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Show fKfore lASfi cr A CMUMSIMCE Pflim Harry Irving Greene Wa'JJAj Au7hor ofYosoncte of tb Wilderness" liJ-5-?a Illus1ritlions Vy M-agnvis (i. Katt usr wr.Tctl you Co not ctrw snow i-sT We j have a right to know, and for your own good you should toll, bearing in mind that we ; re all your friends and 1 I believe in you beyond telling." His eyes narrowed. "Tou mean to say that I had a key to this houHo yesterday?" he returned with slow distinctness. I bowed. For a moment he stood looking at me with an expression I had never seen him wear before creeping over his features. Then he turned away abruptly. "I make no reply beyond saying that you are a very badly mistaken individual. Neither do I understand what you mean by all these Intimations, Intima-tions, and furthermore I am indifferent. indiffer-ent. T have nothing more to say. You may both present the devil with my compliments for all I care." Pausing not at all, he went thumping thump-ing down the stairs, while I sat staring star-ing at the detective, who in turn sat smiling queorly back at me. SYNOPSIS. Aimer HeJlMay, a ml.ierly millionaire J found sriMed, bound and Insensible In pi room. Mm aafe rlllil ami JWjWi miss-Injr. miss-Injr. The thread of the ntory la tak'-'n up by hta ntpKtw Tom. I,lvlnK In the miiu-house miiu-house ar other rfilatlvus; nickk-H.s Hruce Hulllday and pretty Clara VVlnton. lirucu, who 1 a bond broker, Ima baen trying to raJae $10,000 to put throiiifli a dial and ' htmaelf from financial ruin. He ha.s ttpplled to Ida mlaorly uncle and to others for tlx loan but has bun rfus -d. Tom indn for William ImDuc. an nlil-tlme friend connealed with a dotecilve atri-nv. In relating tha atory Tom reverts to his acquaintance with a Mrs. Dncr, a wt-;ilthV widow, whone bualnoMS asont Is ltlchard Mackay. a boodlor and political oosh. Tom la Jealous of Mackay anil !s deeply lu love with Mrs. Dac. Brucf llalllday f warns him to elmn her a an adventuress. Tom aaes Mrs. Dace and Mackay together. togeth-er. Ite afterwards meets the woman at a home race, and. liappenlnK to mention that liruce had a tip on the winner, she iftvea him 500 to place on the race. The tip go wrong- and aha loses her money. I. uler Tom Invests In stocks. He makes eonie money, and returns the lost $f,00 to Mrs. Daxie. It la at this Juncture that the theft of the KO.000 from old Abner Halll-day Halll-day occure. ing the keys of the house, it being evident evi-dent that the premises were entered by the front door, as the back door was bolted from the inside. Will you be good enough to lot me have yours for a few moments?" Clare moved nervously. "It's queer about that key; I can't find It," she said hastily. "I always carry it in my purso, but when 1 searched for it a few moments ago on my way over here it was not there. For the life of me I cannot imagine where I could have misplaced It, for I have been very careful to always keep it in that one place. I simply know I have not lost it, but it Is just as strange as It can be." She squirmed squirm-ed like a worried schoolgirl. "Suppose we go back a little. When do you remember of having It last?" he pursued. Her forehead wrinkled with thought. "Three or four days ago when I came over here. I have not had occasion oc-casion to think of it since until Tom called me up a few moments ago. I am as worried about It as I can be, but I am certain that I have not lost it." "Bruce, You Had Key to the' House-Yesterday." conMent t?!al e wnu!S rt cr- ann!t his possession of it and offer some explanation that would immediately satisfy everybody. LeDuc was looking look-ing steadily at him, apparently as puzzled puz-zled by his answer as was I. To all .outward appearances there was something some-thing hidden beneath the skin here, and I determined to make a quick thrust at the heart of the matter, bleeding him of his secret for his own good. "Where were you last night, BruceT" I asked quietly. The pallor of his cheeks took on the unhealthy hue of wet ashe3 and he stood mute with an unpleasant narrowing of his eyes. For a long minute the silence was unbroken, un-broken, LeDuc scanning him Impatiently Impa-tiently and Clare, her pupils expanded, expand-ed, leaning far forward in her Intent-ness. Intent-ness. Then he shifted sullenly upon his feet. "1 have no reply to make to that question at present." I signaled to LeDuc, who instantly caught the cue. "But perhaps if the young lady would pardon us " he murmured with a courteous bow to Clare. She arose upon the instant, and glancing neither to right nor left, passed Into my uncle's apartments, while Bruce glooming after her with tightened lips moved no muscle. As the door closed behind her I marie another an-other effort in his behalf. "I wish you would be reasonable In this matter, Bruce. You ought to know that you can trust us implicitly when I give you my word as I now do. If you have any reason any man's reason to think that your whereabouts where-abouts last night if known to Clare would distress her, Mr. LeDuc and 1 will bind ourselves upon our honor to keep your communication confidential. Later on you