OCR Text |
Show L f Sr LADY 1 GERALDINE BONNER CHAPTER X Continued 14 glie too was silent for a snare, Killed by the attack of a sudden emntation. She wanted to be close , :o Mm again, break down tlie barriers ind extend lier anna to him for fuc-nr fuc-nr and support. The desire to tell him gripped her, undermined her will like a disintegrating drug. She did nut dare to broach it suddenly, sense euousli remained In her to go careful-i careful-i iy, stop by step. "I wonder if any one horp does something and is keeping !. bad;." "It rmtP be too frightened lo speak." n gave her an uneasy side glance. "Are you imagining that you know ( Eonietliing you' ought to tell?" "No, oil no. But I keep thinking of It, all kinds of possibilities. Now. you, If you had suspicions of some on'1?" lie looked at the grass at Ills feet In harassed survey of his obligation: ' "I'm the only person here they know nnyllilng about,, that they care to rust. It's a devilish position, trying to liide what yon think, trying to state only what you know, fairly, without personal feeling or prejudice. But it's up to me to do It till we round up ' something. I don't want to get anybody any-body in wrong, but, good lord, if 1 knew any one was didn't guess, was Hire of it I'd give the Information up .lust as quick as I could get across in that library." i Her hope was over and she saw nmv how wild it had been. With a heart like stone she sat by him, feel-ln(t feel-ln(t the contact of bis body, his arm pressed against her sMt, knowing herself her-self us far removed from his comfort j mid help as though an ocean lay be-I be-I twoen them. I Suddenly the doorway of the living room sprung into the dimness, an il-' il-' liiiniund square, and Mrs. I'inkney was f, visible moving about lighting the lumps. 11 "No moon tonight," said Bnssett. f nnd getting up, drew her to her feet. Tome, let's go In. It's too chilly for ' 1 you out here." ', It was not till they had gathered nmnil the supper table that Rawson's nhsence was revealed. Miss Pinkuey, omnia? In with the teapot, saw the ; t ptnpty chair and frowned. "Is Mr. Rawson coming to his supper?" sup-per?" she remarked with an acid note. "Mr. Uawxon's away on business," Williams answered. "You ean keep' something for him." No more was said nnd the meal pro- ' rceiled on its dismal way. After supper i'.assett and Williams retired to the library. They were surprised sur-prised nnd intriguod by the length of Kuwsoii's absence. Williams won-'leivil won-'leivil If he could have come on any- . Ihiiig about Joe Tracy; hut I'assetr ' kl.'ink the suggestion off with n shrug. He could check up on .Toe in half an li"ur; besides, there was nothing to he looked for in that line. His conli-'lenep conli-'lenep was not assumed, his mind was untroubled by any fears about Joe. That something hud turned up which '"Wit head the chase in a new dinv-li"ii dinv-li"ii was so encouraging a thought, "'it. by contrast to his sensations for Ihe hist twenty-four hours, be felt a!- "t cheerful. In the relaxation of the strain he ) conscious of fatigue for the tirst ":a lie threw himself on the sofa '"el in n moment had sunk iutc the tl,eii deathlike sleep of exhaustion, "ihimiis, silting near the telephone nodded, his big body sagged lo-H'tlier lo-H'tlier hi the cluiir his chin embedded I ' his chest. Tlie group iu tj living room, viewed the uuinfoniied spectator, might '"ve hwu the usual evening gathering an informal (.nil island house parly, "'ey made u deceptively quiet ik- , lui'e. pleasant, agiceable looking poo- I l''e testing in rei-osel'ul attitudes after day In the opwi nlr. Stokes was the "' ineuilKT of tlie company wIiom: mier unrest broke out in uioveoient. "'' Paced back and tonb before I ho ''"'Place, ,,,ii0k Uiug strides over the . ',;ir rug to ti. mU ,... iimi b:u.k Hwx- " or twice the edge of the r"s- caught his toe and he kicked li "'" " his way wlili a violent ang.y of his ,,ot ull"U the nilmites ticked away and l"i "lie came to ..xerlook or overhear, I J1";""'i "'''--le of talk be;:;n to . " .Qwstioh and Hiiswer crossed. "jl"acd Ituerrupted by wariii.'