The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1907-05-02

"It would explain that. certainly, l
admitted, though, at first thought, the
theory did not appeal to me, You be-
lieve. then. that Miss Holiday was
forcibly abducted?" r
Undoubtedly. If her mind was go
ing to give way at all, It would have
done so at once, and not two weeks
after the tragedy"
But If she had brooded over It,"
objected
"She wasn't brooding--at least, she
had ceased to brood. You have Mr..
Royces word and the buffers word
that she was getting better, brighter,
quite like her old self again. Why
should she relapse?" tU. d..
"I don't know" / said helplessly.
'The more reason about ii, the more
unreasonable 1t all seems. Besides that
affair last night has upset me so that
can't think clearly. / feel that 1
was careless-that l wasn't doing my
duty" 4.,-.a. ..s.....
II shouldn't worry about it; though,
Of course" she added a little severely,
you've realized by this time that you
alone are to blame for Martigny's pres
ence on the boat"
but had to go to the Jourdains." /
protested, and couldn't help their go-
ing to him--to have asked them to not
go would have made them suspect me
at once" ..'. .h&f. .
"Oh. yes, but at least, you needn't
have sent them. They might not have
gone at all-certainly they wouldn't
have gone so promptly-if you hadn't
sent them" ,...
''Sent them?' / repeated, and stared
at her in amazement, doubling If /
had heard Alright.
Yes, sent them" she said again, en-
phatically. "Why do you suppose they
went to the hospital so early the next
mornin-?" Vs." u.. ....
II supposed they had become sus-
picious of me-" .. ..
'Nonsense What possible reason
could they have for becoming sus-
picious of you? On the contrary il was
because they were not suspicious of
you, because they wished to please you,
to air your room for you: because, in a
word, you asked them to go--they went
after the key to those padlocks on the
window-shutters. OF course, Martigny
had it." .'.
For moment, 1 was too nonplussed
to speak; for 1 could only stare at her.
Then / found my tongue. z
We'll, was fool, wasn't y" / de-
manded. bitterly. ITO think that L
shouldn't have foreseen that! 1t was
so worked up over my discovery that
night couldn't think of anything else.
OF course, when they asked for the key,
II shouldn't blame myself too Sc
yerely" laughed Miss Kemball, as she
looked at my rueful countenance II
myself think it's rather fortunate that
he's on the boat" ....a IL .u .r
Fortunate? You don't mean that"
Precisely that. Suppose the Jour
dains hadn't gone to him; he'd have
left the hospital anyway in two or three
days--he isn't the man to lie inactive
when he knew you were searching for
the fugitives He'd have returned,
then, to his apartment next to yours
your landlady would have told him that
you had sailed for Europe, and he had
only to examine this boats passenger
list to discover your name. So you see
there wasn't SO much lost, after all
But, at any rate" pointed out. "he
would still have been in America. He
couldn't have caught us. Wed have
had good start of him" ..@
He couldn't have caught you, but a
cablegram would have passed you in
mid-ocean, warning his confederates.
IL they have time to conceal their pris-
oner. you'll never find her-your only
hope Is In catching them unprepared.
And there's another reason-since he's
on the boat, you've another opportunity
why not go and have a talk with
him?" ...
"Pd thought OF that" said: "but
I'm afraid couldn't play the part"
The part?'
"Of seeming not to suspect him, Of
being quite frank and open with him,
OF appearing to tell him all my plans
I'm afraid he'd see through me in the
first moment and catch me tripping.
It's too great a risk" ~
THE advantage would be on your
side" she pointed out "you could tell
him so many things which he already
knows. and which he has no reason to
suspect you know he knows-it sounds
terribly involved, doesn't it? But you
understand. ..... .. ..... ...
"Oh, yes; understand"
And then. II would be the natural
thing for you to look him up as soon as
you learned he was ill. To avoid him
will be TO confess that you suspect
him" ...
But his name isn't on the passen-
ger list. If hadn't happened to see
him as he came on board. I'd probably
not have known 1t at ALL"
Perhaps he saw you at the same
time
Then the fats in the fire." I said.
IF he knows / know he's on board
then he also knows that l suspect him;
II he doesn't know. why, there's no rea-
son for him to think that I'll find it
out, unless he appears In the cabin;
| which doesn't seem probable"
She sat silent for moment, looking
| out across the water.
Perhaps you're right" she said at
| last: there's no use taking any I'M
necessary risks. The thing appealed TO
mel think should enjoy a half hours
talk with him, matching my wits
| against his
But yours are brighter than mine,"
l pointed out. You've proved 1t pretty
| effectually In the last few minutes"
mo / haven't; I've simply shown you
| that you overlooked one little thing
And / think you're right about the dan
| ger of going to Martigny. Our first
duty is TO Miss HolladGJ; we must res
| cue her before he can warn his con-
federates TO place her out of reach"
| The unstudied way in which she said
our filled me with with an unreason-
ing happiness. ..
But why should they bother with a
prisoner at all? They didn't shrink
from striking down her father?"
| And they may not shrink from strik-
ing her down, at a favorable moment" {"
she answered calmly. "It will be easier
| in France than in New York--they,
perhaps have the necessary prepara-
tions already made-they may be only
hesitating-a warning from Martigny
a