Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1907-10-05
CHAPTER vi

frey dropped from the top or the ReC-
ord building In the express elevator
and walked over to the station of the
Elevated for the trip uptown The
story was written-it would be the
feature Of the morningc paper, and IT
would be illustrated exclusively
he was not wholly satisfied with Il.
He had accepted the explanation given
by Miss Croydon, yet he felt instlnc-
lively that it did not explain-that
there was much below the surface Of
which ne had caught only the faintest
glimpse and which he was utterly un-
able 10 decipher He ala not at all be-
iieye-and he took care that the read
ers Of the Record should have no
cause 70 beleve-that Miss Croydon
was IN any way directly connected with
the crime Indeed, there was every
evidence that she had, iu that particu-
lar, spoken the truth
And iu the other particulars Well,
II was hard to separate the wheat from
the CnaG, hard 10 tell where truth left
Jff and invention began Some founda-
tion of truth the story must have had,
or it would not have been told so glibly
nor appear so plausible, Indeed. in
two details, it had been confirmed by
other evldeuce-they had found the
pipe with which the blow was struck
and the bullet from her pistol em-
bedded I'm the door.
Below IL all, underlying Il all. the
foundation upon which the mystery
Cested was Miss CroydOn's motive in
making such an appointment and,
above all, I'm keeping it, That was
thing utterly opposed TO her social
training. TO her maidenly Instinct-it
was w9ld, foolish, questionable. She
would feel this more aCutely than a
man could, and yet II had not been
4gHRf A# L-.rs
back. What resistIess motive was II
that had urged her on? What was the
secret contained in the papers she had
hoped TO get from Thompson God
frey caught a dim glimpse of some
thing dark repulsive, terrible What
was the secret2 An, he would have
known, il Goldberg had only been a
moment laterl
As to Jimmy the Dude Godfrey had
Claiutatned careful reticeuce, while
commencing SImmonds' prOnptness In
nrTesting him. Simmonds no doubt,
believed him guilty, but then sim
monds lacked imagination II might
be, Godfrey thought q little savagely.
that he himself possessed too much Of
&C., but the theory which that grizzled
veteran had built up so adr0itly did not
I'm the least satisfy him II was too
prOsaiC. too matter of fact. reasonable.
perhaps, but not convincing. 1t re-
duCed the mystery to mere sordid
crime Godfrey wanted color I'm his
mysteries-and right there he re-
minded himself again was his great
weakness. Yet Jimmy's manner had
not been that of a guilty man: to be
sure, it had changed al the last mo-
ment, at the mention OF Miss CrOy-
don's name. Why What was this
wide stretching net Of intrigue, woven
IN the dark involving alike Fifth
avenue and the "Tenderloiu the Del
roy mansion, the Marathon, Magraw's
gilded saloon
POnderiug this puzzle with an In
tensity that had something poignant
and personal in II, he would have been
carried past his station but for the
guard, Who knew hiu. and who touched
him on the arm. He Went mechanical
by down the stair and turned UP to-
ward the avenue. Still mechanically,
he mounted to his rooms and opened
the door. A man who had been sit
ting in q chair before the fire sprang
up as he entered.
why, Jack" cried Godfrey, waking
suddenly ana he held out his hand
with that fine heartiness Of greeting
which Is sometimes seen between men.
Then, as he caught the others eyes,
his face changed. Sit down." he said
gently kin I get out Of these damp
tOgs. Then Wen have a talk"
AA' 'aAHt1 ~ LAtaAA-A AUTO LtA- ANAllHa tobAllr
while the younger man sank back into
his chair and gazed gIoomily into the
fire Even strained by emotion as Ii
was at this moment his face was
worth looking at-clear cut. square
jaWed, alert-suCh as one has come
Of late years, to associate with the
typical college bred American But
the face was more than merely hand
some-it Yves open, ingenious, winning
and looking at it, one could UNDER
stand without further explanation how
il happened that John Tolbert Drys-
dale had so many friends and SO few
enemies.
Godfrey was back in a moment, drew
up another chair, and got out tobacco
and uipes-for Drysdale a glossy briar
COnsacrated to his service, for him
self, a meerschaum Of a deep and ten
der brown, bespeaking years Of loving
usage Not until the pipes We're going
nicely did Godfrey speak.
You've heard about it, then?" he
asked.
II know that something terrible has
happened said Drysdale, little
hoarsely. Il don't know what Its be-
yond imagining, even-at least, beyond
my poor brain Miss Croydon told me
TO come to you"
'Ah!" commented Godfrey. Did she
do that2"
"Yes-she said you could tell me all
/ wished TO know"
Where did you see herr"
at Mrs. Delroys. l came straight
here from there"
so you were at Mrs Delroy's2"
and Godfrey unused for a moment. with
eyes intent on the fire, But come.
we1l never get the thing Strengthened
out this way. Let's begin at the be-
ginning. Tell me what happened at
Mrs Delroy's and then I'll iii out the
story. If / can. Let me have every de-
tail you can remember"
Drysdale waited a moment to be sure
OF his self control
Il called al Mrs. Delroy's about .
o'clock" he began, and asked for Miss
Croydon"
Wait a minute" Godfrey interrupt
ed II want TO ask you a question.
which you mustn't be offended at Tn
asking because I'll have to know If
I'm really 20 help you. Are you and
Miss Croydon engaged to be mar
ried?"
Again a minute passed before the
answer came.
yes" said Drysdale huskily, at last
Godfrey silently held out his hand
and gave his companions fingers a
warm pressure.
Now go on" he said.
II was shown into the library"
continued the other. while the maid
| TOOK up my caro-. Inc room was In
darkness save for the light of the fire
The windows, you know look out upon
the street Instead of sitting down,
wandered toward them and In a mo-
ment saw someone standing behind the
curtains. My first thought-dont laugh
at me-was that " was Miss Croydon
looking for me. for she knew that / was
coming. and / strode To the curtains
and threw them back. uttering / know
not what nonsense. You can imagine
how abashed I was when Mrs. Delroy
wheeled around upon me with a face
so white and distorted that l scarcely
knew her.
"'Oh, | beg your pardon I cried.
seeing how | had startled her.
For a moment she didn't seem to
know me.
What is it?' she asked in a hoarse
whisper. What has happened?'
My dear Mrs. Delroy, you really
must pardon me / repeated I'm