter H for the police," McKnight asserted. H "I suppose 3'ou've got an officer tied IH to you somewhere, Lawrence? You H usually have." H Wo loft Hotchkiss m charge and went H dowustairs. It was .McKnight who first H saw Johnson, lenniug against a park railing across tho street, and called IH him over. Wo told him in a few words what we had found, and he grinned H at me cheorfulb. H "After while, in a few weeks or months, Mr. Blakoley," he said, "when M you get tired of monkeying around with 1 tho blood-stain and finger-print special- H ist upstairs, you como to me. , 1'vo had H that follow 'you want under surveil- H lance for ten days!" (To Be Continued.) |