Show X 16 4 1 lee SYNOPSIS lawrence blakeley lawyer goes to with the forged notes in the 11 ronson case to net get the deposition of 0 john ohn gilmore millionaire A lady re duets Illa clakeley Rl akeley keler to buy her ner a pullman tic tie et he tie N crivea ves her lower 11 and retains lower 10 lie ile finds A drunken man in lower 10 and retires in lower he ile awakens in lower 7 and finds his hl clothes and bag missing the man in lower 10 la Is found murdered clr V evidence points to b both 0 t blakeley la heley and the man who stole his h 1 clothes tile the train Is 1 wrecked and blake ley la is rescued from a burning car by a girl in blue ills ann arm la in broken the girl proves to be s allson alison V aest est hla his partner partners B ge sweetheart etheart Dla DIal heley teley returns home and ads he la is under surveillance moving pictures bf vf the train taken just before ane the wreck reveal to Il blakeley lakeley a man leaping from the train with his investigation proves proven that the man a name Is sullivan mrs conway tha the woman for or whom blakeley bought a pullman ticket trips rips to make a bargain with him tor for the forged notes not knowing that they are missing B D akeley and an amateur detective in esti gate the home ot of Seal livan s 1 oster ka irom 1101 a servant 1 l blakeley Bla koley learns i that allson alison west had been there on a malt isit and sullivan had been lie lia to her ber sull 1 van Is the husband of a daugh ter of 0 the murdered man blakelee Blak Blake elev levs s house la in ransacked by the police 1 lie learns that the affair between allson ten a and n ad ha his Is off allson tells blakeley akeley Pl about the attention paid her by sullivan I 1 CHAPTER continued married tarried bhe she said finally in a email mall voice I 1 1 why I 1 don t think it la Is possible la Is it I 1 I 1 was on my way to baltimore to marry him myself when the wreck reek v came dut but you said abu don dont t care for him I 1 I 1 protested my heavy jascu line mind unable to jump the gaps in ler her story and then without the slightest warning I 1 realized that she was crying she shook off my hand band and fumbled for her handkerchief and falling failing to find it she accepted the one I 1 thrust into her wet fingers then little by little she told me from the handkerchief a sordid story of a motor trip in the mountains with out mrs curtis of a lost road and a broken car and a rainy night ft hen they she and sullivan tramped eter nally and did not get home and of mrs curtis when they got home at dawn suddenly grown conventional and deeply shocked of 0 her own proud balf half disdainful consent to oake make po possible sible the hackneyed corn com promising situation by marrying the rascal and then of hla his disappearance from the train it was so terrible to r her such a a heaven sent relief to me t in spite of my rage against sullivan that I 1 laughed aloud at which she looked at me over the handkerchief I 1 know its it s tunny funny she said with a catch in her breath when I 1 think that I 1 nearly married a murderer and dian t 1 I cry for sheer joy then she burled buried her face and cried agian please don t I 1 protested lly fly 1 I wont be responsible it you keep on crying like that I 1 may tor for get that I 1 have a capital charge hang ing over my head and that I 1 may be arrested at any moment that brought her out of the hand kerchief at once 1 I I meant to bo be so helpful she said I 1 and I 1 ve thought of nothing but myself I 1 there were some things I 1 meant to tell you if jennie was what you say then I 1 un tin der stand why she came to me just before I 1 left she had been packing my things nd she must have seen what condition I 1 was in for she shet cime came over to me when I 1 was getting my wraps oa on to leave and said dont don t do it miss west I 1 beg you wont do it you 11 be sorry ever after and just then mrs curtis came in and jennie slipped out I that was as all 0 a o As we ne went vent through the sta tion the telegraph operator gave har hat mr sullivan a message he ile read it op the platform and it excited him terribly he ile took his sister aside and they talked together he ile was white with either tear fear or anger I 1 dont don t know then when we boarded the train a woman in black with beautiful hair who was standing on the car platform touched him on the arm and then drew back he ile looked at her and glanced away again but she reeled as it if he had struck her then what the situation was growing clearer mrs airs curtis and I 1 bad had the drawing room I 1 had a dreadful night just sleeping Ble blittle a little now and then I 1 saw hla his cigarette case in your hand I 1 had given it to him you wore his clothes the murder was discovered and you were ere accused of itt what could I 1 do and then afterward when I 1 saw him asleep at the farm house 1 I 1 I was panic stricken I 1 locked him in and ran I 1 dian t know why he did it but be he bad had killed a PP s 0 man some one was wait calling allson alison through a megaphone from the veran da it sounded like sam allee all ee he be called all eel I 1 in going to have come game anchovies on toast all eel neither of ua us heard I 1 wonder I 1 reflected if you would be willing to repeat a part of that story just from the telegram on to