Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1906-03-14

ing it. His face told them the truth,
and in minute they heard his voice
confirming the news.
Il tell you the horse had been got
atv' he was shouting. "Wingfoot fail?
No, STRIP
"Oh, Connie, Connie" Mrs. Sedden
cried.
Miss Winthrop gathered her into her
strong young arms.
"I'll have to go down and superin-
tend the supper for you. Now, you
stay right here. I'll lock you in safe, so
that you shall not be disturbed. I'll go
down. Pm not afra id. hope Mr.. Brin-
ton will be SOBER"
Gorton Brinton was sober, but his
host was not. Miss Winthrop witness
ed the arrival Of the four-in-hand from
the stairs through the open hall door
and retired.
She did not return to Mrs. Sedden,
because she thought that If his wife
discovered that Sedden was being left
to the mercy Of the servants she would
want to go down, headache and all,
and wait upon him. Mrs. Sedden would
not have done anything Of the kind,
but Miss Winthrop was ignorant Of
that and sat down on the top stair to
watch She could not bring herself to
enter the presence of her drunken host.
Miss Winthrop sat clasping her
knees. She heard talk and laughter;
then song trilled out in the tenor
voice of Houghton Stanford, an ingenu-
Gus youth who lost his money0with ex-
cellent grace. Suddenly the song was
broken in upon by the voice of Sedden,
loud, harsh, menacing.
Risky though it was, she felt that she
must hear. She turned the handle of
the dining room door softly. She
caught the end Of sedden's speech.
"And so say the horse was poison
ed! Poisoned! He would have won
right enough but for that Grange, the
trainer, and Jack Billings, the jockey,
say it. say it! And who did it?''
Nonsense, man! You're dreaming!
Come and sit down." said Stanford,
pulling the orators coat TAIL Sedden
recovered his equilibrium by miracle
and hammered on the table.
"Who did it, 1 say? I'll tell you.
Who was the man that bet on the horse
and hedged afterward" He launched
the question as if it were q physical
blow.
"Who was it." he went on, lat the
stable ut II last night with all Of us
and who never came in until this
NOTWITHSTANDING in by the window,
so that no one should know he'd been
out?"
There was pause, during which the
men looked at one another and Won
dered who was to be denounced and
whether Sedden's i'll luck or the whis-
ky he had drunk had turned his brain.
"Would you like to know the man
who did it?'' he sneered.
''Oh, do shut up" began Stanford,
but his voice was drowned. The
dramatic forefnger was pointed at
Gorton Brinton.
''There he sits!'
Brinton calmly examined his finger
nails.
''This is all rot, Sedden!" cried STAN
ford. "We're all sold now that Wing
foot didn't win, but it's crazy to sup
pose he's been poisoned"
'Grange says it,
"Grange be dashed! He isn't vet"
"He's nearly as good, though" inter-
posed another man, who was reputed
to know something about horsefesh.
IF he says it, it's likely to be true, and
the thing must be gone into between
us. But we needn't drag in PERSONAL
ties," he added, with glance at Brin-
ton, who still continued to look bored.
Sedden was less delicate in his refer
ences.
"Ask himv' he cried. "Did you or
did you not hedge, Brinton?"
Brinton pulled his mustache.
II hedged."
$50 that you stood to win If Wing
foot lost?'
$50 that I stood to win If Wingfoot
lost"
''You hear, Stanford? And did you
or did you not stay out last night until
4 of the morning?'
II stayed OUT
"And climbed in by the window, for
Grange tells me he saw you," conclud-
ed Sedden triumphantly. "And, now,
what were you doing out all that time?
Speak up. Well all listen to you.''
"What the dickens were you up to,
Brinton?'' one of the men asked.
"Oh, just answer, for forms SAKE
Brinton," said Stanford in a friendly
Tone
"Go on, Brintonv' cried Stanford.
''Tell US what you were doing! This
is awful, man! Can't you see?'
"He can't tell you because he was
doctoring Wingfoot," said Sedden pas
sionately.
Brinton looked up, arose, walked to-
ward the door and smiled.
"You err" he said. II could tell, but
I am not going to-"
=
Miss Winthrop broke in on Mrs. Sed-
den.
"Mary!" she cried. "Oh, Mary! Such
shameful news! Wingfoot did not run
fair! He was poisoned last night be-
tween II and 4! And who do you think
did it-hedged his bets and crept in by
night and poisoned that beautiful crea-
ture for the sake of some miserable