The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1907-05-10
CHAPTER XVI.
/ BEARD THE O

1T was only by accident I learned
you were on board" I explained. as I
sat down. You're getting better?"
Il believe SO; though this physician
1s-what you call-an alarmist-imost of
them are, indeed; the more desperate
the illness. the more renowned the cure!
Is 1t not so? He has ever forbidden
me cigarets, but I prefer to die than
to do without them. win you not have
cne?' and he motioned to the pile that
lay beside him.
THANK you" I said, selected one and
lighted it. Your cigarets are mo- to
be resisted But if you are SO i'll, why
did you attempt the voyage? Was it
not imprudent?"
"A sudden call of business" he ex-
planned airily; unexpected but-what
you call-imperative. Besides this bed
is the sane as any other. You see,
I have a week of rest"
The doctor-it was he who men
toned your name to met was not on
the sailing list"
No." He vas looking at me sharply.
Il came on board at the last mn
the was YER sudden. as I nave
said. / a not tim to engage a state
ROOM"
THAT explains it. Well, the doctor
told me that you were belfast"
"YesEince the oyage began I have
not left 1t. I shall not arise until we
x0dCN daVTe tomorrow.
1 watched him as he went through
the familiar motion of lighting a sec
ond ciEaret from the first one. In the
half-light of the cabin 1 a not at
frst perceived how i'll he looked; now,
I saw h dark patches under the eyes.
b liyid and fabby face, the shaking
hand. And for the first time, with a
little shock, I 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? 1 did not
know you contemplated"
NO" I answered calmly, for I had
seen that the question was inevitable
n 1 even welcomed it, since it gave
me opportunity to get my guns to go
ng. mo; the last time I saw you, I
didn't contemplate it, but a good deal
has happened since then. Would o
care to hear? Are you strong enough
to- talk?"
Oh. how I re1ished tantalizing him!
II should like very ex ,edingly to
a he assured ME, and shifted his
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
not finding the part ar easy one, either!
The thought gave me new courage,
new audacity.
You may remember" I began, that
I told you once that if 1 ever went to
work on the Holiday case, I'd try first
TO locate the nurderess. 1 succeeded in
doing II the very first day."
"Ah!" he breathed. And after the
police had failed! That was, indeed,
remarkable. How did you accomplish
it7"
by the merest chance-by great good
1ortuns. l was making a search of the
French quarter, house by house, when,
on Houston street, I came to a restaur-
ant. the Cafe J~ourdain. A bottle of
superenY set J%ourdain's tongue to wag-
cling: ] pretended I wanted a room; he
dropped a word. the merest hint; and,
IN the end. I got the whole story. 1t
seems there was not only one woman,
there we're two"
"Yes?,
"Yes-and a man whose name was
Betuny or Bethune, or something like
that. But ] didn't pay much attention
TO htm-hc doesn't figure in the case.
he didn't even go away with the wom-
'en. The very day I 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
1t wal a question whether he would re-
cover So he's out of it. The Jourdains
told me that the women had sailed for
France"
You win pardon me- said my hear
er. but in what way did you make
sure that they were the women you de-
Sired.'
by h younger ones resemblance to
Miss Holiday" l answered., lying with
q glibnes which surprised myself.
"The Jourdafns maintained hat a pho
tograph OF Miss Holiday was really
one of their lodger."
I heard him draw a deep breath, but
he kept his face under admirable con-
troll.
"Ah. yes" he said. "That was ex-
ceedinEty clever. I should never have
thought of that. That is worthy OF
Monsieur Lecoq. And so you follow
them to France-but, surely, you have
some mOre-what you call-defnite adj
dress than that. Mistair Lester!"
I could feel his eyes burning out from
the shadows: l was thankful for the
cigaretlft helped me to preserve an in
different countenance.
NO" ! said. Tt seems rather a
could advise me. MI. Martigny. Where
would It he best for me to search for
them?''
He did not answer for a moment, and
! took advantage of the opportunity to
select 2 second cigaret and light it.
I dared not remain unoccupied; I
dared not meet his eyes; I trembled
to see that my hand was not wholly
steady.
That" he began slowly, at last"
seems to me a most-ah!-eefcult af-
fair. Mistafr Lester. To search for
three people through all France-there
seems little hope Of success. Yet I
should think II most likely that they
have gone to Paris"
I nodded. That was my own the
ory." i agreed. but to find them in
Paris seems almost impossible"
moi II one uses the police" he said.
cit could, most probably, be soon
achieved. II you requested the police to
assist y0M."
''But, my dear sir" I protested. II
can't use h police. Miss Holiday. at
least has committed no crime; she has
simply chosen to go ava without in
forming u.s."
You will permit me to say. then.
Mistair Lester" he observed, with just
q touch Of irony. that I fail to compre-
bend your anxiety concerning her."
1 felt that ] had made a mis-step;
that ] had need to go carefully.
"It not quite so simple as that"
I explained. THE last time we saw
Miss Holladay, she told us that she
was iii. and intended to go to her coun-
try home for a rest. Instead Of going
there she sailed for France, without in
- ANAGA A-1-- h H.