Show ROBERTA mner of 4 THE illustrations b 1 I G ahr b by 7 bobba mp r p clr CC rr r r I 1 JI 11 I 1 SYNOPSIS lawrence dial eley lawyer goes to pittsburg with the forged notes in the bronson ca e to get the deposition ot of fohn G imore mil bonaire in tl ti e latter a ho e he Is attracted by the picture ot of a airl whom A hom gilmore explains is his grand daggi ter allson alison west he lie says I 1 er ta fa ther s a rascal and a friend ot of the forg er A lady requests blakeley to buy her a pullman tie et lie gives her lower and retains lower ten he finds a man in a drunken stupor in lower ten and goes to bed in lower nine he ile awa I 1 L ens 1 l 1 a in lower seven and finds that his hag a g and clothes are missing the anin in lower ten Is found murdered his ills name it develops dei Is sinon sl non harington harr agton tl tipa le e man who d ds disappeared sapp eared with bake ake les 4 clothes Is suspected blakeley be romes interested in a girl in blue cir rum evidence places blakeley un tier iu p con on ot of in ader tl TI a e train Is v wrecked reeked blakeley Is rescued from the burning car by the girl in blue ills arm Is brol en together they go to the car ter farm for I 1 rea fast the girl proves to bo be alison west his partner partners s sweet heart beart CHAPTER X miss west bests a request the surprising change in her held n e leel less all the animation of the breakfast table was gone there was no hint of the response with which aich before she had met my non aen sallies she stood there white lipped unsmiling staring down the dusty road one hand was clench pd ed tight ever some small object her eye dropped to it from the distant roid toad and then closed with a quick indrawn breath her tier color came back slowly what ever had caused the change she said nothing she was anxious to leave at once almost impatient over my deliberate lt masculine way of getting my things together afterward I 1 recalled thra I 1 I 1 ad wanted to explore the barn lr a horse hore and some sort of a ve hile hi le to take us to the trolley and that st file e had refused to allow me to look I 1 remembered many things thing later that might have helped me and did not inot at the time I 1 was only corn com plemely bewildered save the wreck tte tl c responsibility tor for which lay be lueen providence and the engineer of I 1 tie I 1 e second section all the events of th that t barange morning were ere logically connected they came from one cause and tended unerringly to one end out but the cause was burled buried the end not yet in view not until we had left the house nell behind did the girls face relax its tense lines I 1 was watching her anore closely than I 1 had realized tor for when we had gone a little way along the road she turned to me almost pet please don t t stare so at me he said to my sudden contusion confusion I 1 know the hat bat Is dreadful green al makes me look ghastly perhaps it was the green I 1 was unaccountably relieved D do 0 you y ou know a few minutes ago you looked almost pallid to met me she glanced at me quickly but I 1 was gazing ahead we were out of sight of the ho hoise ise now and with every step away from it the girl was obviously relieved whatever she held in fn her hand she never glanced at it but a sho was conscious of it every sec see ond slie she seemed to come to a decision about it while we were still in eight right of the gate tor for she murmured something oom flom ething and turned back alone go ing swiftly her feet stirring up small puffs of dast dust at every step she fas bened something to the gate post I 1 could see the nervous haste with which she worked when she joined me again it was without explanation hut but the clenched fingers were tree free now dow and while she looked tired and norn a ora the strain had visibly relaxed we walked along slowly in the gen eril eral direction of the suburban trolley line once a man with an empty wagon offered us a lift but after a glance at the vehicle I 1 declined the ends of the bone think they are castanets as it Js s I 1 explained but the lady tl TI e young lady however declined end and a went on together once when the trolley line was mas in sight she got a pebble in her low shoe and we sat down binder under a tree until she found the cause of the trouble 1 I 1 I don t know what I 1 should have done without you I 1 blundered moral support and and ard vl that do ou know my first con rious thought after the wreck was ut of relief that you had not been hurt she was sitting beside me where a big chestnut tree shaded the road and I 1 surprised a look of misery on her face that certainly my words had not apen meant to produce and ray my first thought she said slowly was regret that 1 I that I 1 hadn haan t been obliterated blown out like a candle please don t look like that I 1 am only talking rut but her lips were trembling and be cause the little shams of society are forgotten at times like this I 1 leaned over and patted her hand I 1 ghaly ahr ethcie te it rested on the grass beside me you must not say those things I 1 ox postulated