The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1893-02-08

hope some day to make fine haul, and
retire on an independent fortune"
"Let us hope that the day Of our re-
tiring is not far distant" / said, and he
Of course misunderstood me.
We drank to the retirement. I am q
/ very moderate driEker, and l said so to
my new friend. I had been exceedingly
careful to let him take the first sip to
prove that the liquor was not drugged,
for I was on the lookout that such q
game should not be played on me.
AS I raised my tumbler to sip the con-
tents again, received an electric shock.
It was as though my system had sud-
denly come in contact with the positive
and negative poles of battery.
At the same time great feeling OF
satisfaction came over me- i, realized
that step forward, had been taken In
proving the innocence of Leonore.
Upon the wall hung knife. 1t was OF
peculiar mold, and recognized the fatal
Malay creese!
This signifed great deall
When my eyes had fallen upon this
blade, hope was revived in my soul to al
astonishing degree.
It was singular how much the creese
seemed to have to do with the case, and
we had simply to follow the clews put
forth by the one who perpetrated the
crime in order to reach the end.
OF course I was too wise to betray my
self, and after making sure that my eyes
had not deceived me, 1 kept my attention
away from the blade as much as posi-
BILE. ....-
After time, however, in getting up to
stretch my limbs, my hand happened to
touch it.
"Hallo! what's this, anyhow?n ! asked,
with seeming curiosity. -.
"A knife" he replied, and saw some
sign OF uneasiness In his manner.
"Well, that's the queerest knife ever
set eyes on. What do you call It, Colonel9"
was examining it as I spoke. The
blade was far from bright. Dingy-look-
ing spots that might come from rust or
dried blood marred it's surface.
1t. was quite contrast to tha fine "reese
used as ps2er cutter by Leonore, and
yet both were built on the same pattern.
ut is called creese. They are used
by the things out in India"
II hope you are not thug, ] laughed.
Nonsense. / picked the blade mp
from beside the, body Of friend who lost
his, life at,the hands Of those ccprsed IAN
atics. Yes, that crease has seen terrible
work."
An unnatural glow came over his face
at the words, and ! could see, without
appearing to notice, that he had shut his
teeth hard while he spoke.
did not ask for particulars.
They were already before mJs mind
better than he could give them.
Replacing the creese on the wall, l re-
sumed our conversation at the point
where I had broken it off. ~
There was one thing I was very anx-
ious to do now. This was to search the
ROOM. ..
If the Colonel would only leave me
alone there for q time believed would
be able to tell positively whether he was
the man we wanted or not.
Fortune favored me.
He was a heavy drinker, and could
stand more liquor than most men knew.
The black bottle was now empty, and
by the way in which he took it up sew
eral times and looked into it knew he
had not had enough yet.
So finally threw half-dollar on the
table with jingle.
"Colonel, isn't there some place near
by where you can get that replenished2
I'll stand treat, and by the time you get
back I'll have finished what is in my
glass and be ready for more"
ayes, know Of den near at hand.
It'll take me five or ten minutes to get
back. Amuse yourself as best you can,
comrade."
Seizing the black bottle, he was gone.
I heard him descending the stairs, and
when he had reached the second fight
below I concluded it was time for me to
begin my operations. ...
'.. Tro BE CONTINUED.