The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1906-02-09

and ny heart leaning at the thongllt
BuI what had becn nj. part IN q:
AFFAIR." For a moment CROPPED blind
y In the dark. but only for moment
, | Whatever his share IN the tragedy, h'
had plainly been left behind to watcl
us; to make sg1re that we did not fol
tow the fugitIves; to warn them II
case Of danger. understood now bis
s0licitude for Miss Holladay-"in her
take such an interests' 1t was i'm
portant that he should know the mo
ment we discovered her absence. And
he had known: he knew that was
even at this moment commencing the
search for her. My cheeks Redeemed
at the thought of my indiscreetness;
yet he was man to command conf.
dence. Who would have suspected
| him? And an old proverb which he
had repeated one evening flashed
through my mind.
"Silly il the sheep who to the wolf
herself confesses.' l had translated it.
with that painful literalness character
istic of the beginner. Well, had been
the sheep and silly enough, heaven
lxnowsI
had reached Broadway, and at the
corner I paused to look at display of
mems furnishings in a window. Far
down the street on the other side, al
most lost in the hurrying crowd, Mar
tigny was buying paper Of news
boy He shook it out and looked quick
" up and down its columns, like a
man who is searching for some special
item of news. Perhaps he was spec
ulator; perhaps, after all, was de-
ceiving myself in imagining that he
was following me. had no proof of it;
it was the most natural thing in the
world that he should be in this part of
the town. l must test the theory be-
fore accepting it. 1t was time grew
wary of theories.
entered the store and spent ten
minutes looking at some neckties.
When came out again Martigny was
just getting down from a bootbIack's
chair across the street. His back was
toward me, and watched him get out
his little purse and drop dime into
the bootblack's hand. went on up
Broadway, lettering sometimes, some
times walking straight ahead; always,
away behind me, lost in the crowd.
was my pursuer. 1t could no longer be
doubted. He was really following me,
though he did it so adroitly, with such
consummate cunning, that | should
never have seen him, never have sus-
pected him, but for that fortunate in
tuition at the start
A hundred plans flashed through my
brain. l had this advantage could
not know that l suspected him. If
could only overmaster him in cunning.
wrest his secret from him-and then,
as remembered the strong face, the
piercing eyes, the perfect self control,
/ realized how little possible it was
that / could accomplish this. He was
my superior in diplomacy and deceit:
he would not pause now at any means
to assure the success Of his plot.
Yes, / could doubt no longer that
there was plot, whose depths I had
not before even suspected, and drew
back from the thought with little
SILVER. What was the plot? What in
tricate, dreadful crime was this which
he was planning? The murder of the
father, then, had been only the first
step. The abduction of Frances HoI-
laday was the second. What would
the third be? How could we pre-
vent his taking it? Suppose we should
be unsuccessful? And, candidly, what
chance of success could we have, fight
ing in the dark against this accom-
plished scoundrel? lie had the threads i
all in his fingers; he controlled the |
situation; we were struggling blindly, |
snarled III a net of mystery from
which there seemed no escaping. My
clothed him with super
human attributes. For a moment a
wild desire possessed me to turn upon
him, to confront him, to accuse him,
to confound him with the very GER
tainty Of my knowledge, to surprise his
secret, to trample him down.
But the frenzy passed. No, he must
not discover that / suspected him. /
must not yield up that advantage. l
might yet surprise him, mislead him,
set a trap for him, get him to say more
than he wished to say. That battle Of
wits would come later on-this very
night perhaps-but for the moment |
could no nothing better than carry out
my first plan, yet he must not suspect
he direction Of my search. must throw
aim off the track. Why, this WAS for
Ill the world just like the penny dread
'uls Of my boyhood. And smiled at
the thought that had become an actor
n drama fitted for red and yellow
coverl
My plan was soon made. crossed
Broadway and turned into Cortlandt
'treet. saunterfng along It until the ele-
rated doomed ahead; heard the roar
Il an approaching train and stopped
. purchase some fruit at tho corner
ta0d. NY pursusr was some distance
,ehind. closely inspecting the bric-a-
,rac In peddler's cart The train
umbied into the station. and. starting