Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1908-01-01

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He copied it again and again, until
1t was written freely and carelessly,
and every letter available compared IA
vorably with the original in his posses
Sion Then he posted it, thus saving
day, according to his calculations.
With this missiye committed irrev-
| ocahly TO the care of his majesty's
mails. Victor Grenier's spirits rose.
Now. indeed. he was in the whirlpool.
| Would he emerge high and dry in the
| Bl Dorado of glded vice which he
longed to enter, or would fortune con-
| sign him to Portland again-perchance
| to the scaffold: He could not say. He
would not feel safe until Philip Arson
was myth and Victor Grenier
reality, with many thousands In the
| bank.
Already he was planning plausible
lies to keep Mason out of his fair
share Of the plumber. A few more
forged letters would easily establish
the fact that he was unable to obtain
a bigger haul than, say, $4,000.
And what did Mason want with f25,-
900? He was n gnarled man, with
crude tastes. Twenty, fifteen, ten
thousand would be ample for his
wants. The sooner lie drank himself to
death the better.
| With each fresh cigar Mason's mole
ty shrank in dimensions. The murder
was a mere affair of Il vengeful blow,
but this steady sucking of the million
aires riches required tinesse, dashing
i adroitness, the superb impudence of
Cagliostro.
| But If his confederate's interests suf-
fercd, the total fixed in Grenier's origi-
nal scheme in nowise became affected.
He meant to have n hundred thou.
sand pounds, and lie firmly decided
not to go beyond that amount. His
letter to the bankers named f15O,OOO,
and he calculated that by stopping
short at two-thirds of the available
sum he would not give any grounds
for suspicion or personal inquiry.
Yet he would shirk nothing Mr.. Alb
| ingdon and Miss Atherley must be
avoided at all events. Others he would
face blithely. He took care to have
ever on the table in his sitting room q
goodly supply of wines and spirits.
II any one sought an interview, 1t
might Be helpful to sham slight de-
gree Of intoxication. The difference
between Philip drunk and Philip sober
would then be accounted for readily.
But rest-that was denied him. It
was one thing to harden himself
against surprise, quite another to for
get that disfgured corpse swirling
about in the North sea.
He wished now that Philip Arson
had not been cast forth naked. 1t was
q blunder not to dress him, to provide
him with means Of Identification with
some unknown Smith or Jones.
When he closed his eyes he could see
a shadowy form wavering helplessly
in green depths. Never before We're
his hands smeared with blood. He had
touched every crime save murder.
| Physically lie was coward. In
plotting the attack on Philip he had
taxed his ingenuity for weeks to dis
cover some means where he need not
become Mason's actual helper. He re-
jected project after project. The thing
might be bungled, so he must attend to
each part of the undertaking himself
short of using n bludgeon.
He slept again and dreamed of long
flights through space pursued by de-
mons. How he longed for day! How
slowly the hours passed after dawn
until the newspapers We're obtainable,
Il with fhnfr Of f<.,.
him.
A letter came from Evelyn. 1t was
n trite reserved, with an impulse to
tears concealed in it:
l asked mother for $780, SO the Blue
Atom incident has ended, but l don't
think will ever understand the mood III
which you wrote your last telegram.
Perhaps your letter now in the post-I
half expected it at midday-will explain
matters somewhat.
He consigned Blue Atom to sultry
cline and began to ask himself why
Mr.. Abingdon had not written. The
ex-magistrate's reticence annoyed him.
A letter even demonstrating with him
would be grateful. This silence was
irritating; 1t savored of doubt, and
doubt was the one phase of thought lie
wished to keep out of Mr.. Abingdon's
mind ut that moment.
AS for Evelyn, she mistrusted even
his kilograms, while bank had ac-
copied his signature without reserva-
ton. He would punish her with Zest.
Philip Anson's memory would be pois-
oned in her heart long before she real
lied that he was dead