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Show "nMsMnsjsjHnvnBBaMWBsnani ifLwA-v (fp Mw ? IRVING Cpyrltht bj Irrlnj Bacheller (WXJ Ssrrlce) Nothin' happened till las' night. It was darker than pitch. I heard a move outside. In a minute I could see some one slyin' up to the side o' the house. Then I heard a little tap on the window pane below. There was another little tap an' In a minute darned if some one didn't come out. I couldn't see who 'twas but knew d n' well 'twas the fair maid. The two of 'em sneaked off into that spruce thicket that goes down to the river. They stayed about ten minutes. Then the girl come back alone an' sneaked into the house. I told the doctor an' he sent me down for you." Shad arrived at the doctor's at the hour appointed. "Now I have a rather important job for you," said the wise physician when they were seated together. "The thing has happened which I knew would come to pass. I gave Bony leave to tell you about It. I suppose that he has done so." "Yes, he told me when we were coming com-ing up." "The man he saw la undoubtedly the girl's lover. You see this is a case of burning love. It's a dangerous proposition. propo-sition. When you get its positive and negative poles close together some- hand the doctor led the boy down the deserted street and through a garden to the river shore. They followed the bank of the stream a little time and entered the rear end of the spruce thicket. They made their way to the glade. On the side of it opposite the trail leading from Miss Speniow's dooryard they fastened the camera about breast-high to the trunk of a small tree. They covered It with twigs so that only the lens was visible. On a sheet of tin a little back of the camera they poured the powder and magnesium. Some twigs were scattered scat-tered on the floor of the glade at Its entrance so that Shad would know by their crackling when the two were near enough to be photographed. The communicating com-municating wires, the battery and key were carefully placed. Shad's station was behind the base of a large pine tree. "We are all right if it doesn't rain," said the doctor. "You are to come here about nine o'clock and find your place with the dark lantern and sit down and wait. Yon will hear them coming. Get ready. When you are sure that they are in the glade, touch the key. They may come tonight. If not we must shut our camera before daylight and take up our flash material mate-rial and when night comes again set the works for another trial. We will catch them soon. They are bound to come again. I would look for them this very night. The time is favorable, the ground bare, the weather mild. Such a condition cannot last long, and they know it." Shad returned with his friend to the study where, for an hour or more, he amused himself with the doctor's microscope. mi-croscope. At nine o'clock he set out warmly clad with a blanket on his arm and the dark lantern in his hand. The lights were going out in the little lit-tle old-fashioned village of Amity Dam, where almost every one went to bed early and arose at dawn. Shad lighted light-ed his lantern when he entered the evergreen thicket at the water boundary bound-ary of the Spenlow place. Mostly with no light to guide him he made his way through the dense growth of young spruces to the big tree. There with a short flash he located his key, placed his blanket, sat down and put out the light In his lantern. He was In black darkness. He sat for hours listening, and hearing only the steady splash of the falls, some three hundred yards from tthere he sat, the barking of dogs In the distant countryside and now 1 and then a passing team or tho crow-' crow-' ing of a cock In the village. Darkness and silence are not agreeable comrades com-rades for a boy of a lively Imagination. Imagina-tion. The hours were very long. Some small creature, probably a wood-mouse or a chipmunk, startled him with the noise of Its movements In the near thicket. He wondered If there really was any such a thing in the world as a ghost. The night grew stiller. He dimly heard the familiar sound of Miss Speniow's tall clock as It struck eleven. Long after that hour he heard a team cross the bridge. Slowly it came up the road and passed. Somewhere, Some-where, not far away perhaps In the shed of the Smlthers' store it stopped. Was It Itoyce? He now began be-gan to think that his waiting would be rewarded. He was keenly alert. A few dragging minutes followed. Would they never come? Suddenly, the welcome wel-come sound of stealthy footsteps! They were coming to the trap. Would the mystery be solved In the next minute min-ute or two? The sound of their feet was near. He could hear them brushing brush-ing the bushes. Cautiously he picked up the piece of bonrd on which his key was fastened. He heard the crackling of the brittle twigs. The girl and her' companion stopped. She wns speaking In a low tone. Curiosity checked the hand of the boy. "Oh, I wish that I had listened to my father," the girl was saying. In a low tone the man spolcn: "You don't know how 1 love yon. I would rather die than live without you. When you are a little stronger we will go to Australia together and be happy. My G d ! I would kill any one who came between us. I get desperate des-perate thinking of you." (TO BE CONTINUED.) "Then the Girl Came Back Alone and Sneaked Into the House." CHAPTER XI Continued 21 Shad hurried to the doctor's office. The learned physician sat reading. "I love you, boy," he said. "Your eyes are as bright as the evening star. Your face is like a May morning. morn-ing. Sit down. I have little to tell you save this. The young lady is now In our village." "In our village!" "Yes, I brought her down out of the woods yesterday. It Is a secret that ehe Is at Miss Speniow's with her child. The child needs her and she needs the child for a time. The Friendless