Show the destroying ANGEL by louis joseph v f HAVE YOU ANY SAND if you should be mysteriously beaten up when you stepped into your home some night and the following day should be warned that you would be killed next trip do you think hurry to hiding or would you take defense steps and defy the mystery to do its worst supposed to be dead hugh whitaker turns up in new york after five years and hunts for the girl he married there to protect her good name during the midst of a brilliant theatrical performance he and she recognize one another across the footlights she Is known as sara law a noted actress the play stops abruptly she refuses to see him drummond his former law partner engaged marry the supposed widow Is reported a suicide whitakers friend martin ember former detective doubts the report and warns whitaker to beware of violence from a mysterious source the warning s ig whitaker Is murderously assaulted and goes to embers country place to recover strange things happen there as told in this in queer boings CHAPTER X 10 the window though they left new ork not long after in the afternoon twilight was fist into night when ember gave the its held hi held lyghts clove i path 11 c a splendid sward on cither h ind and desolate into dirk and lushing wills only the wonderful of stars imperturbable against the jolting begrudged mouth 0 air strong of the sea lie had no very definite idia of their whereabouts having neglected through sheer indru irence to question umber but he knew tint they istre drawing minute by minute closer to the atlantic after some time the car slowed to a pause ember jumped out to open ft barred gate alien returning swung the cir lato a clear but narrow w dodl ind roid mine ov n domain lie informed whitaker with a laugh now were shut of the world entirely whitaker bent forward inquiring where are we almost there Pit lence whitaker reckoned idly that they must hive a good two miles of woodland when at length the cir emerged upon n clearing and immell atela turned aside to doorway of a miniature garage the forest hemmed the clearing on three sides oh the fourth lay water A li undred ards the lighted windows of a one story structure shone pleasantly through a plantation of pine linking arms the bettor to guide his guest umber drew him toward the lights bungalow he explained sententious flourishing his free lund bir retreat paradise whitaker summed up in the simo m inner no neighbors oil I 1 aber to his left is the faced the water there s a nai establishment over there w here but w e don t bother one mother I 1 ellow bv alie name of I 1 understand the Is shut up kiil not coming down this 5 ear so much the better I 1 ve been want ing just this all summer without nil izing it welcome then to jials a loaf codgel thov entered a long and deep living roon roo n w ath w alls of peeled logs and at one end a stone fireplace wherein a wood fire blazed heartily at a comfortable for table distance from the herth stood n table bright with linen and costal covers for two hie rear wall was broken bv three doors in one of which a rotund chinaman beamed ol fober hailed him bi the title of sum fat explaining pla ining that it his nine but chiming for it the virtue of felicity my servant in town here mm ive had him for faithful and toward the ead of an excellent aln caught himself noddene lne and blinking with drowsiness ember took compassion upon bilm and led hari forthwith to a bed with the ity of a summer chap then lie lound the clock the live rattle of a b ll loused him As he he could hear the voice of 11 her in the living roo u talk ng ovar the presently there clue i nt his door and his host up ch lie cheerfully I 1 w ns afraid id lave to wake sou ills ralle vanished beneath the clouds of an ficon this Is the devil of a note ive got to kave sou the trouble that s w hit I 1 ai called upon to find ut A fread of mines in a tight place and I 1 ve got to go ard help pull him t rough he just called me up and I 1 cant refuse DOU mind biang left alone for n daiy diy cr ao certainly not only I 1 ra sorry no more thin I 1 but all try to get mck tomorrow it I 1 doat the next lay or us boon as I 1 possibly can meanwhile please consider yourself lord and master here sum rat will balte good cire of you ou want just ask him now ave got to get into waterproofs its raining like all get out but I 1 can t wait for a letup by the time was ready for breakfast his host had splashed off to ahli motor car the wind freshening and driving very respectable it miniature rollers against the bench came in deiv y RUSS alth periods of strong blowing at times the shining lancer f the enla to drive almost horizontally hitaker hl taker poked his head into the kitchen in th it am lite place from which every hint of breakfast and disappeared AS if by suin lot was religious cleaning his teeth for the third time rooming to know ledge IV hen lie biad finished whitaker put a question bum rat ay does tho wind blow do YOU know sum rat him a smile eastly he in a cheerful clucking voice 1 I vely fine three day blow at leist said youre a high spirited prophet of e 11 I 1 thank vou lie selected n book from several shelves stocked with a discriminating taste and settled himself before alio firc the day wore out before his patience did and with every indication of fulfilling the prognosis of sum fat by nightfall the wind had developed into an enthusiastic gale driving before it sheeted lain and great ragged wastes