The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1907-05-09
CHAPTER XVI.
A THE o

s 'tsA hA1o ~ a.
1T was only by accident l learne,
o We're on board" l explained. as
sat down. Your getting better?"
Il believe so; though this physical,
1s-what you call-an alarmist-most o
them are, indeed; the more desperat,
the Illness. the more renowned the cure
Is 1t no so? He has even forbidden
me cigarets. but l prefer to die thai
TO do without them. Will you not IA
one?' and he motioned to the pile tina,
lay beside him.
Thank you," l said. selected one ant
lighted 1t. Your cigarets are not te
be resisted. But if you are so i'll, why
did you attempt the voyage? Was il
not imprudent?"
"A sudden call of business" he ex.
planned airily; unexpected but-what
you call-imperative. Besides this bed
is the same as any other. You see.
l have a week of rest"
The doctor-it was he who men
toned your name to met was not on
the sailing ist-"
NO" He was looking at me sharply.
L came on board at the last
the need was YER sudden, as 1 have
said. L had not time to engage a state
room"
THAT explains 1t. Well, the doctor
told me h a you were belfast"
"Yes-since the oyage began 1 have
not left it. l shall not arise until we
reach Havre tomorrow"
Il watched him as he went through
the familiar motion of lighting a Sec
ond cigaret from the first one. In the
half-light Of the cabin had not at
first perceived how i'll he looked; now.
1 saw the dark. patches under the eyes,
the Ivid and labby face, the shaking
hand. And for the first time, with a
little shock, I realized how neal he had
been to death.
But you, Mistair Lester" he was
saying, 'how does it occur thai you
also are going to France? / did not
know you contemplated"
NO. answered calmly, for 1 had
seen that the question was inevitable
n l even welcomed it,, since it gave
me opportunity to get my guns to go
lng. NO; the last time 1 saw you. 1
dldnt contemplate it, out a good deal
has happened since then. Would you
care to hear? Are you strong enough
to talk?"
Oh. how I relished tantalizing him.
I should like Very exc cedingly to
near he assured me, and shifted his
position a little SO that his face was in
the shadow. The beams of light
through the shutter makes my eyes to
hurt" he added.
So he mistrusted himself; so he was
not fnding the part an easy one, either!
The thought gave me new courage.
new audacity.
You may remember" 1 began, that
I told o once that if j ever went to
work on the Holiday case, I'd try first
to locate the murderess. 1 succeeded in
doing It the very first day"
Ali he breathed. And after the
police had failed! That was, indeed
it?" sou aeoohhpiish
BY the merest chance-by great good
fortune. I was making a search of the
french quarter, house by house, when.
on Houston Sffonf n -,
ant, the Cafe Jourdain. A bottle Of
supereur set Jourdain's tongue to wag-
g1ng; l pretended I wanted a room. he
cropped a word, the merest hint; and.
IN the end, I got the whole story. II
seems there was not only one woman
there We're two.'
'.Yes?"
Yes-and a man whose name was
toetuny or Bethune, or something like
that. But / didn't pay much attention
70 hiin-he doesn't figure in the case.
He didn't even go away with the worn.
en-. The very day I set out on INV
search, he was picked up on the streets
somewhere suffering with apopleyv aud
taken to a hospital, so nearly dead that
~ was a question whether he would re-
cover. So he's out Of 1t. The %Jourdafns
told me that the women had sailed for
France" 49, 10y ~
You will pardon me- said my hear
er, put N what way did you make
sure That they were the women you de
3 the younger ones resemblance to
Miss Holladay,n I answered. wing WITH
2 glibness which surprised myseif.
The Jourdains maintained that q nho-
tograph of Miss Holladay was rea llv
Of their lodger."
! neard him draw a deep breath. b,lt
kept MS race under admirable con-
All. yes" he said. ..That was ex-
ceedingly clever. I should never have
thought of that. That is worthv of
Monsieur Lecoq. And 50 you follow
them to Francelbut. surely, you have
some more-what you call-definite adj
dress than that, Mistair Lesterio
/ could feel his ayes burning OFF FROM
the shadows; 1 was thankful for the
cigarette helped me to preserve an In
c~ountenance.
mo" I said. TT seems rather a.
wild goose chase. doesn't 1t? But you
could advise me, Mr.. Martigny. Where
would 1t be best for me to search for
them p"
He did not answer for a moment ana
I took advantage of the opportunify ~
select second cigaret and light it.
! cared not remain u~noccupied; III
dared not meet his eyes: I trembIed
steady. "A
That he began slowly. at last .
seems TO me "a MISUNDERSTANDING af-
Iatr, Mistair Lester. TO search for
three people through all France-there
seems little hope OF success. yet I
should think it most likely that thew
have gone to Paris"
nodded. THAT was my the
ory,' I agreed. but to find them In
Paris seems almost impossible"
Not II n uses the police" he said.
1T could. most probably, be soon
achieved. 4 You requested the police to-
assist you
cant use h police. Miss Holiday. 1T
least has committed no crime: she has
empty chosen to 90 away without In
forming u.s.
You Will permit me 10 say, then.
Lester. he observed. with inst
9 QUO OF irony,a"that I fan to compre-
nsnd your anxiety concerning her"
sl telt that I had made q mis-step:
that q iced toa b carefully.
- not quite i simple as that"
I explained. The last time we saw
Miss Holladay, she told us that she
was III. and Intended t d go to her scoun-
fTy home for q rest. Instead of Goinr
there she sailed for France. without In
forming arlyone-indeed, doing eyery-
1ning she could to escape detection.