Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1902-07-17
CHAPTER XIV.
Enid Learns Something,

CHAPTER XIV.
Enid Learns somethinR
Reginald Henson struggled ont OF
bed and into his clothes as best he
could. He was terribly weak and
shaky. far more weak than he had i'm
agined himself to be. but he was In
danger now, and his indomitable will
power pulled him through. What a
fool Littimer had been to tell him Sc
much. merely that he might triumph
over his powerful foe for a few min
utes. But Henson was planning a lit
tie scheme by which he intended to re-
pay the young man tenfold. He had
no doubt as to the willingness of his
tool. .
He took a bottle of brandy from a
drawer and helped himself to a liberal
dose. Walker had expressly forbidden
anything of the kind, but 1t was no
time for nice medical obedience. The
'-rateful stimulant had its immediate
eject. Then Henson rang the bell. and
after a time Wilson appeared, tardily,
You are 20 go down to Barnes and
tell him to send a cab here as soon as
possible" Henson said. 81 have to go
to London by the first train in the
morning"
Wilson nodded, with his mouth wide
open. He was astonished and not a
little alarmed at the strength and vi
tally Of the man. And only a few
hours before williams had learned,
with deep satisfaction, that Henson
would be confined to his bed for some
days.
Henson dressed at length and packed
q small portmanteau. But he had TO
sit on his bed for some little time, and
sip a further dose of brandy before he
could move further. After all. there
was no hurry. A fun hour was sure TO
elapse before the ~leisurely Barnes
brought the cab to the lodge gates.
Henson crept down stairs at length,
and trod his catlike way to the library.
Once there, he proceeded to make a
minute inspection of the telephone. He
turned the handle just the fragment of
an inch, and a queer smile came over
his face. Then he crept as silently UP
stairs. opened the window of the bath
room quietly and slipped out On to the
leads. There were a couple of insulat-
OTIS mere, dEdlHSl lut WIZ VI oHc Va
Which Henson tapped his knuckles
gently. The wire gave back an an
swering twang. The other tangled,
limp and loose.
Zone of the wires cut" Henson NUT
tered. II expected as much. Madame
Enid is getting a deaf too clever. !
suppose this is ON suggestion of her
very astute friend. David Steel. Well,
! have given Mr.. Steel one lesson In
minding his own business, n IL he In
terferes further I shall nave TO give
him another. He will be in gaol before
long, charged with attempted murder
and robbery, with violence, and SO exit
Steele. After that the girl will be per-
haps chary OF seeking outside assist
ance. And this will be h third I have
had to get rid OF. Heavens! How fee
BILE I feel. how weak I am! And yet ]
must go through this thing nowr'
He staggered into the house again
and dropped into a chair. There was
a loud buzzing in his ears. so that he
could hardly hear the mcrmur OF
voices in the drawing below.
This was annoying, because Henson
liked to near everything that other
folks said. Then he dropped off into a
kind OF dreamy state. coming back,
presently. to the consciousness that he
had tainted.
Meanwhile. Frank Littimer had joined
Enid in the drawing room. The house
was perfectly quiet and still by this
time: the du5t-cloud hung on the air
and caused the lamps to burn with a
splitting blue fame. Ends face looked
H. llv Nnt0 onognuf hcr hlarl dravc
$50 you have been seeing Reginald"
she said. ''why-why did you do it?"
81 didn't mean to-" Frank muttere1.
ct never intended him to know that ]
had been In the house at all, But ]
was passing his room aud he heard me
he seemed to know my footsteps. I be-
iieve If two mice ran by him twice IN
the darkness he could tell the differ
ence between them"
You had an interesting converse
ton. What did he want to use the tel
ephone for?"
IT don't know. I tried e manipulate
IT for him, but the instrument vas out
OF order"
II know. I had a pretty shrewd idea
of what our cousin was going to do
You see, I was listening at the door
Not a very ladylike thing to do. but
one must fight Henson with his owr
tools. When I heard him ask for tn;
telephone directory I ran out and nip
ped one OF the wires by the bath room
Frank. IL would have been far wiser u
you hadn't come"
Littimer nodded, gloomily. There
was something like tears In his eyes.
1T know it, he said. IT hate the
place and Its dreadful associations
/ Rut I wanted TO see Chris first. DID
she say anything about me before-be.
fore"
my dear boy, she loved you. always
She knew and understood. and was
sorry. And she never, never forgot the
last time you were in the house."
Frank Littimer glanced around the
room with a shudder. His eyes dwell
with fascination on the overturned ia
BILE, with II broken china and glass and
wilted flowers In the corner.
cit Is not the kind of thing to for.
get" he said, hoarsely. II can see my
! father now"
"Don't!' Enid shuddered, don't re.
cally it. And your mother has neve
been the same since. i doubt n she
ever will be the same again. From