perhaps after all your friends I 1 had no friends on the train her tier voice was hard again her tone final she drew her hand from under mine not quickly but decisively A ci ct was in c coming toward u III nit W 1 1 A I may not have another chance to thank you the he steel finger of civilization of propriety of it visiting cards and formal in productions was beckoning us in miss west put on her shoe we said little on the car the few passengers stared at us frankly and discussed the wreck emphasizing its horrors the girl did not seem to hear once she turned to me with the quick unexpected movement that was one of her charms I 1 do not wish my mother to I 1 was as in the accident she said will you please not tell richey about hav ing met mea I 1 gave my promise of course again when we were almost into baltimore she asked to examine the gun metal cigarette case and sat silent with it in her hands while I 1 told of the early mornings events on thelOn the I 1 ontario tarlo so you see I 1 finished this grip everything I 1 have on belongs to a tel fel low named sullivan he probably left the train before the wreck perhaps just after the murder and so you think he committed the the crimea her eyes were on the cigarette case naturally I 1 said A man doesn doean t jump off a pullman car in the middle of the night in another man a clothes unless he Is trying to get away from something besides the dirk there were the stains that you saw why I 1 have the murdered mans pocket book in this valise at my feet what dees does that look likel I 1 colored when I 1 saw the ghost of a smile hovering around the corners of her mouth that is I 1 finished it you care to believe that I 1 am in the sa sustaining staining chain of her small gold bag gave way just then she did not notice it I 1 picked it up and slid the trinket into my pocket for safekeeping where I 1 promptly forgot it afterwards I 1 wish d I 1 had let it lie un noticed on the floor of that dirty little suburban car and even now when I 1 see a d woman carelessly dangling a similar feminine trinket I 1 shudder in voluntarily there comes back to me the memory of a girl girls s puzzled eyes under the brim of a flopping hat the haunting suspicion of the sleepless nights that followed just then I 1 was determined that my companion should not stray back to the wreck and to that end I 1 was determinedly facetious do you know that it Is sunday she asked suddenly and that we are actually 77 99 never mind that I 1 retorted all baltimore is divided on sunday into three parts those who rise and go to chuich church those who rise up and read the newspapers and those who ho don t rise up the first are somewhere be tween the creed and the sermon and we need not worry about the other you treat me like a child she said almost pettishly dont don t try so hard to be cheerful it it is almost ghast ly after that I 1 subsided like a pricked balloon and the remainder of the ride was made in silence the information that she would go to friends in the city m was as a shock it meant an earlier separation than I 1 had planned for but my arm was beginning again in putting her into a cab I 1 struck it and gritted my teeth with the pain it wis probably pio plo bably for that reason that I 1 forgot the gold bag she leaned forward and held out her hand I 1 may not have another chance to thank yoi yot she said and I 1 think I 1 would better not try any I 1 low ow I 1 cannot tell you how grateful I 1 am I 1 muttered something about the gratitude being mine owing to the knock I 1 was seeing two cabs and two girls were holding out tw hands remember they were both eay say ing you have never met me mr blakeley and it if you ever hear bear any thing about me that Is not pleasant I 1 want you to think the best you can of me will yo you the two girls were one now with little flashes of white light playing all around 1 7 1 im in afraid that I 1 shall think too well for my own good I 1 said sold unsteadily and the cab drove on CHAPTER XI the name of sullivan I 1 had my arm done up temporarily in baltimore Dalt iMore and took the next train home I 1 was pretty tar far gone when I 1 stumbled out of a cab almost into the so scandalized arms of mrs clopton in 15 minutes I 1 was in bed with that good woman piling on blankets and blistering me in unprotected places with hot water bottles and in an hour I 1 had had a whiff ot of chloroform and dr williams had set the broken bone I 1 dropped asleep then waking in the late twilight to a realization that I 1 was at home again without the pa pers that meant conviction for andy bronson with a charge ot of murder hanging over my head and with something more than an impression of the girl my best friend was in love with a girl moreover who was almost as great an enigma as the crime itself and I 1 in no hand at guessing rid dies I 1 groaned halt half aloud mrs clopton came over promptly and put a cold cloth on my forehead euphemia Euph emla she said to some one outside the door telephone the doc doe tor that he is still rambling but that he has switched from green ribbons