El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1901-02-23
CHAPTER XVII.


A half hour later these men We're al
kitchen. Abel had rejoined them, and
| Sweetwater was telling his story with
great earnestness and no little show of
pride.
Gentlemen. when 1 charge a young
woman of respectable appearance and
connections with such a revolving crime
| as murder. I do so with good reason. as
l hope presently to make plain to you.
Gentlemen, on the night and at the
hour Agatha Webb was killed, | was
playing with four other musicians in
Mr. Sutherland's hallway. From the
place where l sat l could see what
went on in the parlor and also have a
clear view of the passageway leading
down to the garden door AS the
dancing was going on in the parlor
naturally looked that way most. and
this is how l came to note the eager
ness with which during the first part
of the evening Frederick Sutherland
and Amabel Page came together in the
Quadrilles and country dances. Some
times she spoke as she passed him and
sometimes he answered. but not al
ways, although he never failed to show
been If something-perhaps it was his
lack of confidence in her. sirs-had not
stood In the way of a perfect under
standing. She seemed to notice he
did not always respond and after
awhile showed less inclination to speak
herself. though she did not fail to
watch him and that intently. But she
didn't watch him any more closely than
l did her. though little thought at the
time what would come of my espion-
age. She wore a white dress and white
shoes and was as coquettish and seduc-
tive as the evil one makes them. Sud
denly l missed her. She was in the
middle of the dance one minute and
entirely out of it the next.
Naturally l expected that she had
slipped aside with Frederick Suther-
land. but no. he was still in sight, but
looking so pale and so distracted l was
sure the young miss was up to some
sort of mischief. But what mischief?
Watching and waiting, but no longer
combining my attention to the parlOr.
i presently espied her stealing along
the passageway. l have mentioned
carrying n long cloak which she rolled
up and hid behind the open door. Then
she came back. humming n gay little
song which didn't deceive me for mo-
ment. 'Goodr thought |, she and
that cloak will soon join company
And they did. AS we were playing the
Harebell maZurka l again caught sight
of her stealthy white figure in that dis
tant doorway. Selling the cloak, she
wrapped ii round her. and with just
one furtive look backward. seen. 1 war
RI no hIlt & 10
ished in the outside dark. Now to note
who follows herr thought 1. But no
body followed her. This struck me as
strange. and having a natural love for
detective work. in spite of my devotion
to the arts, l consulted the clock at
the foot of the stairs. and noting that
1t was half past IL. scrubbed the hour
on the margin OF my music, with the |
intention of seeing how long my lady !
would linger outside alone. Gentle |
men. 1t was two hours before saw her |
face again. How she got back into the |
house 1 do not know. 1t was not by |
the garden door, for my eye seldom |
left 1t; yet at or near half past / |
heard her voice on the stair above me |
and saw her descend and melt into the |
crowd as IL she had not been absent |
from it for more than five minutes. A |
half hour later 1 saw her with Fred
erick again. They were dancing, but |
not with the same spirit as before. and |
even while l watched them they sep
arated. Now where was Miss Page |
during those two long hours? 1 think
I know. and 1t Is time / unburdened
myself to the police.
But first I must inform you Of q
nah Ill H. Ill
dance was still in progress. Miss Page
had come down stairs. as l have said,
from what l now know to have been
her own room. Her dress was. in all
the same as before. with one
white slippers has been
for blue ones. This seemed
to show that they had been rendered
or at least unsightly. by
the walk she had taken. This in itself
was not remarkable. nor would her Pc
culiar escapade have made more than
4 temporary impression upon my
If she had not afterward
shown an unaccountable and extraor-
binary interest in the murder which
had taken place in the town below
during the very hours of her absence
from Mr.. Sutherlands ball. This. in
of her sex and her being
q stranger to the person attacked. was
and. though perhaps had
no business to do what l did, | no
sooner saw the house emptied Of
master and servants than stole
softly back. and climbed the stairs to
her room. Had no good followed this
Webb's front yafu.-
You do not mean Amabel Page"
cried Mr.. Fenton, with natural sur