Evening star., 1907-10-13
BY
C. N. and A. NJ. WILLIAMSON,
Authofs Of
THE LIGHTNING CONDUCTOR.

| TITS in the evening papers, not word
had got into the morning ones" Uncle
Eric went on. We've only just seen the
news. since % we came here to walt "a !, for u you
thing for him. As it Is. Of course must
as a friend of his. stop in Paris and dc
what / can to help him through. But
soing on today ss yoa sss
| What an awful thingr exclaimed Aunt
LII. Il will stay. too, II the girls don't
mind. Poor fellow! 1t may be some com
the spot, standing by him. I've got thou.
sands of engagements-we all have-but
I shall telegraph to everybody. What
! about you, Lord BOb?
I'm stand by with you, Lady Mount
stuart said he, his nice though not very
clever face more Misunderstanding than
! had ever seen it, his blue wide apart eyes
watching me rather wistfully. 'Dundas
| and | have never been intimate. but he g
a fine chap and I've always admired him.
He's sure tn come out of this all right"
Poor Lord Robert, / hadn't much
| thought to give him then, but dimly l
felt that his anxiety was concerned with
me even more than with lvor, OF whom he
spoke so kindly. though he had often
shown signs of jealousy in past days.
felt stunned and almost dazed. II any
one had spoken to me l think 1 should
have been dumb, unable to answer. but
nobody did speak or seem to think 1t
strange that / had nothing to say.
Il suppose you won't try to do anything
until after lunch. will you, Mountstuart? ?''
Lord Robert went on to ask.
No. we must eat and talk things over,
said Uncle Erie
We went into the resta urant, I moving
! as If l were In dream. lvor accused OF
murder. What had he done? What could
have happened?
But I was soon to know. As soon as
we were seated at a table. where the
lovely fresh flowers seemed a mockery,
Aunt LII began asking questions.
JTncla Eric AnnarentIv
did not like answering. 1t was almost as
if he had had some kind Of previous
knowledge OF the affair, Of which he didn't
wish to speak. But, l suppose, 1t could
not have been that.
II was Lord Robert who told us nearly
everything; and always l was conscious
that he was watching me, wondering IL
this was a cruel blow for me, asking him
self if he were speaking In a tactful way
of one who had been his rival.
There was that engagement OF Dun
das last night. which he was just going
to keep when we saw him." said Lord
Bob. carefully. but clumsily; I'm afraid
there must have been something hshy
about that mean. some trap must have
he wasn't supposed to be in Paris-though
| don't see what that can have to do with
the plot. if there is one He was stopping
in the hotel under another name. NO
doubt he had some good reason, though.
There's nothing sly about Dundas. If
ever there was plucky chap. he's one.
Anyhow, apparently. he wanted to get
hold of a man In Paris he couldn't find.
for he called last evening on detective
named Girard, rather well known fel-
low in his line. l believe. 1t almost looks
as II DundaS had made an enemy OF him,
for he's been giving evidence pretty freely
to the pOlice-lost no time about 1t, any
how. Girard says he was following up
the scent tracking down the person he'd
been hired by Dundas to hunt for. and
had at last come to the house where he
Lodging I,yueD fbare ha found InfndaS
himself. ransacking the room, covered
with blood, and the chap who was want
ed lying dead on the floor. his body
hardly cold"
what time was all that?" inquired
Lisa sharply. 1t was the first question
she had asked.
Between midnight and O'Clock.
think the papers said." answered Lord
Bob.
We'll. of course. It's all nonsense" ex
claimed Aunt Lii. impatiently. French
people are so sensational and they jump
at conclusions so. The idea Of their dar-
murder, They ought to know better.
They'll soon be eating humble pie and
begging England's pardon for wrongful
treatment of a British subject, won't
they. Eric?'
I'm afraid there's no question Of jump
ing at conclusions on the part Of the au-
thorittes or of eating humble pie" Uncle
Ivor. And as for his being a British sub
ject. there's nothing in that. II an Eng
lishman chooses to commit a murder in
France. he's left to the French law to
deal with, as If he were a Frenchman.''
But Ivor hasn't committed murder.'
cried Aunt Lillian. Mortified.
''Of course. not. But he's got to prove
that he hasn't. And in that he's worse off
than if this thing happened in England.
English law suppoSes man innocent until
he's been proved guilty. French law, on
the contrary. presumeS that he's guilty
until he's proved innocent. In face OF the
evidence against Ivor, the authorities
couldn't have done otherwise than they
have done
For the first time in my life I felt an
cry with Aunt Lilian's husband. do
hate that cold. stern ''sense Of justice" on
which men pride themselves 50 much.
whether It's an AFFAIR of a friend or an
enemy.
Surely Mr.. Dundas must have been
able to prove an-an-don't you call 1t an
alibi?' asked Lisa.
He didn't try to- replied Lord Bob.
He's simply refused. up to the present.
70 tell what he was doing between II
O'Clock and the time he was found. ex-
cept to say that he walked for a good
while before going to the house where
Girard afterward found him. OF course
he denies killing the man: says the fellow
had stolen something from him, on the
boat crossing from Dover to Calais yes
terday. and that after applying to the de-
tective he got a note from the thief offer