to riddles there theres s nothing the matter with me mrs clopton I 1 rebelled I 1 imas was only thinking out loud confound that cloth its trickling all over me 1 I gave it a fling and heard it land with a soggy thud on the floor thinking out loud Is delirium mrs clopton said imperturbably A fresh cloth euphemia Euph emla this time she held it on with a firm pressure that I 1 was too weak to re I 1 expostulated feebly that I 1 was drowning which she also laid to my mental exaltation and then I 1 finally dropped into a damp sleep it was probably midnight when I 1 roused again I 1 had been dreaming of the wreck and it was inexpressibly corn com forting to feel the stability of my bed and to realize the equal stability of mrs b lopton who sat fully attired by the night light reading science and health does that book say anything about opening the windows on a hot night I 1 suggested when I 1 had got my bear ings she put it down immediately and came over to me we if there is one time v hen mrs clopton is chastened ind and it is the only one it is when she reads science and health I 1 don t like to open the shutters mr lawrence she explained not since the n aou ou went away but pressed further she infused to explain the doctor said you were not to be excited she persisted here a yo ir beef tea not a drop until you tell me I 1 sj sa d grimly besides you know tery iery 11 there s nothing the matter with 4 9 me this arm of mine Is only a fal 1 belief I 1 sat up gingerly now why don t t 3 sou ou open that aindow sirs mrs clopton succumbed because 4 there are queer goings on in that house next door she said it if you will take the beef tea mr lawrence I 1 will tell you the queer goings on however proved to be slightly disappointing it seemed that after I 1 left on friday night a light was seen flitting fitfully through the empty house next door Euph euphemia emla had seen it first and called mrs clopton together they had watched it breathlessly until it disappeared on the lower floor you should have been a writer of ghost stories I 1 said giving my pil lows a thump and so it was tit ting flit fully that s what it was doing she reiterated fitting flit fully I 1 mean flit ting fitfully how you do throw one out mr lawrence I 1 and what s more it came again I 1 oh come now mrs clopton I 1 objected ghosts are like 1 gnon ng they never a rike twice in the same night that is only worth half a cup of beef tea lou may ask euphemia Euph emla she retorted with dignity not more than an hour after alter there was a light there again we saw it through the chinks at of the shutters only this time it began at the lower floor and climbed you to tell ghost stories at bight night came mcknight a voice from the doorway really mis clopton I 1 im ni amazed at you you old duffer I 1 ve got to thank you tor for the worst day of my life mrs clopton gulped then really ing that the old duffer was meant tor for me she took her empty cup and went out muttering the pirate a s crazy about me lan I 1 she mcknight said to the closing door then he swung around and held out his hand by jove he said I 1 ive ve been lay ing you out all day lilies on an the door bell black gloves everything it if you had had the sense of a mosquito in a snowstorm you would have telephoned be me i I 1 never even thought of it I 1 was filled with remorse upon my word rich I 1 hadrit an idea beyond getting an anay ay from that place it if you had seen what I 1 saw mcknight stopped me seen it aby 14 hy you lunatic I 1 ive ve been digging for you all day in the ruins I 1 ve lunched and dined on horrors ahle me something to rinse them down lollie loille he ile had fished the key of the eel larette from its hiding place in my shoe bag and was mixing himself what h he called a bernard shaw a dounda tion of brandy and soda with a little of everything else in sight to give it 11 snap now that I 1 saw him clearly be he looked weary and grimy I 1 hated tc to tell him what I 1 knew he was waiting to hear but there was no use wading in by inches I 1 ducked and got it over the notes are gone rich I 1 said as quietly as I 1 could in spite of him sell self his face tell fell I 1 of course I 1 expected it he be said but mrs clopton said ovel ovet k the notes are gone rich the telephone none that you had brought home a grip and I 1 hoped well lord knows we vie ought not to complain S 1 ou on re here damaged but here he ile lifted his glass happy days old man if you will give me that black hot tie and teaspoon drink that in arnica or whatever the stuff is rich the notes were gone before the wreck I 1 he ile wheeled and stared at me the bottle in his hand lost strayed or he queried with forced light nes stolen althof gh I 1 believe the theft ft is incidental to something else mrs kloston came in at that moment with an egg nog in her hand she glanced at the clock and with out g any one in particular she intimated that it was time tor for self respecting folks to b at home in bed mcknight who could never resist r fl ng dg at her back spoke to me la iu I 1 stage whisper TO BE CONTINUED |