Show V P LADY k it TG ERALDINE J DONNER BONNER ly aft BOBBS MEARILL coi ca CHAPTER XIII continued 18 it was ivas her that quieted him site had known from the alie first lie would tell as she lind had known from the first lie haldone had done it ile he relaxed i und lind sank buck back ills his eyes closing and the he doctor motioned then them to go florn flora followed them to tiie the door orld and hold held ti cal there a moment to repent repeat what ahe lie lind had said faid its as if like him wanting to rid tier her mind of nil all its secret agony it surmise sur she had seen been him NN lion she ehe had bad turned from the water after tier her attempt to catch the body i he ha had lind had a clear view ot of him stealing through the pine wood moving mol ing noiselessly and watching the house ile he never knew it slie she said that night when you mr williams nearly caught me on the stairs I 1 nias mas going to lo see bee him say I 1 knew what hed done ond ind that id help him and lie tor for him wid mid stand by him oil oh yes I 1 dont care what I 1 tell now lie ile was my ins liu annd id loved him and hed lie d been curbed cursed and destroyed the men closed the door softly its as dpn cpr n the dead what they had heard left behind them had taken the cst front from their accomplishment and in III lie hie glow of the hall lights their faces looked drawn and hollowed with IA zatigue ft igue tigue rawson drew out tits ills watch half past two the best tiling thing they uld diwag to get a little sleep nod stepping gently as befitted a place where so dark a doom had bad fallen lie and Wt lUdins passed into the 1 11 I firary sleep was far front from bassett ne he would like to have seen anne put but it would have been inhuman to rouse tier lier and lie he went toward the living room roola where he could think in quiet lie lic dropped into a chair tits hia breath expelled with a groaning note then aicard ln ird annes voice from the gallery abone e ive been waiting tor for you mily may I 1 ome down there she was dressed leaning the rolling railing come lie he beckoned his heart ex li anding ills his depression lightened and u ui sue site disappeared lie pulled up it a biair for tier her she came in koft boft footed across the rugs with tile the whispering P C 1 1119 words 1 I 1 0 rest till id seen you and ilard u urd lies hes told lvere tiling they sat facing each other lose close together its solved and ended ahe gull island murder Is it all right for you jou to tell me it was nil fill right and he be told her so us it turns out anne dearest nit ill that misery you and I 1 went through aus uj unnecessary ye v s she said slowly it joe lie he in it at all hut but I 1 dont understand ive ie been sitting in my boota while you were with stokes thinking about shout it ft and I 1 cant make it aut hugh she leaned forwand and rested tier her hand on oil ills his knee dropping latr voice eliou ih no one was there to tear this Is 19 what I 1 cant explain aliu ho did I 1 see in liere here last I 1 lighta lassetta las answer was prompt delivered in the brisk tone of bailee 1 I 1 cin can its very simple you nu ee 1 I on oil think I 1 imagined it 1 I 1 you luu did jua consider you were in a wrought up condition you expected to see him cinie came down lir ivr that pur poe the room was ul laust lurk dark quiet julet daik under the gal kiy itly where you ou say lie he came front from t after what gone through first a jour murder der eliva a suspicion that would limi undermined the llie nerves aou were in a state blate to see bee anything glie continued to store stare at the light tier her luce lace bet lit in troubled it 1 I suppose that could be why V hy anne dear it must have hare heen it collia liase have happened to anyone and tj theres leeS another point if it had L ferrn r ell lot joe t ile he have spoken to ou oa one even to find out what was going ott on what hat we e were doing yes yes yea ive thought of that it occur to tile me lit at the time but 11 lir would have ta bald ld something t ot if ermae lie he would you nol never er t uw wore more substantial than a thirlow thi ilow dow lit in the tha moonlight I 1 ibe was waa silent for u moment then said well where here la Is joe be doing CI gone off on tome home business of his own yuu you were telling the truth when you told rawson and williams that joes actions always calacal able aou ou lie ile saw tier her no an nod well lies hes evidently dhosi u tile the occasion of his leaving the malmd to light aig lit out to in some s tile new dim direction you cant till what may hae lieen la in his lit head a joke on jimmy traverse Tra on us any sort of lark or ar tom foole S well find cud it le all alj out q kill inn come lie said rising alt lne ard acil drawing tier to tier her feet theros lio ijo KIWI good bottle ing about that any more leave lea re it ta to rue me and whon when weve got through the rest of tills this horrible buI neBi qs ill look around for him and anyway hell see gee it in tile tho papers and if 11 he vanti bonts to show up hell do it himself within the next nest few days now you must go to bed and let your poor tired brain rest they walked to the door and there lie caught tier her against hla his breast and looked into tier her race face its all over that fighting and struggling alone anne after this well be together ns as soon as we can call get away front from hero here and find a clergyman to marry us they kissed and parted bassett going to his room lie he could sleep now and anne faring slowly up the stairs to tiera CHAPTER XIV anyone watching gull island from the shore would have been the yellow shape of one bright window set get like a small golden square in the darkness the bright window was annes fanlo had seized him and he ha had made mada a rush from the place and over against it anne sat on the side of the bed looking at tho the floor sho she sat eat perfectly still held in a staring concentration of thought reviewing the happenings of the night while bassett had talked to tier her she had bad accepted his theory tits his belief in it had bad been so BO absolute and it was so plausible of course a person in tier lier state might have imagined anything and as she dwelt ott on the sentence to persuade herself