.g ''"ks t me hall door. ."l,l-:v had slui Kl. t()ula ho ,lf.(,r? ''at .j-.ntioii l;,y upper:imsi In " ,r ndials was shown by t!. I 'P' C; response to the tr-t, luari.iuivd ,''' :i;e, t!lc cMH!.ehens!..u of se;i- l""i,i;t''u'1 "Lli' y in tho ojs to poim liieir niean- 'y . !:'Ws',n "iwt have got hn'.d of some ' l"',";:'l!,"K -o atieM "ii a r.-,v -i-je. ', n s; i- u! ,i , ice.s, sn.-tr.lpos. i - us-.vi f;;,uasl.0i pr!,;, J,,.'!,"'11 ":"'e h"('u notl.iiti.' Pl.!ne .. '"" sl;"ldy a trip l. the eua-T "' "" ,,U!luo.ss eoui'ctted with tlie case. At this Anne crept into the circle of lamplight, nodding an avid agreement, stokes coining forward caught jiis foot in the edge of the bear rug, stumbled and broke into a i-sireaw of curses. Miss Pinkncy, who thought oaths anywhere reprehensible and on Gull island profanation, grimly bade him lift his feet. He glared a't her, more curses imminent, and Flora groaned, clutching the arms of her chair and rolling her eyes upward. "I-"or God's sake don't mind anything any-thing anybody says," Implored Mrs. , Cornell, "This is u murder case, not a social function," They calmed down and presently, with no more ideas to exchange, grew silent, listening for the returning launch. The significance of what they awaited grew with the minutes till the coming of tiie launch seemed an event of fearful import upon which their fates hung. The entrance of Williams shook them from their terrors. If his face told them nothing, his manner was kindly gruff they must be tired, best thing for them to go to bed. As they rose and trailed limply to tlie doors be beckoned Shine to remain. He would want him later, had a job for him, so he'd better go now and get some sleep. Williams went back to the library, where Bassett still slept He looked at bis watch a quarter to nine. He couldn't understand it what could Kuwson have got hold of on the mainland main-land when It was as plain as printing Mrs. Stokes was tlie guilty party. He started and moved to tlie window ; the throbbing beat of an engine came through the silence, a low spark of light was advancing from tiie opposite oppo-site shore. " When he heard the boat grinding against the wharf he waked Bassett. "Buwson's coining. And it's nearly nine." Kawson came In by tlie window, his eyes blinking In tlie room's brightness. He tried to look stern but satisfaction shone in his eyes and' lit bis long lantern-jawed face. Lie was like the bearer of good tidings who would have worn the high smile of triumph if a smile were fitting. "Well," said Williams, "where tlie devil have you been?" "Down the coast, twenty-five miles, on roads that would have put anything any-thing but a tlivver out of commission." commis-sion." "You got something?" "I did this time. We're on the right track now if I'm not much mistaken." mis-taken." Williams gave an incredulous grunt. He did not. believe in new material and in advance placed himself in stubborn stub-born opposition: "What did you go down the coast for?" "To find a man called Gabriel Harvey." Har-vey." Bassett, about to sit down, stopped in surprise: "Gabriel Harvey? That's ourlauncb-nian." ourlauncb-nian." "Exactly. Aim I had a devil of a lime to find mm. Down In n place called White lieacb, bidden awi.-y with friends m a shack without a telephone." tele-phone." "But why" "I'll tell you. 1 went over there to look into Joe Tracy's moiemenU. 1 couldn't llnd anyone who'd seen hint come ashore and learned that the man Gabriel who look him over, bad gone to this place White ISeach for deep-sea deep-sea 1'ishii.g. Not being aWe to get liold of hiui 1 vent to tlie station to see if I could gather ur anything. And 1 did. The bag-oige man told mo Gabriel had been there before be left for White Beach leaving a suitcase and fishing ril to be held till Tracy called for them. They're there now. 1 saw them." WIMIaras said nothing, not ready with argument till more was divulged. Bassett. In blans amazement, ejaculated ejac-ulated : "Why, that's the most