Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-07-07

again; then remembering suddenly the ma
ture Of janitors. took out my purse and
tipped him.
Have them ready by tomorrow after
noon, said. Get a man to help you, If
tomorrow night"
His face cleared instantly.
. III 90 1t, sir" he agreed. as he pocketed
the money I'm see that everything gifts
In all right. You kin sign tn rent agree
ment tomorrow-th' SCOT rents fer forty a
MONTH"
Very WE'LL said. and followed him
Into tho outer room, smiling to myself at
the thought that had forgotten to ask for
sat down and took a smoke. while de-
eide how I'll arrange my furniture?"
That's all right. SIR he assured me
instantly: and just then the elevator bell
rang. There he added, Its them con-
founded artists. too lazy t. walk down
stairs. IN be back in minute, SIR"
II TOOK me but an instant to light my
cigar, then l wfirled my chair around to
the table before which it stood The table
had single drawer. l opened it. 1t was
absolutely empty. l went quickly to the
bedroom and opened the closet, but not
even piece of clothing hung there Then
1 turned to the dresser, but its three draw
ers. too. were empty. Evidently all of
Thompson's belongings had been removed
by the police. or course they had searched
through every nook and Granny; 1t was
now.
returned to my chair and looked again
about the room. There was the corner
where Miss Croydon had covered, and from
which she had shot at Thompsons assail-
ant; there was the spot where Thompson
himself had fallen; he had lain ex-
tended on the carpet, while the
what was that? A tiny sparkle caught my
eye. a reflection of the light overhead. l
sprang from my chair and stopped above
the place. but could see nothing / return
ed to my chair, and again caught the re-
Election. This time l marked 1t exactly in
the pattern of the carpet went to it care
fully; put down my hand-nothing-yes, a
little hard point pressed into the carpet,
SO minute could not pick 1t up. l mos-
tened my finger and an instant later under
the light, i saw that l had found dia-
mond!
I wrapped it carefully in a scrap of paper
and slowed it away safely in my pocket
book. Then l went back to my chair How
came the diamond there? A stone so minute
must have been set in a piece of jewelry;
perhaps was only one of many such stones
forming cluster, or a border to a larger
jewel. If one could only discover the piece
from which it had fallen there would be a
We'll, have y got 1t all fixed sir? asked
a voice from the door, and l turned with
start to see Higgins standing there.
Yes" l answered. rousing myself with
an effort: and l gave him such directions
as occurred to me. Has any one else been
In the rOOmSI' l asked
Not since yesterday mornin sir when
tn coroner brought his jury t look 'em
over. They've been locked since then"
Il thought perhaps somebody might have
wanted to rent them" 1 explained.
nigh fersot it Esrv t6s d purity
was somebody's woman" He came close
to me and dropped his voice to a hoarse
whisper by know who think it was?
That Croydon womanI
/ stared at him in amazement
weren't you sure?"
No; she had veil wrapped around her
head an she was dressed different. But it
was her-I know it."
And what did she want?" I asked more
and more astonished.
''She wanted t see TIL rooms: but told
her they was closed. tell you, was dead
f aowd cG know up put here seso with her
shot at me? Then she wanted t.
rent 'em sight unseen, an offered a
months rent in advance-but 1 told her
we didn't rent scots t single women, which
is true Mebbe was kind O. rough but
was askeered t have her around. fer 1
Kind O believe she's crazy, SO purity soon
after some more talkin' she give 1t up an
went away"
As we went down in the elevator, I pom
dered this remarkable story. Could It real
~ have been Miss Croydon? But what pos
sfble reason could she have for wishing to
rent the rooms? How could she nerve
herself to enter them again? Was 1t the
rooms and not the man that had brought
her to the Marathon? Did they hold the
key to the mystery? Did they contain
some secret
The car stopped. A man and woman were
waiting to be taken up. AT the man 1 did
not even glance, for his companion held my
eyes. Such fierce, dark. passionate beauty
l had never seen before, and my nerves
were still tingling with the sight of it as l
left the building and turned westward to-
ward my rooms.
ITO be continued tomorrow