Show by MARY R P HATCH author of the bank tragedy copyright by lee and sl apara CHAPTER VI cont but was not there an ominous sig in its being found on the bank of the river so near the spot where the italians were wont to land on their excursions after liquore easily excited malicious and revenge ful ready to brandish their gilves at any provocation it was not impossible that they had set upon hamilton when intoxicated 1 llred him and sunk his body in abe river if h s surmises should be proved true then it would act be asked why hamilton should do so strange a thing as to go to the bank and yet not to his own house after wards it would be seen that he was on the way there when something hap bened to prevent something dreadful or he would have been heard from osborn after some deliberation as to what would be the wisest course called after banking hours at the house of the president mr hastings was present and received him pleas antly As soon as the oung man was alone with the president in the lat ter s room he broached the subject of his call and produced the cap as confirmatory of his statement you found it by the river banka yes sir lodged in the bushes it may have been washed ashore but I 1 think as the water has been low since may it was more likely tossed there by some one we bad a small freshet the very last of may you recollect yes so we did well it may have been washed there by the rise of the water anyway it looks ominous do not you think so mr Hastings 7 perhaps so said the president do you think hamilton started to go home from the bank went as far as the river encountered the italians presumably intoxicated and was final ly set upon by thema I 1 do said tony firmly I 1 know that he was in town the and from what I 1 know of him I 1 am convinced be would not go away again without letting his wife know of his pres ence ah tony said mr hastings gravely shaking his head the forces of his nature his motives were all unknown to us and perhaps to him self habit keeps many a man walk ing the straight path when had he been differently placed he might have been a thief from the outset look at spaulding of the Ayer shire bank in massachusetts look at caldwell of the phenix were they not sally trusted 7 they had to be to fill the positions they did now where are they both in canada where I 1 suspect hamilton Is bruce thinks 0 o too strange w aan t it about the man ashley hypnotizing the jailers said tony yes it was A man like that Is a dangerous man but hamilton had no such power that we know of said osborn he would not be 1 kely to let it be known it he had it ashley and ham ilton are identical this business at the bank here isn t his first piece of dis honesty I 1 dont believe they are identical I 1 believe that ashley is ar other lort of man who may or may not lesem ble hamilton and who by hypnotism or the milder forms of fascination compels people to do his bidding that letter of simon low s would you mind reading again that where the man presented the bowles estes noted no here it is when he entered I 1 thought he was a stranger but as soon as he grasped my hand and looked into my face I 1 saw that it was hamilton there it Is sir I 1 thought so As soon as the man grasped bis hand and looked into his face low knew that U was hamilton though at first he thought him a granger nothing strange about that ton people are frequently deceived in the same way but it it was ashley and he was such a man as he is claimed to be it would have been an easy matter to hypnotize low and make him believe what he wished why tony you frighten me where might we sot all be if there is such power afloat as thata said mr hastings aghast we know there Is sir I 1 have seen it manifested right here in grovedale Grov edale and if I 1 am not en you were present too when dr major cited his influence over the minds of his subjects yes I 1 recollect and bless me you went forward I 1 did sir and they told me I 1 made a tool of myself went around the audience offering flowers to the ladles though I 1 had nothing in my hand but my hat now it ashley possessed this power it would have been an easy matter having come into the posses sion of those notes to hnot ize low making him believe that he was ham allton himself well well tony you must own that this is all the purest conjecture but if by any strange conjunction of circumstances your idea should prove to be not without foundation bow did ashley come by the notes why did hamilton go away with mrs ashley and where is hamilton row the second question I 1 give over unanswered the other two by think ing of hamilton as in the power of ashley are explained yes and that might explain the second too but how about the italian theory must that go to the walla the two might be united some how I 1 conclude ou have thought this matter up considerably yes sir I 1 have coulden couldn t hae been abbley instead of hamilton you saw going into the bank heya no sir I 1 was too far away to be hypnotized said tony smiling and I 1 know it was hamilton himself atvell said mr hastings thought fully this Is a strange matter and perhaps we are only at the beginning of the mystery that is what I 1 think sir I 1 only wish it might end by restoring hamil ton to his home and to his place at the bank