The Irish standard., 1907-03-30

spent her days.
AT the school gate the lamps Of
| carriage suddenly blurred in the mist.
Carriages are not common in this re-
| gion. and I was not surprised to find
that this was the familiar village hack
that met trains day and night at An
nandale. Some parent, | coniectured.
! paying visit to ST Agatha's; possi-
bly-and the thought gave me pleas
ure-perhaps the father of Miss Olivia
| Gladys Armstrong had come to carry
her home for strlcter discipline than
Sister Theresa's school afforded
The driver sat asleep on his box.
| and | passed him and went on into
the grounds. A whm seized me to
visit the crypt of the chapel and en-
| anime the opening to the tunnel AS
| passed the little group of school
buildings a man came h,rriedly from
| one of them and turned toward the
| chapel
first thought it was Stoddard, but
| could not make him out in the mist
| and in my uncertainty waited for him
to put 20 PAGES between us before
followed.
| He strobe into the chapel porch
with an air of assurance and heard
| him address some cne who had been
waiting. The mist was now so heavy
that could not see my hand before
my face. and I stole forward until |
| heard the voices of two men distig city.
"Bates!"
| yes, sir"
I heard feet scraping on the stone
+, floor Of the porch.
! This is a devil of a place to talk
in. hut it's the best we can do Did
the young man know I sent for you?"
No. sir. I kept him quite busy
with his books and papers
'Humph! We can never be sure OF
him."
| II suppose that is correct, SIR
We'll, you and Morgan are fine
pair. must say! ] thought he had
some sense and that you'd see to it
that he didn't make a mess of this
whole thing. He's in bed now with a
hole in his arm and you've got to go
on alone"
'I'll do my best. Mr.. Pickering"
Don't call me by name. you idiot.
We're not advertising our business
from the housetops."
Certainly not" replied Bates hum
bly,
The blood was roaring through my
head, and my hands clenched as |
1:.&. III
Pickering's voice was-and is-un-
mistakable. There was always a pllrr-
ing softness in it. He used to remind
me at school Of a sleek, complacent
cat. and I hate cats with particular
loathing.
rs Morgan lying or not when he
says he shot himself accidentally?"
demanded Pickering pct,llantly.
II only know what I heard from
the gardener here at the school. You'll
understand. I hope. that l can't be-
seen going to Morsan's house."
"Of course not. But he says you
haven't played fair with him. that you
even attacked him a few days after
Glenarm came"
Yes, and he hit me over the head
with a club. 1t was his indiscretion,
sir. He wanted to 80 through the H.
/ brary in broad daylight, and 1t wasn't
any use, anyhow. There's nothing
there"
But I don't like the looks of this
shooting. Morgan's sick and out OF
his head. But fellow like Morgan
isn't likely to shoot himself accident
| ally. and now that it's done the works
i stopped and the time is running on
What do you think Glenarm sus-
pects?"
" can't tell. sir but mighty little.
] should say. The shot through the
window the first night he was here
seemed to shake him tritle. but he's
quite settled down row, should say.
sir. That shot Of Morgan's was q
great mistake. The young gentleman
| isn't to be frightened away as easily
az that"
'Morgans fool. But what ia Glen
arm doing? He probably doesn't spend
much time on this side Of the fence
doesn't haunt the chapel. I fancy?"
Lord, no! I hardly suspect the
young gentleman If being a praying
man."
You haven't seen him prowlng
about the house analyzing the archi-
lecture"
Not bit of 1t, sir! He hasn't.
should say, what his revered grand
father called the analytical mind"
Pickering stamped his feet upon the
paved porch floor in way that ] re-
membered of old. 1t marked a con-
clusion, and preluded serious mis-
takes.
Now. Bates" he said with ring
of authority and speaking in a louder
key than he had yet used, Its your
duty under all circumstances to help
discover the hidden assets of the es-
tate. We've got to pluck the mystery
from that architectural monster over
there, and the time for doing it is