make such explanation to her as you may desire, but in view of certain statements which vou made to me It is necessary that our mutual friend here should know where you spent the night. Will you tell us?" A pale glow of passion, phosphorescent phosphores-cent like, appeared deep behind his eyes and he answered me doggedly, almost defiantly. "No. It is a matter which at present pres-ent concerns only myself. Nor do I understand your insinuations when you say it is for my own good that I ' make confidants of you. What do you mean by such attempted Intimidation?" Intimida-tion?" Ignoring the gathering storm, 1 answered an-swered him in a calm tone: "Bruce, I trust you implicitly and tell you now that It would take nothing noth-ing less than a bombshell of absolute proof to shatter that belief. That being be-ing the case, when I assure you that I have reason to believe that it Is for your own good to do so, I think you mighthonor me with your confidence. Along that same line I am going to ask you. another question. Do you ob-j'ect ob-j'ect to showing us the contents of your pockets everything?" He turned a dull red, seemed about to explode with the heat of his passion, and then growing suddenly cold bowed frigidly and began laying before us the contents con-tents of his clothes. It was the usual us-ual miscellaneous assortment of a man's personal carryings, and when he had finished a glance told us that the object for which we were searching search-ing was not among them. "The pockets of your overcoat, please," purred LeDuc. With mocking deliberation Bruce began turning the folds and crevices of that garment inside out. Nothing of interest was exposed to us, and when he had finished fin-ished we sat eyeing each other with silent lips. I broke the hush. "Bruce, you had a key to the house yesterday. You pounded upon the table with it as we sat together down-, town and then put it back in your side overcoat pocket. I noticed it distinctly. Now Clare's key has disappeared dis-appeared and it is impossible for us to overlook, the coincidence. Where did you get the one you had and , CHAPTER IX. (Continued.) "You say that Is all you know about that phase of the matter. Very good. 8ut what else do you know?" Driven fairly into a corner I answered desperately: des-perately: "I know he had a key to the house. While 1 was sitting with him at the Interview I have just mentioned he became angry at the thought of un-aje's un-aje's refusal to assist him, and struck the table several times with some small metallic object which he had tightly clenched in his hand. The familiar appearance of the object immediately im-mediately attracted my attention and managed to see enough of it to know that It was a key to this place. I was somewhat surprised, not knowing know-ing how he had come Into possession f It; but thinking It was his pwti luslriess I did not mention It to him to his then condition of mind. I do not believe that he knew that I had noticed it, (or was even aware that ho had exhibited it in his excitemenr, for Immediately after his outburst he thrust it back into his overcoat pock-it. pock-it. I think that I have now without eeervation told you all that I know :oncerning hia words and actions tfUhin the last few days. He can un-Joubtedly un-Joubtedly explain his possessorship f the key as well as his whereabouts ftst night to your entire satisfaction. 3ut I hope it will not even be neces-lary neces-lary to hurt his pride by questioning Jim." CHAPTER X. The expression on my companion's' face remained unchanged as the sound of my cousin's footsteps was cut off by the bang of the closing door. The smile seemed to have grown into his features, so unaltered did it remain, and tiring of its monotony I arose and without apology passed into the next apartment. Clare was sitting beside be-side the bed of Uncle Abner. stroking one of his gorilla-like hands as he rolled his head from side to side with weak whisperings. Most of the lines vhich now harrowed his face were unfamiliar to me. Heretofore he had always appeared as a fairly well-preserved man of nearly forescore, but now his face was as wrinkled as one's palm. He shot a sldewise glance full of apprehension as I entered, but seeing see-ing it was only I resumed his mutter-ings. mutter-ings. Clare's face was unwontedly serious. Her lips were tight fitting and thinned by compression; the laugh had entirely deserted her eyes, and altogether she was the picture of one who suffers uncomplainingly. Of course it took no wizardry to guess the cause of her unhappiness. Bruce, to whom she was engaged, and to whom she therefore must be devoted, had broken his faith with her without explanation or apology; and if that had not been enough in itself, his appearance ap-pearance had been sufficient to shock any one who had pride in him. I knew Clare as I knew the alphabet. There never was a woman more generous, nor one who once having decided to give gave more freely. Therefore I knew that having bestowed her heart upon Bruce she had done so without stint or reservation. Her nature lay close to the surface, and what might have been a superficial wound to