eitraordinarv thin;" "Wait. Mr. Easett," flaw-son raiser a long commanding bfipd. "I hung round till the evening train came in: that's the train Tracy was to take. I saw tlie conductor it's a sina:i branch road and travel is light at that hour and lie remembered his passengers, passen-gers, two women and a child. Those were the only people who left .Hay-worth .Hay-worth on the seven-fifteen, the lasi evening train. I went buck to the village vil-lage and made inquiries. Tracy had hired no vehicle at the garage or livery liv-ery stable, nor had be been seen anywhere any-where about the place. Then 1 got -i car and went to While Beach. I was some time locating the old chap, but I finally ran him down. He said b bad not taken Tracy across to the mainland last night" Haw-son dropped buck in his chair. In answer to Bassett's expression he nodded soberly : "i'es. It's a pretty queer business. Gabriel said he'd told the boy to be on, time; made it clear to him that- he wouldn't wait. When Tracy was not on the wharf be went to the house to look for him. saw his bag and fishing-rod in the doorway anil took them. No one was about and be left not sorry, 1 inferred from what he said, to give 'the young cub,' as he called him, a lesson." Bassett got up : "But it's Incomprehensible," he exclaimed. ex-claimed. "I can't make head nor tail of it. No one ever questioned thai he'd gone." "No one said they'd seen him go but his sister." came from Williams. Bnssett wheeled on him : "Yes, you asked her. Didn't she say she'd seen hirh?" "No." Bawson's voice was dryly quiet. "I've thought of that What she said was that he went. In all fairness to her she probably thought so took it for granted, as you all did that he'd gone." "But why? What's the meaning of it? If he'd missed the boat he'd have turned up. he'd be here now." "Oh, he didn't miss the boat," said Rawson. "Well, then, what was he doing? What made him 'stay?" In the turmoil tur-moil of his amazement, this sodden precipitation of a new mystery, Bassett Bas-sett had not yet grasped the sinister trend of the other's thoughts. "Why," said P.awson slowly, "he might have been staying for a purpose." pur-pose." "What purpose?" "Can't you imagine a purpose, Mr Bassett?" "Good God, you don't mean to say you think he did it?" "I'm not saying anything yet. But I'd like you to tell me how you explain It. He says he's going, leads everyone every-one to think he's going, makes all the preparations for his departure, then secretly, without divulging any change of plans, doesn't go. Aren't those actions ac-tions well to put it mildly questionable? question-able? And note this. He had cause for anger against Miss Saunders she'd given him away to you and you yourself have told us that he had an ungovernable temper." "He had a devilish temper and a d d mean disposition and 1 make uo doubt he was blazing mad with her. But that he'd go to work to kill her in cold blood, lay in wait for her uo you can't mae me think that." "Same here," s-aid Williams. "Yon ain't got enough provocation. With Mrs. Stokes you have a woman Jealous Jeal-ous of her husband." "And you've got a num." retorted Kawson, "moved by one of the passions pas-sions that lead oftenest to murder revenge." "Revenger- ectioed Williams. "Miss Saunders- accusation, if tr.ue and I think It was would ruin him in his profession. He learned what she'd done to Mm just before he was due to leave." A chill passed through Bassett re-venae re-venae was a word that lined Joe. But be cast the thought oat, moving away from tlie desk and exclaiming with angry repudiation : "Oh, It's unthinkable, preposterous." "What but nil evil intention could have made him act as he did?" "Any number of things. It may be a prank a practical joke we'll get an explanation of later. He may have Invented the story of his fishing trip and gone off with a girl." "Had he a girl?" "1 don't know also he may have done something dishonest, got In wrong some way be was capable of it, I'm not eef.-nding him and been frightened and lit out." (TO HE CON-TINTED.) |