of mist and the second dv was like unto the first the third dav broke full of the spirit of the second but toward noon the rain ceased in the evening weary of the sedulous attentions of n cloud of mosquitoes 1 er sat in darkness not tired enoi enoish ih to go to bed too tired to bestir himself and seek distraction from a tormenting train of thought A pool of limpid moonlight lay e milk upon the floor beneath a window and held his dreaming twe while mem ory marshaled for his delectation a pageant of wasted scars infinitely dey and dreary la ills vision how long he sat pled with fruitless inquiry he did not guess rut later he reckoned it could not have been long after ten when he was disturbed the sound of n footfall hushed and on the veranda roused him wlter a start and almost at the same instant he became aware of a shadow that troubled the pool of moonlight the foreshortened shadow of a mans head and shoulders he sat upa tense rigid with surprise and v onder and stared at the ottto body nt piuse just outside the window the fellow was stooping to peer in had drummond hunted him down to this isolate hiding pance on hie thought he leaped up in two strides slammed out through the door f I 1 sav 1 he cried loudly but he cried apparently to empty clr alie man wis gone vanished as strangely and as quietly as lie h id appeared pausing and glaring round the clearing in complete bewilderment he detected or else a slight movement in the shadow s on the edge of the woodland instantly heedless of the risk he ran if the man were indeed drummond and it drum mond w ere indeed of the assault now four nights old broke for the spot it proved to be the cn to one of the woodland paths and n whether or no ids imagination were in fault there was nobody waiting there to be caught cut if had been thre th re he had unquestionably fled along the trail hitaker li a ange set himself to follow before he he could have covered half the distance lie emerged abruptly into the clearing of the I 1 iske place hero he pulled up for the first time alavo to the idiocy of his con duct and diverted besides by the als cov ery that his impression of alio early that the cottage was tenanted ten anted biad been w ell founded the ground floor window q shone with n dim but warm lie could see distinctly part of n lovli room rather charmingly furnished in aum mery way at its farther end u dark haired woman in u black dress with a short apron and laco cap st by lamplight evidently a maid her mistress judging by appearances pe arances wag outside on the lawn below the veranda strolling to and fro in company with a somewhat short and heavy man who wore an automobile duster and cap by contrast her white clad figure invested with the illusion of moonlight seemed unusually tall her hair was fair shining like n he addres of palest gold as she bent her biad attentive to her companion and thought to discern an unusual quality in ln a quality of charm and u of nil en rarely fo be noticed even in the most beautiful of alie women he had known of n sudden the man paused product d n with from beneath ills dustir it bried and shut the with a snap lie eald something in n brusque tone and ws answered b whit like u pleasant negi the promptly HS if annoyed hi turned and strode hastily away alsip peiring round the house alie woman watched him pi long us he was in lit biad to one side with an effect of critical then with a low laugh she crossed the aranda and entered the room at alie feame time hitaker hl taker lingering and watching in alie leant understanding 01 eun why he was doln this thin so contrary to his instincts luard the acay rumble of a motor cai on the far side of ho house and saw he swing on across the ing into hie woods in alie ihling room the woman ft as saeng lou may go luro eche bo ready for bed before long 1 es the neld rose and bovid briskly out of sight her casting abide a scarf of chinese brocade stood for a moment in deep thought her head boned the of a slender tapping lier chin charm engh posed un der stood bv it as haf loitered peep ing she wis absolutely beautiful a creature bogli and superb a matchless portrait for he galleries of his something n movement or perhaps a slight sound hid dra wn his attention from the noman lie saw the other man standing boldly in full moonlight all ills attention CT on the brilliant picture framed by the vando lie us unquestionably A tt M he sat up tense rigid with surprise without knowledge of the nearness of the other of whitaker in the shad aws and though his back aa to the moon and his face further shadowed by n id cap whitaker was absolutely sure of the man he was certainly without pause for thought he sprang toward him in n guarded bolce utter ing his came drummond 1 dut the felloe proud too alert and quick for him altal or s hands closed on noth ing more than thin at the same time he received a blow upon ills shoulder ismert and forcible enough to stagger him mhd evoke an in voluntary olun tary grunt of pain and before he could regain his balance the fellow was thrashing noisily awny through the woodland forthwith ho struck off and blun deral senselessly through alie forest misled by its elusive phantasmagoria until at length he did but duplicate aln earlier folly he gave up the chase in disgust and slowly maddt his way back to the bungalow what s the connection between whitaker drummond and the mysterious girl Is more than one person eager to see whitaker dead TO BE |