another an-other would hurt her to the core of her being. Sympathizing deeply with her I approached her from behind and took her cheeks in my palms. "It is bound to come out all right, Clare," I half whispered. She freed her' face by a slight forward for-ward movement and Uncle Abner, closing his eyes wearily, lay for the moment inert on the pillow. They seemed to be ignoring me in their silence, and unable to think of anything any-thing to do or say which might relieve re-lieve the situation, I turned away and left them to themselves. LeDuc had gotten upon his feet in my absence, and hat in hand, appeared to be waiting wait-ing for me to go with him. The whole atmosphere of the place was offensive to me, and as I led him down the s-.irs and out into the open . I filled my lungs to the uttermost, as a convict con-vict might who breathes the pure air of freedom after long confinement in a fetid cell. It was quite a while before be-fore either of us saw fit to speak. At t,he end of ,the block he threw his cigar into the street. "The police you did not tell them about seeing your cousin have the key yesterday?" he said half interrogatively, half assertively. as-sertively. I told him I had not. His next question was, "WThy?" "Because of several reasons. First of all, they did not ask me; second, because I have no idea that Bruce Is guilty in this matter; and third, because be-cause I did not care, under the circumstance, cir-cumstance, to put his reputation in their hands. Also, I assumed that he would immediately acknowledge his possession of it and give an adequate explanation. You will readily understand under-stand that I did not want the newspapers newspa-pers to come out with a sensational story, and I, therefore, reserved that bit of information for my own investigation. investi-gation. You may be sure, however, that 1 had intended to mention it to him privately when we met again, and only volunteered the information to you because I knew you would work up to it eventually and corkscrew it out of me. Furthermore, I know I can rely upon you to suppress details, which although as yet unexplained, in all probability have no real bearing on the issues." His reply came without with-out hesitation. "Tom, you have known me for years and you know that even as a boy I always played fair. Now, I have no more use for a professional criminal crim-inal than I have for a mad dog or a venomous serpent. They have shot me, ' stabbed me and laid in ambush to assassinate me, and when I think of them I am imbued with a great and righteous wrath. But when I come across a young fellow of good Instincts who has fallen because of a reckless step, I would a whole lot rather give him a boost than a kick. I want you to get me right on that statement." I signified my comprehension. As he himself said, LeDuc had always been a fair, even a generous, fighter, and his last assertion was wholly in accord with my understanding of the man. Glancing about to make sure that we were safely beyond earshot of any possible listener I broached a matter about which I had been thinking think-ing for some- little time. "Billy, there- iis another thing which the police did' not bring out and which I did not volunteer, but which you ought to know. My excuses for not having stated it before are practically the same as those I gave in Bruce's case, namely, because I do not believe be-lieve it has anything to do with the crime and because I wish to shield a certain individual from annoyance and publicity. Under tha same understanding un-derstanding that you are to consider it as a privileged caritmuni cation 1 will tell it to you. It is this: There is one more person, at least, who knew that Uncle Abner occasionally had considerable sums of money on hand, and to whom I imparted in a casual conversation the circumstance circum-stance of this particular amount being in the house. I had a little visit with her yesterday on my way downtown after my quarrel with my uncle. In it I told her of Bruce's misfortune. Also, I once left my keys at her house through an oversight and they remained there several days. And while I should bitterly resent even the intimation that she was a conscious con-scious party to the crime, it is never-ihe never-ihe less a crevice through which the information may have leaked. 1 suppose sup-pose you would like to hear me out on this line." He slipped his arm through mine, drawing me closer to him. LeDuc leaned forward with deep interest in-terest In htsiface. "Then If there are Hit four keys to the front door known n be In existence, and as your uncle los his own as well as the one which rou formerly possessed, and as Mrs. Obbets. still has hers, the only one emaining to be accounted for should e in the possession of your other lousln, Miss Winton. If she still retains (era, then the one Bruce nad must f necessity be a duplicate, and a luplicate could not have been made vithout the maker having for a time lad one of the originals. That phase if the matter we will take up, If nec-issary, nec-issary, when we come to It, but what we want to know now Is regarding the iriglnals. And to ascertain that