Show TH in lil tl OF THE BY ELIZABETH JORDAN 0 D appleton co inc V CHAPTER vill VIII continued 20 bert in a condition to say much about anything hale reminded ainsworth but you must have seen wh what a t was going on he added youre not the man to miss anything like that then looking at Aln Ain lolling figure his sleekness his air of well being and his cheshire cat grin hale suddenly lost his temper what I 1 shall never be able to understand he brought out between his teeth is why you and mrs spencer forbes who know knew exactly what was going on sat back and let it continue you did know you 1 I suppose so in a way ainsworth drawled 1 I knew he was scaring young kneeland into a smash but I 1 know exactly why he was doing it of course I 1 had my theories I 1 interfere because it was none of my business rex ground his teeth ills brown eyes looked red in the rooms shaded light all right lie he said well let it go at that it your business so you interfere it my business either cither but I 1 did interfere I 1 got craig out all there Is to it oh come now ainsworth was smiling tolerantly dorat dont hold out on me old man tell me how you did it im immensely interested rex had called his temper to heel and it obeyed him 1 I can do that in on one e sentence he smiled 1 I told several distinguished psychiatrists what was going on and found out from them how to stop it ainsworth whistled s softly you mean you actually gave craigs name to his colleagues and threatened to have him kicked out ot of medicine the general idea I 1 cant go into the details Ain face had grown serious there was a silence which hale did not break you certainly went to it big boy ainsworth commented it roust must have taken some nerve im quite impressed thanks im glad youre fm pressed because to put it frankly ainsworth im in good fighting trim now and im taking you on neati ainsworth straightened as it if he had been struck then very slowly he sank back in his chair just what do you mean by that ho he asked gravely hale grinned right lets take it coolly im going to tell you exactly what I 1 mean I 1 mean that we dont like your activities here at halcyon camp any better belter than we med liked craigs Cral gs I 1 mean that were going to stop them we who do you mean by we ainsworth almust almost purred the words by we I 1 mean your host cas caper kneeland hale told him cheerfully and myself dont cherl cherish sh the notion that im butting in where I 1 have no right to be im mr Kne elands employee and my principal job was to get rid of the parasites and adventurers who are abusing his hospitality ive done part of that job now I 1 intend to finish anish it you see ainsworth he went on conversationally as the other remained silent youre not hot dealing now with a middle aged and tired man you think youve got a clutch on youre dealing with a man your own age who knows a whole lot more about you than you thinkie think thin khe he does quite a different matter you wont find me as easy to get rid of as craig was ainsworth returned coolly in fact my interfering friend im serving notice 0 on n you again that im staying here all summer rex shook his head youre mistaken he said grave ly youre leaving ainsworth and youre leaving almost at once youre going to be out of here by tomorrow night more youre going to leave prettily and politely like a little gentleman youre going to do it with a smile ainsworth had laid down his cigarette 1 I know youre up against it ains worth rex went on ive been go ing into your records record but your misfortunes ore are no excuse for the things you redoing were all up against it more or less these days but we dont all go in for a combination of extortion and as you are doing by god theres a limit to what ill take from you ainsworth said furiously ills his self control had snapped rex was glad of it in one way ainsworth angry would be easier caster to handle than ainsworth calm there may be he said quietly but it been reached yet ive got a lot of things to say to you and if youre wise you will keep quiet and listen to them they are of vital interest to you the first Is this you think you have kneeland in your power that may or may not be partly true but theres one thing dead certain ive got you by the short hairs I 1 can make you dance to any tune I 1 play when I 1 remember what youve been doing to poor kneeland im tempted to play a tune that will give you a nasty dose of your own medicine ainsworth yawned dawned ile he had pulled himself together again and rex admired his self control 1 I dont want to seem rude to a guest he said but you make me terribly tired nothing to the fatigue youre going to feel a few minutes from now hale prophesied that will be exhausting 1 I can easily believe you all right get on with your story to be candid I 1 want to go to bed that desire too will grow as I 1 proceed ill get on with my story all right ill mention in passing that it will be an unpleasant one go to it go to it ainsworth urged wearily if it been for some little things that happened up in my room hale went on smoothly id have let you off this interview pret ty easily id have offered myself as an am intermediary between you and kneeland celand and tried to fix up a settlement that would have been fair to you both then you admit that chat I 1 have a josf claim ainsworth asked coldly well better if you knew what my mother went through while that tat fat white worm that caus calls itself casper kneeland was battening on her brothers invention understand why ive made him dance that may all be true rex admitted 1 I dont know about it except what mr kneeland has told me id have gone into the whole matter got the best legal advice and tried to make an impartial settlement setU ement id have done Us this as a matter of service to you both but of course I 1 immediately discovered what you were up to it a diversion wo arthy of a gentlemen gentleman of your ancestry hale added smoothly it a nice memorial to your mother it was a nasty game doctors have an unpleasant name tor for it il it was a stupid game too he continued thoughtfully if that sort of thing Is being done it ought to be done in private not in the presence of a 8 gallery of spectators you forgot that which was foolish of you or if you remembered it you underestimated your audience you thought they were all either as callous as yourself or too self ab sobbed to take in what you were doing but they took it in my god hale what a freshet of words you can send fortel