Show ahe RETURN MARTYN ay baase A hopkind SERVICE CHAPTER XII continued 24 yon can t do it be gaped you your trial and were justly sen kneed youve tried for a new trial aa it was denied 1 tried without th new evidence I 1 in going ta submit grants brain was clearing you have no new evidence shall have sutton returned for what purpose do you suppose I 1 bare followed you here if not to get toine you 11 get none from me more im expecting two friends here my moment abey are hunting for la the roods lies away 1 set a false trail for them to follow they will not return antil daybreak payson there Is no human help tor yu here I 1 have teen to that we have three hours together yon are going to confess to me and I 1 shall have these friends of yours witness it AI they do not know me they dare not ignore me when I 1 tell them all Tn eyll send you back to jail it so it will not be for long youve got things twisted grant eald eagerly if tey t ey see you cere they re got to send you back be punished if aby withheld the in formation your chance Is to go back now it 1 wanted to call tor help nobody would hear it yon want to keep jour freedom make your getaway before they come and find you here grant trembled for the success of Us suggestion Sut toas expression less face and laci of physical violence no longer seemed so terrifying perhaps the long prison term had brought near to insanity he had often hoodwinked his former friend la other days that the desire to at tempt it at this moment of peril lent him plenty of spec tons cunning he was bold enough now to light i cigarette and sit back in his chair easily frank he said almost as though hi had determined to act generously 1 won t try to stop yon if yon escape avery moment you remain here brings yon in greater danger of beans caught any moment some of the help might come n shook his head at this hour nonsense I 1 isnow ton the helps camp Is run consider lag ive been in hiding there they re all asleep e hae more than two hours that will be enough for me grant look lost something of its scaly gained assurance he assumed alie character of firmness button wu sot to be deceived as readily as be biped grant had allowed himself to be mislead because he had looked for madman lusting for vengeance and had been confronted with one who in ead expected he would 1 a con es slon att are going to talk his over grant remarked if he were not able to persuade sutton to make tits escape it might be possible to keep here until weld and trent returned he dirt not believe they would demain away until daybreak in answer rose to his feet d pushed his chair back then he tame to grant s side fool be said ly DO you think you can deceive me like that don t yon realize that I 1 ve ad years to think over this very con fere atlon and wonder what excuses id subterfuges your pitiful mean would try ft bat are you going to do grunt id his fortitude was dropping from m arcain he was coming under the a fluence ol 01 profound fear As you front sign the confession lo 10 im going to heat you until you ao get you re not going to kill me want cried there wae the look of in ohp other s eye vv aich left him eak possibly said sutton but that spends on you if you don t sign giai frees me from prison 1 shan t ther what becomes of you or me the tragedy of his situation dawned 60 in its full horror unless he ened his own commitment warrant crould be beaten bruised tortured alla finally forced to sign there dined m escape all his life bayson rant had feared physical p aln when e wag buttering ering be was a coward will t promise anything foi alleviation 0 condition he knew that a man OT s powerful physique would t nini go badly that he would at eb his signature to any document it as an ordeal by torture one of aboe punishments which be sa read of as a child Us hands closed nervously on the datt 0 the automatic in this hour of peril he thought suddenly that sut wa was an outlaw whom any man wl shoot and be certain of 0 atler ii lie bad proofs la a I 1 bumber of otters that had threatened ahlm the world would tt tor ad payson grant ared six shots into the body of the roan who had been his briend and benefactor the range was not more than six feet was not made of the material to take joy lo 10 killing the noise startled hint the look of agony on suttons face was unnerving the crash that to fill the honse when tn falling gut ton swept a little smoking table to the ground was horrible to him from the inside pocket of the dead mans coat he took the confession he glanced through it to sign such a document would be to incriminate himself irreparably he tossed it on a flickering log and watched it flare ap the paper was still flaming when hia door burst open and weld fol lowed by trent came tn this weld cried looking at the crumpled body he attacked me grant answered and I 1 had to shoot in self defense trent was kneeling at buttons side who 1 weld demanded A man who came in and attacked ine weld glanced