Show DARK HOLLOW By ANNA KATHARINE GREEN Author of The The Loa Leavenworth ven Case Cas II Tho The Tho House Houze of ot the Whispering Pines Pinos- Pinos Initials Only Masterpieces of Mystery etc Serial of this thia story controlled by the thc Newspaper Nev Syndicate t a Jo I am i I taking Reuther ii iiI iu i I wish I knew 1 I wish I knew know fJ XUI XIII A Bit of Steel c When hen are aro you ou going coing oin to JUdo Judge Ostrander's I 11 Tomorrow This is my mv last free da day So if there is au anything for mo me to tod todo d cJ do do Iq tell me mc Mr 1 Bl Black k and l let hit t mu mo mut I get t at once There is nothing you ou can au an ano do o. o Tho Th i in matter n is hopeless U You You think soP sol There Thero was misery ry in the tho tone but the seasoned old lawyer who had conducted her husbands husband's s 's did not allow his hiss s sympathies to run away with his judg judg- mR mentI ment I 11 certainly do llla am I told you Jou so o the thc other night an and now after a couple of 01 days of thought on the subject sub jetti jett J I i am obliged to lo repeat my asser tion Your own convictions in tho the matter mat mat- ter and your story of the shadow and th tho peaked cap may appeal to the public pub pub- lic nn and af assure rc you OU spin some sympathy but for an entire reversal a o-f o it its J opinion you ou will ill need substantial and incontrovertible bl ble evidence You must remember you remember you win will pardon my frankness that frankness that your husbands husband's character failed faile to stand the tho test of inquiry His principles slick slack his temper violent You have hae suffered suffered suf suf- from both and aud must know A x joor foundation 1 I found it for 11 his a defense rind and a poor one you you ou will find it tt for that T reversal versal ol of public opinion upon which I you O count without eF very strong proof that the crimo crime for which he lie was punished pun pun- was yas committed by another m man m. m You think you yon have havo such proof roof but ut it is mca meager er very meager Find me some some- thing thinE definite to go Jo upon and we will t talk I II I Discouragement I I everywhere e JJ she sho complained Yet I know John to have ha been innocent of this this crime j Th Tho lawyer lawver raised raise Ms his brows bro and toy toyed d impatiently w with th his liis watch chain If her convictions found any echo in ii his hig own mind he gave a e no evidence evi on dence deuce of of it Doubtfully she oed oyed him What you want she ho observed at length b with a sigh h I is I hr the namo name of homan tho ho thoman thoman man who sauntered down the tho ravine ahe ahead d of my husband I cannot give it to you now but hut I do not dC despair pair of learning earning it Twelve years rears a ago o madam twelve years ago r know but I have havo too much confidence conti den deuce dence o in my iny cause to be bo daunted oven by co so serious an obstacle as that I I Ishall Ishall shall yet put er on this man But ButI I do not say that it will be imme immediately I h have havo c got to renew old acquaintances revive old old possibly recall to life almost aimos obliterated memories dro dropping pin hi his hand from his vest vent gave ve her his bis first look of unqualified tied fled admiration You rin ring true said he be I have met men qualified q t to lead a forlorn hope pe but never ne before a n woman Allow me to express s my ray re regret ct that it is such uch sucha ucha a forlorn one Then with a twinkle t iu his e eye which bespoke a li lighter mood he hc remarked in a curiously ca casual n al tone tono r 1 Talking of or gossip th there lC is ii but bul one ono n in town who is isa a 1 i- i pe person in complete i Jory pry of all tb t is raid pair or known this thin I side o of Col Colchester Tho The next town x I I I never knew w her to for forgot forget ot anything and I never knew her lieI to to-be to be very verv far I from the truth Sho She lives Ih near Judge i 1 a Ostrander-a a q quaint aint little body not unI un I I. I I interesting ting to talk to a regular character charac charac- ter in fact Do Do you 0 know what they say about her house housel That everything on Gods God's earth can be bo found in in it Th That youve you've you 0 but to name namo a an object a and she will produce it She's Sho's had hall strange opportunities opportunities opportunities op op- op- op for collecting odds and ends an aud and she's she's hos never neglected ono of them Yet lct her house is but a box bog Miss ss Weeks is her name C. C U I I will ill remember it I Mrs rO rose roQ Q Then she sat down downa a again nin with the tho remark I I havo have notion Its It's a strange a aard ahard I hard ard thin thing to explain and you vou may not understand me but I should shoula like to see if it still exists the stick stick stick-my my husbands husband's hus bus bau bands band's s 's stick with stick with which this crime was committed Do the police retain such things Is th there ro any apy possibility of my finding it laid ail away in somo some drawer at headquarters or on some dusty dush shelf P Pr Mr r. r Black mack was tas as again astonished Was this callousness or a very deep