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Show Ihe RETURN TRENT v H'WYNDHAM JjV COPYRIGHT tiy 8AR5E t HOPKINJ W N.U. SE RVICE CHAPTER XII Continued 24 "lou eac't do it," he gasped. "You had your trial and were Justly sentenced. sen-tenced. You've tried for 8 new trial and it was denied." "I tried without th new evidence I am going to suhmit." Grant's brain was clearing. "You have no new evidence." "I shall have," Sutton returned. "For what purpose do you suppose I have followed you here if not to get some?" "You'll get none from me. What's more, I'm expecting two friends here any moment." "They are hunting for me in the woods miles away, t set a false trail for them to follow. They will not return re-turn until daybreak, l'ayson, there Is do humaD help for y u here. I have seen to that. We have three hours together. You are going to confess everything to me and 1 shall have . these friends of yours witness It Although Al-though they do not know me, they dare not ignore me when 1 tell them all." "They'll send you back to Jail." "If so, it will not be for long." "Y'ou've got things twisted," Grant Knid pnperlv. "Tf thpv see von bpre they've got to send you back. They'd be punished If they withheld the information. in-formation. Your chance Is to go buck now. If I wanted to call for help nobody no-body would hear, if you want to keep your freedom make your getaway before be-fore they come and find you here." Grant trembled for the success ot his suggestion. Sutton's expressionless expression-less face and lack of physical violence vio-lence no longer seemed so terrifying. Ferhaps the long prison term had brought him near to insanity, lie had so often hoodwinked his former friend In other days that the desire to attempt at-tempt It at this moment of peril lent him plenty of specious cunning. He was bold enough now to light a cigarette and sit back In his chair easily. "Frank," he said, almost as though hi had determined to act generously, "I won't try to stop you If you escape now. Every moment you remain here brings you in greater danger of being caught. Any moment some of the help might come in Sutton shook his head. "At this hour? Nonsense. 1 know how the helps' camp Is run considering consider-ing I've been In hiding there. The.v are all asleep. We have more than two hours; that will he enough for me." Grnn't look lost something of Its newly-gained assurance. He assumed the character of firmness. Sutton was not to be deceived as readily as be hoped. Grant had allowed himself to be mislead because he had looked for a madman lusting for vengeance and had been confronted with one who, in stead, expected he would sign a con fession. "We are going to talk this over, l'ayson Grant remarked. If he were not able to persuade Sutton to make Ws escape. It might be possible to keep him here until Weld and Trent returned.. re-turned.. He did not believe they would remain away until daybreak. In answer Sutton rose to his feet and pushed his chair back. Then he came to Grant's side. "Fool 1" he said contemptuously. "Do you think you can deceive me like that. Pon t you realize that I've had years to think over this very con versatlon and wonder what excuses and subterfuges your pitiful, mean soul would try?" "What are you going to do?" Gram said. His fortitude was dropping from him. Again he was coming under the ! influence of profound fear. As yon won't sign the confession -now. I'm going to beat you until you -v do. Get up." "You're not going to kill me?" Grant cried. There was the look of anger In the other's eye which left hlra weak. "Possibly," said Sutton "but that depends on you. If you don't sign what frees me from prison, I shan't bother what becomes of you, or me." The tragedy of his situation dawned on Grant in its full horror. Unless he signed his own commitment warrant Ire would be beaten, bruised tortured aud finally forced to sign. There seemed no escape. All his life Payson Grant had feared physical pain. When he was suffering he was a coward will ing to promise anything for alleviation of his condition. He knew that a man of Sutton's powerful physique would hurt him so badly that he would attach at-tach his signature to any document. It was an ordeal by torture, one of those Inquisitional punishments which be had read of as a child. His hands closed nervously on the butt of the automatic. In tills hour of peril he thought, suddenly, that Sutton Sut-ton was an outlaw whom any man might shoot and be certain of approbation approba-tion After nil, he had proofs In a number- of letters that Sutton had threatened him. The world would commend him for killing In self-defense. Paypon Grant Bred six shots into the body of the man who had been his friend and benefactor. The range was not more than six feet. He was not made of the material to take Joy In killing. The noise startled him. The look of agony on Sutton's face was unnerving. The crash that seeeined to fill the house when, In fulling, Sutton Sut-ton swept a little smoking table to the ground was horrible to him. From the Inside pocket of the dead man's coat he took the confession. He glanced through It. To sign sucb a document would be to Incriminate himself Irreparably. He tossed It on a nickering log and watched It flare up. The paper was still flaming when his door burst open, and Weld, followed fol-lowed by Trent, came In. "What's this?" Weld cried, looking at the crumpled body. "He attacked me," Grant answered, "and I had to shoot In self-defense." Trent was kneeling at Sutton's side. "Who Is It?" Weld