Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1906-01-17

source in the effort to locate Mr.. Hol-
laduy's mysterious visitor and had
found not trace of her. But that fact |
did not discourage me, for hoped to
start my search with information |
which the police had not possessed.
Brooks, the coachman, should be able
to tell me-
Recalled suddenly to remembrance
of him, looked at my watch and saw
that it was past his hour. was pleas
cd to find him awaiting me when l
opened the office door three minutes
later. had only few questions to
ask him.
when your mistress left the car
riage the day you drove her to Wash
ington square did you notice which
street she took after she left the
square"
"Yes, sir; she went on down West
Broadway"
ION which side?"
9Th left hand side, sir; tn east side"
"She must have crossed the street to
get to that side"
eyes, sir; she did. l noticed per-
tic'lar, for l thought 1t funny she
shouldn't we let me drive her on down
TIL street to. wherever she was goin
It's n dirty place along there, sir"
Eyes, know. When you drove her
out OH the 2Sth-the day she brought
back the maid-where did she go?"
ITO Washington square again, sir"
"And left you waiting for herr"
Eyes, sir; just tn same.'
"And went down the same street,"
Eyes, sir; crossed to tn east side
Just tn same as tn time before"
"How long was she gomez"
"Over an hour, sir; an hour an II
half, should say
did you notice anything unusual in
her appearance when she came back?"
mo, sir; she was wearin' u heavy
veil. She had tn other woman with
her, an she just said Homer i'll kind
o hoarse voice as helped them into
TIL carriage"
| That was all that he could tell me,
and yet l felt that it would help me
greatly. In the first place, it narrowed
my investigations to the district lying
TO the east of West Broadway, and
Knew that the French quarter extended
only block or two in that direction.
And, again, it gave me point to insist
Oh in my inquiries-I knew the date
upon which the mysterious woman had
left her lodging, or, ut least, l knew
that it must be one Of two dates. The
lodging had been vacated, then, either
IN the 2Sth of March or the 81 of April.
AS last resource l had the photo
graph. was ready to begin my search
| and dismissed Brooks, warning him 10
say nothing to any one about the mys-
terry.
AS 1 passed out the door to the pave
ment happened to glance across the
way, and there, in the crowd of bro
kers who always line the street,
perceived Martigny. He was listening
intently to one of the brokers, who
was talking earnestly in his ear-tell-
ing him how to make his fortune, l
suppose-and did not see me- For an
instant was tempted to cross to him
and get him out of danger. Then /
smiled at the absurdity of the thought.
1t would take clever man to fleece
Martigny, and recalled his strong
face, his masterful air. He was no fool.
no lamb ready for the shears. He was
perfectly able to look out for himself
to WELD the shears with power and eff
feet, if need be.
turned west toward Broadway.
still, suppose, thinking of him sub,
consciously, for few moments later
some Irresistible impulse caused me
to glance around, and there he was
walking after me on the opposite side
of the street! Then in flash un-
derstood. He was following me!
1t is difficult to describe the shock
that ran through me, that left me
numbed and helpless. For an instant
stumbled on, half dazed; then grad
ually my self control came back and
with it certain fierce JOY, hot exul-
tation. Here at last was something
definite, tangible, a clew ready to my
hand, if only 1 were clever enough to
follow 1t up; ray of light In the dark
ness. l could feel my cheeks burning
and my heart leaping ut the thought.
But what had been his part in the
affair? For moment CROPPED blind
ly in the dark, but only for moment.
Whatever his share in the tragedy, he
had plainly been left behind to watch
us; to make sure that we did not fol-
low the fugitives; to warn them in
case of danger. understood now his
solictude for Miss Holladay-"in her
take such an interest!' 1t was i'm
portant that he should know the mo-
ment we discovered her absence. And
lie had known; he knew that was
even at this moment commencing the
search for her. My checks 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 is the sheep who to the wolf
herself confesses." had translated it,
with that painful literalness character
istic of the beginner. Well, had been
the sheep and silly enough, heaven
knows!
II had reached Broadway, and Mt the
corner paused to look at a display of
mems furnishings in window. Far
down the street OH 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
ly up and down its columns, like n
man who is searching for some special
item of news. Perhaps he was a spec.
ulator; perhaps, after all, was de-
ceiving myself in imagining that he
was following me. had no proof Of 1t;
it was the most natural thing i'll the
world that he should he i'll this part of
Tie town. | must test the theory be-
fore accepting it. 1t was time grew
wary of theories.