The pioneer press. (Miller, Hand County, S.D.) 1893-190?, 1902-08-14
CHAPTER xxxIv.
The PuzxIing of Henson.

Chris smiled with the air OF one who
is perfectly satisfied with her work.
For the present / fancy we have
done enough" she said. IT want to go
to bed now, and want you both to do
the same. Also. shall be glad IL you
will come down in the morning as II
nothing had happened. Tell Reginald
Hen@on. casually. that you have been
convinced that you have done DR.. Bell
grave injustice. and give no kind of
! particulars. And please treat Mr..
! Henson In the same fashion as before.
There is only one other thing"
Name 1t. and 1t is yours" Littimer
/ cried.
Wen cut the margin off that print,
or, at any rate. turn the margin down..
| fit Il into the frame and hang II up,
| as IL nothing had happened"
Littimer look at Chris with pug
zled expression for moment. and then
! his features relaxed into satyr-like
| grin.
! Capital" he said. II quite under
stand what you mean. And 1 must be
there to see, eh?--yes. must be there
to see. / would not miss 1t for straw
berry leavesv'
The thing was done, and the picture
restored to its place. Bell drew Chris
| aside for a moment.
do you rise early in the morning.?
| he asked, meaningly.
Always" Chris replied. demurely.
ct find the terrace charming before
| breakfast. Goodnight
| Bell was down betimes. despite the
fact that II was daylight before he was
| in bed. Along the terrace looking over
the cliffs Chris was already walking,
| great cluster of red and yellow roses In
1 her hand. She looked as fresh and
bright as II she and excitement were
strangers. All the same. she seemed
| to avoid Bells eyes.
isn't II lovely here?" she exclaimed.
"And these roses with the dew still up
| on them. Well, DR.. Bell, have you
| made fresh discoveries?'
"I have discovered that Henson is
going to take his breakfast in bed"
Bell said. graveiy. ALSO, that he re-
| auires n valet at half-past ten. At
that time hope to be in the corridor
| with Lord Iittimer and yourself. Al
so, I have made a further discovery.
"And what IL that, DR.. Bell?"
"That you and I have met before
| once before when I attended you In
kind Of official capacity. and when 1
behaved in a distinctly discreditable
professional manner DIR. Walker was
! present. DR. Walker seems to have
been singularly short-sighted."
Tn crosses fell from Chris's hands on
the path. Her face had grown very
pale. indeed: there was a frightened,
appealing look in her eyes.
CDR. Bell" she gasped, do you sup
pose that anybody else knows-Hen-
sen, for instance? And imagined that
had utterly deceived him!"
Bell smiled, meaningly.
IT don't think you need have the
slightest anxiety on that score" he
said. you see, Henson Is comfortably
assured that you are dead and buried.
Whereas. I know all about 1t. For
tunately for me. became mixed up In
this strange business in behalf OF my
friend, David steel: indeed. but for
steel, I should probably have given
you away TO our friend Walker"
But, surely, you guessed that"
Not for the moment. You see, IL
was only a few minutes before that
flood of interesting light had been let
In upon Henson's character by your
sister to me. and my first idea was that
Henson was poisoning you for some
purpose of his own. subsequently
Steel told me all about that side of the
story on our way back to Brighton"
But how did you penetrate my dis
guise?"
my dear young lady. have not PEN
etrated your disguise. Your disguise
Is perfect--so quaint and daringly orig
inal-and would deceive even Henson's
eyes. I guessed who you were directly
found that you were taking philan-
thropic interest in our friend. 1t came
TO be by a kind of intuition, the knack
that stood me In such good stead In my
professional days When you said that
you had been warned Of Henson's COM
ing by telegram, ! was certain"
"Then perhaps you guessed that Enid
sent me the telegram
''That was obvious. Also. Il was OBJ
vious that Henson brought Frank Lat
timer along"
"oh. he aid. II was Franks mission
to steal the picture. ! confronted him
with revolver. and locked him In one
of the bed rooms. 1t took all my cour-
age and good resolutions to prevent
me from oetrdyinB iHyseh W thc wv
fellow"
Rather cruel Of you. wasn't it7''
''well, yes. But 7 wanted to make
the exposure as complete as possible.
When the time comes to strip Reginald
Henson of his pretensions and fog him
from the family, the more evidence we
can pile DIP the better. But Frank Is
not bad; he is merely weak. and ut
terly in the power of that man. II we
can only break the bonds Frank will be
powerful factor on our side"
81 dare say. But how was the Rem
brandt stolen? Lttimers. ! mean"
1T was worked through an accom-
piice." Chris explained. "It had TO be
done before you arrived. And there
; war no better time than night for the
operation. I guessed that when Hen
son drew the fact from me that liked