we uust know whether Miss Winton has jarted keepership of hers. I must iee her at once." "Perhaps It would be well for me call her up over the wire and ask ler to come here," I suggested. "Unite "Un-ite will be glad to see hev, and 1 tnow she will dance with anxiety to 'tome when she hears about this." He lodded his acquiescense, and going to .he telephone I briefly put her in pos-lession pos-lession of the news with the request .hat she come to us immediately. In ter excitement and eagerness she Iropped the ear instrument instead of eplacing It upon the hood and I tould hear her as she rushed about .he room callinrj upon her mother for aer hat and g'.oves. Fifteen minutes 'ntcr she was ringing at the front loor. IeDuc shot me a look full of significance. a bottle of wine with a corkscrew which I' kept attached to my key ring. It was several days later that I called her attention' to my oversight and received re-ceived them back from her. While I trust her Implicitly, yet she has a yellow yel-low maid who is inscrutable to me and who always seems to be hovering within earshot. To my mind it is not impossible that this maid was in possession pos-session of the keys while they were on those premises in fact, her mis-. tress so intimated when she returned them to me. That the maid through outside acquaintances might have taken advantage of any information which she chanced to overhear la within the realm of possibilities. You understand I" merely offer this as a suggestion."" "And do you know anything of the character of the maid's acquaintances on the outside?" was the swift interrogation. inter-rogation. I bit my lip. "No. But 1' do know this. I know that Richard Mackay is the business agent of this girl's mistress Mrs. Dace of the Arcadia' and that he sometimes calls upon her. And knowing know-ing his reputation as I' do, it has occurred, oc-curred, to- me that stranger things have happened than that this girl might be under his influence and reveal re-veal secrets to him that she has become be-come possessed of. I understand there is- practically no- limit to the man's machinations." LeDuc brought me to a sudden standstill. "Do you mean Richard' Mackay, 'Coughing Dick,' the boodler and arch conspirator?" he cried, his. hand gripping my arm like a trap. "Yes. You will remember the fact that uncle mentioned the fact that the-man the-man who choked him cleared his throat in a peculiar manner." The grip upon my arm loosened and for a moment my friend stood staring-into staring-into my face. Then with a soft whistle whis-tle he drew me on again. It was several sev-eral moments before he once more broke the silence. "Bye the bye, you had better givo me your card with your telephone number on it so that I may be able ' to reach you over the wire in case of necessity," he suggested reflectively, and I felt in the pocket in which I always carried my card case in order to comply with his request. The case, which was an unusually handsome af- ' fair, had been presented to me by Mrs. Dace, and I would not have lost it for a great deal, but at tho end of a couple of minutes' search, which exhausted every nook and cranny of my raiment, I was compelic-d to give up the quest in despair. "I must have lost it," 1 announced, deeply chagrined. LeDuc looked at me with a question in his eyes. "And you had it last when?" were his words. I ran the course of my actions during the past few days through my mind until I recalled tha occasion of its last use. "Last evening. After the theater I j gave the friend who was with me one I of my cards with the request t'.-.it he call me up some evening when he was lonesome. Hut I have a distinct recol lection of putting it back in my upper vest pocket. I would not have lost it for many times its value, am! It was a rather expensive trinket at that." Ruefully 1 continued my search foi the fourth or fifth time as h" sympa-thlzed sympa-thlzed with me, following his con dolences with the remark that s pencil pen-cil memorandum in his book would answer the same purpose. Threfor I gave him the number orally and noted that he wrote it down correct ly. Then with an apology and an ex cuse of urgent business he darted aboard a passing car with a farewel flirt of h's hand. ITO BE CONTINUED.) I saw LeDuc's gaze run over the graceful form of the girl and then settle upon her face with an expression expres-sion that was beyond doubt one of unequivocal approval. That Clare', whose heart was as open to the world as is the heart of a flower to the light of the sun, could harbor any secret as dark as this was preposterous preposter-ous to one who knew her. I had never met a girl with sounder morals or better instincts, and her character was of spun gold. And even though she loved Bruce and had always defended his frailties, I did not believe that she would have shielded him had she believed hi-m guilty of as unnatural a crime as this, matter of history though ft is that one can never tell what heights or depths a woman will achieve to save the man who carries her heart. Quietly I asked her when she had seen Bruce last, and knowing her mannerisms as I did became instantly