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

la u "a olllN L NrlS W NlicuSI ~
follow it up; a ray of light In the dark-
ness. | could feel my cheeks burning.
and my heart lea ping at the thought,
But what had been his part in the
affair" For a moment. l CROPPED blind
" in the dark. bu. only for a N
Whatever his share in the tragedy. he
had plainly been left behind to watch
us. to make sure that we did not follow
the fugitives; to warn them in cas- of
danger / understood. now. his solicit
tuGe for Miss Holladay-'' In her l
take such ain interest" 1t was import
ant that she should know the ome
we discovered her absence. And he had
known; he knew thai l was even at
this commencing the search
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." I had translated 1t,
with that painful literalness character
istic OF the beginner. Well. i had been
the sheep. and silly enough. heaven
knows!
l had reached Broadway. and at the
corner paused to look at a display OF
mems furnishings in a window. Far
down the street. on the other side. al
most lost in the hurrying crowd. Mar
tfgny was buying a paper OF a
boy. He shook 1t out and looked quick
~ up and down its columns. like a
man n is searching for some special
item OF news. Perhaps he was a spec
ulator; perhaps. after all. l was deceiv-
ing myself In imagining that 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. Ii was time l grew wary
OF theories.
l entered the store, and spent ten
minutes looking at some neckties. When
| came out again Martigny was lust
getting down from II bootblack's chair
across the street. His back was toward
me. and L watched him get out his lit
tie purse and drop a dime into the boot
blacks hand. / Wen on up Broadway.
lettering sometimes. sometimes walk
ing straight ahead: always away be-
mind me. lost in the crowd, was nv
pursuer. 1t could no longer be doubted
He was really following me, though he
did il so adroitly, with such consum-
mate unning that ! should never
have seen him. never have suspected
him. but for that fortunate intuition
at The start.
A hundred plans flashed through nv
brain. | had this advantages, he could
not know that 1 suspected him. If | could
only him in cunning, wrest
his secret from hiin-and then. as 1 re-
membered the strong face. the piercing
eyes. the perfect self-control. realized
how little possible 1t was tina / 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. l could doubt no longer that
there was a plot. whose depths I had
not before even suspected: and 1 drew
back from the thought with a little
shiver. What was the plot? What in
ti1cate. adj crime was this which
he was planning" The murder of the
father. then. had been only the first
step. The abduction OF Frances lola
day was he second-what would the
third be: How could We prevent his
taking ii? Suppose we should be UNI
ceSsful? And. candidly, what chance
of success could we have, fighting in
the dark against this accomplished
~scoundrcl? He had the threads all in
his fiaSers. he controlled the situations:
we were struggling blindly. snarled in
a net of mystery from which there
seemed no escaping. My imagination
clothed him with s~uperhuman attrib-
utes. For Il moment. Il wild desire pos
sessed me to turn upon him. to confront
him. to accuse him. to confound him
win the very certainty OF my knowl-
edge. to surprise his secret. to ANN
him down,
But the frenzy passed. No. he mus,
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
/ piyh n~try l~.A
could do nothing better than carry out
my first plan. Yet. he must not sus-
pect the direction of my search-I must
throw him off the track. Why. this
was. for all the world. just like the
penny-dreadfuls of my boyhood-and /
smiled at the thought that had be-
come an actor in a drama fitted for a
red-and-yellow cover
My plan was 500 made. I crossed
Broadway and turned up Courtlandt,
sauntering along 1t until the elevated
doomed just ahead; / heard the roar
of an approaching train. and stopped
to purchase some fruit at the corner
stand. My pursuer was some distance
behind. closely inspecting the bric-a.
prac IN a peddler's cart. The train
ruWhled into the station. and, starting
as though 1 had just perceived it,
bounded up the stair. slammed my ticker
into the chopper. and dived across the
platform. The guard at the rear OF
the train held the gate open for me an
instant. and then changed it shut. We
were of with a jerk: as l looked back.
saw Martigny rush out upon the plat.
form. He stood staring after me 70,
an instant: then. with a sudden grasp.
Ing at his breast. staggered and seemed
to fall. A crowd closed about him. the
train whisked around a corner. and
could see III more.
But. at any rate. i was we'll free O,
him. and l got of at Blocker street
walked OH to the Square, and beear
my search. My plan was very simple
Beginning on the east side OF Yves,