The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1907-04-11

known: he knew that l was even at
this moment commencing the search
for her. My cheeks Redeemed at the
thought of my indiscretness: yet he
was a man to command confidence.
Who would nave suspected him And
an old proverb which he had repeated
one evening. flashed through my mind:
.'Folle est la brebis qui au loup Sc
confesse."
Silly is the sheep who to the wolf
herself confesses." l had translated it,
with that painful literalness character
istic of the beginner. Well. L had been
the sheep. and silly enough, heaven
knows!
L had reached Broadway, and at the
corner paused to look at a display of
mems furnishings in a window. Far
down the street. on the other side, al
most lost in the hurrying crowd, Mar
tigny was buying a paper of a news
boy. He shook it out and looked quick
ly up and down it's columns, like a
NAL who is searching for some special
item OF news. Perhaps he was a spec
ulator; perhaps, after all, / was deceiv-
Ing myself in imagining that he was
following file. l had no proof of it; 1t
was the most natural thing in the world
that he should be in this part of the
town. l must test the theory before
accepting it. 1t was time l grew wary
of theories.
/ entered the store. and spent ten
minutes looking at some neckties. When
L came out again Martigny was just
getting down from a bootblack's chair
across the street. His back was toward
me, and 1 watched him get out his lit
tie purse and drop a dime n the boot
blacks hand. l went on up Broadway,
lettering sometimes, sometimes walk
ing straight ahead; always away be-
hind me. lost in the crowd, was my
pursuer. 1t could no longer be doubted.
II yyoC ron1lu. rolloypipr t,,n L~,,rl 10
did it so adroitly, with such consum-
mate cunning that 1 should never
have seen him, never have suspected
him. blu for that fortunate intuition
at the start.
A hundred plans flashed through my
brain. l had this advantage. he could
not know that suspected him. If 1 could
only overmaster him in cunning, wrest
his secret from him-and then. as l re-
membered the strong face, the piercing
eyes, the perfect ~self-control, I realized
how little possible it was that I could
accomplish this. He was my superior
in diplomacy and deceit; he would not
pause, now, at any means to assure
the success of his plot.
Yes, | could doubt no longer tina
there was a plot, whose depths 1 had
not before even suspected; and l drew
back from the thought with a. little
shiver. What was the plot? What In
lLiN1lS, bISddiul .CIlIIle WAS InlS Wh1Cn
he was planning? The murder Of the
father, then. had been only the first
step. The abduction OF Frances Holla-
day was the ~second-what would the
third be? How could we prevent his
taking 1t? Suppose we should be I'M
cessful? And, candidly. what chance
of success could we have, fighting in
the dark against this accomplished
s~coundrel? He had the threads all In
his fingers, he controlled the situation;
we were struggling blindly. snarled in
a net OF mystery from which there
seemed no escaping. My Imagination
clothed him with superhuman attrib-
utes. For a moment, a Wild desire pos
sessed me to turn upon him, to confront
him. to accuse him, 20 %confound him
with the very certainty Of my knowl-
edge. to surprise his secret, to trample
him down!
But the frenzy passed. No, he must
not discover that l suspected him: I
must not yield up that advantage. 1
might yet surprise him. mislead him.
set a trap for him, get him to say more
than he wished to say. That battle of
wits would come later on-this very
night. perhaps-but for the I
could do nothing better than carry out
my first plan. Yet, he must not sus-
pect the direction of my search-I must
throw him off the track. Why, this
q " d 4 u WoIld, JUST ike .C0e
penny-dreadfuls Of my boyhood-and I
smiled at the thought that I had be-
ON an actor in a drama fitted for a
red-and-yellow cover!
My plan was soon made. I crossed
Broadway n turned up Courtlandt,
sauntering along it until the elevated
doomed just ahead; / heard The roar
of an approaching train, and stopped
to purchase some fruit at the corner
stand. My pursuer was some distance
behind. closely inspecting the bric-a-
brac in a peddler's cart. The train
rumbled into the station, and. starting
as though l had just perceived it, I
bounded up he's stair, slammed my ticket
Into the chopper, Inc diyed across the
platform. The guard at the rear of
the train held the gate open for me an
instant, and then Changed it shut. We
were off with a jerk: as l looked back, /
saw Martigny rush out upon the plat
form. He stood staring after me for
an instant; then, with a sudden grasp
ing at his breast. staggered and seemed
to fall. A crowd closed about him. the
train whisked around q corner. and ]
| could see no more.
But. at any rate, I was well free OF
him, and / got off at Bleecker street
walked on to the Square, and begar
my search. My plan was very simple
Beginning on the east side of West
w - IL AAiiSAit4Oi1 IL SUI
at every house and inquire whether
dodgers We're kept. My experience q,
| the first place was a pretty fair sam.
pie OF all the rest.
A frowsy-headed woman answered.
my knock.
You have rooms to let?"I asked.
"Oh, yes, monsieur" she answered
with an expansive grin. step zis way
We mounted a dirty stair. and sh,
threw open the door with f1ourisl
meant to be impressive.
"Zese are re rooms, monsieur: re,
are YER fine.
/ looked around them with Stimulates
interest. smothering my disgust as we
as I could.
How long have they been vacant2
7 asked.
Since only two days. monsieur: q
you see. zey are YER fine rooms
That settled it. IL they had been va
cant only two days. ! had no furthe
interest In them, and with some. ~
cuse I made my way out, glad to es
cape from that fetid atmosphere Of gal
! lie and onions. So I went fro.
, house to house: stumbling owe
, dirty children: rs climbing grim
stairs, catching gifmpses (
crnwda6 aynnt = shops. neorin