in-stantly aware that my question had put her on the rack, for a faint shadow flitted cloudlike across her face. Yet she answered me with her accustomed frankness. "Day before yesterday and I do not understand it either. He was to see me yesterday evening, but he neither came nor sent word as to why he broke the engagement. It is not like him to do such a thing, and while I suppose there fs some good reason back of it, I do not know what it is. Anyway, I am worried." She dropped her eyes and tapped gently gent-ly on the floor with her toe. "I wish you would try and get him on the wire. Tom, and find out If he is all right. That ii all I care to know at present." I assented and started for the telephone, but had made but a step or two before I heard first his familiar ring at the door and a moment mo-ment later his equally familiar Toice from the hall below. Then up the stairs he came and at the first footfall foot-fall I halted, listening. Usually he mounted something after the fashion of a scurrying cat in a series of light leaps, but now his feet pounded the boards with heavy uncertainty. 1 opened the door before him, but at the first sight of his face r stepped back. He advanced to the doorway, faltered fal-tered there with one hand braced against the jamb- and the crimson flushing his face as he saw Clare amongst us. His eyes were as red-shot red-shot as a bloodhound's, and the hand that hung by his side was aspen. The unmistakable marks of an evil night were stamped about his mouth and his usually clear face looked puttyish and mottled. I heard Clare gasp as she arose and slowly approached him 'with unbelieving eyes. He stepped aside as though to avoid her, his glance falling to the floor. "I have heard about it it is in the papers. Tell mo the particulars." he said with a hoarse intonation. From tho bottom of my heart I pitied him as I gently pulled the girl back to her seat and answered him in matter of fact tones. "There is nothing to tell at present except that the safe was burglarized last night ar.d the $10,000 stolen. I spent the night downtown and found Uncle Abner bound and unconscious when 1 returned home this morning. He was not much hurt and is all right now. This is Mr. LeDuc, who has been engaged by Uncle Abner to try and ferret out the matter. I think that is the whole thing in a nut shell." He stood as if in a half daze, his gaze rambling over us. "Any clues?" he mumbled at length. I made no spoken reply, merely bowing bow-ing in the direction of the detective. And at the signal LeDuc immediately assumed vocal command. "The only thing we have learned as yet which seems to be of any particular particu-lar interest is that Miss Winton's key has mysteriously disappeared. All the others have been accounted for and we are anxious to locate hers. She is unable to offer any explanation, and we therefore turn to you as one who li frequently In her company In the hope that you may offer a suggestion. Can you offer any thought along that line?" He shook his haad decisively and without healt&tlon. and I leased back la my chair with a lonf breath of astonishment. I bad been thoroughly "Did you say that she and Bruce jre engaged, or something to that ef-.'ect?" ef-.'ect?" he Inquired, referring to a remark re-mark which I had dropped a few mo-nents mo-nents before. I nodded. "So Bruce intimated to me. 1 knew .h y were desperately fond of each ither and he told uie that had he not Von wiped out he would have married ler. At any rate, she does not seem :o havs her key with her this morn-inct," morn-inct," was my answer. Down stairs m heard Mrs. Tcbbets opening the ioor. and a moment later with a pat-;cr pat-;cr of feet and a rustle of skirts Clare oounded in upon us. Her eyes were l:la:eJ ar.d she seemed almost ready .o burst from suppressed excitement. Her first words were about Uncle Abner and as to whether he was now mtirely out of danger. I assured her '.bat he was and then introduced LeDuc, Le-Duc, requesting that she seat herself i moment with us before going into che other room. She dropped upon the edge of a chair, fidgeting and nervous. nerv-ous. LeDuc, Immediately all courtesy, court-esy, laid aside his cigar. "I will detain you but a moment, Miss Winton," he apologised, his faint habitual smile breaking into an affable af-fable one. "But as I am Investigating this affair In the interest of your un-ale un-ale and In the hope of recovering more or less of his money, I am going to assume that you, as one of the family, will be glad to five me your MUlatance. At the present moment am devoting taj attention to locat- "By all means. It may prove decidedly decid-edly interesting. My promise goes to this angle of the case as well as all others. Shoot ahead." "Then I do not mind telling you that I am in the habit of calling upon a lady who is well, we will call her an exceedingly good friend of mine. I care a great deal for her, respect her thoroughly and believe she is fond of me. I have Incidentally told her about Uncle Abner and his strange ways, and one evening left my keys In her apartments after having opened I "Ifa Queer About that Key; I Can't Find It" |