a couple of detectives say on monday it if you would tell that and how ilow the end of your necklace got into the oeal skin bag my necklace she repeated but it isn lent t mine I 1 picked it up in the car all eel ba agate 1 I see you yeu down there I 1 m a making a julep I 1 TI f 4 r A J sv s 4 1 MAN z ly MAR X RORT ROBERTS act CIRCULARS n illustrations b h y Cs 1 P TT r 4 E az b 1909 ay DF DOBBS MpR nriL company a 3 0 1 W 11 1 I 1 tl 4 ilk 11 ff 4 E for or at half after five johnson and I 1 were on our way through the dust to the station three miles away allson alison turned and called through her bands coming in a moment sam she said and rose I 1 it must be very late sam la is home we would better go back to the house don V t I 1 begged her anchovies and juleps and sam will go on for ever and I 1 have you such a little time I 1 suppose I 1 am only one of a dozen or so but you are the only girl in the world you know I 1 love you don t you dear sam was whistling an irritating bird call over and over she pursed her red lips and answered him in kind it was more than I 1 could endure sam or no sam I 1 said firmly I 1 am tin going to kiss youl you but sam a voice camo came strident through the megaphone be good ou two he bellowed ive got the binoculars and so under fire we walked sedately back to tb the e house my aly pulses were throbbing the little swish ot of her dress beside me on the grass was pain and ecstasy I 1 had but to put out my hand to touch her aim I 1 dared not sam armed with a megaphone and field glasses bent over the rail and watched us with gleeful malignity home early arent you allson alison called when we reached the steps I 1 led a club when my partner bad doubled no trumps and she fainted damn the heart convention he said cheerfully the others are not here yet three hours later I 1 went up to bed I 1 bad had not been seen allson alison alone again the noise was at its height below and I 1 glanced down into the garden still bright in the moonlight leaning against a tree and staring interested ly into the billiard room was john eon son CHAPTER in the dining room that was saturday night two weeks after tae ane wreck the previous five days had been full of swift following events the woman in the bouse house next door the picture in the theater of a man about to leap from the doomed train the dinner at the dallass Dal laes and richey s discovery that allson alison was the girl in the case in quick blon elon bad had come our visit to the carter place the finding of the rest of the telegram my seeing allson alison there and the strange interview with mrs airs con way the cresson trip stood out in my memory for its seriocomic serio comic horrors and its one real thrill then the dis covery by the police of at the sealskin bag and the bit of chain hotchkiss producing triumphantly stuart tor for sul livan and his subsequent discomfiture ift mcknight Knight at the station with altson alison and later the thel confession that he was out of the running and yet when I 1 thought it all over the entire week and its events were two sides of at a triangle that was narrowing rapidly to an apex a point and the eald said apex was at that moment in the drive below my window resting bis his long legs by sitting on a carriage block and smoking a pipe that made the night hideous the sense of at the ridiculous la to kery ery close to tho the tense sense of tragedy I 1 opened my screen and whistled and johnson looked up and grinned we said noth ing I 1 held up a handful of cigars be extended his bat hat and when I 1 finally went to sleep it was woe to a soothing breexe brene that wa arted in salt air aad mad a faint aroma of good tobacco I 1 was thoroughly tired but I 1 slept restless ly 17 dreaming of two detectives with pittsburg var warrants rants being held up by hotchkiss at the point of a splint while allson alison fastened their hands with a chain that was broken and much too short I 1 was roused about dawn by a light rap at the door and open ing it I 1 found forbes in a pair of trousers and a pajama coat he ile was as pleasant as most fleshy people are when hen they have to get up at night and he said the telephone had been ringing for an hour and he know why somebody else in the blank ety blank house have beard it he ile get to sleep until noon As he was palpably asleep on his feet I 1 left him grumbling and went to the telephone it proved to be richey who had found me by the simple expedient of tracing at allson I 1 son and he was jubilant t you 11 II have to come back he said got a railroad schedule there I 1 don t sleep with one in my pocket I 1 ed but it if YOUR you 11 hold the line call out the window to johnson hes iles probably got one johnson johnso nl I 1 I 1 could hear the laugh with which AI cKnight comprehended the situation he ile was still chuckling when hen I 1 camo came back train to richmond at 6 30 a UL I 1 said what time Is it now four listen lollie we ve got him do you be heir beir ir through the worn wom an at baltimore then the other woman the lady of the restaurant he was obviously avoiding names she Is playing our cards for us no I 1 don t know why and I 1 don t care but you be at the incubator tonight to night at eight 0 clock it if you cant can t shake johnson bring him bless him to this day I 1 believe the sam