the vision of the dim shadowy room rose before tier her with the figure coming toward tier her from the darkness of tile gallery moving as an hallucination might move cut but as the memory grew in lividness the shape took torm forin und and solidity the allm boys shape sho saw again its rapid ui hunce its sudden stoppage nt at her words its light ning turn and soundless flight the breall of tile closing door came to tier her mind na as a last confirmation and elie knew it was no de lulon 1 I did she said lit in a whisper and raised tier her eyes as if confronting a doubter with tile the truth 1 I knew it I 1 did see nee somebody somebody I 1 the word struck tier her 4 ar with allu a startling effect an effect of discovery of impending ills disclosures closures tier her body shrank together ns as if lit in fear of them tier riveted glince glance grew fixed as a steep walkers she lost till all sene of tier her eur rounding surrounding 3 tier lier entire being coll contracted to a point of tuner inner activity before that libeu mental menial illion it II ile of pictures pic pl tules passed like the ellder lit in a lantern Sli shines lues photograph the worn wide eyed eyad face of sybil joe sebastian hla hi costume ills nn a replica of violas Vl olaa olas the lilua loom us its they heard the acot dust fulling falling outside in the X S S Z I Z Z X X X S Z S pummer house honse with its shrouding vines it would have beed almost dark suddenly a recollection flashed inched up clairvoyantly distinct joe at tile the flat but trang to make give five him the part of sebastian titillating imitating sybila walk that picture brought her to her foot feet brought a smothered cry to her lips the spots of light had joined run together lit in a leaping illumination on the bureau lay the he key of Joea Joes trunk that blie lind had brought from frontu hl room after their last Inter lew site she snatched it up and rau ran to the tha door out of 0 it along tile the gallery in joes room the she turned on the hie light and unlocked tits ills trunk she went through it to the bottom looking for tits ills sebastian costume it was gone every appointment of it she had not needed the proof she knew that she would not find it that it was joe dressed in that costume stokes had killed the rest of it sibil sall achie ache hiding somei here site she saw raw the gray dawn on tile the window the night was over the house would soon be stirring hig site she locked the trunk turned oil oft the light and stole out on the gallery she did not go back to her room but kept on down the liall hall to the top floor staircase halt half way up she heard from the floor above a sound so BO faint so BO burtle fur lie tle that it would only have been audible in the dead dawn hush bush she made a rush upward sending her voice low keyed but passionately urgent ahead of her sybil sybil if its you walt wait its anne im coining to help you the door of the lie bedroom opposite the atair head bead was open against tile pale light of the window poised with one hand band resting on the raised sash bash was a boys figure surely the figure she had seen in the living room two nights before it was so BO completely boyish the cropped round head the knickerbockers and belted jacket that the she could not yet be sure and went forward with slackened blackened gait peering and murmuring tearfully fearfully sybil it Is you on the figure left the window came nearer silently with a hand raised for caution she saw gaw the face then pinched and haggard strangely altered with mith the curling frame of hair clipped close but still sails Si bils it was wag so extraordinary such a gulf gul of unknown happenings lay between then that at first they sald bald nothing anne spoke first joe the she said its joe stats dead yes do they know they know no nothing thing they think thick it was you its all over stokes has told but oh what Is it I 1 cant understand der stand its like a fearful dream the words died away and a sudden violent trembling shook her with the joints of her knees like water she stink sank on the side of the bed gripping the he other with tier her shaking hands pulling her down beside her tell me tell me she implored why la Is lie he dead why did he be pretend he was waa you what was ho he doing they sat clinging together two small huddled figures in the gray light though the house below was as silent as the tomb lomb they spoke in subdued voices question answer surmise burm lse euch knew a differ different elit aspect of the story brought tier lier own knowledge of joes motives mothes and actions 11 in that whispered exchange they pieced together the alie separate facts combined them in coherent sequence and came to it final enlightenment joe had met his death la in his last effort as a pollee police spy ills last effort to get the parkinson reward leaving ills his room to come down and make ready for ills his departure he had heard the voices of stokes and sibil in tit the living IV ing room S sibil bit remembered stokes upward look and question about soi someone neone moving in the gallery joe creeping to concealment behind the arch the nature of their conversation would haie held him listening here was his last opportunity to get the information lie he sought ile he had heard the rendezvous in III the summer house its ita open situation offered no hiding place dut 0 outside side but knowing that it would be aleoa dark inside lie he had conceived the idea of putting on Us his sebastian costume and impersonating sybil ills room was next to sybila Sy 93 bils ile he had heard tier her come upstairs find and from lit his 3 window could command the point IN when hen shine left it he had gone down tile the balcony where stokes was walling waiting mid laid hearing ills his follo following winz footsteps moved with that clyse close imitation of S sails alls gult alt to tit the summer house there the dim light and the drooping curls of ills wig enabled him to carry through the deception stokes wild speech followed by the drawing of the pistol had terri terrified lied him confronted by it man mall drilled armed and half mad panic had belied hint him and lie had gnadt a rush front from the place TO UE CONTINUED x x fx x x 2 Xi fixx x x x x x bep x ki t |