Show 4 VHF 0 na E 0 r j ball E by MARY ROBERTS RINEHART copyright 1913 by the bobbs me r 11 company continued from last week CHAPTER V P did not com come e boi hot e to d dm ni er dt at all the watce wit r li 11 d got into the base went at the store he be tele I 1 hoi hot id td or 01 e of the flood batee in ili a blaer bt vier ii 1 ii 1 g leaked and they etere iain n boi sot 0 of the departments del delart ments to an tili 11 ti floor I 1 hii ha I 1 expected to have him in n tie ho hoise ise tint thit eveking avei ing and now I 1 aas is left alone again kut but a 1 it impi b eipl ened I 1 m as not alone ill mi gides one of the city detectives t c line at half p abt 6 ind went nent carefully caie fully ovet the ladle s i loom oom I 1 showed him the ton coviel e and the slipper at aid d the bro I 1 in ca knife ai at d ii here we had found the li ki fe blade lie waa very non noti commit til and left in a half hour taking the articles aith nith him ju Q a newspaper news papel at 7 doorbell rang I 1 wept went don doam n as far as I 1 could on i i d I 1 aw a boar outside with ti tie e be idill ill an ani I 1 a am nom n lii ill it 1 I called to them thew to bring the boat back along the hill an I 1 I 1 had a queer feel ing it in be mrs badly and that id 14 been mal trial lag ing a fol yf myself all day for nothing hut it was not mrs airs ladley IV V L JS Is this no ailed the woman 8 as the boat came hibb Y eq does mr air ladley adley I 1 live here ak leq B t he lie is not bete now ale vo i mis M is I 1 P final 3 es fhe boat b against the stairs f and ad the noman got out she v was as as S tall as mis alis ladley and when I 1 saw raw her in the light flow the upper hall I 1 knew ler ter instantly it was temple hope the leading comin flout the liberty theater I 1 would like to talk to you mrs pitman she said aid where can we go 90 I 1 led the way back to my room and when she u had bad fol followed lomed me in she t arned and t the door now ow theu then she said without ana an prelim nary is jennie bilee I 1 don doll t know miss hope I 1 an severed ile e looked at each other for a mm min etc and each of us saw what the suspected lie ile has killed her she exclaimed she wag afraid he be would do it 11 and he be has h I 1 lied her and thrown her into the river liver I 1 si d that s what I 1 think ind iud he 11 go free at that it seems there t any murdee when there isu t aej colise 0 o ense sense if be has done that the liver will give glee her up eventually the f he river doean t always alwa s give them up I 1 retorted not ot in flood time any bow bonn or when they are found it Is mouths later cin vin t prole e any thing I 1 ha I 1 4 bhe blie had only aj little time being due at t the theater soon but she sat down on an I 1 told me the story she told after abri I 1 on oil the abe be hid known jennie brice for years they having been together in the hoi us as long beffie as aday nadjy she was vms married thin to a fellow on the vaudeville circuit miss aliss hope hopp said he left her about that time an in I 1 sl e took up w tb th ladley I 1 don t tl ink they were ever married what I 1 seid jumping to my feet and they came to a respectable house like tl it ib Is there u b never been a breath of scandal about thus this house miss hope t nd if it comes out I 1 in ruined anell ell perhaps they were married sherald she sald anyhow they were always quarreling quan eling and when he wasn gasn t play li ii g it N was as lotse she used to come to ray hotel and cry her beyts out I 1 knew nou ou were friend friends i said almost the last th ng ug she said to me U is about the black and white dress vf f I 1 ers you were to borrow for the piece this week black aid ai d bilte wl ite dress I 1 borrow one of jennie bilges dresses ex cli hope I 1 should think not I 1 haVi ha plenty of my own that me for she hid said s ild it that was sure and then I 1 kemem bated that I 1 had not seen the diess in tie tl e room that day and I 1 went to look for it it was gone 1 came back and bud told miss hope A black and white dress D d it hie e i i red collar she asked I 1 es I 1 ahen hen I 1 remen ber her it she wore a si snail aall black hat with mith a red qu 11 with tint thit dress iou ion night look for the hat she folio follo ved me back to the room and stood in the doorway while I 1 searched f he I 1 at was gone too ler hips after all hes lies telling tb ill truth SI ale e said tl illy he ile fur oat in the closet is it IP it was gone it Is strai ge that a al dav T had never thought of looking over her clothes and leeng seen g what wis w la missing I 1 hadn haan t inov known n all she had of course u but I 1 h I 