The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1900-12-08

at a draught; and presently, when h
had breath to speak, he sat down and
leaning towards me, said slowly:
"You don't leave this zoos until
have heard everything you have t,
tell. What do you know Of those &C
cursed cards? What do you know o
the fiends who handled them"
He rose quickly from his chair an
walked to the door and locked It, and
resuming his seat, said, almost fierce
ly: ~ ~. X, ), 81 8:
Now, go ont" ~As-l; ! = -. ,-.
II must begln," 1 said, by reminding
you that only three cards were picked
up ut Oldburg. In this last case there
were five. When 1 came here first ]
came on the evening Of the day OF
which a foul crime had been perpe.
trated in London. It was styled "A
Suburban Mystery inc it is very like.
ly you were SO taken up with your
studies that you never read or heard
anything about it. Is that 500"
II don't in the least know what you
are talking about"
Let me tell you, then. A man was
found by the police in a half-empty
house. He had evidently met with q
violent death at the hands Of some per-
son or persons unknown. That man
had five cards precisely similar in all
respects to those found upon this man
at Manchester. The police know moth
ing of this popularity of the London
case, because the cards were taken
away before they discovered the body.
My father took them away, and I have
them now"
Good Heavens! Tremayne!" he ex-
claimed, who are you? And what
fresh horror Is this?" :.
Il am the son of a man who, I verify
believe. is Mr.. Trayers' greatest friend,
and Who Is involved, just as Mr.. Trav-
ers is, in some terrible manner that I
cannot understand. My father has
left the country; I have no idea where
he Is, or by what name he calls HIM
self. He cent me here, and I should
never have known who you are, or
who Mr.. Travers is, had he not left be-
hind him a small parcel containing
some extracts referring to what hap
pened at Oldburg, and the five cards
he had picked up near the man.
"He forbade me to speak Of anything
I saw that night to the police, or to
any stranger; but I don't look upoL
ly concerned in the matter as I; and 1
have found out several other things
bearing upon the doings of these
fiends-for there must be more than
n in it-and I shall put them before
you as briefly Is possible"
And with that, I told him what I
had heard at O'Brien's. and gave him
more complete details Of what had hap
pened in our house in London, not
emitting to mention, also, the deaths
of the men who had, as I firmly be-
lieved, been a~ssassinated abroad.
He heard me to the end without tn-
terruption.
IT can see now," he said. ''why nei-
ther your father nor-nor Mr.. Travers
would let Is inform the authorities.
They were both convinced that the
publicity would bring these-well, we
can't call them men, and they're too
bad for demons-these assassins down
upon them, when the police protection
was withdrawn. What can it all
mean? Why are they taking the lives
Of men that your father, IN his own
showing, doesn't know, and that MI.
Travers doesn't know? You say the
fellows who were here with you talked
of this DR.. James, and my uncle didn't
seem to recognize the name at all? Do
you really think that it was a coinci-
dence that this doctor was killed in
your house,"
my father did," I said. "I saw him
examine the poor fellow closely, and
I'll swear he had never seen him be-
fore. Now, Travers, I'll tell you what
you must do. . You must get that
strong brain of yours in working order.
Go to bed. now, and sleep as long as
you can. I'll take are of Mr.. Travers
tonight, land tomorrow we'll put our
heads together and settle on some def
mite plan Of action"
I had the stronger will, and I per-
suaded him to come with me to his un-
Gle, and when he had hidden him good
night I took him away, and having
seen him comfortably bestowed, I re-
turned to Mr.. Travers' room, to begin
long vigil.
Had I needed any stimulus for the
efficient carrying out Of my self-im-
posed task, I should only have to look
CT AAC pAA4SAAOo 40SC dAo AK \ 3 lC eyes
of the man who had been so good to
His voice was very weak, but 10
clear that one could easily hear every
word he spoke.
I'm glad you've come, Tremayne,"
he said. 1--WE been expecting YOU, and
you're going to stay with me tonight.
It's very good Of you, but I hope I
shall soon be about again, and not be
a nuisance to you young people,"
I told him that he could lever be
that, and as I looked at his worn fea-
coming had called up began to fade
away, I thought within myself that
here was a nan suffering from the
burden Of some secret that was too
great for him to bear, and. at an haz-
ards, I determined to let him know that
I was perfectly cognizant of what had
caused his illness. I gave him the med
icine that he. had prescribed for him
self-and he was no mean master tof
the healing art-and shook up his pill
lows, all the while trying to think Of
some opening that might give me the
chance Of leading up to what I wished
to say. e
The opening came from him.
81 feel very restless, Tremayne,' = said
he. Would you read to me q little,
or, better still, tell me how you like
your work, and something about the
people you were staying WITH. What
was the manner"
"O'Bren,," said, and. though !
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