a happy honored man amen tony CHAPTER VII clews and cusp ons in pursuance of his first thought tony took the cap and went to mrs hamilton s with it in his pocket he hardly knew how to broach the mat ter but at last did so by laying it on the table and asking quietly was that mr hamilton sa with a low cry constance snatched the cap and pressed it eagerly to her was tha mr ham icons breast yes it is hs cap bis travel ing cap I 1 made it myself and he took it away with him where did find ita I 1 to md it on tl e river bank where it lay as if tossed there by the freshet or some person oh then he was drowned he was coming from the bank toward home and he fell into the river was it tery darl that night tonya I 1 don t recollect said constance piteously rather dark but consider mrs hamilton the hood of his walk ing into the a man in his senses and who never drank true then what do you think about if it is all conjecture mrs hamil ton said the young man foi bearing to speak of the presence of the ital lans as he 1 ad done to mr hast I 1 brought the cap for ou to see and 1 beep if you wish I 1 thought ou might like to know that it was probable mr hamilton started to come here that night oh es thank you tony and I 1 will keep the cap I 1 was sure vane never would go away without coming home but if ie did start and a prevented what was it that happened to hima it was something lom ething dreadful he may have been murdered and thrown into the river and constance clutched at a chair to save herself from falling let us hope that it is not so bad as that he may be in the toils of ashley somewhere who is ashley tonya young osborn saw that by his sym pathy he had been led into error el dently she knew nothing about the on entertained by bruce and others he hardly knew what was best but he decided to tell her about it this would introduce the hypnotic theory wh ch might be in some sense a comfort to her as doing away with the one po nt hitherto regarded as in controvert lie of her hu binds pre benting in person the altered notes to low and to the other bank and re ceiling the money in exchange constance 1 to his account of abbley of bruce s ons and tony s own ideas based on bruce s account of abbley s hypnotizing the jailer now if he could do that mrs ham ilton why might he not bae influx encee low to the extent of making h m believe he was the cashier of the grovedale Grov edale banka it is a bold idea tony I 1 wish I 1 could credit it fully and yet as you say it is no stranger stran gei than what he did to the jailer as alleged by mr bruce bruce then tl inks achley and vane are one and the same bruce is a stupid old curmudgeon coulden couldn t track a mouse back to his hole tony said mrs hamilton sudden ly what do oi think of the letter thrust under mr hastings apor and purporting to have been written by mr Hamilton 7 I 1 do not th he wrote it at all he certainly did not it whal we hae con lectured is true why I 1 think so I 1 will tell you he wo id neer send me a message gh another person no more than he bould have come to the bank kith out coming home mrs hamilton s confident assertion carried great weight with her listener until a doubt hurled from the regions of nowhere struck against it how asked the doubt if he went away in the company of another woman you seem to doubt it tonya KO ay appi ed for h s mind had u rallied from the shock on 1 that he had his prem aises en the belief of his complete inno cance of every charge I 1 think your reasoning is good mr hamilton Is I 1 bel eve instead of being a victimizer the victim himself of circumstances if not couspin cy tony arose to go soon and mrs hamilton said gravely I 1 shall think over what you have said and it may be I 1 shall want your assistance in following out some 1 n of investigation may I 1 count on your aid yes indeed I 1 shall be most happ to a d you if I 1 can and tony s boyish face lighted up with pleasure thank you you are the only per son in grovedale Grov edale bes des macelt who believes my husband to be innocent even uncle carter does not said mrs hamilton with emotion as she shook hands with the oung man constance thought the matter over deeply for twenty four hours and then the following letter reached young osborn friend tony I 1 have decided to ask of you the favor I 1 hinted at yester day if you can get free from your duties at the bank tor a few days I 1 should like to have you go to the police headquarters in boston gain a personal interview with the chief and have him send a suitable detective to follow out the new clue furnished by th cap found on the river bank I 1 desire a man of great astuteness for such a man is needed tell the chief and I 1 am willing to pay well for the service and of course I 1 shall burse you for the ame and money spent in my behalf very truly yours constance hamilton tony got his release without much difficulty and soon reached the police headquarters following mrs hamil ton s dl sections he asked for a detec tive of the keenest order and such a one was furnished him is the person of a small alert individual by the name of swan to him tony recount ed from beginning to end the bank mystery with its varied complications and the adverse circumstances sur rounding it at the present time to be continued |