The Richmond palladium. (Richmond, Ind.) 1906-1907, 1907-01-17

"For one, t,co minutes kYsett there 81, q
state OF mortal terror"
whose unexpected manliness disguised
his inward agitation. 1.-THE few words
1 have just heard Miss Page say are of
SO important a nature l find it i'm
possible not TO join you"
Amabel. upon whose lips a faint COM
placent smile had appeared as he step
ped by her, glanced up at these words
in secret establishment at the indiffer-
ence they showed and then dropped
her eyes to his hands with an intent
gaze which seemed to affect him I'M
pleasantly, for he thrust them imme-
diately behind him, though he did not
lower his head or lose his air of deter
mination.
as my presence here undesirable ?"
he inquired with a glance toward his
father.
Sweetwater looked as II he thought
it was. but he did not presume to say
anything, and, the others being too in
terested in the developments of Miss
Pages story to waste any time on
lesser matters. Frederick remained.
greatly to Miss Pages evident salts
faction.
did you see this mans face?" Mr..
Courtney now broke in in urgent in
Quiry.
Her answer came slowly after an
other long look in Frederick's direc-
ton.
"No. I did not dare to make the eff
fort. 1 was obliged to crouch too close
to the floor. / simply heard his foot
steps,"
See now" muttered Sweetwater, but
in SO low tone she did not hear him.
'She condemns herself. There isn't
woman living who would fail to look
up under those circumstances even at
the risk of her life
Knapp seemed to agree with him, but
Mr.. Courtney, following his one idea,
pressed his former question, saying:
WAS it an old Ilan's stepY"
at was not an agile one"
"And you did not catch the least
glimpse of the mans face or fgureT'
Not glimpse"
$50 you are in no position to identify
him!'
IF by any chance / should hear those
same footsteps coming down a flight of
stairs, / think I should be able to rec
ognize Them" she allowed in the sweet
est tones of her command.
'She knows It is too late for her to
hear those OF the two dead Zabels,"
growled the man from Boston.
I'VE are no nearer the solution Of
this mystery than we were in the be-
ginning" remarked the coroner.
Gentlemen. / have not yet finished
my story" Amabel sweetly intimateG.
Perhaps what l have yet to tell may
give you some clew as to who this man
was
"Ah. yes. Go on, go on. You have
not yet explained how you came to be
in possession Of Agatha's money"
'Just So" she answered. with an
other quick look at Frederick, the last
she gave him for some time. LAS
soon. then. as I dared I ran out of the
house into the yard. The moon, which
had been under a cloud. was now shin
ing brightly. and by its light / saw
that the space before me was empty
and that l might venture to enter the
street. But before doing SO l looked
about for the dagger | had thrown
from me before going in. But / could
not find it. 1t had been picked up By
the fugitive and carried away. An
noyed at the cowardice which had led
me to lose such a valuable piece of evil
dence through purely womanish emo
ton. / was about to leave the yard
when my eyes fell on the little bundle |
of sandwiches which / had brought
down from the bill and which / had /
let fall under the pear tree at the first |
scream I had heard from the house. It /
had burst open, and two or three Of |
the sandwiches lay broken on the |
ground. But those that were intact I |
picked up. and, being more than ever |
anxious to cover up by some ostensible |
errand my absence from the party. III
rushed away toward the lonely road |
where these brothers lived. meaning to /
leave such fragments as remained on /
the old doorstep. beyond which / had /
been told such suffering existed.
1T was now late. very late, for girl |
like myself TO be out, but under the |
excitement Of what / had just seen and /
heard l became oblivious TO fear and /
rushed int those dismal shadows as
into transparent daylight. Perhaps the /
shouts and stray sounds OF laughter /
that came up from the wharfs where |
= ship wss getting under way gave
me certain sense OF companionship. /
it is folly for me TO d. |,