Friend-less fund is sufficient to provide for them. I have had a long talk with her. She Is Bumpy Brown's daughter." daugh-ter." "I thought so," Shad answered. "The two were like oil and water," the doctor went on, "Naturally she was ashamed of him. The girl was proud, handsome and rather hlgh-eplrlted. hlgh-eplrlted. He was a seedy, Irresponsible Irresponsi-ble old liar who was often tipsy." Shad Interrupted the doctor. "We have learned that his lies were not genuine. They were all true. The district attorney has met the colonel of his regiment. He says that Brown was a great soldier and a hero. He would never apply for a pension." The doctor settled back, surprised, and said: "Good heavens ! It's curious how a mere surmise will grow into common report. It needs only an evil flavor." Doctor Gorse lighted his pipe and for a little time sat smoking thoughtfully. thought-fully. "In what you tell me I catch a glimmer glim-mer of new possibilities," he remarked. "It would be strange if the last should be first and the first should be last." The doctor paused and added : "I am convinced that the girl is the key to our mystery. She Is still obdurate. I suppose that she loves the man who has wronged her. She is between Jires. I have brought her here to see what will happen. We suspect Eoyce, and with good reason. Yet I hope that for a time the district attorney will let him alone. The situation should suffer no disturbance. It has not been carelessly care-lessly planned." "Shall I bring Colonel Blake here?" "No. I had better not see him and it would be Just as well if he kept out of this village so that circumstances circum-stances may drift naturally and undisturbed un-disturbed with wind and tide. I think that you had better keep away from Miss Speniow's and wait for further advice. Sit down at my desk and write a line to your chief. If you don't mind, I'll dictate the letter." Shad wrote down these words from the doctor's lips : "My friend advises that you make no move toward Royce or any other person In the matter of the mystery of Amity Dam until you hear from me again. He hopes that the present posture of affairs, if undisturbed, will lead to definite results." Shad posted the letter and returned to Brown's cove. CHAPTER XII The Doctor's Artificial Lightning. The boy resumed his work in the little house on the river. He had begun be-gun to feel rather wise and learned. He was getting a vocabulary that astonished as-tonished his friends. The new words were a useful asset, but the fun he had, especially that he derived from the wise and droll observations of the tinker, was of greater value. His days were enriched by cheering visits from Bony, much good food and many a merry conference. A letter came from Colonel Blake saying that he had been summoned to Chicago. He hoped that he would be returning soon with important im-portant news. Bony arrived late one afternoon with a message from the doctor. It said : "Please come to my study tonight at seven. I want to confer with you." He and Bony set out for the Dam at once. As soon as they were on the road the able satirist began: "I've told you about that girl and the dear child that Miss Spenlow is so cra7.y over. She shoves it on me every day and wants to know If I don't think it's the sweetest tnlng In the world. Gosh all hemlock ! I'd light out o' there if I could. But I'm nailed down. The doctor is a smart old cuss deep as a well. Ye know he told MIks Spenlow to put that girl an' the baby In a room on the first floor that open on a little back veranda. lie said that he didn't want the girl to havo to go up an' down stairs. So she and the baby sleep alone nights on the first floor. My window Is about ten feet above hers. The doctor sends for me an' what does he do but give me a Job. He says I want you to sit by your front window without a light :vry night till twelve o'clock an' watch the dooryard an' see If anyone comes noar the house. If you should n';e a man keep very riulet. Don't disturb dis-turb him, but next day let mo know what happens. "Well, 3 put on a sweater nn' nut fiiiiokln' by tho open window Willi jmllilng to do but keep my eye peeled til) midnight an' hear tho rooslcra crow an' Ui water goln' over the tin m. l thing is bound to happen. We put the young lady in the center of the stage and the man couldn't keep away from her. Of course Betsy Spenlow has spread the news of her coming." "I suppose that we had better have some officers on hand and arrest him when he comes again," Shad proposed. pro-posed. "Well, that is crude. It wouldn't be conclusive. The situation Is not quite ready for such a downright proceeding. proceed-ing. Let's use our brains in the matter. mat-ter. I am prepared to take a photograph photo-graph of him." "How would you do that in the night?" "Easily. The time favors us. There is no moon. The weather is mild. In that evergreen thicket is a little mossy glade a romantic trysting place for lovers. Undoubtedly they went to that spot and will go there again tonight. We will place our camera in the glade with its shutter open. At the right moment a little powder mixed with magnesium will give us a quick flash and we will get our photograph. If we do our work well, they will think it lightning and be none the wiser." "How do you get the flash?" "With electricity. You have learned to telegraph and you know how the spark Is made. I have borrowed a battery from Smlthers. It is wired and ready. You remember how the spark played between two pieces of metal when you shifted the lever and touched the key. Wrell, I have made a keyboard. key-board. You will be hidden In the bushes with the board in hand. When you press its key a spark will Ignite the powder and magnesium. We will go now and set our trap. I have a small dark lantern to help us when we need it." They put on their overcoats and went out. With a small bag in his |