Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1907-08-28

quite as much as love feast, perhaps
better.
ITO resume my narrative" drawled
Locke, you disappear within the
chamber. My friend Forbes is having
his little interview with you. But
presently see you again at the win
dow, packet in hand. You lean far
out; you toss the packet into the ba-
sin of an empty fountain. The shut
ters are closed Your work is finished
for the night. And so is mine-that
is, after I. have rescued from the
empty fountain the packet.
Which you promptly returned to
Captain Forbes, no doubt"
Who has greater right to it,"
returned Locke coolly.
But he had not returned it to
Forbes. / was sure of that. Locke
was newspaper man trained in the
school of modern journalism. He had
determined on grand coup for his
paper. If the sealed dispatch prom
ised to be Of assistance to him he
would break the seal.
That would not suit me at all. My
task was to hush up the scandal of
Sir Mortimer Brett and his mistress.
Locke was determined to give it the
fullest publicity. Our ends were utter
ly at variance. Every sentence of his
recital made me see that more clearly.
l saw, too, that the object of his
story was to overwhelm me with the
certainty that must make full con-
fession to him or suffer those conse-
-quences. My one hope was to avert
those consequences until my inter
view with Madame de WARMER.
hoped everything from that.
For the present need fear nothing
from Forbes. Helena had given me
her word that she would trust me until
midnight But the silence of Helena
and Forbes was useless unless Locke
also was silent. / awaited the rest Of
his narrative with anxious concern.
"The next morning bestir myself
early, you may be sure of that Cap
tain Forbes rest had been equally
perturbed. Together we discover the
startling fact that, early as we had
aroused ourselves. our patient with
his nurse and physician had been even
more energetic. Bpt my discovery is
Of nature more dramatic than that Of
the kings messenger. He imagines
that it is Sir Mortimer who has fed.
I am forced to the reluctant conclu-
sion that it is Mr.. Ernest Haddon,
American tourist, masquerading as
the diplomatist, Sir Mortimer Brett
Is it necessary that I enter into ex-
plantations for this discovery, or shall
we take the fact for granted?"
take it for granted by all means,
since you have already taken so much
for granted"
II shall not bore you much longer.
Captain Forbes and myself join
persuade him to do that 1 knew
where Madame de WARMER and her fell
low conspirators were bound; Captain
Forbes did not"
"And Mrs. and Miss Brett-did you
reveal your suspicious to them?"
$50 far" Locke looked at me sig.
nificantly, Il have revealed them to no
one. We arrive at Alterhoffen, then,
the four of US. Captain Forbes insists
vi 'lAS SAdlOdu w I'LL AdI
result you know better than 1. AS for
myself, prefer to keep my counsel,
and, first of all, to give my friend
Haddon friendly hint bribe one of
the servants at the castle to convey
note to him requesting the honor Of
an interview at ten this morning My
friend Haddon denies me the honor of
an interview. Then if the mountain
will not come to Mohammed, Moham-
med must go to the mountain
II am directed to the castle by the
stairway that leads to the village
street. I have not descended a dozen
steps of the gloomy stairway when
hear some one coming up them in flu
rious haste. Naturally, I pause; and
quite as naturally I take the precau-
ton of placing my hand on the revolt
yer in my hip pocket, which / carry
with me, remembering the fate of my
acquaintance, Captain Forbes
ITO my surprise the person in this
extraordinary haste conceals himself
in the little glass-covered room at the
angle of the stairs. I descend the
steps cautiously and curiously. There
are other surprises in store for me.
First Of all see a second figure stand |
ing fiat against the wall. AS my eyes
become accustomed to the darkness |
am startled to discover that the man
concealed in the lodge has revolver |
in his hand. For the moment think |
he is lying in wait for myself. But |
almost Immediately hear steps from |
below. There is click as the trigger |
is cooked. am averse to bloodshed /
even the killing of a would-be muir |
derer. I fire. not at him, but to shat
ter the pane of glass and divert lis
aim.
Now for my last surprise. The as
sassin, rather tardily must say, has
been grappled with by the man who
had concealed himself against the
wall and was apparently awaiting de-
4 Z