Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1907-04-18

follow it Up; a ray Of light In the dark
ness. l could feel my cheeks burning.
and my heart leaping at the thought.
But what had been his part in the
affair: For d moment. l cropped blind
~ in the dark. bu. only for a
Whatever his share in the tragedy. he
had plainly been left behind to watch
us; to make sure that we did not follow
tho fugttiveS; to warm them in use of
danger. 1 understood. now. his solicit
tuGe for Miss Holladay-" In her l
take such an INTEREST,"" 1t was import
ant that she should know the
we discovered her absence. And he had
known: he knew that 1 was even at
this commencing the scare
for her. My cheeks Redeemed at the
thought of my indiscretness: yet he
was IL man to command confidence.
Who would have suspected him? And
an old proverb which he had repeated
one evening. flashed through my mind:
"Foile est la brebts Qui au loup Sc
confesse."
SILLY is the sheep who to the wolf
herself confesses." l had translated 1t,
with that painful literalness character
istir OF the beginner. Well. l had been
the sheep. and silly enough. heaven
knows,
had reached Broadway. and at the
corner paused to look at a display OF
mems furnishings in a window. Far
down h street. on the other side. al
most lost in the hurrying crowd. Mar
tigny was buying II paper OF a news
boy. He Shook It out and looked quick
ly up and down its columns, like a
man who is searching for some special
item OF news. Perhaps he was a spec
ulator; perhaps. after all. l was deceiv-
Ing myself In imagining thai he was
following me. | had no proof Of it. 1t
was the most natural thing In the world
that he SHOULD be IN this part of the
town. l must test the theory before
accepting 1t. 1t was time l grew wary
OF theories.
l entered the store, and spent ten
minute looking at some neckties. When
| came out again Martigny was lust
getting down from II bootblack's chair
across the street. His back was oward
me. II | watched him get out his lit
tie purse and drop a dime into the boot
blacks hand. I Went on up Broadway.
lettering sometimes. sometimes walk
ing straight ahead: always away be-
mind me. lost in the crowd. was my
pursuer. 1t could no longer be doubted.
He was really following me, though he
did il so adroitly. with such consum-
mate cunning that / should never
have seen him. never have suspected
him. but for that fortunate intuition
at the start.
A hundred plans flashed through my
brain. l had this advantage, h could
not Know that suspected him. IL | could
only him in cunning, wrest
his secret from him-and then, as re-
nlembered the strong face. the piercing
eyes. the perfect self-control, | realized
how little possible it was that l 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. 1 could doubt no longer that
there was a plot. whose depths had
not before even suspected: and drew
back from the thought with a little
shfver. 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 Holla-
day was the second-what would the
third be: How could we prevent his
taking ii? suppose we should be IN.
cessful? And. candidly. what chance
OF success could we have. fighting in
the dark against this accomplished
~scoundrcl? He had the breads all in
his tiiiSers. he controlled the situation;
we were struggling blindly. snarled in
a net of mystery from which there
seemed no escaping. My imagination
clothed him with superhuman attrib-
utes. For a moment. a wild desire pos
sessed me to turn upon him. TO confront
him. to accuse him. to confound him
with h very certainty OF my knowl-
edge. to surprise his secret, to trample
him down!
Blu the frenzy passed. No, he must
not discover that 1 suspected him: ]
must not yield up that advantage. ]
might yet surprise him. mislead him
set Il 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 do nothing better than carry on,
my first plan. Yet. he must not sus.
pect the direction of my search-I mus,
throw him off the track. Why. Thu
was. for all the world. just like the
penny-dreadfuls of my ~boyhood-and
smiled at the thought tina / had be.
come an actor in a drama fitted for q
red-and-yellow cover!
My plan was soon made. crossed
Broadway and turned up Courtiandt
sauntering along it until the elevated
doomed just ahead; I heard the roal
of an approaching train. and stopped
to purchase some fruit at the corner
stand. My pursuer was some distanc,
behind. closely inspecting the bric-a
brac I'm II peddler's cart. The trair
rumbled into the station. and. startin,
as though l had just perceived 1t,
bounded up the stair. slammed my tickle
HIto thc anu ulVoO across TN
platform. The guard at the rear O
h train held the gate open for me al
instant. and then changed 1t shut. w,
were off with a jerk: as l looked back.
saw Martigny rush out upon the plat
form. He stood staring after me TO
an instant: then. with a sudden grasp
ing at his breast. staggered and SCENE.
to fall. A crowd closed about him. tn,
train whisked around q corner. and
could see no more.
But. at any rate. i was we'll free O
him, and l got OF at Blocker street
walked on to the Square, and beeal
my search. My plan was very simple
Beginning on the east side OF We
Broadway. 1t was my intention to sto,