The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1906-06-22

WII-THE ADVENTURE OF cHAs
AUGUSTUS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ued.
"Weii." said he. CURLY, you are nearl.
tAalf an hour late"
So this was the explanation OF the un
locked door and of the nocturnal vigil o
Atlverton. There was the gentle rusG,
OF a woman dress. l had closed the sill
w tho curtains as Milverton's face
had turned in our direction. hut now
ventured very carefully to open it once
more. He had sumo his seat, the cigal
still projecting at an insolent angle from
h corner of his mouth. In front OF him
In the full glare of the electric light. there
stood a tall. slim, dark woman, a vel.
over her face. q mantle drawn round her
chin. Her breath came quick and fast
and every inch Of the 1.-THE figure was
-Qufvertng with strong emotion.
"Well," said M.lverton you've made me
lose a good nights rest, my dear. I hope
you'll prove worth it. You couldn't come
any other time-eh?"
The woman shook her head.
well, IL you ouldn you couldn't. If
h Is a hard mistress, you have
your chance to get level with her now.
About That's right. Pull yourself to-
gether. Now, let US get down to bust
meas" He took a notebook from the draw
er OF his desk. you say that you have
ave letters which compromise the Coun-
tess dAIbert. You want to sell them. I
want to buy them. So far SO good. 1t
only remains to fix a price. I should want
60 inspect the letters, of course. If they
are really good spec.mens-Great heavens,
q 1t you?"
The woman, without a word, had raised
her veil and dropped the mantle from her
chin. 1t was a dark. handsome, clear-cut
1ace which confronted Milverton-a face
with 4 curved nose. strong. dark eyebrows
shading hard, glittering eyes. and a
straight. thin-iipped mouth set In a dan
gerous smile.
TT Is l." She said, "the women whose
life you have ruined"
Aflverton laughed, but fear vibrated in
his voice. You were SO very OBSTINATE
0aid he. why did you drive me to such
0xtremeties? / assure you I wouldn't hurt
. ny of my own accord. but every man
has his business. and what was 1 to do? I
put the the price we'll within your means.
You would not pay"
S you sent the letters to my husband,
and he-the noblest gentleman that ever
lived. a man whose boots I was never
worthy to sace-he broke his gallant heart
and died. Iou remember that last night,
when I came through that door. I begged
and prayed you for mercy, and you
laughed In my face as you are trying 10
Waugh row., only your coward heart can
not keep your lips from twitching? Yes,
you never thought to see me here again,
1t wass that night which taught me
now I could meet you face to face. and
alone. Well, Charles Milvcrton. what
have you to sayw:'
Don imagine that you can bully me-"
snid he. rising to his feet. 81 lave only to
raise my voice, and I could call my SER
q and have you arrested. But 1 will
make allowance for you natural anger.
leave the room at once as you came. and
u will Say no more"
Tie woman stood with her hand buried
An her bosom, and the same deadly smile
on her thin lips.
You will run no more lives as you nave
ruined mine. You will wiring no more
hearts as you wrung mine. I will free the
world OF a poisonous thing. Take that,
you Homeland that!-and that!-and
sfhat.-and that!'
She had drawn a little cleaning revolt
yer ard emptied barrel after barrel into
.Afiverton's body. the muzzle within two
1eet OF his shirt front. He shrank
then fell forward upon the table. coughing
f~uriously AMI clawing among the papers.
Then he staggered to his feet, received an
other shot, anG rolled upon the floor.
done me" he cried, and lay still.
The woman looked at him intently, and
ground her heel into his upturned face.
0A0 ASSACA d5aLl, Jul tileIG was no SOunQ
.sr movement. I heard n sharp rustic. the
might air blew into the heated room, and
b avenger was conc.
No interference upon our part so,1ld have
tDaved the man from his fate, but as the
woman poured bullet after bullet into Mill
,%ve-tonss Shrinking body I was about to
sspriFE oct, when I felt Holmes cold,
svtrane grasp upon my wrist. I understood
the whole argument OF that firm, restrain
ing srip-that 1t was no affair Of our that
justice had overtaken a villain, that we
had our own duties and our own objects,
which were not to be lost sight Of. But
hardly had the woman rushed from the
room when Holmes. with swift. silent
steps, was over at the other door. He
turned the key in the lock. At the same
Instant we heard voices in the house and
the sound of hurry.ng feet. The revolver
shots had reused the household. With
perfect GOODNESS Holmes slipped across to
che safe. filled his two arms with bundles
ct letters. and poured them allinto the fire.
Again and again he did 1t, until the safe
Was empty. Someone turned the handle.
ard beat upon the outside Of the door.
Holmes looked swiftly round. The letter
which had been the messenger of death
for Milverton lay. all mottled with his
blbod. upon the table. Holmes tossed 1t
In among the blazing papers. Then he
drew the key from the outer door, passed
through after me, and locked 1t on the
outside. This way, Watson" sad he.
wye can scale the garden wall in this di-
ceeti0n."
7 could not have believed that an alarm
could have spread SC swiftly. Looking
back, the huge house was one blaze of
light The front door was open. and fig
ures were rushing down the drive. The
whole garden was alive with people, and
ono fellow raised n ~view-hali0a as we
suerEed from the veranda and followed
bard. at our heels. Holmes seemed to
know the grounds perfectly. and he
threaded his way swiftly among a plan
stat:on OF small trees, 1 close at his heels,
and our foremost pursucr painting behind
u It was a six-foot wall which barred
our path. but he sprarg 10 the top and
over. AS I did the same ] felt the hand OF
the man behind me grab at my ankle, but
I kicked myself free and over
Q Er0SS-StreWn coping. 1 fell uraan my