ainsworth yawned dawned again 1 I suppose its less trouble to listen than to talk so go proceed 11 you must thanks I 1 promise you wont be bored hale stopped long enough to light another ci cigarette gurette that was the he situation when I 1 came here he repeated 1 I caught on at once to what you were doing and you saw that I 1 did in tact fact you had foreseen that I 1 would do so you had made some plans in advance they were queer little plans they were the sort that would only appeal to a mind like yours your mental makeup make up being what it is you enjoyed carrying them out you want me here so you undertook to get rid of me by making me uncomfortable on the face of it you seemed trying to frighten me off of course you realized that such kindergarten methods do that what you had in mind was to make it so unpleasant for me that id leave voluntarily so you wrote your silly little threatening notes what do these ravings mean hale are you out of your mind craig thought I 1 was when I 1 was calling his attention to some of his goings on hale mentioned in passing ile ha changed his mind I 1 think you will ill get on faster if you dont interrupt it if theres anything that will make you get on faster hale im for it ainsworth was smiling now he lay back in his chair relaxed and comfortable one leg thrown easily over the arm of the chair his head resting against the padded chintz back ab be e comfy while you can hale commended youre in for a jolt pretty soon As I 1 was saying he went on you wrote your silly threatening notes and you drew your silly cobras cabras and other sketches and left them on my desk they disturb me in the least but I 1 was enough interested to have them fingerprinted and get your fingerprints ger prints for comparison you may remember that you tore a page out of your notebook note book in the medical library one morning and handed it to me that was kind of you because I 1 been able to get your fingerprints before the fingerprints on that page were perfect the but you ma make makere keme me terribly tired fingerprints on the notes and sketches were identical with them fingerprinting is an exact science now you know ive learned a lot about it lately I 1 had the work done by a new york expert and he was very informative ainsworth had stopped smoking he ha took the cigarette out of his mouth and looked at it thoughtfully then he put it back 1 I did have a little fun with you he said calmly 1 I enjoyed thinking up those stunts and putting them over what of it it was nothing more than we did at college at prep school you mean rex corrected gently it represented about the prep school stage of mental development you went a few steps further when you put the dead cat in my room ot of course I 1 have poor daisy fingerprinted so I 1 went up to craigs laboratory and choked him tor for it up till then you see I 1 thought he was the man that poisoned animals around here I 1 was also giving him credit for the notes and sketches and the wasps and all the other things however when I 1 had his fingerprints made they vindicated him he also convinced me that he had nothing to do with tho the cat then I 1 realized that poisoning pet animals animal was in your line it was right up your alley in fact but I 1 regret the choking I 1 gave craig he had earned that on the other counts hale youre actually beginning to interest me ainsworth was leaning forward his cigarette out his bis face almost alive but it may surprise you to know that I 1 never poisoned that cat he said youre telling me that yes im telling you that I 1 dont care a damn whether you believe it or not but as a matter of fact I 1 kill the cat if you and craig who did how should I 1 know but its an interesting point it was such an interesting point that they both sat silent tor for a moment considering it then ainsworth amplified his defense 1 I found the cat dead lying bade back of the big tent at the in entrance trance to the woods he explained it was monday night you had gone to new york I 1 picked it up and carried it to your room as a little surprise for you when you got back the next day I 1 saw it at the foot of the third floor staircase I 1 thought you had thrown it there I 1 picked it up and got it out of the house to the place where I 1 had found it all I 1 had to do with the matter I 1 dont kill animals ainsworth got up good night hale better luck next time you go hunting hale kept his seat oh im not going yet he said cheerfully ive got a lot more to say im going to be so interesting from now on that when I 1 finally stop be begging me to stay that calls tor for some imagination but Ain eyes were watchful again he sat down with a shrug and lit ailt a fresh cigarette youre quite right in saying that I 1 have anything on you in the matter of the little nuisances youve been committing hale admitted but you see you finished by nearly murdering me that Is something else again any time you get around to explaining pi pla what youre trying to say P ainsworth murmured im trying to say that you nearly murdered me hale repeated patiently im telling you that when you put that powerful emetic in my water carafe and I 1 drank the entire glassful it was touch and go for an hour whether id come coma through it what rot are you talking now ainsworth jerked out his expression had changed and his watchful eyes never left his companions face ill assume that you mean to kill me hale said soberly any mare more thin than you meant to injure me when you printed those anonymous letters jetters all you meant to do was to make me horribly sick but you gage gave me a terrific dose about tour four times the usual amount As it hap bened you gave that dose to a man who only a month before had gone through a ilfe and death tussle with pneumonia that pneumonia ten temporarily pora rily weakened my heart it if I 1 had some brandy where I 1 could reach it instantly hale ended very deliberately id be in my grave tonight and you would be facing a trial for murder AU all the evidence is on file against you the threatening letters the snake sketch tho the tombstone the skulls the analysis of tho the doped water the fingerprints on the carafe the statement of the doctor I 1 consulted next day as to the condition of my heart and the effects of such a dose on such a heart do you imagine th the e law would have accepted your explanation that it was all a friendly friend ly little joke think that over ainsworth then laugh it off it if you can TO BE CONTINUED |