and determined doI de do- purpose i I I dont don't know I never go pottering about at headquarters What do you want to see that fort What help can an you rou get et out of that None o probably but in the presence of defeat you grasp at every eyer bor hope e I dreamed of that stick last night I was in an awful wilderness awful wilderness all rocks terrific gorges and cloud covered unassailable peal peaks 8 A li light one light one ht-one one ray ray and ono one only shone shone hone on eu mo inc through tho the darkness Towards this ray I was driven through great cat gaps ap in n the yawning rocks and alon along narrow galleries sloping above an unfathomable abyss lope Hope lay beyond l rescue light ht But a wall reared its itt th between I came upon it suddenly a ai barrier mighty and impenetrable impenetrable im im- penetrable with i its ends lost in in lt ity And the ray my the ono one lon long beam It was still there It ahone directly upon mo me front from an o opening in this wal wall It marked a n gate gate gate-a. a. a gato gate for which I only lacked the tho ke ho key Where should I find ono one to fit a a. lock so i gigantic Nowhere No where unless the something which I held which which had bad been in m my r hands from the first first would would be e found to move its stubborn wards I tried it and i it did it if did I hear the squeak of or those tremendous tre tre- hin hinges c now non and and Mr Mr Black yon you must havo have guessed what that something some thing was My Ij husbands husband's stick I the bludgeon with who whoso e snape I was so 50 familiar twelve years reins ago It is that and that only which will lead us to tho the light ht Of th this s I feel Quito quite sure A A. short un and ironical grunt grant answered her hel Mr Black was not always tho the pink of politeness even in tho the presence of ladies Ie Most hn I sarcastically r i The Tb squeak k you h heard d was probably the protest of the tho bed you were vere reclining on o against such a a. misuse df of the opportunities it offered you A dream listened t to as evidence in this office You must have bavo a womans woman's idea of time the value of my iny time Flushing with discomfiture she at tempted to apologize ize when he cut her short 14 Nevertheless Ne you yon shall see Bea the Stick if it is still to be bo found I will take tako you to police headquarters headquarter if you you ou will go o heavily v veiled We 0 dont don't want an any recognition of 01 vou l there vot yot Yon You will take me meThe me- me 4 The I e fact that I never go RO there thero may make my vit visit t not unwelcome Ill I'll do it les yes vc Ill I'll do it I Mr rr Black you are very vcr good How Hows s soon onU on- on U Now ho lie jumping up to get et his hat t A I A woman who can ean an take up tip a mans man's time with poetry and JJ a 11 JJ a JI JI C a rr dreams might as well have tho the whole afternoon Are you ready Shall we wego wego go gOAt 11 tAll All alacrity a 1 in In spite of the t h. h 0 irony Iron of his his bow o and smile ho no stood a at tho door waiting for her to o follow him This rh s she did slowly and with manifest tion She did not understand tho the man People often said of her that she sho did not understand her own charm There Thoro was one one little ittle fact of which Mr fr Black was i ignorant that ignorant that that tho police po o lice Bee had had their eye eJe on the veiled lad lady at Claymore inn for several se days das now and know who his companion was tho instant the they into stepped In vain his plausible excuses for showing his lad lady p friend tho the curiosities of the tho place her interest in tho the details of criminology was well understood by Sergeant ant Doolittle though of course ho he had hau not sounded its full depths and could not know f from om anyone but Judge Ostrander himself l her grave reasons for stooping 1 her mint mind again ngam in tho horrors of her nor husbands husband's long since expiated crime crimo And Judge Ostrander was the tho thelast thelast last man nina who would bo ho likely to give him this information Therefore when ho he saw tho small mocking oyo eyo of tho lawyer begin benin to roam over the shelves and und behold beheld his jaw drop as it sometimes did when he sought Bought to veil his purpose i in an air of mild preoccupation ho he knew what tho the next request would be bo as well as if th low sounds which loft left Mr Blacks Black's lips Ups at intervals had been words instead of ot inarticulate grunts Ho He was therefore prepared when whon the question did come I Any AnI memorial of the e ensel case case- Nothing but a stick with blood marks on it That Im I'm afraid wouldn't bo a very agreeable sight for a ladys lady's t eye cye the lawyer lawver proof proof whispered in tho the officers officer's car Lets see sec the stick The sergeant considered this a Yer very interesting c experience quite experience quite a jolly break in the dull monotony of the da day Hunting Huntin up the stick ho laid it in the tho hands and thou then turned his lawyers lawyer's s eye upon tho the lady She had gone pale but it took her ller herbut but an instant to regain her equanimity and hold out her own hand for