The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1907-10-25
IL.
A CRY O HELP.

III.
A CRY FOR HELP.
For three days Thompson's body lay
enthroned on It's couch at the morgue
but OF the thousands of people who
f1led past 1t, not one could give a single
cleW TO Its identity. Godfrey's ennis
sarles went from end to end of the
docks, loitered in sailors saloons and
ea.lng places. provided innumerable
drinks. but nowhere did they meet any
one WHO recognized the rough, bearded
race which the camera had reproduced.
Inc oITcerS of every ship that had ar
rived within a week We're interviewed.
put none of them knew Thompson. 1t
you'd seem that he had dropped from
inc eiouds n that no II had wit.
messed his descent. 1t was an alto.
sether puzzling state of affairs, and
made impossible any further real prog
fess IN the Investigation of the crime.
me police worked in a desultory fash
ION along the usua lines. Various the
oIlcs We're built up and exploded; vari-
Gus ciews were laboriously followed
ana found to lead nowhere; various sus-
poets We're arrested and afterward re-
leaseu, a close and utterly futile watch
was Kept on the movements of Jimmy
Ihe DUDE. II was plainly apparent that
Tue authorities We're all at sea. and it
seemed altogether likely that the affair
would soon be written down with New
1orks other unsolved mysteries.
fuplc interest Waned and dwindled,
passed ON to other things. Even
with me, living at the very scene of
.ne crime, 1T faded in an astonishing
way; 1t no longer occupied my
thoughts; over my evening pipe, it was
not the details of the mystery I con-
jured up. but a vision of a dark
An inquiry of the %janitor developed
Ihe fact that it was my neighbors. Mr..
and Mrs. Tremaine. whom I had met
that evening as left the elevator
Ihey had the apartment just across
me nan from mine. n I had thought,
OF course, that l must meet them fire.
n but three days had passed and
! q aught not a glimpse of them;
their hours for coming ana coins
seemed radically different from mine
So 1T was with a sense of disappoint-
ment somewhat foolfshly excessive that
l set In my room and watched the
smoke circle up o the chandelier
ana at the whim which had
proueht me to this apartment. Not
yet L was vaguely restless. uneasy; I
mad not that homelike sense of com
tort and quiet which had marked nv
sojourn with Mrs. Fitch. There was
nothing to be discovered here concern
ing the tragedy: the rooms had been
u .eNldeIlcG OeTOre INV
ARRIVAL; II was absurd to p :.
l heard the sudden opening of a door;
a scream. shrill. full Of terror.
ftarely have l been SO startled as l
was by that voice. In an instant. I was
m the hall. a red light streamed
opposite. silhouetting a woman's figure.
slarlns, with clasped hands.
SpHans past her. pulled down the
burning curtains, and threw them into
the hall. where Higgins. who had run
, up the stairs. stamped out the flames.
was evident that the fire Ind spread no
farther. l opened the window. and the
smoke was whitfield away.
lhat was lucky was Higgins COM
ment. as he stood parting in the door
a b tricky. I'm all in a tremble.
l 1'iousnt ~ was another murder."
l couldn't help laughing as / looked
at MN gasping exciteily for breath.
You've got murder on the brain" T
sale: 7 hope there won't be any more
at the Marathon"
s do l." he agreed. and gathering
ny .ne Fasn.ent OF the curtains,
All. bon die" cried Mrs. Tremaine,
IN a queerly broken. but very Charming
mixture OF French and English. What
a chance! What good fortune that YOU
were IN your room. missile"
n a closed the window with. a
nervous shiver a. the cold and then
stepped back into the full light. 7
iairly gasped as I looked at her. Charm
lng she mad been gowned according to
the New York fashion: now she was
RADIANT In a costume whose gorgeous
ness seemed just the setting her beauty
needed. AT the moment. it completely
dazzled me. but 1 was able Afterwards.
IN q calmer mood. to analyze 1.-THE
CRIMSON petticoat, the embroid cred
chemise with its fold upon fold Of lace
showing through the silken shoulder
scarf; the necklace of gold beads. and
The sight Of Higgins standing linz.
staring at this vision with open mouth
brought me to my senses.
! am very happy to have been there.
madame" l said, and started toward
the door.
But o will not CO." she protested.
Missile Tremaine viii be here IN n
moment. He will desire to thank YOU"
The words were accompanied BY a
smile there was no resisting. 1 faltered,
stopped. .
Higgins was still staring from the
hall. Mrs. Tremaine stepped forward
and calmly shut the door in his. face
In that instant a quick shiver ran
through me, as though 1 had suddenly
been imprisoned with a wild beast-a
shiver that had in 1t something fear
Iully dellShttul. n let me add here
that the emotion which Cecily, for SO
l came to know her. raised in me was
not In the least admiration in the or
binary sense Of the term. but rather
an overpowering fascination, such as
n sometimes feels in watching a mag
niflcent tigress pacing back and forth
in her cage. Such. I believe. was the
feeling she inspired in most men: even
in Trernaine himself.
She smiled at me again as she swept
past me to a couch in n corner and
sank upon 1t.
"sit. missile" she said. and motioned
me to a chair close at hand. II was
very lonesome: / was weary of talking
to my W body"
I cannot reproduce the soft dialect
she spoke! any effort to do so makes II
appear grotesque, so 1 shall not try
At first it puzzled me occasionally, but
I loon came to understand her per.
fectly.
so was l." I said. smiling at the
quaint expression. II was growing
very sick of my own body. Have yol
been in New York long?"
Less than a month, missile: and
do not like tit is too cold-too grey.
"Ah. you nave come In a bad time
I said. wondering at her almost child