Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1907-05-10
CHAPTER XVI.
l BEARD THE LION.

he said with his old smile.
1T was only by accident 1 learned
you were on board" | explained, as
sat down. You're getting better?"
Il believe SO; though this physician
is-what you call-an alarmist-most o
them are, indeed; the more desperate
the illness, the more renowned the cure
Is ii not so2 He has ever forbidden
me cigarets, but / prefer to die thar
to do without them. Will you not have
one?" and he motioned to the pile thai
lay beside him.
Thank you" l said, selected one anC
lighted it. Your cigarets are not tC
be resisted. But If you are SO i'll, why
did you attempt the voyage? Was il
not imprudent?"
"A sudden call OF business he ex-
planned airily; unexpected but-what
you call-imperative. Besides this bed
is the same as any other. You see
/ have a week of rest"
THE doctor-it was he h men
toned your name to met was not on
the sailing list
NO" He was looking at me sharply,
Il came on board at the last moment
the need was YER sudden. as | have
said. | had not time to engage a state
room"
THAT explains it. Well, the doctor
told me that you were bedfast."
"Yes-since the voyage began / have
not left it. / shall not arise until we
reach Havre tomorrow"
| watched him as he went through
the familiar motion Of lighting a sec
ond cigaret from the first one. In the
halt-llgnt OF the cabin | had not at
first perceived 0 i'll he looked; now,
/ saw the dark patches under the eyes.
the livid and nabby face, the shaking
hand And for the first time, with a
little shock, / realized how near he had
been to death.
But you. Mistair Lester" he was
saying, how does It occur that you
also are going TO France? l did not
know you contemplated
NO" ! answered calmly, for / had
seen that the question was inevitable
n | even welcomed it, since it gave
me opportunity to get my guns to go
ing. mo; the last time / saw you, l
didn't contemplate it, but a good deal
has happened since then. Would you
care to hear? Are you strong enough
to talk
Oh, how I relished tantalizing him!
Il should like very exceedingly to
hear he assured me. n shifted his
position a little SO that his face was in
the shadow. The beams Of light
through the shutter makes my eyes to
hurt, he added.
So he mistrusted himself; so he was
- 'HN'iiF5 NAN POI N'i cosy o'AC' ttNaLNA.
The thought gave me new courage,
new audacity.
You may remember, " l began. that
j told you once that if / ever went to
work on the Holiday case, Ia try first
to locate the murderess. l succeeded in
doing it the very first day"
"Ah!' he breathed. An after the
police had failed! That was, indeed.
remarkable. How did you accomplish
to"
by the mercst chancc-by great Eool
fortune. | was making Il search of the
French quarter, house BIZ house. when.
on Houston street, / came to a restaur-
ant, the Cafe Jourdain. A bottle OF
superior set Jourlain's tongue to wag-
ging; | pretended l wanted a room: he
opp a word. the merest hint; ard.
IN the end, | got the whole story. It
seems there was not only one oman
there We're two
"Yes?"
'Ies-and n man whose name was
Betuny or Bethune. or something like
that. But [ didn't pay much attention
10 hlm-he doesn't figure in the case.
lie dldnt even go away with the Wom-
en-. The very day l set out on my
search, he was picked up on the streets
somewhere suffering with ~apoplexy and
taken TO a hospital, so nearly dead that
II was a question whether he would re-
cover. SO he's out of it. The J~ourdains
old me that the women had sailed for
France"
You will pardon me" said my hear
er, but in what way did you make
sure that they were the women you de-
Eired?''
by the younger ones resemblance to
Miss Holiday" | answered. lying with
a glibness which surprised myself.
The Jourdains maintained that a pho
tODrD nh of Mice VIAII, L..
n of their lodger.'
heard him draw a deep breath. but
he kept mis- face under admirable con-
troll.
"Ah, yes" he said. THAT was ex-
ceedingly clever. / should never have
thought of that. That is worthy of
Monsieur Lecoq. And SO you follow
some mo-e-what you call-deinite ad-
dress than that, Mistair Lester!"
l could feel his eyes burning out from
the shadows; j was thankful for the
cigaret-it helped me to preserve an in
different countenance.
No" l said. 1T seems rather a
wild goose chase, doesn't it? But YOU
could advise me, Mr.. M~artigny. Where
would it be best for me to search for
them?"
He did not answer for a moment. and
L took advantage of the opportunity to
select a second cigaret and light it.
i dared not remain unoccupied: +
dared not meet his eyes; / trembled
TO see that my hand was not wholly
steady.
That" he began slowly. at last"
seems TO me a moSt-ahi-deefcult af-
fair, Mistair Lester. To search for
three people through all France-there
seems little hope of success. Yet /
should think IL most likely that they
nave gone to Paris"
] nodded. That was my own the
ory," / agreed. But to find them i'm
Paris seems almost impossible"
Not If n uses the police" he said.
1T could, most probably, be soon
achieved, If you requested the police to
assist you"
But. my dear sir" l protested. az
can't use the police. Miss Holiday. at
least has committed no crime; she has
simply chosen to &c away without in
forming us"
You will permit me to say, then.
Mistair Lester he observed, with lust
a touch of irony, that / fail 20 compre-
bend your anxiety concerning her."
| felt that / had made a mis-step:
that ] had need to go carefully.
1t is not quite so simple as that"
l explained. THE last time we saw
Miss Holiday, she told us that she
was i'll. and intended to go to her coun-
try home for a rest. Instead of going
there she sailed for France, without In
forming anyone-indeed, doing eyery-
hin she could to escape detection