1 seen hei all win ter la in hei fur coit it ind it it was nas a sti ped fur brown and gray and very i asual but w th the coat missing aud dress and bat hat on it began to look is if it I 1 had bad been mak ng a fool of myself and stirring up a ten r t in a teacup mibs hope wis as puzzled as I 1 was inn vahow how if he be d t kill lill her she said it I 1 n t because he be did not w xii t to only last week she had hysterics in my di essing room and sa d he had to poison her it was all mr air bronson the business and I 1 could do to quiet her she looked at her watch and ex claimed that she was late and would bae haie to hurry I 1 saw her down to her boat the river had been falling rapid ly y for the last hour or two ind I 1 headd the boit scrape as it went over the dool sill I 1 d d not know whether to be glad that the nater mater was going don dou n and I 1 could ahe e I 1 I 1 I 1 e a chi christian istian again or to be sorry foi fear of N what hat we might dud find in the mud that was a ways left I 1 eter as lying where I 1 had put him on a folded blanket laid in a clothes basket I 1 went ent back to him and sat down beside the basket peter I 1 said I 1 old peter who did this to you 11 ho hurt you he ile looked at we and v N I 1 ined as if he wanted to tell me if only he could IN as it mr air I 1 ladley adley I 1 asked and the pool thing cowered close to his bed and ahli sheered ered I 1 wondered if it had been he and if it had why he be had come hick bick perhaps he had ie the towel perhaps he would come again and d the night there I 1 was like peter I 1 coiN cowered eted and shiv shivered eted at the very thought at 0 0 clock I 1 heard heird a boat at the door it had stuck there and its mccu pant was scolding furiously it the boatman soon after I 1 heard beard splash lag ing and I 1 knew that whoever it was was wading bick biel to the stairs through the foot aad and a half or so of water still in the b hill bill ill I 1 ran bad to my room and locked myself in and then stood armed with the stove lid liflet in case it should be I 1 ladley adley and be he should break the door in the steps came up tip the stairs and peter barked it seemed to me that this was as to be kill ed like a rat in fit a trap ind thrown out the window to float like my kitchen chair into mollie maguires wres kitchen or to be bt found lying in the ooze of the 3 ard after the i igei had gone down ahe steps hesitated fit gt the top bahe oahe of the IM till nul back along 11 reter peter redoubled his noise lie ho never barked tw for mr I 1 01 the lad leys leyb I 1 stood still h able to the door was ras thin and the loci loose one good blow and add 1 llie I he doorknob turned and I 1 ser tamed I 1 jecell that the light guined black and hit ls Is all I 1 do remember until I 1 came to a hilf I 1 lour our latel and saw sir mr hoi hot combe stooping e oner me the doot with nith the lock broken was standing open I 1 tried to move and then I 1 baw saw that my illy feet were propped up ou the edge of petel peter s basi bast et better leave them up mr jol lot come said it sends the blood back to the head halt half the fool people in the world stick a pillow under a fainting v woman oman s shoulders how are ou now all right I 1 said feebly I 1 thought yo yol i vv were ere mi it ladley lie ile 1 helped ue n e up aid ai d I 1 sat in a ch li it and tiled to keep my lips from ibid ti tien ell I 1 saw that mr holcombe had bad bio i ight bit i q si st it cise NN ith him and iia fia I 1 set it inside the d or I 1 adlea is safe until he be gets bill ana anyhow how he said they picked him ip is he be was sn as boat ling a pennsylvania tiam bouril est lor murder I 1 ailed ed ais s i i clot s character he re eliod d grimly that does as well net as anything for a time lie ile sat down opi opt osite me and loot 1001 ed it me intently mis nits pirmin be said dd ever hear the story of the horse that w hindered 0 it of a N village and could not be founds I 1 shook my head al V ell the best wit of the villa hillige e filled to locate the hoi hoise hoie e I 1 but one day the village i idiot vv alke I 1 li to town tow n lead leading lui the missing an ni mil il by the bridle IN W hen tl it ev asked I 1 im how he be had doi dole e it I 1 ie e said well V el I 1 I 1 just thought what I 1 d do if I 1 N was as a horse ind t tl 1 n I 1 went and did it I 1 se sear I 1 said h b him you do don I 1 see seo now w hat are we trying to doa do W e re trying 11 finda find a body dodou do you intend to become a corpse t lie ile leaned over and tapped on the table between us we aie trying to prove provo a crime I 1 intend for the time to be a criminal