for bases have not recovered from the surprise of my unexpected arrival my one appearance at dinner in granger a clothes and the note on my dresser which informed them the next morn ing that I 1 had folded my tents like the arabs and silently stolen away for at half after five live johnson and 1 I the former as as ever were on our way through the dust to the station three miles away and by four that afternoon we were in washing ton the journey bad had been dunevent ful johnson relaxed under the in fluence of my tobacco and spoke at some length on the latest improvements in gallows dilating on the ab of cutting out the former free passes to see the acala in operation I 1 remember too that ho mentioned the curious anomaly that permits a man about to be hanged banged to eat a hearty meal meat I 1 did not enjoy my din ner net that n night 9 t before we got into washington I 1 had bad made an arrangement with john son to surrender myself at two the following afternoon also I 1 had wired to allson alison asking her if she would car tar ry out the contract she bad had made the detective saw me home and left me there mrs clopton received me with dig raffled reserve the very tone in which she asked me when I 1 would dine told me that something was now what Is it mrs bits clopton 7 I 1 dema demanded finally when she bad in formed me in a patient and fating tone that she felt worn out and thought ehe she needed a rest when I 1 lived with mr justice springer she began her mend T rr r r I 1 e I 1 ing basket in her hands it was an orderly well conducted household you can ask any ot at the neighbors meals were cooked and what a more they were eaten there was none of this here one day and gone the next business nonsense I 1 observed you your rt tired that a all airs clopton and I 1 wish you would go out I 1 want tc te bathe that s not all she said with dig anity from the doorway I 1 womer warner coming and going here women whom shoes I 1 am not fit I 1 mean women who are not fit to touch my shoes coming here as insolent as you please and asking for ou good he heavens avenal I 1 exclaimed what did you tell them her whichever it was told her you were sick in a hos has pital and goulda wouldn t be out for a beir I 1 she said triumphantly and when she said she thought shed come in and watt wait for you I 1 slammed the door on her what time was she here late last night and she had a light haired man across the street II 11 she thought I 1 dlan t see him she don t know me then she closed the door and left me to my bath and my reflections at five minutes before eight I 1 waa was at the incubator where I 1 found hatch liss and mcknight they were bend ing over a table on which lay at me knights total armament a pair ol 01 pistols an elephant gun and an old cavalry saber draw up a chair and help yourself yo ursell to pie be he said pointing to the arsenal this la Is for the benefit ol 01 our friend hotchkiss here who saya says he Is email small and fond ot of life hotchkiss who had been trying tc get the wrong end of a cartridge into the barrel of one of the revolvers straightened himself and mopped his face 0 we have desperate people to ban die he said pompously I 1 and w e may need desperate means hotchkiss Is like the small boy whose one ambition was to have bave people grow ashen and tremble at the mention of his name McKnight jibed but they were serious enough both of them under it all and when they bad had told me what they planned I 1 was serious too youre you re compounding a felony ow I 1 remonstrated when they had explain ed 1 I im in not eager to be locked away but by jove to offer her the stolen notes in exchange for sulli sull danl van we haven t got either of them you know AI cKnight remonstrated and we won t have it we dont start come along ildo to 0 o hotchkiss the plan was simplicity itself according to hotchkiss sullivan was to meet bronson at mrs airs conway s apartment at 8 30 that night with the notes he ile was to be paid there and the pa pers destroyed but just before that interesting finale mcknight ended we will walk in take me ne notes grab sullivan and give the police a jolt that will put them out of the count I 1 suppose not one ot at us slewing around corners in the machine that night had bad the faintest doubt that we wore were on the right track or that fate scurvy enough before was playing into our hands at last little hotch hatch kiss was in a state of fever he al at twitched and examined the revolver and a tear fear that the two moments might be synchronous kept me uneasy he ile produced and dilated on the scrap of pillow slip from the wreck and showed me the stiletto with its point in cotton batting tor for safekeeping and in the intervals he implored richey not to make such fine calculations at the corners we were all grave enough and very quiet however when we reached the large building where mrs conway had her apartment mcknight left the power on in case we might want to make a quick getaway get away and hotch hatch kiss gave a final look at the revolver I 1 bad had no weapon somehow it all seemed melodramatic to the verge of farce in the doorway hotchkiss was a half dozen feet ahead richey tell fell back beside me he ile dropped his affectation of gayety gaiety and I 1 thought he looked tired same old sam I 1 suppose he |