Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1907-10-10
A o OF MANHATTAN.
CHAPTER vi.
LIGHT FROM A NEW ANGLE.

lTey dropped from the top or the Rec
ord building In the express elevate
and walked over to the station OF the
Elevated FOR the trip uptown. The
story was wrttten-it would be the
feature OF the m%orning'c paper. n 1t
would be illustrated "exclusively"-but
he was not wholly satisfied with IT..
He had accepted the explanation given
by Miss Croydon. yet he felt tnstinc-
lively hat 1t did not explain-that
there was much below the surface OF
which he had caught only the ~faintest
glimpse and which he was utterly I'M
BILE to decipher. He did not at all be-
i!eve-and ne took care that the read
ers OF he Record hould have no
cause to believe-that Miss Croydon
was IN any way directly connected with
the crime. Indeed. there was every
evidence that she had. in that particu-
lar. spoken the truth.
And In the other particulars: Well.
1t was hard to separate the wheat from
the chaff: hard to tell where truth left
of n invention began. Some founda-
ton OF truth the story must have had.
or 1t would not have been told 80 Elibly
nor appear 30 plausible. Indeed. In
two details. 1t had been confirmed by
other evldence-they had found the
pipe with which the blow was struck
and the bullet from her pistol en-
bedded in the door.
BELOW u ar underlying II all. the
foundation upon which the mystery
rested was Miss Croydon's motive in
making such an appointment. and.
above all. In keeping 1t. That was IL
thing utterly opposed to her social
training. to her mnidenly instinct-it
was wild. foolish. questionable. She
would feel this more acutely than q
ina could. and yet 1t had not been
sufficient to deter her, TO hold her
back. What resistless motive was 1t
that had urged her on? What was the
secret contained I'm he papers she had
hoped to get from Thompson? tod
frey caught u dim glimpse OF some
thing dark. repulsive. terrible. What
was the secret? All. he would have
KNOWN. IL Goldberg had only been a
moment later!
As to Jimmy the Dude. Godfrey had
maintained a careful reticence. while
commenting Simmonds' promptnees in |
grresting him. Simmonds. no doubt,
believed him guilty; but then Sim
monds lacked Imagination. 1t might |
be. Godfrey thought a little savagely, |
that he himself possessed too much OF
It. but the theory which that grizzled
veteran had built up so adroitly did not
In the least satisfy him. 1t was too
prosaic. too matter of fact; reasonable, |
perhaps. but not convincing. 1t re-
duced the mystery to a mere sordid /!
crime. Godfrey wanted color in his
mysteries-and right there. he re-
minded himself again. was his great
weakness. Yet Jimmy's manner had
been that OF q guilty man: to be
sure. 1t had changed at the last mo-
at the mention OF Miss Croy-
don's name. Why? What was this
Understanding net of intrigue. woven
in the dark. Involving alike Fifth
enu and the 'Tenderloin"-the Del
roy mansion. the Marathon. Magraw's
gilded saloon?
Pondering this puzzle. with an in
tensity that had something poignant |
and personal in 1t. he would have been
carried paet his station but for the |
him on the arm. He went mechanical |
" down h stair and turned up to-|
ward the Still mechanically. |
he mounted to his rooms opened
the door. A man who had been sit
ting In a chair before the fire .pranx
up as he entered.
Why. Jack!" cried Godfrey. waking
suddenly. and he held out his hand
with that fine heartiness Of greeting |
which is sometimes seen between men.
Then. as he caught the others eyes.
his face changed. sit down." he said
toys. Then we'll have a talk"
He disappeared into the inner room,
while the younger man sank back into
his chair and gazed gloomily into the |
fire. Even strained by emotion as It
was at this moment his face was
worth looking at-clear cut, square
3awed. ~alert-such as one has come
or late years. to associate with the |
typical college bred American. But !
the face was more than merely hand
sonnet was open. ingenious. winning !
and looking at 1t. one could UNDER
atand without further explanation how
1t happened that John Tolbert Drys-
dale had 80 many friends and 80 few
enemies.
Godfrey was back In a momen drew
up another chair. and got out tobacco
and pipes-for Drysdale a glossy briar,
consecrated TO his service: for him
SELF. . mecrschaum Of 4 deep and ten
der brown. bespeaking years Of loving
usage. Not until the pipes were goin9
nicely did Godfrey speak.
You've heard about It, then? 81 he
asked.
Il know that something, terribl. has
happened" said Drysdale. = little
hoarsely. Il don't know what-its be.
yond imagining. even-At least. beyond
my poor brain. Miss Croydon told me
to come to you
"Ah!" commented Godfrey. Did she
do that"
"YesAshe said o could tell me all
I wished to know"
"Where did you see herr"
AT Mrs. Delroy's. I came straight
here from there"
$50 you were at Mrs. Delrey's."
and Godfrey unused for \ moment. with
eyo0 intent on the hre. but come.
we'll never get the thing straiehtened
out this way. Let's begin at the be
ginning. Tell mi what happened at
Mrs. Delroy's n then 1l MI out the
story. Il I can Let me nave every de-
tail you IAN remember"
Drysdale waited = moment to b sure
Of hls 0elf control.
Il cAt1e1 st Nrs. Deiroy's about .
otcaock." he began. and asked for Miss
Croy6on@"
wait : minute" Godfrey interrupt