The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1906-04-06
lll-THE ADVENTURE OF T
DANCING MAN.-Continued.

81 0c4N IN 4kkSRSNSAV1 Warmly. VIII
excuse me. however. if l speak frankl,
to YOU. You are only answerable t,
yourself. but ] have to answer to my
superiors. II this Abe Slaney, living a
Elrige'A. Is indeed the murderer, and il
he has made his escape while / an
seated here, I should certainly get into
serious trouble"
You need not be uneasy. He will
not try to escape"
How do ypu know
To ny would be a confession OF
guilt"
Then lei rs go and arrest him.
Il expect him here every instant"
But why should he Gomez"
Because I Ia written and asked
him.
But his is Incredible, Mr.. Holmes,
Why should he come because you have
TX hirn7 Would not such a request
rather arouse his suspicious and cause
him to fly2"
Il think I have known how to frame
h letter." said Sherlock Holmes. In
fact, II l am not very much mistaken,
here Is b gentleman himself coming
up the drive"
A man was striding up the path that
led to the door. He was a tall, hand-
some. sWarthy fellow, clad in a suit
OF grey flannei. with a anama hat, a
bristling black beard. and a great, ag-
.gressive nose, and flourishing a
cane AZ he walked. He staggered up
h path an If the place belonged to
peal at the bell
II think. gentlemen" said Holmes
quietly. that we had best take up our
position behind the door. Every pre-
caution Is necessary when dealing. with
such Q fellow. You will need your
handcuffA inspector. You can leave
the talking TO me-"
We waited in silence for a minute
one of those minutes which one can
never forget Then the door opened
and the man stepped in. In an in
slant Holmes clapped a pistol to his
head and Martin slipped the handouts
over his wTists. 1t was all lone so
swiftly and deity that the fellow was
helpless before he knew he was at
tackled. he glared from one to the
other OF us With a pair of blazing black
eyes e he burst into a bitter
laugh.
wen. gentlemen. you have the
drop ON me this time. i seem to have
knocked mp against something hard.
But l came here in answer to a let
ter from MIRA Hilton Cubitt. Don't
tell me that she Is In this? Don't tell
me thai b helped to set a trap for
moi"
MIR. Hilton Cubitt was seriously in
Jured. and b at Deaths door,"
The man gave a hoarse cry Of grief,
which rang through the house.
You're crazy!' he cried, fiercely. TT
was he that war hurt. not she. Who
would have hurt little Elsie? I may
have threatened her-God forgive me!
I would NO have touched a hair
of her pretty head. Take 1t back-you!
Say that b n not hurt!"
she was found. badly wounded, by
the side OF her dead husband"
He sank with = deep groan onto the
AoffAA ava 3nvvaAH hio fooo ;o lj, ~,
acled handh. For five minutes he was
silent Then he raised his ACE once
more and spoke with the cold COM
posure Of despair.
Il have nothing Co hide from you.
gentlemen" said he. If I shot the
ma he had shot at me. and
there's no murder In that. But IL YOU
think / could have hurt that woman,
then o know neither me or her. I
tell You, there was a man in the
world loved q woman more than Iloved
her. I had . night to her. She was
pledged to ms years ago. Who was this
Engiishman that he should come be-
tween as1 / tell you that I had the
first right to her. and that I was only
claiming my own
She broke away from your influence
when b found the man that you ere,"
laid HoinaeA sternly. She fled from
lei 70 avoid you,a and married an
H III 1Ou !
logged her and followed ner and made
her life . misery to her in order to
nduce G 10 .abandon the husband |
she aoved and respected in order
TO fly with yUA, whom she feared and
hated. You have ended by bringing
driving Ids wife to suicide. That is
your record In this business. Mr.. Abe
Slaney. and Jon will answer for it to
the law
III Elsie dies. I care nothing what
becomes Of me-" said the American.
He opened Of his hands and looked
at 2 note c5ompsed up in his palm.
CLEAN q suspicion in his eyes. you're
not trying to scare me over this, are
you? II The lady Is hurt as bad as YOU
say. who Mas 1t that wrote this note p"
ITe tossed It forwards onto the table.
Il wrote IL tn bring you here"
You wrote IT? There was no one
IN earth outside the Joint who knew
the secret OF the dancing men. How
came you to write it,"
What one man can invent another
can discover said Holmes. '.There is
q cab cOs1l3ne 10 osuvey you TO Nor
wich. Mr.. Slaney. But, meanwhile, you
have time to make some small repara-
ton for h Injury YOU have wrought.
Are you aware that Mrs. Hilton Cubitt
q herself lain under grave suspicion
OF the murder of her husband, and
it was only my presence here, and
the kn0M1edEe which I happened to
possess, which has saved her from the
accusati0n7 The least that you owet|
heI-is to make clear to the whole world
that she Was in no way, directly or in
directly. responsible for his tragic end"
Il ask nothing better said the Am
erican. Il guess the very best case 1
can make for myself is the absolute
naked truth"
1T Is my duty to warn you that it
will be used against you,'' cried the in
spector. with h magnificent fair play
OF the British criminal law.
Slaney shrugged his shoulders.
TIL chance HAT" said he. First of
all. I want y0n gentlemen to under
stand that I have known his lady since
she was q child. There were seven of
VI in a gang In Chicago, and Elsie's
father was Inc boss of the joint. He
was a lever Ran- was old Patrick. 1t
was he who invented tina, writing,
which would pass as a child's scrawl
unless o just happened to have the
key to IL. Well, Elsie learned some OF
mir Svay3 laSf she coIildn't Stand tJ,o