the weapon With ith Hh what hat purpose What div dL she sho expect to see see sec in it which others had hadnot hadnot not Dot seen many times t She did not kno know herself She wits t simply follow follo following ing an impulse just as she ha had felt herself borne on au b by some somo irresistible force in her hor dream And so 50 the tho three stood there hero the tho mens men's faces ironic inquisitive in in- wondering at the thc womans woman's phlegm if not at her motive hers hidden hidden hid hid- den aen behind her ber veil eil but bent bont forward over oer the weapon in an attitude of devouring devouring de de- de interest Thus for a lon long slow minute then she hc impulsively oI r raised her head and beckoning the two men nearer near near- er or she directed attention to a splintered I portion of the handle and asked them i what they saw there Nothing N lust just stick declared clarell the tho I sergeant The marks you JOU aro lookin looking for are arc higher up imp IC Arid And And you von Mr Black 1 He s saw save aw nothing either cither but stick B BUt Bui t ho was little less abrupt on his answer Do you mean meau those 1 J he ho asked where tho the stick was was whittled You remember that ho he had been at the stick stick- Who The word ford shot from her 1 lips ps so violently vio yb- that for a a. moment both bolh men 1001 looked ed staggered by bv it Then ThEm Mr Black wits with unaccustomed forbearance answered gently enough CI Why Scoville madam or Of so the prosecution congratulated itself upon having proved to tho jurys jury's satisfaction It did not tally with tally with Scoville's story or with common sense I know You remember re ro- ro- ro member pardon member pardon me me me-I. I mean that anyone any anyone any any- one ono who rc read d a report of the case will win remember ho how I handled the matter in 1 speech But the tho prejudice c in favor or of the prosecution prosecution-I. I will not say ay against the Uie defense was defense was too much for forine forme forme me ine and my ray eloquence all went for nothing I Of I Of course they produced the knife 1 I Yes 1 Yes they produced the tho knife 7 I it It was in his hig pocket cc Yes Y cs 71 II Have Bave they that here here No haven't ha here wo we t that But you remember remember-it it t 4 II Remember it CI Was Was it a now knife a whole one I T mean with all its bInd blades os sharp tharp and arid in good order Yes I can say that I handled it several times Then whoso whose blade left eft e t that I And Anil again she pointed to the same place on the tho stick where her finger had hail fallen before I dont don't know what you rou mean menn The Tho ser sergeant looked puzzled Perhaps his eyesight was not very keen n. n I ilave I you ou a magnifying ing glass There is something imbed cd in this wood Try to find out what it is The sergeant with a a. queer look ook at Mr Black who returned it with interest interest in in- terest went for a glass aud and whon when ho he had used it tho the stare ho gave the tho heavily veiled d woman drove Mr Black to reach out his own hand for the glass Well ho burst forth forth- after a pr pro prolonged longed scrutiny It there is' is iss is's s something ething there H 4 Tho rho point point- point point-of of a a. knife blade The extreme extreme ex ex- point she emphasized emphasized- q It It might easily tho the observation even of the tho most critical without such aid as is 8 given l by this glass No uNo one ono thought of using a magnify inn ing in glass plass on ou this blurted out tho the ser sos geant cant The marks made mado by tho the knife were plain enough h for all an to see and aul was vas all aU which seemed Important J Mr Black ea sa d l nothing h he was feelIng feeling feel feel- in ing a l trifle cheap cheap something which did not a agree reo with ith his crusty crush nature Nut Not lt in hu having seen Mrs frs Scoville for a half h hour ur without her veil eil her influence over him was as on tho the wane and ho he bc began an to re regret ret that ho had laid himself open to this humiliation iSho saw that it would be left for her herto herto herto to wind up the interview and get out of the tho place without arousing too much attention With a self possession which astonished both men knowing knowin her immense im un- un menso mense interest in this matter she laid aid down th stick and with a gentle shrug of her shoulders ers remarked in an easy tono tone Well its it's curious The inns inns and outs of a crime I mean n. n Such a discovery discovery discovery dis dis- covery ten ton years rean after the event I think you rou said ald ton y years ars is very inter esting Then she sighed CI Alas Alas its it's too lato Jato to benefit the one ono whoso whose lif life it might have havo ta saved cd Mr r. r Black shall we webe bo be going oin I have spent a most entertaining enter taming quarter er of an hour hour Mr r. r Black glanced from her to the sergeant nt before ho he joined her ber Then hon with one of his sour Bour smiles directed to toward tOr ward vard the former ho said fiaM I wouldn't be bo talking about this sergeant It will do no good and may ridicule U us to To 10 bo be continued tomorrow |