lie ile looked so curious bent forward and glading at me from under hia his bushy eyebrows with hn his shoes on his knee for he be had taken them off to wade to the stairs and his trouse is rolled to his knees that I 1 wondered if he was entirely sane but mr air hot combe ece echentile entile as he might be was wa sane enough not really a criminal As really as lies in me I 1 isten mrs airs pitman I 1 want to put myself in lad ley s place for a day 0 two I 1 ve as he lived it if I 1 can I 1 am going to sleep in ins ills loom tonight with tour your sion I 1 could not see any reason for object ing although I 1 thought it silly and useless I 1 led the way to the front door mr holcombe fol following loiNing with his shoes and suit case I 1 lighted a lamp and he stood loot 1001 ing around him I 1 see you have been here ra nee we eft this afternoon he said twice I 1 replied first with mr geves and later the wolds died on my tongue some one had bad been in the room since my last visit there lie ile has been here I 1 gasped I 1 left the loom in tolerable order look at it when were you here last AA U 7 30 or thereabouts anheir were you between 7 30 and 8 30 in the kitchen with peter I 1 told him then about the dog and about blind log ing him shut in the room the washstand was pulled out rhe sheets of mr air ladley s manuscript illy an orderly pile were half halt on the floor the bed coverings had been jerked off and flung over the back of a chair peter imprisoned might have movel the N washstand asli stand and upset the manu script peter had never put the bed clothing over the chair or broken hia his own leg humph he said and getting out his notebook be he m nude mide ide in exact memo of what I 1 had told him and of the condition of the room that done he turned to me mrs I 1 itman he said I 1 II 11 thank you to call me mr air ladley for the next day or so I 1 am an actor out of em forty one years of age short stout and bald married to a woman I 1 would like to be quit of and I 1 am I 1 writing writ ng myself a eliy in which the Sh uberta intend to star me or in which I 1 intend the Shu berts to star me N very ery well sir lr lidley didley 1 I said try ing to enter into the spirit of the thing and god knows seeing no humor in it then boull like your soda from the icebox I 1 soda for borwhat what for your whisky and soda before you go to bed s r oh ob certainly yes bring the soda and juat a moment mrs pitman mr air holcombe la Is a total abs tillier and has always been so it Is ladley not holcombe who takes this abominable stuff I 1 said I 1 quite understood but that mr nir ladley could skip a night if he so wished but the little gentleman would not hear to it ind when I 1 brought the soda poured himself a dou ble portion lie ile stood looking at it with his face screwed up as if the very odor revolted him the chances chancas are I 1 ie e said that ladley thit 1 having a nasty piece of work to do during thi tib night would will take a larger drink than usual lie ile raised the glass only to put it down don t forget he be sat said to put a large knife filere you left the one last night I 1 in so sot ry the water has gone down but I 1 shill Ima imagine gille it still at the seventh step good night mrs s r tm aman an good night mr ladley I 1 said smiling and re you are three weeks in arretis with your board ills eyes twinkled through his spec tables I 1 shall imagine it paid he said I 1 went out and I 1 h heard kard him close the door reul n T ue then amo ulku e door I 1 bend a great si uttering stuttering and cou hina ind I 1 knew he had got the whisky doan down n somehow I 1 put tho the knife out as he had bad asked me to and went to bed I 1 was ready to drop not even the fb knowledge that an mr air ladley was vas about to U commit in imaginary crime in the house that night could keep me awake mr reynolds Key came in at 11 0 clock I 1 was roused when be b banged his door aliat was mas all I 1 knew until doming morning the sun on nay my face wakened me peter in it his biskit lifted his head bead as I 1 I 1 moved and th his tall ag dinst his pillow in greeting I 1 put on a and billed mi reynolds Iley nolda by knocking at his door then I 1 went on to the front room the door was closed und and some one beyond was groaning gro anin anino my ily heart stood still a tl en ell raced on 1 I opened the doo door r a and looked in mr holcombe was wis on oil the bed fully d i essed lie ile hid a wet towel ald around his head and his lis face looked swollen and puffy he ile opened on oni I 1 eye and looked at me hat a night he be groaned t hat bat happe happened what did you i continued on next page |