demanded. "A man who came In and attacked me." Weld glanced around the room. But He Heard Weld Tell Some One a Murder Had Been Comr itted. for the smoking table there was nothing noth-ing disturbed. "Came in and attacked you, eh?" "Took me utterly at a disadvantage." Grant declared. Trent rose up from the silent man's side. "He's dead. He was shot several times and he wasn't armed. To me it looks like premeditated murder,' said Trent impressively. He pulled a coverlet from the bed and hid the dead man from view. "It was not murder," Grant cried. "1 tell you he came In and threatened to kill me so I hud to protect myself. That's the man who gave you that letter let-ter for me one night at Deal Beach. You asked If It was a black-hand threat." "That's not the man," Trent raid, shaking his head. "Nothing like him. If I were you, Swithln, I'd send for the police or whatever you have here that could take charge. This Is nothing less than murder." "He threatened me, 1 tell you," Grant 1 cried. Weld cut short his protestations. "If I were you," he advised, "I'd keep what I had to say until the sheriff comes. You are In a very bad position and I siiall have to repeat what yon say and that might damage your case." "You've got to see those threaten ing letters," Grant said feverishly looking look-ing from one to the other. "They're In that coat" The two men watched him take out an envelope with an air of triumph. He handed It to Weld. "Bead," be commanded. The envelope was empty. "What am I to read?" Weld asked. They allowed him to look Into other pockets, but the threatening letters were Dot there. Sutton must have taken them, he supposed. He told them so. "Get them," Trent sugges-ted, glancing glanc-ing at the' outline under the coverlet "He can't hurt you now." But Grant shrank back. The sheriff would And what be wanted. "Let me get my lawyer on the long distance?" he pleaded. "You must ask the sheriff that. Weld answered. Grant was conscious that these two men were not regarding him In a friendly fashion. Instead of sympathy, sympa-thy, even approbation, It was plain they were already strongly prejudiced against him. "There has to be an Inquest," he heard Trent tell Weld, "uud nothing must be moved until the authorities permit It. We'd bettei go down and telephone for them now." Gram, a man on each side ot him, was taken to the hall where tin telephone tele-phone was. He heard Weld tell nome one a murder bad been committed. "They'll be here In an hour," he told Trent. "You'd no right to say It was inur-der," inur-der," Grant protested. "That prejudices preju-dices them against me." "It looked like a murder," Trem remarked. re-marked. "I owe you an explanation," Grant began, "and you ought to be willing to listen." "We shall hear It all at the trial," Trent said. Grant looked from one to the other, wildly. If he had sucb difficulty In making these men, who had been bis friends, believe, how much more trouble trou-ble would he not have with others? "The man I had to shoot," be said, "is the man who got ten years In Sing Sing and escaped when he had served nearly three of them. He was Frank Sutton. Mrs. Grant was formerly his wife. Everybody knows he threatened to kill me." "Why?" Weld snapped. "He thought 1 had done him an In-Jury," In-Jury," Grant faltered a little. "Had you?" Trent demanded, loosing loos-ing him full In the eye. "I was his best friend," Grant returned, re-turned, more firmly. "It's my opinion," Trent said, "that you'll have some difficulty In making a Jury believe It was necessary to empty your automatic into the heart of a man who had neither gun, knife nor other weapon with him." "Another thing," said Weld, "It Isn't going to be easy to explain why yon didn't call for help. Trent and I were both in the hall, smoking. If yon had called we should have heard. Apparently Appar-ently you made no sort of attempt to summon help. Juries get curious over tnings line mat. "It was too sudden," Grant explained. ex-plained. "1 had no time. It was his life or mine." "And he wasn't armed 1" Contempt was in Weld's tone. "How could I know that? I daren't take a chance. Who would after knowing know-ing the desperate sort of man he was? I tell you he threatened me in open court as you can read In the newspaper newspa-per report of the trial. I'm going to call up my lawyer." Grant moved toward to-ward the telephone. "Not till we have the sheriff's permission," per-mission," Trent said. Grant felt himself him-self forcibly propelled toward a closet where a store of logs was kept. He was thrust In. The key was turned on him. In vain he beat half hysterically hysterical-ly against the heavy oak door. Finally Final-ly he sat on a pile of logs In the darkness. He could not understand why he had been so treated. He would sue for damages; he would expose their high-handedness. But these threats gave him little comfort. Natlca would get enough of the wrong sort of notoriety now. Sometimes the course of Justice -was unaccountably perverse. He might not get acquitted after all. He sat brooding nnhappily on his troubles until his dungeon door was flung open and he was hauled, blinking. Into the light. There were three strangers gathered gath-ered about the blazing fire, One wore a sheriff's badge; a second was his deputy. The third man, whom they addressed as "doctor," was a keen-eyed keen-eyed man of strong build and middle age. He looked at Payson Grant very shrewdly, ft was a glance that was not easy to meet "And this Is the murderer!" be commented. com-mented. (TO BE CONTINUED.) |