around the room but he heard weld tell some one a murder had been committed tor the smoking table there was nothing disturbed came in and attacked you eh took me utterly at a disadvantage grant declared trent rose up from the silent mans ride lies dead ue was shot several times and lie armed to me it looks like premeditated murder said trent impressively be pulled a coverlet the bed and hid the dead man from view it was not murder grant cried 1 I tell you he came in and threatened to kill me so I 1 had to protect myself that s the man who gave you that let ter for me one night at deal beach you asked if it was a black band threat not the man trent raid shaking his head nothing like him if 1 were you swithen ln I 1 d send for the police or whatever you have here that could take charge this Is nothing less than murder ue threatened me I 1 tell you grant cried weld cut short his protestations if 1 were you he advised id keep what 1 bad to say until the sheriff comes are in a very bad position and e hall hsie to repeat what you say and that might damage case youve got to see those threaten ing letters grant said feverishly looking from one to the other they re in that coat the two men watched fain take out an envelope with an air of triumph handed it to weld kead be commanded the envelope was empty what am I 1 to read weld asked they allowed him to look into other pockets bat the threatening letters were not there sutton must have taken them he supposed he told them so get atheni trent suggested glancing at the outline under the coverlet cant hurt you now but grant shrank back the sheriff would find what he wanted let me get my lawyer on the long distance he pleaded you must ask the sheriff that weld answered grant was conscious that these two men were not regarding him in a friendly fashion instead of sympathy even approbation it was plain they were already strongly prejudiced against him there has to be an inquest he beard trent tell weld and nothing must be moved onell the authorities permit it wed better go down and telephone tor them now grant a man on each side ol 01 him was taken to the hall where the telephone was heard weld tell one a murder had been committed they 11 be here in an hour be told trent no right to say it was nur der grant protested that prejudices them against me it looked like a murder trent remarked 1 I owe you an explanation grant began and you ought to be willing to listen we shall hear it all at the trial trent said grant looked from one to the other wildly if he bad such difficulty in making these men who bad been bis friends believe how much more trouble would be not have with others the man I 1 had to shoot he sale ls the man who got ten beare tn sing sing and escaped when be had served nearly three of them he was frank sutton mrs grant was formerly hi wife everybody knows be threatened to kill me why weld snapped he thought I 1 had done ham an injury grant faltered a little had you trent demanded took ing him full in the eye 1 I was bis best friend grant returned more firmly it a my opinion trent sala that you 11 have some difficulty la making a jury believe it was necessary to empty your automatic into he heart of a mancho had neither tun knife nor other weapon with bin another thing said weld it going to be easy to explain why call for help trent and I 1 were both in the hall smoking if you bad called we should have heard apparently you made no sort of attempt to summon help juries get curious over things like that it was too sudden grant explained pla ined I 1 had no time it waa hie life or mine and he gasn wasn t armed I 1 contempt wab in welds tone how could 1 know that I 1 barent take a chance who boum after knowing the desperate sort of man he wast I 1 tell you he threatened me la open court as you can read in the newspaper report of the trial im going to call up my lawyer grant moved toward the telephone not till we have the sheriffs pep mission trent said grant felt himself forcibly propelled toward a closet where a store of logs was kept he was thrust in the key was turned on him in vain he beat half hysterically against the heavy oak door finally he sat on a pile of logs in the darkness he could not understand why he had been so treated HP would sue for damages he would expose their high handedness but these threats gave him little comfort natica would get enough of the wrong sort of notoriety now sometimes the course of justice was unaccountably perverse might not get acquitted after all he sat brooding unhappily on his troubles until his dungeon door was flung open and he was hauled blinking into the tight there were three strangers gathered about the blazing fire one wore a sheriffs badge a second was bis deputy the third man whom they addressed as doctor was a keen eyed roan of strong build and middle age tie looked at grant very shrewdly it was a glance that was not easy to meet and this Is the murderer I 1 he commented TO BE CONTINUED |